MILITARY TRAINING

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 966, 8 May 1930, Page 1

MILITARY TRAINING

QUESTION STILL BEING INVESTIGATED NO FINAL DECISION MADE * Special to THE SUN WELLINGTON, Today. Though the statement of the Prime Minister that the defence system is under review has been taken all over the country to mean that the compulsory military training scheme is to be abolished, there is no indication of that /act. To several people who have written to him congratulating him on the f»overnment’s step, the Minister of Defence, the Hon. J. G. Cobbe, has replied that no decision has been made, jard the matter is still being investigated. A report has now been received from the general officer commanding the forces, this representing the opinion of the senior officers who ? net in Wellington to draft a report to the Government on the defence system. It is understood that this report *ets out the fact that the territorial *yatem has proved of considerable v alue, and that, with all factors taken 1 .;,° consi <ieration, it is not as expen--Blv® a ® other training systems in other Parts of the world. However, the Government is still Investigating the Position, it is announced today. It appears that the cancellation of tne camps for territorials earlier this .'ear was a measure of precaution gainst the dissipation of more funds loan could be avoided. The fact that expenditure of all departments was usntened up indicates that the Government viewed the cancellation of the as a means of saving money ’.ather than an admission of the failure $ r ta ® territorial system. The plat°rm United Party contains a Provision for the revision of the comi uiaory training scheme along the lines Physical training, and it is under- ; °°d that the practicability of this now being investigated. It is by JJ n m^ ans certain that the new system 1 be less costly than the old. i r 1 ® 6 staff officers believe that the * on to scrap the territorial force, ‘ ever existed as a fully-fledged pure * be revised in any case. . H a \ l96 of the many letters from terriCm.. officers which have reached the *,® rnme nt attesting the value of tli€ Wwent training system.