TERRITORIALS’ COMPLAINTS.

Southland Times, Issue 17328, 26 April 1913, Page 5

TERRITORIALS’ COMPLAINTS.

In our issue of Thursday we published a letter by William Taylor, complaining of the treatment he received while 'being taken from Invercargill to Taiarda Heads to undergo a period of detention in the barracks there. With Mr Taylor’s letter we published an official explanation and reply by Captain Robinson. We have now received another letter from Mr Taylor, which is mainly a reiteration of the charges, arid a declaration of his firm intention to adhere to his statements. Wo do not propose to publish this letter, for reasons which it is perhaps desirable to explain. As the territorial force is a citizen force, in the interests of the Defence system it is necessary that all complaints should be investigated, and it is permissible at times to make use of the public columns of the press for the purpose. But it must be recognised that it is contrary to all military practice, and quite subversive of military discipline, to encourage members of the territorial force to make their appeal direct to the public through the newspapers. Very properly it is made a breach of the Defence regulations to write to the newspapers,- and it is only by the indulgence uf the authorities that breaches of the regulation are condoned. It is probably recognised that the authorities have everything to gain by courting publicity, and for that reason we are always disposed to give a hearing to letters sent in by members of the force and to complaints verbally made. Still, the practice of publishing letters and complaints can be carried beyond the limits of propriety, and it is quite certain that a controversy between a member of the force and ins officers in the correspondence columns of the press is neither desirable nor permissible. For those reasons we do not propose to publish Mr Taylor’s reiteration of the statements made by him in his first letter. His original statement and Captain Robinson’s reply have been laid before the public, and if Mr Taylor wishes to carry the matter further his nroper course is to avail himself of official channels.