NATIONAL DEFENCE LEAGUE.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 178, 23 April 1908, Page 9

NATIONAL DEFENCE LEAGUE.

SPEECH BY THE HON. R. M'NAB, i . THE POLICY OF THE GOVERNMENT. About thirty gentlemen sat down to a well-prepared ropast served on nicely-deco-rated tables at tho Empire Hotel last evening, tlio occasion being .1 dinner in connection with the National Defence League. The chair was occupied by Mr.. J. P. Firth, of tlio Wellington Branch. Among thoso present were' Liout.-Colonel Collins and Lieut.Colonel Campbell. An apology for unavoidable absence was received from the Prime Minister (Sir Joseph Ward). The loyal toast having been honoured, Mr. H. lieauchamp reforred t"b tho necessity of adequato defence, and proposed tho toast of the National. League. .. Mr. Firth, in replying, said that the fullest appreciation was allowed for the work done 111 Auckland. It had Jicen said -that New Zealand was not ripe for tho platform of tho League, but it was their business to make it so. If the Government proposed compulsory sorvico at present thoy would not, 110 thought, be backcd. up, and it was of 110 use bringing in what would not bo acceptable, but if the Leaguo was properly supported it would do what it sot about. Mr. Fawcus • (vico'-prosidont of tho Leaguo Council)' pointed out that tho League was simply for tho, purposo of defenco, not aggression. I-Ie was . pleased to seo tlio Hon. Mr. M'Nab and Colonel Robin present. They needed some encouragement from Government 011 this matter, which was very deserving. Mr. Woollor (Auckland) proposed tho toast of; the "Defenco Department." Ho was, 110 said, impressed with the inagnitudo of the task before tho. ■ Department, and ho thought he was safe in saying that tliey were satisfied with its administration. He wished it'.known that the League emanated from civilians who wished to arouse tlio citizens to .a senso of their duty. , It was, -perhaps difficult to say. why a Volunteer actually donned tho-uniform", but ho tho-jght that it sprang from a love of country. New Zealand .was a' couytrj- of.which all wore very proud, and; it should bo their object to properly mould it and set before it a destiny they might not live to see, but the heritage of their fathers should bo handed down. (Applause.) ' , MR. M'NAB'S SPEECH. The Hon. Mr. M'Nab,' who was cheered on rising, said ho-had great pleasure in being "present to-- represent the Ministry, and lie . took tho opportunity to personally oxpreas the regret of the Premier, who had ■mado a prior appointment. The proposer of the toast spoke very nicely in reference' to tlio. administration of the defences of this country, and the Volunteering force itself. Speaking of tho new. conditions, it should be' a matter of_ congratulation to all the country's well-wishers who looked with interest; on tho movement that in connection with tho Defence Department thoso who held tlio highest places woro men 1 who had sorved in tlio Volunteer forces. When tlio Volunteers were combined with tho regular army as ,in tho Defenco, Council the conditions woro so favourablo to success that it was a weakness of tho system if failure took place. It was. not the policy of . the;. .Government;.-.to -' have, '-.compulsory service,'..though some members of this organisation urgod, propaganda work. '.It would bo nice' to capture the Government of tlio country. They must not expect that becauso the Acting-Minister'of Defenco was present, that, tlioGovernment., was prepared to fall into the arms of, the League. Although tlio sorvico was not compulsory, ho proposed to say that any Administration should not put any'barrier >in ,-tho way of any- organisationwhich desired to persuade their fellow-citizens that some other-condition of tilings was tlio best. '- As to tho Defence League, ho was not so familiar with its aims as to enable him 'to • say" whothor'itf included what might b6' characterised as tho ; "offensive''' aspect. (Cries of "No! No!") Ho wanted to know about the aims, of thq'League.' The question 1 of defence was a very'important one, and so 1 long as we woro ono of the outlying pickots of ■ tho; great Emhiro, we had to recognise our connection in that dircctiqh, and citizens should be found ready. There lay their duty.' The "Volunteers must not be simply food for powder, but an . intelligent unit trained and ready for offensive action. V EDUCATING THE PEOPLE. /■; Colonel Robin returned thanks 011 behalf of the Defence' Council.' ' In 1900, ho said, Lord Salisbury stated that it was tlio business of tho people to provide defence, ; not tho War Office. All he (Colonel Robin) could say was'that he .was pleased to see that While they woro educating tho people they had said not a word derogatory to the present system. Ho advised tho League, not to knock that asido until 'they wore ready to put something in its -place. While they were working by. way of •.education, .in. this matter, they had a ground to go on in inculcat- ■ ing ill tho schools,,the lovo of, country., (Applause.) Mr. A. R. Atkinson, in proposing 1 tlio toast of " Visiting Delegates," said that undaunted by tho joys of a, Wellington Sunday, on tho hills,- tho Volunteers did the Easter mancouvro work, very well, but they I did. not come out ' in sufficient mimbors. to answer Jho purpose*. About 6000 camri out' .in''.the main camps, but with a population of 1,000,000 there should bo many more. People said " Givo tho Volunteers a fair trial," but the system had had any amount of trial, and thoy would bo thankful, to seo tho movement ,do more than, it was doing, and ho did not think that the voluntary principlo. would cope with the difficulty. Things, should bo made reasonably 1 safe: during the next , few, years, and somo other principlo should apply. Tliciro was no chance. whatever of tho Dominion subjecting itself to a military .casto, but every able-bodied man should ho ablo to .carry arms. Ho. did not think that dealings with tlio.Old Country should be made in regard to.tariff, etc., until New Zealand had. a voice in defonco matters. Mr. M'Nab was Minister for Lands, and ho had had a lot of lands to dispose of, but if tho Yellow Peril or somo other- danger camo in, what lands could ho-then dispose of? The speaker thought Mr. M'Nab should tako action in regard to the school cadet movoment. Ho concluded by ' referring to the sympathetic attitude of tho Press of tho Dominion, which, in duo timo, would educate tho Government. (Applause.) NOT UP TO REQUIREMENTS. Replying, Lieut.-Colonel Goring (Whangarci) said that tho Volunteers individually were good, but the system had not co'm'c up to requirements because they had not tlio numbers necessary. Many peoplo' would lie sweltering in. thoir beds when others turned out to defend the country. Tho troublo was that peaco had lasted too long, and the day would conin when tho country would have to ho defended, and the question arose: Were thoy ready? He said, No. A great stand was mado against compulsory train-, ing—conscription as some called it—but t\\o terms represented totally different things. Tho trouble with Volunteers .was that preparations wore made hut all did not turn out. Thero woro 20,000 in the country, including about 3000 cadets, and yet only GOOO turned out . for tho manoeuvres, and''Auckland was the, worst in this respect. ' Thoy woro part and parcel of the Empire, and when the timo for defence came, would they b'l ready? The Leaguo had not a sou to press thoir gospel with, and tho merchants should help, but, whatever happoned the work would bo dono and thoy would win yet. Captain 'Murdoch (Auckland) said that ho did not expect such a function as that, and he was pleasantly surprised. Ho had been I'ommcdoro of tho New Zealand _ Yacht' Squadron for twelve years, and every week about- 1200 young men went out pleasuring. Thoy were all strongly-built men, but they did not join the: Volunteers, and lie .considered that such a propaganda as theirs .should be promulgated, and every young man should bo at the disposal of tho Defence authorities. It was not . dono yet, but it 'would bo dono. Mr.. M'Nab said that they would have to rupture tho last stronghold. Aayboily. who know tho Government know

that great efforts had to bo mado to movo them, and they would get tlio Government converted iu time. (Hear, hear.) "BE YE ALSO READY." Dr. F; Walkco M'Kenssio (Wellington) mado a Scriptural quotation: "Bo ye. also ready." Witl hill eleven days' steam of Australia there were 4(10,000,000 people capablo of bearing arms. Tliey were told that this country was on the outskirts of the Empire, but what about its defence when tlio Chinoso awoke? lie paid a tribute to the Into All'. Seddon 011 this subject. It might bo thought that people were concerned with thj defence of'their own country only, but _we • should bo ready to fight tlio Empire's battles again ' if necessary. People were not here as an isolated outpost, but they should bo ready to defend tlio Empire to tho last breath. All thoso willing could not join tho Volunteers' if they wished, as they were not given an opportunity to got tho timo required, as they might lose their employment. If tho Government brought forward a policy of insisting 011 a threo weeks' training for tlio young men, tho people would support it. He hoped the Minister for- Defence would tako the .'hint,' feel tho pulso of the country, and act accordingly. Tho speakor's duty was to propose tho health of tlio secretaries of each branch, and in doing so he paid special tributes in this connection to Captains Dalrymplo and M'Naught and Mr. R.. M. Hnc'.-ret. In- reply, Mr. Hacket-, who was warmly greeted, said he had 110 doubt that the battlo of converting people would,bo successful, and if Mr. M'Nah was to be the last —well, ho would bo converted in the en;!.'/ Captain Dalrymple said that, to his mind, the-crux of tlio question was, was it necessary? Ho referred his hcarc-rs to ail article in Thf, Dominion, giving'a'statement of tho position in Germany. Captain M'Naught said that 110 could never hnvo been engaged 011 more noble work than tlio work for tho League. If tlio people of Wellington, Christchurch, and Duned in had done so much as Auckland, there would have heon 30,000 Volunteers instead of 6000. Organisation was tho .great tiling, and lie referred to tho powers of tlio Y.M.C.A. iu this respect, and he appealed to tho people to support the movement. If Wellington would do the work Auckland had done, tlio other cities would follow. Tho-ovening closed with a vote of thanks to tho musicians, Messrs. Hendry and Blobman, and the singing of "Auld Lang Syne."