SIR IAN HAMILTON.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVI, Issue 288, 8 May 1914, Page 6

SIR IAN HAMILTON.

j ON COMPULSORY TRAINING. j After his return to the Divisional [ Headquarters at the conclusion of his i preliminary inspection of the Takapau camp on Wednesday, Sir lan Hamilton (courteously accorded a brief interview to j the four Press representatives who wero [in camp. The Inspector-General is totally without the appearance of an austere reserve which is popularly believed to be the common attribute to the Imperial officer —a supposition, by the way, largely dispelled liy the approaclmbleness of the Imperial officers who at present constitute the 'Dominion section of the Imperial General Staff. He is tall, with a slight stoop, and a lnibit of looking forward sharply which accentuates the stoop. He is of that fair type that ages slowly, and, in appearaee, is bronzed. He is quick and animated in conversation, and lias the appearance of speaking from deeply-rooted convictions.

As he faced his four interrogators in the tent he smiled encouragingly and said: "Well, but what do want me to talk aboitt?"

There was a brief pause, and then the inevitable question:' "What do you think of our troops?" The Inspector-General replied that he had not yet seen enough of them to generalise. Apropos he said that his interrogators must not invade him with matters of policy, Whatever he had to say in criticism of the troops, and the working of the system, must, necessarily be reserved for the Government when he made his report. "General Hamilton," said one of -the interviewers, "you are known to he opposed to compulsory training in England. Has what you have seen in Australia and New Zealand of the application of the principle of compulsory training modified your views?" "No," replied the General, who proI ceeded to make it clear that his views j were determined by his appreciation of j certain technical conditions in the Old I Country—conditions which did not api ply here. For the British Army they had to provide 30,000 recruits every year; for approximately that number of time-expired men left the Army annually. The recruiting of this 111),000 was not an easy task, hut it was largely aided by the fact that five-eighths of that number wore youths of IS or 1!), and that employers of labor preferred older men to youths of these ages. To these youths, who were unable to get employment in civil occupations the Army supplied the want. It was of the first importance that the British Regular Army should be recruited up to its required strength, and any system of compulsion which would tend to interfere with recruiting for the, Regular Army should not be entertained. If a system of compulsory training came into force in England two elements would be introduced which would prejudice both the Army and the Navy.. In the first place it would prejudice the recruiting for the Army. | Mr. John Bums, President of the Local Government Board, had often remarked to him that every young man experienced at one time or another a bad attack of "scarlet fever," i.e., military ardor, and this helped rceruitiiig, but, if compulsory training were introduced, and the young men of the country were compelled to spend part of their time in military' training, the ardor which helped the recruiting for the regular Army would he diverted elsewhere, and the strength of the Army would suffer. Lord Roberts contended that it would help recruiting to give the young men a taste of military life under a system of national service. He (Sir lan Hamilton) dissented from that view. "It is of course only my personal opinion." he said. He added that the compulsory taste would more probably satisfy the young man's appetite than whet it for more. MIGHT HARM THE NAVY. In the second place, it was important that public opinion in Great Britain < should be focussed on the. Navy as the Empire's chief weapon of attack and defence, and '.the strength of the Navy necessarily depended upon the determination of the people t'hat the Navy should be adequate for the security of , the nation. To divert public opinion from that determination, and centre it upon the idea that a system of national service should be introduced, would mean, as a corollary, the creation of a desire that more money should be spent on the Army, That meant less money for the Navy, and also a diminished interest in the Navy. OUR SYSTEM SUITABLE FOR US. "Then," said the reporter, "even the application of so mild a form of compulsory training as we have here would prejudice the recruiting for the Army?" "Yes," replied the Inspector-General; "it is not the type of military training' that I like for adults. lam "entirely in favor of cadet training. The system i which you have applied has never be- j fore 'been tried anywhere in the world, i and I believe that it will be a big thing, but for the reasons which I have

stated, and which do not apply in these dominions, [ «jji not in favor'of its application in England. Hero your men in the country are half soldiers. They can light fires, build bridges and can easily adapt themselves to tile conditions of active campaigning."

CAUGHT SIR lAN'S EYE. Sir Tan Hamilton went on to s.iy that lie particularly admired the hor.-t:-; of the (ith (Manawath) Regiment, and, during his inspection of the cam]), had been delighted with the methods adopted l).v the matter took and kitchen Ma!" and the system of handling the food for the men of the lltli (Turanaki) Regiment, Colonel Malone. THE IXS PECTOR-G EX E R ALSII! 11.I 1 .

''A statement has been publish-,• in England,'' said the reporter, '-'that '.he appointment of Inspector-General oi (InOverseas Forces will bo abolished when yon have linished your present t<>nr. General Hamilton; is that correct I .'" | Sir lan Hamilton laughed. "Some crank put that in," he said. He v.vnt on to say that the appointment was created by the Imperial Government in consultation with the Dominion Governments. Obviously the Imperial Government would not arrive, at a decision to abolish the appointment without consulting the Dominion Governments. Personally he thought that the occasional visits of a stranger, who would criticise -their work in thd light of his own experience of the practical side of military service, was a good thing. Tiie peeted advent of such a critic would give some incentive to those Who were about to be criticised to become officio'.:! ; r? their work. .'lt put them on their mettle' and kept them out of a groove. IJo li-'.il not come out to butter them up. but to tell them candidly what he thought as pleasantly as he could. En passant, he remarked that the mounted men whom he had seen at work that afternoon were very keen, tat they . rode their horses too hard. In war that pace migty be all very well for a day or two, but necessity would compel them to steady tlieir pace and save their horses.