DOMINION SCOUTS.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 512, 20 May 1909, Page 3

DOMINION SCOUTS.

ELECTION OF OFFICERS. A LITTLE ACRIMONY. . .' ; Twenty-four members of the recently-or-ganised corps of Dominion Scouts attended at a' meeting held in Armit's Rooms last ovening for the purposo of electing the officers of the company. An election was held for the same purpose some timo . ago, but as the proceedings were held to havo been informal, it was decided to commence de novo, and hold another election. There wcro also present Captain'J. G. \V. Dalrymple, Surgeon-Major i!\ Wallaco M'Kenzio and Chaplain-Captain the Rev. D. C. Bates. Captain Dalrymple was unanimously elected to_ command tho corps, and Surgeon-Major M 'Kenzio was appointed medical officer. . For the election of three subaltern officers there were five nominations, and a ballot was therefore taken, Messrs. Mahoney, Houston, and Hastings being afterwards declared duly elected. " During the scrutiny of the ballot-papers, a member of the company complained that oho of jtho candidates for election, Sergeant Malcolm (Seventh New Zealand Contingent), had, after the former meeting held for the election of officers, written a letter to The Dominion, giving an account'of the meeting, and criticising the proceedings. The speaker contended that Sergeant Malcolm had uy his action; committed a breach of military discipline.' ■ Captain Dalrymple explained that when the letter referred to appeared in- The Dominion, Captain Gardiner had suspended Sergeant Malcolm, and forwarded a report to tho Officer Commanding the District (Lieut.Colonel Bauchop), who took the view that in the circumstances Sergeant Malcolm had acted within Mb rights; and requested that the report be withdrawn and the suspension annulled. .. . . , Another member also protested against Sergeant Malcolm's action. It was time, he said, that that sort of thing ended. It was doing the no good, and 'seriously ' retarding its progress. The newspapers had been ridiculing the meetings- of the corps: Captain Dalrymple agreed that newspaper correspondence was to be deprecated, and suggested that the matter be dropped. Sergeant Malcolm said'that so far as his letter to The' Dominion was concerned, he had stated but the facts. In so doing he was, within his rights, and the paper in which his letter appeared was perfectly justified in publishing his lotter. In writing as he did, he was not actuated by any malice, and he wished those present, to clearly understand that.' He hinted that he could say 'more on the subject, but would prefer to keep silent. The matter then dropped. [Note: —Clause' 77 of the Defence Regulations, makes it perfectly clear that on the attendance at last night's meeting, the proceedings' were' informal. Only 24 men were present and voted. Tho clause in question insists that at the meeting held for the election :of -. company officers- not less than: two-thirds«/ of tho enrolled strength of the oompany shall be present, and even estimating that tho enrolled strength of the Dominion Scouts is tho bare minimum (40), the proceedings would appear to have been invalid, for only. three-fifths of the minimum establishment were present.]