THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1915. SNOBBERY IN THE ARMY

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 1 July 1915, Page 2

THE KAIPARA AND WAITEMATA ECHO

HELENSVILLE, THURSDAY, JULY 1, 1915. SNOBBERY IN THE ARMY

With which is incorporated " The Kaipara Advertiser & Waitemata Chronicle."

J'HAT there is a certain amount 'of haw-haw and keep-off-the-grass snobbery in. the British army cannot be denied, and there is yet " some" left in the Dominions, but woe betide the upstart of to-day, who, imbued with a little authority, with probably many under him older and as capable of trundelling a clinking sword by his side, dares to try it on with our Tommies now fighting; hard. " Some "of it was tolerated during the Maori war times —the ECHO saw it —and even the Boer war could boast of a few officers who dared to put on side with those of a lower grade. Things are different now, and so they might well be. Every man is a brother fighting shoulder to shoulder for his country, and bravely goes to battle from his home and kindred to a foreign land, ready to spill bis last drop of blood in honour of Empire, and to save any portion of it from falling into the hands of the murderous Huns. There is no room for haw-haw clowns in the contest, and the man behind the gun is as good as the man in front. Let it be so.

The following (says a London writer) is an "instruction" issued by the Lieutenant-Colonel commanding the 2nd reserve of the sth Warwickshire Regiment: —

" N.C.O.'s should remember that in a battalion there are three separate and distinct classes : (1) Officers ; (2) N.C.O.'s ; (3) privates. The distinction between N.C.O.'s and privates should be as marked as between any other two classes. No N.C.O should ever walk out with a private; he should never drink with a private, and, so far as is possible, he should never enter a bar where a private is, and should a private come into a bar where N.C.O.'s are, they should leave as soon as possible, and not expect a private to do so. In view of the fact that at this station there will be difficulty in the sergeants, corporals, and lance-corporals finding separate accommodation, it is necessary that they should use the same part of the premises, separate from that used by privates."

One wonders what would happen if, say, the men of an Australian or New Zealand regiment came face to face with such a notice signed by their commanding officer ! It is hardly possible to conceive an order more likely to produce a most damaging effect upon the relations between officers and men.