The Star. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1908. THE TERRITORIAL FORCES

Star (Christchurch), Issue 9306, 5 August 1908, Page 2

The Star. WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 5, 1908. THE TERRITORIAL FORCES

t A recent cable message stated- that " Mr Haldane, the Imperial Secretary for I War, bad expressed his satisfaction 5 with the progress made in the recruit--3 ing for his now territorial forces. • Speaking recently to a representative of a London newspaper, the War Minis- " ter explained the position of the forces - as they stood in June. Hi© territorial 1 scheme, he said, had been most viruj lently attacked by adverse critics, not 5 so much on its main principle as upon ' points of detail. The soundness of the scheme had been virtually admitted, . and a scheme to be perfect in every respect must be developed gradually and 3 tentatively, ©o> tnat it was absurd to 1 expect perfection in the first moment ] of its existence. From the first he had , held that it would take two years to 1 complets the 1 organisation of the territorial army, and, though out of 260,000 Volunteers on the regimental ' rolls some 70,000 had not decided as to [ their action in regard to the new force, • whether they would join it or pass out ' of the ranks altogether, it waa encouraging to know that the great mass of both Yeomanry and Volunteers had accepted the new responsibilities. There was a matter, too, that must not be • overlooked in counting heads on this ■ question. The old Volunteer force obtained its grants on a roll capitation and not on the number of efficients; • all w-61 1 © counted, those who were quite unfit physically to take the field in actual warfare, as well as the stalwarts ► capable of facing the strain of a modern campaign. Of the unfits, the evidence given, before the Norfolk Commission showed that there were between 20 and 40 per cent, and it is contended that if anything between the range of i these percentages is the true average, then Mr Haldane has secured for his territorial army nearly all the ablebodied men in the Volunteer services. Recruits: who enter the new force have to be medically examined, and are required to be of military age, so that when its ranks are full they will not be weakened by men unfit for service on account of either age or infirmity, and a defence army will be provided of the flower of the country. It is claimed for Mr Haldane's scheme that it is the beet possible to be done under volun- . tary service principles. Should it prove to be a failure, there will be only one alternative, that of universal compulsory service. But tie nation appears to have realised thisi truth now, and, as compulsion, is* not by any means in favour with th© great majority of the people of Great Britain, there has been a steady rice in the popularity of the territorial forces, ac th© true nature of their mission becomes better understood. The minimum strength of the territorial forces is 300,000 men, and this number has to be obtained before the Army Council can feel any security in the event of either Navy or any considerable part of the Army being required abroad. This number secured — and Mr Haldane was 1 satisfied it would be long before the two years expired — the nation would be possessed of i an army imbued with all the • patriotic spirit which has been credited to the Volunteer forces, with the indispensable addition of organisation for war. The latter it was never claimed the Volunteers possessed, and this weakness greatly restricted their usefulness. It is a peculiar fact that the shortage of territorial enlistments is in London and the counties in the immediate vicinity of the great metropolis 1 . Elsewhere in Britain the percentage is fairly satisfactory, but still it is not all that it should be, and every patriotic agency is at work impressing upon the young men of the nation that without their hearty support the best of schemes must be a failure.