The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. Motto: Public service. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1920. DOMINION DEFENCE.

Pukekohe & Waiuku Times, Volume 9, Issue 573, 8 October 1920, Page 2

The Times. Published on Tuesday and Friday Afternoons. Motto: Public service. FRIDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1920. DOMINION DEFENCE.

Cabled reports on the relations existing between Japan and the United States are anything but reassuring, but black as they paint the position it is certain that the whole truth is not told. In British naval and military circles the opinion is very prevalent that within a Tew years the two powerful nations named will be flying at each other's throats, and—the storm centre will be in the Pacific. Nature abhors a vacuum; the teeming yellow races would greatly like to fill, up the vacuum in Northern and Central Australia. Although we may not be among the combatants at the outset, there can be no certainty that we shall remain neu- ! tral to the end of the threatened I conflict. The great European war started with four major Powers, but before it was ended there was no great Power out of the contest. Wars, like fires, have a nasty habit of developing into conflagrations. It tharefore behoves us to put the naval, military and economic departments of our house in order, for no one can tell what the future has in store for us. Of our naval preparedness for eventualities it is rather premature to hazard an opinion, seeing that a definite policy is not likely to be laid down until after the next Imperial Conference, though one may suspect that the appointment of retired Admiral Loril Jellicoe to the position of Governor-General of this Dominion may have some naval significance. In any case, we have very little authority or administration in regard to naval matters. But with our land forces the position is entirely different, the system of training to be adopted and the extent of it being in our own hands. To the non-party observer who has a knowledge of the ways they have in defenco headquarters it is apparent that our present system is top-heavy ■ with officers in the higher grades, too much money being expended in salaries and allowances to the higher officials and too little being devoted to the base of the system—the privates and non-commissioned officers. We require a trained citizen army, such as we were well on the way to the acquirement of by our territorial training when the war came upon us. ■ We are aware that certain high commanding officers have commented adversely on the system—to laymen; but we also happen to know that these criticisms were not substantiated when the critics were confronted by qualified champions of territorial training which, though of very short duration, gave us the nucleus of our fighting forces during the first two years of the war. With n staff of officers, colonels, brigadiers and generals banded together for ,nutual protection it is difficult for civilians to get a true account of the position, but we will venture to express the opinion that if the Minister for Defence were a downright, independent thinking individual after the type of the present Minister for Public Works (Hon. Coates) there would be drastic alterations in the nupnber and quality of the staff appointments. If the Government is wise before the event instead of affeVwards it will lose no time in thoroughly overhauling everything connected with defence, and not wait .for the pressure of coming events before taking action.