THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1901. NEW ZEALAND'S DEFENCES.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 107, 26 September 1901, Page 2

THE WAIMATE ADVERTISER. THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 1901. NEW ZEALAND'S DEFENCES.

THE- annual report of the -Cbmmandhnt of the New Zealand Forces is jiiat to hand. It is as the reports on onr defences have always been, fall of remarks about the defects of our defence system,, but the defectsaroahnost all able to be, cured if only the Government will pay at ten tion to the recommendations of. the Commandant-. Prom the report we learn that there are now in ■the colony 71 companies of .mounted rifles, five: batteriesfieb 1 artilleryj eight companies;■ naval artillery, two-companies' garrison artillery, four eycle corps, two companies of submarine miners,' four companies. field , engineers, five bearer fcompanlfes, twelve total in all; as coin*

increase daring the .year is ovelf | fiveihdhsand fiien, Colonll 1 the - present I nnmbef qnite adequate for the | defence of the colony. Colonel | Penton | the training of volunteers fi} | wrong and quotes the experience I gained’in South Africa in support ■ of his contention. fie goes on to ..j Say-':—“ Gar volunteer force is I recruited very largely from | townspeople ana nearly all “their . training is carried on in the drill hall. . . . , ifo fit men for,, | : soldiers nowadays, training .is > | i required that cannot possibly be | given in the drill hall, and officers , | and men must be encouraged r to | train in the open as much as , | possible.” The Command&iH .■ refers to the “ election ”of officers c by the men, and enters , a. most , ' emphatic -protest against this . J method, which he describes as t “ the worst method Tknow of for >btaining officers, and entirely ' insuited for Uny ■military organisation.” We agree with Colonel ' > Penton that this method of 5] appointment of officers is open to J objection. stances, have, ec* ditred in Waimate Where-a man's | popularity had a great deal more -j to do With ‘hrS elevation do tE'e ‘ : position of an officer than any ' j capabilities he may have possessed, ' On'Hie subject of officers, Corn tel * i Penton appeals forbettrer training -1 of officers, on Whom depends the $ efficiency 'or otherwise of tha ! corps sudor their command. The Commandant has high praise for' the mounted corps of the colony, As regards the infantry he con-" eiders they want more outdoor' work, and ail ceremonial: and ‘ V show parades shotdd be discon- ,4 tinned in fa Vo nr of practical work. For the infantry he . recommends route marching, of two or three days’ extent during' the summer, in preference - to so : many parades. 'Colonel Pentotr deals with a number of ether " matters in his very interesting report, which concludes with the statement that the forces of r the colony are better armed, organ- : ised and and so better able to -take -the field than five '■■■■ year's ago when he was appointed Commandant of the New Zealand T'otces.