HOME DEFENCE

Otago Daily Times, Issue 23688, 21 December 1938, Page 9

HOME DEFENCE

APPEAL TO EMPLOYERS IMPORTANCE OF TERRITORIAL FORCES COMPULSORY SYSTEM ADVOCATED 'Per United Press Association) WELLINGTON, Dec. 20. In an appeal to employers to encourage their employees to attend camps, Mr W, Perry, M.L.C. president of the New Zealand Defence League, says: “Another Christmas is almost upon us, and the world is' racked with anxiety for the future. In a statement to the House of Commons on October 3, reporting on the Munich agreement, Mr Neville Chamberlain said: ‘Let no one think, however, that because of the agreement at Munich Britain can afford to call a halt to the great programme of rearmament which is daily increasing in pace and volume. The British people must renew their determination to build up the deficiencies remaining in their defensive precautions.’ Since then prominent statesmen in Britain have strongly emphasised the necessity of strengthening the defence force of all arms, and the question of a universal national service is rapidly becoming a very live issue. Since 1936 the New Zealand Defence League has been endeavouring to create a public opinion in New Zealand in favour of adequate defence forces. It has emphasised in plain terms the dangers which confront us in the not distane future. The people have been and still are apathetic. “After the crisis in September one would have expected an influx of members to the league and a rush of recruits to the territorial forces. Neither of these things happened. Despite the crisis and despite the commendable efforts of the Army Department the territorial forces are still below establishment.

“The league, therefore, is forced to the conclusion that the best means of achieving its objects is to advocate the adoption of a form of compulsory military training beginning with three months’ continuous recruit training by all youths over the age of 18 and followed by four years’ training in the territorials, and also by the establishment of a national register of the whole population in readiness for an emergency. The need for trained men is urgent and grave. The British Commonwealth of Nations may be fighting for its existence within the next six months. We shall then* find that what is needed in war is soldiers, not recruits, and what is also needed is a civilian population prepared and trained to defend itself at home.

“Let it not be thought, however, that, because it advocates compulsion, the league is opposed to the voluntary system. Its only concern is to get trained men in time so that, if war should come, it will be a war and not -a massacre. It matters not whether the men are obtained by a voluntary system or by compulsion so long as they are obtained. Until such time as compulsion is introduced, the league exhorts all employers to encourage their employees who are eligible for service to join the territorial forces. The vital part of the territorial annual training comes in the next three months when the annual camps will be held. If the 8500 young men who are carrying out a public duty by serving in the territorial units are to be reasonably efficient, they must be given every opportunity to attend the annual camp of their unit. Let the suggestion that the employees should attend the camps come from the employers themselves. Let the young men respond to the suggestion. Let them realise that by so doing they are performing their duty to their country and improving themselves mentally and physically. “ The peoples of the totalitarian States rre making sacrifices in time of peace which we should almost hesitate to make in time of war. If our people who enjoy such a high standard of living are not prepared to make sacrifices in time of peace so as to be prepared for war when it comes, they may one day be bitterly disillusioned.”