THE MATARAE CAMP.

Southland Times, Issue 17642, 4 May 1914, Page 4

THE MATARAE CAMP.

If we may judge from the published reports and from the letters of Territorials that have come under our notice the military camp at Matarae was a conspicuous success. Although a scale was a severe test of organisaa camp of such duration and on such tion, the heavy task was completed in a manner which won unstinted praise from Sir lan Hamilton. There were no complaints from the men in camp, no disturbances and no incidents of an unpleasant nature. The health of the camp was uniformly good, the food was plentiful and good, and the comfort of the troops was carefully provided for. In addition the drill and military operations were carried out with a high degree of efficiency and the senior officers were more than pleased with the work done. There is no doubt that the. defence system of the dominion is settling down to conditions of permanent efficiency. The inauguration of the new scheme was a work of great magnitude and difficulty, and when one looks hack the friction was astonishingly slight and shortlived. Very little is now heard of the anti-militarists and the reason is that they have lost their audience. Since the organisation of the system began to work smoothly, the people as a whole have come to realise that the military training imposed upon the young men of the dominion is doing them good, and that the camps are not places where youths are exposed to temptations and initiated into vice, but places where the young Territorial leads a healthy, open-air life, hardens his muscles, and learns many lessons that are useful to him. The success of the camp at Matarae shows that the officers and men of the Territorial force are <rapidly becoming qualified for active service, and it was especially gratifying to hear Sir lan Hamilton’s praise of the work of the Army Service Corps, upon whose efficiency an army in the field depends. The Army Service Corps may not make the same appeal to the imagination of the public as the combatant arms of the service, but the first thing a commanding officer wants to know is whether his supplies are dependable, and Sir lan Hamilton’s tribute to the work done by this branch at Matarae had special significance. It is a matter for congratulation that the camp was carried through so well.