FINDING NON-COMS.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 11754, 19 July 1916, Page 2

FINDING NON-COMS.

THE EXAMINATIONS, j HOW TEEY ARE CONDUCTED IN CHRISTCHURCH. REGARDED AS FAROIOAL BY CANDIDATES. Nothing could bo more democratic or more thoroughly in keeping with the traditions of a country that prides itself the democratic character of its constitutions than the theory governing tho procedure under which men may attain non-commissioned or commissioned rank in tho New Zealand Expeditionary Force. A DEMOCRATIC THEORY. This governing theory lays it down that all aspirants to rank are equal until they are proved otherwise at the hands of the examiners, eo that tho novice who commenced his studies of military science three months ago, tho man who has had three or four years' experience as a sergeant in the Territorial Forces, and tho man who knows absolutely nothing at all about military irintters, go up for < examination on precisely the same footing so far as the examiner is concerned. Tho examination is conducted on a strictly competitive basis. If there are thirty candidates and four vacancies in tho "non-coms.' camp," ihe best four, in the opinion of the examiner, are accepted, and the remaining twenty-six are rejected, with full permission, however, to enter the Force as privates and take their chances of promotion in training camp or in the field.

NO SECOND SHOT The right of rejected candidates to try their luck in another examination later on is a moot one. Enlistment is a necessary precedent to examination, and aa a general rule the candidate has made his preparations to join a certain reinforcement at a certain date, and has no opportunity for a second shot. This may be considered a trifle rough on the rejected men, considering the disparity between the number of candidates and the number of vacancies, but there is very little complaint from anyone on that score. THE ONLY DOOR It must be remembered that these " non-com. " examinations are the only door to non-commissioned and commissioned rank for all save already qualified- men whose qualifications are acceptable to the Defence Department. In view of this fact it would seem rather important that the examinations should be of a fairly searching and comprehensive description. In anticipation of such examinations, classes have been formed in this city, one, a private enterprise, conducted by Captain Matthews, another under the auspices of the Citizens' Defence Corps, conducted by Colonel Murphy, and perhaps others. These classes are attended by scores of earnest young men, who go through a fairly comprehensive syllabus of study. The course in every instance requires the devotion of almost every evening of the week, and the students therefore have to make a heavy sacrifice of recreation and leisure at the shrine of their very laudable ambition. WASTED STUDY. „ Unfortunately all this study and application and burning, of the midnight oil seems fated to waste its fruits upon a barren desert of official indifference. The writer has received from several. of the candidates at a recent " non- j com." examination an account of its scope and charaoter, and they concur in characterising the whole proceedings as farcical. A little description of the examination is perhaps the fairest way of demonstrating why it failed to impress the candidates as a serious endeavour to discover the extent of their qualifications. The candidates are lined in a row in front of the examining officer, and numbered in the 'usual drill fashion. Number 1 is called out of the line and, in the presence of all the other candidates, is called upon to detail the movements comprised in'standing at attention; the movements w one or two simple turns; the movements in "saluting to the front' ; forming fours with front rank leading; forming fours with rear rank leading. A GOOD MEMORY TEST. Number 1 having done his best to complv with the examiner's request, Number 2 is called out and put through precisely the same performance. Number 3, 4, 5 and so on until the last man m the line is reached, comply with precisely the same requests. It is obvious that No. 21, having heard a score of men detail and illustrate the movements, has had a splendid opportunity to memorise the whole thing. In fact, any man with any memorising powers , at , aU not possibly fail to have learnt the lesson after the first, fivo had shown him how to do it. FLUSTERING THE CANDIDATES. But to continue the recital of the examination. The . candidates are now formed up and started on a brisk double, 200 paces to the minute, around the drill hall Rapidly succeeding drill orders were given: "Form into sections," "form fours," and so forth, until the men were thoroughly flustered and breathless. They were then brought to the halt, and the examiner stated unfeelingly : "This is the pace you will have at Trentham for the next two months. Anyone who cannot stand it had better fall out." A LESSON IN DICTATION. The next test was to be a written one and the candidates who were well up in their book work perceived that here was a chance for them to shine. But, alas! the test was merely to write down from dictation a paragraph from a newspaper. It was not a particularly easy test at that, for most of tne candidates had not indulged in this exercise since their school days, and the examiner read very rapidly. Hence some of the candidates, already considerably flustered, forgot their spelling and their punctuation and shaped very poorly under a test of elementary education. WOULD SUIT SCHOOLBOYS. This was the whole examination. It was elementary, so the candidates declare, from beginning to end. Under the peculiar conditions of the first test their training and study went for nothing Any boy fresh from school drill could* have passed the whole examination with credit. The most irritating thing about the whole matter from the standpoint of the rejected candidates was that men who were their inferiors in the classes were accorded a higher place than they. Towards the end of the morning half the candidates were dismissed, and the remaining half were further examined. Among the first rejects were some of the most promising pupils of the classes, while some of tho worst duffers were retained for the further examination. CANDIDATES' SUSPICIONS. It is hardly to be wondered at, even if the suggestion must be rejected as incredible, that many of the men who "sat" for this examination cherish a deep suspicion that the successful candidates, or some of them (one at least is universally admitted to have won out on conspicuous merit) were selected before the examination commenced. But, though that suggestion -must be rejected it must be admitted that if the facts as above- stated are correct, there was no such fair and searching test as \rould effectually rebut tho insinuation.