THE WEEK, THE WORLD, AND WELLINGTON.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXI, Issue 9109, 8 June 1908, Page 6

THE WEEK, THE WORLD, AND WELLINGTON.

(By Frank Morton.) I

ENB3H-IN3 Till CrmENS.—FARMERS* Sank SuaoKSTtoN. Farmers' and Defence. —The Far-1 mers' Union Conference, at Feikling, passed a motion in favour of compulsory military training. That is an excellent sign. The defence of a country like New Zealand, in case of invasion, would depend absolutely on the citizens. If there was no citizen army, the country would lie open to the enemy. Adequately to repel invasion by a system of forts would mean that every possible landing placj in the country would have to be armed like atnther Kronstadt. Any such system of fortifications, inj the case of a country with our coast-line would coat more millions than are easily imagined as things go; and such a system is necessarily out of the question. At present, so far as the needs and exigencies of actual warfare are concerned, our fort<* aro not a menace, but a jast. Ito reasonable to defend the principal haroours witn some system of mines and so forth; but that is about as far as defence can go in that direction. In abort, it is when the enamy landed that the defence of the country would have to begin; and any attempt at defence by the Defence Force, as now constituted, would be a furce. One can imagine the enemy anplaudinsr loui'ly between his laughs. We have a small force of volunteers, officered for the most part by gentle- j men of unbounded confidence ,and no i special capacity. The story of the yearly manoeuvres is generally a story of bunglings and misconceptions; and if grim reality took the place of the yearly game, wo should find oursfflves very completely in the mud. The idea of the Farmers' Union—the idea of a citizen army unimpeded by the frippery and offence of militarism—is an altogether excellent idea. What citizen soldiers can do, the Boers showed us awhile ago; but, so far as one can judge by present indications, that lesson has been already half-forgot-ten. The Defence Force should concern 'tself with artillery; and the army of the citizens Bhould be riflemen. In the training of the young for this citizen army thf:re should be as little obtrusion of gold-lace and tootle-tootle as possible. They should see that this is a serious business, and not a summer game. They should understand that they are training for hard and dangerous work in case of hateful emergency, and not for display in case of ceremonial. Brass bands and pipeclay, haw-haw and snufflebust, have no necessary connection with the art of war; and the less time is wasted on brass-bands and pipeclay, the better —the better for the defenders and the better for defence. The farmers have taken an admirably commonsense view of the position. Let them hammer away. * # * * ■» * .The yearly camps of the Citizen Army should be strictly for instruction and for discipline; and they should be kept as far as possible away from the cities. The principal business being to make riflemen, there would be no special need for swagger and advertisement. The citizens should agree that at. tho camps the strictest possible discipline should be enforced, and the most scrupulous attention to the business in hand exacted. There should be no canteen. No man was ever hurt by abstaining from alcohol for a week. There should be no jaunts into town. There should, in short, be nothing at all of the nature of playing at soldiering. There should be nothing but work and food and sleep. £3uch camps would do a wonderful amount of good. They would increase the self-respect and stiffen the stamina of the young men engaged in them. They would improve the nhysique and the morale of the nation. In fact, they would make a nation from the raw material of our scattered communities of colonists. They would force back mere games and sports into their due proportions relative to the general scheme,