The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 3. PHYSICAL CULTURE.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 108, 3 June 1909, Page 2

The Daily News. THURSDAY, JUNE 3. PHYSICAL CULTURE.

Lord Rose'oery a few nioiitlis ago delivered a characteristically line address on "National Efficiency," as the need of the time, national efficiency of course being dependent upon the ellicieney ,'of the several units of the nation, each for his or her own particular duties. Thi s ellicieney is partly physical, partly mental, partly moral. The foundation of the two hitler is the first, physical robustness and alertness. To a considerable extent this is- a habit, and

it is a .habit the development of whiel can be begun, and in many eases per haps can be fixed, during the year: that children .spend at school; cer tainly. we should nay. if they rcinaii at school till well in their teens "Physical eulture" is provided fur t< some extent in the syllabus of otii primary schools', but it is not givci tile importance here that is tiltachei to it in New South Wales, where : National Athletic Association lias fur nislied programmes of exercises, am the schools are carrying them out. J report presented recently to the Vie toriau Education .Department on tin New South Wales system, based upoi a special enquiry by an ex-Victoriai teacher, is said by the Argus to be ex tremely interesting in its details There is a special ollieer, a "supcriiitcu dent of physical culture," whose dnty i is to see that the work is done in ; thoroughly cllicicnl manner, and unde him are three instructors who go rotuu tlie various schools. Physical drill i. j Supposed to be taught in the Victoria; I schools now, but as only 2 per cent, o marks is allotted to it, whilst brush work may gain li per cent., the teacher naturally prefer that their pupils shouii spend more time at brushuork tha'u a dumb-bell or other .physical exercise? On receiving the report above mention ed, the .Minister of Education determiu ed to improve on tire local system, am set up a committee of representatives o J the Department, the .State Schools Alh I letie Associations, and the Teachers' Asociations, to see how far the No South Wales system could be wisel, adopted. The author of the report bays "The results of the system in vogue ar most marked. The children—not rip', rial classes, but the children of til whole school—are exceedingly well se up, and march and drill excellently, have never seen any school in Victovi that contains children with the physiq.i and general bulling that the childrei had iu the various schools 1 visited; tin I best school was in one of the poores Suburbs. The children also lookct healthy and strong.'' The importance of having a good system of physica t exercises in the schools in New Zealand 1 will, a* a contemporary points out, be- ► come greater if the idea of national milii tary training is adopted, for it will be a * necessary part of that training if it is [ to be worth anything, that the trainees y shall be made physically "lit" by their ► training; and it will be much easier ► for the drill sergeants', ami much | easier for the recruits, if the latter had ► been accustomed to some such exercises t as would be suitable for them as reI cruits. One of the points that makes ► a proper military training worthy of ► the praises bestowed upon it for its ' benefit to Ihe individual, is that it ! tends' to make "fitness" aha nil, by dc- ' straying any tendency to slouchiness in ► movement, to develop and fix a hialuit ', of alertness.of both body and .mind. ' It may be—it is to be hoped it 'will be—- ► the case that out future "territorials" , will never be called out to shoot anyone ' and face the risk of being shot,'and that being so the personal benefit of J training should be given a prominent place in the programme to be prepared ' for them. In the meantime the edirea- ; Liiuial authorities might give some at- ■ tention to the future demands upon [ their charges, as' these grow up, and tryto help them in the way of making their J introduction to the kind of physical exercises that the drill sergeant will le- ! quire of theui.