MILITARY TRAINING.

Colonist, Volume LI, Issue 12506, 6 April 1909, Page 4

MILITARY TRAINING.

[United Peess Association.] . . .- Dunedin, April 5. . Interviewed by a '^Star" reporter regarding Sir Joseph Ward's policy speech, Lieutenant-Colonel Myers, a volunteer officer with a -lengthy experience, sa.jd the Go vernmeht had not given sufficient encouragement to shooting, which was the. first consid.- .. eration in an effective scheme of defence. The greatest encouragement that could be given was to have teams' from a distance . shooting against one another. Colonel Myers Consideredthat provision, should be found for ycuths after they leave school cadet corps and before they are able to joinadult cadet corps. If 'the Prime Minister would look after the lads in that intervening -age he would find such an abundance of materials, to do away with aH s necessity for compulsoiy ser.vice. Colonel Myers also thought that every qualified volunteer should have the right to travel free for a fortnight over all- railways, and the ranks woulcl. ibe full in a month. • ■ ■ i Mr J. B. Callah, who served eleven'; years ago in the' volunteer force, said that, every youth should be, obliged between the ages of 18 and 25, to serve three or four years in the volunteers. Were such a proposal carried- • out, youths would acquire a knowledge'- of rifle shootingj .skirmishing, at-' tack formation, and a hundred details/which, would; be of; use on active service." Ho said that if Sir Joseph Ward was going to es-. tablish a system of- universal training without making-it compulsory,' lie (Mr Callan) was curious to see how, Sir Jo-: spph proposed to set about it. ; Auckland, April 5. At a meeting of the General Council of the National Defence League 'held to-day, it was unanimously resolved "That while, congratulating, the G.overnnient on its desire to introduce • ,a national system of defensive training^ "as fbreshadowed in -the Premier's' speecli of Friday last, the National. Defehce;,League, supported ~ tli^* great body , of public, believes - that nothing short of- the universal arid compulsory r military ; traming of the j'outh .of the country can prove effective for the defence of the Do-" minion. ' * x ' . '