LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 30, 30 October 1907, Page 9

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR.

DEFENCE NEEDS: Sir,'—Tho subject oF defence from a Dominion point- of view is certainly one' that o'very patriotic man and woman of this land can aftord to give a littlo time to, whether theoretical or practical. After a tour of four months in the AVairarapa, Taranaki; and Kiwitea, .1 am practically convinced the present generation of Now Zealanders have no desire for being trained as volunteers in the' service "of their country, .as one enlightened individual remarked to me, "Oh, England will fight 'for us." This indifferent sentiment, encouraged by Sir Joseph Ward and supporters in <ind out of Parliament, is dangerous to the well-being and safety of these realms in time of warand peace. True, we' have tile Defence Council, and occasionally we read of the gallant general officer commanding ■ making speeches exhorting the young men of the country.to join the volunteers, an invitation which meets with little or no response from the public. , ■ It is not so' long ago that the Bight Hon. Hughes, Minister for Defence in the Australian Commonwealth, stated to the people "That we were living in a Fool's Paradise ns far as our capabijity to defend ourselves." Has the Now Zealand Minister for Defence the moral courage to say such wo'njs, which apply to New Zealand in every sense,'and more so when we view from a modern scientific point of view the system hero of training the raw recruit? The fact of the matter is the Government -has at present no money to spend upon national defence as embodied in the creation of arsenals for the manufacture of munitions of war. and coast defences. Wore any temporary disaster to occur to the Imperial British Navy we' should bo absolutely at the niercy of raiding squadrons of the enemy. Any delay on the part of the Government relative /to introducing a rigid system of defence is more or less an act of treason to the Dominion and Empire. It was. only the other day Sir Joseph informed the House what the revenue of the country was for

the last official year,' but when the Leader of the Opposition-enquired what was the expenditure the Premier was deaf.

This juggling with the confidence of the people certainly does not appeal to the intelligent colonist, and by keeping defence expenditure in the background is very bad statesmanship. Indeed, if all the money that has been wasted on railway construction and administration had been saved during the last six years there would have been a good enough amount of cash available to have made a reasonable start in genuine and coinmonsense military training of the people in all its branches. As it is, we have no surplus to fall back upon, and the solvency of the Parliament and people depends unquestionably upon the continual prices of our products in the London markets. Wo can all understand what a flutter would occur amongst the. butter people or wool producers were these commodities to drop Id. in ( price, and how it would practically, not theoretically, throw tho Government into a high state of hysteria were it to drop another Id.

There never was a time when honesteconomy was needed more than at present in the management of the great State Departments—viz., upon a business basis, and certainly not political—and tho sooner the .Defence Department is worked upon a.sound financial and business standpoint the better it will lie for tho country. This letter is dictated by no other sentiment than that "England expects every man to do his duty."—T am, etc., October 28, 1907 C. H. TOMPSON.