NEW GARRISON HALL

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 21, 4 June 1908, Page 7

NEW GARRISON HALL

OPENED BY HON. R. ftl'NAB. FINE MILITARY DISPLAY. THE MINISTER SPEAKS AGAINST \ CONSCRIPTION. . In good step and to the t-vmo of livclj ■ music tho Wellington Volunteers wound a long length through the streets of the city last night in their trek to their new training quarters in Bucklo Street. With tho magnitude and convenience of those quarters the public havo already been made fully acquainted. Early in the evening the whole garrison assembled, to tlio strength of 6oG men and officers, in Brandon Street, neax the old,'now deserted, drill shed. A littleafter eight, with two bands playing, they moved ofE in quarter-column, proceeding up Lambton. Quay, along Willis Street, into Manners Street, Cuba Street, Vivian Street, and along Taranaki Street, to their destination. Crowds awaited them along tho route,, and greater crowds followed tliem and adhered to them as they went. ,At tho new quarters in Bucklo Street the .officer at the head of tlio column was met by tho Hon. R. M'Nab, Acting-Minister for pcfence, and whilo Mr. J. Campbell, Government Archi- . tcct, placed a key in the large front door of the building, which lie had designed, tho Minister turned the bolt aside, walked in, and officially showed the garrison tho way to their new quarters. The wero then lined up inside' the building, and tho Minister and st-atf and numerous visitors occupied the narrow balcony which encirclcs tho parade room. The display made by tho Jhen ill their bright unifohns was excecdingly fine. Lieut.-Colonel Campbell was in command. . ' Colonel Webb, speaking from the balcony, said tho Volunteers had to thank the Minister for his attendance. He mentioned that tho foundation stone of the new hall had been laid on June'l, 1907—just one year ago.-; THE MINISTER'S SPEECH. ■' Tho Hon. R. M'Nab said he desired first of. all to-apologise forHke absence of the' Rt. Hon. the Minister for Defence (Sir J. Ward), who had intended being present, but whoso' administrative duties unfortunately had required his presence at Invercargill that evening. Tho speaker, only too willingly, had " consented to take his place. Mr. M'Nab said he "'desired to, congratulate the bat- V talions on their splendid muster. It augured well for the future,of'tho Volunteer move- i mont in Wellington that the auspices should bo so happy under which the hall was handed : over to tho garrison." The Minister then proceeded to read a few facts, handed to him that night by. Colonel Collins, connected with the old drill hall and thei new. 11

; OLD RECORDS. "Tho. site on which tile old drill hall stands,", rah tho statement, ■" was granted to the Volunteers by snccial .Act of Parliament. in 1579.. The building was erected in ,1880 by . tho ,then Volunteers . raising * subscriptions from the public and subscribing to it themselves. Y There'were five city corps in Wellington.', at the "time,' viz.Tho D Battery, Naval Brigade, City Rifles, Wellington Guards, and tho Torpedo Corps—about 350 of all ranks. , The old building' lias becomo insanitary, and unsuitable for tho increased strength and requirements of the local Volunteers—in fact, tie naval artillery arid field iartillery have' not used! it, for jsomo 'time." It had Keen used in its time as a dance hall, for socials, as a b6wlnig green, ""and as a circus arena time after tinio., Now it .would •bp used as a nmseum. In its place was the line building erected by the Government at a cost/ of £7000, and the artillery hall adjoining had. been, pulled down, and erected at a cost of £1000. The local Volunteers now numbered over 1000, and better accommoda-'tioiv-was needed if the, officiency aiid'usefulness of -tho service was ,to be maintained. The building, was erected on ?.n historic spot —tlio sito of tho military parade ground of -50 years ago. It was here the Imperial soldiers had camped, and the spot was hallowed by many old military, associations. \ THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT. The Minister proceeded that ho wanted to' say a word or two' not' so much to the volunteers as to the greater number of people who wore unable to be present, but whose ■ sympathy it was desirable ' to l carry . with them in conncction with tho' voluhteer movement. The movement, he said, had its evergrowing' requirements. Ho kne\v there was a feeling in parts that this large cdifico was perhaps going beyond tho requirements of.any volunteer force. The requirements of drill.inecessitated practice in the open air more than, iii a shed, and such a'hall as the present was necessary if tho forco was to be armed and controlled in tho best manner possiblo for the country's use, with the time tho, men could give to the work.

CHANCE IN. CONDITIONS. .Tbe. change that had taken place in the requirements, of .volunteering-.was enormous. Implements''of. warfare had undergone groat' evolution'. Complicated'machinery had given place ,to the simplo mcclianism of former , years. In order, to understand it days and weeks of instruction were required, compared, . with tho few hours of former year 3- "The , . very Met,"' Mr. M'Nab proceeded,. " that • wo have an instrument of such precision as the modern rifle moans that arnuos come into contact iwith one another'at a greater ' ' range. It requires the covering greater areas. It requires another syvstem or-manoe-uvres. 1 Officers, when attacking- in small ; partios, ■ havo to, , undertake manoeuvres . which those in command of largo bodies had \ formerly to do. I say this to show tho enormous amount of education that has to bo given to officers and non-cioniroissioncd officers before they are fitted to take the field; Wo havo medical men, trained signallers, and field telephono and telegraph corps. In fact, the .of an:,army jn the field . now cannot" bo 0 compared to what it was in former years. . All tho while wo are calling 1 upon tho men and officers to give up timo to training in the defence of theii. count'ry, wo fmd : that', those men are'en' gaged in trades and professions, and thoy have to realise that exactly the same deve-lopment-is talcing place in regard to those \ 'tirades and professions. Thc'y havo'to equip' ■themsolves to successfully competo in. the professions of thoir. lines if they desire, / and'rightly so, to como to tho top. Ana ; while we are calling "for, men. and officers to train for tho defence of their country,, we find that the amount of work they have to do .in othor directions makes it a very " difficult thing to give this greater, timo arid . attention., And when we find wo 'cannot'.got the men into-.tho ,field for' more than two or three days per annum, wo must • make up for that by giving them, first-class ; places in which to discuss military • matters and to train; so that when, with additional instruction aud enthusiasm, ..-thoy go, iuto tho field—with limited time at ; tl;eir disposal —they may make tho best. possible use of that time. I give this explanation to tho public as tho reason; 170 require such halls as this, with their company rooms, their orderly rooms,' lecture rooms, and club rooms." . •• THE BEST TRAINING GROUND. Tho Minister went on to say that it was, of course, outside in tho open air that the , groat training was to be obtained, aaid any light, even moonlight, was better than oloc■trio light within four_ walls. But this drill hall instruction had its part to play, and thoy believed it a very important part in instruction. Ho hoped the day was .not-far distant when, they would be able to givo the volunteors in the large centres as complete an equipment' for their education as to-day the volunteers of Wellington found themselves in possession, of. NOT CONSCRIPTION. Siuco tho appointment of the Defence-'-Council, proceeded tho Miuistei 1 , he believed a groat doal of vory good work had been done. The Government could not see its way, as urged by soino, to havo. a universal military Bervico. Ho believed tho timp was not ripe for suoh a policy. : The Govern*' ment had officially declared for tho present volunteer movement, seeking, to pftrfoct it and bring it' moro in accordance with tho spirit of the times. He believed there " ■going to' bo a groat future in front of tho

citizen soldier, more especially when he saw institutions in our,' midst seeking'to foster a kindly spirit towards those who were the defenders of the country and of the Empiro. It bad " .nob'always been thus. ' . There was ' a: time* when tho volunteer; was looked askance at, and the work he could do in the field was derided. But since' the Empire had passed through an oxperionco: which had Bhown she could draw- upon.this body of men willing to go to any part of the Empire a different feeling was. apparent. The experiences of South Africa had shown tho value of the volunteer. Ho called upon the men to take evory advantage of thoir chances of instruction, so that if over tho time cam© for thorn to take'tho field they would.be found thor-, oughly trained, as well as willing. In declaring tho building open, ho said he hoped sincerely that tho time would be very long "delayed when its walls would echo with the sounds of mon going out .into tho. field of '.battle to show tho efficiency or inefficiency of the lessons learned within its walls. . Three "cheers wero given for the Minis-, ter; and then, whilo the parade came to the " Royal salute," the y National Anthem ; echoed for tho first ,'timo through the building. Following this camo the lively strains of "The' Prince: of Wales,"' in honour of tho day. . ' This concluded the official ceremony; But the visitors had first to test tho provorbial ..hospitality of military officers before they wore permitted to leave. ' . i PARADE STATE. ' The members of the' Headquarters' Staff present and who attended the Minister wero Colonels Webb and Collins (members of tho Defence Council "and ■ trustees of tho new hall), Majors Humo and Hughes, and Cap- . tain. O'Sullivan, District Staff Lieutenant-, "Colonel Bauchop, Captain Mackenzie, ' 'A.A.G., - Captain ■ Morton, Sergeant-Majors •Dovey and Colclough. Divisional Staft: ; Lientonant-Colonel Campbell (in command); /Royal Nciv Zealand Artillery (Lieutenant vStandish); 46 , strong; . No.' 1 • Company N.Z.G.A.V. (Captain Menzies),.. 52 strong; P Batterv. {Captain Petherick), .50; 5 I Company N.Z.E.V,, (Captain Fitzgerald), __31; v Heretaunga . M.'R (Captain_,Samuels), 30. Other details wore as follow:—Battalion Staff: Lieutenant-Colonel Dutlue, .Major .Mackintosh,- Captain . and. Adjutant Cov/lcs; Captain and Quartormaster Mabin, unattached Surgeon-Major Purdy. and Captains Henderson v and Matherson. Parado state. ■ - City Rifles (Captain Esson),. 38; Wellington ! Guards (Lieutenant Roache), 30; Kelburno Kifles (Qaptain Davis, S 1V1 ? Service Rifles (Captain. Marshall), 30Post and. Telegraph Riflos (Captain Harton),.36; College .Rifles . (Captain Turner),. 27; Zcalandia Rifles (Captain Corrigan), 39; High-, ./land Rifles (Captain M'Diarmid), 41; Uutt Valley Rifles (Captain Robs), 29; Johnsonrillo Rifles (Captain Moorel, 31; Cyclo Corps (Lieutenant Fountain), 17; ; Garnson Band . (Lieutenant Herd), ' 22; Battalion Band (Bandmaster Dean) j' 22; No. 5 Company Field Hospital . Bearer Corps (Surgeon-Major M'Gavin). ,' ' .'' ' ' V