DEFENCE OF THE COLONY.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XLIII, Issue 13357, 11 December 1906, Page 5

DEFENCE OF THE COLONY.

m , . ■ \ STATEMENT BY THE PREMIER. gpl - •■■•••■-"..■■ - : .'■ .. .-"•■ -:-■.■; ■-> ?■ ' — ' ~ _- VOLUNTEERS TO BE PLACED ON A BETTER FOOTING. [by TELEGRAPH. association.] : Wanganui, Monday. fe* In the course of an address to- volunteers \: to-day Sir Joseph Ward . intimated that H| ,he intended making a statement as to the £• composition of the new defence council on H his return to "Wellington. . The Premier ,£ ■ said the Government intended to place the Volunteers on a much better footing than at present, 7 ; and to offer inducements to civilians to .become marksmen. ■ .""""* NEED FOR UP-TO-DATE ARMAMENTS. '■ . [BY TfeLEGRAPH.— CORRESPONDENT.] t - - - Dunedin, Monday. % • Taking advantage of the presence of a '£ "number of citizens who proceeded to Otago ~- Heads on Saturday afternoon to witness /",..; the annual big gun practice. Colonel Robin ' .'called special attention to the necessity for I .keeping defence armaments modern and up to date. As an apt illustration of this, he asked what manufacturer, who was com~V L peting against others, would allow the magt: chinery in his factory to get obsolete or out of date, and said this was practically ; what was being done in regard to some of the colony's defences. Guns which were \ good enough 20 years ago were now useless, " ; and he sard it was for the citizens and leaders of the people in all public organisa- '! tions to take up this matter, and urge that i: in the important work of defence the colony V - should be up to date. ,He also advocated that land and naval war manoeuvres should :: be held as frequently as possible, and that 'i. the public should be afforded every oppor- ■'. tunity of witnessing these. He thought ', if this were done the result would be educational, and would serve to show that, »,v given modern arms, the colony's volunteer *t and permanent forces were efficient, and 11that a great deal more information was in mm possession of military authorities than the I|| public: generally was aware of.