TERRITORIALS.

Taranaki Herald, Volume LXI, Issue 144082, 29 April 1913, Page 3

TERRITORIALS.

GENERAL GODUEY INTERVIEWED SAYS JUST THE RIGHT THINGS, Per Press Association. WELLINGTON, April 28. Major-General Godley made the following statement to-day concerning the reported irregularities and threatening of a reporter of the Taranaki News at the Oringi,Territorial camp: — '-‘.‘l have very little to say at present about the matter, as it is under investigation, ,except that I. think the trouble came in a great measure from reporters being employed in their civilian capacity as such, while serving as Territorial .soldiers at the annual camp. The citizen soldier must of necessity be both a civilian and a soldier, but he cannot satisfactorily be both at the same time, and he should not pursue his civilian avocation when at camp, as a soldier. If he docs, he is put iu a false position, and unnecessary difficulties are made for the military authorities. His comrades in the ranks, not unnaturally, resent any criticism of their actions or publication of any irregularities they may commit, or of any--thing that may reflect discredit on their regiment by one of themselves. “When a number of high-spirited young men, such as I am glad to say the New Zealand soldiers. are, think that they have a cause for. resentment they are ant to give forcible expression to it. A point that must be homo in mind is that the Territorials in question who threatened the reporter did not do so because he was a reporter, a.s such, but because he was a comrade who, in their opinion, acted like a bird that fouled its own nest. Do not think from this that I wish to condone their action. I entirely disapprove of it, and so do.practically all the officers and a large majority of the men, and I am taking steps to have the offenders traced and punished. “I trust that next year the editors of newspapers may'be able to see their way to send to the camps one of their senior and most experienced reporters, and, on our part, 1 will undertake that they shall be provided with a tent and given every facility to see and hear everything possible that goes on, from every point of view. We shall be,gladto see a limited-number of reporters in camp (say in each district one from each or . the leading pipers of tbo big cities, and one from the local paper), as we are only too anxious that the public should know as much as possible of the doings of the citizen army. The camp are on a large scale and involve an expenditure of a considerable sum of money, and are of great importance to the community, and I think the public has reason to expect that it shall get its information about them from experienced and accredited representatives of the press. The press has always helped us, and I hop© will do so in this respect. “I do not think, either, that I, or anyone else connected with the citizen army, wish any irregularities to ho. hushed up or concealed. We would' far rather they were not. .We have nothing to fear from publicity. In fact, we court it. But it is only hn--1 man nature that we should prefer any criticisms of -our actions or reports of : our misdeeds'to come from independent civilian outsiders, and not from onrsclves. ... ... , . , “As regards the irregularities which have undoubtedly occurred at the camp in the Wellington district, the only comments I have to make are that in the first instance the disturbance made in Dannevirke was made by about adozen men, and, iu the second instance, tiie moonlight march towards Danne-. virke was made by about fifty men. I-. have searched all, the newspaper accounts for anv mention: of the numbers concerned, and have read them carefully, and am forced to the conclusion that: the published accounts! are likely to give the public an entire-: ly false impression of the numbers im-plicated-and of the proportion they bear to the numbers in camp. Thero were 2700' men in camp, and I can find no' word of commendation of the exemplary conduct of the 2600 odd whose bohaviour throughout would have done credit to the best-disciplined regular troops. “Personally, except for these few regrettable incidents, confined to a small minority, I am more than satisfied With tlio general conduct of the men, and their behaviour as-a whole in camp onlv confirms my appreciation of Lie excellent qualities of the young New Zealander, and of his aptitude for the ; duties as a citizen soldier. I spent Friday afternoon walking through the c&mp, talking to tho rank and. filo of the citizen army. I find everywhere a growing fooling of mutual respect between the officers and men, and I am firmly convinced that its discipline will be of the highest kind, based on a rea-, lisation of the necessity for it, and of a willing subordination to authority on the part of the youth of the country, and I have no sympathy with the suggestion that penalties are necessary in order to enforce it, or that their application is the best way to bring hometo the Territorial recruits, of which the entire citizen army is at present composed, the realisation of the necessity for it. I have, it would seem, more confidence in the good qualities and good sense of the young New Zealander than some of his compatriots, and as long as I have the honour to command the New Zealand array I shall prefer to trust to his honour and to that esprit do corps which is being rapidly engendered in all units of the forces, rather, than to disciplinary methods, to make it the best citizen army in the world. . ~. , “As an instance of the way m-whicn these things are, no doubt, unintentionally magnified or exaggerated, in a leading article iu its issue of April the Evening Post implies that the marchers towards Dannevirke had gone nine and a half miles. The distance from camp’to Dannevirke was six miles only, and, as a matter of fact, they had gone only about half a mile, and were within the line of pickets before they were stopped by thqir officers, and that they did return when told to by their officers, when it was pointed out to them that they were committing a foolish and undisciplined act. This bears out my contention that the New Zealand citizen soldier has only to be told w’hat is right for lain to do it. I should like, in justice to the meu,.to call the attention of the public to the fact that two such independent authorities as Police-Inspector O’Donovan and the Rev. J. A. Luxford, Methodist minister, ot high standing in Wanganui,- have testified to the general excellence of their behaviour, as _ also have many other ministers of religion who were present iu the camp.”

A CHAPLAIN’S IMPRESSIONS. A FEW BLACK SHEEP. WANGANUI, April 38. The Rev. J. A. Luxford, interviewed _hy. the ChromcleAo-Jiight .in connec-

tioa with General Gndley’g statement, states tliat the camp at tjacingi, from a mifitaiy point, 'was a success.. Qn patado tlio youths were under disbipLifi,--and there was , neither a word nor aa’ action indicating dissatisfaction. TOo~ 'sick were attended to with despatiffiThe chaplains received respect fromtho ■men and courtesy from the officaia, ■‘both staff and regimental. Erecy "facility was given them for discharging their duties. Ho considers the reports of the Dannevirko affair are-ex-aggerated, Mr. Luxford says the great majority of the youths were'respectable, well-behaved young follows,, and their conduct was exemplary. Ho: admits that there was a section whoso language was filthy in the extreme—“the vilest he had ever heard.” The whole must not be judged by the minority, It would be as unfair as condemning a good poet for one or two bad lines. He fears that the alleged attempt to punish the reporter is true. Against these irregularities, it must bo remembered that hundreds of the young fellows spent their evenings reading, writing, and in enjoying wholesome games. He condemns the filthy ; language of the minority, and hopes the blaster, noise and dirty songs of a: small section will not ho considered the characteristic of tKd camp. ' If the : authorities will take strict action tosuppress the language of the bad .dement, parents will have nothing to'fcar' about the atmosphere of these camps. With other chaplains, ho spent his evenings among the ypung fellows, visiting all parts of; the camp, and could not see any sign of liquor, wjih the exception of two drunks returning from Dannevirke on the last evening after leave. He speaks in glowing terms of the management of the marquees provided by the Presbyterian Church and Salvation Army, and advocates a larger number under the-con-trol of men of strong personality- Tboconduct of the youths at church parades, was all one could wish. The prayer meetings "each evening were well attended. Eliminate the filthylanguage and suppress the conduct ot. the few rowdies who will always be. found among a large number,-and ihecamps would be free from objectionable incidents. . “Don’t,” he said, “let us judge the whole by the conduct of the ■few.”

CAMP NOTES. (By “Scout.”) There was a missing word in-my last notes. I intended to write, “Bands of ‘Terriers,’ more or less ‘musical’— much less than more,” et-seq. For Heaven’s sake, Mr. Editor, make the correction. I no wish to figure at a Territorial auto-da-fe.

In closing my notes I wish to express my thanks to the officer in. charge of the temporary Post and Telegraph Of-, fice at the camp, Mr. Steel, of the chief Post Office, Napier* ■ He had an enormous amount of work to do under very hard conditions, conditions calculated to make an ordinary person nervy and irritable, but Mr. Steel took it as all in the day’s work, and was ever courteous and obliging. I-wish hint every success and rapid promotion.