BACK TO THE VOLUNTEERS!

Hokitika Guardian, 24 July 1929, Page 6

BACK TO THE VOLUNTEERS!

(Auckland Star.) A prominent Aucklander has given it as his expert opinion that the compulsory preparation of young New 'Zealand .for. the defence ,of the couu-r {try should 'be abolished and .that the pid-tnne volunteering system should {take its place.; Only physical training.,, in his view,, should be compulsory. This gentleman has had long experience of . compulsory military training, but it, does• not? appear, that lie did, service : in the volunteer forces that preceded the Territorials. Ha,d lie served in the volunteers he possibly would, have modified his. views to some .extent. Our old volunteer service system had this much in its favour, that all its members were enthusiasts, that they drilled for the love of the work and the pride and pleasure of handling arms. It produced, therefore, well-trained officers and men. r I here was an esprit de corps which it rs difficult to discover to-day among the Territorials, fit any rate, among the infantry. The organisation of the forces was far inferior to the present system, hut the spirit of reryic" among the volunteers was strong. .That much being said for volunteering, its .defects must, he considered. Its weakest point was the unfairness of lcav- . ing practically all the burden of national defence on tlie. few who were willing to make sacrifice .of time, energy and money involved in mom'borship of a volunteer corps. All who served in our volunteers will remember how little’ sympathy and support they received from the great body of the public whose lives and property they were fitting themselves to defend. Tlie volunteer was regarded as often as not as a semi-crazy person who spent oil drilling and marching the time lie could have givsn to sport.. Volunteering was a thing apart from the popular interests: it was, a sort of hobby, like collecting beetles or stamps or going bush cramping; very interesting, no doubt, to those who liked that sort of thing, but not for the general crowd. Tlie consequence was that the great body of young manhood of the country went quite untrained, unlicked into shape by any'kind of discipline and and schooling in the first duty of a citizen and a patriot. In those days even the defence of tlie chief ports was left largely to the volunteers. There was a nucleus of gunnery instructors, the Permanent Artillery, hut this force, a very good one, was not nearly strong enough to man all the coast defence batteries, and so volunteer garrison artillery, originally the naval artillery companies, were required for that service. They were well trained, and many an ex-volunteer gunner gave his country a veteran’s perfect service in the Great AVar. They represented volunteer training at its best. But the infantry were woefully few. The nation’s youth at large would not voiun-

teo' 1 : and that will always he the wav. Physical training for all our lads is an essential, but training to defend our national existence is no less indispensable, no less a moral obligation. Building a strong healthy body is only half the job. It is all very well to say that raw recruits can bo knocked into military shape in a.few Wqeks, but there is always this question to bo answered: Who is going to defend the country while the soldiers aro being made? The permanent staff? The few volunteers?