AUSTRALIAN CADETS.

Wanganui Chronicle, 30 July 1901, Page 2

AUSTRALIAN CADETS.

HOW THEY ARE EQUIPPED AND

MAINTAINED

Major Eddy, who was the organiser of the children's demonstrations at Melbourne that so greatly pleased the Royalties, is in close touch with and an ardent admirer of the cadet corps connected with the public schools of his colony. He was in Adelaide the other day, and gave to the Register an interesting account (from which we moke a few extracts) of the way the cadets are equipped and maintained : —"The various detachments are formed into battalions in localities where several branches exist, .and in such cases they must assemble for battalion drill at o least six times a year. The ultimate control and oversight are vested in the military authorities of 'the State. The system is divided into junior and senior companies, the ages for the senior class ranging between fifteen and twenty years, and specific regulations are laid down for the transition to the higher order. Provision is made for target firing, which must in every instance be carried out strictly under the supervision of an authorised officer, who is held personally responsible for the carrying out of the standing orders relating to the practice, tli3 strictness of which reduces the possibility of accident to a minimum. The senior cadets are supplied with a modified form of the .303 rifle, while the juniors are equipped with the Franeotte weapon, which is of a smaller bore. "One of the merits of the system," said Major Eddy, "is that it fosters in the boys high aims and worthy ambitions, and being carried out on strict military lines,, discipline and obedience become almost native traits, while at the same1 time every boy is taught to realise that he is in the full sense a soldier. The value of such training has already been abundantly apparent in its influence on moral character as well as physical development. No better evidence of the martial excellence that has been attained can be found than that afforded in connection with'the Federal demonstrations in Melbourne, which won from the Duke of Cornwall the high encomium thnt what had pleased him most in ■'he march past had been the soldierly bearing and discipline of the cadet corps. When we odd to this th efact that at least 70 per cent, of the members of the several contingents which left Victoria for active service in the Transvaal had been cadet boys, and that many of these had already received the D.S.O. and other decorations, it will be seen that courage and heroism are developed in a marked degree." The popularity of the movement is illustrated by the large number of boys who avail themselves of it without pressure. To use the Major's own words: 'The ranks in Melbourne are 3000 strong, with an additional 2000 in the country districts. Results like these accomplished by perfectly voluntary agency what in some other places is achieved only by conscription. Even where a military course is not further pursued, boys who have passed through the discipline never forget the drill or how to use the rifle, while in those instances in which they are transferred to the regular forces it is 1 generally found that at the age of 16 years they have all the acquaintance with military manoeuvre necessary for a fighting line. Adequate facilities are given to the cadets to attain proficiency in musketry, apart from the class firing at> the ranges, for excursions are periodically made to country towns. It may be remarked that there are several advantages arising out of these trips, one of these being- a reciprocal arrangement, which ■is readily entered into, where the town boys are billeted on country homes, the understanding being that the junior members of these families in turn shall be entertained by the friends of their visitors. Shooting forms a great feature of these outings, but the event par excellence in this connection is the monster shooting day, when the boys attend in full strength for competition at the ranges.' Major Eddy, who is enthusiastic in his praises of the organisation, is anxious to see it introduced into the other (States of the Commonwealth as an' adjunct to the schools. One argument which he urges for federalising it ft the efficient result gained by extremely economical expenditure. In Victoria it has been found that the modest sum of £750 per annum is sufficient for-the working of the corps, free ammunition and rifles being provided in addition by the Government. He is opposed to any distinction being made between the public and private secondary schools. He i.s confident that if the results from the introduction of cadet drill on similar lines to that adopted in his own State were to be admitted throughout the Commonwealth, the results of such military training would amply repay United Australia in the soldierly bearing of its rising manhood, and in the increased devotion to duty and in loyalty to the land of their birth, as .well as to the Empire, of which they would form no in significant bulwark."