THE EDUCATION COMMISSION.

Evening Star, Issue 14932, 19 July 1912, Page 5

THE EDUCATION COMMISSION.

THE JUNIOR CADETS. Captain A. C. 0. Stevens, staff officer for the Junior Cadets, appeared before the Education Commission at Wellington yesterday and replied to the criticism levelled by General Godley against the Junior Cadet system, which the Commandant described in evidence befor« the Commission as a " bogus organisation." The captain stated that he was an officer of the New Zealand Staff Corps, and as euch a eubordinate of Major-general Godley. He was, however, set apart for special service by the Education Department, and he was responsible directly to the Minister of Education. It had been suggested by the General Officer Commanding that this was an anomaly. "But," caid the captain, "I respectfully j beg to differ." In giving evidence, there- ! fore, continued the witness, he gave it as a staff officer for Junior Cadets under the Minister of Education. Witness said that General Godley's view was very one-sided, and one not 6iipportod by facts, and that the Junior Cadets had been put under the Education Department to protect them from the Defence authorities. With half an hour a week only it was impossible to do a very great deal of military work. It was inaccurate for the General Officer Commanding to say he had no knowledge of the work of Junior Cadets. The Junior Cadets had paraded with the Senior Cadets and the Territorials during the past few years on all ceremonial occasions. The work of the Junior Cadets was public property, and it had been universally admitted that the Junior Cadets had acquitted themselves well wherever they had been asked to appear in public. " The General Officer Commanding must be aware," said Captain Stevens, "that Major M'Donald, who really is the father of the Junior Cadet movement, is a reliable officer. The fact that he has been selected for special training in England is in itself proof that ho is considered as above the average in ability. The General Officer Commanding knows that. Major M'Donald was the Commandant of Junior Cadets since their inception, and that the lines on which he worked; wire prooably eound. Since Major M'Donalds departure to England I have acted in his place. I do not propose to say much of my own capabilities, but I may eay that I i'.-i-.e practical experience of soldiering with British troops in four different countries, and that since I have been staff officer in charge of the Junior Cadets I have never had any personal criticism of my control of levelled at me, although I feel inclined to regard the evidence of the General Officer Commanding as reflecting seriously on my ability and that of the nine picked instructors under me, and the Junior Cadet Department's staff generally. The Junior Cadet organisation is referred to as a 'bogus' one, and 'officers carry titles who do not hold commissions.' In reply to this, allow me to say that the Salvation Army members wear uniforms and carry military titles, but no one, I feel sure, would on these grounds wish to interfere with their good work or place them under the Defence Department in order that their officers might acquire a proper military nir, or send their bands to ' Kneller Hall' for instruction before allowing them to perform in public. I do not believe that better material exists for officering a citizen army than schoolmasters. They are intelligent, used to handling boys and youths, and accustomed to discipline." Mr Pirani: What experience have you had with Cadets before you came to New Zealand? Captain Stevens : I have been a soldier all my life. I was with the Cadets in an English public school, and afterwards had military experience in the Volunteers. At the university I had 18 months' training under the supervision of Major M'Donald. Mr Pirani: Was that your first employment in New Zealand ? Witness: I came out to try to bettor my position. I was appointed by a civilian — by the Minister of Education—and placed on the reserve of officers on the strength of my good credentials from Home. "Mr Pirani : Has the Education Department led you to believe that your commission' would be recognised? Witness : The Defence Department brought in a regulation overriding the principal Act. In answer to further questions witness defended the present system, faying that without it the discipline of the schools would fall off considerably. Thero was nothing like a Uniform for smartening a boy up. "The little fellows," he said, "just love their uniforms." He admitted that the abolition of the military system with the Junior Cadets would effect a considerable reduction in the annual cost. Some of the critics of the system were men who had applied for employment under the department and had been refused. MR HOGBEN'S PROPOSALS CRITICISED. [Special to the Star.] AUCKLAND, July 19. The proposals made by the InspectorGeneral (Mr Hogben) regarding the control ( of education do not seem to meet with | much favor amongst educational authori- | lies in Auckland. The chairman of the i Auckland Education Board (Mr J. G. GarI land), when naked his opinion, said : "So j far as the constitution of the new education l boards, proposed by Mr Hogben, is oon- ! cerned, I am emphatically of opinion that j the suggestion is distinctly autocratic, and ! would not meet with the approval of the vast majority of the people in this Dominion. As "to the proposal to hand over the control of education to the county councils, this idea was absolutely condemned by the late Prime Minister and also by the Local Government Conference. Tho conference were unanimous in expunging clause 10 from the Bill, this being the clause proposing to hand over the control of education to tho local bodies. That gives a pretty good idea as to the feeling on that point held by the members of the conference."