THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1912. THE DEFENCE ACT.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 10716, 10 September 1912, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 1912. THE DEFENCE ACT.

Tlie secretary of the "National Peace Council of Now Zealand" lias forwarded us a copy of a* pamphlet which is being addressed to members of Parliament in regard to the proposed amendment of tho Defence Act. The pamphlet points out that legal: provision is made in the Defence Act for tho establishment of certain ''Defence Forces" in the Dominion, viz.: the "Permanent Force, the. Territorial' Force and the Reserve." There, are other bodies of men and boys under the control of the Defence Depart-

ment, .namely, the "General Training Section" and the "Senior Cadets," the members of which are .not liable for active service unless the Militia should be called out. The pamphle't avers that for the suppression of internal disorder the members of. the General Training Section would not bo available as soldiers, whereas those of the Territorial Force would. These bodies are also, it is alleged, free from the Oath obligation. The "Peace Council" asserts that the Defence authorities have ignored the provisions of , the Act, and have not embodied the , General Training Section. The law eays that the Territorial Force .shall consist of "such number of men as j , may from time to time be provided for ■ by Parliament," and then- goes on to j provide that the old Volunteer Force j | "shall become the Territorial j ; and that for its maintenance at' 'a strength fixed bv Parliament "it sh'all , be lawful for the Commandant to transfer from the General Training) Section. . . any number of men required to make lip tbat establishment." , The "Peace Council" says it is not, aware that Any such establishment has i been fixed by Parliament, and if thi<? is the case, tbe only iegally-constitut- j «d "Territorial Force" existing con- ( sists of those who were previously j members of the Volunteer Force, as ( defined by the Act. In any case, j there having been no General Training

suction cofistiivitec!, tlio remainder of the men nnd- boys r.rs freed from all obligation to serve. "It was," says the pamphlet, "evidently the intention of those who drafted the Defence Act to provide a small army and a large Training Section, an intention reversed by the military authorities, who have illegally provided for a relatively immense Army, aiid no Training Section. " Whether the Act is correctly stated by the "Peace CounciW' or not, we cannot say at the moment. Assuming, however, that the statements made and the conclusions arrived at are absolutely correct, what do they prove ? Do they not emphasise the necessity for an amendment of

the law such as is contemplated? The prescribing of the oath to Senior Cadets, the fining of Territorials, and the enrolling of those who were not liable for compulsory service may have been illegal acts. We, are not prepared to admit that they were. But giving the "Peace Council" the benefit of it all, •ttiere is only one oenclusion that is possible, and that is that the law should be so amended as to make the intentions of Parliament clear on every point. If the misguided passive resisters of Christchurch imagine that by pointing to flaws in. the Act they are going to secure the withdrawal of the principle of compulsory training, they have made a grievous mistake. The "Peace Council" criticises the proposal to establish "detention barrfceks" for the punishment rf deinulters. It, admits, however, that "the contemplated establishment of these extra gaols in the Dominion for the special' punishment of our young people, who revolt against the control of military officials, i*> no doubt a necessary cruelty if the conscript army is to continue." It should have said, that it is a necessary punishment of those who deliberately refuse to accept their share of responsibility for the protection of the hearths and homes of the people of the Dominion. The;

"Peace Council" claims that "the forces working against the compulsory system are such that it cannot- long survive . . and 110 amendment will be tolerated which does not take the sting of compulsion out of the Act." We can onV say that if the passive resisters of Christchurch. who arrogate to themselves the title of a "Peace Council," 'continue to traduce their country and to hold the law in contempt, it may be necessary to frame legislation making it penal for any person or "body of persons to incite those who are liable for service to defy the compulsory provisions of the Act.