THE VOLUNTEER CAMP

Taranaki Daily News, Volume XLVIII, Issue 81917, 19 January 1907, Page 2

THE VOLUNTEER CAMP

Tin' jrro.it annual volunteer fane termed tin; annual camp nf instruction commenced in New Plymouth i.n Tliunvlnj' evening. This' is Hi... c,ichanlcij place where ulliu'iV-i write fairy si..lies nn,l call th.-ni "oniric." This is uiiore colour sergeants wri.e r''mun«.s and tail iliem "parade stall's." ijuery: "J)ii tin' rail • slati'S' show Hie actual iiuiiilifi' of iiH.'ii in camp, ur not?

Ami of what vain.' are these annual camps of instruction, anyhow': Do t!ie men leara am tiling of ,'ien an elementary mumc of what the; would have to do in war tinier Do they even learn anything c.mc.'rning the. issue and distribution of rations? Do they, in ii e'.r brief picnic mid. r canvas, last is any of the privations of active service': Do they imagine that their toy -soldiering is the kind of thing they will get when, if ever, they eel to real business? \\ lial noiis 'ii-.' hi think such a thing. Do iliey even learn discipline': Apparently no.. Do they receive in.strucl'oa ia soldierly bearing, and the conduct bciuting it soldier iveartng Cue King's uniform': ll is ijiiill' evident that sonic Mich school in*!ruction is badly ne-dod. 'fro many of the young v o nnieers look upon the annual camp as a sort if picnic. Pome ,\.f thcni have an idea that soldiers must, when i:i uuiform, -sliout and roar, drink and smoke, and act the fool generally, ju.it 10 sli.,\v thai llicy arc not increiy connuon everyday citizens in plain c'otlics. The lirst uigiit's camp was a full ilrc'ss all'air. .Somo of the men 011 leave liirned up at the camp drunk as lords, rowdy as liydih'y larrikins, obscene as the circumstance's would permit. T'lii'v were itching to learn the punishment meted out to those who bring discredit on the King's uniform, but no one gave them a prac tical ilcuion'strataon. They ye led, anil sang, ami swore, and 'deli'e;l all attempts lo quieten thorn until a. last a dull stupor settle;! over their enfeeb'ed intellects, and ijiHeL r.-igned. 11l the morning .ncv were t.ihl "not to Jo il again. ' Far men have been drummed out of (".1111)1 for less olfunees than theirs. And, even i the nnlitarv authorities overlooked

the oliouce, where were the po!k". when Ihrso ymm» soldiers of tin 1 J\ii!j. ;r-tve [ltcir oxUi^ilion of i'oo: lifting jiiM liotoi" eleven oVock? Jt lo )>e Mateil, so 111'' Kill' - say. tha«. their link was out, and iiuy were not in (he above' disturbance. I'rohuMy had they known there was jroinjj lo In? some Inn, they have run an opposition lint, they luul no chance of showing what they could do in that line. One or two of the oJUcer.-j had a Ihcly U'\\ iniiiutes in tryiujr to <|Uel! the disturbance in Ihe tents, hut what fun v.'Uo there in Urn;..

latest. telegrams