OUR CITIZEN ARMY

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2209, 23 July 1914, Page 4

OUR CITIZEN ARMY

; ' REVIEWED. BY THE FARMERS CALL FOR STANDING CAMPS : GENERAL GODLEY'S REPLY . Several interesting discussions on the working of the Now Zealand defence system took placo at the annual conference : of the New Zealand Farmers' Union yesterday.'. Sir Alexander Godley (Officer Commanding tho New Zealand Forces) was present by invitation, and took part in the discussion. The discussion was opened by Mr. Dunn (Taranaki), yrho moved: "' "That'this'..union., is of. opinion 'that in 'the interests of'the. health ; and.morality of our rising genera- , tion it would be undesirable to sub- . stitute'the barrack system for. that 6'f camp's in training territorials." I Sir-Alexander Godley. explained that there' was: no idea' at' present of having the barrack system.in NewZeajahd, and fhe motion was then withdrawn. Standing; Camps, ji Tho'.Auckland delegates brought down the following remit;— - '... "Tliat the Defence • Department should - be urged to consider' the ' establishment, of permanent camps, ,; whero tliemen could attend' at any • period of the year tor training." . ; Sir .Alexander Godley pointed out some of tlio difficulties in the.way of the proposal.' It -might mean' that a man .would;go to do his training at a different time to.his officer, and then away would go tho military organisation: .- It was imperative that the men should-, train under those who would lead them "in war. That was; briefly the "frhole.' military objectioai to the proposal. '•.'■'."'"' . : Captain'Colbeck (Auckland) said that it was not essential that a 'man should be! in command of his own men. It frequently happened in war that ah officer conlmanded. men who were strange to hihi, but what.did it matter, i? the men word thoroughly trained? Another point was that the taking 'of young men away from .their work at the one time for training seriously disorganised, business, both,commercial and agricul-' tural. The original idea (Colonel—Bri-gadier-General—R. H\*'Davie&'s) was that a boil-over camp should b0,,. .established—men .' always . going, in and others always'going out. In such a system a' young officer would always have (say) one thousand men to practise on." ■ , ■ .Mr. John Talbot (South Canterbury) thought that Captain Colbeck had stated, the position vory'well. The Value of camp-training was-seriously detracted from through the fixtures being ima'do for, a period of the year when the weather was very bad. If the position could hot bo improved,' the people, of course, '• would have to work as well as thoy .could under it; but he hoped that some improvements could bo effected. Mr... Evans (North Canterbury) said that unless alterations in the camptraining system were made tho paronts in tho country would riso. up and demand , tho repeal of tho Act. Voices:' No. . . " " • 1 Mr. Sheafc (Canterbury) said that tho fines for-defaulters were so light that young men saw that it would pay them better (in a purely monetary sense) to default than to go to camp. Ho asked if anything, could bo dono to so deal with defaulters that this position would disappear. -. Mr. E. Maxwell expressed himself as satisfied that' tho ■ only thing which .would meet .the needs of this country jwas -a:, permanent'.camp'; Tho farmors would assist the' military in every way possible, but ho thought that tho farmers were fully entitled to endeavour to get tho training system adjusted to .suit who conditions of their life. Unless thcro was some alteration, resentment might bo provoked.. Mr. G. Gardner said that some youths in Canterbury, who wero not sons of poor 'people, escaped the training, and (here was a feeling that that was a state of affairs which should bo remedied. , He had every confidence that the. Minister of Defence would exerciso tact and foresight. "We must make up our minds 'to make sacrifices," said Mr. J. M'Queen (Southland). "This country is worth making sacrifices for." If tho sacrifices wero more than had been anticipated, they should not shirk them. ..','■' Cenoral Codley's Reply. . Sir Alexander Godley said, that he was sorry that ho could not agree with Major L'usk and.Captain Colbeck. On his shoulders rested a grave responsibility, i. His first duty was to train a citision army for war. Ho would tell them plainly that it was no uso training an army for war piecemeal Or in batchcß, They must have the men together, who were'going to fight together. If the Boers had boon an organised army it was quite doubtful whether South Africa would now be ours tewlay. The New, Zealand contingents, excellent as they wore, had to'bo organised, and it was not until" thoy had been brought into' that higher organisation that they became so useful in the later stages of .the war. There was no comparison between, tho Territorials of to-day and tho die? Volunteer Forces,, which were trained on the lines which Major Lusk and Captain Colbeck suggested. He would be most criminally lacking in his duty to this country; if he- were not to tell them this.' If they were just to send men to- canip to'drill -with anyone who hap-, pencd to ho there, and then to simply let them go away again, they would he striking at the esprit do corps,, which .'was .tho whole essence of armies.. In New;Zealand' they were building;up a splendid spirit of comradeship, and.here it was suggested that the whole should be shattered. It must .not bo thought, thatoho did not know of tho difficulties' of men'who-had. to leave their .work. Ho knew and' sympathised '.with them. .In cases of: genuine, hardship, a. man could go to. a magistrate ;and ask for exemption from training. Then,'as -regarded the farmers who employed a number of men, there was the casual camp. Ho pleaded guilty to having endeavoured to make a particularly good show last season in view of tho visit of tho Inspector-General (Sir Inn Hamilton), and he did not think they would blamo him. (Hear, hertr.) It was hard for them to ~ realise the difficulties which had to bo contended with. What was satisfactory to the farmers was absolute anathema -.to''someone ejsc. All over tho world it was usual to hold the camps.or manoeuvres'in the autumn. - Someone, he went on, had said that more in the way of rifle shootimr should he done, but tho suggestion that mils-' ketry had been overlooked was. ridiculous,' Why,' some of the hnvs had only been taken in hand in 1912, and somo of those at the meeting might not liavo been alive to-day had .rifles been served out to' thoso boys. However, musketry training was, beini pushed on with, and its value was realised.. Therewas another aspect; A man imVht bo the best marksman' in tho world, but what in tho namo o r Heaven was tho use hf.a good shot if ho could not bo pot to where he was needed to do his shooting, ft had now been settled that thov.should get rations and forage, and hold'-concentration camps for country people. After-all, the scheme hnd'onlv been going for three years, and it must bo easy to see that mistakes wore, almost inevitable. "He admitted that ho had made some errors, but if they .had been afraid to; err they would have accomplished nothing. Sir lan Hamilton had put his finger on tho weak spot that somo men'worocscaping service; and now they .proposed to place men in charge of defined areas--'moiv who would know' nll'.iiboul overj-body ia their area. Ho had beou

perfectly amazed at tho intense- mili-! tary spirit which obtained in this country. A better lot of young men lie never wisjiod to liavo servo under his command. Though thoy may not bo disciplined in tho German senso, tlicy were rapidly acquiring an appreciation of tho necessity for discipline. Their discipline would bq of a willing kind, and was an infinitely moro valuablo discipline than tho kind which was acquired under compulsion and punishment. The New Zealand boys had behaved admirably in tho camps during tho bad weather which visited tho country during Sir I«m Hamilton's visit. Only in ono instance (at Takapau) was there any trouble, and that has been much exaggerated, and aroso out of a .misunderstanding, and not because of (bad..weather. Tho worse the weather got in the camps, the moro tho water and the 'mud the lads had to plough through, the moro cheerful thoy got. Ho realised how much was owing to the farmers for what they . had done for tho defence system, and, so far as he could, ho was willing to do all he could to meet their wishes. No voto was taken on the remit. Larrikinism After Drills. Arising out of tho.two following remits (from Auckland and Taranaki respectively;, there was a short discussion :-r (0 "That while tho union approves of compulsory military training,.it considered that it is .most desirable that evening drills for cadets in country districts be discontinued, daylight drills to be substituted either fortnightly or monthly, as tho fact that lads from fourteen to eighteen aro compelled to assemble in the townships, and being' under no supervision after dismissal from drill; it 'fosters the larrikin element to a serious extent." (2) "That, as far as possible, all Territorial drills bo held in tho daytime, and the taking of country boys to town avoided." Speaking to the remit, Captain Colbeck said that the present system was not conducive to the moral welfaro of tho boys, and some irregularities had been'alleged. Mr. H. G. Livingstone (North Canterbury) said that as far as he was awaro nothing of the sort took placo ill Canterbury. Sir Alexander,Godley said that he was entirely iii agreement with the remit. He preferred getting tho boys outside, and doing interesting work —getting them away from the deadly, mechanical drill hall. But tho practical difficulty was that in tho day time the boys were working. Ho was afraid irregularities had occurred, but they were exceptional. However, there was the risk, and the risk was enough. It was difficult to get officers, and some of the officers were not all that they might be, but improvement would bo effected in that direction in the course of time. Ho believed that when the system of con- | centration was put into effect the trouble complained of would disappear. When thoy considered that 57,000 boys were under training during the year, most of them little used to discipline, and some to whom discipline ,was a stranger, was it not little short of marvellous that there had not been moro irregularities? This fact served to confirm his high opinion of the, Now Zealand youth. This closed the discussion, and the motions last mentioned wero carried.

NEW ZEALAND'S BURDEN OF DEFENCE.

SPEECH BY HON. JAS. ALLEN. ' Tho Army and Navy 'policy of New Zealand was touched on by the Hon. Jas. Allen at tho Farmers' Union 'dinner yesterday, afternoon. . ,■ Mi Allen said that nowadays 'wo did noi) look upon the Army or Navy as a local ..concern. ...They were,, of course, local inasmuch, as they existed for tho protection of bur own shores, but hind all.was-a conception of a united. Empire; '.Wlioii. tho'. time'.came New Zealand would do as.she had dono before ; .when' tho Empire called wo would send our men to help her. wherever they weio needed. And. wo would send men fully equipped, armed, and trained, fit to stand with the other trained men of the" Empire, and that was something more than we had cvor done in tho past. By taking this more active interest in the defence of home and Empire we had entitled ourselves to a greater share in all the- great traditions of tho Empiro of which we had heard so much in past years. ' They did hot look upon tho Army as an offensive machine. ,It .was a defonsivo ma-' chkie, which might liavo to use offensive methods in defence. But moro than that it was a citizen army, the training in which was not merely a preparation for war. In tho New ZealandArmy only quality could get a man to the top.. Men owed something to their neighbours, and thoy could learn that in the Army moro than elsewhere Then there was the valuo of organised discipline, and the facilities for the development of the individual. ' Continuing, Mr. Allen said that ho did not' agree with the idea that tho farmors who were developing the country- should not discuss this question. It was, of supremo interest to the farmers—more so than to anyone else/ for of the £24,000,000 of exports from these shores, 75 per cent, came fromthe farms; In tho defence system the. farmers had a good- insurance for their produce when it was ■ on the seas; Within the last few weeks —sinco Sir lan Hamilton had made his reportsvery considerable alterations had been initiated in tho' carrying out of the scheme, alterations which he thought would be approved by tho farmers. The' administration and'finance of the «chemb. had been entirely reorganised. Ho was vory pleased with tho • new scheme. There had already been- a- saving in money. Ho thought the new system' would make- for economy and efficiency. Efficiency they must place first of 'all. Then there must bo simplicity, and there must be no extravagance. Those were.the watchwords which had been adopted. Greater efficiency was being acquired as time went on. He hoped there would bo no waste, and that everything would bo dono with a view to efficiency. «

Our Naval Policy.llegarding New Zealand's naval 'policy, Mr..Alion said that certain remarks had been made. Ridicule, lie added; was all very well. It had been suggested that New Zealand was entering upon a policy of a toy navy, and intended to cut the painter with tho Mother 'Country. He did not yield to anyono in'lmperialism. (Hear, hear.) Arid ho had never had a thought in his head of cut-ting the painter. (Applause.) In IiJO'J an agreement had been made for | the initiation of an Imperial fleet in the Pacific. That had been abandoned —broken. It was broken without consulting . Australia, but New . Zealand had been consulted, and had agreed- to tho breach. It had been necessary to adopt a new policy. In his opinion a country like New Zealand, with a virile people, cquid never bo 'satisfied with putting its hand in its pocket and saying: "Thank God I havo dono with it!" -(Applause.) He would not remain Minister of Defence for a moment if ho did not have a share in thinking out matters of defence. He went on to say that Now. Zealand would be able to train her' own hoys, in tho ships at her disposal, as part of an Imperial institution. When the time eaine, instead of offering £100,000 in bank notes, New Zealand would bo able to oli'er Britishers trained, to the British standard, and New Zealand could ask that her interests.in.the Pacific should be considered... It was perfectly sftfo to 'say that the alliance with Japan -kept, us tolerably secure, but he placed no reliance on it if he looked to tho future, and no man was a statesman who did not look ahead. They had entered on a policy of training men. Ships they might get if they needed them,-'but men took.time to.train,' and they.would be a ■splendid hift to tho Mother Colin.-: to {Applause.,).