DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 852, 25 June 1910, Page 9

DEFENCE NOTES.

UNDER THE NEW REGIME, THE RUSH FOR POSITIONS. CBr Echelon.) For the positions of 28 adjutants, and 28 non-commissioned officers for appointment as sergeants-major under the new defence scheme, something over 450 applications bare poured into headquarters at Alexandra Barracks—-150 applications tor 56 positions. Obviously, 391 must suffer disappointment, and the qualifications of tho fortunate appointees will no doubt be freely criticised. Among the applicants who will no .doubt receive very favourable consideration will very jikely be some nf- the staff sergeantsrnajor at present in employment in tho New Zealand Defence Vorces. • Should certain of these- very deserving- noncommissfoned officers receive appointment, wig of the first objections which will probably be raised will bo that they aro over tho age specified in the conditions Of appointment. Since .some of these men iy™. 1 '""p aiK \ meritorious service, in (lisnualiricnt'.on for promotion on this particular objection wonld be but poor reward for past .services, and small encouragement for men in the ranks of the permanent staff to aspiro to higher grades. Strictly speaking, should any of the netr appointments lie conferred upon a "i' °f these men, such, would have the effect of promotion rather than appointment. All things considered, there would appear to be cases which might well be covered by the clause in the conditions w appointment already referred.to, which' states, in effect, that in special circumstances tho restrictions as to the aga qualification may be relaxed.

It is freely rumoured that the financial ilifmrs of a certain' volunteer company m Auckland have become so involved miring the past year that its administrators are now faced with a liability.of something like .£7OO odd, with no definite prospects of meeting it. It is also 1 stated that an audit will in all probability be arranged for, as the books and accounts ot the corps are not in very businesslike order at present.

rh« advocates of compulsory universal training have no doubt by this time fully digested the Prim© 1 Minister's defence proposals as outlined by him in hia speech at Winton, and, , it may be, are now considering how far they would be lushfaed in taking exception to a scheme which, though drafted by the most eminent soldier in the British Empire, embodies in its constitution a very material restriction of the principle of universal training. If it be their intention to oppose thp scheme on that ground it may be well hero to anticipate what after all is a very trifling objection. The new defence proposals retain tho principle of. universal training so far : as the junior and senior, cadets are concerned. In other words; the whole of. the male population of New Zealand betwecn the ages of 12 and 18 years of age will undergo training, first in the junior cadets and thou in the senior cadets. Six years is a fairly substantial period, \and even if the junior cadet stage were cut out from the formal character of military training and placed entirely on the basis of training laid down for boy scout* in "Scouling for Boys"—and Hie writer would gladly support such a step there would still remain a solid period of military training in the .senior cadets. In addition to that there could applied, without in 'the least degree interfering with the Kitchoner scheme, nu extension of tU recruit training: set out for youths .of between 13 and 19 years of <i£C, at such time as tho finauces of the country could afford such an extension without prejudice to the scheme proper. In the meantime every move to prune down or alter the principles employed in tho structure of Kitchener's scheme .should be uncompromisingly resisted by •those who desive to see a common-senje definitely defined and efficient organise tion for the defence 1 of the Dominion.'

In the course of a "Talk oil Nava7 Defence", at: tlie St. Kilda (Melbourne) Yaclit Club recently, the .Minister foi Defence (Senator j'carce) referred ta the fashion in which yachtsmen might assist the naval forces. "I know," continued the Jlinister, "that you, as yachtsmen, and particularly members of this club, _ have taken deep interest in the question of naval volunteers. I desire to encourago tho flame of patriotism wherever X find it, and it is.my duty to give every opportunity to people who offer their service voluntarily. I would pointy out, however, that in the naval machine tho man vrho comes forward aa a volunteer must bo prepared, if he expects a position of responsibility, to make very large sacrifices of time* to b( • of any service. Apart- from that, there' is a fair amount of work as an adjunct of tho fleet—scouting, signalling work,. and so on—for which, perhaps, no bodies of men are more fitted "than the fishermen and the yachtsmen. It will bo my, ) duty to 6eo if an outlet can be found, without hampering the efficiency of tha whole scheme, for the desire-of yachtsmen to serve' their country in connectioa . with the pastime which has undoubtedly . equipped tliem for doing many services to the Government." The sSme idea was ■ very thoroughly elaborated by Captain Archibald (formerly of tho Petone NaVals aud now of Auckland), in the "New Zea-. land Yachtsman" some time ago, when a . suggested scheme was outlined -in detail, Australia, of coursc, has a navy ot her own now—on paper—and - this is establishing the nucleus of a class, which will adopt tho navy as a profession. Wo .have not yet reached that stage. It will be interesting to follow Senator Pearce in his endeavours to -fit tho Australian yachtsmen into tho' defence system, in sucli a way that they will not be entirely, dissociated from their hobby.

The large cruiser which is now .being built cfor Australia will bo luoro or leta of tlie folbwi'ig dimensions:—Length at the water-line, 530 feet; beam, 7- : feet, with about 26 feet draught. The dis-. placement of tho vessel will bo in- the neighbourhood of 20,000 tons. The main armament will consist or approximately eight 12-inch guns (firing a projectile weighing 8501b., with a muzzle teloeity of 3000 l'oot-seconds). In addition, there will be about 10 4-inch guns. Protection is afforded by -u steel belt 7 inches thicfc amidships, diminishing to 1 inches at the bow and the stern. The horse-power,-which is enormous, will' bo -11,000, and is supplied by Babcock and Wilcox boilers. This will mean an hourly consumption of 30 tons of coal when going at full speed, or 720 tons for 21 hours, full speed being 26 knots, approximate 30 miles por hour. This mammoth vessel will be much larger than any battleship that has ever visited Australian waters. An extensive and complete electric light plant will l;o installed; also complete equipment for wiieless telegraphy and fire-control.'.

In 1860 most of the Germans regarded compulsory military service 11s a rather unnecessary evil. In IS7G they spoke of it as a necessary evil. In ISSO they said it was an evil which had a good deal of counterbalancing good. In 181)0 many of them said that the good outweighed the evil.. In 1900 the balance of .opinion regarded it as a positive good, industrially as wall as politically. To-day you will iind it generally said that the military system, originally adopted as a disagreeable necessity, lias become the central factor in German public education, and the main cause of Germany's industrial advance. The majority of 1 intelligent aud patriotic Germans will to-day tell you that tho German Army gives the German - nation habits of discipline, cleanliness,, and efficiency which it never before had; and that two years of withdrawal from active industry is a very cheap price to pay for a training which makes a man a molt efficient worker and citizen for many years thereafter.