N.Z. DEFENCE

Daily Telegraph (Napier), Volume 59, Issue 58, 9 April 1930, Page 8

N.Z. DEFENCE

.PROPOSED ALTERATIONS. GREAT INTEREST EVINCED.

Considerable interest and discussion has been caused 'by the ■ proposed change in the Government s defence nolicv and views on the suhject ox_mihtary trainihg have in the majority favoured the impression that the system ruling at the present time is not entirely satisfactory. . t Eor a considerable period there has heen a growing feeling in favourof the aholition of compnlsory tra,ming all over the world and this opimon has during the last year or so made ltself telt in New Zealand. . Australia gave way to public feelmg some months ago when .it was arinounced that no more compnlsory camps would be held. Pressure to afford the abolition of traimng has been 'brought to bear on the Government hv religi-ous and other bodies with consistent force and the announcement made that the Government was considering a complete change m its riolicy tends to ltidicate that the etforts to these bodiqs have not heen m vain. . , '

Details of the new policy to be pursued hy the Government, however, aie lacking, and until some defimte annoucement is made regardmg this it will not he possible to gauge the full effect upon, the commumty . . . Interviewed to-day on the suoject, a prominent Napier citizen whose activities in past years have mamtamed Wm in oioi toach with the Defence Department, espreseed the . opinion that the country could not do without some system to keep the youth of the Dominion together and he "Jvoc :ated, in the event of the total aholition ot military traimng camps m their present form, that a system of physical training and also musketry mstruction l be instituted in its steaa. He referred to the olden days of the volunteer force and said that although ihe enthusiasm of tlie force was wonderfuE for infantvy work the sjstein I was really of not much use as the members were few. Tn those days their amhition was to aclneye a system akm to the one at present in force. Tt was a different thmg with the artillery and engineers as their work was more specialised and small numbers were needed. . , He considered, however, that it was very necessary for New Zealand _ te maintain a nucleuB of highly tramed officers and N.C.O. s so that a largei force could he massed at short notice.