THE DEFENCE SCHEME.

Dominion, Volume 6, Issue 1773, 11 June 1913, Page 9

THE DEFENCE SCHEME.

OFFICERS CONFER.

•dIHSN3ZIJ.IO NO XO3JdH The officers in chargo of .tho various districts under tho .Now Zealand defenco Echeino met in conference yesterday to discuss its working, as viewed in the light of experience of . the past year. As is tho custom in such assemblies, the press wero not admitted. The Uou. Jatncs Allen, Minister for Dofencc, delivered an address to tho officers. Hon. J. Allen on Soldiering and Citizenship. "Tho confcrenco fulfils a very valuable purpose," said tho Minister, in tho course of an interview yesterday. "It was held last year, and did very good work, and 1 am sure.it will do good work this year. I addressed tlio confercnco before it commenced its deliberations (the Commandant is presiding),' and told them that tho Government valued very highly indeed the way in which they had set themselves to work to carry out the scheme, and that we owed the success'of it almost entirely to them and to all who were carrying out tho administration of tho Act. I realised that they wero making considerable sacrifices and. working a largo amount of overtimo to make the thing a success, and I thanked them for it. I told them that tlio purposo we bad in ,viow, and that tho country had in view, and that I believed' they had in view, was not alono to create a man who would bo able to take up arms to defend his country, but something more. We wanted to mako a citizen of him in tho fullest and most complete sense of the word. First of all we wanted to make a man better at his job, whatever it might be. If he was a inan in a factory wo hoped he would bo moro efficient as a factory hand, because of tho training he got under tho scheme. I told them that I had the pleasuro of travelling with a Swiss manufacturer, and lie assured mo that the hands in his factory wero mdro efficient because ot_ the military training that tlie.v had received. I said further that they wero not alone trying to mako a man more efficient to defend his country, or a better workman, or a moro efficient man whatever his employment. Wo were also, beyond that, trying a utiliso the schemo as a means of creating a better citizen montnlly and morally, and wo invited the Church and those whoso special business it was to lead us in moral and religious developments, to come to our camps, We 'were very glad to see them there, and wo realised that tho influence had been for good. We wanted to see that good influence continued. Wo had provided by-laws to remove certain temptations in the way of young men—liquor, for instance—and had excluded it from out camps, and I believed that was a good thing to do. Further. tlio General, in the exercise of his discretion, had made that principle applicable to the officers' clubs, even though they.were not in camp, and ho asked officers to willingly make sacrifices,_ and ho knew they would do so, in the interests of themselves and the scheme generally." ■ Tribute to the Officers. The Minister added that all the details of tho schemo were being thoroughly thrashed out—the question o" uniforms, for instance. .There were certain expenses and weaknesses in this direction which, he hoped, n'ould bo avoided in future, "I want you to say," ho said, "and the General has confirmed it, that wo realise that, taking them altogether, wo have a most highly efficient body of .officers, whoso, hearts are in the work. Ths country ought to knov,-_ it, and help them, and the country is doing so. They aro getting a hold over the country, and thoy are zealous and self-sacrificing." Special Musketry Instruction. Special musketry instructors had, Mr. Allen continued, been appointed in the various centres. "When _ I was in England,"'he said. "I went very carefully: into the ouestion of musketry training. I inspected a number of new targets and new ideas thereon, and ordered four Solano targets to be sent out immediately to theDominion. ono for each centre, in order that tho development in training with tho miniature rifie rango might be utilised for the purpose of musketry instruction. In England they are utilising tho miniature rifle range, and the principle underlying the Solano target to teach men to shoot, and to teach officers and non-com-missioned officers firo control, and a. great deal of good work has been carried out in that direction. The system is already in operation here, and moro will be dono yet." The Minister will entertain (lie officers attending tho conference nt dinner at the Wellington Club to-morrow evening.