THE DEFENCE FORCES

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 475, 6 April 1909, Page 7

THE DEFENCE FORCES

THE NEW SCHEME. CONTEMPLATED CHANCES. ' (Bt Echelon.V 'Aβ forecasted in Tub Dominion a week before, the policy speech delivered by the Prime Minister at the Upper Hutt on Friday last contained somo important announcements with regard to tho Now Zealand defence system. It may fairly be said, however, that no one, save of course those in tho immediate confidence of tho Prime Minister, was prepared for what actually did happen at the political dinner which served as the occasion of Sir .Joseph Ward's speech. An intelligent examination of tho results achieved by a Defence Council, which has only been in existenco since December, 1906, when it was constituted for a period of five years, might certainly have justified the prediction that a reconstruction of the defence policy might well be considered at the end of that period; but tho announcement that, after two years' work, that council is to be abolished altogether, is something more drastic than even the moat active opponents of the present system could havo hoped for. The Prime Minister, having told the public what, ho intends to do, left his critics quite in the dark ,as to tho means wherewith he proposed to accomplish his object. He refuses to be drawn; the Chief of the General Staff (Colonel A. W. Robin, C.8.), who is usually disposed to accede to any reasonable request for information, preserves a discreet silenco, and.tho members of the General Staff, who aro more or less affected by this totally unexpected development, having "flown kites" of various kinds, have practically "given it up," and are now awaiting-,a fresh deal of the military caTds. Is it possible to forecast, if n<jt in detail et loast in salient outline, tho nature of tho new scheme which is to take the place of tho present system? I think it is. With the lessons of the past before them, the Prime Minister and his expert advisers are not; likely to be perplexed by a conflicting variety of schemes.

Tho "Commandant! , System. There is very little doubt that the Government is about to revert to tihe "Commandant" • system. This system was instituted in 1891, and continued until 1906. when the present- ' system- was introduced. New Zealand has had experience of three commandants—Colonel Fox, Colonel Pole-Penton, and Major-General Babington. Without examining the merits or demerits of these officers, the fact may be simply stated, and, I think, universally admitted, that the "Commandant" system was a,failure. Why? Because it was never given a fair trial. The obstacle in the way was—the late. Mr. Seddon. Under the autocratic regime of Mr. Seddon, the Commandant of the Now Zealand Forces had no initiative. Colonel Fox discovered that before ho had been very long in tho country, and, realising that his position—as was that of /his successors —was purely a perfunctory one, requested that his office be re-constituted, and that ho be designated "military adviser" to tho Government. This was done, but his position was no better, and he finally threw it up in disgust. If, then, we are to revert to the eystem of that time, it must be on the 'clear and, definite understanding that tho new Commandant of the New Zealand Forces will, be given a free hand in the administration of his command, and that tho political interference which paralysed the initiative of previous Commandants will be conspicuous by its absence. The .principal reason for the abolition' of the Council of Defence was, as , stated by the Prime Minister on Friday, that it was too cumbersome. The whole system, in fact, was framed on the niodoj of trie British Army Council, an appropriate war machine for the' administration of forces of .tho magnitude of the British Army, but utterly disproportionate for tho ... comparatively small force which comprises the New Zealand army of defence. ■

Tho New Scheme Outlined. The keynote of the new system ; as -I apprehend it, will be decentralisation, and from a consideration of the geographical conditions of the country, this policy should resolve itself into a scheme somewhat on the following lines:— ■' • •1. The Commandant of the New Zealand Forces, with tho following staff:— Chief Staff Officer- and Adjutant, ■ Finance Staff Officer, Artillery Staff Officer, Engineer Staff Officer, Cadet Staff Officer, and tho General Instructional Staff. 2. .The Northern Command, to bo constituted from the troops in the North Island, under a General Officer Commanding, . divided into two military districts under District Officers Commanding, and further divided into four sub-districts. 3. The Southern similarly constituted, with probably an increase in tho number of divisional commands. The Cadets. Reorganised and brought directly under the control of the Commandant of the Forcea, the cadet units will form ono of the constituent elcmontsT-fundamentally, tho most important element—in. the new scheme. Tho cadet system, as at present constituted, has very little- to commend it. In tho beginit promised something of value—the training of schoolboys in company drill, elementary battalion drill, and rifle-shooting. With a great army of trained boys coming forward every year, a valuable stimulus to the volunteer movement was naturally expected; there would, in theory, bo no such thing as a recruit. Tho principle, of the scheme was, in fact, distinctly good, but it .has failed. Instead of being a stimulus to volunteering, the cadet ■ system has been a hindrance. Nobody instructed tho cadet officers (the teachers), and so far as the cadet corps of tho Wellington district are concerned, nobody has • inspected them, tested their efficiency, since tho date of the Christchurch Exhibition. To my own certain knowledge, tho Oilicer Commanding the New Zealand Public School Cadets has only conducted company inspections' in Wellington once in the last six years. In a word, there is absolutely no system in tho New Zealand cadet corps. ■ . All this is to be changed. The corps is to ba thoroughly reorganised. In the scheme of reorganisation, provision will probably be made for the appointment of a :adet staff officer at headquarters, who will be charged with tbo supervision and inspection of the corps as a whole. Military training will be organised for youths up to'2l years, the link between the school cadet corps and tho volunteers to be a defence cadet corps. Both will form part of the district commands, under tho direct control of the officer commanding, whose district would necessarily be subdivided into convenient centres for • training. If success is to result, there must bo an "easing up" in tho school coips. Battalion drill might very well bo left for the defence cadet corps, and so, also, might range ritto shooting, which should give place to miniature rifle shooting. The .310 miniature Lec-Enfield ride at present used by the school cadets for range practice is far too heavy; the ordinary " saloon " miniature rifle should be quite sufficient for all practical purposes.

The Rifle Clubs. Tho Prime Minister laid considerable stress on tho fact that very liberal treatment would bo accorded to rifle clubs, and that rifle ranges would be established "from end to end of the colony." In this lattor connection, it will bo very much more to the point if he will insist upon field firing exercises, visnal training,' ind judging distance, and annual instruction camps for the rifle club men. Bull's-eyo shooting is excellent— k> far as it goes; but it does not go anything like far enough. The most effective method of ensuring that firing over unknown distances will be systematically practised would bo to mako one of tho championship matches in tho annual King's Prize contest at Trentham a service event. An Advisory Board. The political link between the forces and the Government will no doubt tako tho form

of an Advisory Board, as at present constituted in tho Australian Commonwealth. The Pormanont Forao. Tho Porrnanent Force, as the nuclons of the whole, will of courso remain, although changes in its command aro certain. It is quite probable that Lieut.-Colonel H. F. Head, officer commanding tho Permanent Force, and Colonel H. D. Tuson, Quarter-master-General on the present Council of Defence will bo relieved of their duties and allowed to return to England. It is more than probable, in tho light of Mr. Haldane's recent utterances, that a military adviser will bo appointed from tho Imporial Forces, to bo at "tho elbow," so to speak, of tho Commandant. COMPULSORY MILITARY TRAINING VIEWS OF PUBLIC MEN. Tho "Lyttelton Times" publishes a series of interviews with well-known men on tho subject of compulsory military training. Hon. c. J. smith's Opinions. Lieutenant-Colonel G. J Smith, M.L.C.. said that tho scheme, that would commend itself most genorally to the people of tho Dominion would be the perfecting of tho present system of public school cadets, tho drafting of tho lads into the cadet companies under tho Defonco Department, and then universal training continued in the adult corps for young men between 17 and 21 years of ago. Speaking of the volunteer forces, Lieut.Colonel Smith said that so far as ho could gather at present the Christchurch and Lyttelton Volunteer Corps needed about 400 men to make up their , full strength. What the Dominion needed was a little more patriotism on the part of her young men, a greater I sense of the responsibility of citizenship, and j then there was no fear but that tho men would uphold the best traditions of the race.

How to Cat Ccod Officers. Lieut.-Colonol Slater, who has had a very long experienco of volunteering in Canterbury, said that the volunteer system was dead. If it was properly carried out there was no finer system of defence, for any oountry, but tho true spirit of voluntary service began to decline when payment was made for parades. The old spirit of volunteering was a grand one. The great question was how to get good officers. Tho present system of election by the men, ho considered, was bad in every way. He agreed that it was a good thing for a man to work up through tho ranks until he became an efficer, but the men should never be parties _to the granting of his commission. Soldiering should form a part of technical education.

Views of Mr. T. E. Taylor. Mr. T. E. Taylor, M.P., said that during the last few years ho had come to believo that some scheme of national defence which had for its basis the, military training of the young' malo population was essential and in the best interests of the community. Any scheme of compulsory training to be acceptable in New Zealand must be one that would not interfere with home life or industrial interests. _ He considered that whatever service training was required to bo dono should be dono before the ago of 25. Referring to the Defence Council Mr. Taylor said it was pitiable in its practical uselessness, and ho felt sure the bulk of the money spent on it was worse than wasted. He thought the principle underlying the;- rifle clubs should be given very generous encouragement. Compulsory Training Advocated.

Lieutenant-Colonel Jowsey, who commanded tho Third New Zealand Contingent in, South Africa, stated that any form of compulsory training for the growing manhood of the Dominion would meet with his unqualified approval. A special effort should be made to utilise.the experience of all officers and men who had seen active service in South Africa. At present there were hundreds of first-class soldiers in the country who under proper organisation would be of very material benefit and an important unit of defence if they could but t>o organised. v Mr, J. - Allan's Opinions, IBT TILKOBirn—SrECUL COIMKSroHDBttI.I Dunetlin, April 5. A series of interviews appear in to-night's "Star" on the subject of Sir J. G. Ward's defence proposals., Mr. James Allen, M.P., says:—lt appears to me that the Defence Minister has not really grasped the situation. Ho pins his faith to tho cadet movement, and ■ although that is right enough, as an initial stage, the training must be more than can be secured in the cadet, age. Tho great problem of the training' l of efficient'officers ho has not in his speech dealt with, and I cannot conceive- of any _ satisfactory'forco that has not only an efficient staff and efficient officers, but also efficient non-commissioned officers, as well, and this really means that for a considerable timo after twenty-one, at any rate, a skeleton forco of highly trained' officers and non-commis-sioned officers and a certain number of men should be in existence. Nor has Sir Joseph Ward, so far as reported, faced the difficult problem of instruction. To. my mind, tho present method of instructing tho infantry, and ovon the mounted corps, is entirely unsatisfactory, and I look to the provision' that is available for tho training of garrison artillery as> tho model upon which can be based the requirements for tho infantry and mounted infantry. The training staff'for the infantry and the mounted infantry is disorganised. There is no unit or corps, no esprit de corps, no officer to command, and, in my opinion, owing to not having thesethings, matters must gradually drift into unsatisfactory conditions. I know that there is a great difficulty, after the age of twenty-one, but any statesman would face that difficulty, especially with all the means that are available to him for advico.

"Our"Only Salvation." A prominent volunteer officer said: Anything in the way of ensuring a proper training of our young men, whether by compulsion or voluntary act, has my hearty support; but from my experience of tho "voluntary" actions of our young men during recent years I,naven't much faith in his voluntary service as a means to an efficient defenco of New Zealand. If ever the necessity arises he is prone to think too much of other outdoor sports.to the neglect of his first duty to his country, arfd is also apt to think that so long as he is active- a matter of a week or so will make him as fit as those in training all tho year round for sorvico in the field against a trained force. It will need but one visit from a thoroughly trained hostile- force to dispel that idea, but it is a great pity that wo should have to wait for such a lesson before putting our houso in order. Summed up, 1 1 believe compulsory training will bo our only salvation. Hon. J. B. Callan's Views, (ni mwiurH-j-iiEss association-.) Dunetlin, April 5. lne lion. J. B. Callan, who served cloven years in the volunteer force, said that every youth should be obliged, between the ages of 18 and 25 years, to serve three or four years in a volunteer company. AVero such a proposal carried out, a youth, would acquire a knowledge of tho rifle, skirmishing, attack formation, and a hundred details which would bo of infinite use in. active service. Ho said that if Sir Joseph Ward was goin" to establish a system of'univcraal training without making it compulsory, he was curious to see how he proposed to set about it. National Defehoe Loaguo. (BY TKLEGKirn—ritESS ASSOCIATION.) Auckland, April 5. At a meeting of the General Council of tho National Defenco League, held- to-day, it was unanimously resolved: "That, whi'lo congratulating the Government on its desire to introduco a national system of defensive training, as foreshadowed in the Primo Minister's speech of Friday last, tho National Defence hoaguo, supported by the great body of tho public, bolioves that nothing short of the universal and compulsory military training of the youth of tho country can provo effective for tho defence of tho Dominion."