DRILLS, CAMPS, AND THE PUBLIC PURSE

Evening Post, Volume LXXXVII, Issue 118, 20 May 1914, Page 6

DRILLS, CAMPS, AND THE PUBLIC PURSE

Th© remarks Of the Minister for Defence on compulsory training, published in another column, have a wide general interest and embody a high ideal which it is to be hoped the Dominion -will be able, finanpially, to live up to. But they do not appear to hold out any hope of a reduction of 'expenditure. Our article of 28th April, on which the Minister has been courteous enough to comment, aimed at efficiency with economy, and suggested that both would be served by substituting — at any rate so far as the backblocks Territorials are concerned — an extended training in the annua) camp, for the present weekly drills and parades. On the ground of efficiency the Minister is with us. Ho states that the Defence Department has already made a move in this direction, and is considering a further one. Our second suggestion, however, Mr. Allen dots? not approve. It is to the- etfect thai, having substituted extended cump

training for the backblocks drills, the Department should then save money and time by abolishing the practice of sending non-commissioned officers into remote rural places to act as drill instructors to small squads of men. On this point, the Minister, though prepared to drop the Territorial squad drills, is not willing to abandon the recruit-training of the backblocks senior cadets; therefore the substitution of camp service for the young men (Territorials) does not relieve the instructors, because they will still be needed to train tho boys. For that matter, if the non-commissioned officers must needs go on circuit, they might as well look after Territorials also ; and this the Minister appears to recognise. Economy in the administration of the backblocks part of the training scheme is thus confronted by the needs of the senior cadets ; and the Minister explains very clearly the dependence that the scheme places on that division. Recruit training in the cadet stage is relied on to eliminate the simpler forms of drill I after the boys have passed upwards into tho Territorial ranks. We do not desire to pass judgment at this stage on the question that arises. It is complicated by the circumstance that, owing to their youth, the taking of the cadets into the annual camp is not considered advisable; and, if that is so, the alternative remains of curtailing the cadet scheme in the country or facing the cost thereof. No one at present desires to prune the expenditure ruthlessly, but a- position may arise in which economy will be as essential as efficiency, especially if the naval burden increases in any large proportion. Unless all possible cnuwon is observed, things that Mr. Alien has done as Minister for Defence he may yet, as Treasurer, liave to' undo. With regard to permanent camps, the Minister tentatively draws an inference that was never intended, viz., that Territorials might go to camp jis individuals. It is clearly necessary that they should go in military units, and what the Post suggested was camps on a regimental or brigade basis, with divisional camps once in, say, five years. Also, while we advocated permanent camps and permanent structures thereon, we certainly did not suggest the abolition of tent life. In fact, we have pointed out that storage of tents and other material in the permanent camps would save railage thereon and other transport charges involved by the present temporary camp system. If a permanent camp, with barracks or with huts, existed, there would still be nothing to prevent the men going under canvasr-^On the other hand, if an abnormal rainfall made tent life next door to impossible, there would be permanent structures to fall back upon, instead of evacuation. This point is driven home by the abandonment, yesterday, of the rain-swept casual camp at Takapau. We fail to see, therefore, that the Minister has adduced any sound point against permanent camps. He, for his part, concedes that there is very much to be said for them. With the Ministerial dictum that the good soldier will love his rifle, and will take care of it, we agree. But New Zealand is a long way removed from the day when all |he Territorials will be good soldiers in that high sense. A faith in human nature is very admirable, and in some respects helpful 5 but probably if the Minister knew how much expense has been caused by carelessness in tho treatment of Government property, he would be surprised. Anything that will put the rifles as much as possible under official supervision will be an aid both to economy and to efficiency. Generally speaking, Mr. Allen aims high, and our best wishes are with him. He offers no mere lip-service to defence. He speaks with conviction, and his views are thorough-going ; yet not to the same extent as those of the British authorities, who, in order to provide in peace-train-ing the realities of war, send soldiers into the field without tents. In not asking the Territorials to brave the elements uncovered, the Minister draws a distinction between Tommy Atkins and the compulsory trainee, and is content to aim a little lower. The question is whether he will not have to aim a little lower all round. So far tho land defence scheme is still in the experimental stage — and the cadets, Mr. Allen points out, are an experiment on original lines — so it would be inopportune to dogmatise. No doubt when Parliament meets the expenditure on tho big camps, and other useful information, will be available. If the Defence Department can run the scheme on the grand scale and keep within a reasonable financial limit, it will be able to present a good case. Otherwise, the next wave of depression will endanger one or other of the two defence schemes, which now aggregate nearly three-quarters of a million per annum, with an upward tendency on the naval side.