FIT NEW ZEALANDERS

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 742, 15 August 1929, Page 11

FIT NEW ZEALANDERS

SELECTION OF TERRITORIALS NO DECLINE IN STANDARD (THE SUN’S Parliamentary Reporter) WELLINGTON, Wednesday. Physical condition of New Zealand youths who enter the territorials has not deteriorated. In June last year 7,162 lads were posted to the “Terriers,” and of these only 1,320, or 25.41 per cent, failed to pass the medical examiners, or to reach the required standard. r JHI’S Mapor-General R. Young, G.O.C. of the New Zealand Forces, in liis annual report to Parliament today. The report commented oil the erroneous impression that the physique of youths was declining, created by the large number of repections of trainees who had attained the age for posting to the territorials in June, 1928. This, Major-General Young emphasised, was due to the fact that the lads were classified according to age, weight, height and chest measurement. The best physically developed youths were adopted under necessity of reducing by the fairest and most economical method the number for territorial training. Major-General Y r oung’s report added that the suggestion might be made that the lads under the physical standard might be given a course of physical training, but this would involve extra expenditure, which the defence vote could not bear. ‘The policy is, therefore, to select for the territorial force the best material available (subject to their living within three miles of a drill centre) in order that the money available for the purpose may be expended on the training of those who, in the event of New Zealand being called upon to defend itself against attack, would be the first line of defence,” the report added. The following figures show the number of rejections from the territorial force lor various reasons at the annual postings. June, 1928: (A) Cadets available for posting to the territorial force, 11,036; (b) below physical standard, 84S (7.29 per cent.); (e) permanently unfit, 832 (7.15 per cent.); (d) temporarily unfit, 140 (1.2 per cent.); (e) posted to non-effective list on account of living beyond the training radius, 4,410 (37.9 per cent); (f) posted to the non-effective list for other reasons, 04 (0.55 per cent.). Those enumerated in (b), (e) and (f) were not medically examined. “The physical standard for our territorial force is equal to that required of the British Regular Army, although the rpedical examination is not such a searching one,” says the report. “The percentage of rejections for the British Regular Army in 1926 was 34 per cent. For our young men of 18 years, who have still a few years to develop, it is not considered that the percentage of rejections, in view of the high standard set, is such as to cause concern.”