A VITAL QUESTION OF THE DAY.

Press, Volume LV, Issue 10032, 10 May 1898, Page 2

A VITAL QUESTION OF THE DAY.

What We Nbeo in Men, Money, and Equipment.

A correspondent forwards mc the following article on this subject, which I publish without comment: —

With the knowledge that war has actually broken out between America and Spain, and the chance thut England may be drawn into the conflict, it behoves us to face the defence question in no light spirit. In considering the defence question there are many things to look at. but the whole subject may fairly be dealt with under three heads. The first place must necessarily be given to Sea Dp.fb.vck, which ie l - in the keeping of the Imperial Oovemmeut. The joint Australian Colonits pay a subsidy of £100,000 to the Imperial Government for the services of the five cruisers of the Australian squadron, and in addition to these the Admiralty have on the station some twelve other warships, including the flagship Royal Arthur. The names of the vessels of the squadron, in addition to the flagship, are Katoomba, Wallaroo, Ringarooma,, Tauranga, and Mildura (cruisers), Karakatta and Boomerang (twin screw gunboats), Torch, Mohawk, Porpoise, Royalist, Lizard, Goldfinch, and Ringdove (gunboats), in addition to these there are the Penguin, Dart and Waterwitch engaged in Admiralty survey work. Of these the defence of the New Zealand coast is entrusted to the Tauranga and Torch. So iar as the services of these vessels go we have nothing to grumble about, but what we have to consider fs whether two such vessels as I have named are sufficient for the defence of such a coast line as we possess. Although New Zealand is not included in the list of Admiralty co;iiing stations, we have always to face the possibility of a foreign power having a better knowledge of the qualities of New Zealand coal than the Imperial Government has, ■ and the greatest fear we have to face is a raid being made upon our coal centres or upon vessels carrying coal from one port to another. Looked at in this light, it certainly seems that our coastal defence, as entrusted to these two vessels is rather problematical. In addition to Shis, it must also be remembered that according to our agreement with the Admiralty the i latter have the right in case of necessity of ordering the Australian squadron on any other •ervice. Oor Harbour Defences. With the harbour defences themselves as planned there is little fault to be found, but it must be admitted that, while on paper the defences are sufficient, in reality they are miserably undermanned. When this was pointed out recently to the Premier in 'Auckland he replied: "You overlook the auxiliary forces—the volunteere—and the foody of trained men doing duty on the streets as police. These men are trained at 4he guns; they have ten days' training every J ear in the forts. I say that men who aye secured ten days' training every year are better than men just taken from the etreets. They are trained gunners. There have been from year to year attempts made to provide a large permanent force in the colony. This colony cannot afford a permanent force sufficient to man our batteries fully. I depend on the volunteers and I mean to assist and support the volunteers, and not to go in for a permanent paid force." At Lyttelton even w*en all the focal volunteers are in camp they hardly have enough men* to man the forte, so that the Premier's argument does not hold good here. Oor Land Defences. It is, however, in the land defences that we are specially weak. In the whole of the colony we only have some 8000 volunteers, including all arms; a miserably small number when we consider the population of the colony, while the field artillery are still armed with the obsolete Armstrong guns. So far a.i their numbers will jrcrait the volunteers of New Zealand will Dear comparison with any force in the world. They in-e \yell drilled and armed, the MartiniHenri with which they are armed is equal to any rifle in the world for service purposes, and there is no doubt that wherever they met a foreign foe the enemy would have a bad time. Our men have proved themselves the equal of any in the world with the rifle.

What is Needed. In the matter of sea defences attempts should be made to get, say, half-a-dozen fast torpedo boat destroyers as patrols to our ccast, qt these two should Oβ situated on the' West Coast to guard our coal deposits, while ♦he others might institute a syatem of patrol from port to port. This would considerably strengthen our defences, while the cost would be little more than it is at v preeent. These destroyers! are armed with quickBriug guns of great penetration, while they are so built that although but thinly plated, by their great speed they form the most difficult of marks for an opposing vessel to attack. With regard to the harbour defences all that is needed is the increasing of the Permanent Artillery to 250 v in each centre, and a quarterly practice with the guns. In each of the four principal ports, too, the Volunteer Artillery, including the Nayals, should be increased to, say, 250, while the capitation should be increased to £5 per man, of which half should go for the maintenance of the corps, the balance to be a personal payment. In addition to the present drills there should be a quarterly shot and shell practice, in which at least 50 per cent, of the men should be obliged to show a good proficiency with the gun. Where the number necessary cannot be raised by Voluntary service the authorities should requisition eligible men to make up the number. I am of opinion, however, that if the inducements I have named were offered there would bo no fear of the latter method being resorted to. In the smaller ports there should be established at least one full battery, armed with quick-firing guns. These should have the same capitation as other Qnrrison Artillery, and be subject to the tame regulations as regards drill, camps, and practices. Mobile Batteries should bfc established in the principal centres the field batteries being in all cases raised to 100 strong. Engineer corps should be established in every centre, and an instructor should be obtained for each island. In addition, proper outfits should be provided by the Government, and the corps, besides the work at present undertaken, R,houlo\ be instructed in submarine mining at least »nco a month. In infantry a very largo increase is needed, and the principal centres, Auckland» Wellington, Christchurch and Dunedin, should each contribute not less than, 2Q30. Small districts should be formed in which volunteers can get together for drill a\- least once a month. The test in shooting should be much higher than at present, and volunteer should be allowed not less than 250 rounds of ammunition in addition to his supply for Government shootjug. Besid&v thus there should be at least 1,000,000 of S.A. ammunition and 500 rounds of aruuery ammunition kept in reserve at each centre. Practice on the rifle range at least twice a month should be conipuleory. Every volunteer should be sworn in for not less than two years, while those men who make themselves efficient for five years in the one corps should receive a silver star and £5, th\; same being repeated for every five years service. For Artillery, Engineers, and Infantry alike the capitation grant should be r.iised to £5, of which a third should be retained by the volunteer, the balance going lo the corps for contingent expenses. Ttie question of railway passes is always a critical one with volunteers, and in any scheme for defence must occupy a prominent position. Regulations should be made which would admit of officers commanding cqrps granting passes to their men for the purpose of attending shooting, drill, or other gatherings, the officers to be responsible to the- officer commanding the district. The question as to whether our defence force is to become a really effective one depends very much upon the interest the public as a whole take in it. It must always be remembered fcb.at the volunteer stands between the citizen and a compulsory militia, and unless employers are prepared to ghre facilities to volunteers to attend drill and shooting work they may rest assured tliat the Almtia Act will be enforced, and then'employer* and employed will alike have to attend these duties. Too often young men are debarred tram joining the volunteers by (the opposition oi their employera, an opposition which shows a deplorable lack of patriotium, » JUoax. Ztto..