THE H.B. TRIBUNE. FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1914. LAND DEFENCE.

Hawke's Bay Tribune, Volume IV, Issue 139, 29 May 1914, Page 4

THE H.B. TRIBUNE. FRIDAY, MAY 29, 1914. LAND DEFENCE.

The similarity which exists between the Australian and the New Zealand systems of compulsory training gives us in the Dominion more than a mere neighbourly interest in the report which General Hamilton has delivered to the Commonwealth Government. Sydney papers now to hand give ns a pretty full abstract of that report, the more salient, features of which have already reached ns by cable. The general tone of it is entirely laudatory of what has been achieved in so short a time, and of the men as a. body Sir lan speaks in terms of no qualified satisfaction, and this extends also to the large measure of discipline and cheerful submission to it which have already been established and which may well be hoped to further improve as those accustomed to training from bovhood pass up into tne ranks of their seniors. Of the cadet system itself he speaks with the most ithorough approval, saying:—“hi this matter of recruit training. Australia has struck out on a line of her ow;n. Australian militiamen undergo a period of recruit training equivalent to 1G days, of which only eight are spent in camp. If the efficiency of the trainee really depended on so minute a tleabite of training, the outlook on the far horizon of the 20th Century would be somewhat blue. But the recruits’ course will not stand alone. It will hate six years’ cadet -training at its back. The shortness of the Australian recuit training as compared with the concentrated course which other nations have adopted, is to be compensated for by a very long and thoroughly serious preparation in the grade of a cadet. That at leas£ is the intention, and strange indeed will it be if a country in which no wars have yet been waged, should at its first serious atempt hit the nail on the head. The striking success achieved wherever environment has happened to be favourable is evidence that Australia is really on the right track, and that the difficulties she is experiencing are only the small but distressing hitches which have taken place in the earlier stages of every and any great invention. All that is required is that in each succeeding year a general heave upwards should be given to the whole system under which cadet training is carried out.” Two of the main conditions for success were : — “‘First, the cadet curriculum must be progressive and thoroughly systematised, so that officers commanding militia units mav have some assurance that all their recruits, on joining, shall have attained a given standard. ‘•Secondly, the cadet instructors must themselves be worthy, not only in aspiration, but in experience and character, for the performance of the high duty they have undertaken to carry through. “Once the curriculum has been systematised, the cadets must be brought into the closest relations possible with the inilitia battalion which the hulk of them will join later on in their careers. ’The militia commanding officers will then hare a direct personal interest in promoting the training and the interests of his cadets ; the cadets, know mg that their efforts are beinng watched bv their future commander, will play up all thov can to please him.” _ On the subject of marksmanship, however, General Hamilton .ex presses himself as distinctly disappointed. He finds the army's shooting to be, on the whole, nothing better than third-class, with many not exercised in it at all. He exclaims . —■‘Nature has done her best for the Australian in the matter of shooting. She has fitted him out with a keen vision, long limbs, ami just the right sort of shooters’ nerve, tense but. ■controlled. Whence these disappointing results? Consciousness ot being a marksman is a great, moral support in battle. The soldier who doubts whether he can hit the advancing foeman is twice as likely to run away as the soldier who knows he can break a bottle at a hundied yards three shots out of four. These are remarks which we may expect with some assurance to be repeated with regard to our own Territorial force. In reference io the cadets, he deplores the tact that they are being taught to shoot y. ll * l a- weapon different from that which is in the hands of the inilitia, necessitating much unlearning and relearning <m promotion to the adult ranks. , .. General Hamilton s heartiest ibsanpiwal is, however, reserved for the financial aspect of the scheme as it at present stands. His strictuies in this connection are based on conditions which may not make them applicable to New Zealand, a system of centralisation apparently being one of the main causes of waste and extravagance, with regard both to time and to money. His general reference to the necessity for thorough businesslike supervision and management are apt, however, with reteience to all military systems. “Waste of effort and extravagance in administration are indicated,” he says, gesled, so that there should be a more marked distinction between the military and the business sides. 1 have no hesitation in advising that the institution of a business department in the army under a business head is essential to efficiency and economy. On purely jnilitarj grounds', the maintenance of a clear line of demarcation between the fighting soldier, on the one hand, and the military administrator, on the other, and the specialisation of each for his particular work can not only be defended but may be strongly advocated.

position. Most of these branches have come into existence during the last two yeqrs ; in fact the soviet}finally established itself and canie into its heritage when in Ma,r<:i~, 1913, it succeeded in capturing the wayward interest of our Chief Health Officer, and in . numbering him since then among its staundh adherents and practical supporters. The Government’s action in granting a subsidy of 24/- per £ up to £lOO of voluntary subscriptions towards the expense of each Plunket nurse, and in paying tier railway fare while travelling on duty, has put the whole thing on a more workable basis, besides being an encouraging proof that the society is regarded by the Government as a powerful and useful organisation. The visit of Dr. Trilby King, the society’s general president, to Eng land, as delegate from the New Zealand Government to the important congress dealing with chihl welfare, held last, year in Westminster. has aroused widespread interest. in the movement. Twentytwo English-speaking Governments were officially represented by specially appointed delegates, and it is gratifying to rend in the official report that “we in England have learned much from such model schemes as those unfolded by Dr. H. J. Gerstenberger of Cleveland, Ohio, and Dr. Truby King of New Zealand.” M ith due humility we submit another extract from this report, this time from a speech by Dr. Dundas, Chief Health Officer for Ramsgate, who said: "I was particularly struck with a paragraph in Dr. King’s paper in which lie stated that the newspaper press of New Zealand had played a leading role in the movement. It appears to me that this is a very good idea, and one which so far as I am aware, has not been made use of in this country.” The outstanding fact, however, which arrests the attention of everybody, far and near, and gains the ’society the support it merits, is that the infantile mortality in New Zealand has been reduced from 88.50 per 1000 in 190< to 51 per 1000 in 1912.

Southern Opposition journals arc again raising the bogey of land aggregation, and, of course, attributing the possibility of it to the Reform Government. It will be remembered that, when the Opposition found courage to adduce specific instances, the thorough official enquiry which was instituted disclosed’ that the allegations were cither altogether without foundation. cr greatly exaggerated. In every case it was shown that the aggregation, where there was any. could be in nowise assigned to any act or neglect of the present Government, but. on the other hand, was in most eases made practicable by the long-continued oversight by the “Liberal” Government to make statutory provisions guarding against it. Il was not until 1907 that the Government woke up to the necessity for impressing the freeholds which it alienated with a restriction that would prevent them being made the subject of aggregation. Up to that time every acre of freehold land had been granted without any such condition being imposed, and in addition to this, when the Act was passed, the State had tenants of some 1,600,000 acres who had the unqualified right to purchase the freehold unfettered by any restraint as to subsequent sale. Land alienated from the Crown since 1907 can be purchased only by those who can make a statutory declaration that, with the land bought, they will in each case own nothing beyond the area fixed by the “ Liberal ” Government itself as a reasonable holding. This, of course, does not apply to the freehold of the immense area we have mentioned as being held under license to occupy with right of purchase. The contracts in these cases were made by the “ Liberal'’ Government and are nit capable ot being varied by the insertion now ot any fresh restriction. The opportunity for aggregation, wherever it may have been availed of, is therefore entirely due to “ Liberal ” Government’s neglect of what it obviously must have deemed to ne the interests of the community.

The coincidence of two railway collisions occurring, one in Australia and the other upon our own lines, apparently from the same cause, within a couple of months of one another must of necessity give rise to some uneasiness on the part of the travelling public. In each case the disaster appears, from such information as is available, 10 have been due to the faulty working of like signal-systems. This system has been in vogue for a very considerable number of years in New Zealand, and vve have no recollection of its having hitherto failed to act satisfactorily tinder proper attention. Assuming the explanation which is to hand be substantiated, there is no ground whatever for the wild accusations of “ laxity of dis cipline." or of “defective management,” or of “ shocking neglect,'’ which a Napier contemporary has seen fit 10 launch without consideration as to how they might affect public on a matter which niust be treated as sub judiee until proper official investigation has been made. That this deplorable oi-eurrvnee will be made the subject of the tidiest open inquiry we may he sure, and (here is every reason why, until that is concluded, thu public mind should Ire kept free from such prejudices as our contemporary has sought to create. Its object is. ot course, obvious.

Town planning is a movement which should appeal to every citizen of the Dominion. It is pleasing therefore to notice that the citizens of Napier have called a meeting for to-night to arrange for the visit of Mr. Davidge, who is out from London for the special purpose of lecturing on town planning. The widening of streets, rounding of dangerous corners, preservation of air spaces as well as various aspects of what is known as “community living" will all he dealt with by him. In the Old Country millions of pounds sterling have had to be spent in rectifying the mistakes made by past geuei-i tions. who failed to realise that m ever increasing population would not find sufficient breathing room in 'i e narrow street s and cramped u]> Im i.i ings which they were leaving as legacies. The old world is now leant ing wisdom by the mistakes of tn“ past : but the cont rolling bodies n New Zealand have yet to realise Inal though even advantage is them, they owe a duty to future genera tions. The inauguration of beaut’fy ing societies and so forth has done lunch in recent years towards improving town life, but then* is vet a wide field in which local bodies < ati operate once they realise t ,iat th" r work is for the coming race. .<-.j» m'. with its narrow streets, its trams and its already over crowded motor traffic, has a difficult hut not impossible problem before it.. Endowed with a snlendid streten of ocean beach, and a climate second to none

in New Zealand. Napier has every opportunity of becoming one of th ■ most beautiful towns in New Ze.i land. It may take a century ' . efface every trace of parochialism and convert Napier' hr.« a city pro per. but there is no apparent reason why the ci\ic fathers -hould not m the future aim at something belter than providing makeshifts whr h bandy serve the requirements of th present day. M""?" "'gßs.