DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 840, 11 June 1910, Page 2

DEFENCE NOTES.

ffir Echeloh.l

Lieut.-Ren. Sir H. L. Smith-Dorrieni K.C.8., has issuocl an order on tlia subject of cigarette-smoking among the-' troops of his command. - Over and; over again efforts have been made t<t put an end, or at least check, the grow-< ing evil of excessive eigarctt-e-smoking in the ranks, tho number of packet® of cigarette consumed in every regiment being astonishing. Now thes ■ general has directed that in future no( soldier of whatever rank is to bo per" • initted to smoke cigarettes whilst under? arms, or when engaged in fatigue duty.-. •• He has, howevor,, left the question <£ pipe-smoking to the discretion of gene-( ral officers commanding. A, recent British Army Order states( . that the following amended regula-* tions have been made with regard tor entrance to the Staff College at Cam-< berley:—Thirty-six vacancies are offer-i. Ed for competition annually, and will) be filled—eight and seven in alternate years by officers of the Royal EngiJ neers, .twenty-two by officers of remain-*. ing arms of the British Service, three? .. by officers of the Indian Army, an<S one by an officer of the Eoyal Marines./ Ono officer only from a regiment ofi cavalry, one per battalion from a regW • ment of infantry, and two from the* jV.S.C. may belong to the college atl 1 one time,' exclusivo of those specially; nominated; but an exception to this' rule may be made i when an officer has been unable to complete the course; within the prescribed period. Eack year 12 officers may be specially nominated from those who have porformedi good service in the field, or who havei held the appointment of adjutant with; ■ the regular forces for a period of three? years, or who have done good service! at one of the military educational institutions for a period of not lesstbatt two years. The Commander-in-Chief in India will submit the names of tlrrca officers fulfilling similar conditions as to eligibility, and one of these officers! will be included in the twelve officers! selected. These officers will be re-' quired to qualify for entrance. The Commonwealth Minister for De-( fence has been authorised to advertised immediately for 200 ' permanent commissioned officers, who _ will be r« quired to strengthen tho instructional; staff. The proposal is to make thee applications due early in July, and then the 200 non-coms, will be selected!, by examination, and sent to a camp, of instruction and training for six; months. When the officers have completed their course of training thej;will be distributed throughout the Commonwealth. tinder the Government's! scheme there will be a number of area; i officors, as suggested by Lord Kitchener-, and in the first instanco these will be drawn from the militia regiments. Instructions will shortly bo issued to : district commandants asking them to iriake recommendations as to the most' suitable officers in or adjacent to each! The commandants will be given; a rough idea of the areas that will be likely to be decided on.' The officers appointed now will only occupy position:! until such time ,a3 the Depart* ment is able to provide men from tlia: Military . pollege to take their places* ' The pay for non-commissioned officers; is to be £156 a year with free rations/ while in the camps of training.

Complaints have been made thai throughout Australia persons who hava no right to wear military uniform and military, decorations, are freely doing, su. It appears that there is no legisla-, tion in England against" it." In 1905 I5i!l was introduced in the Lords, but it did not, presumably. owing to thei pressure of business,' get through tli' Commons. It is-pointed out, however, that the Defence Act of Australia (19034) provides that any person wear, ing thq uniform of the defence forces, or any colourable imitation of it, shall be liable to a fine of £20. Stage plays* music halls, shows, balls, or bona-fidoJ military representations are exemptedA second section sets "out that the use, of a dress having'the appearance ofr or bearing any of tho regimental or other distinctive marks of any such uniform in such manner or circumstances as is likely to bring contempt!upon the defence force garb, shall bet. liable to a penalty of £10._ There is. legislation with the same aim in Newt Zealand, India, France, Germany, and; other countries.

Considerable surprise and no littleC N tribulation has been occasioned among riflemen in Australia by the announcement that the Military Board has de. cided that "in future construction of, or repairs to, rifle ranges, it will not bet ' necessary for military requirements to "• provide for any range beyond 609 yards."

Tho "Sydney Morning Herald," ii£ an article on the subject) states thati' "marksmen look upon it as tantamount to absolutely discouraging long-distance shooting. While improvements in arms arid ammunition mako long-rango shooting more and more a prime factor in warfare, the authorities have decreed that the Australian soldier need only be an efficient shot up to 600 yards. This decision of the authorities that rifle practice at ranges beyond 600 yards is -not to bo encouraged means, in the opinion of the marksmen, that the Department does not intend to take any advantage of the greatly-improved accuracy of modern small arms. At present riflo shooting at 1000 yards ia, of a* higher-standard than it was at 500 yards 25 years ago. While authori-' ties agree that in modern warfaro the decisive ranges are about COO and 700 yards, they also hold that tho struggle, "for fire supremacy begins at least as' far back as 1500 to 1000 yards. Even, in tho Franco-Prussian war and the Rnsso-Turkish war long-range rifle firei was by no means a negligiblo factor.The local marksmen contend that it' would be throwing away a great andinitial advantage not to resort to longrange firing when fitting objects present themselves. Troops acting on the defensive, knowing the ranges, and pro-, vided with plenty of ammunition, and. skilled in tho.uso of tho rifle, could' inflict . great lasses on an attacking. enemy even up to 1500 yards:" Members of the N.R.A. Council,. apart from differing from the authorities Oil the subject-, , are rather resentful that they were not consulted. Mr., J. R. Wallace, captain of tho Randwick Rifle Club, considers that tho National Rifle Association, as iiie governing body in the State, should hava been consulted before such a drastic action was taken. The 35,000 rifleinon of New South Wales and Victoria havo at present no separate voico on tho Military Board. "It seems to mo," ho said, "that this decision is merely an excusc to cut down expenses at tho cost of efficiency. The growth of the rifle club movement has resulted in more and more demands on the publio purse for fiile-range accommodation, At present a number of country marksmen arc nnahlo to secure that practice at tho long ranges which is essential to efficiency. The shooting hero amongst' the senior clubs has reached such a! pitch of excellence thai; 'possibles' at 500 and 600 yards aro very plentiful. It is child's play to them. WTiat thojj need is practice, at th'j long ranges." The Council of the NJI.A. at a meei* ing hold to consider the matter de» cided, after an animatw! discussion, toi refer tho subject to tb.> exeeatrsa, to* prepare a memorandum to tho Depaitf ment.