The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1913.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXXIV, Issue 3725, 10 January 1913, Page 4

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. FRIDAY, JANUARY 10, 1913.

The official return that lias just been oompiled in conA Splendid Success, nection with the working of the new defence scheme will he generallyregarded as a very interesting document. Happily, it is certain not to make pleasant reading for that small anti-militarist section of the community which has been so constantly engaged in the work of trying to make out that the system is not only very unpopular hut is in grave danger ox breaking down. When the figures that are continued in the report are widely disseminated it will be a splendid thing as they will have the effect of removing any impression which opponents of the new scheme may have succeeded in creating in the minds of well-meaning but easily- persuaded people outside the Doininoin. As a matter of fact the return shows that after *ll th« trouble that has been made by the small but noisy band of “anti-con-seriptionists” (as they are pleased to designate themselves) universal training has been accepted in this country-

in a- very earnest and p raise worth.' ) spirit. It is explained: in the- return for example that in regard to the senior cadets there have been up to date only five instances of refusal tp register. For refusing to take the oatli only nine cases have been found • by the military authorities. As might be expected there were, however, a much larger number of instances of j complaints of cadets being , absent from drill or being considered guilty of obstruction at drill. Still, under the circumstances the figures are . small—B6 cases in the Auckland district, 59 in the Wellington district, 41 in the Canterbury district, and 2S in the Otago district. There have j been, it should also be added, no in-i stances of imprisonment having been , ordered in the case of a senior cadet, s although, in all, 1-54 convictions have , had recorded in connection with mem- j bers of this important branch of the | service. With reference to the territorials the position, as we have al-j ready said, has proved equally satisfactory considering all the initial diffieulties that have necessarily had to be overcome. Altogether only 32 young men who were eligible for service endeavored to evade registration. For some time (it will be recalled) cases were fairly numerous in regard to refusals to take the oath, with the result that there have been in all 353 instances of the i.ind, of which 281 - occurred in Canterbury alone! In a great many instances the refusal to take the oath has been due, as is well-known, to. conscientious object-

ions based on religious grounds, but in other cases and more especially has this been the position in Canterbury, the refusals have been due simply to an organised anti-military movement. It is no doubt clearly recognised that the number of cases of absence from drill and obstruction at parades has

been under all the circumstances small and indeed would have been a great deal smaller had the authorities decided to he severe at the cutset. Of such cases 236 occurred in the Auckland district, whilst Wellington had 332, Canterbury 304 and Otago 134. Now it so happens that in all the Department has been forced to secuie 9C4 convictions, mostly in the Auckland, Canterbury, and Wellington districts. So far as cases of imprisonment are concerned there have been, notwithstanding all the fuss that has been made on the subject, only 30 in the Auckland district. 8 in the Wellington district, 30 in the Canterbury district, and none at all in the Otago district. When the whole matter is reviewed and when in particular it is noted that the operations relate to the registration of a grand total of over 60,000 senior cadets and territorials,* it must, of course, he acknowledged that instead of the new defence system having proved a failure and having met with no end of opposition, it has been very successfully launched and is being enthusiastically supported on every hand, excepting in, the case of a very limited number of ‘■'passive resisters” who would be opposed to military training in any shape or form.