RETIRED COLONELS

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXV, Issue 23088, 13 July 1938, Page 14

RETIRED COLONELS

DUNEDIN OFFICER'S VIEW ARMY NON-POLITICAL EFFICIENCY ITS OBJECT |_BY TELEGRAPH—OWN CORRESPONDENT] DUNEDIN, Tuesday The opinion that there was no question of any action being taken by Dunedin territorials concerning the enforced retirement of the four colonels was expressed by a prominent territorial officer. He thought that all the officers on the active list in the district were prepared to support the defence policy of tho Government of the day no matter what party sat on the Treasury benches. The bone of contention, he said, seemed to be whether the present establishment was sufficient for the defence needs of the country to-day. It must be remembered, however, that, although tho actual peace establishments of units had been considerably reduced, regimental depots were stiil responsible for training an establishment of officers and n.c.o's sufficient to enable the depot to expand rapidly in tho event of an emergency. If this were kept in view, it would be seen that the smaller establishment, if made entirely efficient, would be capable of rapid expansion, and thus would provide an adequate defence force when required. It really rested with officers on tho active list to do everything in their power to ensure tho efficiency of the force and to endeavour, to tho best of their ability, to put into effect the policy of the Government. If an officer were not satisfied, there was only one way open for him, and that was to resign his commission and take the necessary political action to endeavour to persuade the Government to change its policy. "There is still a lot of argument regarding the merits of compulsory military training as opposed to a scheme of voluntary enlistment," the officer continued. "To my mind, any system of compulsion is entirely foreign to tho British system of democracy. There is no doubt that the majority of people within tho British Commonwealth are not in favour of compulsory military training, or wo would have it in Great Britain and Australia. The ideal of service must underlie our defenco system, and it is only where enlistment is voluntary and the soldier is making some sacrifice in order to servo his country that we can maintain this ideal. Giveii a fair trial, the volunteer system will be a success. "Tho army must definitely bo nonpolitical," ho concluded, "and all officers on the active list must avoid even the semblanco of interfering in politics."