NATIONAL DEFENCE.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 281, 1 June 1909, Page 6

NATIONAL DEFENCE.

Mr Robert McNab, formerly Minister for Defence in the Ward Administration, addressed a public meeting at the Drill Hall last evening on the subject of national defence. The speaker was supported by a number of local gentlemen who occupied seats *on the stage and the audience was large and attentive, and at the end of the proceedings became distinctly enthusiastic in favor of the views of the speaker. Mr T. Lindsay Buick, who occupied the chair, said he first had to tender to the audience the sincere apologies of his Worship the Mayor, Pastor Rios, for his inability to attend and preside over the meeting as originally intended. He (the Mayor) had desired him to say that he was in entire accord with the purpose of the meeting, and he asked them to accept his assurance that it was only the indifferent state of his health, and not a desire, to shirk his responsibilities which prevented him being present. Mr Buick then proceeded to explain the attitude which the Chamber of Commerce had adopted in calling the meeting, making it clear that the matter had not been approached in a party spirit, but that the Chamber was merely acting as an jmpartial medium through which the great problem of national defence might be discussed. He then briefly eulogised Mr McNab as one of the young New Zealanders of whom New Zealand had every reason to be proud, and remarked that he was confident that if the audience gave him a patient and attentive, hearing — as of course they would — their patience and courtesy would be rewarded by. listening to a closely-reasoned, logical, and spirited address. . ■.•> Mr McNab was warmly applauded when lie rose to. address- the audience. .He prefaced his remarks by saying 'that lie desired to explain why he was there that eA'ening. They were all aware of the circumstances under which a certain number of public men were recently retired from public life. He was one of them. (Laughter). At that time he was Minister for Defence, and lie had formed definite views on the subject of defence, but the decision of the electors prevented him putting his views before his fellow members, and so since , then he had -decided that instead of proceeding to England he would make a tour- of the dominion, and place his A'iews, not before the representatives of the people, but before the .people themselves. ■ In\this he- had to thank the Chamber of Commerce for the facilities for doing so in . Dannevirke, and he quite appreciated the attitude of the Chamber of Commerce in not identifying itself with his views. ' The defence question was not one of class or politics. He represented no party or any or-

ganisation of people who had an axe to grind in connection with the defence of the country. He would not ask his audience to express any opinion on the suggestions he would make to them, as ,the subject, affecting everyone in the community, raised too serious an issue to be decided after hearing only one side. He wanted to speak as an old volunteer, to volunteers — the rank and file, and the officers in command. Mr McNab. said that when lie went into Parliament it 'was with the firm belief that if those at the head of affairs were sympathetic, the condition- of volunteering would be enormously improved, and that a new era. would be . brought in. ft was given to him to get to the high place, and he had the opportunity of looking behind the scenes and ascertaining whether the fault lay with the' administration. In justice to the administrative offi--1 cers he should say that from the top to the bottom he found an enthusiasm not equalled in the administration of any other Department. There were men in charge who had risen from the ranks themselves, and who had served in South Africa. He was convinced that if it had been possible for the, volunteer system to be put into a position to satisfy the defence ofVthe country, no other country had had such an opportunity as New Zealand to put it on that footing. But after doing what they could, and trying every possible expedient that could be tried, he came to the conclusion that the whole system of volunteering should be entirely swept* away, and its place taken by an entirely different system. (Applause.) The speaker said the volunteers Mere perhaps' , -in some respects a difficult body to estimate correctly. He .'intended to take last year's report of the Inspec-tor-General (Colonel , Davies) * for •figures he would quote. He found that the country paid capitation on 13,049 volunteers. It was frequently* stated that the actual number was about 20,000., but that estimate in-' ■eluded 3000 each for a-ine clubs and; cadets,, and 380 for the Permanent force. Colonel Davies, who. .had served in South Africa, and was the only colonial' officer promoted to take charge of a column, was sent out" to find the 13,049 volunteers for whom the country was paying capitation. Parades were called for times convenient at the places visited, and v the Inspector-eGneral came back and re-^ ported that he had only been able to find 7109. At the Easter camp, which was held in the one period o!' the year when they got nearest service, conditions, they found that only 5935 turned out, say 6000 volunteers. In every 100 men paid for under the volunteer system the Inspector-Gene-

ral only found 54 when lie inspected the corps, and ouly 45 at" the Easter camp. The volunteer system cost £196,354; from this amount lie ought, probably, to deduct the cost of Defence Cadets, Defence Rifle Clubs, and of the Permanent Artillery. The men who passed out of the force yearly into civil life constituted the great 'reserve to which the country would look for its defence. He explained that the reason for the reduction of the 13,000 men on whom capitation Avas paid to 6000 was, that improved •weapons and altered military conditions necessitated more work in the field than was the case previously. As a consequence many men could not get the necessary leave to attend the field Operations. Could they do away with those conditions by improving the volunteer system ? A system was required that would enable a man to get away for instruction with the force to which he belonged, and a system that did not put the man at r the mercy of his employer. An employer who had many employees in the force when continually asked by them for leave, when a vacancy occurred usually asked applicants if they belonged to the force, and gave prefernce to those who did not. The system adopted should prevent an employer taking that advantage of the men, and-would allow the men to get the lime aivay as a right, and not as a privilege. He would like .to see on the Statute book a provision that men could not be penalised for being members of the force; not only that, but also that the employers should have to turn out themselves. The efficiency of -the volunteer force was measured by ' the four days' Easter encampment. Every two .years .6000 men who had' attained that efficiency returned to pm rate life, and for 3000 per annum the taxpayers paid £196,000, or £65 per mail per annum. The speaker then quoted the remarks of the -Inspector-General regarding ,the standard of efficiency-attained by the various units of the New Zealand A'-oliinteer force. The speaker mentioned that the New Zealand volunteer artillery was superior to any other volunteer artillery in the British Empire. He 1 showed tjiat the reason for the high efficiency of this section was that they could do their work at the same place and did not require to do field work. Referring to the mounted rifles, Mr McNab said that the reason for the disparity between the number on which capitation was paid and the number that attended the Easter camp was that the men had to do. their military work at a time when other men were ' earning their livings. To those who - were against militarism the speaker pointed out that if the present voluntary system was strained it would mean that only men of wealth and position could afford to go in for training as volunteer officers, and men who would lose their wages if they -went through the necessary training would not join the force. In those" circumstances the result would be that the defence of the country would be handed over to a class, in place of being the privilege and possession of the great mass of the people.. There was only one remedy. . If it could be shown that tlie voluntary system had been successful in any part of the Empire, he would be prepared to admit that there was something wrong with his argument or in the administration in New Zealand. The speaker then quoted the opinion of Lord Roberts —who, he said, amongst ancient and modern generals, stands on the very topmost rung —(applause) —of the volunteei system in Great Uritain. Lord Rob-

erts was the only General of ancient or modern times who had led his forces to victory on the field of battle without a single man under li'-.u who was pressed into the service. (Applause). As his fifty years of victories had been gained at the l.i ad of armies-gathered under the vo'.u Uary system. Lord Roberts was bi:.-:rd in favor of the voluntary system. If, - then, he condemned the system, how much was that condemnation worth to us? Mr McNab quoted Lord Roberts on "Imperial Defence" to show that he spoke in terms of the highest praise of the officers and men, but in thorough condemnation of the system. The volunteers, could not be asked to do more than they were doing, but they could not reach that standard of efficiency which was .necessary if. they were to face the thoroughly trained troops of the other Powers. The speaker then went on to refer to the changed conditions of warfare, due. to the nations' capacity to put enormous armies in the field. He quoted the forces engaged- in the Russo-Japanese war, and said that if Russia had chosen to launch the force she sent to Manchuria on to the frontier of India the position with that part of the Empire would be very serious indeed. Lord Roberts considered that an army of 200,000 men to be sent to any part 'of th© Empire was sufficient, but he wanted a vast national reserve to make good the wastage in time of war. Lord Roberts had also stated in 1906 that it - woudl be the height of folly for Great Britain, to enter into a campaign with a civilised Power, depending on the army situated as theirs was at that time. The position had not been • much benefited by the change from the volunteers to the territorials, for that had been a change only in name. A man still had to he a volunteer to he a territorial, and in spite of Lord Roberts' warning the very essence • of the system had been left out, viz., universal training. (Applause.) He was not asking for compulsory service, in war, he was only asking for training so as to fit the men for war just in the same way as a horse was trained for a race. His fear was that Parliament would consider the time not ripe- for universal training. What they would probably eiideavor tc do would be to mprove the volunteer system. He knew Avhat trying tc improve the system Avas. He had two years of it, and he knew it was not possible to do so. There was also this difficulty that in order tc improve the system it would be necessary to- give it a five year's trial, which was only so much time wasted, because every one knew that it was not going to succeed before it started. Mr McNab then proceeded to dwell on the advantage which .would result from tlie point of vie wof physical development, and he . contrasted the physical standard in the German and British navies, Avhich he said was much in favor of Germany, due to the compulsory training received. Coming to volunteering in Australia, Mr McNab said that the Australians themselves had decided that i their volunteering system was a failure. Australia was governed by I a workers' Government, and this was the first Government in. British dominions which intended to introduce compulsory training up to 20 years. It had been suggested that universal % service would bo inimical to the Avorkers. If ho could exclude those who were engaged in the industries of the country ho would do so, but be believed that it would be a mistake. The nations Avhich took the industrial worker for the- maximum period out of his industry, and put him in training, were Britain's greatest competitor in the fields of industry. (Applause.) Australia had gone a long way towards excluding aliens from her shores, but it was one thing to pass legislation of that kind and another thing to have the power to enforce such drastic laAvs, and he illustrated this by the power of the London policeman to stop all traffic," not by any virtue that was in himself, but by the power 'there was behind him to compel obedience to his commands. Continuing, Mr McNab went on to say thai his contention -vvas thatshould be tho duty, and aftwrwards the privilege, of every man born into this country, Avhen ho reached a certain age, to train. himself for its defence. The other nations of the world had their systems of training, and he had much to say in favor of the . SAviss- system, but be Avanted, it to be understood, that he was not advocating conscription such as prevail- . Ed in Germany or France. He would make it statutory that whenever arrangements were made for a man togo out to train under a compulsory system the greatest length of time in the first year should not exceed 30 days. A deputation had Avaited on the Premier, arguing that the factories could not shut up for* a month. No one. asked that. Were all the factories in NeAv Zealand run by lads of 19? Germany's industries Avere not shut up through their defence system, which took men aAvay from industries for years. Perfect defence was | not going to be obtained without some inconvenience. As to the cost of a system of compulsory

training, the speaker referred to the Australian scheme, which provides for j" the training of males, commencing j at 10 years of age, and continuing i till 20 years of age . He did not, j ho said, suggest such a scheme; he suggested a minimum of three years' training, and a 'maximum of five years. The cast of the Australian scheme, when it reached its maximum, was estimated to ho £1,400,000 per annum ; a similar scheme for New Zealand would cost £360,000; consequently tlie maximum cost of any system that could he suggested was that amount. Expert authorities admitted that one year's compulsory service would turn out better men than the present system, and that 10,000 per' .annum could he turned out, and they would not cost anything like what was being paid at present; if the term was made two years it would not cost anything like it did at present ; if -the term was three years it would cost about, the same as at present ; if the term was made more than three years the cost went up till £360,000 per annnnrwas readied. People in "Wellington had said 1 that they wanted the incidence of taxation altered before they would agree to tho reform of the defence force ; but they should not allow the imce of the defence of their country' to be the price for paying for the change of the incidence of taxation (Applause.) Whilst asking his audience to postpone decision in regard to com- ■ pulsory training, the speaker impressed on his audience the futility of trying to improve the present volunteer system. Such an. attempted improve- : ment would" mean that all discussion <: would he stopped till it had a fair '< trial — a trial .that would he a solemn . farce. j '. Concluding, Mr McNab said that ■ he realised by the attention paid to his address, and by the enthusiasm of ► tho audience, that they were inipress- [ ed with. .the idea that it was absolutes ly necessary th?,t something- should bo , done in relation to the defence of the i dominion. (Continued applause.) Lieut. -Colonel Drummond then •. came forward and moved a hearty • vote of thanks to Mr McNab f<y his ; address, supporting it in a ne*at and i appropriate speech. Captain Harrison seconded, and the . motion was carried by "hearty accla- ► matibn. Mr G. W. Wright then gave a ► spirited rendering of the popular [ patriotic song "Soldiers of the King," ; (Mrs ,Reid Maekay accompanying) ; the audience, joining lustily in the ► chorus, and at its 'termination i.nsist- ■ ed an encore, which was grati- , fied by a repetition of the last verse; , which bad been slightly altered to ; meet the New Zealand conditions. Mr Bickford then moved, That niot- [ withstanding the. enthusiasm of the : volunteers the voluntary system does ■ not provide adequate means of dei fence, and we therefore ask the.GovL eminent to introduce a system of i universal military training of the s young men. At the .suggestion of Mr Eustace 1 Lano the word naval was added after military and on the motion being sec- ; onded by Mr Rathbone was carried , in spite of an effort by Mr J?itzherhert to. affirm tlie principal that sum- ; i cient arms and ammunition should first he provided. A vote of thanks to the chairman,; moved by Mr McNab, then terminated thfi proceedings.