FOR DEFENCE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 526, 5 June 1909, Page 7

FOR DEFENCE.

COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING. £ j MEETINCS OF CITIZENS. 0 i-; ■ SOME LIVELY PROCEEDINGS. j Simultaneous meetings" of supporters of i_ universal military training were held at Newt town, Worser Bay, Kclburne, Thorndon, and 1 Potone last evening, under the auspices of * the local Defence League. 3 ■■ ■'•, ■ f DISORDERLY MEETING AT THORNDON. - ' FAVOURABLE MOTION CARRIED. [ ; The meeting at the Sydney Street School--1 room last night ,was very disorderly.; The '■ hall was almost full, the supporters of the 1 compulsory training movement being in a ma- ' jority. There was, however, a considerable amount of organised opposition from a noisy ' section) but a motion in favour of the movement was carried by a large majority., ~ ■ ' I .' t The Mayor (Dr. A. K. Newman), who presided, said that a ■ number of people were actively engaged in propagating the idea that defensive measures, were'-required.- '■ It:was originally supposed that an island was ; d£; fended by nature, but steam, had overcome all such .difficulties. We had many hardy young' men growing. up,, but they lacked training, arid the supporters of this movement wished'to thoroughly equip them. History taught, them'that when a nation was undefended it was attacked, and tho only defence was to.prepare for war. There were great nations in the'Pacifie, the Chinese and Japanese, who could not contain all their people. It seemed inevitable that some dire Contest would tako place in the Baltic, and to that end Britain was concentrating her naval.forces nearer homeland New' Zealand must'be prepared to meet trouble. Although their young men had unlimited pluck and ;courage, they: had to be taught to shoot straight. He. believed there was a real danger, and if they wore not trained they WouTd ; merely- be -a- defenceless: foe.—The motto of the league was that..the people ihould.be ready, aye, ready. (Hear, hear.) ■ ; .Mr. p.;c. Freeth said that! he had originally- thought that' the volunteer system was sufficient, but he was soon convinced; of his error. He returned from a trip Home converted to compulsory military training. Some people thought- our volunteer ■ systom was adequate. (Voices: Hear, hear.) Expert opinion proved it otherwise. ' Comrade Dowdall: I challenge that expert. Mr. Frc.oth: Col. Davies says we have.not a proper equipment of men, or officers or ammunition, and.we would be only a rabble before an invader. ■'. .... • : .;. .. / ' _ It was soon, made evident, by the jnterjcetions, that opposition, was brewing, and Mr; Freeth askea for a reasonable: hearing, and suggested that his opponents' .should move a counter motion at the proper time.: Mr. • Freeth: We say : that compulsory training c»n be , based on a democratic principle. , ■"■■<. - ■'■ Voices: Rot! and Capitalistic system! .1 Mr; Freeth- went on to:say that, by having, their own flesh and blood to defend their .country,: they, would not' require any imported defenders.- When "the people became i. apprised of the importance .of the movement, they would give it their support. '■■:''■:-: '■"•■■ :;.-• . ■'~■ ■•■.. ;_■..;■■: : , ■-. ■:■;-.,,-•

; A Voice: Never. * ..■ '' ■■ - ...:-. , : llr./Freeth romarked, that Mr. Blachford supported militant Socialism.. ; ■-,-.■ '■.. ■', Cemrade Dowdall: Are'you not misqnotbg Mr.'Blatchford?;:: ;■■ .■--•■'„ , Mr. Freeth retorted that Mr. Blatchford's opinions eoiild be seen in the'"Clarion." f A?e. got a foreign element of wild-eyed Socialists. (Cries of dissent.) They come uninvited to meetings, but they should hire their: own halls. (Hear, hear, and hoots.) We;•■ find them here the free flow of public discussions." : ':.A Voice: Nothing of the sort. Wo are hero/as citizens. (Hear, hear.) ": ■': Mr."rFreeth':/you should' got"your 'owri hall and pay. for it. . . , .:. -. ; Comrade Dowdall: I want to ask one or two questions;. : :■. :. -:-..■ ' A Voice: : Get off the mark| thenl ! Comrade '•■ Dowdall: If England was :deifeated, what effect would your .defence proposals. Have? . : Mr. Freoth: : It, is impossible to contemplate['it. (Hear, hear.) ■ .- ;. • . Chaos ensued for awhile, and some ,ono interjected: "I should ;like to ask the speaker if he. is in favour of compulsory military two-step." (Great laughter). ■■;• Comrade. Dowdall: The speaker said the volunteer system has failed —- ' ! -.::A Voice: Welldone! :', ;, '■ i-"'- -A

: Comrade Dowdall: 1 ,, am not talking to you.U-I.know .you. (More laughter.) , I Comrade Dowdall cohtinued: If this Empire has , boon built up to what it'is by: volunteer services, will you tell me why it would fail .:/ •.: • ~.;' ■■. ' -'. . •■■

Mr. Freeth replied that that system cost the. British community millions of pounds, and many lives,'because of its" inadequacy. Eaoh generation calls for a more effective method of service. (Applause.) Comrade Dowdall again rose to speak; \ Voices: Speak up. : ■ ; ," ' -: Comrade Dowdall: I would like to have 1 the platform,for a few minutes,unless Mr. Freeth objeets. : , ■ ".'•■■,,. ■■.■.-• ': , - , 'i: , ::.' ■ ■' ■■■ •

■-, The'chairman reph'ed :Wiat everyone would be'given the opportunity .to ask questions. ' A young man: What hav-o the unemployed to'defend?. -■••■■■■ '■■-■■: '.'■.......-,■. : . : A / . ''*:■. ■-;."•'

■ Mr. Freeth: How long have you been in New Zealand? ■■'>..• ■:■'■■ .; - : ,/_:■. ,:.

The young man: Four years—too long. (Laughter.) -T- .-'■ V .. ■:• -.-■.;■:■ Mr. Freeth: Then I have no doubt ; oharitable people would raise your fare to get you.away. (Laughter.) ' ■' '.'.-■,> ~ The young-nian: Mr. Speaker, I take that as.an insult. . I am. quite able to work r my way from this country. > ■:■'.- Mr.; Darroch: ' We were - invited, here to listen to Mr; Freeth and other speakers. Who is the next speaker? • '-.••. Mr. R. M.' Watson, moved: "That this meeting considers that, notwithstanding ■ the enthusiasm of tho volunteers, tho voluntary' system has not proved an adequate means of defence, and therefore asks the Government to introduce a system of compuhiory militaiy : training of the young men." The mover remarked that Germany was arming. : Another voioe: What nationality are vou? Mr. , Watson: I am a Scotchman to the backbone. (Hear, hear.) , , Mr. W. F. Bowden seconded the motion. ■ Comrade Dowdall then moved the following amendment: "That this meeting of citizens objects to any form of compulsion, because it is degrading to the people and.it is in tho iftterests of one class only." Ho remarked that, for the sake of exploitation, men were using nation against nation. (Hear, hear.) "Down with the army, and with every form of aggression," he said. Mr. Freeth did not say that the volunteer systom was a failure because it had been starved.

Mr. D. J. Nathan rose from the audience and said that the last speech was like those given in ancient Greece, with the result that the manhood of the nation was lost. Men wh<s were not worthy of tho name were glad to.pay : others to do. their work. Wβ had a meeting.of ladies the other day. A voice: God bless 'em. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Nathan:, That's the truest word vou ever said, daughter.) At this stage many voices assailed tho phairinan's ears, and Mr. Nathan did not get an uninterrupted hearing, uproar resulting.

Mr. Orr, an elderly man. then essayed to address the meeting, but ho was constantly interrupted. One of tho interjectors was next to him, and tho speaker turned on him. "Hold your tonguo, young'man!" he cried, amidst applause. Mr. Orr was understood to say that-compulsory training was the only thing to save the country. Mr; Learning said tho people were confronted by an'industrial crisis, and this movement was purely a red herring drawn before tho faces of tho workers. What had they to defend? Nothing. The workers should bear in mind the fact that they had nothing to defend until they had'the produco of tho country in their hands. •' Mr. Darroch spoke strongly in support of the movement for compulsory training. "Wβ do not want war," he said, "but peace." ' ■ ■ A Voice: Pieces! (Laughtor). We want work. Comrade Dowdall: Will Mr, Freeth dobato the with sue at some jjnhlio hall? v i

The amendment was then put amid considerable uproar, and, on a show of hands, it was seen that tho motion was carried by about three to one. NEWTOWN. PRINCIPLE OF UNIVERSAL TRAINING •;.: APPROVED. At St. Thomas's Hall, Newtown, Mr. R. A. .Wright, SI.P. for Wellington South, presided over a fairly large gathering of local citizens. The principal speaker was Mr. R. M'Kenzio, a member of the Defence League Committee. The chairman, introducing the business of the meeting, emphasised tho necessity of haying some universal system of. military training, which would have the force of the law behind it, so that tho burden of defence might bo evenly and fairly distributed over tho whole, instead of a section of tho community. He believed in universal peace, but since it was impossible to hope for a unanimous disarmament among the nations of the world, they had to accept the principle that the only guarantee for a condition of universal peace was an efficient preparedness for war. The lessons of history went to show that the decline of certain great nations was jrimarily due to tho decline in their military efficiency. . •'■■.. ;; Mr. R. M?Kenzie, who received, throughout, ;a very attentive hearing; , frankly admitted that ho was unable to speak from oxpert knowledge of his subject. He had been, very deeply impressed with the arguments 'Which' had. been adduced in support of the principle of universal military training,. and had conceived it. to' be his duty to actively associate himself with the movement. Hβ had noticed that considerable misapprehension appeared to exist in the minds of a great many people as to' what was really' meant by compulsory military training; that, to put'it simply, mon were to bo taken by the scruff of the neck and practically run into the training camps. That was far from tho of what was being advocated. What was desired was that every man should be compelled to undergo a certain period of training, to the extent that, in a time of national emergency,- he would bo able to give material assistance in the defence of his country. It wae thought by those', who were advocating such a system that this result coulcTbe accomplished by compelling l their young men to.go into training camps for a month in their first year of training, a, fortnight tho, second-year, and, say,' ten.days for the third year.':' Under the operation of such a_ system they would gradually build iip their citizen army. There might be, he continued, cases, individual eases,.where considerable hardship might be caused by the enforcement of the system. There most always bo such exceptions, but he did not think that individual cases of hardship should be accepted as excuses for evad- '. ing the obligations of citizenship; some measure of relief, of course, would have to be ' granted, but the individual should nevcrthe- ' less undergo his training. The volunteer sys- : tem had failed. According to a statement ' made by Colonel Davies, 0.8., Inspector-Gen- ' era! of the Forces,tho nominal roll strength ' of tho country's volunteer force was some- * thing like 20,000, but at the inspection par- ' ades a total of 6000 only was m evidence. Mr. _ M'Kenzio concluded his remarks ' by moving , . "That this meeting of citizens considers that notwithstanding the enthusiasm of the volunteers, the voluntary system does not provide adequate means of defence, and wo therefpro ask tho Government to-intro-duce a system of universal military training or tho young men." ■:■•'• , ■ . Mr. ,S,. A. Atkinson seconded the motion, and spoke at considerable length, in. support of th« previous speaker's arguments. • The chairman then called for a show ot hands on the issue, but was interrupted by Mr. Atkinson, who pointed out that since tho meeting 'was a convention of the supporters of the movement opponents present had no status as voters, a suggestion whioh'-evoked some pointed protests. ■ ."Do I understand," queried a member of the audience, "that the public has been incited teivitnessthe proceedings of a mutual admiration society?" .-r- - com ? here-as a, member of the public,'?; complained Mr. D.M'Laren, M.P. "and the meeting has just been requested to voto on a direct issue. If wo cannot declare our opinions by vote, we have come hero under a misapprehension." Other objections were also voiced* and tho chairman asked for his ruling on the question, said that it was clear from the advertisement convening the-meeting that supporters only were invited to attend. 'It is qnito open to.the opponents of the.movement to convene meeting of their own supporters " he said. "However, Iwill leavo it to the good sense _of those present." ; .Mr. Atkinson acrain protested, but in response to an interjection froin Mr RJ-M'Ken-zie. sat down. .... • ■. "•"■ c "

■_Tlio motion was then put and carried bv h votesto 19. ' ; ■..-.,.. J