MILITARY CAMPS.

Auckland Star, Volume L, Issue 164, 11 July 1919, Page 2

MILITARY CAMPS.

(To the Editor.) ,a ®& j. Sir, —Allow mc to thank Jlr. 'Wiehaie \ for his very sensible letter on the afyove j subject. It is cheering indeed to "fintfj j such sound views expressed, and I.an -, quite sure he is only echoing ; the J } thoughts of many who see eye 1 with him throughout this Dominioa of ours. Will you allow mc just a few shortj quotations from Blatehford's "Jfy life in the Army:—" ... I hopei;lie public will resolutely refuse to allow the .bar* rack eystem. It is more evil than, t dare say; than I should, be allowed to say." And again: " . . .1 have eeeij home service and garrison, life, all through. I know it inside and out.' Tβ a literary man or to a student of hunm nature it is deeply interesting, instructive, fascinating. But it cannot la told." And finally: '1 have seen, clean, good, nice boys come into the army and go to the devil in less than a year, t am no Puritan. I am a man of ttej world; but any sensible and honest man; who has been in the army will know at once that what I am saying is entirely true, and is the truth expressed wittt much restraint and moderation."—l• am. etc., WATCHDOG. (To the Editor.) Sir, —I have no doubt that, from a, military standpoint, four months or, as "Black Watch" considers it sufficient, two months' training would be.'of great benefit to the territorial; but the milk tary; standpoint: is:-mot:'everything, deed, with Germany's deplorable example before to-day it ..would be criminal t<j L -aMJ>yz miiijarigm..'rtD dominate us in this matter. . '-'Si- paeem • haberes belli para" may be true, even in these ><k vanced times, but it would only be tearing off the end of the blanket and sewing it to the top to make this assurance of safety at the expense of the morality of the young manhood of New Zealand. That that manhood will be. endangered ■whilst living in a camp for. four months amongst young men who, in .civilian hie may even be normal is too unfortunately; a fact. True, as your correspondent points out, a lad having been trained the way he should go -will not, at eighteen, depart from that way because he is called into camp. But. how many have been properly trained, and how many are on the balance of good and bad? How many are there who with a tendency to evil will too readily find scope" for their propensities in such a camp as is proposed ? I do not say that these latter derelicts do not learn the evil of| smoking from civilians, of drink from the public bar, and the filthiest of language from the gutter, and that this is no fault of home training, but I do say that ». military camp for young men would be no remedy for these evils, but would indeed be a plague spot tending to ac- \ centuate them. The evils may be the result of idleness, but however strict military training may be there will always , be idle moments, and the ybungy man who at the end of the day's work jumps into bed, says his prayers,'and goes to sleep will always' be in the ineffective minority. I therefore, sir, in using the advantage Your columns afford nic,- sppeal to all "right-thinking men .that, a» jthey love liberty, as they would have J their sons uncontaminated, and- as they, would have their country free.from » military yoke, to oppose this measure. And may I say that, should the occasion unhappily arise to combat another mad dog, New Zealand will be there_ m the cause of Liberty. If she were not it would indeed be a sad outlook for JNew Zealand, but it would be an outlook tnat could not have been bettered by any, system of military training as is proposed.—l am, etc., .' l< J JAMES 0. HANLOk