A LOCAL OPINION.

Press, Volume XLVIII, Issue 14473, 30 September 1912, Page 7

A LOCAL OPINION.

A prominent local Junior Cadet officer, interviewed regarding the foregoing message, said ho thought in the first place that whatever was done should bo made of general application throughout the Dominion. There should bo no question of the matter being left to Education Boards to decide whether military drill should be "given or not. Either the military side of the business should bo done away with altogether, or the movement should be put on a more satisfactory basis as a military organisation. The officers of Junior Cadets, or a great many of them at any rate, would be perfectly willing .to sit . for exan inations for commissions. Many of them felt that at present they were neither one thing nor the other, and that if they were to bear military titles, they should bo given the status of military officers, and they were quite prepared to qualify to hold that status. With regard to -physical training, that certainly was a step in the right direction, and the more time that could bo given to that branch of the work the gioater would be the benefit accruing to the boys. It was recognised that from the military point of view the cadet system had been a great aid to the discipline of the schools. One point that seemed to be lost s ; ght of with regard to military training was that it gavo tho boy a better carriage than any other system of physical training. The military carriage was undoubtedly the bost from tho point of view of physique A boy learnt to carry himsHf in an upright attitude, and to walk properly, and that was one of the most vscful things that came from military training. There was at present a feeling of great tmrest among Cadet officers. They knew there was a change coming, and they would lileo to see tilings put on a more satisfactory basis, and the sooner the better. Personally lie did not see why there should not be an annual inspection of Junior Cadets .by the Officer Commanding the Bistrot, but he did not think the, Junior Cadets should ever bo called out to parado with Territorials.