THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1911. THE TERRITORIALS.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10492, 1 December 1911, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. FRIDAY, DECEMBER 1, 1911. THE TERRITORIALS.

A Qhristchurchi paper asks-, "Where i& the Territorial Defence Force which the Compulsory Military Training Act cailed into existence?" This- is a queistion that is 'being.asked with •considerable frequency by the public, and various awswera are given to the inquiry. , One alleges that the Act has* .broken, down, owning to the hostility expressed, by. a section of the jra'bliic to compiUilsoiry, training. A' second .reply 'alleges-that the Government, for; political l reasons, is not) enforcing' the. Act, and will not -make] *any. attempt -to. do so 1 until the stormy sea'of the general elections (has been, weathered. The Prime Minister, -speakimg at the Bluff on Nov camber 11th!, pleadedi that the new. sys!tem should be given, a *air trial l for a year or two, after wrhiich time it would be reviewed, and incongruities' and anomalies, removed. Critics are asking what the Government, ha& done in the way of giving the cOmpuilsory system l the fair trial which the Prime Minister Is asking for it. The Volunteer Force went out, after years 1 of battling for inadequate recognitionj from the powers that (be. |Mie Territorial Force came in, was a lusty infant for a day or two, and then, faded away. It is now just about as intangible as. a .spectre. There are now ,no parados, no enfo>-cements of the paims and" penalties set out in the Defence Act, and! really no Territorial) Force. The (position may 'well he regarded with amusement by anti-militarists, arid with disgust by those who were 'anxious to do wfhat the (Prime Minister asks for, and give the system a fair trial'. Tt is not easy to get at facts and figures, hut some inquiries l mad© by a member of our staff go to show that the Dominion has now aio defence force worthy of the name. It ils common property that ail daylight parades of Territorials- have been postponed, until January next. The elections-are in-December.' It is also common knowledge that parades of Territorials were called, and that musters were so inadequate as to be ridiculous. The men who were registered were posted to companies, the complement of each company being about one hundred. The company parades were fairly well ttanded for one or two nights-, hut the,number of parades' dwindled to ten or twenty, instead of one hundred. Unwilling Teirritorialls- soon dropped to the fact that there would he no attempt at enforcement, and that no fines or -penalties would he imposed. The Territorial force became a phantom, and it is a question whether the phantom wilffl be persuaded to clothe itself with bones and flesh, after the elections. It is only necessary to quote a few figures to show how the Act was disregarded. On- one occasion 600 men were summoned to attend a Saturday afternoon parade, and 240 attended, j Thieii' 200 men were summoned to attend a Thursday parade, and thirty rolled up. At another Thursday aftemooin parade there were 16 ipresont instead of 200. How do the officers., apart from those on the permanent staff, ,1-ogardi the position of affairs? There seemis to 'be only one feeling, and that is oif disgust. They have been studying an dendeavouring to fit .themselves to take dharge of companies, hut the companies are practicality non isunt. Men were posted to the companies, hut the unwilling or indifferent Territorials soon found out that they could defy autho'. ity with immunity to them selves. As one officer put it, there w'a„- something ridiculous in going out to officer eight or nine men, when- there should have been from 80 to 100 there. Another stilil: flings the hope that thie New Year will bring a. change, and that the system will be put on a proper footing and enforced. Still -another says that it has failed! for the want of a bit of firmness' at the right time, and that all the firmness' iii the world in the Now Year will not retrieve the failure. With -the notable exception of one or two companies, which, were officered by enthusiasts and had become imibued by enthusiasm, the evening parades were a sad and sorry sight. Even company parades, it w said, have now been cancelled.