DEFENCE AND EXPENSE.

Manawatu Times, Volume XLIII, Issue 1587, 12 June 1920, Page 4

DEFENCE AND EXPENSE.

The Government has a lot of expensive military men. on its hands just now, which it hardly knows -what to do with. It has, therefore, decided to ask them to busy themselves in compiling’ a report in regard to military, naval, air and Imperial defence. We' have no doubt they will provide a great deal of interesting and valuable material as to what New Zealand should spend on military and naval material and equipment, but what the people of this country will most desire to know in the next few event! ul years will be what can be saved? There is only one military man in New Zealand that we know Of who is an expert on military efficiency, combined with economy, from the local point of view, but he has not been asked to sit on this Board. We refer to Lieu-tenant-Colonel T. W- Macdonald, the -fearless and capable officer, who, when Sir Itobert Anderson's commission sat in Now Zealand during the war period to investigate our defence administration, gave such valuable and convincing evidence as to furnish the commission with the substantial material for its findings, and who was especially complimented by the chairman for the grasp and vision which he displayed. Colonel Macdonald is persona grata neither with the political bosses nor the old military heads, chiefly because he has a habit ot getting down to bedrock on essentials. and can in no wise be constrained to suffer fools gladly, or tone down his convictions, based on the facts as he sees them, or adjust his opinions to suit the exigencies of an administration. We are not to have the advantage of the services ot this officer, of course, but there is no reason whv we should not have had on this commission a proportion ot representative civilians to study the problems of defence and add their conclusions to the findings. The military question is not one for professional soldiers only. It affect, every man and woman in New Zealand in then capacity as citizens and as taxpaxers. The omission of civilian representatives from this commission is a giaxe mistake from every conceivable point of view. I