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inadequate.
6
Had for instance a round-table conferencs
been held then it seems reasonable to suppose that the
more pressing of those needs would have been met
promptly instead of dilatorily and that Mr. Forrest
could have been given ineluctable orders regarding his
financial procedure. Instead, as the files and evidence
shew, time was wasted and tempers worn by an endless
succession of minutes and interviews, while a situation
developed which led to what may fairly be described as
a public scandal.
Allowance must be made for difficulties under
which the Administration itself was and still is labouring.
The demands of the naval, military and civil defence
departments for staff and accommodation grow steadily and
even partly trained men and women are very hard to come
by: but that fact appears to me rather to support
conelusion which I have just stated.
14. I come finally to the last paragraph of Your
Lordship's telegram No. 381.
While the heavy rush of applicants was overwhelming
the scanty and scantily-provided staff with which the
Immigration Department was set up there were many complaints
of inefficiency, incivility, undue delay and physical
discomfort. After better premises and equipment had been
found, the staff had gained in numbers and experience and
the crowds of applicants had resolved themselves into those
persons whe, intending to travel out of the Colony at a
near date, wished for a permit to re-enter, complaints
diminished rapidly and very few have been received during
the last two months.
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