A FINE CITIZEN ARMY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 80, 25 September 1911, Page 7

A FINE CITIZEN ARMY.

SOME INTERESTING- OBSERVATIONS. GERMANY WON'T FIGHT. New Zealand's was going to-be a very ftne citizen army, said General Godlcy at Wellington on Tuesday night. The cost was £.'(84,000. It was less than was expected. Some believed it was going to cost three-quarters of a million. In Australia it was to cost over two millions, and Lord Kitchener had told them that New Zealand must have an army a fourth the size of that of Australia, so that it was costing us less than that estimate. But as business tuen he believed they would recognise tliat it was a cheap form of insurance of the 'country, which, he had been told, 1 was worth £050,000,000. It was, after all, really insurance. Let them look at the trouble between France and Germany over 'ifordeco to-day. They had been told tliere was going to he war because the - French' were withdrawing their 'monejr'frrtm tlie German banks. But he j'belieV<!d ! that the real reason why there r was not going to be war was because | France was ready for war. The state of | 'affairs was very different now to what it I was in 1870, when France was not ready, which Germany at that time knew very well. And the French army to-day, although smaller and not quite so well organised, was ready, with England ami Russii to back it Up. That was what i Was going to prevent war from coming. (Applause).!

■• UfAFEKING. Becoming reminiscent, General Godley vela ted some "incidents of the South African' War, with particular reference to'M;(feking"(in which he wan besieged) from' tljcbusmess aspect. It was, he f»Mi not generally known that Cronje, Mow lif went down to Magersfontein, sat,for six/}Veeks? outside Mafeking with 0000 men. Cronje attacked them on .sriyiir.a); occasions,' hut did not get in. ''Wo- had)" > said General Ootlley, "447 rßpn, q.n<l .there were all business men 'practically. The garrison of Mafeking <' ( ontiiifled-,Jio Imperial troops at all, tewci>t n.fqjy officers who had been sent ~,out to.flrgani.se; The Protectorate re- | giment, the backbone of tile defence of I sfafekiw», were all business men —jockeys - men of all kinds, including fifty-five I filers. thorn one gave his Imm-. ;|i(!'VJ, ;*»,!(. trip-,dresser, (Laughter). He OnjpH}', good,.soldier. But there ,W'VS one.thin# about these men that was ,of : ,vfl)j4(fr-ai, very great proportion, of jil,he|!ji Jifljl .dgin>,,somei sprt of service in ij'ynluntyjjffl-, or, irregular, troops in the oritnrgakji*lncluded wwe some British SO'iit.h I'oliqe, o»pe To},li|Ce,r arid Jopal .volunteers, with enlisted ni^ii'j. banging total strength up 1o h p,,sowp ; Guard were purely business anj| did remarkably good- work (hij'ing/.jyie,. siege's, '.and there were no better oj; j>ray(!r, fellows."

TilEi .QAK'RISON'S SUPPLIES. ...| ,fjod)ey ~told how Mafrkinjr came to he so,, we'll supplied with stores. (/apij. ijneryhant had collected a great ..quantity, of stomial Mafekingj ready to riisli,.^liem,river,t-liP border into Rhodesia il'lf, Customs tariff was to in'tp.. operation. . Bjut the war broke oilt, lind the troops commandeered the •stores ,before 'they:'eo.uld be {jot across . tjieJioi'dei; ••' ( l'hat was," he added, "what .finabfed;.lis to ,hold out in Mafe"king'for several months." If tliev asked the, business men in Mafeking what they j uniy.er.sai, {ra.iiiing they would ' find thorn a.)j.-supporters of it. General Botha had declared that they were going to adopf training in South Africa, and the business men there would do all they c(oiUl keep it going. All through, the Town (Inard at Mafeking fought - exti'em(*h"--\vel!. Oil Jlay IJ, El off (president Krnger's grandson) got through'' their linos and captured' an outpost, getting into an inner fort quite 'clbsc'fo' the 'tmvnj felofTs force comprised inris'tly foreigners, Frenchmen and (I'erinaivs:' aVi'd there were lots, of amns:ing 'incidents.'' 'After' Having got into ''this permanent; rtVi't, jthb.-first thing one 'Wf'tliosV 'di*r.Wftsj to ring up Baden'Pt>wi>ll aiW'-aSk Wiin'lo surrender. ISut diihi't'-get)'n'lty 'chaiige.' ('l/iugliteri. Seated at a piano one of the uu'ri, a I'reiifliman. played most delightful chansonettes Ml'the time! : '(Laughter). If it had not been "for the Town Guard Afatekhigi-vS'ouM fove been taken. Nineteen .'irif'ithf -a((iit'k'eW on this occasion wore ikill'od; 3<r wounded, and 120 became priftoni'.rs-^ithe l rest got -out somehow ori 'anotMr.-. ''lt' was after'heaving Mafe-' iWi]g,'f;(i o iiclttde;i ; fieiieral fibdfov, "I met 1 • llie'llrstitot of \i:w-Zcalanders—-tlie Second Contingent- Oil the way to Pretoria.. They I'iuceived ns'i with tremendous en--thufWisfti-iaml: with a cry which very i (toady inadi> iix ,tirrn tail'and go back, and iwliii'h T:!nnw know'was the Maori war-cry.''; (liuight.or and applause).