MILITARY NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1174, 8 July 1911, Page 9

MILITARY NOTES.

FOR OFFICER BOYS, ROYAL MILITARY, COLLEGE AT DUNTKOOX. 1 [Edited By EcnELOX.) On tho afternoon of Tuesday, June 27, I (he official opening of tho lloyal Military College', at Duntroon, took place in. tho ■ presence of llio Governor-General (Lord •Dudley), I lie Acting-Minister for Defence | (Senator M'Gregor), Captain Home, m'ilij lary to Lord Dudley; MajorGeneral Kirkpatrielc, I?ear-Adjuiral Sir Wm. Creswcll, Captain Chambers, E.N., General Gordon,, Mr. Austin Chapman, M.P., and others-. At. tho collogo tho party was received by tho principal (Colonel Bridges) and his staff. Lord Dudley's Remarks, After tho .inspection of the cadets, tho > Governor-General addressed them. Lord Kitchener in his report last year, had very clearly pointed out that if Australia and New Zealand wished to place themselves in a position, for effective defence it was absolutely tssenlial that some college shoul/1 be created in which cadets should receive thorough training and preparation . as officers and instructors of lorces that were to be enrolled. There was the genesis of (he establishment they wanted to-day. The aiTangtmoiihs that had been made by (ho Federal Government were, he thought, of a most gener- , ous character. It was prepared to do everything necessary to make (his collcgo worthy of its aims, and hoped to draw to it cadets of all classes and creeds, as long as those cadets had passed 'tho competitive examination. In that respect, ho thought,' an cxampla was being get to every British military college of a similar, kind. The discipline that would lie earned out in the college would perhaps no considered severe bv'solno people, lint ho had no doubt that any thoughtful person who considered the matW wou'd . rc-iiliso lion- essential it was (hat tho cadets should be put through their training in every respect, and that thev should be made as fully qualified as possible to msehnrgo the tasks they would have set them later on. Without discipline that was impossible. It was essential, therefore, that in that respect flw officers who took up (he work of Iho college should receive the fullest possible, support .of tho public. He hoped (he cadets would renumber that upon their shoulders to a' groat extent lay a verv great responsiliility. They were the first young lads to bo trained at Duntroon. On them, to a great extent,' would depend ' the tone of the college. There was one other tliiiiuhis Majesty had graciously approved that this college should be known os-llio Royal Military .College. It was a distinction which would, h° thought, lie valued by Australians and Now ZcalanoVrs. Do now declared (lie college open. (Cheers.)

West Point Ideals. , ' Brigadier-General Bridges, Commandant of tne College, made a most interesting speech. Jlo said that one of the primary objects of tho college was to inculcate discipline, and it would not lie fair to the cadets to expose them to tho temptations of a large city. To secure the requisite discipline in such a place would have been to turn the college into a prison. •In fact it would have been as West Point iwas once described, "penal servitude, .tempered by instruction." Lord Kitchener s recommendation was that tho collego ■ should bo based on (ho United States Military Academy at West Point. There Wero many misconceptions about West Point, and ho wished to emphasise (ho tact Hint it was purely a military institution founded for the training of ofiicers to lake up positions in the United States army. Tho Australian cadets agreed to servo for 12 years in the armv. The primary purpose of West Point was tho forination of character; the inculcation of knowledge was eccondnrv. Why Lord Kitchener recommended "that West Point should bo taken as tho basis was. owing to tho very high standard of graduates, but he thought (hot was explained by the invariable rejection of all who wero not fit at tho West Point institution. West Point did not supply more than one-half of the officers required aunuallv for Iho army, and yet they rejected 50 per cent. Tho College Course. '• In puffing forward ideals in regard to tho Duutroon College, they could not fol-, low blindly West Point, nor Woolwich, nor Sandhurst, nor Kingston; rather tuo work must be guided by tho fact that with the graduates of this college their subsequent career would differ very much from that of any other similar "institution. At West Point (he graduates went into the army, and their training was continued. In Australia after having spent onoyvar in England or in India in some English regiment they would bo distributed throughout Australia, and they would have none of the regimental lifo and none of tho guidance of seniors that, they got in armies. At Duutroon tho course was fixed at four years. It would not. have been necessary to have that length of course if they desired that their men should qnalifv for nothing nioro (han lieutenants. What they did hope, however, was that the Australian graduates would bo potential commanders and leaders of men, and to do that they must have a sound general education, and therefore for the first two years their courso would consist largely of civil subjects, which had been choseii so as, to form tho basis of a sound education. Primarily, Woolwich was founded 130 years ago to teach mathematics. I'he leading subject at West Point and Kingston was mathematics, and so it was' to be. at Duutroon. They also had two oilier subjects. One was science, and the other was English. They desired that all thoir graduates should bo able fo write, and speak their own language when they' left.. More, than that, they would receive the Ir/.ining of- the character and tho inculcation of sound military habits, . so that they would have such power of selfdenial and self-restraint that they would not only bo able to command others, but they would bo able to command themselves. Their training would also ensure that when they left tho college they would have confidence in themselves, and thatconfidence would bo justified. . . No Political Interference, The discipline that they proposed to maintain at Dunlroon was strict, but it need not necessarily bo painful. Whoever had read Lord Kitchener's memorandum would see that ho had laid great stress on the. principle that in order to obtain disciplino there should bo no interference, and especially no polilical interference, with the college, lie wished to say that in no way had any question of politics or pressure of any kind boon : brought to bear on him as regarded the administration of tin college. There had been considerable misapprehension as to the real function of the entrance, cxamin-. ation. The examination was to ensuro • that those who were admitted had sufficient knowledge to benefit by the instruction they would receive there. It.fras not to determine who would mako tho best officer len years hence. A very'important condition that must bo observed was that any cadet who was found unfit; 1 during his course of. the college must bo rejected, however clever he might be. Ho.would have to go if ho were not suitable or likely to become a. satisfactory officer. As regards file future development of the college, they could all dream of what it would be.and what it ought to be. For his own part hoMiopcd it would be attempted to combine it with a sl-afF college.