COLONIAL DEFENCES.

Auckland Star, Volume XXXI, Issue 182, 2 August 1900, Page 5

COLONIAL DEFENCES.

IMPORTANT GOVERNMENT

SCHEME,

PROPOSED RESERVE FORCE

ENCOURAGEMENT OP VOLUNTEERING.

CADET CORPS AND RIFLE CLUBS.

WELLINGTON, July 20.

In the House of Representatives last night, Mr Seddon, Premier and Minister for Defence, made an important statement respecting harbour defences, colonial defence forces, Imperial reserves, cadet corps, rifle clubs, and other matters connected with the defence of the colony. He said: — Hon. members will, I hope, agree with me that it is consistent with one's duty to the Empire and to the colony, and not out of place, to give attention at this juncture to the all important subject of our defences, and if ..possible to evolve a means of perfecting, extending, and strengthening the same, both for internal and external purposes.

PREPARATIONS FOR. EMERGENCY.

TTTe equipping and sending of our contingents and the lessons taught, by the war in South Africa must not be ignored. We must not be blind to the altered conditions that have arisen during the last few months, and which at present may appear trifling, but which in years to come may bo a source of anxiety to the colony and the Empire. There are also eventualities that may arise in connection with the adjustment of affairs in China, and taking the outlook as a whole it is prudent for us to complete our harbour defences, increase and fully equip our volunteer corps, give military training to our youths, encourage rifle clubs, and in addition create a reserve force equal for any emergency.

WANT OF CAPITAL,

The chief drawback has been the finding of the capital required for the completion of our harbour defences, the equipment of the defence forcejj, the purchase of great and small arms and the munitions of war. Important as these are, still the opening up and roading of our land, the construction of railways, and the development of our industries, have been such a tax upon our resources that expenditure in regard to harbour defences, defence forces, rifle clubs, and cadet corps has had perforce to be curtailed.

WAYS AND MEANS

I, therefore, with much reason, urge that it would be of advantage to the Mother Country and to the colonies if the moneys required for harbour defences and for arming the defence forces were raised by the Imperial authorities, and advanced "to'"1 the colonies, which should pay interest thereon at the rate of three per cent, per annum. In the calculation of this interest the difference between the rate at which the colony could raise the moneys, and the rate at which it is obtained by the Imperial authorities would form a sinking fund to pay off the principal within a reasonable time. COLONIAL RESERVE FORCE. The proposal that the Imperial authorities should find the capital is warranted by the fact that the imperfect defences of the colonies would bo remedied. There would also be the direct advantages to the Imperial authorities and the Empire in having a reserve force established ready for any contingency that might arise, and in having the most modern guns and small arms in the colonies, to the use of which our forces would be trained, and bo available whenever required. There are in New Zealand thousands of men capable of bearing arms, many or them trained and good shots, yet we have in the colony rifles only for one-fourth of their number. Again there is a large number of men of the native race who are well capable of bearing arms. ENROLMENT OF MAORIS. In the past we have had a taste of the fighting qualities of the Maoris, both of those against and those with us ;in fact, had It not been for the "friendlles the troubles would not have ended so speedSy or successfully as they did. All now, I am happy to say, are desirous of upholding the mana of our Gracious Sovereign, and were pouri (sorrowful) at not being allowed to go with our sons in the contingents to South Africa. The time has long since arrived when we may with confidence trust those of the native race who enrol themselves in our volunteer corps and accept them to form part of the Imperial reserve force suggested in this memorandum. MORE RIFLES WANTED. I consider that, in addition to the .303 rifles now in the colony, to provide the volunteer corps in the South Island, the new corps enrolled and to be enrolled, the men in the Imperial reserve, and to have a reasonable stock In reserve, 30,000 magazine rifles are required. The cost of same, with freight, etc., added, would be about £120,----000. In the past many conTpanies of volunteers and. rifle clubs have offered their services, w.fllcli have been refused1 on account; of the capital required for arms and equipments not being available. This also applies . specially to the want of Hold batteries, ana the completion and full equipment of harbour defences. J CLASSIFICATION OF FORCES. The defence forces of the colony should be divided into the following classes, viz.: (a) Permanent artillery for harbour defences; (b) ordinary volunteer forces; (c) Imperial and colonial reserve forces; (d) rifle club; and (c) cadet corps. " THE VOLUNTEER FORCE. When the present Commander of the i Forces took oillee our volunteers numbered about 4200. The number'bf officers and men now enrolled totals 11,500. There arc in addition some 90 corps ottering their services, which, if accepted, would bring our total volunteer force up to over 18,000 officers and men. Most, of the corps now offering their services are mounted. We take It for granted that approximately one-half would be mounted, and the other half infantry. The present capitation grant for infantry Is £2 10/ and for mouuted corps £3 10/. The total amount required for capitation would therefore be £54,000 per annum. To this must be added for equipments water bottles, haversacks, bandoliers, etc., £1 per head, which would bring the total cost up to £72,000. To have our volunteers efllcient increased training in camp is essential, and additional payment may be found advisable. I estimate this at £8000, bringing the total required to £80,000. We have now an up-to-date field bnttory, and other batteries have been ordered. The cost of these, if manned by volunteers, would be at least £1000 each, but If manned by permanent men ,and horses £12,000 would be required. SHOOTING RANGES. To make our volunteers efllcient in shooting ranges are necessary, but with the increasing population of our centres these are difficult to set. In the past there has been great oversight in this respect, and we find ourselves in the position at the present time of having no suitable range available for our volunteers in the large centres of population. To make the necessary provision now would entail a cost of £20,000, and when this Is done (and the sooner it is done the better), a law should be passed that no person acquiring properties adjac-, sent to, or in the vicinity of, these ranges should huve any claim" against the colony: Rifle ranges are as essential to our welfare as our railways are,, ami .they should be ; protected .md maintained top. alUlflje,-,: •'"

AN IMPERIAL RESERVE. In respect to the formation of an Imperial reserve, the following shall apply. It should be open to all officers and men belonging to the ordinary volunteer corps to become efficient in both servics, and to enlist for, say, three years, in the reserve forces. Officers and men so enlisted should receive a fixed annual sum on being certificated as efficient, and be required to go into camp at stated periods for, say, four weeks In each year, drills and camping as a volunteer to count as part of said four weeks. When in camp they should receive a sum amounting to at lenst half that now given under the militia regulations. The Imperial Government should find the capital required to purchase field batteries, rifles, and equipments of the force, the colonies paying a sum equal to one-half the interest on iirst cost. In respect to all forces when on service outside the colony, the Imperial Government should provide horses (when in the colony men to provide their own horses), the payment of capitation and the payment of the forces when in camn in the colony, or 011 service outside the" colony, within prescribed limits, to be adjusted between the Imperial authorities and the colonial Governments, on a population or other equitable basis. The reserve forces should be open for service within territorial limits, to bo agreed upon between the Imperial and the colonial Governments. The pay of the officers and men when on service outside the colonies should not be less than that which is being paid to the Fifth Contingent nt present serving In South Africa. STRENGTH AND COST OF RESERVE. Estimating the strength of our volunteer corps at 18,000 men, we may reasonably expect that 8000 of their number will enrol in the Imperial reserve. This number, together with 2000 men of the Maori race, who would join the reserve, would bring the number up to*lo,ooo men. Putting- the capitation on those efficient at £a per capita, the annual cost would be £00,000, to which must be added the pay during- the time the men are in camp, say, about £50,000 more. Therefore, there would be in this colony 10,000 men available at an annual cost of £100,000. Taking it for granted, that in like proportion to the population, the same number of men would enrol in the Australian colonies and Tasmania, and estimating the population of Australia and Tasmania at 3,500,----000, the proportion would be 43,750 men, added to the 10,000 in this colony. This would produce a reserve force of 53,750 men, or in round numbers, an Imperial reserve of 50,000 men, at an annual cost of £1,000,000. The captious critic may look upon this scheme as chimerical, and 'I had some doubts myself, when, on May 11 last, in a memorandum to His Excellency the Governor, I first outlined the scheme, but since then Major-General French has expressed the conviction that a force could be formed on the lines Indicated, and seeing that the drilling and training- in camp of the volunteers would count for.' that required by the resei've, there is little doubt, that the number estimated by me would be reached. RIFLE CLUBS. In respect to the formation of rifle clubs, a club should consist of not less than 20, or more than 40 members, and in localities where volunteer corps have been formed, only ex-volunteers who have had not less than three years' service should be enrolled. In localities nvhere there are no volunteer corps, rifle clubs may enrol members who have not had volunteer service. It is necessary that members of rifle clubs should, where practicable, attend a prescribed number of drills and parades in the course of the year, the instruction being in respect to handling arms and firing exercise, the Government to supply rifles and ammunition to enrolled members of rifle clubs at cost price. After one year's enrolment members of rifle clubs shall be tested ftt target practice, and on being able to miike the minimum number of marks at the prescribed ranged, or, having attended the prescribed number of drills ami parades, they shall be entitled to receive a certificate as being efficient. For the first year every enrolled member of a rifle club shall receive a free grant of 50 rounds of ammunition, and thereafter to every efficient. member of a rifle club there shall be allowed a free grant of 100 rouues oi' ammunition, to be used at matches or at practice. Members of rifle clubs also to have a concession in the shape of free railway passes when attending rifle shooting competitions. CADET CORPS. As has been stated by me in reply to questions, cadet corps should be established. They should be under the control of the Education Boards; and the Education Department. A light rifle, similar to that used in the colony of Victoria, should be provided for the use of, say, 20 of the older boys in each school. The total number of boys who are in the sixth standard, or have passed it, is, say, 7500, and the cost of giving one-fourth of them rifles woul be £3750. In adition to the school cadet corps there are a number of youths in the colony who are not old enough to join the volunteer corps, and the formation of cadet corps and the enrolment of these youths would be of material advantage. The number likely to be enrolled is estimated at 5000. The cost of rifles and equipment, estimated at £3 each, would make a total of £15,000. Anyone who has given this subject any consideration must readily admit that if you commence to train the boys in the school, after leaving school they enrol in the ordinary cadet corps, and when they come of age they wil enrol in the volunteer corps. You take them from the school and keep them under military training until they attain the volunteer age. At the present time the lads, from the time they attain the age at which 'they could be enrolled in the volunteer corps, have their ardour damped as well as their liking- for drill, and this has, been the means of preventing them from enrolling in the volunteer forces of the colony. No such thing as conscription is at all necessary in this colony, and I am satisfied that if the suggestion now made should be given effect to, we should have, in the course of a few years, fully 20,000. volunteers equipped and a complete naval branch of the naval reserves. NAVAL VOLUNTEERS. In respect to the naval branch of the Imperial and colonial reserve forces, arrangements should be made for the drilling of our naval volunteers on a certain number of days in each year on the cruisers belonging to the Australasian squadron, these cruisers to be at the several ports in the colonies at times fixed for the purpose. There are many of the merchant steamers coming to the colony which could be converted into cruisers. At present the officers and engineers on those steamers cannot qualify for the naval reserve. If they were allowed to have short periods of service of the'cruisers, when both steamers and cruisers were in port, these officers and engineers would in time qualify fctr the naval reserve. There should be naval guns, equipment and-munitions Dt Wftf'fdr .those colonial steamers convertible into cruisers, to be left at a depot within ihe colony, to be approved by the Imperial authorities, not necesssarily at a port, yet safe from seizure and witrijh 'eatfy reach. STRENGTHENING THE AUSTRALAI.ASIAN SQtTADRON. . Owing to the altered conditions it is necessary that the Australasian squadron should be strengthened, by raising the class of vessels and increasing the number of cruisers, the colonies to pay the increased cost on the basis of the present agreement. Several of the cruisers now in the Australasian waters, not being up-to-date, and not belonging to the squadron, should be withdrawn and replaced by a better and more useful class of cruisers. MILITARY CONFERENCE. With the developments that have taken place in South Africa the difficulties met with by the Australasian colonies in enrolling, equipping, and despatching contingents for service outside the colonies point to the fact that a conference of Imperial officers, commanders of the forces, and Defence Ministers, would be of great service in working out a scheme such as Is here proposed, and, should Field-Marshal Lord Roberts be able to accept the invitation to visit the colonies, he should be invited to preside, at such conference. Failing this the Imperial authorities should be asked to send one of the British Generals, who has taken, part in the South African campaign, to preside at such conference. At the conclusion of his speech, Mr Seddon was warmly cheered from all sides of the House. Captain Russell expressed a hope that when the report of the Defence Committee- is brought down full opportunity for discussion would be given, and a day specially set apart for the purpose. The Premier: Time devoted to consideration of defence matters is time well spent, and I wish also'to point out that the question of defence is a national one, ana there should be no party In It., I trust hon.members opposite will join with me to.do something to improve the existing position of affaire, in order that we imay place our colony in the foremost position in the British colonies as regards defence matters; , • \ The motion that the statement be print- t ed arid referred to the Committee on Be^eiMje wjs atrrged to . >..;• ; jvs.. ; ■. >