THE DEFENCE COMMISSION.

Taranaki Daily News, 3 May 1918, Page 5

THE DEFENCE COMMISSION.

THE CHIEF OF. STAFF. ;' I By Telegraph.—Press Association. " '''l Wellington, May &- ' fk Giving evidence before the Defeh*' '4 Commission to-day, Colonel Gibbon ,'i| Chief of Staff, replied lenghtily to cism regarding the period of training ,4j given reinforcements in" New Zealand, jj and strongly defended the present tern. He pointed out that the important period of a soldier's training J is the first two or three .months. UndeSr'ii! a system of embarking men as soon possible, there is no opportunity ,to ftK/ft stil discipline and spldierly spirit, the inl« 3 portance of which could not bo over- '*; rated. By the existing system one draft f i set an example to another, which wapiti most valuable. / : ' "'« The high reputation of New Zealand, l'* soldiers abroad was due to the inherent qualities of her population and tfieir, A training. The present system had en- "~ 2 abled the Dominion to gain a great tary reputation out of all proportion to 1 V the size of her population. '■>'.' i The correctness of the New ZealAnd'H? system has been confirmed on repeated '?? occasions when it had been found sary to utilise reinforcements on their f> arrival overseas without delay. TMs/'S was done with the sth, which proved o!-v! great value at a critical moment. ,s*;'. The training here meant a of the period which otherwise would" •$ have to be spent in England, which was of obvious importance when every month; j!* to be fed was a mater of moment. '. 'i Returned officers were being used iot "]•• drafts and as instructors. Tie system $ of having several drafts in camp enabled full use to be made of the avail-' - able shipping, which could not be done * s ' by despatching untrained drafts. The '• training hero also enabled the eHmina-, ' tion of men who had broken down.. During the period to date 10,722 men *• had been discharged from the New Z«» . .'; land camps as unfit, which saved ship* '-.' ping and other great expense. ?\ Further, by the training here the *"" money was spent in New Zealand, $x- '? perience was gained, and they had the, ? camps as a permanent asset. « .u When the New Zealand reinforcements'".' underwent the full period of sixteen * r weeks' training here the normal period '"> of training at Sling Camp was fl?e \i, weeks. When, however, drafts were de- >j* spatchedi from New Zealand with only J£ eight or twelve weeks' training, tho U period at Sling had to be increased to $ fourteen and nine weeks respedtiwdj; Thus, the reduction of trainSng ib Zealand was accompanied by a diaprq- fk portionato addition. The training 'in", 3 New Zealand had not sufficient depth to ,')! withstand the disintegrating effects ot ft Jfj long voyage. i- K'3 He considered that the training b£ re--i;J eruits here had largely been responsible \|f for the maintenance of New ZealandV'ill war spirit, and consequently for the ~';| share she haxl taken.in the war, largo in l-i proportion to her size- Might we not,' '$ perhaps, trace a cause of the difficulties / "J which had arisen in Ireland, Canada, 'Jj and Australia to the fact that recruits] 1 ," in these countries are normally exported' ;' : for training a/ soon as possible after; ',j enlistment? Surely the New Zealand' .i* system, which enabled a man to go to" „*f Franco a month after his arrival, waa ,J.j infinitely more valuable to the Empire \4~ than a system which entailed three and ,-ij a-lialf months' delay. i /j Ho maintained, therefore, except un»,, '.'• der the compulsion of necessity, which ,i,arises from time to time, there should, /, be no reduction in the sixteen week's s.' course here. \ - •

TERRITORIAL TRAINING. Wellington, Last Night. ..-'Ji At the Defence Commission, Colonel 'hi Gibbon, referring to the value of Terri-\,,f torial training in connection with the ; , > present war, said the presence in the rein-V* forcement' drafts of men who had re- ;- ceived such training had proved very if Valuable. He considered it would be im*-' i',practicable and inadvisable to form men I '. } with territorial training into Separate <JS drafts and send them away after a ,-,!' i shorter period of training. As the result ," -f of the experiences of the war, it was /d probable that some modifications in Ter-.'S 1 ritorial training would be found advisable. His opinion was that youths in.' ■$ their eighteenth year should receive foW •, ? months' training. " ' w