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APPENDIX F.

CONDITIONS OF SERVICE AND TRAINING OF THE NEW ZEALAND TERRITORIAL FORCE. The following short account of the nature of the service required under the new scheme of universal training, which is now coming into operation, is contributed by the General Staff. It is a brief sketch only; the full details will l)e available in due course, when the Regulations are issued. The Act provides for the gradual military training of every male New-Zealander from the age of 12 to the age of 25, after which he will serve in the Reserve up to the age of .",(1. There are no distinctions and no exceptions. Every one, unless physically unfit, will have to take his share in the defence of the Dominion. Those who, in consequence of the doctrines of their religion, have a conscientious objection to bearing arms in the service of their country will be trained as far as possible in the non-combatant branches, of which ambulance-work will be made a special feature; but it must be realized that the proportion of the non-combatant branches of the Force to the combatant is very small. Natuhe of Service. From the age of 12 to the age of 14 the boy will be a Junior Cadet, and will perform a certain amount of elementary military training, chiefly physical, under the direction of the Education Department. On reaching the age of 14, or on leaving a primary school, the boy will be transferred to the Senior Cadets, and will then become a member of the Military Forces, though not liable to be called out to fight. lie will remain a Senior Cadet till he is 18. On reaching the age of 18 he will, if found, on again being medically examined, to be physically fit, be drafted into the Territorial Force. As a Territorial soldier he will lie liable to be called out at any time for service within the Dominion. On reaching the age of 25 he will be transferred to the Reserve, in which he will remain till he reaches the age of 30, when he will lie discharged. As a Reservist he will be liable to be called back to his regiment in case of war or other national emergency. If he belongs to a Rifle Club he will, so long as he remains a member, be liable up to the age of 55 to be called up as part of a secondary reserve to fill the ranks of the Territorial Force after its own reserve has been used up. Every youth who had attained the age of 14 on Ist March last, but had not attained the age of 21 on that date, is now being called upon by law to register. Registration forms can be obtained at any post-office, Defence Office, or police-station, and must be filled in and sent to the Area Sergeant-major at his advertised Headquarters before 7 p.m. on 2nd June, when registration ceases. The work of the Defence authorities will be made easier if all will register as soon as possible. Any of those registering who have a preference to serve in any particular arm or branch of the service, combatant or non-combatant, are invited to say so. Those wishing to join the Mounted Rifles must provide their own horses and saddlery. When the time comes for posting to units, the wishes expressed by individuals will receive attention ; but it must be remembered that the posting of men to units and corps must be governed by many considerations—the distribution and location of units, the training facilities, the interests of employers, the fitness of the individual for any special work, and so on, so that it will often be impossible to allot men as they wish. The Training. The training of the cadet and soldier throughout his service will be strictly territorial—that is to say, it will, except for the one week a year spent by the Territorial soldier in camp, be carried out within reach of his home and at convenient times. Ihc whole of the training will lie arranged with every possible consideration for the interests both of the employer and of those who are being trained. It will be one of the chief duties of the officers and warrant officers of the Staff Corps and Permanent Staff throughout the country to study the conditions of life in their areas; they will be responsible for assisting Territorial officers in arranging the drills and parades of their companies so as to interfere as little as possible with the ordinary working-life of the men and the local conditions of employment. Special arrangements will be made so that employers will not lose the services of all of their employees at the same time. For this purpose the employees of any one firm will, as far as possible, be posted to units which will be called up for training at different times. Special arrangements will also be made for individuals, such as dairymen and others, who work single-handed and would find it impossible to get any one to do their work for them when away in camp. In dairying districts camps will usually be held in the winter. The minimum amount of training which must be performed each year by every member of the Territorial Force, Reserve, Senior Cadets, and Rifle Clubs is as follows: — Territorial Force. (a.) Thirty drills, twenty of which will be out-of-door parades. (b.) Twelve half-day or six whole-cay parades, all of which will be exercises in the field, except in the case of Garrison Artillery units, which will be exercised at the works of defence to which they are allotted on mobilization.