DEFENCE SYSTEM

Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 272, 13 August 1919, Page 8

DEFENCE SYSTEM

NEW TRAINING PROPOSALS

CONDEMNED BY PRESBYTERY

CREATION OF A MILITARY CASTE

The proposal of the Minister of Defence (Sir' James Allen) to, extend the Defence system of the Dominion by training' the youth of tho country for four months in camp, was condemned at, a meeting of the Wellington Presbytery held' last night. „ ,' -A committee of the Presbytery was recently appointed to consider the matter, and on its behalf the Kev. Dr. J. Gibb moved: "Having considered tho proposal t'o extend' the -system of Territorial training-'by'the compulsory segregation of youths of 18 for four months in mili-j .-• ta'r'v camps, the Presbytery, while appro- ' dating' Sir James Allen's desire to provide'' for. -the adequate defenoe of the. country, nevertheless strongly disapproves of the proposal. And for the following reasons: (1) The war was fought, if possible, to end war. Definite promises were given here and throughout the-Empire,-that when the -militarism of Germany was broken, militarism would be restricted, if not suppressed, everywhere. An extension of the Territorial scheme, suoh as is proposed, will, not repress, but intensify, the. militaristic • spirit in this country. (2) The Dominion is already loaded with a huge burden of dobtr which it .will find difficult to carry, and it is absolutely essential that all unnecessary expenditure should bo cut out, and even necessary'expenditures reduced to tho lowest limits compatible with efficiency. The cost of living by itself demands that pubho money should be exnended'only in reproductive works, and: all'the available labour of the community directed to the, increase of its output. It will not help the manual toiler, nor any toiler in New Zealand, that a large number of its workers ' should be withdrawn every rear from the pursuits of peace, but rather will it increase the weight of the burden the community is carrying. (3) It is the duty of every nation committed to tho League of Nations to do its utmost, to give effect to the covenant. Loyalty to tne League demands,, not acceleration, but an all-round diminution ,of the preparation for ww. (i) The Presbytery further regards the proposal to tike lads, of K. and 'segregate them-for long.periods in military camps as fraught with peril.to .' /their best well-being. It is said by the .'/ -Minister that not the camps,.but the man / who compose them, are -responsible foi the'moral laxity there engendered, but oh the -very face of it, .to remoyo young ' -lads for so long, a period from home' and their ordinary nursuits is <tp deprive them of many salutary restraints which at their age are most necessary in. the interests of (their moral .growth and -development." ' Militarism Spells War.

."'P'rY Gibb said he thought the spirit of the resolution would commend itself 'to 'the Presbytery. "I would like to say, he added, "that I am more and more convinced that war is beyond all question'the worst possiblo-evil wnioh nnihahity'' can suffer, : and -that,, not only because of what it is in itself, but. because 'if holds in its teeming wmb a frightful progeny of awful evils. Dm, could'amplify the point • The London "Times" had said that the war had re. lased the moral fibre of the nation, and that, without question, the war had intensified the conflict between, elemental nature and "civilisation. v What that • statement meant was, manifestly,, that the' war had intensified the conflict between' the .brute, in man and everything that civilisation stood for. From a toligious point of view the war had don* TfciA harm, and every minister would ndmit that his task to-day was harder than ever it was. Unquestionably the war had made the solution of the religious problem more difficult than eve*. In the face of those facts it.was unquestionably the duty of the Church to do "air it possibly could, honestly and honourably, to make war difficult and impossible. The suppression of was? was demanded of all earnest men, ana nbove all it was demanded of Christ s Church.' ' Of course, he knew that opened a wide field of reflection. One .thing was-clear,- and that was: That" militarism- always meant'war,, and they would neveiv get dd.of war on bods earth until they, got rid of'militarism 01 brought'it down to the lowest possible dimensions. "If we don't master mill- ■ tarism," Dr. Gibb remarked, "militarism will master us, and will sooner or later spell out.war." General Frederick Ji. Maurice was reported to have said in New-York: "As a soldier who has spent n'-nttarter of niy life in the study of the science of arms, let mo tell you I went into the.British Army behoving that n. • tou -want peace you must prepare tor war.' I believe,now that if you prepare thoroughly and efficiently_for war v £ou get.war." "To that/' Dr Gibb continued,:."l say from the bottom of my heart,. 'Amen!"' Germany, that had prepared for war for 40 years, haa been brought down and utterly humiliated. No good came from extensive . preparations for war. Preparations for / war-%oußhtMvar, and evidently in the r*> K li»ht of Germany's'experience tuey did nbt.'Twin{r' victor}'. .He did not deny 'thaT soldiers were necessary ~in Uie Game' way' as policemen -were necessary. There must be a sort of military, police ' for -tho protection of wider interests. But,: what "he maintained was ' that at that juncture they'should' not. extend their- military system, but restrict it it ■ possible. They should give the. League of Nations the fairest of fair trials. What thoy'were faced with was a proposal to extend the system ot ?h e -Dominion,' and this he held to be firit and last and all the t me, and fundamentally, a grave mistake ' The Hon. J. G. W. Aitken seconded the Education and Peaceful Arts. The Rev. W. J. Comrie supported .the resolution. : It was said iha.t it they wished for peace they should prepare lor W <vr;-In his opinion,! if they wished tor peace^hey..should prepare for war on the''best methods, and the best, method of preparing for war was not by tour months of military training, but by tramiii" their young manhood in tho arts ot peace and in trying to make the highest manhood of youth. Further, they should Peek to give the young people such a knowledge as would bo valuable to them in any circumstances in which they might bo placed. He ventured to say that our months of technical education would be far better for the youth of the community titan any amount of military trainin" Emphasis should be laid on the cdu? cational side of the question. In the educational institutions of tho country thero were men and women whose business it was to .develop the best ideas in the vonn-' people. Enforced attendance at secondary clasps was the true preparation for peace and for war as well. He ca-,t no reflection on the military officers, but ho said that they were not the pcoplo | to whom to entrust tho moral training of their young people. In a young country like New Zealand progress on lhe lines of educational development was the best way of preparing alike for war and peace. "We have created a military caste, and the military caste is going to defend what is its' vested interest," remarked the Moderator, Ecv. J. IT. MacKcnzie. "We had an example of that this afternoon at a meeting of the Chaplains' Committee. It was proposed to demobilise all the chaplains in the camps, but now wo are likely to have one granted, representing Anglicans, Methodists, and Presbyerians. Thero are in the.hospital at Trentliam about 200 patients, 05 nurses, and 11 doctors at i'Boo a year. Sir. Aitken: Somo of them at more. Mr. MacKcnzie: I am putting that at the lowest. Yet theyj did not want 10. have a singlo chaplain. That is the attitude of tho, military caste towards the Church. The molion was then put lo tho Presbytery and was carried unanimously.

lir Tclcarapta.—Pre« A.isnciat'in. , Auckland, August 12.

The Auckland Presbytery considered fo-nitjhf. resolutions in regard to Sir Joint's Allen's military training scheme recently passed by the Council of at. <Jliristc!m.reli,... The Presbytery passed a resolution, to >,the elTcot that before any alteration was made in tho present system the question should 'bo cons/idored by the new Parliament, and also' expressing the opinion that the segregation of. youths in military camps was open .to grave objection from'the moral standpoint. ..