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On this Page 5
NATIONAL RIFLE RESERVE
THE MOVEMENT IN NEW SOUTH
WALES.
I Mr Campbell Carmichael Minister of
Education in New South Wales, is taking
a great interest in his own State in
the formation of .11ut10n.1l rifle reserve,
I and willes to us on the subject as for
'The war has shown that the call of
1 Empire rises clear above all political
industrial, or sectarian differences It
has helped to break down whatever pro
racial prejudices remained among the
States it! has done much to consolidate
Australia as a nation The Aus
tin than navy and slip first line forces
in themselves are w itelivvoiils of nationhood
The sinking of the Emden met
the capture of German New Guinea
have stamped Australia as in entity
quite distinct from a number of bickering
Jealous States lins national note
must be my apology for trespassing upon
newspaper space beyond the bounds of
my own State
'There has been a remarkable outburst
of patriotic enthusiasm in New
South AA units in connection with the
organization of a national reserve Rifle
clubs are being formed, in Government
departments among various sports
bodies and by private firms Dip school
playgrounds mill cricket grounds pub
he parks and each vacant lots in the
city of Sydney Cup being used by men
of all ages and conditions preparing
themselves for national defence It is
with the hope that a similar wave has
spread over the other States that I you
were to point out the seriousness of the
present position and suggest a method
of meeting it
We have all seen Kitchener 's statement
that the war will begin with the
spring The present in a long time can
not continue much longer and not only
will enter recruit available The required
in the immediate present but provision
must also be made for an adequate supply
of reinforcements during the next
two years and a solid reserve at the
and of that per lot! We are told by the
Federal authorities that the existing
rate of recruiting so far is sufficient for
present purposes but they recognise it
is, the height of foolishness to confine
our efforts to meeting our needs as the j
it is from time to time
I suggested some weeks ago the
formation of a national reserve with
compulsory dull for all men between
the ages of 18 and 50 years the Defence
authorities considered that the
existing provisions for the formation of
line clubs furnished the framework on
which to build such a reserve as can
absorb all the energies of those who
wish to prepare themselves voluntarily
for subsequent military in oils if require
ctl Jennie; the question of compulsion
in- a last resource
In Loi el Kitchener s report on Aus
train defence reference is made to
the rifle reserve but it is obvious from
the context that Lord Kitchener had
a view i rifle reserve fumed of any
nations who had passed from the
senior cadets to the citizen forces and
from the citizen forces to the rifle he
scenes These reserves cannot under
Lord Kitchener s scheme be available
until 1926 and by that time the knell
of one of two great 1 umpires will have
sounded The essentials of his life to
serve are t knowledge of dull mel and
it to shoot tile dull to be acquired
the ing the period of compulsory v soil » ice
in the citizen forces and shooting skill
maintained by rifle resen of practice
Rifle shooting in the east has been looked
upon more as a Saturday afternoon
pastime rather than a serious attempt
to fit neighbors for military service but
the existing rifle clubs furnish the
nucleus of an organisation which can
be extended until every available man
in the Commonwealth is engaged in
dull
There are in the Commonwealth
one and a quarter million men between
the ages of 18 and 50 Of these 679 000
are lunn in led widowed or divorced
Even if 50, percent (wind is a coin
pat stitch low estimate at a time when
the fate of Empires is on the balance)
nuclei go the necessary drill this will
give us a national reserve the moral
result of which will be incalculable
There is no necessity to wait for uniforms
lines of equipment VII that is
wanted is enthusiasm in the public and
a sufficient supply of competent in
structions I have shown that in the
New South Wales Public Service alone
there are between 300 and 400 officers
who are competent to teach dull up
to the standard, of company drill and
the Government has made the services
of these officers available for rifle fire
grates giving such officers time off
when required There are hundreds of
retired Imperial and Australian officers
who would volunteer as instructor
Then in addition we have over a thousand
teachers scattered throughout the
remote parts of the State who are at
least capable of teaching squad drill
Lord Kitchener in his report, emphasised
the fact that in the camps of
the Australian citizen forces he had
visited there was a distinct tendency
to neglect essential preliminaries of
training for more advanced studies
which the troops engaged were not capable
of carrying out properly Thus
preliminary training is easily possible
in connection with the rifle reserve It
is only necessary for the members to
meet once or twice a week perhaps in
the lunch lion i or else in the afternoon
of evening in this State we have
made every school play ground available
for drill and our teachers men and
women are throwing themselves into
the movement with the greatest enthusiasm
The women teachers have
under taken to do extra school duty
in order to release the men teachers
for the purpose of military instruction
We have arrived at the stage where
it is now necessary to organise, and
engage the various rifle clubs into rifle
companies and battalions When this
is done squad company and battalion
drill and their rifle practice will be
made possible even with a limited supply
of rifles for with a battalion of
ten companies each of a hundred men,
it would be possible to supply a bun
dred rifles to be used by each company
vn line Since a company may consist
of 100 men all told huge city firms
of repute and ill Government depart-
ments, could form one company or
more each drilling one hour a day
once or three a week in the city parks
and reserves Outside the city proper
each suburb could form one company
or more drilling in the evening or on
Saturday af- ter noons The rifles Tail
able could be utilised hour after hour
by the different companies if facilities
for storing the rifles were provided on

the dt ill grounded A register of in
structors might be opened at once and
a permanent school for instructors cs
tablished These would be available in
the deficient companies are formed
This principle could be extended in all
country centres where a rifle club is
already in existence of can be formed

The advantages of this rifle reserve
scheme are it focuses public attention
upon the seriousness of the position
and makes them think of the possibilities
of national disaster Next it will
create in the minds of our young men
i military spirit which will be reflect

ed in a fuller response to the demands
of the recruiting sergeant and lastly
it will give these men who are not
immediately required for the front opportunities
for fitting themselves for
that duty 01 for home defence should
unforeseen cal unities render it neces
sin Above all it will provide us with
a i reserve of partially trained men cap-
able of being licked into shape quietly
for whatever drain is made upon our
resources during the next two teams

Kitchener in every speech strikes
a, note of grim earnestness A. responding
note from this outpost of the Ensure

that half a million of men have
been set training for active service
whenever the call is sent, will vibrate
not only in the capitals of the Allies
but I am sure in Berlin, Vienna, and

Constantinople " j

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