MILITARY TRAINING.

Waikato Times, Volume 102, Issue 17242, 29 October 1927, Page 11

MILITARY TRAINING.

(To the Editor.) sir ) -i am pleased to see that “P.C.S.” has expressed an opinion on this subject. However, I cannot be convinced that he has done much thinking. In his first sentence he states, whether intended or not, mat the public opinion means more man circumstance. Here I agree with him. The people must be trained to know that war is not a necessity and it will not be. However, instead of this, the New Zealand Government makes the voung manhood train and advertises the “glory” of war, which glory really existed only on paper: The majority of returned soldiers will bear me out in this. That glory, which may have had a faint existence in wartime, did not last more than a few months after the declaration of peace.. P.C.S. claims war to be a necessity surely an under-estimation of the human mind in its modern state. All the woild knows that war achieves nothing, yet our statesmen have not sufficient brain, or do not give sufficient thought to the matter, to see that it is an out-of-date means of even attempting to stop trouble. “P.C.S.” mentions bis distrust of the nations when he speaks of being attacked or threatened by a foreign foe. It is the man who cannot be trusted who trusts no one. When our country trains and prepares, sufficient to attack we are showing distrust and are losing our reputation. Can we expect to be trusted by the world? No oilier British colony has compulsory training, and only about two other countries have it. Then again, “P.C.S.” speaks of the “price of freedom!” I would like him to explain himself, as I find it more appropriate to say “the price of war.” 1 must say that I cannot agree with him when he speaks of the necessity of war and less still the necessity of training, for training breeds war. —I am, etc., PEACEFUL.