The Australian Defence Bill, amending the Act of 1909, was
read a second time in the Senate on Thursday. It extends the age of training to twenty-five, and exacts an annual eight days' continuous camp training, besides forty-eight hours' battalion training, and supplies free uniforms. Conscientious objectors are exempted from combatant war service, and after 1915 only those trained at the Military College may become permanent officer. Mr. Pearce, Minister of Defence, took a strong line in the debate, and fully supported Lord Kitchener's scheme. The Act is to be proclaimed in September, cadet training is to begin in 1911, and adult training in 1912. It is estimated that when the scheme is in full working order it will provide for one hundred and twenty- seven thousand men in the fighting line at a cost of 22,00),000. The most striking part of Mr. Pearce's speech was that in which he vindicated the interest of the Labour Party in military matters on the ground that their proposed reforms required freedom from disturbance, which they must effectually secure. "All means of defence must be of the very best, and there must be no makeshifts, while there should be a margin on the side of safety." Mr. Pearce also attacked those who relied on arbitration, and declared that Australia would refuse to arbitrate about Asiatic exclusion, and must be prepared to maintain her own laws against attack.
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