DEFENCE PREPARATIONS

Waikato Times, Volume 125, Issue 20862, 21 July 1939, Page 6

DEFENCE PREPARATIONS

Reviewing the achievements and the intentions of the Government with regard to defence in the House of Representatives, the Minister of Defence, the Hon. E. Jones, gave a workmanlike exposition of the condition of affairs. His eagerly awaited speech contained no surprises. Probably no surprises were expected, though it might have been hoped thqt he would disclose to a greater extent the recommendations from the Pacific Defence Conference which sat recently at Wellington. It was understood, of course, that much of the material contained in the reports must remain confidential to the Government.

Mr Jones showed that the Government has given attention to almost every phase of military and naval preparedness that might be expected to become involved in the event of an outbreak of hostilities, and it is really only regarding the extent to which preparations have been advanced and the methods of achieving the objectives that there is serious difference of opinion. Generally it might be said that good progress has been made with regard to material resources and equipment, but the feature of the defence scheme that receiving most criticism is the numerical strength of the trained man-power available. According to the Minister, the present strength of the Territorial Army is 898 officers and 11,017 other ranks, while the strength of the regular forces is 100 officers and 49G other ranks.

The aim is to increase the Territorial strength to 16,000 men, but at the present rate of voluntary recruitment it will be some time before that figure is reached. The country is being combed very thoroughly by voluntary recruiting agents who have done their best to awaken the country’s young manhood to the seriousness of the need, but recruits are still coming forward but very slowly. Opinion in favour of compulsory training as a more equitable and efficient method has probably gained some ground, and it is not by any means confined to those not qualified for service. There is no doubt that many young men are holding back because they do not agree with a system that allows the “willing horse” to carry the whole of the burden which, they believe, should be shared by all. But the Government proposes to give the voluntary system an exhaustive trial, and all parties are co-operating in an endeavour to make the recruiting campaign a success.