The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1911. FARMERS AND MILITARY SERVICE.

Horowhenua Chronicle, 28 July 1911, Page 2

The Chronicle. PUBLISHED DAILY FRIDAY, JULY 28, 1911. FARMERS AND MILITARY SERVICE.

A co.aimkndaiiijE desire to meet, tho e:)iivenienee of the farming community is being displayed -by MajorGeneral God'ey in regard to the compulsory military .service scheme which is iioav tho hnv of New Zealand. Having regard to the support given by the farming community to this movement- Avlien it Avas being worked up, it is gratifying to find in the military ex-e-cutive a disposition to remove from the sdliome any features likol yto he harassing to landioAvners, whose desires to comply avith the hnv are undoubted, but whose exacting duties in the calling of .dairyfarmer or agriculturist make continued absence from the homestead -exceedingly trying and oxpensive. Before tho Farmers' [*nion Conference, last Wednesday, Ma jor-General Godley explained that it had been practically settled that the train'ing of mounted units in the country- he took it that the majority of farmers would join the mounted branches— Avon!;] be taken lis late in the training year as possible ; that was, about the end -jf May, or possi'olv, in exceptional cases, as In to as the beginning of Juno. At the same time they did not want to h;ive it to'o late in the year, as the weather pot very cold and hard 011 the men. He -would therefore be very glad if the farmers Avould help the authorities byletting the young men got away to the camps before the end of May if p:. ;ible. Anot.-ier thing on wmi.'i ho wanted to consult the conference was in connection with tho drills that had to be done throughout the year. The men had to put in thirty ;:ri!':; per a.inuni b.it 115 quite realise-:! L.i it it would be a Avaste ol time and an undue call on both man and hw.-.o to bring them a long way foir r.:i

isolated hour's drill. Therefore' it had been suggesting by t-lie eo:runnn.L ing officers that to a certain extent the.ve drills should be lumped' together that, if p::?;.i!;!e, the mounted units should, wo into oanin for more than the week required by the Act. It was proposed to get the men in camp for a. fortnight straight off and that the first week should really be a lumping together of tho isolated drills an:l-dayligjht parades that otherwise wnvuld have to lie put in (luring the year. 'I'nere seemed to he an ide<v that it would hevlp vei'y mucin if the men could get the (li ills through in one ''go." Of course he would like the men to have occasional drills throughout the year, for the training, to be of value' must be progressive light through,' so that in agreeing to the suggestion the military authorities were making an enormous concession. Tfey were willing, however, to meet the farmers even more than .l K i:lf wav, aiul it was hoped that the farmers would meet them so that a satisfactory modus vivendi should be arrived at.

Touching < un the point as to the training of infantry, the Major-Gen-eral -\\-onfc oil to say that the authorT' c faced u ' ith Tci 'y difficulty m respect to the men who would bo joining the infantry corps, as they were, in many cases, scattered about the hack country. It, Iliad been decided to Ji,ave very small i^" cei itres indeed in order to overcome the trouble, and if they could -2t only , a dozen men together they n-ouW send a drill instructor out to taiv© them-perhaps in a schoolhouse or a bam lent for the purpose It necessary they could be drilled between in liking hours. n 6 was particularly anxious not to 'have any question of exempting any particular class of the community—'(iiear and was, at the same time' quite determined to assist people of eveiy class as much as possible. In an ensuing discussion amongst the farmers delegates, it was made clear that in the South Island the month of May would be ,unsuitable though in the North Islalnd it would do very well. General Godley S •271 " iat lre "' ou,d "» w Mo to; having an expression of ownIt «now executire, ho " 1 ae V T"" e otW >'«*wtu.g ana j„. l

formative remarks and comments were made, by General God ley, and. lie found .amongst his auditors an appreciative unanimity. Ho referred to the time of training for mounted men, and said that it was Hot sought to have any hard ami llast rule on the point, but it was adistinct drawback from a military point of view not to have the camps at the very end of the training year. However, the defence authorities were very anxious to meet the fanners, and if it were shown to 'bo necessary that the camps should be held at another time - well, it would have'to lie done. As for the infantry, it was iiiMiucstioMablo that the camps must tie held in summer, though in this matter also ho would meet the farmers as much as possible. But they must, as far a.s possible, have all tin* men of a regiment up for training at the sanio time. One delegate had said that Hie supposed the main idea was to drill tho men and train them in the use of the ride, hut from a. military point, of view that was no more use than a headiiche! No army was of the slightest use unless it had a proper organisation, and was accustomed to ■be trained together under its battalion commanders. Xo unit, not even the smallest, was of any value unless there was organisation. He thought that the suggestion contained in Mr Vavasour's motion to let the provincial executives (ix times was the simplest way of deciding tin* time of training in different parts. The thing would be arranged by districts .just as best suited the districts anil there need be no difficulty on that point at all. (Hear, hear.) Ho did not think that the extra week in camp he had referred to would cover all the year's drills, but it would stand in place of a number of them. No man would be asked to travel more than an hour to a dirill, and tho drill centres would ho arranged with a view to the general convenience. He was convinced that with a certain amount of give and take a.ml with everyone's assistance there would not he any great difficulty over the whole thing. The sthenic generally was absorbing a lot of money, so that he did not think there was the slightest chance of the Government buying any horses for the mounted corps, except a, lew that would bo required to draw the up-to-date guns which wore to be imported from Home. It would be an enormous help if tho farmers would lend horses to their young men and he hoped they would he able to do so.