WHITE NEW ZEALAND.

New Zealand Herald, Volume LVI, Issue 17327, 26 November 1919, Page 11

WHITE NEW ZEALAND.

WHAT IT ' INVOLVES. NEED FOR TRAINED MEN. IN AVAL AND MILITARY DEFENCE.' No. 11. By Ernest E. Mem. Are you in favour of a White New Zealand, or do you prefer that this fair Dominion in the near future should become (-'.vamped with Asiatics, to the ultimate extinction of the white race? In my first article I pointed out that Ibis is the issne involved in the plank the New Zealand Labour Party is placing before the electors—the abolition of compulsory training for home defence in this country, and the substitution of a cbimerici! volunteer force upon which'no one can r ■!'■ . Labour exponents, when faced with '" fact that in advocating this they are opening the door f,, the admission of the. .Viatic flood-tide, will doubtless «eek refuge in the British Navy. The navy, they will argue, will do the jobthe navy, of course, in this case being " the other f.-llow." Now. I propose to show that this argument, if used, is a fallacy. The Navv, it is true, can do portion of de job; it is extremely vital that it should; but it cannot do tho whole job. That can be proved, beyond dispute, by the lesson of the late war. The proof is this: The naval war of 1914 18 was fought to all intents and purposes in the North Sea. The German High Seas Fleet was conLined in that sea. After the German occupation of the coast of Belgium the ool\ ailied coast which was exposed to attack by the German High Seas Fleet ■".is the east coast of (.treat Britain. 1 hat coast, with all its windings, is about 1000 miles long. Practically the whole of the British Navy to concentrated ;i gainst that fleet from the opening months of the war, and later the British Fleet was greatly augmented in its m length by the addition of allied ships. 1 lie ordinary civilian would have expected under those circumstances that the east coast of Great Britain would have been safeguarded from attack. Bub v hat was the experience? It was fre-quent-Iy raided by the German Fleet, towns were bombarded, and the Germans generally escaped unscathed. Yet that happened in the North •Sea in which the German 'Navy, so to speak, was contained by the naval strength of the world, j Navies Would be Lost in the Pacific. I

It is illuminating then to compare the !='/.■ i.f the North Sea with the. ocean < i'lossus—the Pacific. The Encyclopaedia Jintanriica gives the area of the North r*e«i as 162.600 square miles. Contrasted v-Hh the Pacific it is thus a mere pond. '1 he area of the Pacific is computed - at 30.000. square miles, or greater than the whole of the land surface of the globe! The whole of the navies of the world would be lost in it— area is so stupenf'ou.-. If then the German Navy, cont.iined in the, North Sea lake by the aval might of the world, was able to make lightning raids on the East Coast of Great Britain, New Zealanders may well ask what would be the position of this country in the event of a decisive war in the Pacific .on the Asiatic exclusion issue? New Zealand then would not only have fie coast exposed to attack, but the whole of her coast line, running out into p total length of 4530 miles! It would appear to be safe to say then that New Zealand's coastline can never be protected from serious raiding by combined naval :md military forces. Australia is in a corresponding position, with a more regular coastline measuring 8850 miles.

Land and Sea Forces Both Necessary.

It would bo idle to deny, also, that both countries are open to actual risk of invasion. That must be governed bv .supremacy at sea, which it is our duty t> assist.in maintaining, as naval supremacy means that the supplies of invading a: lines can be cut off, and the invaders, unless they can live upon the country, must surrender.

Ti,a supremely important lesson to be deduced from the facte, then, is that, if Australia and New Zealand are to adhere to their While Policies, they must always have adequate military forces, sufficiently well trained and equipped, at their command, to be able to deal with raids, and, if necessary, to repel invasion, so as 'to prevent enemy armies from getting a sufficient foothold, which would enable them to live upon the country.

Voluntary System has Already Failed.

The Labour Party, however, proposes, 5n face of the faCjt that the maintenance •y l . a White Nev4» Zealand Policy means life or death to us as a nation, to dispense with compulsory military training, tinder which we have a citizen army of 50.000 Territorials and to revert to the lc-rmer system of a volunteer force, which proved such a lamentable failure. New Zealanders must have short memories if they are not conversant with the position ai it existed before compulsorv training was introduced. In 1909 New Zealand bad a volunteer force of 12,579 men (including rtaff officers and Permanent Force). That number was subject to a reduction of 25 per cent, op account of Medical unfitness before th e force could Vie piaced on active service. This meant that only 9500 men were available. Thev were men of an excellent stamp, but were so poorly trained that without months of further training it would have been worse than folly to have placed them in the tii-ld. If that statement is questioned, the evidence is conclusive. It is that the training of the. volunteer force consisted <-■: week night parades an an annual ertfamjiuient at. Easter spread over four days Friday. Saturday, Sunday, and Monday), of which only half the time was available for actual drill and manoeuvres. 'the ■wrc-U-uitfht parades were invariably poorly attended. The wme applied to the Easter encampments. The Easter encampment in 1909. for instance, was only attended D y 4300 mm throughout the whole tit New Zealand, or less than half the total -: length of the volunteer force! It was indeed "the Phantom Army!" "Who is Going to Do the Volunteering? Yet this is the system which the Labour Party, by its platform, is asking the <■ mntry to go hack to. Is it net the duty • i l.aliotir candidates, in view of the past failure, (.. jell the electors where th e voli inters they speak of are to come from, •'•id how they are to be trained? Are lli, ncessary number of volunteers only to be forthcoming when war breaks out", and it will he too late, because i,hc « in in;, in the event of a struggle, on the i i' nil issue in the Pacific, will be so soon ..I our door;.'.' Also, why should men be . ked In train voluntarily tor t.he defence <!' their country when other men refuse l" 'I ••• .>-•:'.' Further, are \i> to relv on ' lii-i rations to do the volunteering for i: "lien •> c are not prepared to protect Oi. ■' !vt> ; '.*