EMPIRE DEFENCE.

Press, Volume XLIX, Issue 14839, 3 December 1913, Page 5

EMPIRE DEFENCE.

SIR lAN HAMILTON'S TOUR. COMMENTS OX THE CANADIANSYSTEM.

(KKOU OCR OWS CORRKSPOKBEXT). LONDON, October 24.' (ienpral Sir lan Hamilton, Inspector-(Je-noral of the Oversea Forces, accompntried by his,staff officers. General G. l<\ Ellison and Major W. R. N. Madocks, has returned to Euglaud from Canada, where ho lias been reporting on tho military institutions of that Dominion. Sir lan Hamilton, with General Ellison and Major Ashmore, will leave London shortly for the Mediterranean, sailing thence- for Australia and New Zealand. It is anticipated that they will reach tho inttcr ;ountry in April.

In view, therefore, of the approaching tour of Australasia, t.io report, on Canada, prepared by Sir tan Hamilton, will -bo read with interest, many of its reeommundations being of general application throughout ciie fc'j..puu. Canada has basoa her military crg?riis.i tioii entirely on ttio ikitis.'i irtxici. bu«. possesses a small permanent rorce oi professional sdluieis, corresponding to the regular Army at tlomc, us woil as a volunteer citizen force styJod tilt Active Militia, which is similar in rli essentials to the Territorial Force. Under the Militia Acts of both countries tho whole uinnhocd of the na-;i m is theoretically available for military service. In Canada these potenuiv. but hitherto unorganised soldiers, nearly a million in number, form the ltesorve Militia.

Sir lan Hamilton, while recognising tho importance of home defence, ia>h much stress on the necessity for iirpetial co-operation. On. this eu'j'ect he wi ites:—-"The very existence rl that vast organism, Greater Britain, depends on its soa. power, coupled with v»ie übiquity of its land forces. . . i

take it as an axiom then t.'iat #:ve>*y State in the Empire is bound in honour, after looking to its own immediate safety, to consider how it nnv Inst take its share in the general hmvlou of responsibility." He refers to the late Homer Lea's thesis that "In an Empire so constituted as that :>i the British, an army of homo defence becomes an army of Imperial deatr>.»tion."

"South Africa," he <*.>mirie3, up to the hilt the «wctr and weakness of improvised It proved the necessity of an Imperial instrument for war of. which the parts gathered from all quarters oi tl.e globe, would readily lit together and work without friction from the start." Basing hie argument on contentions such as these ho exhorts the Canadians not to neglect their small Permanent Force. Ho urges tho complete assimilation to the Imperial pattern sp as to render possible in the near future an interchange of British and Canadian units for Imperial work. In his opinion "such an interchange would mark an epoch in the evolution of Imperial organisation "worth a wilderness of speeches and flags. Memories of a time* when Canada was the most popular station to which a British regiment could bo sent would be most happily revived. Tho presence of a Canadian regiment in London, Delhi, or Cairo, would stir the imagination not only of the five nations themsolves, but of the whole outside world."

Numerous proposals nro maxlo in the report for improving tho condition of the Active Militia, emphasis being laid on.tho necessity for more and bettor instructors. Hut the proposal which excites roost interest is that dealing with the Reserve Militia, which is declared to bf> tho real National Army of Canada. The role of the Active Militia is stated to be two-fold, first, to protect the vitals of Canada against raids, and, secondly, to delay tho enemy's uiuia attack until the Reserve Militia is ready to meet it. "Xα mattor how efficient the Active Militia may become," says Sir-lan, "nothing less than a national organisation can create a force formidable enough to drive the "very idea of invasion out of tho heads of ill-wishers." ■Accordingly, Canada is invited cot only to improve her Active Militia, but also to set about giving her Reserve Militia some sort of elementary organisation. Of the Canadian Militia Act ifc is said: —"Mere levee en masse, clauses such as thix or tho corresponding ballot clauses of tho British Militia Act, are curses in disguise. They can bo served out as soothing syrup for reformers, and that is positively the only use either Act is nut to now.". The preparation in peace of master roils of the m«;i» actually liable for military service is strongly advocated, and it is urjred that the military authorities ehould lmstt the organisation of the reserve militia on these rolls. So long as the. dangers which threaten the Dominion remain what thoy now arc, Sir lan Hamilton doe* not* consider universal manhood training in peace- to bo necessary in Canada, but he. in«ists strongly on the expediency of developing the training of hoys to "arms. "Adequate boy training, plus sciontifie organisation based on citizen, service is," ho says, '"the once that every part of tho Empire should pay for * insurance." Moreover, he mnkee it clear that, in his opinion, euch a nrico is a bare minimum, and that wherever in the Empire more serious dangers threaten a much Itightr insurance premium should be paid. For instance. Jse warns the Canudians that shoukl tho danjiflre which threaten them increase in the future, they must be prepared to slmii'dnr a. much heavier military burden than at nn-sont.