The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 1908. THE DEFENCE REPORT.

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume L, Issue 12145, 31 August 1908, Page 4

The Wanganui Chronicle. "NULLA DIES SINE LINEA." MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 1908. THE DEFENCE REPORT.

To those who are convinced ,t^ftt tho "only satisfactory system pLkiieTiial defence for a couitry^t^ch:amours is to bo *ound in compulsory; un,iyersal.<training, the Defence Jlepo^rt- ; fo£« the « year ending 29th February^4?°SSwHe3 instructive, and,.in a, sense,- encouraging, information. TOie. Defence,- Report is encouraging in tha^. it.^gds. tq.con firm the opinion iha^Qur^^Juiitecr system, as at present wn&titujbevi,: is played oat, and that some.mo J re.. fequitable and rational method wiUrhaye, to be evolved to take its place. This fact was frankly recognised in la&i^year'a report when, following the appointment of the Council of Defencey'it was stated that "should the Volunteer force not be maintained or brought up to an effectivei state, volunteering has has its last chance." The report fur» ther declared that "the alternative is a system of universal or compulsory military training, ■ whereby the harden of service in the defence forces will be .more evenly distributed." •It was hoped, however, that the change in tut> system of control would do much -bo promote a better condition of things in tho service, and that "the last chance" would be made the most of by those who still pinned their faith to a voluntary system. Greater enthusiasm and increased wore expected to re-" suit from: the reforms initiated by tho Defence^ Council. .While it would be unreasonable to: look, for tlie full fruits of these reforms in the brief period of a single'year, it is abundantly evident that the members of the Council Have themselves been disappointed. The report shows that the "enrolled strength" of our Defence forces is t under 20,000, and that the annual cost of this "army"—the effective strength of which is; probably. considerably less than 10,000—is something like £200,000" a year. The measure, of enthusiasm pervading tho-service is shown by the fact that half the volunteers make no regular attendance at drill, and that fewer than half/the established infantry strength" and only 60 per cent, .of the enrolled strength took the trouble to attend last year for special inspection. In regard to this the Inspector-General Colonel It. H. Davies, says: "Seeing that these infantry inspections have almost without exception been at night in their own halls and at their own headquarters and times, this must be considered most unsatisfactory." No one is likely to quarrel with .this contention, for ,the sort of thing described cannot possibly make for efficiency. Indeed, under the circumstances, it is not surprising to learn that in the In-spector-General's opinion there are some twenty corps "so bad and useless in every-way-that there is no justification at all for the expense incurred upon them in their present state." It is with regret that Colonel Davies proceeds further to declare that "in many corps tho N.C.O.'e, and sometimes the officers have little or co idea of instruct^ ing or handling their men, cannot sometimes carry out the simplest man-

oeuvres, have practicallj' no knowledge of field duties, fire control, or fire discipline, and I have even several times found that they have not been able to sight rifles correctly when instructed to show men who were ignorant." It is tiue that a few excellent corps in each district are expressly exempted From this sort of criticism, but in the main it is evident that the voluntoor infantry of the Dominion cannot truthfully bo described as efficient. Much the same comment applies to the Mounted Rifles, while of the four corps of Field Engineers three are desmed worthy of commendation and the fourth "is very backward and has deteriorated." The members of the Defence Council do not appear to entertain^ any great hopes of being able to make anything acceptable out of- the voluntary system, but" as the Government has decided to perpetuate that' system they are in duty bound to make the most of it. We sincerely hope that the Council's efforts will result in the country getting better value for its money than it has been" getting in the past. That, we think, the most that can be hoped for until the Government has been forced by an enlightened public opinion to drop the voluntary system altogether and to substitute for it the more rational, and certainly the more equitable, system of i compulsory military training.