Compulsory Military Training,

Te Aroha News, Volume XXVII, Issue 4424, 15 June 1909, Page 2

Compulsory Military Training,

ENTHUSIASTIC MEETING AT TE AROHA. The meeting convened by His "\\ orship the Mayor (R. L. Somers, Esq.), in response to a numerously signed nquisition. to consider the question of Compulsory Military Service, took place in the Public Hali on F riday evening last, 11th inst. The Hall was crowded, quite a number of ladies being in attendance, while the meeting throughout was of a most enthusiastic nature.

The Mayor presided, and in his opening remarks said he was in sympathy with the purpose for which the meeting had been called. He said that compulsory military service did not necessarily mean conscription. AY o should all he able to use tho rifle, and if necessity arose, to defend our hearths and homes, and emulate the deeds of our forefathers. Without doubt young New Zealanders would not be missing should their services be required. Mr Burton read apologies from Rev. A. J. Reed and Father McGuinnoss, who were unable to be piosent, but stated they wero in full sympathy with the movement. Four resolutions were proposed and carried unanimously, during the meeting as follows : 1. That the State which fails to make adequate provision for its own defence cannot survive.

The Rev. P. Cleary, who had been entrusted with the moving of this resolution, said the question of national defence had received a go>d deal of attention of Lvte. The newspapers were full of it. while if one travels by road, rail, or sea one would bear the question discussed with avidity. He considered all should learu to use the rifle. If hurriedly called to arms and unprepared, of what use would we be before the trained legions of an invading power, we must be ready. Looking back, the Rev. gentleman, went on to say, we read how Imperial Rome gave herself up to luxury, not thinking it possible that any power would have the audacity to question her supremacy, but we know only too well, how her unpreparedness ended. He also instanced the FrancoPrussian War—with the loss of two of the finest Provinces and a big indemnity to pay. We should dispel the illusion that the British Empire is going to i retain power unchallenged. Some people took exception to the Dominion offering a Dreadnought to the Motherland, at a cost of a million and a half sterling, forgetting that in New Zealand the value of public and private property amounted to something like £600,000,000. We should be prepared to keep the flag flying. Mr Hubbard seconded the resolution, and in doing so said he strongly endorsed the reinaks of the mover, adding that we had plenty to inspire us. Our forefathers prepared for war, and ws should do likewise.

2. That the Dominion of New Zealand has not made adequate provision for its own defence.

Captain Lyons-Montgomery in proposing this resolution, spoke first of the fortifications and guns at Dunedin, Lyttelton, Wellington and Auckland. At Dunedin very little was done and the guns there were old muzzle loaders that were obsolete and useless. At Wellington they were waking up and in addition to the old armament of . 6in. and Bin guns of old pattern, were putting in some new 6in. mark 7 guns. 1 Not in position yet. At Auckland forts, ITakapuna, Cautley and the Bastion, the first two commands the harbour, the latter the town. There were 4in. mark 8 guns, 4in. mark (?, a few quickfirers and two now Gin. mark 7 guns. 411 the older ones were practically nonefficient. The 4in. mark 8 had a range of 5 miles, at 2J miles they would be inefficient against any modern cruiser. The 4in. mark G, with a range of 3000yds, would not throw a she 1 that would penetrate two inches of the armour of a cruiser, the reasou is that they are over twenty years old. When they were made their shells were good i against the wrought iron armour as then used, but they were no good ' against the cemented steel armour at 1 present. The broadside from a modern cruiser of 4 12‘mh guns, each gun firing a shell a mioutc, pumping 48 shells a minute into the forts, commencing at 15 miles and would be effective : long before the forts could reply. Informed that the ammunition in the forts of Auckland would not last a week then the men would there be sufficient for only a few days. Am told that after the first manning of the forts the e would be no trained meu to re-man them, men who could not lay fire or sight a gun, let alone reload and fire. We have heard of the wonderful practice made lately with the Gin guns, but only aga : nst dummy targets, searchlights, praised highly, yet they are rqn with an old oil engine that keeps breaking down, So far as the forts are concerned against a modern cruiser thoy would be practically useless. Now as to our Now Zealand army, on paper about 20,000. From that we deduct hoadquarter and district staffs, permanent and garrison artillery engaged in forts, defence cadets, ambulance, bands, medical and veterinary staff, th it leave s about 11,000 on paper of infantry, field artillery and mounted rifies. Re mobilisation —If they were mobilised in one district, that would leave all the rest defenceless, and to leave them as they are irritheir separatp means murder. Thpn, jf they dq pqt mobilise, is there apy officer capablp of taking charge of every branch of the service, and use them effectively to oppose an enemy’s landing iNo. Our officers —most of them—are trained theoretically but not practically. They havs had no chance. It is not their fault. Their commissariat. Are their arrangements adequate, and hayo they offtpers trained ip that branch that sq much depends an : supply of food, clothing and ammunition. As a Quarperr Master General has been appointed in the four centres, could the Auckland man provide for 1000 let alone ail army corp of 31,000 whose supplies would reach 300 tons daily 'r All rpnorts say against it. If so in peace, how about it in war time '■ Now the great force that is spoken of —militia —Sit Joseph Ward says 100,000. Take out of that the force spoken of, which leaves 1-10,000. These requjre 05,400 officers, and there are only 101 on paper available. The backbone —Non. Corns—practically none. To arm these there 4i'p, as Sir Joseph Ward says, 20,000 rifles, hut there is very little ammunition, no uniform, and if a man is fighting without a uniform he is treated as a spy ar:d sbqt at sight ; that is international law. Then how many if they got the riffes could use them : they would be mere dangerous to their friends than the pnpmy. To the ladies —I would like ft, see proposed atlfhfs meeting that a Radies' Ambulance and First A'd Corps be established, and also tlpit a Girls’ Scouts Company be organised. Ladies materially could help in so many ways —one way in refusing to marry any young man who was not efficient in military training to enable him to take his part in defending bis country and homo. Some think if the British navy was defeated that the Germans w°u'4 conic here to take us ’ over ; no such luck. In the parcelling out of ] the British Empire, when defeated, we would - fall to the lot of our near neighbours; China 1 a nd Japan, who are able now to take part in 1

the wor’d’s counc'b, and could pav us back fo- tv nailts thev think w: h ive paid them. If they got hold of t co muy it would be tt e cho'oe farms they would select, the present owners could go to the back blocks and worse. But if New Zealand was armed—every man —thoy would think twice befo e attacking, because in case of defeat, tfcey being far from their base, would suffer most. If we are still fi olish and weak they would be fools not to take advantage of our supiueness.

Mr F. Wild seconded in similar strain, and agreed with the Captain that much of the Volunteer strength was on paper.

3. That every citizen should receive such training as would enable him in case of need to bear arms in defence of his country.

Rev. Mr Blair, in moving this resolution, said mauy would wonder why lie, a disciple of peace, and a teacher of the work of the Great Peace Maker, should be present in approval of the objects of this meeting He did not believe in war in any way, but the reverend gentleman gave the meeting to understand thoroughly that though he was in favour of peace, no one but a coward would hesitate to defend his home, his liberty, his life and his country. That the British Empire had given liberty of thought and action that no other nation had given, even though some of the English methods at times were open to severe criticisms, yet taken all through, they were ahead of any other Power in giving liberty to the slave, liberty to the oppressed, and liberty of life and freedom of worship to all who came under her jurisdiction. He considered that every man should be so trained that if he were called upon he could use Ins best powers in the defence of everything dear to him. Mr A. F. Burton, in seconding the resolution said it was of great importance that whilst the question of defern e was considered in an intensely patriotic spirit, jingoism, and excessive militarism should be avoided. Those who advocated military training in New Zealand were utterly opposed to auy scheme for increasing the forces of the Empire with a view to- encroachments upon foreign powers. Their one purpose was to make every part of the Empire so strong that it would be left to work out its destiny in peace. The questiou of defence was one that could be discussed on nou-party lines. In working up the arrangements for the present meeting, the speaker had had occasion to discuss this questiou with persons of varying schools of political thought and cf oppposing creeds. He had been struck with the almost unanimous opinion expressed that compulsory training of the men of New Zealand was a matter of urgency. The people who advocated reform in military matters were not all experts, but they were quite able to form an intelligent opinion upou such facts as had that evening been set forth by Captain Montgomery. The only possible conclusion to be based on these and other facts was that New Zealand should arm, and that without delay. The speaker strongly urged upon the lads and young men of the audience the cultivation of a keen sense of duty and a high ideal of patriotism. They lived under specially favourable circumstances. Nowhere under the sun were equal economic, political, and social privileges to be enjoved. Every authority recognised that the State had the right to call upon its citizens fo defend it in time of need. In New Zealand, where so much was received from the State, the duty shouldered in no grudgi.ig mann'*r. Some people talked as if the lads of New Zealand wished to shirk their duty to their country : He had sufficient faith in them to believe that where duty called they would follow

4. That the time has come when the people of this Dominion should insist on provision being made by tlie Government for the compulsory nrlitary training of all male citizens of appropriate age and of sound physique. Dr. G. G. Kenny, in proposing this resolution, said that every inducement should be given the younger male population to bicarne efficient marksmen, and capable of taking up their positions in the firing line should the occasion arise. He referred to the doings tin! happenings at Home during the last few months. One particular nation, according to reports, required watching. He considered the best way to assist the Motherland was by being prepered to defeud ourselves. The Doctor spoke of the service rendered to the good old flag at Magersfontcin, Spionkon, and the work done by the Black Watch. He (the speaker) had served three years in a “ kilted regiment,” and if ocoisior, prose he was prepared to again don the kilts and fight to defend the country, if necessary. He ihad no (time for men of the Keir Haidio tribe. He (the speaker) sa : d that without discipline and obedience good shooting was nowhere. We must do our share of military training and national defence,

The Mayor briefly secomle 1 the motion Mr D. McL, Wallace, Chairman of the Te Aroha School Committee was the next to speak. He said :—Whilst the air is chaiged with war and rumours of 1 war, Dreadnoughts, aeroplanes, submarines’ and all the rest of it. it is my pleasant duty to bring before your notice two of our To Aroha .School cadets, Misters Clausen and Ashby, the two crack shots in the Auckla id Educational District, which practically means the Auckland Province. This competition consists of all cadets firing 7 shots at 3 different ranees, viz., 100, 150, and 20ft yards. The first range 100yds is fired from a kneeling position, the 2nd 150yds from a sitting position, and the 3rd range 200yds from the prone or lying down position. When you come to consider that somewhere about 5,000 cadets take part in this competition it is an achievement of considerable merit that the To Aroha School cadets furnished the top scorers. Both lads put up the same acore, but Corporal Clausen having the best score at the longest range, 200yds, won the medal. Whilst military training and discipline arc essential good shooting is of the utmost importance to make good soldiers, it is the man behind iho gun who does the trick ever time. Witness the Boers in the late Bouth African War, they were poorly trained, but they were good shots. See how they picked off the British officers in considerable numbers, because they were conspicuous. Things looked very black for the Tommies until Lord Roberts took charge, and with the assistance of the Canadians and Colonials soon put an end to the war. After Lord Roberts returned to England he strongly advocated teaching the men to shoot. We have 11 other boys belonging to the school who earned what is called a marksman’s Badge, that is they must make a score of 03 or over out of a. possible i<Sl. So you see there is no flies about tlie To Aroha cadets, and the Lord help the enemy whoever they are when the Te Aroha cadets line their rifles on them. I think the boys are very fortunate in having a man like Mr Burton for their teacher. I know he spends a lot of time, trouble, and expense in training tlie boys and teaching them how to shoot. He gets up at I past four 'rouses bis own boys out and sends them round to wake up the other iboys, and marches them l

I down to the Rifle Range a L 5 ° 0 ock in | the morning. .He might add in con* i elusion that es long as the Te Arona 1 people supplied Mr Burton with go°d | material to work on he would soon “ lick | them into shape.” ! Mrs D. McL. Wallace stepped forward and pinned the medal on Corporal Clausen’s coat, amid prolonge d applause. Hearty cheers were given for Corr oral Clausen, “The Marksmen” and Mr A. F. Burton.

The following arc the names of the Cadets who each received a marksman badge on Fridaj r Col. Sergt. F. • Fawcett, Sergt. A. R. Burton, Corpl. N. Wallace, Corpl. N. Clausen, Corpl, J. Willis, Lance-Corpl. E. Sherlock, LanceCorpl. K. M. Burton, Lauee-Corpl. L, Mackie, Lanee-Corpl. T.Ashby, LanceCorpl. I. Mclndoo, Priv. L. Willis, PtiVi, K. O’Neill.

Dr. Kenny signified his readiness to superintend Ambulance classes for both males and females.

The following additional resolutions were put and carried : —- (1) That the above resolutions be forwarded to the Hon. the Premier, Sir J. G. Ward.

(2) That a branch of the Defence League be established in Te ArOha. (3) That His Worship the Mayor, Mr R. L. Somers, bo requested ro invite Mr R. McNab, late Minister for Defence, to address a public meeting in Te Aroha. The meeting closed with a vote of thanks to the Charman, and the singing of the National Anthem.