SCHOOL CADETS

Greymouth Evening Star, 8 September 1939, Page 4

SCHOOL CADETS

RE-ESTABLISHMENT FAVOURED BOROUGH COUNCIL DISCUSSION After a rather lively discussion, the Greymouth Borough Council decided at its meeting last evening, on the motion of Cr. H. Herring, seconded by Cr. C. Neville, to write to the Minister of Education and the Minister of Defence, suggesting that every encouragement should be given to the re-establishment of the senior cadet system in the schools of New Zealand. The motion was put in this way, rather than in the form of directly urging the re-introduction of the cadet system, on the suggestion of Cr. J. Anderson, who said , that, while he favoured the idea up to a point, he was opposed to military training in schools being made compulsory. In moving his 1 motion, Cr. Herring said that he did not know whether it was a matter that 'Came within the province of the Council, but, in his opinion, something should be done.; Just recently, when the European crisis came on, we were faced, here in Greymouth, with the problem ot providing men for certain special work. Members of the R.S.A. had to be called on to fill the breach. This would not have been necessary if younger men had been available, as they would have been if we had had a system of school cadets and a decent territorial system. Probably there was no greater pacifist in Greymouth than he was, and he did not think that boys would be made warminded by teaching them a little drill. Military training at school might be of use in later life. During the last war, those who had received a ground work of military training were more quickly turned into trained soldiers than those who had , not. He thought it a great pity that the senior cadet system had been dropped altogether.

Cr. J. Anderson: Are you suggesting a compulsory cadet system? Cr. Herring: At school, yes.

In seconding the motion, Cr. Neville said he thought it was a good idea. He had been in the cadets when he was at school. Cr. J. B. Kent: Did they make a good soldier out of you? Cr. Neville: I enjoyed the training anyway. I think the cadet system is a jolly good idea, and it is a great pity it was dropped. Cr. Kent: We had a war to end war, and we did not think it would be necessary.

Cr. Anderson: 1 disagree with the compulsory side of the training, though, up to a point, I think it should be encouraged in the schools.

Cr. Kent: While we have physical training in the schools that is enough. If you teach a boy to handle a rifle, he will want to use it. Cr. Anderson: The world is suffering from too much militarism.. Continental nations, who teach their children to handle rifles, are causing all the trouble to-day. I agree with the motion in some respects, but let .the compulsion be left out.

The Mayor (Mt. F. A. Kitchingham): Should there be any compulsion at all in schools? I am not stat; ing an opinion, but. merely, asking e question.

Cr. Anderson: Not in this case. The Mayor: Would you object to compulsory sport? Cr. Anderson: Yes. I object to a child being forced to play a certain game if his parents object, and if he himself does not like the game. The Mayor: Do you think it is good for the youth of this country to be running wild as they are at present, and some 1 of them not even playing any games, but hanging round street corners instead? i Cr. Kent: I want to defend the ’youth of to-day. They don’t all loaf round the street corners. I think the boys of to-day are as good as boys ever were. 1

The Mayor: It has been reported to me that some boys won’t play football unless their togs are given to them. Cr. Anderson-:. I have been interested in young people for a number of years, and certainly there are some who want you to do everything for them except kick the football. But they are not the younger players. Mostly they are the older ones, who have grown shi\ewd. Cr. Kent: I thin# a lot of this unsatisfactory state of affairs is the aftermath of the depression. Cr. Herring said that he agreed that the boys of to-day were no worse than the boys of the past. Boys were keen on sport because they got the opportunity for sport. They would be equally keen on drill if they got a similar opportunity.

Cr. Kent said he doubted whether this was an opportune time for an academic discussion on the question of military training. If those who advocated the re-introduction of the cadet system were thinking of the present war, they were too late, and, if they had still another war in mind, then the outlook was very dismal. Cr. Herring’s motion was carried without dissent, after he had agreed to the suggestion of Cr. Anderson that the Ministers should be urged to encourage the re-establishment of the senior cadet system, and not urged directly to re-establish it.