MILITARY TRAINING.

Auckland Star, Volume LX, Issue 45, 22 February 1929, Page 6

MILITARY TRAINING.

I quite ajjree that world peace would be distinctly desirable, but at the risk of being classed as a pessimist I myself am of the opinion that before it can be attained we must alter all the existing instincts of human nature. Surel\ our anti-militarists do not consider that we Sight for any causes other timii those arising out of our own and others' inherent shortcomings. I should like to point out that the failure to attain anything more than mere coinpromix* in «,ur disarmament conferences it a moderately good indication that the time i» not yet ripe for world peace. Though I mar be quite wronp. my own poor intellect counsels that it would be bad policy to draw our own teeth in the vain hope that others would lie led by our magnanimity to do the same. It is quite lime thouph that somebody adopted a sensible attitude with regard to the military question. Most of the writers whose attack# on our very mild defence policy 1 have read appear either to be ignorant of their subject, though perhaps quite sincere in their convictions. or else are possessed of a morbid desim to see their effusions set in print- Another type, of course, are those disgruntled beinji who must, on principle, presume to critidj® anything which their limited intellects cannot grasp. W lien 1 see remarks such as those set out in the coin inns nf your paper of Tuesday under the nom de plume "Disgusted" I would, were I not possessed of a keen sense of ths ridiculous, feel a trifle irritated. I should tciJ much like to place "Disjrnsted" as adjutant t» one of the unit camps that are held in thil country, and at the end of a week ask him if he still thought that working from reveilh sometime?, till midnight was still his idea of a "cushy"' job. "Ilispu-ted" might obtain some pearls of wisdom from Scotch poetry. Here ia a gem which might be of guidance to him it the future: "What reams of pa per, quarts of ink. <lo some men spoil who never think." The discipline that i> instilled into a young man by military training is bcncficial even is his civil occupation and one has only to look at the civilian successes of most of the young officer* of our Territorial forces to see whether I am c\ji««-erat in;; the benefits of a little correct 1\ -administered di-ciplinc. ÜBIQIT3I