THE TAKAPAU RIOT

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2143, 8 May 1914, Page 8

THE TAKAPAU RIOT

« ~- ■ SIFTED BY INQUIRY. EVIDENCE OF RED FED DEVICES, MEN'S EXf RA PAY. CRANTEO THREE DAYS BEFORE THE INQUIRY. (By Telegraph—Special Beporter.i V Takapati Camp, May 7, , Tho crash of 'artillery fire and the distant reverberation of bursting shrapnel among the outlying hills in tho vicinity of Takapau to-day indicated that some sort of taste of the "real , thing" was being given to the Territorial gunners of the F Battery (Napier) and J Battery (Palmerston North). The Palmorston battery lias tho now field howitzer gun, which fires a 351b. shell, and, effectively handled, is a very formidable wwpan in the at- j tack on entrenched positions. The Napier men have the now IS-pounders, Each are four-gun butteries, The howitzers wero brought into action to-day for tho lirst time since they were handed over to their corps, and the gunners have been training on them for montiiSj but, considering tlie fact that they were firing for the iirst time, brilliant shooting could hardly be expected, Nevertheless the icsults .vrore considered to be satisfactory, for," although the targets wore not actiiall.v hit, tho shells went'very near. Tho ranges svt«re from 4000 yards to GOOO yards, and the targets • on tho hills represented various objects, such as the' enemy's artillery, infantry entrenched, and' infa.irj.ry advancing. Tile now improved gutr sights Wore itsed ■ to tho advantage of the gun-layers. Opening'fire .with lyddite sheik for ranging shots, the battery proceeded to practice with time-shrapnel, and did what was. considered to lib excellent work. F Battery, with the IS-pounder guns, also did very good work. Liveshell practice will be coaitimiod. to-mor- , row, when a tactical $«homo will bo i carried, out in co-operation with the other arms.' A.good day's work was got in by 1 tho other' corps of tho division. The . Engineers were engaged in laying and firing mines, and carried out other field work across tho Porangahaii River. Tho . infantry corps put in a day's field train- > ing, while the mounted men went oil ; a route march. _ • i To-morrow a tactical scheme will bo , worked out. . Saturday morning will bo- [• devoted to training, and tho afternoon i will ■. witness. a sports moeting. on tho- . parade ground. .On Sunday the troops | will entrain for home. The-sth. (WeJ- . lin'gton) Regiment will arrive in town at 3.45. p.m., and will.march through tho. city headed by their baud and colours. It is; hoped that, there will bo. a good muster of citizens to" "welcome home the "Dandy Fifth.'' After the close of the present camp a casual camp for men' who have not ' been able to get away for their train- ' ing before will bo held for the next ten fc days. : The health of all in iho present ' camp is good, and only about 2 per cejtfc. * 'of tho horses have been listed as sick) > ~ "" i RED FEDS.'IN CAMP, j A SELF-CONFESSED AGITATOR. 1 T~ t The Court of Inquiry, which, jUnder 1 the presidency of .Colonel G, F. C. i Campbell, Coast Consuiawder, 3 hasibcen investigating the circumstances r surrounding the riot of Sunday last, mvs o concluded taking evidence, ana met yes- . terday afternoon to consider its repori. This report, the President'of; the Court informed The Dominion' representative in camp, will be submitted to the Gen* oral Officer Commanding tliq New Zealand Forces before its %o.!,itents art made known to the public.,' '•.JleanwHk 0 a good deal of information has leakes! ■ 6 out from various tents il) camp, i l and, on certain facts,,there is a, signili- ." caut unanimity of agreement, firstly. r there was a fairly general Reeling pi discontent about the extra. da.ya ir camp, and the doubt attached to th< question of payment far. theso days n Secondly, there was strong discontenl lg amongst those who,, had trot been able „ to como into camp with a, suit of mufti ~ to change in wet weather, extra, uni '„ forms not having been issued. Tb.< [t third ground of discontent—ißsarScicnl q food—had very little behind it whiel ! e ' could not have been by tin v men themselves. The remedy .lay. ir B their own hands. The first tw< , e grounds sufficed for. a genuine griov | s ancc. ~ With regard to the first qucstiqnthe question of pay—authority is givoi w for the statement that tho question v 3 _ payment for tho extra days in cam] vm's referred to the Commandant b; ;s Colonel Chaytor," and recommended fo: a the Minister's approval by Marar-Gen oral Godley, and' finally agreed to b; j. tho Minister on April 30—three day: ■ 0 before tho disturbance. It has, a-lreatt; [ 0 been stated, in regard to the secolii eround of complaint, that no prohibi i g tion was issued from headquarters wit! m regard to bringing a spare suit o t- clothes to provide against a wettinj re while in camp, and that, if any prolii ip bition were issued,.that order was rna.d< io on the responsibility of the regimenta st commanders concerned. Tho Com re mantling' Officer of the sth Ilifantr i- Regiment' (Lieutenant-Colonel C. Hat it court Turner) expressly ordered th di men of his command to bring a ehantj of clothes, and, if any rsctnbcr <of tha ig regiment suffered 'discomfort throng vc having one uniform and no change suil rs ho suffered by his own neglect «f oi of dors. . " lie There has naturally been sow ifc anxiety on the part of the regiment 5; not associated with the riotous seen ie- of Sunday night to be- efeared of th uo suspicion which hung over everyhod or until tho evidence was sifted. Thet rk are some who say—a fairly large nun ill her—that the men were justified i going in a body to Colonel \Chaytor 1 to headquarters, and ventilating the: :e- erievanco (apart from the incontes ; d- able fact that .such a proceeding _ Was breach ofmilitary order and discipline but tho great majority were those tvr. heartily deprecate the methods of vio ence which were adopted by a sma section of the crowd. In fairness I !R the majority, whoso intention to act : a peaceful deputation to Cofofiol Cha; i n . tor was a harmless, though irregttta ho act, the responsibility for the stick t S Ktnnes, and other demonstrations < iu' ''Red Fed" methods should be definite be fixed, and, on tho undisnutod fact a they have already been, freed, theme whether the report of the Court of Ii he quiry will expose these to ( the light < his day remains to he seen. Every elicit) ith fact points to I) Comnauy of the i)l ish Infantrv Hegiment (Rdst Ooflsf> i to being the centre of the "Red Fed'' el of ment in can'p. It has been stated 1 She iin officer who has the very best reasai my for knowing the fact that, fottgh .' speaking, 80 out of the 120 men wl .ili- compose that comoanv are men who a an more or less inclined to, listen to t! pie voice of the agitator, and it is few ar- bevond all doubt that one man in ih the company was an out-and-out si ß< ive Fed." who openly boasted that he b: the rome into rump' for t.h.» express pu i'ay nose of making trouble. In the dnr a n<\ss of Sundav night it was not 1K rgc siblc to see or hear everything that lia les- pened. It has since come out thr ere when the riot was at its height,, one i lan dividual went among iXic crowd callin nid "Boys, get l your hayonets!" re- Again, a characteristic catch-sry thia oonipanj'B disaffefitedS leetipa

"Down with the officers, and up villi [j the privates," awl this catch-cry was repeatedly hoard on Sunday night. Further, this company was concerned in a brief strike on the Saturday before the riot, arid has also been concerned in one sine*. The latest demonstration, a trifling affair when com- r pared to the serious events of- Sunday > niaht, was a refusal to continue march- \ ibb. and a demand for a spell. J The main lesson of the riot, as re- ! cited by one officer to Tflß Dominion' representative, is the strong necessity ' for regimental commanders realising ! the importance of maintaining a sys- ' ; torn of discipline which is regulated Isy ' the exercise of common-senso in meet- ( ins the various problems winch call for ( settlement in the routine of military ; life in camps, drill halls, or on the field. J These problems are comparatively easy < of solution in the city centres where ] the regiments are frequently paraded ! with a full attendance of platoons, but, ! in the scattered districts, a regiment ! may only assemble as a regiment once- A '• year, 'flic regimental staff officers are * strange to most of the men, who only ' know their awn company officers, and under such difficult circumstances, the • sudden application of the eoniiMnding officer's authority, and of that of his senior regimental officers, to the men ' who encounter it for the first time, does ; not elicit that trained response which ' fan only ho cultivated by freouent parades of the full regiment. Those.' .' conditions call for a very careful selection of commanding offieofs. . Another. ! point which affects the' discipline of : some of the country regiments is the riifiieuity of securing the services of sufficient officers of the right stamp wherewith to staff the regiment. Certain roainifiits bow in camp aro under- ' staffed. to PAY THE MEN. SUM OF £1.5,300 DISPATCHED. (Br Mtßiapli.—Press Association.) PalhierstOh North, May 7. No less a mm .than. '£1,5,500 travelled from Palrnerstoii to Takapau caiH{i this week'-under the- escort of Captain S. Trask and twenty men. This sum is required at camp to pay the men on termination of their period of training. OOOKS IN CAIVJP, One of the. striking things, in tho ; Takapau camp, which helped ia the general success was the. catering of Mfs. Uawlius, of Whit© House', I'a-lmerston North. Mrs-. Rawlins, whose name is well known (in military circles, as well as civilian circles) as a*first-class c&teri or, at TakapaU;. had a staff of about fifty assistants, and in spit© of tho ; shacking weather during last 'week she manajMd splendidly. There were about i 200 officers, N.C.O.'s, m*d civilians'to !- billet all told, and never once was , a i complaint set forth. : \Yhen quo eohsid- > crs tho; inconvenience erf camp life, to i say. nothing of bad weather, too'success ■ attained by Mrs. Rawlkis '-is. deserving i of- the" highest congratulation. All who i were fortunate to bo under tho wing-of I Mrs. Rawlins aro loud in their praises >■ of that lady and Hot capable staff. ,