Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1905. OUR DEFENCE FORCES.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXVII, Issue 3532, 8 June 1905, Page 2

Manawatu Herald. THURSDAY, JUNE 8, 1905. OUR DEFENCE FORCES.

In tlikse dayS of wars and rumours of wars, am! mote especially as alUdaus of making present expenditure lessuseless than it really is at piv.seut, a proposal bv the Government to insist upon all brances of our volunteer forces observing at lea-d a fortnight’s actual'field training ftnllurtllyls oi)«J to be . coillliiCilciecl; is tjUtli^Fd-lly recognised that the training at preifimt required does not approximate sufficiently near to the work which would have to be done under actual war conditions, and, until .this made com-' pulsofy no real good can be expected ,r f.irpes.-- A icontctn-'porfijr-y suggests 4h«t-- instead of endeavouring to sec hoW'inany ban-get away for the proposed training the Govern iuci|t !jl),lin!d.. : flr?t.. make Utid service compulsory. idiinymen wdtiltl be unabletoqbta : n necessary ppcessary under presdut..conditions, but if this irain)ng Was’a part of the service men juuf employers Would know what to expect - and , a>range accordingly. Possibly it might mean a diminution in numbers bt volunteers for, a-time, but even then the better knowledge of their * Work acquired by those re-mainii'-g: would, it is fair to assume, more than compensate lor the deficiency iu numbers. It is urged the Government should even go further, and require that ever)’ lad between i? and 2i years of age join a corps ' and take his fortnight’s training every year. By this means the country would soon ’have a large body of men fairly well accustomed to service conditions, and therefore well able to take flieir places, if need arose, in the fighting line without that delay "incidental to the disciplining of, raw recruits. This too, could be brought about, at a trifling cost compared with the, /a-si cm of many European countries where men have to undergo two or three years of iron drill. Both in the colonies and at Home compulsory military service is looked upon by many as inevitable before many years pass, and certainly, under proper conditions, may be looked upon as a mo,st desirable thing, even for one purpose only, since it would tend to ■greatly improve the physical condition of the population. The present proposal'provides for 12 day .-.’voluntary service, not including Sundays, for which personal payment will he made of £io for officers, £y ios for noncommissioned - officers,and £5 Tor -Other ranks, in addition to which corps are to be allowed 30s per man annually . -.for clothing and contingencies-and other camp allowances of-is per man pfcr day. In this;'conheclibii, until a compulsory;’system of drill is decided •.upon, it is regrettable that- rifle clubs are not more enco.ingcd. Where ttufe are no adult cjrps these clubs form aiiadminible means of teaching men the.pse oL.the rifle. In Foxton we have a club 45 strong, and doing good work; yet the Defence Department has definitely, but without explanation, refused lo accept if as part of the defence forces of the colony.