DEFENCE MATTERS.

Evening Post, Volume LXX, Issue 34, 9 August 1905, Page 5

DEFENCE MATTERS.

RIFLE CLUBS AND VOLUNTEERS, CRITICISM IN THE HOUSE. . THE PREMIER'S REPLY. The subject of defence occupied the at« tention of the House of Representatives for an hour or two yesterday afternoon on, the motion to go into Committee of Supply for the consideration of the Esti' mates. Mr. J. Allen, who opened the debate, said that unless something was done t<i improve matters in regard to volunteering the movement might have a very serious set-back. A good deal; he ad* mitted, had been done for volunteering of late years, but owing to the way tho Under-Secretary's Department was carried on there was a good deal of friction with the officers. ' They were little things, but they mounted up, until the irritation; became intense. To-day one company in Auckland was without a single officer* . owing to the friction which had arisen! and through the delay whioh had occurred in regard to disciplinary matters. The Premier said the second office*) had been carrying it on a}l along. Mr. J. Allen said the whole companyproposed to disband. In Wellington all the officers of the Wellington Navala had resigned. They were all good officers, and thccolony could nob afford to loso them. The Premier said the real cause wa« the starting of a new company. Mr. J- Allen said there were many causes. One was that a man injured himself carrying a shell, he was sent home on that account, asnd lost his capi« tation because he could not attend th« rest of the drills. The Premier said the trouble arose through the officer in command not en* tering the man as sick. Mr. Allen said that was not his in« formation. This was one- of the pin« pricks. Further, if the new regulations were enforced they would kill every garrison artillery company in tho colony. The only way to avoid that would ba to "fake" the rolls. Two companies haii applied for equipment and been refused because they were not up to the minimum strength. It was like refusing to let a man enter the water until he had learned to swim. The Premier: What you want to do is to reduce tie minimum. It should) have been brought under my notice. "Try and instil 3, little less red t&ptf • into the Under- Secretary's office," continued Mr. Allen. The pin-pricks that' came from there were something terrible. Mr. Allen went on to refer to our armament, and complained that the 6in gun at Dunedir had been there for twelve months and was still unmounted. Whail was the artillery staff officer doing? Even if the gun was mounted to-day they would not be able to equip thei battery for another year or eighteen, , months. Dunedin ought to be fortified, and it could be done cheaper and^ more, effectively than any other port in the colony. The money now spent on defence could be expended much, more effectually <than at present. Officers should be taken a little more into the confidence of the authorities. He supposed there was a scheme of defence, but none of the officers knew anything, about it. Ha hoped the Commandant's report wouUJ not be expurgated before it was brought before the House. That sort of thing - sometimes did happen with regard t«! reports. Mr. M'Lachlan objected to a volunteer officer (Mr. J. Allen) being allowed -at. a member of Parliament to criticise tht Defence Department. Mr. Baume urged that unless volunteer officers who were members of Parliament spoke on such matters the House and! \ the country would not be able to understand what was wrong. Sir William Steward asked what was going to be done with, regard to the men who were injured at Fort Ballance lasts year. Mr. Rutherford urged that more assistance by way" of free ammunition shoulol be given to rifle clubs. Mr. Buchanan made similar representa-*. tions on behalf of rifle dubs, whioh should be dealt with more liberally than they had ' been in' the past. The claims ot the Tararua Rifle Club tat be accepted as a defence rifle club wern urged by Mr. Hogg, who complained oil the delay in answering the application. The Premier said the question was be** ing considered as to whether it would in« terfere with the Eketahuna Rifle Cluhn The debate, he went on to say, had beei! of a profitable character. He had dona his .best to obviate friction and make things run smoothly. In a. weak moment he agreed to the division of the Defenca Department jito military and secretarial branches. Since then he had had nothing but trouble, and 'his mind was made up to bring them again into one department. The present system was naturally produo* tive of delay. The Acting Under-Sect retary was one of the most careful men in the Service, and very conscientious, hold* ing that if once the regulations were de-i parted from the precedent might be taken < advantage of. He knew_wliat was'underlying the trouble at Auckland. It all arose out of the promotion of nn officer 1 which was not approved of by the others, and a deplorable condition of things re« suited. Further, they must be very careful in dealing with a. volunteer officer, not' do anything which would injure him as at civilian, and he had delayed dealing wrtli certain officers at Auckland in the hope' that in course of time things would Cornwall right. With regard to the new re* . gulations, he said the minimum of tin 1 establishments had, lie understood, been: raised at the suggestion of the officers. He wanted a. workable arrangement. Ail to the difficulty with the Wellington Navals — a very tine company — he said that one thing that had caused the friction wag not one for which' a Minister could be held responsible. The Commandant considered! there was room for another company," and his recommendation was agreed to. Tha officers felt that the new company woal<J militate against the old company, and ha thought the friction might have beem avoided if there had been a consultaf-ju., Tho question of the capitation had bees considered by him that afternoon. The officer did not enter the gunner as sick. and therefore h*, lost his capitation. It would, however, be a pity for the man tc lose his capitation and service. He had been regarded as an efficient, and (the Premier was understood to say) the capitation would bo paid. If a company wsv not up to the minimum it could not capitate. Mr. J. Allen : You will kill the cony. panics. The Premier : I hopo not. I will hayji enquiries made, and if the minimum v.\ found to be 100 high it would be his duty to reduce it. Ho had. been advised Iff complete the harbour defences of Auckland and Wellington first. Ho had beem advised also to dismantle the defences at Dunedin and Lyttelton, but he thought it was better to keep them there and go on as well as they could. He did not: think much of our harbour >Ipfences. Great care had to be exercised vi keep* ing secret the- scheme of defence, but lie < would impress on the Commandant the desirableness of confidence being established between the Commandant and the ofiieers. He had given instructions that tlit men injured at' Fort Ballance were 'to

be liberally dealt with, and final steps would be taken, in tip matter as soon as possible. He would. do bis best to avoid a. recurrence of. such .faction as had occurred at Auckland and "Wellington. At tue evening sitting Mr. W. Fraser urged that rifle clubs purchasing LeeEnfield rifles should have an allowance made' to them for the less up-to-data weapons they had also purchased from tho ' Government. Even if tho Government did lose something it would be in the interests of riflo shooting, which was very important, Mr. Field' said the Karori Rifle Club had had ita range cut up and had had to find another range, with the result that members were put to an expense of sevoral shillings a week. The Premier said that as Minister for Defence he looked upon the rifle clubs as of great importance in the" defence of the colony. They now hadi a status and concessions which were not given, to them previously." He did not agree with their having the same right in regard to railway passes as the volunteers. The Karori Rifle Club 'could have the, use of the Polhill Gully range the same as the volunteers, and he could not see his way to givo them the concessions in regard to railway passes which they asked. He hoped that before next season they would be given a seasonable concession. 'As to Mr. W. Fraser's remarks, ho said the old riflea ■would.be of no value to the Government ; the Commandant wished to keep a reserve of new rifles, and, he asked, what was the value of old rifles which were out of date ? ■ The request made by the club referred to by Mr. Fraser was made by clubs all over . the colony. He would rather sell the new rifles at £1 under cost price than take back old rifles. He was in favour of increasing the supply of free ammunition to members of rifle clubs.