COMPULSORY MILITARY: TRAINING.

Kaipara and Waitemata Echo, 26 July 1911, Page 2

COMPULSORY MILITARY: TRAINING.

ADVICE OF PEOFESSOE MILLS.

The military system norc being, en* forced in the Dominion was referred: to by Prefesspr W. T. Mills in the ' course of his address at the Uoyal Albert Hall on Monday evening, fie started from the premises thatTl) no one proposed milatary training for any other reason tiiau to give NewZealand an efficient, capable, reliable, effective citizenship" in case of international war, amd (2) no one seri^ ously undertook to say that any nation acting- independent aid alone could absolutely disarm and make no provision whatever for military national self-defence. He argued that' it the radical and advanced" polic? adopted at the last Socialist congress at Copenhagen, calling upon labour parties everywhere to use their iniluence to limit military equipment, and ultimately to secure its abandonment, was generally allowed as a basis,' the probability of international xvar - and the necessity for xailitaay provisi»n would become less and less. . . . Ac military training was proposed what he wanted to know was whethtr they were going to have an army that could reailj fight battles if necessary, or merely to organise a eoinic opera troupe ? iniieymust have . military train-^ »!g: it should bo leareubd nith indu,- ' trial training, with the rational edu. cation of the man, setting out the : things that belong to the humanities an. to the obligations of citizenship, so that militarism would be robbed oi its harmful effects and the powergiven ot getting an efficient man. ■'■■■■■.> What he pleaded for was that . two • ~ years of the young man's life, say, between 18 and 20, should be set apart to becoming industrially, educationally mentally, and socially capable of efficient citizenship, and some sort of military seirice could form a part of the programme. In that system they ' Wet hare nothing to corrupt, but something to enrich life, nothing to make the boys butchers waiting f or orders from nincompoops imported " from England. (Applause.) At question time a member of the audience inquired what action should those take who were opposed to the law passed in regard to military training. The Profossor replied that asthelawwaspaseed with the con. T 7 v ma;Jority> it should be obeyed by the minority. They should work to turn the minority into a majority and then they should see that tke other fellow obeyed the C \ . J-^ey certainly should not take part ' ma. hght that could not be jnsti- •