VISIT OF THE COMMANDANT.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume I, Issue 141, 31 May 1911, Page 5

VISIT OF THE COMMANDANT.

CIVIC RECEPTION IN NAPIER. A REPRESENTATIVE GATHERING Major-General Godley. the new Commandant of the New Zealand Forces, accompanies by Mrs Godley and his staff officers, Colonel Burnett-Stuart and Captain Thornton. arrived in Napier last night. This morning he was accorded a civic welcome at the Borough Council Chambers. There was a very representative gathering of citizens, the accommodation being taxed to the utmost. His Worship the Mayor (Air. J. Vigor-Brown) appeared in his robes and the general was accompanied by his staff. Colonel Heslop, Major Sandtman, and Lieuts. Skelly and Morrison. In briefly welcoming Major-Gen-eral Godley to the town, His Worship said the people of Napier were particularly pleased to see him on this, his first visit. He felt that Government should be congratulated upoon securing the services of such an efficient officer. Military affairs in New Zealand were at such a stage now that they had passed from volunteering to the establishment of the Territorials, and he pointed out that Napier was the centre for the troops form'Featherston to the East Cape. He quoted the new provisions to show how defence matters have been altered. Touching upon the cadet training he said that many parents were afraid to allow their children to go into camp, but he w r as sure that now they had General Godley in charge no parents need fear for the health of their children. He also briefly touched upon the necessity fox- giving facilities for Territorials to attend camp. Unless drill coxdd be attended the men would not become efficient. All promotions should be made by merit alone. He hoped the General would find the men of this district efficient. There wex e four thousand Territorials in tne district including 539 N olnnteers. He hoped that the General would frequently come to Napirr. Air. P. McLean also spoke in welcome of the Commandant. He had not much to add to whai his Worship had said. He illustrated that in instituting their present militarv st stem thev were going back to old legidation which dated back tlnee o) four bundl ed yom; v, hen the .young man had I<> go through similar training. A learned s<holar had also found that a land foi settUmont scheme existed at the time of Tiberius Gracchus, so history was onlv repeating itself in land and militarv legislation in New Zealand. There had been a deal of criticism of the question of compulsion, but, he held, they would not find any objection on the part of those liable to serve who would willingly accept the obligation. When England required assistance some years ago New Zealand was the first to send men, and N.Z. contingents, if not better, were as good as any 7 engaged. Of the six contingents which left this shore it could be said that each man was self-reliant and independent. He would point out to the General that he might find he was required to give a little more consideration to young men now than he used to. He held the Government had spoiled the people and this feeling had gone so far that even in sport the young people to a large extent had lost the independence of 30 years ago. The General when he came to find the men a little slack in discipline should know that it was not the fault of the young men but of the system unedr which they had been brought up. THE COMMANDANT IN REPLY. On rising to reply, the General was loudly applauded. He heartily thanked the gathering for the hearty welcome which had been accorded him. He was glad he had come to Napier; he had heard of its beauty and attractions. He had also heard that it had alwavs been a great centre of military activity, and he placed great hopes upon the future of the scheme here, and when he heard what his Worship the Mayor had to say he felt there was not much left for him to say. Perhaps the way in which he could be most useful would be to tell them of the difficulties that I had been found and how they were | to be overcome. He also invited I questions aftei' he had concluded, his remarks. He first touched -ni the boy scout movement, and sail: they were looking for assistance in this direction. He was a great ieliever in the Scouts. Arrange-' ments had been made so that Ice 1 Scouts could train in their own; uniform along with the cadets, outj it was a misapprehension to think that because a boy was a scout he; need not register. All. boys G' er' 14 must register in the Senior! Cadets. Roughly speaking, all.

, primary school boys would be i Junior Cadets, and the secondary j school boys Senior Cadets. There l was to be no camp for the cadets, iTx aining would be done close to I theix- homes. Some schools which : had been in the habit of going into camp might be allowed to, but it would not be a rule. Touching on the proposed denominational com- ; panies, he said the Department did not want them, but it had been suggested with a desire to make things easy and help training. Re- ’ ferring to camp irregularities, he ; urged that the public should trust the men. There would be no irrei gularities, or very few. Anyway, j there were always irregularities, i and why should others have fhe ' monopoly of these and the soldier ■none. He felt strongly that it "‘is the tone of the best men which would prevail. Speakmq of xifle clubs, he ex- : pressed regret that they should lose men after they were 25 or 30, but he hoped these men would go into the rifle clubs and do a course .of musketry under service comlitions. and ihus fit themselves to make a xeal live "second reserve. He held that shooting under service conditions would be< ome ’• rrv | populat befoie Joj'.g. The cm vI ions of service had been made to suit all as much as possible. He ilJnst iat e<l (hat ihe compulsory six whole dav parades onlv meant six balf-holidav s in the year, as the parades onlv lasted six hours. This time, he was sure', would He gladly given up by both men ami emplovexs. These paiades c- u’c. aiM) be arianged to take place at two week mid camps of three ; ays each. It was not intended tx ask . the mounted men to come long d’stances for perhaps an hour’s jpi«.r--j ade. He would like to see the , squadx-on leaders assemble the 1 men. say, at their stations, and i put them up in barns, etc., fur a : few days’ work. Government, i however, could only allow rations I and forage for one week in the : year. Every possible variation would be made to help the men, , and the difficulties would not be I found so formidable as they look- , ed. * There was an impress-on ; abroad that Government intended I to put a lien on men’s horses, but i this was quite incorrect. Governi ment could not provide horses and ! saddles, but it said to the men, if i you have a horse and saddle and j prefer to ride, very well, bring it along, but if you have no horse you can walk with the footmen. They realised the difficulties of farmers and others, and would do all possible to hold the camps at times most convenient to the greatest number. He begged all present to help the Military authorities in connection with registraI tion in every way possible. Some people throught that by paying the fine they would escape, but that was not so; they would have to pay the fine as well as serve. It was thought that men were going l to get off for one thing and another, but he assured them the; sch erne was going to be universal. I They were going to overcome the! back-blocktraining and other diffiHe' realised the sacrifices I necessary by employers, and in-J structions had been given to study i local conditions in arranging work. The question of efficiency rested i with the citizens and civilians.; There was no militarism in the; scheme. It was a voluntary sys-: tem of service which depended up-' on the future goodwill and <-o-! operation of the people. He had! come out to help them—to help the citizen officer to command che! citizen army. All the commands were held by citizen officers. He’ was only present with his staff to help them. Concluding, he urged the people to take an interest .n. theix- local companies. The General then resumed his j seat amidst rounds of hearty ap-! ' plause.