DEFENCE OF THE COLONY.

Otago Witness, Issue 2370, 3 August 1899, Page 10

DEFENCE OF THE COLONY.

THE ANNUAL REPORT. \ (Fkom Our Own Correspondent.) j WELLINGTON, July 21. The annual report of the Commandant (Colonel Penton) on the defence forces of New .Zealand was laid on the table of the House to-day. Since the date of hys last annual reports, he says a crisis has been passed through, when it seemed that Great' Britain was on the point of being involved in a war which, would iia-ve directly affected all. parts of 'the Empire. The spirit of patriotism which was displayed by the defence forces of the colony was worthy of all praise, and he can, he says, confidently (assert that had their services been required every main in the forces would have come forward cheerfully and willingly jto do his duty to the Empire. Special attention Kas been paid to strengthening the defences' of the four principal ports, and he states: — ( 'We are a good deal more advanced now in our power of defenca than we were 12 months ago. On .the subject of the permanent force, the Comjmandanb «xpresses regret thai no steps have J>een taken to increase the number of officers, and that no officer was sent to Sydney for a ! course of gunnery instruction. He states ! that he has submitted to the Minister for Detfence proposals for a reserve to the permanent iorce, and that quarters should be erected in the four oentres for the' married men of the , I force. I [ As to the volunteers, the Commandant says: — "The establishment of corps, as sanctioned by regulations, is now practically coniiplete, and the establishment had a total enrolled strength on June 30, 1899, of over 7000 •men. During the past year the enthusiasm for volunteering has- been very great, but owing to the authorised strength of the volunteering establishment being practically complete the department had had to refuse the services i of not less than 50 proposed new corps." In -regard to mounted corps, he says: — "The tnen should be granted an allowance' of Is 6d a-day whilst in camp, for forage, which would remove a long-standing grievance, and be a •boon much appreciated by the men." The mounted branoh suffers from want of qualified instructors, but he hopes this will be ■somowhat remedied when the non-commis-eioned officers arrive from England, as he trusts some of them will have gone through a mounted course at Aldershot. , On the subject of artillery, the Commandant stales that the present armament of the field artillery is not a strong point of the colony's defence. The naval and garrison artillery •take »; deep interest in their work, and" he urges the members to attend daylight parades ■tins year. As to submarine mining corps, he etates" that the defence launch Ellen Ballance is nat at all fit for laying., mines 'in 'the weather which is frequently experienced in Wellington harbour, and it is necessary that a new boat properly equipped for laying mines^ should be ordered. The Ellen Ballance should bo transferred to Port Chalmers, for which place she would be fairly suitable. Recently £500 has been spent in repairing her, and at her next overhaul her boilers and engines will have to be taken out for repairs. The launch Gordon should be transferred from Port Chalmers to Lyttelton, the launch in use at ■which place has been reported unfit for furither service. | The battalion system on the whole is working well, and the Commandant sees no reasoa why in the near future the system should not be adopted in the towns in its entirety, the battalion being looked upon as the unit and not the company. Iv the country districts the system cannot be so easily carried out, but if a more extended use of the railways was al- I lowed the system would have a great deal more reality than it has at present. Colonel Penton is sorry to say that full benefit has not been taken of the authority to hold six daylight parades annually at a personal payment of 2s 6d a man. A decided improvement has taken place in the officers and non-com-missioned officers, which is more noticeable in the towns. The officers as a body are keen to make themselves proficient, but with the non-commissioned officers he is not so satisfied,' as a large proportion of them have no command over their men. He thinks that after 45 years of age men should bo transferred to the district reserve, and at 50 they should' be altogether retired from the force. The Commandant . says the position of the Now Zealand Rifle Association seems to be a peculiar one, and should the Government grant at any time be withdrawn, he anticipates it will cease to exist for want of. funds. The chairman of the association occupied an anomalous position as regards the defence force. He is a volunteer officer actively employed in the command of a mounted battalion, and yefc in such matters as sending a rifle team composed entirely of men from the volunteer force and supposed to represent the 1 shooting strength of the defence force of the colony to Australia or England,, he has been

allowed to approach the Government direct with his proposals, and actiou has been taken by the Government without the consent of the commander of the forces being asked, or hi 3 opinion sought, or even officially informed of the fact that it was proposed to send a team from the colony uutil everything was practically settled. It is high time the Government came to some definite decision in the matter of the future status of the association. The Commandant remarks : — There is pruo* ticolly no staff organisation either at headquarters or in the districts, ,and as matters are carried on now should the force be suddenly mobilised there would be endless confusion and unpreparedness. It is, he says, useless keeping officers on the active unattached lipt- who are either, unwilling or Uiiable to perform military duties. He again urges the establishment of a school of instruction at Wellington for the instruction of the volunteer force ; and as to the;militia, he states that he has put forward proposals! which will enable the conditions of the Defence Act in this respect to' be carried out should any necessity arise. The defence scheme has been completed and sent to England for the consideration of the Imperial Defence Committee. Its. weak point -lies ,<in /the absence of any properly-trained staff officers, and the want of these would seriously hinder its being properly carried out.- In- conclusion, the Commandant points out that he considers a marked improvement is to be noted in the conditions of the volunteer force both in the way of drill and discipline.