THE JUNIOR CADETS.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 900, 20 August 1910, Page 13

THE JUNIOR CADETS.

CLAMOUR FOR INSTRUCTION. IMPROVING THE ORGANISATION. The annual report on the junior cadets of New Zealand lot the year ended March 81 last states that from the returns received so far, there are, in the cadet branch, 119 cadet units and 19,216 cadets, and in ,t)i9 scout branch there are 59i patrols and 5051 scouts, and a grand total of cadets and scouts of 24,300, an increase of 9GU- on last year's numbers. These scouts have no connection with the Boy Scouts organisation: they comprise patrols formed at the small schools whero it would l>e difficult to work cadet detachments. The controlling authority of the Boy Scout organisation is recommending its units to come under tho control of the Education Department, in accordance with the regulations for junior cadets to Boy Scouts; ' "Owing to my taking command late in 1909, and in consequence of the vast amount of reorganisation which I found to be necessary in consequence of my having taken over the entire control of the administration, I was only able to inspect a.small number of units during the year," says the commandant. "Wherever I went," he adds, "I found the officers, noncommissioned - officers, and cadets enthusiastic in their work and anxious to learn, but without the necessary means at their disposal. The one outstanding request everywhere was for instruction." Provision was- made in the regulations for the formation of a cadet officers' training unit at each of the training colleges iu the Dominion, by means of-which all the mala students at these colleges can be so trained as to fit them to take up positions as cadet.officers, ai the schools to which' they may subsequently be . appointed. Cadet officers' training units have already been formed at Auckland and -Wellington, and it is expected that the other centres will-. soon - follow. As there are, and will for many years be, a large number, of cadet officers who will not nass through these colleges, it is intended to hold, officer's' training camps annually at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Nelson, and Dunedin, for about, a week's duration, and in conjunction with the cadet officers' units. Much consideration has been given to the question of how- to obtain , the maximum of. training in rifle-shooting with a minimum of inconvenience and expense; and to this end it has been decided to encourage the establishment of' • miniature cartridge ranges at.or' near as many of the schools as possible, and'to subsidise £h for .£1 amounts raised locally. A manual of regulations giving details and diagrams showing how to select sites for and construct these ranges has been compiled during the- year. Already 31 of these ranges have been approved, and many moro are under consideration. The ranges are generally 25 yards in length, aud are for use by .22 rifles and short ammunition. It is necessary to reorganise the whole system, says the commandant, 'to. have officers properly appointed, and seniprity clearly determined. Lord . Kitchener's' visit showed, the necessity for this. In many of the battalions there are nearly a hundred miles distance, between some of the companies, and mobilisation is not only difficult but expensive. An area of country will be assigned to each battalion commander, and all units formed in that area will be under his. control until the number warrants" tho formation . of a second. battalion, when the area will be divided' and a second commander appointed) Battalion commanders -are, under the new regulations, assuming more responsibility iu the'interior economy of their commands. . The parade state at the , . Kitchener camps showed an aggregate attendance of 10,059 junior cadets, including, several hundreds of Boy Scouts. Considering tho long distances some of the cadets had to travel, '. together with tho fact that tho reviews took place soon after the beginning of the school year, when a large number of cadets were recruits, the musters were, very creditable. 2671 senior cadets, which,' with 138 .bandsmen , and 16, staff, also paraded with the junior cadets, made a grand total of 12,884 present. , . ■ ' . ."■ .