Lord Kitchener's Report on Australian defence was published in the
papers of last Saturday. It will be remem- bered that the Commonwealth had already adopted national service on the Swiss model in a modified form. Lord Kitchener's duty was not to create an Army scheme, but to draw up a plan of organisation and training. The Govern- ment has undertaken to put his suggestions into effect. He recommends that the Army have a peace strength of eighty thousand, divided into a garris4n force of forty thousand and a mobile force of forty thousand. Both these forces will be provided from men of from nineteen to twenty-five years of age. In wartime trained men of eighteen and nineteen years old and of twenty-five and twenty-six years old would be called out, and the strength of the Army would then reach a hundred and seven thousand. For the purposes of organisa- tion Australia will be divided into two hundred and fifteen areas, and ten areas will make a group under a Brigade-Major. A Military College on the lines of the American West Point is to be established for the training of Staff officers. The Staff Corps will number three hundred and fifty, and the officers will be paid enough to live on and will have a competency when they retire. The whole scheme is estimated to cost 21,884,000 in the seventh year. Finally, Lord Kitchener emphasises the importance of avoiding all political and social influences. Efficiency, and efficiency alone, should count for promotion.
