PRESENT DEFENCE SYSTEM

Dominion, Volume 13, Issue 270, 9 August 1920, Page 6

PRESENT DEFENCE SYSTEM

SHOULD IT BE SCRAPPED ? ;MR. MALCOLM'S SCHEME EXAMINED in ~. . oil) . ■.. ;;;[, defence league calls it Wi-'- IMPRACTICABLE Mir Sravi 'suggestion of Mr. A. S. Malcolm, JRPv that'the whole of New. Zealand's present defence system should be scrapjpedV'and "the future military training of our youth carried out by the Education Department, is combated in <i statement issued by the General Council of the Nstional Defence League. The council first comments upon the endorsement given by the Farmers' Union Conference to tho scheme; then proceeds to examine the scheme upon-its, merits. The statement is in the following terms:—

••l"Jji,! replying to the action of the farmers' Union Conference in endorsiiigjyMr. Malcolm's scheme, the Genera! Council of the National Defence League $ij>rnits that any weight that might haw been attached to the decision is lost because the conference adopted tho scheme , under circumstances that canno;Tbe justified. The circumstances were these: (3) The conference had only just . fteard of the scheme for the first time; (2j.lt did not wait, to hear the other side, though the issue at stake was the future defence of this country, and without .reflection delivered its verdict straight away. It would be difficult to cite another ease in which a problem so gravely' affecting the future welfare of this Dominion was treated so lightly.

"It is now proposed to examine Mr. Malcolm's scheme on its merits, but before doing so the General Council of the league desires to state that in Mr. Malcolm it recognises an ablo and honourable opponent, who, equally with members of the league, is out to seTve his country, and is entitled to the fullest credit for doing so. . Further, ttie General : Council believes that Mr. Malcolm is wholly 'honest in advancing his scheme, and thinks that he. is big enough cvon, to acknowledge his orror if ho '« proved to be wrong, and in that event will assist the league in its campaign in favour'of sound defence, in which he is already a believer, though he. pursuua another method. Mr. Malcolm's Scheme Denned. '.."To quote his own words, Mr. Malcolm's scheme is this: '1 urge that we should abolish, or at least suspend, the .military system. In its place I would lave the Education Department adopt this system: In the city schools, and where possible in the country schools, all boys from the Fourth Standard upwards should be taught military drill. In the secondary, schools more partionlar attention should be paid to making the boys thoroughly efficient n.c.o.'s. In each of the universities there should bo a chair of military science, able, with the assistance of other chairs, to train the. students to bo thoroughly efficient officers. The various university colleges could specialise—for' instance, Canterbury College could have a school for engineering and artillery officers. . . . Attendance at the suggested drills and classes would be compulsory on all males. At the universities the work would count for a degree.' In other words, Mr. Malcolm proposes to demilitarise the camp* in order to make military institutions of our schools and universities. He mantains that military cfficency will be produced thereby.

'Are Teachers Expert in Science of War?

.. "The General Council wholly disagreeswith him for the following reasons:— '■'■ "(1). The .vast'majority of the teachers engaged in -primary and secondary «lu.cation,'in New Zealand, and similarly our university professors, ■ know little or nothing of militaiy drill or of how to 'tight' an .army, m tho. field. This applies particularly in the case of lady .teachers,-who greatly outnumber the men in 'the'service. Yet, if they are to turn out efficient officers and n.c.o.'s, they require a thorough knowledge of drill; musketry, machine-guns, tactics, topography, engineering, sanitation, tank training, gaslwarfare, air fighting, mili..tary.law and first aid; and a knowledge of the characteristics of cavalry, artillery, ■■ infantry,. engineers, organisation, etc. As th©. 6cheme is Mr. Malcolm's, obviously devolves upon him to explain how' teachers, particularly women teachers in the country districts, whj 'are "wholly deficient in their knowledge of these highly technical subjects, are to make military efficients of their pu. -pils, and to. what extent the men, women, and children of tho country can be expected to rely upon them for safety in ■war.

"(2) One of the most pronounced complaints of.to-dny is that the school curriculum is greatly overburdened. Is it to be overburdened' still more by the addition of Mr. Malcolm's scheme? If not, what does Mr.'Malcolm propose should 'be..jettisoned? Do not the same ques< 'ticois apply -with almost equal force to the degree courses at our univorsuies? It 'is' notorious that students complain Hh'at these courses are already stiff enough. '""(3) Is it desirable that our sc'hools nntl universities' should be converted into military' institutions?

< "ttj ]''or the bulk of the youth of New 'Zealand,.their military training under 'Mr. Malcolm's scheme would end at ' the Age of fourteen, as only a small .proportion of the total enter the secondary schools and universities. Would it he a right and proper thing to ask theso 'lads with the training they possess to undertake the future defence of their .country? During the latter stoge of tho late war all classes of the community united in opposing the proposal to conscript youths- of nineteen years of age. "(5) Mr. Malcolm's scheme makes no provision whatever for field training or tho handling of troops in the mans, though upon actual* experience, in this must depend, the future success or defeat of any army in war. It is here where it is. specially true that an ounce ,of practice is worth a ton of theory, a fact which all would do well to recognise.. (0) Mr. Malcolm's scheme ignores the provision of divisional organisation, equipment, supplies, etc., though thesn are absolutely vital to the existence of any army in the field.

Danger of a "Cheap" Scheme, "Tho General Council of the Defence League submits that upon a thorough examination of these grounds alone, Mt. Malcolm's scheme- cannot be said to come within the range of practical poli. tics, and that tho more .Mr. Malcolm examines his project tho more he will .find he is on tno wrong track. Mr. Malcolm declares that his schqme will cost practically nothing. To that tho Defenco League replies that a Defence scheme which costs "practically nothing" is worth leff than nothing, because cheap defenco fthemes mean inefficient and ill' equipped forces, from whom a terriblo ♦oil is pxactcd in war. Mr. Malcolm makes tho further point that armies trained in peace time ore inefficient in war, and, quoting examples (notably tho case of tho French Army beforo tho ■ Groat War), he argues, in effect, that training in pence time is almost invariably useless. This is effectively answered by citing the caso of Germany, and tho statement by, 26 out of 30 General ofli. cers in the American Army that at least half the American batllo 10-ses in tho late war were duo to lack of training! Tho American statement is surely a complete refutation of Ifr. Malcolm's case, If Mr. Malcolm .desires to probe the truth of his statements in (.his respect further—and ho is clearly <an honest inquirer—the General Council' of the Defence League suggests fo him flint he will find it in the fact that the efficiency of an army depends in ratio exactly upon the measure of public support 'it is given, and the expressed will of the nation for efficiency. That, it is emphasised, is where the real truth lies. '.•.... Mission of the League.

"In conclusion, the General Council of the Defciico League wishes to state that It is tho permanent mission vl the league to see that tho public o* New Zealand are kept keenly interred in the gen-' trf>l well-beinp and efficiency of our de-

fence forces, and that if the latter are ever called upon to resist aggression they will not be sent to 'death by Government order' because they are ill-trained and equipped. The Defeneo League admits that there arp many absurdities, I inelticifncies, and extravagances in our present system, And stands for thc-ir reform on 'the principle that it is in the best interests of the country that the Territorial Force should bo mended rather than ended. The. league holds, further, that the camps can be made what they ought to be, turning out a vigorous, upright, mentally alert, and clfaii-niiiidcd manhood, which if occasion arises will be capable of defending the country witb -reasonable prospects of success. ■ It maintains that, this can bo done by the force of public opinion, 'by the development of physical training in th.e schools, by tho adoption of a pound system of. training for the youths of the country when they reach Territorial nw by placing selected women in the trainin? camps and so not removing them from the best influences of home life, and by seeing that while they are ill camp thev aro given lectures by our foremost medical practitioners ami educationists upon the laws of health and good citizenship. In the carrying out of these aims, which are certainly not militaristic, but rather a valuable extension of our cducnlional system, the General Council cordially invites Mr. Malcolm's co-operation, and sincerely hopes to get it."