GENERAL RICHARDSON.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 12636, 22 May 1919, Page 3

GENERAL RICHARDSON.

* A MILITARY WELCOME. SPEECH AT OFFICERS’ CLUB. There was a very large gathering of officers at a reception tendered to General Richardson by members of the Officers’ Chub last night. An invitation to attend had been extended to all ofiicers in the district, and the result was that there was an unusually largo number of members and guests. Tlio General was welcomed by the president (Colonel G. J. Smith) in an informal speech, and those present were invited to sit around at their ease and smoke while the General fulfilled a promise to have an informal talk to the company. General Richardson said that many pleasant recollections were awakened when lie got once more among familiar faces, and thought of the days of thirty years ago, when guns were galdoped about. Hngley Park. The sight o): familiar Territorial faces took him back to Gallipoli, when at Gape Hellea he was anxious to know' how the New Zealanders were doing at Anzae. No one was more anxious to sec them duf '' e . ho was. for it was a common belief that the Territorial officer was not going to be a success without very much more training than he had received. Fortunately the Territorial ofnotir had conic out well, and this wusj due to the success of bis ejirly training. He attributed it, however, not only to tbe training, but to the institution of clues such as the one to whose members ho was speaking. There the officers had studied unceasingly, giving up their time to their profession. Of,f rs were not trained successfully .after the outbreak of war. Stonewall Jackson had studied the art of "wai* years before he was called on as a lender, and doubtless the Territorial officers had imbibed in their early studies tbo knowledge and experience that had served them so well in the( war- General Richardson referred to the circumstances of the wa r of 1870 wiich had been cited as Droving the nihire of the Territorial officer, but- he do Jared that the conditions of 1870 wer' not parallel in the present war The problem of dm.win<r offers fop the present war. General Richardson said, had been met by drawing from the ranks men of character and education regardless of rank, and then training theiu intensively. H e had received report alter report from these training centres that the New Zealand endete cirfiwn from the best noii-'vuniuissionxl 1 officers were splendid. This was the lesson that should he followed for obtaining officers for the Territorial system of to-day. No policy had hen laid down, hut he was of opinion that in each centre cadet companies could be formed comprising the best non-commis-sioned officers and those who showed aptitude for command. These officers’ cadet companies could be trained by the bosh instructors, thus providing a' continuous reservoir from'which to draw. These men must be brave and courageous. and although these fluidities could not be tested in peace time, good health was necessary to their development. Tlmv must observe discipline and get disdnline from their men. and above all they mimt inspire their men with a determination to beat the enemy. The men who wanted war, General Richardson said, should be put in a lunatic asylum, but the man wfho suggested that the country should not have a strong force ready for defence should be nut in the same place. It was not for him or those to whom ho was speaking to adopt any propaganda. They were merely the instruments of national policy. Soldiers, indeed, who took any part in politics might expect to bo treated as the Duke of Wellington. was treated after his entry into politics. They hoped that a sound system of defence would be adopted, and they would do their part to maintain the standard of efficiency on the level which it had reached during the war. Above all, they should endeavour to maintain the traditions of the New Zealand Expeditionary Force, and this might be done by numbering Territorial units and batteries throughout Now Zealand correspondingly with the units that had served in the field. The traditions of those Territorial units would thou lie handed over and carried down to future generations. Referring to the great wastage of /' a !f General Richardson said that on Gallipoli the wastage was 5 per cent a ucek or 20 per cent a month, and in r ranee the wastage of infantrv was 10 per cent a month, giving the 'life of a formation as approximately ten monthsihis revealed the necessity not only lor having a force ready to take the ucJd on mobilisation, but also oontinuinis reserves to supply the wastage. A very different story would have been told of Gallipoli if such reserves had been available. The men were coming back tired of soldiering, but he was sure that if the Empire was in danger they would readily come forward to defend the flag again. General Richardson was verv attentively listened to. and heartilv applauded on concluding his speech- Afterwards he spent an informal social hour with the members, and refreshments brought a very pleasant evening iO a dose.