over the entire period of training, which is divided into three cycles as follows: (a) From 12 to 14 years of age, in the junior cadets. (b) From 14 to 18 years of age, in the senior cadets. (c) From 18 to 26 years of age, in the citizen force. Junior cadets.-Junior cadet training, lasting for two years, consists of 90 hours each year, and begins on the 1st of July in the year in which the boy reaches the age of 12 years. This period of training aims at developing the cadet's physique. It consists principally of physical training for at least 15 minutes each school day and elementary marching drill. The following subjects are also taught: Miniature rifle shooting; swimming; running exercises in organized games; first aid; and (in schools in naval training areas) mariners' compass and elementary signaling. The junior cadets are not organized as military bodies and do not wear uniform. The Commonwealth Government maintains a staff of special instructors of physical training, by whom classes are held for school-teachers in all districts of the Commonwealth in order to increase the science and proficiency of the latter in the military subjects they are to teach in their schools. The inspectors of schools supervise the training and inspect the cadets on behalf of the defense department. Senior cadets.-Senior cadet training lasting for four years begins on the 1st of July of the year in which the boy reaches the age of 14 years. On entering this part of the course each cadet must present himself for registration and show that he has completed the necessary training in his thirteenth and fourteenth years. The senior cadet course consists of 40 drills each year, of which 4 are classed as whole days of not less than four hours, 12 as half days of not less than two hours, the remainder being night drills of not less than one hour. This allotment of time may be modified to meet special conditions, but the minimum efficient service required. of senior cadets is invariably 64 hours per annum. Registration of every male born in 1894 and subsequently, and who has resided for six months in the Commonwealth, must be effected in the first two months of the calendar year in which he completes his fourteenth year. The four years' work covers the foundation necessary for any arm of the service. It comprises marching, handling of arms, musketry, physical drill, first aid, guards and sentries, tactical training as a company in elementary field work, and elementary battalion drill. Discipline is strongly inculcated. On the 1st of July of the year in which he completes his eighteenth year the cadet enters the period of adult service and is assigned to the arm of the service in accordance with his preference or special qualifications. Enforcement of the compulsion.-The training, both in junior and senior cadets, is compulsory for all boys except aliens and nonEuropeans. Theological students are exempt from training. In some sparsely populated districts the compulsion is not applied as rigidly as in other districts because of undue hardships that it would impose. Employers, parents, and guardians may not, under a heavy penalty, prevent any employee, son, or ward who is in training from rendering service; penalties are also imposed upon cadets evading service. Penalties take the form of money fines or detention in military custody under enforced training and discipline. Evasion is also punished by ineligibility for any employment in the public service of the Commonwealth. Children's courts are used where possible for the prosecution of cadets under the age of 16 years. While in training senior cadets and soldiers are required to satisfy certain requirements of efficiency and are tested every year. Those failing to pass in the annual test must do an extra year's training. Each senior cadet must pass four annual tests of efficiency. Instructors. Both cadets and enlisted men are trained by a military instructional staff consisting of Army officers and noncommissioned and warrant officers. This staff was organized immediately after the enactment of the law, and the officers and noncommissioned officers selected as instructors were put through a short course of special training. Operation of the system.-A slight amount of opposition has been manifested to the system. This, however, was principally for personal or religious considerations. It is claimed that the scheme, both before its inception and since its successful inauguration, has had the support of leading statesmen of all political views, as well as the vast majority of the citizens of the Commonwealth. Much interest and willingness is shown on the part of the youths in training, which is evidenced by a great amount of voluntary work done, such as athletic, gymnastic, target practice, etc. A marked improvement has quite lately become apparent in the general conduct and bearing of the youths of Australia, and it is claimed that this is the effect of the system of universal training. As a result of inquiries made in 1914, the police authorities in all the States concurred in the opinion that the behavior of the youths who are subject to the training is vastly improved. It is stated that, both mentally and morally as well as physically, the benefits are very definite, and that the principal effects of a beneficial nature are increased self-respect, diminution of juvenile cigarette smoking, and "larrikinism," and generally a tendency toward a sense of responsibility and a desire to become good citizens. In regard to opposition to the system, the percentage of prosecutions to number liable for training in 1914 was 5.38. This figure includes all classes of cadet and active service; it also includes the parents, employers, and guardians. Statistics. In 1914 there were 87,000 senior cadets undergoing compulsory training and nearly 50,000 junior cadets were certified for physical training. The number of citizen soldiers in training was more than 51,000. NEW ZEALAND. The Defense Act of 1910-11 makes military training compulsory for every male New Zealander from the age of 14 years to the age of 25 years, after which he serves in the reserves up to the age of 30. The first period, beginning when the boy reaches the age of 14, or completes the course of a primary school, is known as senior cadet age. The training given in this period is similar to that given in Australia, and consists of a system of military drills, rifle practice, etc. Senior cadets are part of the army organization in every respect, except that they are not liable to be called to arms. On reaching the age of 18 years, if found physically fit, a cadet is drafted into the Territorial Force. In 1914 there were 25,300 cadets in training in New Zealand. In various reports on the effects of the cadet system, beneficial physical and moral results are invariably emphasized. Employers and other persons concerned remark upon the improvement of the cadets in their general conduct, physique, and sense of civil obligations. CANADA. Military training of youth of school age in Canada, while not embodied in any obligatory system, has attained a high measure of uniform development through the combined efforts of educational and military authorities, and of the Strathcona Trust, to which is committed a fund ($500,000) given by Lord Strathcona for the promotion of physical culture, military training, and rifle practice in the schools of Canada. Local committees of the trust are established in the several Provinces, and the interest derived from the fund is distributed among them according to a fixed scheme.1 In the majority of the Provinces physical training is a prescribed subject in all primary schools. Since this training includes, as a rule, simple military drill, it serves as a preparation for subsequent military services. Formal military training is given in voluntary cadet corps, which are organized in accordance with the official "Regulations for the Cadet Services of Canada, 1913," and subsequent amendments. 1 See Rept. of Commis. of Educ., 1916, Vol. I, pp. 525-526. The corps are classified as follows: (1) Those consisting of pupils in attendance at colleges and schools controlled by provincial government; (2) those composed of pupils in attendance at colleges and schools not under Government control; and (3) those composed of boys who, with the permission of their parents, prefer to join corps unconnected with educational establishments. The age limits for cadets are 12 to 18 years. Where a cadet corps is affiliated with an educational institution, a bona fide student who exceeds the regulation age may join the corps or continue to be a member, provided there is no militia unit affiliated with the institution which he might join. Instruction is given as far as possible by the ordinary schoolteachers, who must be fully qualified by attendance at a military school of instruction and holding a cadet instructor's certificate or its equivalent. The syllabus of instruction includes general physical training and military drill, semaphore, signaling, and the use of arms (rifles and gallery-practice guns being supplied by the Government). FRANCE. The movement in favor of an extensive education of youth in military arts was started immediately following the war of 1870. In 1871 the minister of public instruction, Jules Simon, issued a circular to school principals advising them to devote special attention in their schools to physical training and instruction in the handling of arms. The law of January 21, 1880, made physical training, including military drill, obligatory in all public schools. The law was followed by a manual of gymnastics and military training in two volumes, edited by a special commission and issued by the ministry of public instruction. A circular issued by the minister in connection with the appearance of this textbook made an earnest appeal to school principals to give the matter of military training thorough consideration. The circular said: You know the purpose of this training; you know what importance we ought to attach to it. To use the expression of the honorable author of the bill on physical training, "It is not simply a matter of health, of bodily vigor, of the physical education of French youth; it is equally a matter of the successful operation of our military laws, of the composition and strength of our army." The military training prescribed by the law consisted of drill without arms, and shooting practice; the latter, however, was not introduced at once owing to delay on the part of the authorities in providing the rifles. In July, 1881, an appropriation of 1,000,000 francs for military training in schools enabled the Government to purchase 52,600 rifles. These rifles were adapted for target practice exclusively. In many localities, however, school authorities procured rifles of the service pattern, but of lighter weight and constructed so they could not be fired; these were used for drills with arms. In Paris, and later in numerous places in the province, especially in eastern Departments, school cadet corps were organized soon after the promulgation of the new law. These organizations, called "bataillons scolaires," became very popular both with the students and the public. In 1882 the battalions received official sanction and regulations, and military training was introduced as a distinct subject into the curricula of public schools. The school battalions were composed of boys over 12 years of age, whose fitness for receiving military instruction had been attested by a commission consisting of two officers designated by military authorities and a school inspector. Each battalion was authorized by the local chief of police. The ministry furnished distinctive flags for the battalions that achieved satisfactory progress after the first year of existence. The instructors were designated and supplied by military authorities. Drill rifles used by the battalions were made so they could not be used for shooting. For target practice, which was limited to students over 14 years of age, small caliber rifles were used, and ammunition was distributed with the usual precautions. Uniforms were not obligatory, but most of the school battalions adopted uniforms patterned after those first introduced in Paris-short jackets, long, marine-blue trousers, and Scotch bonnets. The life of the school battalions was short. The records of the ministry of public instruction show that the last flags were distributed in 1886, after which date the battalions were disbanded. Among the reasons given for the failure of these organizations are:1 The deterioration of the spirit that animated the original promoters of this work, and the consequent meagerness of the results obtained; lack of public interest and support that became manifest as this change took place. The idea that prompted the creation of the school battalions survived the crisis, however, and soon found expression in a more practical and more efficient form of "Union des sociétés d'instruction militaire de France," founded in 1890, which merged, in 1907, with the "Association nationale de préparation des jeunes gens au service militaire" to form the now celebrated organization "Union des sociétés de préparation militaire de France." The work of this organization is discussed below. As regards the prescribed programs of military instruction in primary schools, the order of 1882 was replaced in 1887 by new regulations which limited the instruction to the middle and higher 1 F. Buisson: Nouveau dictionnaire de pédagogie. Paris, 1911. 99801-17-3 |