Reports by the Joint War Committee and the Joint War Finance Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England on voluntary aid rendered to the sick and wounded at home and abroad and to British prisoners of war, 1914-1919, with appendices.

  • Joint War Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England.
Date:
[2009]
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: Reports by the Joint War Committee and the Joint War Finance Committee of the British Red Cross Society and the Order of St. John of Jerusalem in England on voluntary aid rendered to the sick and wounded at home and abroad and to British prisoners of war, 1914-1919, with appendices. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    that a meticulous enforcement of the procedure which had been laid down would have acted injuriously on the main object, and thus it not infrequently occurred that in an emergency the Joint War Finance Committee sanctioned expenditure recommended by the head of a department, or that the Chairman of the Joint War Committee took the responsibility of ordering immediate expenditure. In the Motor Ambulance and Stores Departments, also, it was occasionally necessary that requisitions somewhat in advance of the amounts voted by the Joint War Finance Committee should be met. We venture to think that in the circumstances deviations from strict routine of this kind were warranted. Where an act which requires confirmation by a controlling authority is carried out before confirmation is obtained it is for the controlling authority to say whether circumstances were such as to place it under an obligation to the person who took the responsibility of acting, or whether the act was pre- cipitate and unnecessary. In no case which came to our notice was anything done which did not come within the first of these categories. But it was not often that a single individual found it necessary to act without any means of ascer- taining the views of those whose support would ultimately justify his action. The Chairman of the Joint War Committee, together with the Head of the Stores Department, as well as Sir Aurelian Ridsdale and other leading members of the Joint War Committee, were also members of the Joint War Finance Committee; and the Chairman of the Joint War Finance Committee was himself also a member of the Joint War Committee. The field for ultimate difference of opinion was, therefore, limited; and on no occasion when it occurred was it in connection with action taken on the personal responsibility of individuals. In this and all other matters, with the exception of accounts, formalities were never allowed to stand in the way of speed and efficiency in carrying out our work. The interests of the sick and wounded took precedence of all minor considerations, except that in the matter of expending and accounting for the money subscribed by the public the Joint War Finance Committee proceeded on the recognised principles which govern all such duties as those which fell to it. Tn the result the object of the subscribers was accomplished, as on no single occasion did we fail to meet the demands made upon us by the authorities, some of them being in respect of difficulties which had baffled every other effort. Indeed, we may say that we rejected no requests for aid from any source save such as were either outside the scope of our authority, or, in our opinion, unworthy or excessive. Staff. 10. With regard to the paid staff of the office, the Joint War Committee and the Joint Finance Committee each had the services of a Secretary and staff for its separate business as a committee. The Heads of Departments engaged and controlled their own staffs, which varied in number as occasion required. But there was no General Manager or official corresponding to the Permanent Secretary of a Government Department. or the General Manager of a Bank or a Railway Company. On October 20, 1918, there were 850 members of the paid staff at Head- quarters, of whom however 480 were working under the Central Prisoners of War Committee, 71 in the Stores Department, and 57 under the Joint Women’s V.A.D. Committee. On the same date there were 503 members of the unpaid staff, of whom 294 were working under the Central Prisoners of War Committee, 58 under the Joint Women’s V.A.D. Committee, and 163 in the Wounded and Missing Department. Our total staff at home and abroad numbered 9,234 on October 20, 1918. 11. Of the 850 members of the paid staff at Headquarters above mentioned, only 40 received salaries exceeding £250 per annum. A few members of the unpaid staff at Headquarters received allowances to cover subsistence, travelling, or other expenses, and in one or two instances grants were subsequently made in exceptional circumstances. C 2