THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1901.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 11962, 8 February 1901, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 8, 1901.

The departure of the Imperial troops from Dunedin yesterday morning was marked by demonstrations of goodwill from large gatherings of citizens that, it less boisterous than those with which the visitors were welcomed on Tuesday night, were not less hearty. The " Imperials" came to us as symbols of the solidarity of the mighty .Empire to which we belong, and as representatives of the splendid army which has won renown in botli hemispheres and all the four great continents and done magnificent service in helping to preserve the Empire and to extend its boundaries. The glorious traditions of the British army, and of all the branches of the service and most of the regiments which were, represented in the Imperial contingent, ensured for its members a welcome of great cordiality from a community that has lately delighted in proving its patriotism. But iii the leave-taking was apparent the personal element that was wanting—necessarily wanting—from the scene at their reception. Although the' visitors speedily discovered after their arrival that they were not to regard/ themselves either as strangers or as in a strange land, they '• came here without knowing, except possibly in an isolated instance or two, a single soul in the place. They had been engaged on active service or in garrison duty, in parts of the world where they would be highly unlikely to meet New Zealand residents. But now, as the result of a sojourn of barely,3o hours in the town, they have left a legion of friends behind them. The people of Dunedin have had the advantage of coming into closer contact with the troops than it was possible for the people of Australia to do; and it- is most improbable that the residents of any other town to be visited in the course of the Imperials' trip will enjoy an equal advantage. Dunedin citizens have seen the visitors under circumstances, that'have afforded them a favourable opportunity of forming reliable opinions as to the stamp of men of whom the Imperial Representative Corps is composed, and particularly of judgiug whether there was any ground for the suggestion, which a number of well-meaning but nervous persons had been disseminating, that men of the class whom we are glad to have to fight our battles for us are not men such a's we can, without loss of. self-respect, receive into our homes. It is most pleasing to us to , know that the verdict of the citizens who have had the honour (as we deem it) of entertaining the members of the corps is one of gratification, even of admiration, at the steadiness and general propriety of conduct of their guests. Their demeanour off j'arade has been found to be subject for hardly less praise than their splendid bearing and superb marching in the procession through the streets of the city; arid these were something for civilians t'o remember and for colonial volunteers to study and imitate. The Imperial troops so carried themselves in the parade as to convey to the spectator the conviction that they were proud of the reputation of their respective regiments, and keenly anxious to uphold i\. Admirably drilled and splendidly disciplined as the British army is, it would be as unfair to expect any body of volunteers to display the same alert-

ness and accuracy in obeying words of command or the same rhythmical swing in marching that were observed in the visitors as it would be to expect them to exhibit the same.indescribable air of insouciance which, helped to distinguish the Briton from the colonial on Wednesday ' last. But there are points upon which, volunteers may well take a hint from the Imperial soldiers whom they have seen this week. The slouching gait which is sometimes that of the volunteer going to or returning from parade has often been commented iipon by civilians; and though members of local corps may not acquire the jaunty swagger of the visiting soldier, there I undoubtedly is room for improvement in the carriage of a good few of them when they are not actually, engaged in drill. Nor is there any reason why absolute tidiness in dress should not be shown by volunteers, or why they should not all take—as the great majority of them do—a sufficient pride in their work to prevent them from appearing in uniform, either on or off parade, without having their clothes carefully brushed, their accoutrements thoroughly pipeclayed, and their boots well polished. These are small matters, it may be urged, but they are matters of which the public takes notice, and the importance of tlie bestowal of due attention upon' trivial details in military concerns as well as in commercial enterprises is not inconsiderable. Upon the public mind the visit of the Imperial troops may be anticipated to have a. useful effect. The least beneficial result is that colonists will have improved their knowledge of the composition of the British army and of the various branches of which the army is built up. A more valuable result will consist in tlie greater realisation, which will be possible to the colonial mind, of the extent and strength- of the Empire of which we are part, and the quickening of their interest in the army of which picked representatives have nibbed shoulders with them in the streets. We have already referred to the favourable impression which the Imperial troops left behind them in Dunedin, It is gratifying to us to learn that the soldiers themselves enjoyed and appreciated the hospitality which was offered to them with an open hand in this city. The citizens who received "Imperials" as guests being pleased and the soldiers themselves bein'g more than delighted with the treatment that was extended to thenr, it. follows, provided that the military arrangements were not upset by it, that the scheme of billeting, to which a trial was given here, worked satisfactorily. No complaint has, however, been made as to inconvenience having been, caused to the military authorities. We are entitled to assume, therefore, that the plan has justified itsc-lf. It has certainly not been found to be impracticable. Its details were well conceived—and it is right to remember in regard to one of the most important of these that tlie suggestion for its adoption came from Colonel Webb, the officer in charge of the district,—and the execution' of them was expeditiously accomplished. We could have wished that his Worship the Mayor had left it for some other person to pronounce the eulogy upon the hospitality of the citizens of Dunedin to which he gave utterance at the luncheon to the rank and file of the troops, but no one will venture to deny that Mr Chisholm had excellent cause to show for the exuberance of his spirits. His faith in the billeting project was limitless. The sclieme was denounced, however, as impracticable;, the soldiers, it was said, would not like, it; the citizens, it was suggested, would wish themselves out of their responsibility before they were half through with it; nobody, we were told, would be satisfied, and the result would, be that the plan would prove a disastrous failure and that Dunedin would make a laughing-stock of itself. The Mayor, however, stood.to his guns manfully; and lu's position, having' been subjected to the practical test, has been triumphantly vindicated. The , plan of billeting was a complete success. And it is only right that public recognition should be made of the indefatigable exertions of the committee that assisted the Mayor—Messrs J. A. Park, N. H. Bell, j. F. M. Frasor, and T. Scott, three of whom met the troops at the Bluff, and, as his Woiv ship has 'said, "worked like demons" all the way up to complete their arrangements,— the result of which failure became virtually impossible. No one was more pleased with the experiment than the visiting soldiers, whose memory of Dunedin, they repeatedly declared, will be ineffaceable.