TO MAKE THE COMMONWEALTH SECURE FROM INVASION

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 7057, 19 February 1910, Page 1

TO MAKE THE COMMONWEALTH SECURE FROM INVASION

LORD KITCHENER'S SCHEME. OUTLINE OF HIS REPORT TO FEDERAL GOVERNMENT VALUABLE SUGGESTIONS MADE. (By Telegraph.—Press Association. —Deceived February 18, 11.45 p.m.)

SYDNEY, February 18. A summary of the report prepared by Field-Marshal Lord Kitchener upon the defence of Australia has now been published. There is, as has been already announced, a confidential report as well as a document embodying advice on tho question of organisation.

itself for the moment inferior in force to an_ actual or potential enemy. THE DOMINIONS' DUTIES. In such a situation, although our ultimate superiority at sea might not be a matter for doubt, some time might elapse before the command of the sea could ho definitely assured in all waters. It therefore becomes the duty of all self-governing Dominions to provide a military force adequate not only to deal promptly with any attempt at invasion, but also to insure local safety and public confidence until British superiority on the sea is decisively and comprehensively asserted. For this reason it was recently agreed that the home force of the United Kingdom should be so organised as to compel an enemy contemplating invasion to make his attempt on such scale as to bo unablo to evade the naval forces. The same arguments apply to Australasia, and* its land forces should ibo 'calculated and organised upon this basis. DISPOSAL OF FORCES. In regard to the 80,000 men he estimated as necessary to form the land forces of. the Commonwealth, Lord Kitchener says that half of them will be required to secure the larger cities and defended posts from attack; while the other half will be free to operate as ! a mobile force anywhere in Australia. The best method of ; defence was generally by taking the offensive, and, therefore, there should be no difference in the organisation and equipment of any unit. He departs from the scheme 1 of training prescribed in the Defence Act, considering that while cadet, training was valuable as a preparation, it could not replace recruit training, •which was a necessary preliminary; to the production of an efficient, trained citizen soldier.

While the scheme fits into tho new Defence Act, so far as the main principles are concerned, some important amendments will have to be made to give full effect to it. Tho Field-Marshal, in his • report, pays a tribute to the excellent material for defence that ho found, also to the keenness shown by the forces while in camp. Ho states that the present forces are inadequate for the purpose .in view as regards numbers, training, organisation, and munitions, while the want of population also constitutes a danger. Tho | new Defence Act, however, will, he says, give sufficient numbers to defend the country effectively if the men are efficiently trained, organised, and equipped. THE ORGANISATION. The annual cost when the force is in full working order will be practically the "same as the total contemplated . under the Defence. Act, £1,742,000. The necessary land forces are estimated by Lord Kitchener at 80,000.' These will be organised into: 84 battalions of infantry. 28 regiments of light horse. 48 four-gun field batteries. 7 four-gun heavy and howitzer batteries. 7 communication companies. 14 field companies of engineers. The summary shows that Lord Kitchener favours • .tho establishment of Military Colleges with staff corps. In regard to the organisation . and distribution of the forces, tho report states that the present plan of railway construction, while developing the country, has resulted in the formation of lines more favourable to an enemy than to purposes of the defenco of Australia. The Field-Marshal also advocates keeping military affairs free from political influence. SOME CRITICISMS.' Commenting u>pon the present, conditions, Lord Kitchener states that tho training he saw in the camps indicated a distinct tendency to ,go too fast and to'neglect the essential preliminaries of training for more advanced studies which the troops engaged were not capable of carrying out properly.

NEW CLASSIFICATION.-;'.. -For this reason lie classed the. eighteen to nineteen-year-old men as recruits, over, and above the peace establishment oF 80,000 men, hut liable to be put in the ranks in war. He recommends an extended camp training I up to six clear -working days in, addition to home training! This- would meet the requirements . up to : the twenty-fifth year. The first principle he laid down as essential to the success of enrolment was th.it the nation as a whole should take a pride in its defenders. It should insist upon .the organisation being real and designed for war purposes, and should provide the means of properly educating, training, and equipping officers and men; in other words, the force must be an integral, portion of the national life. A WORD ABODT OFFICERS. Lord Kitchener recommends the division of the Commonwealth into 215 training areas, arranged in twentyone groups. No social consideration, no influence, nothing but efficiency should be allowed to affect the selection and promotion of officers in charge of areas. He recommends the following scale of pay: Colonels ... £BOO to £9OO ■ Lieut. - colonels • £7OO to £BOO Majors ... : £550 to £650 Captains ... £375 to £450 Subalterns ... £250 to £350 The cost of the Military College he estimated at £15,000.

After referring to the excellent fighting material available, he says that -excellent material and even the greatest zealj though they are indispensable adjuncts, are not of themselves sufficient to enable a force tc, take the field against thoroughly trained and regular troops. "While not criticising in detail wlTat he saw in tho various camps his suggestions, he says, have been devised to meet the principal defects he observed, and to enable camps in futuro to be really iiistructional as well as a thorough test of the work done during the year in home training.

It must, he ,declared, be distinctly recognised that a national force maintained at a high standard of efficiency could only be produced by the work of years. Such work must be steady and continuous, and any divergence from the policy decided upon might, indeed, nrobably would, lead to chaos and useless expenditure of money. AN AXIOM APPLIED.

Admitting the British axiom that the maintenance of the Empire depends upon the supremacy of British naval power, Lord Kitchener brings the argument down to Australian conditions. In applying the principle to Australasia ho says that the considerations of time and space cannot ho disregarded. The conduct of a great war depends upon a calculated and proper continuation of naval, military and diplomatic forces. It was quite conceivable, says the Field-Marshal, that in the future, as in the past, national considerations may require the concentration of British naval forces in one or another theatro of operations. It follows that in seas remote from such conccntra- | tion the British naval force may find I