“GRATUITOUS INSULT.”

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXVI, Issue 8185, 29 July 1912, Page 10

“GRATUITOUS INSULT.”

CADET OFFICERS PROTEST. GENERAL GODLEY’S REMARKS RESENTED; PBSS3 ASSOCIATION. CHRISTCHURCH, July 27. At a meeting of Junior Cadet officers strong exception was taken to General Godley’s recent remarks. It was resolved, “That this meeting of North Canterbury Junior Cadet officers protests against any radical changes being made in the present sys. tom of Junior Cadet training, and urges that, if any changes are necessary, those changes should be made by the Minister of Education; and, further, that this meeting affirms the principle that the interests of the Junior Cadet movement will be best served by its remaining under the control of the Minister of Education.”

A sub-committee was set up to produce a statement for submission to the Minister,' pointing out the advantages of the present system and showing that the incorporation of the Scout system with the Cadet system was impracticable.

It was further resolved, “That 1 this meeting of North Canterbury Junior Cadet officers protests in unmeasured terms against the gratuitous insult offered them by General Godley in his evidence before the Education Commission, when he referred to them ns ‘bogus officers in a bogus organisation,’ and they are of the humble opinion that, as the conditions under which they perform their duties were of their own making, General Godley might easily have stated his objections to their status in less offensive terms; and, further, that notwithstanding General Godley’s statement that he is enormously interested in the Junior Cadets, lus evidence before the Education Commission emphatically confirms the opinion held by Junior Cadet officers that their interests and the interests of the cadets wifi be best served by remaining under the control of; the Education Department.” 1 The annual meeting of the Education Institute resolved: “That this in- j stitute protests against any radical! change in the Junior Cadet system, | and considers that if any alteration is i necessary, it should be made by the ! Minister for Education, and that the \ system should remain under the control j of the Minister; also that copies of this j resolution be sent to the Minister I through the New Zealand Education j Institute. That this institute strong- j ly protests against the unwarranted insult offered to the Junior Cadet officers of the Dominion by General Godley in his evidence before the Education Commission, inasmuch as the system, which he refers to as ‘a bogus organisation with bogus officers’ is established under the Education Act, and teachers have no option but to undertake the duties of officers.”