LORD KITCHENER'S REPORT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9992, 12 March 1910, Page 4

LORD KITCHENER'S REPORT.

There will be no disappointment' in the public mind because Lord Kitchener has concluded that the considerations which should,govern the organisation of the Defence Forces of Australia are equally applicable to New Zealand. It is Indeed manifest that the circumstances affecting the defences of the Commonwealth and the Dominion are so similar as to be practically identical. The same general principle underlies the preparations that must be made iir both countries for,the protection of their shores. So long as the supremacy of the sea can be effectively maintained by the British navy there can be no successful occupation of either Australia of New Zealand by any hostile force. But there may be occasions, in time of war when the exigencies of the case may demand that the naval forces of the .hmpire shall be massed in some part remote from the Australian dominions, and on such an|occasion the naval defence in these seas may be temporarily inadequate to protect our coast and that of Australia against attack by an invader. "It therefore becomes," saya Lord Kitchener, applying to New Zealand the principle he had already applied to the Commonwealth, "the duty of all self-governing doto provide a military torce adequate not only to deal promptly with any attempt at invasion, but also to ensue local safety and public confidence until our superiority at sea has been decisively and compehensively asserted.'' From this conclusion there can be no dissent, bat, while the general principles of organisation of defence the same in New Ze^ aa<| u - n Aug . tralia, cnere be important in respect of details. The Ifefeott deals mainly with t,h6 special requirements of the Gammonwealth. The judgment which Lord Kitchener has formed as to the particulars in which the details of his recommendations concerning the defence of Australia should be modified to suit the circumstances of the Dominion.