TRUE CITIZENSHIP.

Evening Post, Volume LXXVII, Issue 51, 2 March 1909, Page 2

TRUE CITIZENSHIP.

DUTIES TO THE STATE. A VOLUNTEER OFFICER'S APPEAL. A noteworthy address on tho subject of home defence was made by Lieut. - Colonel Campbell at the assemblage of the No. 3 Company of Garrison Artillery on Friday night. A brief reference to the address appeared in Saturday's issue of The Post, but the importance of the subject justifies a more extended notice. Colonel Campbell said that as a volunteer officer of twenty-two years' standing, he had noticed a wonderful change in the position of the volunteer. When he first became associated with the movement the volunteer was not considered of any great importance in the defence scheme, but since the South African war he had come to be justly regarded as an important unit in the Army of the Empire. This better recognition brought increased responsibilities, and officers and men should all recognise them. Any one who had been associated for any time with the harbour defences of Wellington could not fail to appreciate the good work that was being performed by the men of the Garrison Artillery Division, and of this work the portion allotted to No. 3 Company (the management and control of ( the electric light) was not of the least importance, for without an efficient electric lighting system it would be impossible for the gunners to see to aim at; night time ; and it was now recognised that attacks on harbour defences were more likely to be made at night than in the day time. He hoped, nevertheless, to , see the day when the com. pany would be able to increase its-num-bers sufficiently to enable it to undertake gunnery duties as well as electric lighting. MORE MEN NEEDED. He knew it was the opinion of volunteer officers and men that the responsibilities of defence should not be thrown upon the shoulders of a few, but upon the youth of the Dominion generally. It might be thought inconsistent for him to personally say he was dissatisfied with the present system, when he had so high a regard for the good work performed by the present volunteers, but it should be made clear that those who believed in universal training did not in any way desire to discourage the good work of those who were now serving as volunteers. They saw that the present system was insufficient. Australia had recognised, before we did, that the defence of one's country should be the business of every able-bodied citizen, not only of a few enthusiasts. The training which Australia was imposing under its compulsory system did not entail more work on the rank and file than was done by those who now formed the Garrison Artillery Volunteers of New Zealand. It simply provided for giving instruction in military matters to a greater proportion of the inhabitants; not necessarily to bring them to a higher degree of efficiency than we were doing. NOT CONSCRIPTION. No one in this country, he thought, was prepared to advocate conscription. Conscription meant interference with business and private relationships ; it meant taking men away from their employment for a certain period of their lives in order that they might devote the whole of their time to military matters. What was wanted in New Zealand was to impress the general run of the public with the idea that it was an honour and a privilege to be allowed to act in the country's defence forces. If this idea could be instille"d in the minds of our young people there would bo no need to mention conscription or compulsion. There was no reason why men who spent their spare time in walking the streets should not do such work 83 garrison artillery officers .were now performing. Because a few enthusiasts were willing to carry out these duties to the best of their abilities, it was no good reason why the bulk of our young people should be permitted to shirk their duties. They could serve without injustice either to themselves or their employers. The public should be educated to regard this as a privilege, not a penalty. The true patriot was not the man who was compelled to serve his country, but the one who recognised that to be allowed to do so was an honour. THE PRESENT SYSTEM. In a, reference to the administration of the present system, Colonel Campbell said that when there was anything to complain of it was a practice to blame the Defence Office, or some indefinite body of persons who were supposed to control defence matters. He wished to say that in the many years' experience he had had he always iound the Defence Office sympathetic, and anxious to assist volunteering to the utmost of its ability. It was a mistake to believe that it took a delight in being obstructive. It was quite the reverse. In a great many cases where complaints were made by individual companies the fault lay more with the companies than the department. The lesson he had deducted, however, was that the present system was insufficient ; seeing that there had been so much encouragement given, and the effect was what it had been, he could not escape the conclusion he had spoken of. We had nothing like a sufficient number of volunteers. He recognised that the question of whether or not the time was ripe for initiating another system was a question for persons in higher authority than he to determine ; but if the time was not ripe now, it appeared to him it would not be very long in rincnH"