THE DRILL HALL.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXIX, Issue 42, 18 February 1908, Page 3

THE DRILL HALL.

REFUSED FOR CATHOLIC FAIR.

STATEMENT BY LIEUTENANT-COL-ONEL SEED.

(Continued from • page 2.)

Lieutenant-colonel J. R. Reed, when. interviewed by a "Star" representative this morning on the subject of the Drill Hall question and the statements made at the opening of the Dominion Festival last evening, expressed his surprise at the terms in which the action of the authorities had been described. "I do not think," he remarked, "that Bishop Lenihan, in making those statements, could have been thoroughly conversant with the whole position of affairs, or he would hardly have made the remarks he did. We have' always set our faces against giving the Drill Hall for any purpose whatsoever. Last year the Agricultural Association had it, and, although they took all possible steps to avoid causing inconvenience, there was a very distinct inconvenience felt during the four or five days the Drill Hall was closed. On account of this, the Hall was refused this year." "The committee of St. Patrick's Dominion Festival applied this year for the use of the building between the loth and 29th of February, and it so happens that there is no time of year at which it is more absolutely inconvenient to have the building closed than between those dates. The volunteer year ends on the last day of February, and consequently this period represents the last 14 days of the volunteer year. During this fortnight the companies are engaged in preparing capitation returns, parade states, and other matters. In the building there are over 20 orderly rooms opening directly into the hall, and during this period all these are constantly in use, and it would be impossible to move the office furniture, stationery, and documents that are in them, and which are just now also being used constantly. In addition some of the companies are "holding extra parades to make up the required number for the year." "As far as the battalion is concerned," Colonel Reed said, "an order had been issued for parades of certain companies for the purpose of checking the Government issue of accoutrements. Some of these the men have themselves kept in their orderly rooms, and the checking must be done by certain officers before the end of the volunteer year. Yet again there is the fact that the club rooms of officers and non-commissioned officers would have to be closed down for the fortnight. If the Drill Hall were; let to one religious body, what grounds would there be for refusing it to any other religious or'public body that might apply for it, and thus very much curtail the use of the uuilding? I should like to say in conclusion that I regret very much that a person occupying a responsible and honourable position s/.ch as Bishop Lenihan holds, should have seen fit to indulge in a cheap sneer-as to the value of the volunteers to the Dominion."