The Timaru Herald MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1904. A FORGOTTEN PROJECT.

Timaru Herald, Volume LXXXI, Issue 12481, 19 September 1904, Page 2

The Timaru Herald MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 19, 1904. A FORGOTTEN PROJECT.

A correspondent whose letter was published on Saturday morning resurrected a proposal which at the time it was mooted in Timartt seemed to be received with considerable enthusiasm, but of which nothing has since been heard. About fifteen months ago (to be exact, on June 17th of last year), a public meeting waa held to consider the formation of a cadet company for boys who have left school, but who are not old enough to join the ranks nf the adult volunteer corps. Since the visit of the Duke of York, who commented favourably on a review of cadets nt Christchurch, the Government have gone to some trouble in fostering the martial spirit ;iinong the boys of the colony, and most' of the larger public schools possess cadet corps, and devote quite a considerable amount of time to military drill. In some ■especta these juveniles enjoy advantages which are denied to the real defenders of the colony. Our contributor, " Vedette," pointed out in his volunteer notes last Monday that free railway passes are issued to school cadets for' four battalion parades during the year, while members of the volunteer corps in South Canterbury were, on the score of expanse, refused permission to hold a similar parade at Temuka, and in order*to carry out the function, will have to dip their hands in their own pockets, and use the allowance which is made by the Defence Department in consideration of its being a daylight parade. Boys attending the public schools have therefore no reason to complain about the facilities which are provided for giving them some military training. But there is a gap, which some people would like to sec bridged over, between the* ago at which a youth leaves the class-room behind him, and the age at which he can enrol in a volunteer company. Prom the point of view of efficiency, it is certainly desirable that the training begun in the school cadet corps should be carried on in

r. continuous line until the citizen soldier elects to retire completely from the profession of arms. The years that are lost between the parade ground of the school, and that of the volunteer corps, represent a double waste, for the boy is not merely losing time which might be spent in acquiring greater proficiency in military exercises, but lie is forgetting a good deal of what he has already learnt. . Hence, if training in the arts of war is of any value it all, it should be a wise and economical policy to connect the juvenile and the adult schools which now exist. The connection lias already been made in some centres by such companies as the Queen's Cadets in Christchurch, and it was to establish a similar body that the meeting to which < ur correspondent refers, was held in this (own in the musty past. The prime mover i:i getting that meeting convened was Capfain Hughes, the officer who enjoys the prestige and remuneration attached to the command of the Defence Cadets of the colony. The public school cadets, it may be explained, have nothing to do with the Defence Department, but are under the control of the Education Department, and have the distinction of a separate commanding officer, with much superior rank, Colonel Loveday. We are not exactly clear about the necessity for two branches of cadets, under different commanders, and controlled by different departments, but, at any rate, the differentiation exists, and if another cadet corps were formed to utilise the energies of boys in their postschool and pre-volunteer stage, it would be controlled by the military department of State, and would go to swell the nnmbais aud the dignity of Captain Hughes's command. Apparently thete were a good number of boys last year anxious to see such a corps established. Our leport of I he ra;etiiig states thai it was attended by about 80 lads, fifty-three of whom handed in their names for enrolment in the prospective company. The chief obstacle to success was recognised to be the difficulty of surmounting initial financial troubles, the Government capitation of 5s being insufficient to meet the expense of procuring uniforms. The only way out of that was an appeal to the townspeople, and it was finally decided to circularise Timaru, asking the people to support the movement, and requesting leading citizens to join the committee whicih was formed at the niesting. The Mayor promised the project all the help ho could give it, and closed the meeting with an undertaking to call an-, other meeting to receive a progress report when he thought fit. As there has been nothing to warrant a second meeting being summoned, we suppose the movement is extinct, and that Captain Hughes's visit only provided an excuse for a few harmless patriotic squibs, such as were exploded

more.recently when the envoy of tlio Navy Lenguo 'appeared in tliis town. Personally, we think il is a gicit pity to Jiiivo too many projects, cadi laud ible enough in itself, launched on a locality at one time. A towg, Jike nil individual, only .imperils, the suocess»of all its ideas when-it spreads itself over n number without carrying any single one to fruition. Our correspondent on Saturday complained that in Tirhai-u the style is to tall meetings, cany an object halfway, and then let it drop, to lag on as best it can. As. a scheme of advertisement, novelty in ideas ns in iinything else. is excellent; fioin any other standpoint, it simply spells failure und i;pe.-s the door to contemptuous criticism like our correspondent's letter.