DEFENCE LEAGUE

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXXI, 9 September 1937, Page 8

DEFENCE LEAGUE

POLICY AND FUTURE ACTIVITIES j CONSIDERED BY COUNCIL IHv Teleeranh Prese Apeoriatinn) WELLINGTON, This Day. Questions of policy and future activi- ; ties of the Defence League of New Zealand were considered at a meeting of the general council of the League yesterday. The Hon. W. Perry, M.L.C., Dominion president, presided Mr Perry said that as a Defence League they were strictly non-party and had to look upon the question as j a whole from the points of view of naval, air and land defence. The scheme announced by the Minister of Defence, the Hon. F. Jones, for the improvement of the land forces was based much upon the same lines as that for Australia, and while some might be disappointed that it did not go a great ! deal further, still it was a step in ad- [ vance and it was the business of the League to help the Government carry i* out—in other words, to help in findI ing men to man the guns, i Mr Barrowclough (Auckland) said one of the first things required was that the League should have a constructive policy. He said that with regard to naval and air defence there 1 had certainly been some improvement, but with regard to the land forces I the feeling in Auckland was they : were extraordinarily low and j present proposals were inadequate. He • was satisfied they would not get the necessary number of volunteers in | times of crises, but the question then j was whether they would have the j necessary number of qualified officers | and n.c.o.’s to act as leaders. They did | not suggest compulsion should be rej sorted to, but held that further inducei ments by way of a bonus to efficientlytrained men should be offered.

Mr Crazier (Christchurch) urged that the Government itself should set the example by releasing '"overnment employees for training. 'A resolution was carried that the League offers to the Government its assistance in putting into effective operation the defence scheme announced by the Government, but at the same time affirms that no system of territorial training will be effective in this country unless an adequate number of recruits are attracted to the colours and recruits are prepared to undergo a sufficient period of training and the right type of recruits is attracted to the service. The League felt their requirements would best be attained by active and enthusiastic support and encouragements from Ministers of the Crown, members of Parliament, the Press, local bodies, educational, religious. business and professional leaders, and by adeqoi’e pav to members of the Territorial Force. The draft constitution of the League was adopted, and it was decided to go ahead with the formation of the League throughout the country.