TELEGRAMS. NATIONAL DEFENCE

Hawera & Normanby Star, Volume LVI, Issue LVI, 26 October 1908, Page 5

TELEGRAMS.

NATIONAL DEFENCE

[BY ELECTRIC TEIiEQEAPH. —COPTBIGHT.]

SPEECH BY SIR JOSEPH WARD.

[press association.]

INERCAttGILL, October 25.

The Prime Minister arrived at Invercargill on Saturday and addressed a meeting at the Bluff in the evening. On the subject of internal defence, he amplified somewhat his previous remarks. He had been asked, he said, whether he was favorable to bringing out the militia for three weeks' drill every year. In the first place he was not in favor of an organised militia in New Zealand, but he realised the importance of a good system of internal defence, and was impressed with the necessity of improving the system to assure that every man capable of taking up arms should be a good shot and trained in the use of arms. "We have to look first to the training of the younger generation," said the Premier, "to bring that about. It was nonsense to talk about improving the volunteer force by making it more attractive until it should be strong enough to repel an attack from any army landed on our stores. It would be next door to impossible for any nation to land an army in New Zealand, and if we had to make provision for defence against armies we should require to have not only every man but every woman in the country trained to take up a musket. The most experienced military men were all of one opinion, that in New Zealand and Australia we had not to make provision for a possibility of invasion by a foreign army, but only for minor attacks by way of raids, and a raid was as different from invasion by an army as daylight was from dark. Protection against such raids we ought to secure, and in order to do that we must have a sufficient number of men, from all walks of life, trained to take up arms, and prevent a successful attempt by a couple of foreign ships of war which might land detachments to put up flags, destroy a town, or take away bullion or specie. It must be remembered that we are not in the position of Switzerland, Germany, France, Italy or China, surrounded on all sides by nations likely at any time to become enemies. We are divided by our enemies by thousands of miles at sea. We ljad no need to fear attacks from armies, and any system framed with the idea of fighting such armies was the most impossible in the world. If we did need such an elaborate system of defence as, say, Canada, it would be a very bad thing for the country if its manhood was compelled to serve as militia. It would interfere with the industrial life of the community, and enormous reduction of the earning power of the community. The people of the country did not intend that any such system should be introduced; on the other hand we belonged to a nation that had a stronger fleet than any other two nations in the world. Our whole being rested on the preservation of the safety of the track across the ocean for ships that carry our cargoes. That spelt safety, freedom and progress for this country." Sir Joseph Ward admitted that the volunteer system was not so good as it might be, and he hoped to have it improved by the extension of the school cadet system, which was already a very fine system. He would like to see established a system of senior cadets and adult volunteers, and also to see the age limit for joining volunteers reduced. We could then be reasonably sure that our young men would not grow up unskilled in the use of the rifle and in field work. Twenty-five per cent, would drop out of the ranks every year and practically become reserves. If we had a voluntary system of that kind, we should have the nucleus of a force strong enough to prevent a raid being successful, and probably also help the Old Land if the need arose.