DEFENCE EXPENDITURE.

Press, Volume LIV, Issue 16145, 25 February 1918, Page 3

DEFENCE EXPENDITURE.

TRAINING SYSTEM! ATTACKED

IS TERRITORIAL WORK

EFFECTIVE?

(press association* telegkam.) PALMERSTON N.. February 23. The Defence Expenditure Commission continued its sittings to-day. Colonel I'. W. McDonald, of the Wellington District Headquarters Staff, gave evidence regarding the training of the Expeditionary Forces, and gave it as his opinion that the training period could bo reduced by about one month. He considered that the present system of sending all men of a draft from each district into the Expeditionary Force camps on the same day was unsound in principle, and unnecessary for efficiency and extremely expensive, for the following reasons: (a) It places_a Territorial of at least seven consecutive years' training on the same footing as regards training as the civilian who hari never done any training—a position which is quite illogical ; (b) There are two categories of Territorials who enlist in Expeditionary Forces—(l) Thoso in the First Division, of twenty years (who have performed ten consecutive years' training in Territorials and Cadets), and (2) all members of the Second Division, between twenty and twenty-five (who have performed seven years'- training in Territorials and Cadets); (c) From this it is clear that no Territorial enters the Expeditionary camps with- less training than, seven years. (d) To give the same training for these Territorials as for civilians who have never been trained forced us to admit either that the Territorial sys-. tem, as an effective war system, has' been an absolute failure, and that £3,400,000 which has approximately cost might have been equally well thrown into the seaj or, that the present system of giving Territorials and civilians the same period of training in the camps is wrong and unnecessary. (e) If we admit the failure of the Territorial training system, thi sooner [ the system is abolished the better. But !if we admit its success we must also f admit that Territorials do not require as long a period of training as untrained civilians, and the sooner we set about reorganising the Expeditionary Force training system the better. (f) Ho a could not see that the question admits of any argument, as com-mon-sense should show that a partiallytrained man requires less training than a totally-untrained one, unless the par-tially-trained man has been trained on wrong lines. If so, let us be frank, admit it, and abolish the costly system aff once. (g) He was strongly of opinion that the period of training-for Territorials who join the Expeditionary Force, after their seven consecutive years of training, should in the New Zealand camps be reduced to two months. \On the assumption that the number of Territorials who enter the Expeditionary Force camps is 8000 (4000 less than entered in 1916-17) we snail by reducing the training by two months effect a saving of no less than £168,000 per annum in future, and by failing to do last three years have cost the country the large" sum of £504,000. (b) If in addition to the above, a reduction of one month was made in the period of training in th c New Zealand camps for the remaining 7000 civilians who join the Expeditionary Force each year, a further saving of £73,530 would be made. (j) In addition to the huge saving in that the Territorials of each draft would not- bo required to enter the camps until one month after thc civilian portion goes in, and on the arrival of the Territorials in camp they and the civilians would be on about thc same footing as regards training, which would go on progressively for all. (j) In addition to tno ouge saving in cost of the Defence Department, one must consider the increased national efficiency which would result from the two months which the SOOO Territorials and the one month which thc TWO civilians would be able to devote tr> production .