AUSTRALIA'S ARMY.

Sun (Christchurch), Volume I, Issue 89, 21 May 1914, Page 7

AUSTRALIA'S ARMY.

A FRANK OPINION.

SIR lAN HAMILTON'S REPORT.

DEFENCE DEPARTMENT CRITICISED. HOW MEN WOULD FARE IN WAR. By Cable. — Press Association. — Copyright. SYDNEY, May '2O. Sir lan Hamilton's report on the military forces of the. Commonwealth has been published. The roport lays it down - that the actual strength of a State consists of its aggregate striking power, its armies and fleets, which should be as inter-, dependent as the forefinger and the thumb.

General Hamilton declares that in a militia there is no room for a peace system divorced from war requirements, therefore, during peace, the military services should be organised under war conditions 1 ..

After remarking that Australia's attention, so far, has,'been necessarily concentrated ■ ii]i6ri training, he declares that now-the time is almost ripe for consolidating the existing forces into a carefully planned instrument of war. :

Sir lan condemns "the centralisation of- the''-' Defence Department. at .'M'cibourne; adding thatj actually, the Australian system, as st exists to-day, is purely a product of; peace procedure, which could not hope to carry on beyond the first few weeks of war. - He advocates the "separation of the business administration' from the purely military, but concludes that on the whole, the Regulars and three-fourths of the Militia are sufficiently trained to partake in a modern battle. Supposing that such ah occasion arose the day after to-morrow, with two weeks' warning, the remaining fourth of the Militia, plus some 20,000 of the flower of the Rifle Clubs, would be available as reinforcements. Sir lan Hamilton adds: —

"I mean that a large proportion

of the forces have not only the willing spirit/ but the actual technical skill ; to enable one man to handle them in action. But how would they fare, on the battlefield? Giving due weight to the moral factor that they would, be fighting for a .country well _ worth defending, and of which, they had, ,'ocal knowledge, they would! need to; be in a majority of ab: least two to one to fight a battle with •picked troops from overseas on equal terms." The comparative lack of discipline and cohesion, which Showed up strongly where' large forces were' involved, are Geueral Hamilton's reasons for allowing so large a margin of superiority to the invading forces.

SHOWING THE WAY. TO GEEAT MILITARY POWERS. "INTERESTED FANATICS" TACTICS.

'(Received May 21, 8.45 a.m.) SYDNEY, May 21. - General Hamilton, dealing with compulsory training, says there is no use in pretending that the cadet training has already. justified itself as a full substitute for prolonged adult recruit training. Insufficient allowances have been' made by critics for the difficulties which are inevitable to the inauguration of the original scheme, but these difficulties grow less each year. The General adds: "If the Empire understood the •' full significance of Australia's 'experiment,' prayers would be continually offered for its success, but since most of the people in the Northern hemisphere have been carefully mis- . ; informed by interested fanatics, the Australians have to trust to their own good sense to pull the business through* With courage and perse-, verance they may yet be able to boast that they have showed the way to the great military powers how to raise powerful armies with a minimum tax on the priceless time of the adult male worker. '' General Hamilton also says that the Australian soldier is very amenable to discipline and the best assets of the army to-day are*the soldierlike spirit, the intelligence) and • the wiry frames of the rank and file. He strongly advocates the formation and development of military aviation, and suggests a pension scheme for the permanent forees.