A DEFENCE TROUBLE.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 335, 23 October 1908, Page 6

A DEFENCE TROUBLE.

There is much food for- serious reflection in the simple announcement, by the New Zealand Defencc Council, that "the duties of the Director of Ordnance will, in future, not include the training of Garrison and Field Artillery Volunteers. The training of these services will in future be included in the schedule of duties allotted to the Chief of the General Staff. . . Tho foregoing was published in a list of "General Orders" which appeared in The Dominion of yesterday's date, and, on the face of it, appears to bo merely a matter of domestic routine, of interest only to those immediately concerned. But to those who are more intimately interested in the ordnance branch of the service, and who have turned an observing eye upon the events of the last few months, the paragraph has a deeper significance, worthy of the serious attention of those who take a practical interest in the question of military defence. The announcement, in fact, raises the whole question of the value of tho influonce exerted in our military organisation by tho imported Imperial officer. That the presence of a keen and energetic' officer from the Imperial Army can be a powerful factor in raising and maintaining the efficiency of our own forces is an' assertion which will readily be admitted by any intelligent observer who noted the work of Major Johnson while Director of Artillery in New Zealand. Tho work of this officer during the term of his -engagement with the New Zealand Government was beyond criticism, and when ho returned to England the impress of his influonce was very strongly marked upon his subordinate officers. This was notably so in the case of his chief instructor, Captain G. S. Richardson, who was able, as actingdirector of artillery, to carry on the duties of his late superior with marked success during tho interregnum between the departure of Major Johnson and the advent of Lieut. : Colonel H. F. Head, the present Director of Artillery. The case of Major Johnson would seem to offer a very good argument for the continuance by the Government of a system of engaging Imperial officers, were it not for the element of chance involved in the process of selection, this country being as likoly to secure the services of an officer whose conservatism of mind, apathy, or inability to adapt himself to colonial conditions would tend to freeze the enthusiasm of his subordinates, and discount tho value of his military experience. It is an opon secret that the present state of affairs in the ordnancc branch of the defence forces leaves very much to be desired. Tho new Director of Ordnance, after fivo months' sorvice, is said to be dissatisfied with his position. He is obviously out of touch with his command, and the removal from his schedule of duties of that highly important department of his stewardship, the training of the Field and Garrison Artillery Volunteers, is significant. It is common knowledge that the Field and Garrison Artillery Volunteers are chafing under the apathy which characterises the new regime, and a change appears to be eminently desirable. Obviously, the present arrangement, whereby the Director of Ordnance is relieved of those duties which really offer the best justification for his engagement, is not a reasonable one, whatever redeeming feature it may possess as a compromise, for it must materially increase the work of some other officer without adequate recompense. Tho experience should not be without valuo to tho powers that be, who have adopted a system as uncertain in its results as that very uncommercial transaction familiarly known as "buying a pig in a poke." Tho mors prudent courso would be to select from the ranks of colonial officers those whose work has been unquestionably efficient, and send them Home at intervals to broaden their military experience.