ORGANISING FOR DEFENCE.

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 29, 28 October 1937, Page 4

ORGANISING FOR DEFENCE.

It is good to see that, as it should be, the question of establishing an adequate defence force in the Dominion is being discussed in Parliament in a dispassionate manner free party bias. It is a question that totfches all dasses or the community, and almost in equal measure, and onejtoo, Which in the present disturbed and highly explosive condition or mternational relations calls for prompt decisions and speedy action, How long it may take to bring about an improvement in these relations such as may remove the fear of an outbreak of war on a major scale it is impossible to say, but present indications point to it being at best a matter of years, and it is for possibilitigs, not merely probabilities, that we have to be prepared, and, as current events in the Far East show, at the very shortest notice. The critical situation that faces the Empire has been fully realised in the Motherland, where intenSe efforts at immense cost are being put forth to be in readiness for any emetgency that may arise, anS therej too} all thought of political partizanship has been laid as'ide and theil; is practically complete unanimity ih support of the GoVernment's decisions. It may be, and it is hoped Will be, that the revival of Great Britain's ftghting stretigth wiil make for the preservation of peace, but there can be no doubt that at the same time there is in com templation the gfim possibility of being compelled to eXercise that strength in actiorii What we here atid of the oversea dominions generally have to realise is that the calls for the display of this reVived power may, indeed almost assuredly will be, widespread. This being the case, we shall cettainly be playing our part only if We do all we possibly cari to reiieve the British Government of distracting and dissipating anxieties on our accoutit. Our own Government may be takeli to be thoroughly possessed by this same feeling, and all that is required is that the means to the end should be intelligently hammered out with a view to makmg our pSeparations for at least our home defence as efficient as possible and that tlie people themselves should, as in the Old Country, be ready to make some little sacrihce in order to be ready for any exigency that may emerge, however suddenly. Without a full commuhity realisation of the dangers that impend, however distant they ma.y seem, and a#determination to back the Government in prepating to meet theln nothing really effeCtive can be done. just now the Government is engaged in putting through the legislation that is thought necessary to enable the orgam isation of our home defence, and its proposals, no doubt based on competent expert advice, would appear to be meeting with fairly general acceptatlce, although some doubt has been expressed as to the adequacy of the amount of the defence vote embodied in the recently presented Budget. This provides for an increase of something under half a million on last year's vote and it is felt in some quarters that this will scarcely suftice to carry out the purposes that are in view. It certainly bulks very small, even on a population basis, in comparison with the £1 ii-million which the Commonwealth Government is devoting to the same end. x As has been said here before there is perhaps rio grdat prospect of any hostile descent in force upon this little country with a view to its conquest and annexation. If we are to be brought under another flag than the Union Jack, the decision will be sought and fought at a distance from these shores. TITat, however, does not mean that we, may not be made the victitns of deadly and destructive raiding by sea and air, but always, too, with the possibility of a latiding force taking part should we not be in a positioti to offer effective resistance to it. The Government's legislation therefore is directed to the establishment of all thiree branches of defence, naval, aerial and military. Probably, under present conditions, the second of these is the most itnportant, for it is from the air that most danger is to be Feared. For naval defence in nearby waters we could probably do no very great deal except in co-operation with Australia. With tegai'd to land forces we should be thrown entirely on our own resources. For them we have to rely on the younger genetation, for whose services the Government shouid be prepared to give some fairly attractive recognition, modern equipment and thorough training in its use being the aim rather thali numbers.