DEFENCE OF THE COLONY. SCHEME BY THE PREMIER.

Evening Post, Volume LX, Issue 18, 21 July 1900, Page 2

DEFENCE OF THE COLONY. SCHEME BY THE PREMIER.

FROM THE SCHOOL TO THE PERMANENT FORCE. THIRTY THOUSAND MAGAZINE KIFLES TO BE SENT FOR. LAND AND NAVAL FORCES. In the Hoii.se of Representatives. Jas>l evening the i'lcm^er, as j^iiuLsler of Defence, delivered tho following statement cjiiceining the defences ot the colony :— Mr. Speaker,— Honourable members will, I hope, agree with me thai it is consistent \\i\\\ quo's duty to tlie Empno and to the colony, and not out of p^ace, to give attention at .{his juncture 10 tho a'il-inipoz\ant subject of our defuicus, alid, it postib o, to evolve a moans ol peneaiag, extending, and strengthening tame, bpth lor internal and external purposes. The equipping und Bonding ' oi our contingenia, and tho lessons taught by (ho war in South Africa, must noL be ignored. We must not be l> md to tho altered conditions that have arisen during the last few months, and which at pie^ent may appear trilling, but .which in years to come may be a source of anxiety to the colony and the Empire. ALTERED CONDITIONS. There, are also eventualities that may arhe-'in connection with the adjustment of affairs in China, and taking the outlook as a whole, it is prudent for us to complete our harbour doiences,' in--crease and fully equip our volunteer corps, give military training to pur youths, encourage Afle clubs, and, in addition, create a reserve force equal for any emergency. The chief drawback has been the finding of the capital required for the completion of our harbour defences, the equipment of the deit'nee forces, the purchase of great and small arms and munitions of war. Important as these are, still the opening up and reading of our laud, the cojstruction of railways, and the development of our industries have beeD such a tax upon our resources that expenditure in regard to harbour defences, defence forces, rifle clubs, and cadet corps has had perforce to be curtailed. WAYS AND MEANS. I therefore, with much reason, urge that it would be of advantage to the Mother Country and to tJie colonies if the moneys required for harbour defences and for arming the defence forces were raised by the Imperial authorities, and advanced to the colony, which should pay interest thereon at the rate of 3 per cent, per annum. In the calculatioD of this interest, the difference between the rate at which the colony could raise ihe moneys, and the rate at which it is obtained by the Imperial authorities would form a sinking fund to pay oil' the principal within a reasonable time. ADVANTAGE OF RESERVES. The proposal that the Imperial authorities should find the capital is warranted by the fact that the imperfect defences of the colonies would be remedied. There would also be the direct advantages to the Imperial authorities and the Empire in having a reserve force established ready fbr any contingency that might arise, and in having the most modern guns and small arms in the colonies, to the use of which our forces would be trained, and bo available whenever required. There are in New Zealand thousands of men capable of bearing arms, many of them trained, good riders and good shots, yet we have in the colony rifles only for one-fourth of their number. Again there is a large number of men of the native race who are well capable of bearing arms. In the past we have had a taste of the fighting qualities of the Maoris, both of those against and those with us; in fact, had it not been for the "friend.ies," the troubles would not have ended so speedily or successfully as they did. All now, I am happy to say, are desirous of upholding the mana ot our gracious Sovereign, and wore pouri (sorrowful) at nob being allowed to go with our sons in the contingents to South Africa. The time has long since arrived when we may with confidence trust those of the native race who enrol themselves in our volunteer corps, and accept them to form' part of tho Imperial reserve force suggested ,in this memorandum. MORE RIFLES WANTED. I consider that in addition to tho .303 rifles now in the colony, to provide volunteer corps in the South Island, the new corps enrolled and to be enrolled, the men in the Imperial reserve, and to have a reasonable slock lin, reserve, thirty thousand magazine rifles are required ; the cost of same with freight, etc., added, would bo about £120,000. In the past many companies of volunteers and rifle clubs have offered their services, which havo been refused on account of the capital required for arms and equipment not being available. This also applies especially to the want of field batteries, and! the completion and full equipment of harbour defences. The defence- forces of the colony should be divided into the following classes, viz. : — (A) Permanent artillery for harbour defences; (B) ordinary volunteers forces ; (C) Imperial and colonial reserve forces ; (D) rifle clubs ; and (E) cadet corps. THE VOLUNTEERS. When the present Commander of the Forces took office our volunteers numbered about 4200 ; the number of officers and men now enrolled totals 11,500. 'iuero are in addition some 90 corps dffering their services, which, if accepted, would bring our total volunteer force up to over 18,000 officers and men. Most of the corps now offering their services are mounted. We take it fpr granted that approximately half would be mounted and the otner half infantry. The present capitation grant for infantry is £2 10s, and for mounted corps £3 10s. The total amount raqjnired for capitation would therefore ba £51,000 per annum. To this must be added for accoutrements, waterbottles, haversacks, bandoliers, etc., £1 per head per annum, or £18,000 which would bring the total cost up to £72,000. CAMPS AND RIFLE RANGES. To have our volunteers efficient, increased training jn camp is essential, and 'an additional payment may be found advisable. I estimate this at £BOJO, bringing the total required to £80,000. We have now an up-to date field battery, and other batteries have been ordered. The cost of these, if manned by volunteers, would be at least £1000 each, but if manned by permanent men and horses £12,000 would be required. To make our volunteers efficient in shooting, ranges are necessary, but with the increasing population of our centres these are difficult to get. In the past there has been a great oversight in 'this Tespect, and we find ourselves in the position at the pre-ent time of having no suitable ranges avaKable for the volunteers in the large centres of population. To make the necessary provipion now would entail a cost of £20,000, and when this is clone (and the sooner it is done the better) a law should be parsed that no person acquiring properties adjacent to or in the vicinity of these ranges should have any cla ; m against the colony. Riflu ranges are as

essential to our welfare as our railway? are, aiid they should be protected and maintained for aL time. FORMATION OF IMPERIAL In respect to the formation of an Imperial reserve, the following shall/ apply :—ll: — 1 1 should be open to ail oitieers and men belonging to the ordinary volunteer corp^, to become efficient in both services, and to enlist for, say, three years in the reserve forces. Thii oflicers und men so pnlisling should receive a fixed annual .sum on being ccitificated as efficient, and be required to go into camp at staled periods for, say, four, week* in each year, the drills and camjiing as a volunteer to count as part of the said four weeks. When in equip J,h]ey fchou.d receive a sum amounting to at least half that now given, up<Jey flic militia regulations. FINDING THE CAPITAL. The Imperial Government should provide the capita} required to purchase fie.d batteries, rifles, and equipments pf the force, the colonies paying a. sum equal to one half the interest on the first cost. In respect to all forces, when on service outside the colony, the ' Imperial Government should piovide the horses (when in the colony the men to provide their own horses), the payment of capitation, an 4 the payment of the forces when in camp in the colony, or on service outside the colony within prescribed amits, to be adjusted bVtween the Imperial authorities and the, colonial Governments on a population pr other equitable baiiß. The reserve forces shquld be open for service within territorial limits to be agreed upon between the Imperial and the colonial Governments. The pay of tho officers and' men when on service outside the colonies should not be less than that which is being paid to tho Fifth Contingent at present serving in South Africa. THE {STRENGTH OF THE RESERVE. Estimating the strength of our volunteer corps at 18,000 men, we may reasonably expect that 8000 of their number will enroi in tho Imperial reserve. This number, together with 2000 men or the Maori race who would join the reserve, would bring the number up to 10,000. Putting the capitation on those efficient at £6 per capita, the annual cost would bo £50,000, to which mast be added the pay during the time the men are infeamp, say about £50,000 more. Therefore there would be in this colony 10,000 men availab'c, at an annual cost of £10,000. Taking it for granted that in like proportion to population the same number of men would enrol in the Australian colonies and Tasmania, and estimating the population of Australia and Tasmania at 6,500,000, the propoition would be 43,750 men. Added to the 10,000 in this colony, this would produce a reserve force of 53,750 men, or, in round numbers, an Imperial reserve of 50,000 men at an annual cost of £1,000,000. THE SCHEME FEASIBLE. The captious critio -may look upon this scheme as chimerical, and I had some doubts mys&lf when, on the 11th May last, in a memorandum to His Excellency the Governor, 1 first outlined the scheme, but since then Major-Gene-ral French has expressed the conviction that a force could be formed on the lines indicated, and seeing that the drilling and training in camp of the volunteers wouid count for that required by the reserve, there is little doubt that the number estimated by mo would be reached. RIFLE CLUBS. In respect to the formation of rifle clubs, a club should consist of not less than twenty or more than forty members j and in localities where volunteer corps have been formed, only ex-volun-teers who have had not less than three years' service should bo enrolled. In localities where there are no vcunteer corps, rifle clubs may enrol members who haye not had volunteer service. Members of rifle clubs should, where practicable, attend a prescribed number of drills and parades in the course of the year, the instruction being in respecfc to handling arms and firing exercise. The Government to supply rifles and ammunition to enrolled members of rifle club 3at cost price. That after one year's enrolment, members of rifle clubs shaE be tested at target practice, and on being able \o make the minimum number of marks at the prescribed ranges, and having attended the prescribed number of drilla and parades, they shall be entitled to receive a certificate as being efficient. For the first year every enrolled member of a rifle club shall receive a free grant of fifty rounds of ammunition, and thereafter to every efficient member of a rifle club there shall be allowed a free grant of one hundred rounds of ammunition to be used at matches or at practice. Members of rifle clubs also to have concession ill the shape of free railway passes when' attending rifle shooting competiiions. ' ' As has been stated by me in reply to questions, cadet corps should be established. They should be under the control of the Education Boards and the Education Department. A light rifle similar to that used in the colony of Victoria should be provided for the use of, say, twenty of the elder boys in each school. The total number of boys who are in the Sixth Standard, . or have .passed it, is say 7500, and the cost of giving one-fourth of them rifles would be £3750, In addition to. the school cadet corps there are a, number of youths in the colony who are. pot old enough to join, Volunteer corps, and the* formation of these cadet corps and the enrolment of these youths would be of material advantage. The number likely to be enrdlled is estimated at 5000 ; the cost of rifles and equipment^ estimated at £3 each would make a total of £15,000. The necessity for the establishment and enrolment of these cadet corps anyone who has given subject any consideration must readily admit. You corinnenco to train - the boys in the school, after leaving school, they enrol in the ordinary cadet corps, and then when they copie pi 'ago they will enrol in the volunteer corps. You take them from the schools, and keep them under military training until they attain the volunteer age. At the present time the lads from the time the} attain the age at which they could be en rolled in the volunteer corps have their ardour damped as well as their liking for drill, and this has been the means of preventing them from enrolling in the volunteer forces of the colony. No such thing as conscription is at all necessary in this colony, and 1 am satisfied that if the suggestion now made should be given effect to, we should have, in the course of a few years, fully 20,000 volunteers equipped and complete. i\ AVAL RESERVES. In respect to the naval branch of the Imperial and colonial reserve forces, arrangements should be made for the drilling of the naval volunteers, on a certain cumber of days in each year, on the cruisers belonging to the*. Australasian squadron. These cruisers to be at the several potts in the colonies at the times fixed for tne purpose. CO.N VERSION AND EQUIPMENT OF STEAMERS. There are many of the merchant steam ers coming to the colony which could be converted into cruisers. At present the officers and engineers on those steam-

| era cannot qualify for the naval reserve; if they were allowed to have short periods of service on. .the druisers when both steamers and cruisers were in port, the&e oflicers. and - engineers , would, in time, qualify, for the naval reserve. There ,Khoultt be naval guns 1 , equipment, and munitions of war for thc-e colonial steamers convertible into qruisers to be left at a depot within the. colony to be approved by the Imperial authorities, not necessarily at a port, yet safe from seizure, and within easy reach. Owing to tho altered conditions, it is necessary I that the Australasian bquudi'on should be slrcngtheticd by raising the cl^ss tit vessels, aji4 increasing the rumbev of cruisers, the colony to pay the mci cased cost on thj basis of the prcrcnt agreement. Several of the cruisers now in the Australasian .waters vos being up-to-date, and not belo.nging to the squadron, should be W}lhjir;iwh, ard replaced by a better and more useful class of cruisers. MILITARY CONFEBIi-.OE. With the developments that hava taken place in South Africa, the difiiculfierf met with by the Auftinln^iau colonies in enrolling, equipping, and despatching* contingents for service outside the colonies point to the fact that a conference of Imperial 'officers, commanders of the forces, and ])efoijce Ministers would be pf great service in working out a scheme such as is here proposed, and should Field-iUarshall Lord Roberts be able to accepfc.,the invitation to visit the colonies, he should bej invited to preside at such conference. Trailing this tho Imperial authorities sliould be asked to send one of the British generals who have taken part in the South African campaign to preside at such conference. On the motion of the Premier, the above deljiverancp was referred to the. Defence Committee. ' ■ "