NATIONAL TRAINING.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 10631, 29 November 1912, Page 1

NATIONAL TRAINING.

DEFENCE IN THE ENGLISH PRESS. THE LETTER FROM PAHIATUA. THE SYSTEM EXPLAINED. [Per Press Association.] PAHIATUA, November 28. The letter referred to in yesterday's cable messages was sent by the Pahiatua Honorary Territorials Association to the "Manchester Guardian" and the "London Daily News,' refuting tho statements made by anti-militarists in those journals concerning the workins; of T/ho compulsory military training law in Now Zealand. Briefly summarised, the letter states " It having been brought to our notice that you, as champions of the Poaco Society, have published letters and articles reflecting upon the defence system of this dominion, we feel in the interests of the people of New Zealand .that the statements made should not go unchallenged. Wo realise that your column. l ; arc open to all correspondents, as is the duty of all good journals, butwe feel that tho statements reflecting upon an absent people should be subject to some sort of censorship by you. As you hare apparently, in ignorance of the true facts, erred in this respect, we desire at this Into date to place the exact facts, so far as the defence system of New Zealand is concerned, before your readers." The letter, after quoting section 35 of tho Defence Act, 1909, and tho amending Act, 1910, and detailing the J service required, goes on to say:—- " This is not a very great hardship to place upon tho youth of this dominion when it is remembered that they are only preparing themselves to defend the dominion against aggression, and cannot be called upon to take up arms outside its territorial limits. We desire to point out to you that nothing in tho Defence Act requires any person to bear arms or perform or undergo military training or service if doctrines of his religion forbid him to do so, but he must perform ad equivalent to such : service and training such non-combat-ant duties as arc prescribed by the Governor-in-Council, in other words, as Parliament shall decide. Too much stress cannot be laid on theso two points, which we hope in future you will not overlook.

" Now, sir, where is the outrageous tyranny that has been blazoned forth to the world as being imposed upon the youth of this dominion? The above service required of the youth of NewZealand to prepare themselves to be able to hold tliis dominion for all time for New Zealanders jus a quota of the British Empire, is surely the least that could be asked of them. Remember, too, that this is a sparsely-populated country, and in order to defend it we must have a. trained force of sufficient numbers, which can only be got by universal training. Do you hold that wo should be in such a stato of unpreparcdness as to become the prey of the first aggressive nation that comes along? Can wo lock our doors and say we are safe? We can only hold New Zealand for the British race so long- as. wo are' strong enough arid prepared enough to put up a light for it with our backs to our own walls. Realising that eternal vigilance is the price of peace, wc are leaving no stone unturned to thoroughly equip ourselves against possible aggression, and as every nation is estimated by its system of defence so wc in tho dominion of New Zealand are endeavouring to maintain and conservo tho glorious traditions of the British Empire by teaching our budding manhood the principles of self-protection, so ttyvfc when danger threatens wo shall bo prepared to "do our duty for our King", our country, and our homes.

" Now_ lot us turn to our record. It was officially calculated that there wero 27,030 persons between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one liable for registration. but what was the result ? The number actually registered was 28,600, in other words, 1520 more than were actually liable registered for service. Some 28.600 Territorials and 33/197 Senior Cadets, a total of 61.797 youths of this dominion, sent in their names for registration for training under the Act. How many defaulters have gone to gaol? Only fifty misguided youths, who, having no excuse other than that they wero not going to serve, "took out" the fine imposed and posed as " martyrs," with small satisfaction to themselves and less to tho public generally. The percentage of those enrolled who have actually undergone training is 52.49 per cent, which, says tho Commandant of tho Forces, must be considered satisfactory when it is taken into account that tho population of this dominion is a shifting one. " Tito Parliament and tho Press of this country may be taken as a re Acs of th 3 voice of the people. Tho Parliament tho other day decided by 60 votes to 5 that the defence system has come to stay—tho voice of at least 90 per cent of tho people of the dominion. So far as tho Press of New Zealand is concerned, there is not a single newspaper which opposes the Act. Information has been obtained first hand which goes to show that at tho big training camps lads who went in reluctantly were sorry when tho training ended, and are eagerly looking forward to their next period of training under canvas. You, sii, may champion tho cause of the Peace Society and do all you can to hinder the universal training movement in tho Homeland, but we would ask you to seo that your illustrations as regards the working of tho compulsory training in this dominion are truthful, and can bo substantiated."

Tho letter is signed by W. Tosswill and J. A. Walsh, president and secretary of the Pahiatua Honorary Territorials' Association Copies of the letter were also sent to the " Daily Mail," "Tho United Service Magazine" and the " Liverpool Daily Post."