National Defence.

Press, Volume LVI, Issue 16803, 8 April 1920, Page 6

National Defence.

A telegram from Wellington to-day! gives ns some particuJars of a National Defence League which has been formed ,n Wellington, with Sir Andrew Russell as president. The League, it is explained, aims at educating the people to realise the necessity for maintaining a «ound system of defence. "Whether the League will achieve its object remains to bo seen, but it is certain that unless some special effort is made by somebody, the case for a good system of Lome defence may fail through the lack of good advocacy. Many people who believe in defensive preparations, and in offensive action when there are circumstances to warrant it, have been led to think that there may be no more war, or at least no war for a genera-1 tion or two. Holding this belief, they cannot see the necessity for defens/ro preparations now. There are others, again, to whom the thought of war is : to horrible that they hate everything I

that is in any tray, however remotely, ! connected with it. Between them these ! two sections of the people form a substantial body from whom we may expect opposition even to a continuance of the system of compulsory training. The League, we take it, has been formed for the purpose of defending that system against its opponents, and if it does its work prudently and tactfully the League will be deserving of all support. The promoters have been at pains, first to make it clear that the League will have nothing to do with party politics, and, second, to offer guarantees that its object is not one that can fairly be attacked as being tainted with militaristic ideas. Some of these guarantees are cf little consequence— tho provision, for example, that no professional soldier shall be an officer in the League: and the provision that plants devoted to the manufacture of explosives and ammunition shall be owned by the State. These well-inten-tioned safeguards will not amount to | much in the eyes of those whom we! may for convenience call the anti- i militarist.". Far otherwise, however, | are the substance and the spirit of such provisions as:—iiiat the League will under 110 circumstances interfere, directly or indirectly, with industrial disputes, and that no one, except in the case cf the public interest, can become a commissioned ofliccr of the New Zealand Citizen Defence Forces unless he has served three years in the ranks. There is no hope of success for the maintenance of a system of training our young citizens to become efficient defenders of their country unless it is | always clear that the system is what it j purports to be, and has no other pur- I pose, and can be used for no other I purpose, than the efficient training of our young men. We cannot doubt that the League realises this, and realises therefore that its first concern ought to be to remove tho baseless prejudicd against the training of our youths, and to' lead those who think otherwise to understand that, however keenly we may all liopo for peace, and work for peace, there is absolutely no guarantee that New Zealand can safely dispense with precautions against aggression.