CANADA'S DEFENCES

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 1921, 2 December 1913, Page 7

CANADA'S DEFENCES

SIR lAN HAMILTON'S REPORT.

IMPERIAL CO-OPERATION.

Next year General Sir lan Hamilton, Inspector-General of the Oversea Forces of tiie Kinpire, will visit Australia and New Zealand. In vtew of this New /.eulaiidors will read with interest what the Inspector-Genera! has to say o_[ tho defence forces of Canada, which Dominion he Ims just visited.

■(.annua has based her'military organisation entirely on the .British model. She possesses a small permanent lorco of professional soldiers corresponding to tho Kcgular Army at Home, as well as a volunteer citizen lorco styled tho Active Militia, which is similar in all essentials to the Territorial Force. Under the Militia Acts oi both countries tho whole manhood of tlio nation is theoretically available lor military service. In Canada these potential, but hitherto unorganised, soldiers, nearly a million in number, form the iteserve Militia. These forces are tho subject of the General's report. A separate report dealing with tho defences and fortresses of Canada will be submitted m due course.

In a- covering letter, addressed to tho Minister of Defence and dated July 30, IS»3. Lan Hamilton says: — ''iou, Sir, liavo devoted weeks of your time, as well as trouble simply endless, to the task of making my visit a success. JSxclusivo of ground covered in motor-cars and on horseback, wo have travelled together somo 13,957 miles and havo inspected 312 units of cavalry, infantry, and artillery. . . , it 1 Jail now to help you, the fault can only be my own, especially as you have loit me an entirely free pen, and liavo novel* by word, act, or hint of ;iU3* kind endeavoured to influence this purely personal document."

• Stato of the Canadian Army. The requirements of tho war organisation of tiio Canadian Army aro given in round numbers in tho report as follow:— , Other _ Officers, mnks. Fund Army 5,500 1-13,000 Garrison Troops... 400 10,000 '-Total 5,000 153,000 Jo meet these requirements the number of officers and men (less 5 per cent.) who were present with tho colours in JOl2, and received some sort of military training, was approximately:— Other Officers, ranks. Permanent Force... 250 2,500 Active Militia .... 3,550 40,500 T °t«l - 3,300 -13,000 If, therefore, mobilisation o(- the Cani'ldian Army kid been ordorcd last vt'ar it would, it is pointed out, have been necessary to iiiid. at short- notico some 1:100 oilicers and 110,000 other ranks lrom sources outside tho Militia forces of thy country in order to complete tiie held Army and garrison troops to Jho war establishment duly sanctioned by Parliament. Sir lau Hamilton also points out that- depot cadres aro an imhsponspWe additional adjunct to every field Army which is conducted on business prilleiptcs; and that a depot establishment calculated at tho rate of 50 per cent, of tho field Army is usually taken an tho minimum. Therefore ho thinks 2SOU oilicers and over 70.000 other ranks should he added to tho deficit, bringing tho total to be met oil mobilisation from outside sources to -1000 officers and luoro than ISO,OOO other ranks. Stili dealing with the present stato of tho war organisation, lie says:--Under Section 10 of tho Militia Act tho whole iiHinhood of tho nation, between the ages of 18 and CO is "available for service iu the Militia." The rapidly-expanding population of Canada stands already at over seven and a half millions, of whom it may bo assumed that about ono million males are in all respects fit- 'for activo service. This number, less tho active Militia, forms tlio Jteservo Militia of tho country, for which no sort of military organisation at present exists. The custom of keeping up muster rolls of those liable for scrrico which obtained until comparatively recently is now in abeyance. "Approximately 20,000 riding horses and 20,000 draught- and pack animals would lie needed for tho held Army alone. , iu Canada there arc in all somo 2,-100,000 horses of sorts, of which about. 20 per ceni ~ or rather less than half a million, are believed to bo suitable for military purposes. Under the Militia Act tho number required can be taken under requisition. Owing to the expense entailed little has yet been don'e towards inspecting and registering tho houses of the country. Nor have any steps been taken towards classifying motor-cars and •motor-lorries,"

Impsrial Defenc-s. The liability of the Canadian military forces is strictly 'territorial. Xot an officer or man, either permanent or noupermancni:, eon, in. his capacity as a Canadian militiaman, volunteer for service overseas' either in peace or war. Sir Inn Hamilton recognises that the 'primary duty of every self-governing portion of tlio Kmj.iiro is to wake'provision "up to the limit of its resources" for defence against invasion of its own territories. But he lays stress on the necessity of co-operation in Imperial defeneo. He says: The very existence of that vast organism, Greater Ilritain, depends on its sea power, coupled with the übiquity of its land forces. Unless, therefore, the true relation of local defence to Imperial defence can lie made clear to the ; citizens of the whole Empire, errors in military policy are bound to ariso 'and disaster will follow; the knot binding the bundle of faggots will be unloosened and those who, united, could have stood against- a world in anus will succumb, when divided, to despicable if only they are fairly reckoned up and faced, f take it as an axiom then that every State in the Empire is bound in honour, after looking to its own immediate safety, to consider how it may best lake its share in tlio general burden of responsibility. South Africa (lie adds) proved up to the hilt the extravagance and weakness of improvised methods. It proved the necessity _ of an Imperial instrument for war of which the parts, gathered from all quarters of the globe, would readily tit together and work without friction from the start. Basing his argument on contentions such as those, -Sir lan Hamilton exhorts the Canadians not- to neglect- their small permanent force; he urges its complete assimilation to the Imperial pattern so as to render possible in the near future an interchange of British and Canadian units for Imperial work. In his opinion— Such an interchange would mark an epoch in the evolution of Imperial organisation worth ' a wilderness of speeches and lings. Memories of a. time- when Canada was the most popular station to which a British' regiment could be sent would be most happily revived. The presence of a Oanadiii.il regiment in Loudon, Delhi, or Cairo wouhl_ -stir the imagination not only of the Vivo Nations -themselves, but of the whole outside world. 71)2 Reserve Militia. Numerous proposals are made in the report for improving tile condition of the Active Militia, emphasis being especially laid on the necessity for more and hotter iusinictors. But the proposal which will probably excite most interest on both sides of ilio Atlantic is that.dealing with tlm JJesifve, Militia, which'is declared to be the real,

national army of Canada. Tho ro!i' <>!' the Active Militia is stated to bo two-fold—firs! to protect lile vitais of Canada against raids | and, secondly. to drlay the enemy';i main attack until llio Reserve Aliliti.i is ready to meet it. "No matter how efficient the .Active Militia may become, nothing less than a national organisation can create a i'orcu fortnidahV enough lo drive the very iflea of invasion out of the heads of ill-wishers." Accordingly, Canada is invited not only to improve Jut Activo but also to set about giving her Heserve Jiiiitia sums sort of elementary organisation. Of the Canadian Jlilitia Act, ho says:—"Mere, 'levee en masse' classes such ns this or f,he corresponding ballot clauses of the British Miiit:.-i Act are curses in disguise. They can bo served out as soothing syrup for reformers, and that is positively the mi.y use cither Act is put to now." The preparation, in peace, of muster ro'ls of tin? men actually liable for military service is strongly advocated, and it is urged that the military authorities should base the organisation of tbo li>>-,-ei've Militia on these rolls. "There, for the present, perhaps for ever, elm matter would rest." In present circumstances Sir lan Hamilton docs not, conside.r universal manhood training in peace to be neccssary in Canada, but ho insists stronn'y 011 the expediency of developing the training of boys to anus. In this connection be gives some striking quotations from a pamnhlet issued recently m Canada. over thc> signatures oi most <>i ! tlio heads of the tmivrrsiiios, ol tlw highest. ediicationn] authorities:, as well as of the foremost leaders of religious thought- in Canada. Sir lan Hamilton thus concludes his report:—"Let them (tho Canadians) keep a close eye upon the preparations of potential foes, and see to it that th" state of readiness of their Rosen o Militia sli.*?]! always outstrip by a day at least the. time, wherein any foreign Power could place a powerful army t n Canadian soil."'