DISBANDMENT OF NORTH DUNEDIN RIFLES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2896, 15 September 1909, Page 37

DISBANDMENT OF NORTH DUNEDIN RIFLES.

CITIZEN INTERFERENCE CONDEMNED. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL STONEHAM! SPEAKS OUT. Pending receipt of official intimation of the decision by the North Dunedin Rifles to disband, Lieutenant-colonel Stoneham, O.C. Battalion, declined to make any conw ment. The announcement having now been' officially made through the proper military, channels, our representative waited upon Lieutenant-colonel Stoneham, who made th< following statement': — " I do not desire to say much on this matter now that it has, by the decision of the company to disband, practically reached finality. No officer commanding a battalion or regiment can take any pride in seeing one' of his companies go out of existence, no matter what the reason might be, ~ bub if it is to be a choice , between retaining ai company oilmen whoare not amenable to discipline, or, on tfce other hand, having no company y-t all, then -I say without the slightest hesitation that it is infinitely, better to dispense with the company or, companies • for the matter of that, for they] never could be- anything but a menace to other trained troops if e.ver . they weVo called up to serve under active 6ervice con- , ditions. That this company* has decided!, to go out is, in a way, <fc> be regretted, > but, under the "ircumstancee, it Ls the best thing they could have done, for, with, friends such as they have behind them, they would never want to submit themselves to that discipline which must be the firat instinct of any soldier or Volunteer, and without- which any trcopfi wil T , under any serious teat, only too readily become a rabble. And in connection with/ this phase of it, I unhesitatingly state that this company has, from a military point of view, been rendered a disgrace not only to themselves and their battalion, but also to the Volunteer force of Ota go, and this not so much, I believe, by their own action a as by the unwarrantable interference bypersons totally unconnected wibh the force, and who, as far as I can gather have, with one exception, never been connected with' it. I haven't much doubt, from the knowledge I already possess, that had it not been for this unwarrantable interference the company would Jong ngo have sub* mitted to the inevitable, and would still hase been in aotive operation. A nice stat« our military forces would soon be in if outsiders were allowed to interfere as thes« have done, and wko have used every mean* in their -power, politically and otherwise, in order to try and force the. hands of th« Defence .Minister -and his council. They, evidently did not, and do not, understand* the first thing in. matters military, and the, letter or ultimatum signed bjr one or" the members of this so-called Citizens' Committee,' and sent to the Hon. Me Fowlds last month, waa a "fitting climax to their efforts, and they richly deserved the severe slap in tine face they received from the Minister. I am sure nobody waa a bit sorry for them. I haven't the slightest doubt thjt it was the most impudent and! improper communication he has received! Ip his capacity as Minister of Defence. Ther« was no request in this letter, but an out-and-out demand that he must alter his de--cision, and they gave him 10 days in which to do it, but they overlooked laying down the penalty if he refused, which seemaf strange. The letter teemed with misstatemente from beginning to end, but nobody was taken in by it, not even the citizens who were clamouring for another publiq meeting to protest against the decision ol the Defence Council. What a deliberata libel on the citizens of a" patriotia city like Dunedin. Why, for _the pas-ft two year* this Citizens' Committee, of rather a few of them, have been doing their utmost in order to work up a popular outcry, and nobody outside of their own little circle has taken the slightest noiiop of them, apparently being quite prepared to leave the matter to those who ' have the only right to deal with it.— tha military authorities. It is to be hoped that this experience will be a leeson to then* and to any others who want to run us from out=ide. Let' them rlevote a little of their, surplus energy to doing something of prao* tioal use to their country, and not meddl« with things they know nothing about. Under existing coiKMtion* Volunteer officer^ have quite enough to content! with in orden to train those under them for. oossibly. active service jn the future, in defence ol .their country, without having to put ti& | with all sorts of insults from tliose who, ' one J6 ashamed to have to state, have neveit ffiven a day's service to their country, eat' that they might be able to do their share in defence of it if required. Instead, nob being satisfied with doing nothing for their; country, unless when paid for it, they do frheir utmost to create i nsu bo rdi nation "to a 1 • point verging on mutiny, and then theyj . express wornder why we don't set full value' . for the money spent on the defences of the ' Dominion. Unfortunately we have too many of such in New Zealand, and, like the poor, I suppose they will be always with,' • us. '* I have no wish or inclination to difi" cuss the company iteelf. It is another illustration of that -°ayin,g-, ' Save me- from my) friends. ' They have done now of thei* own accord that which they <3*cided to d«< some 15 months ago, afterwards rescinding it. But it is a resolution quite in accord! with our ide&6 on the subject as is ovi- < denced by the fact that it was strongly) recommended n^arlv 12 monihs ago thatf the company should be compelled fo adhere to their oiiginal resolution and disband." '