THE DOMINION'S ARMS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 22991, 19 March 1938, Page 14

THE DOMINION'S ARMS

Whatever may be the advice on defence that the Prime Minister obtained in Britain, the stark fact is that New Zealand's preparations against the emergencies that are commonly recognised are shockingly inadequate. It is abundantly evident that the Cabinet is cither politically afraid to take steps comparable with tjjose of the Dominions that are realistically alert in the matter of defence, or is unable to see through the pacifist mist it helped to raise. One day the country hears of the great potential value of training a few non-commissioned officers for the duties they would perform if they had trainees. The next it is assured that the establishment of a few mechanised units has filled the gap caused by the absence of recruits. The kindest judgment is that the members of the Government know so little about the subject that they are incapable of grasping its realities. When the Great War broke out the country, thanks to the compulsory territorial scheme, was able to- embark brigades of artillery, mounted "rifles, and infantry with staff requirements for a division and in actual fact the main body of the Expeditionary Force possessed the means of easy expansion to a division with the vast proportion of its personnel well through the recruit stage. To-day the Territorial Force is on a brigade basis. "Mounted rifles regiments," said the General Officer Commanding in his last report, "have only a strength in rank and file equivalent to squadrons, and infantry battalions are equivalent only to. companies, in some cases lees." The position is no better to-day and if the members of the Government had sufficient military knowledge to understand the lessons of Spain and China they would'realise that mechanised power on land or in the air cannot of itself win battles. The mental incapacity of the Government in this vital matter suggests 'that unofficial civilian effort must show it the way.