SIR IAN HAMILTON AT TAKAPAU.

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2141, 6 May 1914, Page 8

SIR IAN HAMILTON AT TAKAPAU.

ARRIVAL IM CAMP.

PRELIMINARY INSPECTION,

' GENERAL INTERVIEWED.

INTERESTING & FRANK REMARKS.

(By Telosraph.-Speclal Reporter.)

Takapau Camp, May 5. 'An air of suppressed excitement pervaded the .camp at Takapau this morn-

ing; it was tlio day of General Sir lan y Hamilton's visit of inspection. An extra special polish was given to boots,' spurs, leggings, and accoutrements, and no effort was spared to give tho Inspector-General of Overseas Forces tho best possible impression of his visit to Takapau. Tho day was beautifully hue, and tlio auspices vera, highly favourable for a good showing by tho troops, tho various thoroughfares jn tho vicinity .of tho camp wero an eyesore, and certainly an impcdimcnt,tq a good orderly march out of and into tho camping grounds. Tho v - Weather and the traffic 'of Men and horses had dono that. { inspeotor-ceneral Arrives. ■ About'half-past two Sir lan Hamilton, accompanied by his personal staff" (Brigadier-General. Ellison: and- Major Ashmef'e), and.-the.- officer'.commfflidihg■the New Zealand -Forces (Major- > General A. J. Godloy); Colonel E. S. - Heard (Chief-of Staff), Colonel-G.N. Johnston (Director of Ordnance), and the- members -of tlio General Staff, Colonel E. AV. C! Chaytor (Officer Commanding the District), Major Tcmperlcy : (District Staff Officer), and the officers of the District Headquarters arrived, haying travelled by special train from / 1 almerston, and .immediately commenced a round of 'inspection., visiting tho various branches or 'the service as they were at Work on their allotted training areas.. Tho machine-gun section, under Captain J. M. Rose, of the • District Instructional. Staff, was first inspected, and Sir lan Hamilton appeared to bo very favourably impressed with what he saw.; In Captain Rose ho met an old friend of tlio, Cameron Highlanders, and of aotivo campaigning abroad, and the'two conversed reminiscently for somo time regarding old days. Leaving this, section of the division, tho Inspector-General and party mounted horses, and proceeded a distance of 'some miles to Mr. S. Andirson's farm,from the rising ground of which he proceeded to view a v skirmishing exercise with blank ammunition by a portion of '- tho Mounted Rifles Brigade", under Col"onel Russell, the. Brigadier. The In-spector-General's stay hero was of brief ■ duration, but ho was heard to say that what he had seen was "very pretty." • From there, at a sharp trot, the'party proceeded across country, over hill and dale, back to tho camp gates, where Sir lan Hamilton stood watching the irifan- . try regiments b.eing played into camp from their training grounds.. Owin" to .the gathering darkness. Sir. Lan Ham° iltoh was unable ,to see the infantry at .work, but,, to-morrow), they will bo closely scrutinised as they manoeuvre in,'mimic warfare. After a rapid inspection' of (the lines, the Inspeetorfic.hc'ral returned to the divisional headquarters, where afternoon tea was served.' ■ .

Sir-Jan Hamilton-afterwards left by nio'tor'foriithej-re'sidence' of % Mr. Sydney Johnston, "Oruawhare," ' wfiere lib is staying'as guest • for the evening. Brigadier-General Ellison and Colonel Heard were, tho ..guests of Mr. J. B. A'Dcane., 'at-, "Ashcroft,'.;,. Takapau,. tfhilo General Godley and Major Ashbolt staved at "Oruawhare."

The Hon. James Allen (Minister of Defence), tho Hon. W. Fraser (Minister of Public Worts), and tho Hon; H. D. Bell (Minister of Internal Affairs), and Colonel R'.'tT. Collins,(Reserve of Offic- . / ers) attended the . inspection of the troops, following the nio'ttnted. party in motor-cars. The Hon. Wj. Fraser"lit'fie'r- ■ • • • wards went on to, Napier.. Mr. J. H. Escott, M.P.. met the General nt afternoon tea and introduced himself as an ex-niomber of the Second New Zealand ! Contingent in South Africa. AN INTERVIEW.' ON COMPULSORY TRAINING. After his return to the Divisional Headquarters at tho; conclusion of his preliminary:./irispcetioil, Sir,lan Hamilton courteously accorded a brief inter-. , view to tho four Press representatives i who were in 'camp. The Inspector-Gen-pral is totally" without the appearance of a austerC.roservo-which is popularly believed to beMhe-common attribute of • tho Imperial officer—a supposition, by .. the way. largely dispelled by theapproachableness of tho Imperial officers who at present constitute the Dominion' •section of the Imperial General Staff. He is tall, with a slight, stoop, and,a habit of looking forward sharply which accentuates the stoon. Ho is of that fair type which ages slowly, and, in appearance,, is bronzed. Ha is' quick .•>'id animated in conversation, and has the appearance of speaking from deep-ly-i'o'oted convictions.' "As he faced his four interrogators in the tent ho smiled encouragingly and ' said: "Well, but what do you want mo | to talk about " Tliepo was a brief pause, iond then tho inevitable question: "AVhat do you think of our troops?" •■ . _ I The'lnspector-General replied that he, , \ had not yet seen enough of them to generalise. Apropos ho said that his interrogators must not invado him| with matters of policy. Whatever ho had to say in criticism of the troops, and tho working of the system, must necessarily bo 'reserved for tho Govern- . mpnt when ho matlo his reDorfc. "General Hamilton," said ono of the interviewers, "you are known to bo opposed to'coniDulsory training in England. Has what you have- seen in Australia and New Zealand of tho application of the principle of compulsory trniniiK' modifird your views?" "No,"- replied the General, who proceeded to make it clear that his .views were determined by his'appreciation of certain technical conditions in the Old J Country—conditions which did not ap- j lily here. For the British Army they l had tn provide 30,00(1 recruits' every year; for approximately that number of timc-tixnireci men left the Armv annually. The recruiting of this 30,000 was not an easy task, but it>was largely aided by tlio fact that live-eighths nf that number were youths of 18 or 10, and that employers of labour preferred ■ older men tn youths of theso smos. To those youths, _ who wore unable to get employment in civil occupations tho Army supplied the want. It was of tho first importance that the British Regular Army should be recruited up to its required strength, and any system of compulsion which would tend to interfere with recruiting for the Regular Army should not be entertained. , If a _ system of compulsory training came into force, in England two elements would be introduced which would prejudice both tho. Army • and the Navy. In tho first place it would prejudice the "recruiting for the ArmyV ;Mr. John Burns, President of tha'Local/Government Boat - !, had often'.Remarked to him that every young man .experienced-at one.timo or another a bad attack of "scarlet fever,"i.e., military ardour, and this helped recruiting, but, if compulsory training <

were introduced, and the young men of the country wore, compelled to spend part of their timo in military training, the ardour whicli helped tlio recruiting for the regular Army would be diverted elsewhere, and tho strength of the Army would suffer. Lord Roberts contended that it would help recruiting to give tho young men a taste of military life under a system of national service. Ho (Sir lan Hamilton) dissented from that view. "It is_of course only my personal opinion," lie said.' Ho added that the compulsory taste would moro probably satisfy tlio 3'omig mail's appetite thaa whet it for more.

, Might Harm the Navy. In the second place it was important that public opinion in Great Britain should bo focussed on the Navy as tho Empire's chief weapon of attack and defence, and tho strength of tho Navy necessarily depended upon the determination of the' people that tho Navy should bo adequate tor the security of tho nation. To divert public opinion from that determination, and centre it upon tho idea that a system of national service should bo introduced, would mean, as a corollary, tho creation of a desire that moro money should bo spent on tho Army. That meant less money for the Navy, and also a diminished interest in tho Navy. Our System Suitable for Us. "Then," -said tho reporter, "even the application of so mild a form of compulsory training as we have here would prejudice tho recruiting for the Army!"' (i "Yes," roplicd tho Inspector-General, "it is not tho typo of military training that I like for adults. I am entirely in favour of cadet training. Tho system which you have applied has never before been tried anywhero in tho world, and .1 believo that it will be a big thing, but for tho reasons which I have stated, and which do not apply in these Dominions, I am not in favour of its application in England. Hero your men in tho country are half soldiers. They can light fires, build bridges, and can easily adapt themselves to the conditions of active campaigning." . , ; Caught Sir lari's Eye. ■ Sir lan Hamilton went on to say that he particularly, admired tho horses of tho 6th ■ (Manawatu) Regiment, and, duriii" his inspection of- the camp, had been delighted with the methods adopted by the master cook end kitchen staff and the system of handling the food for the men of the lltk (Taranaki) Regiment, Colonel Malone.

The Inspector-Ceneralshlp, "A statement has been published in England," said the reporter, "that the appointment of Inspectfir-General of the Overseas Forces will be abolished' wlier. you have finished your present tour, General .Hamilton, is that correct?" Sir lan Hamilton, laughed. ."Somo crank put that in." ho said. Ho went on to say that the appointment was created by the Imperial Government in consultation with the Dominion Governments. Obviously tho Imperial Government would not arrive at a decision to abolish tho appointment without consulting tho Dominion Governments. Personally he thought that tho occasional visits of a stranger, who 1 would criticise their w;ork in the light of his- own- experience of tho practical side of military' semes, was a good thing. Tho expected advent of such a critic would givo somo incentive to those who were afout to be criticised to become- efficient in their work. It put them on their mettle and kept them out of a groove. He had not come out to butter them up, but to tell them candidly what he thought as pleasantly as ho could. En passant, he remarked that tho mounted men whom, he had seen at work that afternoon were very keen, but they rode their horses too hard. In war that pace might bo all very well for a-day or two, but; .necessity 'would compel the men to steady their' pace and 'save their horses, CAMP FIRES. ; TWO TENTS DESTROYED. Two tents were destroyed by fire yosterdaj-. One outbreak was an accident, and tho other firo was ordered by tho doctor, The first of these, the accidental one, was tho case of a tent at tho rear of tlio lines of the sth Regiment. It took placo at 3 o'clock in the morning, when a candle, which had been lit by one of tho occupants, fell over among tho 3traw, which ingtantly caught fire" The occupants hurriedly evacuated their citadel, which went up in smoke; The loss amounted to an oilskin coat and a waterproof sheet. ' ; Tho second fire took place about 5 o'clock in tho evening. Gunner Roulston, of F Battery, contracted .diphtheria, and was removed to the hospital, and the tent and its contents wcro ordered to bo destroyed by firo as a precaution against infection. CENERAL & MAORIS. ' On arrival at' Takapau station yesterday, Sir lan Hamilton was greeted by a party of Maoris, who danced a haka of welcome. On behalf of tho party, Heme lackca Neriana Kariateania- presented the General with two Maori mats and a greenstone pendant. Speeches, through an interpreter, wero delivered, and General Hamilton suitably replied. Amongst the Natives were several Maori war veterans.

TO-DAY'S MANOEUVRES. To-day's manoeuvres will be based on •the idea that Auckland and Wellington are rival States, strained relations between which have culminated in a war. During the evening preceding the day ot tho manoeuvres tho movements of the rival armies have resulted in tho Wellington forces driving the attacking forces back towards Napier, at which port tho enemy is presumed to have disembarked his troops.' In the retirement of the Auckland troops tho rearguard has been cut off near Takapau, and has been ordered to make tho best of a desperate situation. The efforts of this rearguard to manoeuvre out of their, dangerous position and effect a junction with their main body, and tho efforts of tho Wellington troops to frustrate this attempt will be carried out by tho Takapau troops to-day. Tho'rearguard of tho Auckland armv will be represented by a small force (White), consisting of a squadron of mounted rifles, a battery of artillery, and a regiment of infantry, and will bo commanded by Tneut.-Colonel C. H. Turner. Tho Wellington troops (Brown), which' are much superior in strength, will be commanded bv Colonel Chaytor, and will consist of throo regiments of mounted rifles, two batteries, three regiments of infantry, engineers, signallers, and transport, arid a supply corps.

THE RECENT DISTURBANCE.

(To .tho Editor.)

Sir, —Your, speoial reporter's account of the strike at Takapau on Sunday evening has been tho occasion of a good deal of surprise to anyone who took part therein. Persons unacquainted with the facts of the matter would naturally concluao that the strike mob was composed wholly of followers of- tho extreme Labour party. This vro3 not by any means the case. The mob consisted of anything from two to three thousand men (twenty times the number who took part in tho affair of Saturday), and only a very small per cent. woroOted Feds. To-day the matter has been generally discussed by tho various infantry regiments and by the officers, and it was decided to tako whatever steps that were necessary to ensure, that our demands were granted at least so far as extra pay was concerned. Since then word has. been received that extra pay will be given for all extra days; For which we desire to thank the Department. AVe who represent the "Liberal" and

"Reform" parties strongly object to being classed with tho He'd Feds. Tho crowd was composed of all sections of the community, and representative of all political parties, who united in a common cause to remedy mutual grievances, and it is unfair to shunt tho blame upon nny particular party.—Wo are, etc.,

COUNTRY TERRITORIALS OF THE 7th W.W.C.R.

- Takapau, May 4, 1914. [Our report stated that there was evidence of a "Red Fed" element being present, not that tho wholo of thoso participating in the disturbances wero Red Feds.] (To the Editor.) Sir.—ln connection'with the disgraceful conduct of tho Territorials on Sunday, permit mo to protest against dragging the name "colonials" in. South African colonials, who are resident for the timo being in the Dominion, object to tho uso of tho word tinder the circumstances, because it might convey the impression that the ordinary colonial w'ould have adopted similar discreditable tactics as disgraced the camp on Sunday. The colonial of this country is not an ordinary being, lie is altogether an extraordinary production, and. to somo miiids,_ forms tho missing link in tho Darwinian theory. How would some of-theso delinquents Hko to spend a few days in camp outsido Kimbcrley, during which the South .lirican storm bursts out for a couplo of days/belching forth a continuous torrential downpour, destroying tents, marquees, and impedimenta in- toto, and cutting channels four feet deep in sun-baked, rock-strewn Mother Earth? And on tho top of ten days' manoeuvring, a march back under a blistering sky of thirty-five miles. You must send •some of your • "fighting" Territorials to rotchefstroom. and wo will benevolently feed them; like the Kaffirs, on moalie pap.—l am, etc.,