VOLUNTEERING.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20887, 1 June 1931, Page 12

VOLUNTEERING.

Sir, —In the clays in which Mr. IT. J. Hall did his voluntoez-ing there were not Ihe counter-attractions of the present time. Youths were not mechanically minded; motor-cyolcs, cars, radios and talkies did not occupy a place in their lives. We have progressed since those days prior to 1910, and the things that appealed then no longer even attract. Mr. Hall apparently has never teen our territorial batteries at work. A more keen and efficient lot it would be hard to find anywhere and I am not an artillery man. Has he seen the 3rd Auckland Hegiment in camp ? Did he see the keenness at the " battle of Woofit" a couple of years ago ? Even the Navy praised the work of the willing territorials. Have Mr. Hall and Sergeant Henderson counted what- would be the cost of volunteering? In Australia the uniform alone costs somewhere round £lO, while the territorial uniform in New Zealand was valued, I understand, at less than £5. Administration costs to train the same number of men as on the territorial basis will be quite as heavy, and 1 doubt, speaking as a willing territorial, if there will be the same general efficiency over the same number of men at the same cost to the country. Sergeant Henderson asks have the territorials ever given military spectacles equal to the volunteers? Two fairly recent Auckland instances occur to me; the presentation of the new colours to the 3rd Auckland Regiment and in 1927 the Granc! Military Pageant. The former, a straight parade, astounded former officers with its excellence and the pageant was unique in Auckland. Sergeant Henderson's suggestion that the men choose their officers in Gilbertian and not worth serious consideration. Territorial.