THE DEFENCE SCHEME.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 817, 14 May 1910, Page 7

THE DEFENCE SCHEME.

Sir,—From published 'reports, tho Council of Bel'enco seem 'now to bo really getting under way at last with \ compulsory training. Ou all sides one ■■ hears of the shoals of applications for the now billets' about to lio created. On. the face of.it, many are putting in on, the off chance of pecuniarily bettering tiioir present .civilian position, and . relying on' "political" or "drawing- • nkJm" influence to see them through. ■ Surely, f.ir,'at the present time, in tho sry infancy of a new era of soldiering in this country, and practical defence of the Dominion, appointments should first be offered to those who havo borne /; the burden and heat of the day and ' proved . llieir worth and capacity for , . '. imparting military knowledge as professional soldiers.. . s Could a tailor successfully organise and run, say, a grocer's' shop when ; first opened? Or is the man who sells : papers .in the streets capable of bossing such r.n institution as the General Post Office, as some of our Socialist friends would havo us bnlievc? Mr. Editor, Sir Joseph Ward is reported as saying in his recent policy speech at Winton that ho hoped that none but New Zealanders would bo appointed. Can ho be aware of the Rumbef' of officers and soldiers of tho Imperial Army who, having faithfullv

served the . late Queen Victoria and H.M. King Edward VII in many climes, havo com© out to. sottlo down in Now Zealand witli the ambition and hope that their knowledges _so gained may enable them to get a billot in the colonies in the profession they lovo so .well?—I am, etc., "WOULD-BE COLONIAL." Wellington, Slay 12, 1910.