MR. BOYS'S REMARKS' SOME FURTHER EXCERPTS.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 117, 19 May 1914, Page 8

MR. BOYS' S REMARKS' SOME FURTHER EXCERPTS.

The Rev. F. W. Boys has written requesting us to publish his remarks which appeared in the Manawatu Standard in extenso, as he complains that the necessarily condensed version sent out by the Press Association agent was liable to be misunderstood. Upon contrasting the Press Association message with the full report,i we find that the portions of his remarks in question were telegraphed practically in extenso, though none of the rest of his criticism was given. In fairness to Mr. Boye, we give the following further excerpts :— "One has,-no desire to make sweeping statements, and in any criticisms I may make you must understand there were exceptions in all cases. I wish it to be clearly understood that I am in no way referring to my own regiment, but to the camp as a whole* One must first speak of the pleasing features. The colonels and senior officers and some subalterns of the_ regiments honestly did all within their power for the comfort of the men. The doctors were indefatigable in their attention to the sanitary conditions. The staff and commanding officers were ready to recognise the work the chaplains were attempting, and the marquees erected by the various churches, the V.M.C.A., and the Salvation Army were a great .blessing, while the behaviour of the men in the marquees was exemplary. The Government should recognise this work, and itself provide a few marquees and allot an orderly for each recognised marquee. As a chaplain one moved in and out of the camp, and the greatest respect was shown by the men of all denominations. ' < There was an absence of drunkenness, and although some drink was brought into the camp, and men who should h/ive upheld the authorities aided in evading the law, the authorities are to be cohgratulated upon the success of the dry canteen. I now come to those things which aro causing grave unrest among the _ better class of citizens who are anxious for the moral, welfare of their sons. The stranger taking a walk in camp after dark is shocked at the bad language. lam told that the camp was an improvement upon some other camps and many officers made laudable attempts to suppress this habit when the men were on drill, but there was a section of the men who made the place hideous with their oaths. I believe these men were only a very small percentage of the total number, but they made things decidedly unpler.c?.nt, and as this section of the community is kept in order in. the street and upon trains and trams, so it should be made impossible for a few youths to shout obscenity at the top of their voices under cover of dail:no u s in the camp. There is a feeling among some of the men who lost over a fortnight's work that the State is making a very severe demand upon them. This feeling of unrest and discontent, and not the man who did not j;et his tea or the 'Red Feds' who may hr.vo been in camp, explains the outbreak, w!i'~li was of a most seiious natuie."