The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1909. MILITARY TRAINING.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 13907, 19 May 1909, Page 4

The Timaru Herald WEDNESDAY, MAY 19, 1909. MILITARY TRAINING.

The debate held by the Timaru ' Debit ting Society oil Monday night, on the question of compulsory military training, attracted as large an attendance of members and friends as tho room 'made use of would hold; . and there was no lack of; speakers. Tho arguments pro and con do not seem tohave been at all evenly balanced, for even the leader .on the negative side concluded' his list' of objections with a recommendation that every man should become familiar with the use of the rifle, and his chief.objection to "military " training was the drill which- is now, perhaps mistakenly, considered a necessary'part of it. His first supporter also deprecated compulsory training, yet wished to see volunteering become a national pastime, through encouragement being given to it, and through inculcating military training in the schools. One fatal objection to any scheme, of defence-:—fatal if valid—was offered by Mr Reader, namely, that no force capable of resisting invasion could be formed at all. Otherwise all the disputants appeared- to agree upon the advisability i of everyone learning to shoot. The one stock objection to "compulsory military training " was to the military drill. In. this regard they might have quoted from Sir Conaii Doyle's work on tho Boer war, his conclusion founded on practical experience in the field, that the ordinary drill of the parade ground is unnecessary. " With a moderate efficiency with the rifle (he says), tho able-bodied population of this country (England) could, without its fleet and its professional soldiers, defy the united forces of Europe " —because of the "cover " provided by its hedge rows and the advantage the stationary force has over the one that has. to movo to attack. "There is only one thing that wins a modern battle, and that is straight shooting. To hit-your enemy and avoid being hit yourself are tho two points of the game, and the one is as important as fjhc other." Tho "most important." of all infantry exercises is " taking cover." " A colonel who stood on the position to bo attacked, and praised or blamed the company officer.-! according to their success in concealing their men in their advance would soon teach them to use cover. A sleet of bullets has the same effect, but it is hard that our peaco training should have so small a. relation to war." This art of war—equal in importance to good, shooting—cannot he practised on a. parade ground or in a drill hall: it requires tho open air and preferably the open country, and on" would imagine that such exercises would be interesting and enjoyable, because they could be constantly varied.': "Volunteers and militia.should not be plagued by drill beyond the very simplest requirements. . . . Whero the standard of intelligence is higher, drill is not so necessary to give cohesion to a regiment." ■