MANAWATU EVENING STANDARD POHANGINA GAZETTE. Circulation, 3,200 Copies Daily. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1905. NATIONAL DEFENCE.

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLI, Issue 8083, 5 September 1905, Page 4

MANAWATU EVENING STANDARD POHANGINA GAZETTE. Circulation, 3,200 Copies Daily. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 5, 1905. NATIONAL DEFENCE.

Loed Robeets is driving home on'the British public the necessity of taking heed of the national defences. First he wrote to'the newspapers, then he spoke from his place in the House of Lords on the question, and now he is going through England, endeavouring from the public platform to rouse the nation to a sense of- its peril. The reports of his House of Lords speech are now to hand, and they show that this is the most notable utterance there? has been, for years on the subject. Lord Roberts, one chronicler tells us, spoke in the " sharp clipped phrases of the man of action." His earnestness itself, without any oratorical eloquence, was sufficient to make a deep impression on his auditors. When war breaks out there is "a sudden change of feeling with regard to the army, and too much cannot be done for it. But, he asked, should patriotism , end here ? Judged by its actions, the nation evidently thinks there is no necessity to carry it any further. Lord Roberts, however, felt it his duty to tell the country, in the plainest language, something about the dangerous condition of affairs. In a passage which certainly did attract, though it could not retain, public interest, he reminded the country that five years had passed since the Boer war. But, he added, " other matters have engaged the atten-' tion of the nation; the lesions of South Africa have been forgotten, aud I have no hesitation in stating that our armed forces, as a body, are as absolutely unfitted and unprepared for war as they were in 1899." The army would never be reformed until a correct, authoritative, and generally accepted definition of the nation's military requirements was forthcoming, and that depended upon perception, of the, fact that -the King's dominions were not a kingdom, but an empire. The question was not one only of' Home defence, but of much wider application. It was one of life or death to England, and .it could not be : settled by impromptu action. As things are.at present, the' nation, 'according to Lord Roberts; placed its confidence and the, honour of the country in an army which is "reduced to a minimum in. numbers, trained in a most inadequate manner, with far too little musketry practice, and without the auxiliary, forces .so organised as to form a sufficient and efficient reserve.", For five ? years . the army has been the subject of universal'discussion and experimenting, and yet.i.the most; experienced' soldier in England can only denounce its inefficiency.. The Government.can

find no answer to his statements. Lord Roberts to sho*v that the ?way to reform the'J conditions -which he'1 condemned was for the nation to identify itself with the Army, to take an intelligent interest in what it might have, to do, and hot to regard it as something outside the national life. ? Other nations were identified with their armies, because every man took his share of military duty,-and Lord Roberts indicated his deep regret that;conditions were so different in. England? Officers':; required to be better trained to undertake responsibility, the troops needed far greater opportunities, to practice shooting, and,yet: little encpuragment is given in either respect. Lord Roberts did not lay particular blame on the present Government • every Government, he said, is inspired by the national sentiment, and as far, as the Army is concerned, that sentiment is apathetic, or merely critical. JJut he appealed to the nation to'think what the position of the Mother Countrywould be if through neglect of the primary defensive j>recautions it lost its wealth and power. He urged that the Army should not be allowed to be the " shuttlecock, of party, politics, or 'its organisation to be dependent on fanciful theories." Finally, he asserted his conviction, that in order to secure a large | and well-trained reserve, the country must adopt either conscription or some practical system of universal training. "In no other way is it possible," he concluded," for Great Britain to possess an army so organised «.__ trained in peace time as tp be equal to the probable demands of the Empire in war." llt is.to be hoped that Lord Roberts' I efforts in this direction will nieet with better success than did his endeavour to raise funds for the; extension of the rifle club movement. The matter is one of such vital importance that .his state-, ments cannot be allowed to go unheeded..