LORD KITCHENER.

Gisborne Times, Volume XXVIII, Issue 2740, 19 February 1910, Page 5

LORD KITCHENER.

CABLE NEWS.

REPORT ON AUSTRALIAN DEFENCES.

AN ARMY OF 80,000 MEN REQUIRED.

United Press Association —Copyright {Received February 18, 5.5 p.m.) SYDNEY, Feb. IS.

A. summary of Lord Kitchener’s report has been published. He pays a tribute to the excellent material available for defence, and to the keenness shown by the forces while in camp, but states that the present forces are inadequate as regards training, organisation, and munitions, while the want of population is a danger. The new Defence Act will give sufficient numbers to defend the country effectively if efficiently trained, organised and equipped. The annual cost when the force is in full working order wlil be praotically the same as the total contemplated under the Defence Act, £1,742,000. The necessary land forces are estimated at 80,000 men, organised into 84 battalions of infantry, 28 regiments of light horse, 48 four-gun field batteries, 7 four-gun heavy and Howitzer batteries, seven communication companies, and fourteen field companies of engineers. The summary states that the Feild-Marslial favors military colleges, with a staff corps, and makes a number of other recommendations already cabled in regard to the organisation and distribution of the forces. He states that the present railway construction, while developing the country, has resulted in lines more favorable to the enemy than to the defence of Australia. He also advocates .keeping military affairs free from political influence.

[The present strength of the Commonwealth forces is 14,000 men, with 00 guns, on a peace footing, and 28,000 men, with 84 guns, on a war footing.] CRITICISM OF THE AUSTRALIAN FORCES.

(Received February IS, 11.20 p.m.)

Lord Kitchener states that the training he saw in camps indicated a distinct tendency to go too fast and neglect the essential preliminaries of training for more advanced studies, which the troops engaged were not capable of carrying out properly. After referring to the excellent fighting material available, lie says that excellent material and the greatest zeal, though indispensable adjuncts, are not of themselves sufficient to enable a force to take the field against thoroughly trained regular troops. While not criticising in detail what he saw in the various camps, his suggestions have been directed to meet the principal defects observed, and to enable catnips in future to be really instructional, and also a thorough test of the work done during the year in home training. It must be distinctly recognised that a national force maintained at a high standard of efficiency could only be produced by the work of years. Such work must be steady and continuous. Any divergence from the policy decided upon might, and probably would, lead to chaos and useless expenditure of money.

THE PRINCIPLES OF DEFENCE— A MASTERLY EXPOSITION.

Admitting the British axiom that the maintenance of the Empire depends upon the supremacy of the British naval power, Lord Kitchener brings the argument down t-o Australian conditions. In applying the principle to Australasia, he says: “Considerations of time and qpace cannot be disregarded. The conduct of a great war depends upon the calculated and proper continuation of naval and military diplomacy and forces. It is quite conceivable that in the future, as in the past, national considerations may require the concentration of British naval forces in one or other theatre of operations. It follows that, in seas remote from such concentration, the British naval force may find itself for the moment inferior in force to the actual or potential enemy. In such a situation, although our ultimate superiority at sea might not be a mater of doubt, some time might elapse before our comand of the sea could be definitely assured in all waters. Therefore, it becomes the duty of all the selfgoverning dominions to provide a military force adequate, not only to deal promptly with an attempt at invasion, but also to ensure local safety and public confidence until our superiority at sea is decisively and comprehensibly asserted. For this reason it was recently agreed that the Home force oi the United Kingdom should be so organised as to compel an enemy contemplating invasion to make the attempt on such a scale as to be unable to evade the naval forces. The same arguments apply to Australasia. Its land forces schould be calculated and organised on this basis.”

DISPOSITION AND TRAINING OF

THE FORCE.

(Received Feb. 18, 11.45 p.m.)

Half of the) 80,000 men will be required to secure the larger cities and defended posts from the attack, while the other half will be free to operate as mobilised forces anywhere in Australia. The best defence was generally by taking file offensive beforehand. There should bo no difference as to or. gunisation or equipment of any unit. He departs from the training prescribed in the Defence. Act, considering that, while cadet training was valuable as a preparation, it could not replace recruit training, which was a necessary preliminary to the production of an efficient, trained citizen soldier. For