STATE OF THE CITIZEN ARMY .

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2214, 29 July 1914, Page 8

STATE OF THE CITIZEN ARMY .

COMMANDANT'S REPORT

REMARKS ON .TRAINING

COST OF THE SCHEME

The report of the' General. Officer Commanding tho New Zealand Defence Forces jCSir A. J. Godley} for the period ending June 25, 1914, was presented to Parliament j-esterday. Referring t« the report of the Inspector-General of Overseas Forces, Sir Alexander Godley states that ho is arranging to put tho recommendations into eriect at once, as far as possible. -"=* '

"It is unquestionably quite time," continues General Gouley, that the training of the Territorial force should be undertaken by its own officers and noncommissioned officers. lam glad' to say that in,some units the Territorial commanders have already assumed their proper responsibilities hi this respect, and have been at much pains to render .themselves fit for tlfe purpose; The efficiency of these units, as .compared with those who still rely almost entirely on tho permanent instructor, is most marked. _ There can'be no difficulty about it in the towns, whore units are concentrated; in- the country/ where a subordinate commander • has hitherto been rarely able to assemble even a squad of men, the proposed system of concentrated training will remove any difficulty. Only in this way, by determining not only to'fit themselves for. but also to practise, the instructions of their men, will Territorial officers and non-commissioned officers acquire tlie habit.of command, without which they cannot expect to lead their men.Future Training.. , Commanding officers have not yet had an opportunity of thoroughly grounding their units in-elementary principles.? propose,'therefore', for next year to hold camps to some extent by regiments'and" battalions, more especially in the ca6o of.thoso that are most backward. At the same time; seeing that we have now reached the stage of progressive training to which manoeuvres should be the sequence, having had regimental, camps in 1912, brigade camps in 1913, and divisional camps in 1914; it will be advisable to practise manoeuvres next year. But, bearing in mind the short time in- which the new citizen arm'.y*hiis : been in existence, I <do hot ■propose-'..'to attempt those on a very ambitious scale, nor for all the troops in each district,' ; but rather on a small scale,, which will .give commanding offi-cers-oF the'units concerned more opportunities tfor individual instruction, and )vill enable'the' army and district staffs to be' "concentrated v for the purpose. Sliort of army, .manoeuvres on a largo scale,.the two.directions in which- instruction for war can now be most usefully, undertaken appear'' to mo- to be with regard to the mbuiitod rifles and the coast defence commands. The Cost of tho Scheme. ( . : ...' 'Having regard; tp_ the J act' tliat the initial expenditure of'.'the ;defence scheme is .being provided for'out of tho Consolidated, Fuftd, it augurs vrell for the. future ' that our expenditure last year only amounted to £'4881570, and" in this connection the following extract from tho report of the Inspector-Gen-eral of the Oversea Forces wMI,-I think, bear repetition: 'A striking feature of the-military system in Now Zealand lies in it? economic working.'. . . Not a single professional .officer or non-com-missioned officer appears to be employed whose services, with.duo regard to efhV cieney, could possibly.„bo dispensed with.'" . ■ Strength of the Forces. Tho strength of the Territorial force oil: April 30, 1914, was:— i Territorial force i.i.. .'. 25,684 Senior Cadets 25,332 Rifle Clubs— . -.":-.• fa) General training section... 3,729 . (b) Ordinary members 2,577 ■ Total 57,322 The gross accumulated total number registered since ' the inception of the scheme of-universal training up to April 30, 1914, is. as . follows: —Auckland Territorials, 9254; Senior Cadets, 11,502; total, 20,756; ' Canterbury Territorials, 0274; Senior Cadets, 12,670; total, 18,944; Otago Territorials, 6228; Senior Cadets, 8779; total, 15,007; Wellington Territorials, 8356; Senior Cadets, 15,272; total, 23,628; grand totals: Territorials, 30,112; Senior Cadets, 48;223; \ . During .the past year the National Reserve has considerable progress. The enrolment of those outside the present Defence Forces who have had military experience, will provide a most useful reserve on which ■to draw in case of A set of regulations'ap-'pliba-ble to this; organisation will shortly be. promulgated to ensure tliat the various committees are working on similar lines. He desires .'to express, his thanks to those who have given so much of .their valuable time to. the creation of this, reserve.'' ...