RIFLE SHOOTING.

Auckland Star, Volume XLIII, Issue 58, 7 March 1912, Page 7

RIFLE SHOOTING.

IS IT THREATENED ? THE PERILS OF CABTE. (P; Tcleffraph.—Own Correspondent.) WELLINGTON, this day. 11l the -ourso of an interesting artiel* on Trentlram, a writpr ill the "Post" remarks: "Rifle, shootinp i* the most dc nincrati- of all ?|>orts— there are men at Trmtham o r broad acres and motor cars; there are men nf neither, bnt all are equal on the ranpp. There utc men of all ages, from more youths to greyhnards. Theiv are men of all professions, -rafts, trades, and occupations, but oil the ranpp thpy arc just marksnipn out to flioot thpir best, and 'may tho man win.' As the Colonel puts it. th en; is no such fellowship as that of the gun. "Now. hov- is the territorial system poir.fr to a (feet these men? One thing is quite certain —it tho territorial system means, whatever its promoters may intend, a system of military -aste and -ast-iron military regulations, then New Zealand will lose a most, vailiable arm of defenpp. Tim rifle club men are men oi independent spirrt. who shoot because they love shontinp. and they will not tolerate being lor.ed into a mould which their own experipnec condemns as foolish and unnecessary. How bitterly they resent ev-en the hint of dictation from the military authorities or how they are to shoot at a meetinp. for which they nay in the main with their own money, and certainly with their own time, was shown quite manifestly in the opening stapes of the present patherinp at Trentham. It was only the pood sense ■and tact of ( 01. Collins, always a friend of the rifleman, that saved the situation. A TENDENCY AND INSTANCE?.

"Have thorp been any traces here of 'tine tendency towards military caste already noted? There have been on* or two significant instances. One was iu the service tennis match, when a rantre officer from a provincial town lost his temper on the range, and shouted most offensively at a team of men for doinr something they ought not to have done! This might be all very well in breaking in recruits on a parade ground of an old country barracks, but Trentham. at the championship meeting, is not the place for it. The men who come here are voluntary competitors, and have a right to be treated as such. Another instance was of a different kind, and perhaps more dangerous, as being more insidious. An officer of high rank, speaking of another officer, a most hard working and capable man, objected to him sitting at the officers' mess in his working uniform with the buttons of his tunic undone at the neck. It may be mentioned that the days and earlv' evenings have been very warm out here. The officer, who was speaking to an audience of two or three, reckoned that the rest of the mess ought to put the offender out of face hy all coming to dinner in full dress uniform and showing him up. Whether this was actually done the writer does not know, but the spirit to do it was present in at least one man. The absurdity of the thing in a working camp like Trentham is obvious, if there is any place where officers and men are justified in going about in undress it is Trentham on a hot day. There should lie no place for "frill" at Trentham. unless it is on King's Prize Pay. when the T»ttr»rtr. attends fir lai-gfr ■numbers, and superior officers are present. TO BE NIPPED IN THE BUD. Happily, such instances are rare, jnst as are the men who furnish them. Generally the relations between ranqc and other officers at Trentham and the marksmen are most harmonious, and the officers themselves are a capable and efficient body of military men, who give their services quite in an honorary way; but oil the principle thai a straw may show which way the wind is Mowing it woulld be very well for the authorities who have the success of the Territorial scheme deeply at heart to note and check any such tendency towards military caste. The Territorial scheme is really at the parting of the ways; that much iR openly recognised in camp. Tf its problems, such, for example, as that of rifle clnbs—and rifle eluhsmen are firm and royal supporters- of the principle of the present defence system—are handled tactfully, with a view to meeting the conditions of this country, all will be well. The alternative may be left to the imagination. It is therefore of happy omen that General God Hey, the Commandant, is v» meit the reps, of tha clubs on Friday 851.PT the Belt is lost and won. The riflemen have reasonable arguments to put forward respectfully in support of their position, and the Commandant. with his well-known conrtesy and gooil sense, will no doubt receive them in the spirit in which they are offered. It is only by consultation with men experienced in the needs anA conditions of this country that the various problems of its defence can be satisfactorily solved.