RAOC Gazette - page 172
Image details
| Corps | RAOC |
|---|---|
| Material type | Journals |
| Book page | |
| Chapter head | |
| Chapter key | |
| Chapter number | |
| Full title | RAOC Gazette |
| Page number | |
| Publication date | 1968 |
| Real page | |
| Colour | No |
| Grey | No |
| Early date | 1968 |
| Late date | 1968 |
| Transcription |
Sir. The Institute of Cretin Mechanics has now been in existence for about foui months, and has revolutionised modern chemical theory. Amongst the revolution- ary ideas developed by this Institute is the theory of TT complex formation as applied to food chemistry. For example; a IT complex of a rhodium-uranium alloy with barium and rubidium, RhU-<— BaRb; a TT complex of astatine monoxide and marijuana, POT-*-AtO; a complex of fluoromercaptan with iodine and usually associated with a francium iodide anion Frl, FI(SH); Apple pie—this has been synthesized in France under the name Pomme pic. This is a if complex of polonium with any metal methyl Po-4—M- (Me). The most recent synthesis was a complex of iridium iodomercaptan and sulfotelluride of tungsten IrI(SH)<-STeW. chemists could have a whale of a time improving on J. Fred Nierk. AH (printable) suggestions to me c/o The Editor, please, J. FRED NIERK. Students' Union, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast 7, N. Ireland. K N I G H T S GAMBIT T am sorry not to have had space earlier to have published news of the Army Chess Association sent to me by SQMS D, P. O'Reilly of the West Moors Crown Chess Club. It was, [ must admit, news to me to hear of the existence of the Association, but L am assured that there is such a body, that at the end of 1967 it had 62 members, that five of these belong to the Corps, that it costs a modest five bob per annum to join and that the Army team plays many tournaments in the UK. and runs a flourishing Postal Chess Club for members at home and overseas. All this is good news, and I join SQMS O'Reilly in thinking that it would be gratifying to see the Corps strongly represented in the Association, I should think some of the Corps' up-and-coming food technologists and So there your are. There must he many chess players in the Corps who would like to take part in representative matches or enter for the annual cham- pionship, and to do so thev need only get in touch with SQMS O'Reilly at the School of Petroleum RAOC. West Moors, Wimborne, Dorset, who combines the duties of Secretary and Treasury of the Association. Who knows? we may well have a potential Army chess champion languish- ing in Bicester, Bahrein or Berlin, for in 1966 the championship was won by a Private and in 1967 by a Sergeant. It may even be possible to form a Corps team if sufficient support is forthcoming, Just drop a line to SQMS O'Reilly and he will do the rest—and I wish him the best of luck. TEST MATCH CASUALTY I suppose by the time these words appear in print a score of other colum- nists will have seized upon the words of a BBC commentator I have been listening to with one ear whilst trying to write this column. " Redpath has Just chanced his arm," 1 he cried, "And it's come offr (Continued from page 141) who called for an end to the war but there was never in the UK a party openly opposed to its continuance. There were a few groups of men T on the Clyde for example, who tried to slow up munitions production, and references by people like Ramsay Mac Donald and Bernard Shaw, about war guilt and international labour, but these made little impression. The workers on the whole were less concerned over moral issues than they were over the cost of living and the tightening, in 1917, of irritating restrictions. Food became scarcer and dearer; the needs of munitions production kept workers busy for six days a week without relaxation. War weariness began to appear, a sympton of which was the increasing readiness to strike at the slightest provocation. The strikes were mostly unofficial and the Government's reaction, usually, was to decline to deal with anyone other than the trade-union leaders and threaten to throw others into gaol or conscript them into the Army, In Parliament, a Member warned of the serious develop- ments of this unrest. It was the beginning, he said, of a revolutionary feeling and unless the Government was careful it could bring the country to the verge of revolution. After this, seven commissions were set up and one of these was under the chairmanship of the R t Hon, J. H, Whitley MP, Deputy Speaker (and later Speaker) of the House of Commons. His committee was charged with finding some way of dealing with the very serious industrial unrest which was affecting the smooth work- ing of industry on which the conduct of the war depended, In brief, the committee proposed for each industry a national joint council, district councils and works committees, in each case by agreement between the trade-union and the employers association. Regular meetings were urged to study the better use of the practical knowledge of workers, to secure for them a larger share in the responsibility for working con- ditions, to settle general principles governing the methods of fix- ing wages, to deal with grievances, promote security of employ- ment and to consider technical education, industrial research and proposed legislation affecting the industry. With some amendments, the Government adopted the scheme and urged industries to apply it. Some did but a number, particularly the highly organised ones such as coal, ship-build- ing and railways did n o t Whilst about 100 joint councils were originally set up less than half remained in existence twelve years later. The interesting thing is that the application of the system to the public service was not envisaged and Whitlev himself said he had not thought it necessary at first. The well known Fabian woman philosopher, Mrs. Sidney Webb, however, ob- served that it would probably succeed more in the public service than in industry. At this the existing civil service associations which had a long list of grievances against the Treasury grew interested and, as a result, the Whitley Committee in its second report, recommended the system to state and municipal authori- ties and employers. The Government was at first reluctant and Mr, W. J. Brown, the well known staff-side leader, said the service had to peg away at the Treasury for two years to secure the concession of four civil councils. The Government yielded in respect of industrial staffs in July 1918 but held out for a year for other staffs. The first proposals which were prepared by a Mr. Heath of the Treasury, without prior consultation with the service, were rejected by a mass meeting of civil servants at Caxton Hall. The Government then agreed to discuss the problem and a provisional committee quickly drew up a new constitution which came into effect in July 1919. In the eyes of the Civil Service Clerical Association, Whitley- ism represented, the final attempt to settle Civil Service prob- lems by conciliation failure would mean acquiescence in existing evils, or open war, with the strike as its final weapon A Fabian commentator in the 192G*s wrote—" The Whitley system has taken root and developed an extraordinarily complex organisation It is no exaggeration to say that no more elaborate system has been devised in the history of conciliation." The Civil Service did not go on strike in 1926 but the aid and comfort given to the strikers by many of the service unions, raised the whole matter of the legal and administrative positions of these groups. In 1927 7 the then Government introduced a measure, known in the Civil Service as Clause V, which, in a word, instructed the associations to be wholly independent of political parties and labour organisations. Commenting on the system in the 193(Ts an American study group said—" Given the fact that the Treasury and Official side had to contemplate negotiation under some form or other, it is difficult to discover any real alternative to the Whitley machinery from the official point of view, The advantages are perhaps less warmly appreciated by the Official side than by the Staff side, but both draw substantial benefit from the system The most notable success of the Whitley councils has been the im- provement of the economic status of the staff Despite one or two brilliant exceptions, Whitley ism is hardening into civil Service unionism and the life and spirit of Whitley ism are being absorbed in the energy and aspirations of the unions " — 143 — |
| Book number | R0238 |