CENTRALISED CAMPS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LV, Issue 16847, 11 May 1918, Page 7

CENTRALISED CAMPS.

BETTER training RESULTS. SCHEMES FOR AFTER THE WAR. [BY TELEGRAPH. OWN CORRESPONDENT.] WELLINGTON, Friday. Are you satisfied with the present scheme of training, that is, having two camps fairly close together in the North Island, or would yon prefer a training camp for each island or each district?" was a question put to the Commandant of the Forces by the Defence Expenditure Commission to-day. General Sir Alfred Robin replied that with the depleted staff of the Dominion it was considered that efficient training was practicable only under the present system of centralised camps. This system had been discussed previously and it had been decided by the Government that the depletion of the trained staff by absorption into the Expeditionary Force and the earlier reinforcements, for one reason, left no option but to concentrate for effective training. The Chairman: If you had a training camp in each district, would the present district headquarters office be enabled to cany out the supervision and training at those camps? ° The Commandant; It is not considered that the district staff could carry on training camps for the Expeditionary Force even with additions to their staff. I nave no hesitation in saying that such a proposal would ultimately involve larger staffs and more expense than at present, and in consequence infinitely greater expenditure. The Chairman: With regard to territorial training, do you think it best to have small camps for each area, or could you obtain better results "with one camp for each district, or one in each island onlv. The Commandant: This Is embodied in the draft proposals, which I commenced 12 months ago, for the future training of the Dominion forces after the war. As Aldershot is to England so will the present camps prove to New Zealand, while they will not cut out the district unit training. The Chairman: .Would you prefer, on trio score of efficiency and economy, to have soldiers trained in camp for three or four months at a stretch when about 18 years of age, and thereafter to have an annual ' refresher' of a few days ? The Commandant: Certainly. A proposal for the revision of training of the territorial force 011 this principle after the war was drafted 12 months ago, and is still under construction for consideration by the Government as soon as possible after the war. In this, however, the terms of the peace settlement and the experience of this war must be the governing factors in the preparing of the actual details." j