DEFENCE OF NEW ZEALAND

Press, Volume LXXII, Issue 21858, 11 August 1936, Page 12

DEFENCE OF NEW ZEALAND

. <► Demilitarisation . Suggested POLICY OF NEUTRALITY DISCUSSED

“For New Zealand, which is so far off the beaten track and so unlikely to be attacked, a policy of demilitarisation and a declaration of neutrality in the event of war may b the best method of defence,’ said Mr G. Lawn, lecturer in economics at Canterbury University College, in commenting to “The Press yesterday upon opinions expressed by Mr Justice Northcroft, and ih' discussing questions of defence m general. . . “My own opinion is that it is vei> questionable whether unprepared. ness caused the war m 1914 It is rather the other way round-too much preparedness and insufficient organisation for peace, ’he said. Mi Justice Northcroft -spok: of economic barriers and racial fears and iealousies. Surely the logical thing io do is to ascertain what these racial fears and jealousies are, and how they can be removed . Met ely to go on increasing expenditure on armaments without maxing _an equally vigorous and determined effort to remove the causes is to go headlong into inevitable catastrophe. It is largel a matter ot the best method to adopt to P re war. Armaments cannot do it —tnui has been proved again and again. On the other hand, one could say that the mere inactive pacifism that relies on unpreparedness without active measures for eliminating causes of war is equally foolish. Who is Or/* Enemy? -As for New Zealand, if we are in danger of being involved in war the first important step is to find who is our potential enemy and why, and with that determined to set about cultivating friendly relations with that potential enemy, ascertaining the reality of his desire to attack us. If upon investigation we find that the fear of war is based upon a mistake and misunderstanding, preparedness js likely to be a tragic mistake since it arouses fears —equal fears -in ( the people of whom we are afraid. J That is the tragedy of past wars. But if we find that there is some real basis for our fear it will probably be found that the cause is removable perhaps by some form of j reciprocal trade and migration.” I Referring to the position of colo-1 nies and their barriers to trade with | other nations, Mr Lawn said: “It us not essential that other countries should be er iluded either from access to the raw materials or to the markets of colonies. If the attempt to exclude nations is one of the | likely causes of war, the way to | deal with the question is to grant | access to the complaining country. I “From a purely materialist and common-sense viewpoint, there is strong ground for believing that re- j liance upon preparedness as a means i of avoiding war is foolish and un-j sound,” said Mr Lawn. “In this respect it may be argued that the militarist is a soft-headed sentimentalist living in a fool’s paradise; while the pacifist vho seeks to discover and remove the Causes of war is the hard-headed realist. “There may be something to be said for the argument that simultaneously with active efforts to cul- i tivate friendly relations with poten- i tial enemies, end to formulate a j policy for removing the causes of war, we should in present circumstances establish some measure of purely defensive armament. This is a course that will probably receive the support of the majority of people, and, therefore, the course, which the people’s government must take. But such a policy is not likely to please either the out-and-j out pacifist or the militarist. The ; for mer will regard it as an unnecesi sary sop to Cerberus, while to the I latter no defence is ever adequate, no matter how much expenditure of capital and labour may be involved.” COMPULSION URGED OPINIONS EXPRESSED AT | ROUGH RIDERS’ REUNION I ‘‘There is not a dog's chance of doing anything without compulsion. When the former Government abolished compulsory military training that was the end cl it in the Dominion.” Colonel A. Holland, formerly in command of the Otago Mounted Rifles, and now on the reserve of officers, speaking at the annual reunion of the third Contingent (Rough Rulers) last night, exoressed these opinions when responding to the toast of “The Visitors.” There was a lot of talk, Colonel Holland said, about a world war. Are we doing our job? he asked, and an emphatic “No!” was the response from the company. After describing as a mistake the action of the former Government in abolishing compulsory military training, Colonel Holland said that in his opinion the young man of to-day benefited by such trainingarrived at the drill hall a Bolshevik, but, later, he found that it was not j such a bore as he thought, and his (the speaker’s) experience was that within six months some of the so-called “Bolshies” made the best non-commis-sioned officers. All young men needed a hobby, and military training was a clean, healthy hobby. Nowadays there were many counter-attractions for young, men, but veterans could help in encouraging young men to take up military training. Mr H. J. C. Harper, one of the Rough Riders, also referred to the defence of the Dominion. He remarked that -when the Third Contingent left for South Africa there were volunteer corps in existence, the members of which had their hearts in the game. That was more than could be said of 50 per cent, of the volunteers to-day. “The easiest and cheapest way to avoid war was to be prepared; but the defence system of the Dominion was not worth a tin of fish,” he said.