PHYSICAL DRILL

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 626, 1 April 1929, Page 8

PHYSICAL DRILL

Sir, — “Shoulder Arms' makes an able defence of what has been termed “militarism.’’ and he says that it should be clear that the gospel of the military leader is not militarism, but preparedness. But your correspondent does not defend the military system in operation in New Zealand at the present time, or state how it is making this country prepared for the future. The New Zealand system of military training needs much revising before the Dominion will be anywhere ear a state of preparedness. * Most boys serve seven years in the senior c-adets and territorials, and at the end of that time they are transferred to the reserve, knowing one end of the rifle from the other, and how to form fours —or about as much as they knew before they were signed up. It will be said that they did not want to learn, and up to a point this is correct. Forced by authority to attend drill, and listen to instruction which in most cases is wearisome in the

extreme, they “swing the load" if th-v get a chance. If they desire to lear. something about the implements war, that indispensable element t,, Government departments. rod tar* prevents it. Boys and young men whom I have discussed the system upractically unanimous in statin;; tha : for their period of training, thev reaped no benefit, and they are insistent that, given a system that thev would find beneficial, they would nofind drill half so irksome, and th authorities would not find them g,. troublesome. Would not a system of compulsory physical training bo mor.beneficial to the country and to thn boys than one long round of dry-ag. dust gunnery instruction, and thtforming of fours, and the crawling and marching of the present system? REFORM WANTEIX