South Bend news-times. (South Bend, Ind.) 1913-1938, 1915-10-22
MONEY IS Wasted
BY ARMY OFFICERS
Numerous Complaints as to
Misuse of Funds is Heard
in England.

LONDON. oct. 22.-There are
heard many Complaints THESE U,.ys OF
the larse amounts OF money wasteu
by the army Ouclals. supervision iS
sack, IS the widespread leenu5- 81 ME
fnuIviduals are aSHen 90 ecUuomlLe IN
their household ana otner personal
expenditure. according TO an OFT
heard comparison. the government
spends money with aore abandon
than in the piping tines of peace.
a writer in the IImes III dispatch
from Salisbury gives details OF one
incident connected " ia the vast arm
les on Salisbury plain He says
During the past nine months tlou-
sands OF men have been employed on /
Salisbury plain TO buid nuts Tor the
troops OF the new armies. nave
spent two days going about the area
where the nuts are DeIns or have been
erected. and the general opinion Is
that nowhere in the country could the \
virtues Of economy and national or
ganization be more urgently required \
than IN this district.
ITO take first the need for economy. |
When the construction OF q Ger tam /
camp which lies over the hill some /
distance from the railway was begun 1
the government bought up Tor the /
purposes of transport a large NUMBER /
of farm wagons The price paid Tor /
the wagons could hardly be described /
as a competitive one, but they had not /
been long III use when 1t was FOUND /
that the steepness Of the road To the |
camp made horses transport undeslr-
able.
Roads Are Ruined.
Traction engines were then hired !
for the work at price % percent, /
higher than would De asked in normal |
times. These engines drawing heaNy /
loads quickly ruined the road ana re-
heated repairs have cost the local au- /
thOrities nearly 100000. Now, when /
the camp is practically completed, !
work hes been started on q light rail- /
way which will connect 1t with the /
main line People are asking why the !
railway could not have been DUllt at |
the outset.
this matter. feeling runs highest over /
the apparent waste of money incurred /
in the building of huts for the troops /
II was admitted in parliament early .
this year that much OF the LABOR en- /
plOyed on this work was OF an unSaJls-
factory character, and If One-halt the .
stories 1 have heard of idleness and /
q determination to make an easy ana /
velI-paid lob last as long as possible =
are true, than the labor engaged has
remained unsatisfactory, and because
of its inetficiency has been WoeIully /
expensive TO the country.
"Anger in the villages is all the /
keener because the worst slackneSs t
has been observed among unmarried Z
men Of military age. There were re- +
Gently at work in one locality 5,OUO 4
men Of whom 1t was estimated JhaL
1900 might have enlisted. Among
a considerable section of them laziness
seems to have been developed into an
art, and any display Of energy Dy /
newcomer TO the gangs has been re-
scented.
Astonishing cases OF Sinking have |
been told me by people in responsible
positions, and the impression gained |
as / watched the hut building going |
on this morning was that the stories !
could be accepted as free eNaggera- |
ton. / saw for myself groups where |
one man worked and several others
looked on and chatted while he
leisurely carried through his JOB. |
sturdy young fellows pushed wheel |
barrOws or carried planks with al
most studied slowness.
SAYS Men Arc Lazy.
"A farmer upon whose land many
of the hutS have been erected told me
that the men engaged on the Job were
lazy in the extreme. 1T was quite a
common practice among them to turn
up for work an hour and more after
the whistle had gone L could tell
YOU he added, how many times /
have seen them asleep under the
hedges when they were supposed 10
he working. They are detached in
small gangs and there have not been
enough foremen to look after them.
owing to the scarcity Of labor too.
they don't care very much for the
foreman. Half a dozen men were dis
covered taking a nap one day, and
when they were hauled from the
hege- bottom they said they were
tired and had done enough. The
matter was overlooked
Another farmer told me the IL
year-old son OF one OF his men came
home after his first day on the work
and said that he had been in trouble
because he took of his coat.
"A labCrer remarked that the war
was the best thing that happened and
the kaiser was the best friend they
had. A farm hand disagreed with
him and knocked him down.
~ number of unmarried youths
hanging around an uuConpletCd hut
were asked why they did not enlist
Their reply was let the married men
go and dght. They've got something
TO tight for and we haven't, and we
are not going 10 chuck up good pay
and an easy job "
Fountains pens are most popu'qr IN
Bohemia and are c1rrfe1 h1 mr.. orfe- T1,-