The Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 16, 1909. CANTEENS IN CAMPS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9668, 16 December 1909, Page 4

The Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. THURSDAY. DECEMBER 16, 1909. CANTEENS IN CAMPS.

J ThejDefence Bill now before Par-' I liament would certainly be greatly improved by the elimination of'the Clause providing for canteens in camps. Following an ancten t and unfortunate custom, we presume, the Premier included the clause referred to in his otherwise excellent measure. The. desirable elimination will, no doubt, be made, for Sir Joseph Ward can hardly be anxious to retain canteens as part of the country's defence system, and . their retention could only tend to render camp discipline more difficult, and to diminish the benefit* of the training received by those who will be compulsorily drilled. Discussing the question the "New Zealand Herald" accurately observes that public opinion in this Dominion will certainly insist upon the "no-licensing" of canteens in every encampment instituted under compulsory clauses of the proposed Delence Act. One of the Federal Ministers is reported to have stated that he cured drunkenness at a temperance camp in Queensland, of which he had charge, by procuring barrels of beer. We do not suppose that anybody will treat this statement as worthy of discussion, for it suggests, at the utmost, that there

j is a radical difference between Australian and New Zealand methods. At the Auckland Easter Encampment there has been "no-license" for years, and we do not hesitate to say that very few indeed would wish to alter the growing custom even for grown men. When a great proportion of lads are encamped the reasons for "no-licen-se" become overwhelming. Sir Joseph Ward recognises public opinion to some extent by providing in the Defence Bill that at the encampment canteen, which is. to. be under the control and sole direction of the officer in charge of the encampment, "no intoxicating liquor shall be sold or supplied ... to any person under the age of 21." Theoretically this may be sound enough, although it opens up a wide field for argument, tut pr?ctfcaJJ.y, it. is.utter.ly ttntetiaMe,,

bo utterly untenable that we hope . not to have to weary the Prime Min- ; with multitudinous reasons which must be apparent to him. It ahojld be enough to say that the universal training movement has been a great moral awakening to the duties anl responsibilities of citizenship. The Defence Bill has been made possible by the strenuous educational work carried on by representative? of every lactor in the public life, by judges and school teachers, by the press and by the puipit, by local authorities, labour unions, chambers of commerce, and loyal citizens generally, both men and women. Its hearty acceptance by the comminity 13 tantamount to a great and national sacrifice for the good of the State—and it is not merely to be expected but to be demanded that the practically universal sentiment o f mothers anrl fathers shall be respected fp the ordering of the encampments to which they are ready to send their boys. The boys will be all the better for drill and training, both morally and physically, and all the better also without a liquor selling encampment canteen.