THE VOLUNTEER SERVICE.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9535, 6 May 1909, Page 1

THE VOLUNTEER SERVICE.

PROPOSED OFFICERS' TRAINING CORPS. APPROVAL OF COLLEGE STUDENTS. A meeting of the Canterbury College Students' Association was held last evening to discuss the proposal that an officers' training corps should be formed in connection with the College. The president (Mr A. E. Flower) was in the chair, and there was a fairly large attendance of men students. N. Gibson moved— "That the Canterbury College Students' Association approves the formation of an officers' training corps in .connection with the College." He said that the scheme originated nearly twelve • months ago, when Mr T. E. Currie, a student at the College and an enthusiastic Volunteer had opened negotiations with the Defence authorities regarding the feasability of forming a rifle corps in connection with the College. The Defence Council had drawn \ip provisional. rules for officers' training corps, and a conference of delegates fron* each of the four Colleges had been held in Wel«lington at Easter to consider the question. At that conference a motion similar to the one he had proposed had been discussed and approved. The matter had then been left in the hands of the Pjpofessorial Boards of ; the Colleges. Each College was free to work on its own lines. Probably those who joined the corps, if it was formed, would be required to attend one hour's parade per week, and possibly one hour per week would be devoted to an instruction class. The time taken would be two hours a week at the most, and probably arrangements would be made for relief immediately before and during examination time. Besides this, the corps would be required to go into camp for from six to fourteen days in the year, and would also be required to do a certain amount of rifle shooting. He felt vthat the Government had done much for students, and it behoved them, more than any other class of the community, to do something for their country. . Mr G. S. M'Kenzie seconded the motion. He said that if anything were done at all it should be done thoroughly. He favoured the idea of military graining being made compulsory, at least for the Arts students, who had the most time to spare. For those at the Training College it could easily be made compulsory by the^ Education Department. The meeting at Wellington had suggested to the various Professorial Boards that military training should be made a compulsory subject for the B. ■ A* degree. Professor Haslam said that he hoped sincerely that the women students would back up the movement; they would if they realised that a man who was not able to defend himself was not able to defend his wife or his mother. At present there were many men utterly incapable of taking part in their own defence. This was not right. Students owed much to the country and to their forefathers and to the land of their forefathers. He approved the idea of military training being made ',< a subject for the examination for the B: A. degree, arid more strongly still he favoured it being made a compulsory subject. Perhaps he was somewhat advanced, but ho would maintain that an untrained man was not a good citizen. Whatever system of defence the dominion followed there would be a need for educated men to- serve as officers. Men of the type that Christ's College and the Boys' . High School turned out had "proved themselves capable officers, and more men of the same stamp were wanted. v After they had been trained they need not necessarily serve as officers, but they might be available as a reserve when required. The Inspector-General, who favoured the idea, had informed him that whatever standard the Professorial Board might adopt, the Defence Department would follow. He feared that two hours per week would be, too much time for many -students — certainly for engineering students, but he knew that many students would attempt to make time. He would impress upon those present that the training corps should be considered as something quite apart from all other College societies, a thing upon a higher plane, one of the most important things that was in connection with the College. He gave the motion his cordial support. . . Captain Potter, Assistant- AdjutantGeneral of the Canterbury Volunteer district, .said that he was- present by order of his commanding officer to answer any questions that might be asked. The pamphlet of " Regulations for Officers Training Corps" was merely provisional. It rested with the colleges to say whether those regulations Bhould be adopted. Although the Defence Council would soon be defunct, its officers would still be able to act as an advisory committee to the Government, and they would do their best to get young New Zealanders to apply their brains in the service, as officers, of the country. A college man' held an honourable position, arid it would become them to consider that fact. Discipline wbb a necessity, and frequently education and an appreciation of discipline went hand in hand. In reply to a question put by. Mr Edwin Watkins, principal of the Normal School Training College, who had expressed his appreciation, of the scheme, ifc was explained that two hours per week would probably be quite sufficient for all the training that would be required. Probably attendance at the instruction class would be waived if the student would study upon his own account. The chairman said that this was probably the most important subject upon which members of the Association had ever been called upon to vote. If the scheme were taken up as enthusiastically as it deserved, it would probably mean that military training^ would be made a subject for the examination for the degree of Bachelor of Arts, then for the matriculation examination, and so would become a school subject. If this came to pass New Zealand would orice again have given the world a lead. The motion was carried unanimously. A vote of thanks was passed to Profesor Haslam for his patriotic action in presenting v a shield for an annual rifle shooting contest for the four colleges of the University.