THE TERRITORIAL CAMPS.

Colonist, Volume LIV, Issue 13381, 2 April 1912, Page 4

THE TERRITORIAL CAMPS.

From end to end of the Dominion tho first training camps for tho Territorial forces are- now in progress, and the country is getting its first real experience of tho iiv-w system of defenco in operation, as far as the system, of annual instruction camps is concerned. Local company drill has, of course, been proceeding for some time. The calling away of hundreds of Territorials at a time in each military district must occasion a good deal of. inconvenience-, especially at the outset of tho scheme, and that is one- of tho principal sacrifices that tho community in general is called upon to bear in the creation of an efficient citizen defence force. Judging by the absence of expostulations in tho Press, employers of youthful labour throughout the Dominion are submitting philosophically to the requirements of the scheme in this direction, though obviously soino branches of industry must bo seriously affected. The military aixthorities have- from the inauguration of the new system shown themselves to bo desirous of meeting all classes directly or indirectly affected by it in tho fullest possible manner, and they may be able, after the experience afforded by the camps now being' held, to devise means of minimising the inconvenience to which employers are subjected. All tho camps held so far appear to have been very successful. The men have displayed a keen interest in tho work, and to their behaviour it scorns that very little exception can be taken. Eminently satisfactory are the reports concerning the camps in this district. The H. Battery spent a useful week under canvas at Richmond, and there seems to have been a general desire to make the most of the opportunity of imparting and receiving valuable training. The much larger encampment of the Twelfth Infantry Regiment at Tapawera has settled'down to a week's serious work, and visitors speak highly of the camp arrangements and the discipline and disposition of the troops engaged, while the Commandant of tho Forces seems to have been well satis- i fied with the results of his inspection yesterday. In another column will be found an interesting letter from Chap-lain-Lieut.-Colonel MacKenzie, whose long experience entitles his opinion on the subject he deals Avith to considerable respect, Avhich Avill be reassuring to parents and others uneasy in their minds regarding the effects of camp life and associations upon the nioro youthful and impressionable of our citizen soldiers. "I am a man of peace," writes Chaplain MacKenzie, "but I hold that every man avlio is Avorthy of having a home should be prepared to defend it, and that is the basis of national defence. Tho drill and discipline of military service''promise in my judgment only good to this Dominion." And that is thp conviction entertained by thousands of supporters of the defence scheme avlio would vieAV with repugnance aaiy endeavour- to establish in Ncav Zealand the conscriptive system of some Continental countries with which our anti-militarist friends attempt to identify universal compulsory ■sen'ico as

Aye noAA- have it.