THE DEFENCE QUESTION.

Press, Volume XLI, Issue 6066, 24 February 1885, Page 3

THE DEFENCE QUESTION.

TO THE XDITOB OF THS PRESS. Sib,—ln spite of public meetings held previous to the late elections, in spite of the pledges made by members of the House of Representatives then candidates for seats in the House, in spite of tie promises made by the present Colonial Treasurer, in spite of everything, including the representations made by MajorGeneral Scratohley in 1881*. aud by His Excellency Lieut-General Sir William Jervois in 1884, the New Zealand Volunteer army enjoys the unenviable distinction of being without any military head whatever. The colony stands alone in Australasia in this particular, and as an immediate consequence it is unable to offer any assistance to the mother country in the present Soudan difficulty* Jam convinced of one'thing, that'is, that the Volunteers in New Zealand feel their position keenly. They feel that they are not allowed to have a leader, and it remains for the people to raise their voice and demand of their representatives—Why should such things be P With your permission, sir, I should like to state a few truths that may not be known generally. In the first place, the New Zealand military organisation or disorganisation has been without any Commandant certainly for the past fourteen years. We hear of Officers commanding Militia and Volunteers in every district in New Zealand. Where are the Militia, and who are they by the way ? But these officers take their orders not from a military commandant, but from an Under-Secretary, who is responsible directly to the civilian Minister in charge of his Department. It is neither here nor there, that the TTnder-Secretary—a very; worthy gentleman no doubt—should have held a commission in Her Majesty's army some twenty-five or thirty yean ago, he is to all intents and purposes now a civilian, whatever rank he may hold in a Militia that has not been heard of or, at least, seen for seventeen years. Major-General Scratchley, in addition to recommending the. appointment of en Imperial military officer as commandant, recommended the adoption of the recommendations of the New South Wales "Military Defences Inquiry Commission " as quite applicable to this colony, particularly the employment of ex Boyal Artillery officers in the artillery branch of the service and other ex-Imperial officers in the other branches, also the establishment of a Central School of Instruction, with a Chief Instructor and assistant from H.M. army at the head of it, for the benefit of the New Zealand: volunteer officers. The, cost of this sohool he put down at (£2000) two.thousand pounds per annum. While on this subject I'may mention that, the only concession made to the Volunteers by tie present Government was the useless vote of several thousand pounds for increased capitation, a sum which, if properly expended, would have procured us the services of a" commandant and have paid the annual charge for ■■ the much, required school of instruction. .I nee the word useless, because it seems to mc that-as long as Volunteers ate not given the xaeans of learning: their duties under professional eoldiers, it matters little whether they'arepaid twopence three farthings capitation or two pounds fifteen. And I am quite convinced that the gallant but untrained Volunteers of New Zealand would prefer to serve under, and be taught' by qualified officers, and be paid the nisb named sum as capitation or the last ■with £5 added to it. Major-General Scratohley referred to the incapacity and inefficiency; of the greater portion of the Colonial volunteer officers as a reason for the establishment of a school of instruction. He did not blame the officers for their want of knowledge, he merely pointed out that no means were given them of acquiring a knowledge of their work. I would ask if things have altered for the "better since General Scratchley made this memorable report which concluded in these words,"There is weakness everywhere: the protection of the colony against foreign aggression is not really provided for; and there is no adequate return- for the large outlay annually incurred. His Excellency Sir William Jervois, who is recognised throughout, I may say the world, as one of the first engineer officers of the day, recommended in addition to the appointment of an officer belonging to the Imperial army as commandant, the employment of a naval officer to deal with that branch of the service, and to take charge of business relating to submarine mines and locomotive torpedoes. The Government have done something in this 1 direction I admit, that is, they nave appointed some civilian official, who is I believe in the Telegraph Department to instruot the Naval Artillery in torpedic warfare. Will some representative worthy of the name during the next session of Parliament try and bring to light the cause of this persistent ostracism of professional soldiers and sailors, and also seek out why Commission after Commission may sit, and report after report maybe made, that all sensible recommendations are disregarded, and regulations so ridiculous as to give rise to the idea that they had been compiled by the inmates of a lunatic asylum, should be allowed to oome into force, or rather sot into force, as these regulations are now admitted to be ill most instances contrary to, and repugnant to, the Act upon which they are presumably baeed. If this be not true, now is it that, ia spite of the Under Secretary: for Defence having twice reported to the Ministerial head of the Department how excellently these regulations worked, that, they have now to be altered f ■ ■ Toura,&c., VOUEHB. ' Christehurch, February 20th, 1886.