TRAINING SOLDIERS

Dominion, Volume 11, Issue 135, 25 February 1918, Page 4

TRAINING SOLDIERS

* PRESENT SYSTEM CRITICISED AT DEFENCE EXPENDITURE COMMISSION HOW TO EFFECT HUGE SAVINGS By Telegraph.—Press Association. Palmerston N., February 23. The Defence Expenditure Commission continued its sitting to-day. Colonel T. W. M'Donald, of tiie Wellington District Headquarters Staff, gave evidence regarding the training of the Expeditionary Forces, and gavu it as his opinion that the training period could be reduced by about one month. lie considered that the present system of sending all men of a draft from each district into the Expeditionary Force camps on the same day as unsound in principle, and unnecessary lor efficiency and extremely expensive, for the following reasons: — (a) It places a Territorial of at least seven consecutive years' training on the same footing as regards training as the civilian who has never done any? training—a position which is quite illogical. (b) There are two categories of Te> •ritorials who enlist in the Expeditionary Force—(l) Those in tho |'irst Division of twenty years (who have informed ten consecutive yearB 1 training in Territorial and Cadets), and (2) all members of the Second Division, between twenty and twenty-five {who have performed seven years' training in Territorials and Cadets). (c) From this it is clear that no Territorial enters tho Expeditionary camps with less training than seven years. . (d) To give the same training tor these Territorials as for civilians who liave never been training forced us to admit either that tlio Territorial system, as an effective war system, has been an absolute failure, and that £3,400,000 which it has approximately cost might have been equally well thrown into the sea; or, that the present system of giving Territorials and civilians the same period of training in the camps is wrong and unnecesSll <ej If we admit the failure of the Tentorial training system, the sooner the system is abolished the better. But if we admit its success wk must also admit that Territorials do not require as long a period of training as untrained civilians, and the sooner we set about reorganising the Expeditionary Force training system the better. if) He could not see that the question admits of any argument, as common sense should show that a partial-ly-trained man requires less training than a totally-untrained one, unless tlic partially-trained man has been trained on wrong lines. If so, l etua be frank, admit it, and abolish the costly system at once. _ , (it) He was strongly of opinion to at the period of training for Territorials who join the Expeditionary Force after their seven consecutive years of training should in the New Zealand camps be reduced to two months. On the assumption that the number of Terntorials who enter tho Expeditionary Force camps is 8000 (4000 less than entered in 1916-17), we shall by reducing the training by two'n> ont ] ls *[" feet a saving of no less than £168,000 per annum in future, and by failing to do this for the last three years it has cost the couutry the large sum or £504,000. , Oi) If added to the above, a reduction of one month was made in the period of training in.thoNew Zealand camps for the remaining 7000 civilians who join the Expeditionary Force each year, a further saving of £73,530 would the above it would follow that the Territorials of each draft would not be required to enter .the camps until one month after the civilian portion goes in, and on the ar ™' a ] of the Territorials m camp they and the civilians would be on about the same footing as regards training, winch would go on progressively for all. (i) In addition to the huge saving in cost to the Defence Department one must consider the increased national efficiency which would result fro.m the two months which the 8000 Ter " to ™}]S and the one month which the 7000 civilians would he able to devote to- production. _______