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1900. NEW ZEALAND.

DEFENCE FORCES OF NEW ZEALAND (REPORT ON THE), BY COLONEL A. P. PENTON, R.A., COMMANDER OF THE FORCES.

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency.

Sib,— 7th August, 1900. I have the honour to forward for the information of His Excellency the Governor and Commander-in-Chief of the New Zealand Forces, my annual report on the Defence Forces of the colony. Since forwarding my last annual report, the Empire has been engaged in a war with the South African Eepublics, which is still proceeding. In this war all portions of the Empire have taken part, and the colonies have nobly supported the Mother-country, New Zealand being well to the front in the movement. Our men have received special commendation from all the commanding officers they have served under, and their horses have proved as useful, and stood the strain of campaigning as well, if not better, than those from any part of the world. We have sent at various times practically seventeen hundred officers and men to the war, and, in addition to each contingent being fully equipped with spare horses, we have up to date despatched 578 remounts for our men at the front. The interest taken throughout the colony in the movement to send troops to the war has been intense, and the people of New Zealand have displayed the utmost enthusiasm and loyalty, so much so that 722 officers and men have been sent away fully equipped and horsed by public subscription, without expense to the Government. Of the 578 remounts sent from the colony, Canterbury has supplied 150, Otago 230, and Southland 39 as free gifts to replace casualties amongst the contingent horses, and, in addition, many horses were presented to the first and second contingents before they left by ladies and gentlemen in all parts of the colony. I need hardly point out the advantages which will accrue to the colony on the return of our men from active service, by the inclusion in the Defence Forces of so many soldiers who have had actual experience of war and the conditions of active service ; and I trust that all the corps throughout the colony will reap the benefit of having men in their ranks who have a practical knowledge of the requirements of war. The interest taken in our men in Africa has been reflected on to the Defence Forces of the colony, and I think a very general desire exists to put the defence of the colony on a sound and efficient footing. This is simply a question of organization and money. I have annually reported, hitherto without result, that we have practically no military organization, no trained staff, and that there is no freedom of action or definite responsibility thrown on the officers who would have to exercise much authority and undertake great responsibilities in time of war, and that it is absolutely necessary that this should be rectified. The Chambers of Commerce throughout the colony have passed resolutions urging on the Government the advisability of strengthening our defences and Defence Forces ; but I think that it is hardly understood what the real requirements of our defence are. Whilst the Imperial navy, which is our first line of defence, is intact and can carry on its duties, there is not any chance of an enemy making a descent in force on our coasts. What we want primarily to guard against is an attack by a few raiding cruisers which might endeavour to penetrate our defended ports, in order to destroy commerce, procure provisions, levy subsidies, &c, or disembark parties to make a land attack to disable our defences, and so enable the ships to enter our ports. Our principal ports should therefore be made safe against an enemy's cruisers, and our land Forces should be of sufficient strength to successfully cope with any raiding attacks on the ports from the land side. We have recently considerably increased our Forces, more especially in the mounted-infantry branch, which recent experience has proved to be a most useful branch of the service, and I consider our land Forces numerically sufficient to withstand any attacks they may be called

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