The Chronicles of a Gay Gordon Part 19

II

WHAT IS THE SYSTEM PROPOSED?

The system aims at securing for every young man:

1st, A sound mind in a sound body;

2nd, A disciplined mind;

3rd, The ability to shoot straight;

and

4th, A sufficient knowledge of drill to give him confidence in the field.

The first requirement--that of securing "a sound mind in a sound body"--can only be successfully accomplished by a very carefully thought out and progressive method of training the mental and physical qualities of our boys from the time when they first go to school. The training of the youthful minds may be safely left to the Education Departments; it is necessarily commensurate with the individual capabilities of the boys.

The physical training can be accomplished, and is already so accomplished in certain schools, by a progressive system of physical culture. There is no difficulty in providing a manual of physical culture for boys which shall be progressive and uniform in character, and which can be taught in all schools by the teachers themselves; in fact, one has been already prepared at my suggestion by Mr. Weber, Melbourne.

The second requirement--that of securing "a disciplined mind." Here again it is essential to commence to instil the principles which form a disciplined mind as early as possible in the boy's early youth.

Self-denial, obedience to the orders of their superiors, and respect and affection for their elders, are perhaps the most important of these principles.

This task may again be safely left to the officers of the Education Department.

It will be seen, therefore, that the first two requirements may be obtained by a system, as advocated above, to be imparted to all boys in their early youth by those who are charged with their elementary education, and it is urged that such system should be uniform and form part of the school curriculum, the teachers being required to qualify to impart the necessary instruction.

The third requirement--"the ability to shoot straight." Here again the earlier in life a boy is taught to handle firearms safely the more probable it will be that he will become a straight shot in his manhood.

In this respect it is pointed out that such instruction could not be expected, except, in some cases, to be given by the teachers, who could not reasonably be called upon to qualify themselves to teach the use of the rifle as experts. It therefore becomes necessary that qualified instructors should be provided to attend all schools and superintend personally the training of such boys as shall prove their capabilities to be trusted in the actual use of the rifle with ball cartridge.

It will be seen that it is only in the attainment of this third requirement that an extra expenditure to that now incurred is required by the employment of expert instructors.

Now for the fourth requirement--"a sufficient knowledge of drill to give a man confidence in the field."

In this respect it is well to give such statistics as are available in order to grasp thoroughly the nature of difficulties that have to be encountered in achieving the object aimed at.

It is submitted that the statistics available for the State of New South Wales apply equally to the other States of the Commonwealth pro rata of their population.

In New South Wales in December, 1904, there were:

17,467 male children between the ages of 12 and 13 17,214 " " " " 13 " 14 16,666 " " " " 14 " 15 16,084 " " " " 15 " 16

Of the above number of male children the following were attending schools:

Public Private Between Schools. Schools. Total. Out of 12 and 13 years 12,650 3,160 15,810 17,467 13 " 14 " 11,400 2,840 14,240 17,214 14 " 15 " 6,080 2,080 8,160 16,666 15 " 16 " 2,400 1,240 3,640 16,084

It is evident that the falling off of 50 per cent. at the age of 14-15 years and of 75 per cent. at 15-16 years proves that the schools cannot and are not to be depended upon as the training ground of the nation's boyhood beyond the age of 14-15 years; and that at the very time when that training would be naturally expected, if continued, to reach the most satisfactory results, namely, from 15 to 18 years of age, the boys are removed from the schools, in natural compliance with the demands of the economic conditions of citizens.h.i.+p in the nation, and that unless some satisfactory means is devised to compulsorily compel those boys who have left school to continue to be trained up to the age of at least 19 years, the earliest age at which young men may be considered capable of undergoing the bodily fatigue necessary to give them sufficient knowledge of such drill as will ensure that confidence in the field so essential to success as a fighting unit, it would appear evident that the foundation previously laid by the attainment of the first and second requirements as a whole, and the third requirement in part, will remain a foundation only, and the superstructure thereon will not be completed.

It is on the above grounds that it is contested that the cadet system, as popularly understood, is not considered to be reliable as a solution to the fulfilment of the requirements laid down for the training of a citizen soldier.

It is now pointed out that it is reasonable to argue that:

1st. It may be considered equally undesirable to compel boys from 15 to 19 years of age as to compel young men from 18 to 23 years of age to be partially trained.

2ndly. It will hardly be denied that the partial training of young men from 18 to 25 years of age in the field will give better results than the training of boys from 15 to 19 years of age, and on these premises it is urged that, to attain the fourth requirement, all young men from 18 to 25 should be partially trained, and thereby build on the foundation laid down by the attainment of the 1st and 2nd requirements and part of the third.

But, can some practical means be suggested which will maintain the boys'

interest in their work during the gap made by the period taken from the time that a boy leaves school and that when he reaches the age of 18, without interfering with the performance of those duties of his civil life for which he may be preparing himself?

The following suggestion is submitted, namely, the establishment in all centres of population of public gymnasia for the training in physical culture, and that rifle shooting by means of miniature ranges, and, further, the imposing upon those who employ lads up to 18 years of age, the obligation of enabling such lads to attend a course of instruction during each year at these gymnasia at such times as may be deemed advisable, provided such training is not made irksome to the lads themselves or detrimental to their employers' interests or their own.

III

SCHEME PROPOSED

The scheme proposed therefore comprises:

1st. A general uniform system of mental and physical culture in all schools up to the time when the boy leaves school.

2ndly. The scientific training necessary to develop a disciplined mind in all schools.

The above to be under the direct supervision of the Education Departments.

3rdly. The teaching of schoolboys to shoot straight under expert supervision.

4thly. The establishment of public gymnasia for the training in physical culture and rifle shooting up to 18 years for lads who have left school.

5thly. Universal annual partial training in drill, also the special encouragement of all manly sports without interference with their civil occupations.

And finally, the formation of rifle clubs for all citizens between 25 and 60 years of age throughout the Commonwealth, with the fullest facilities for the encouragement of rifle shooting.

This my scheme was adopted in its entirety. A study of the Act of Parliament inst.i.tuting it will show that the whole of the provisions suggested above were fully met.

But to return to the consequences of the Press reports. I had called upon the editors to contradict the statements attributed to me as regarded the loafing on the cricket ground, but pointed out at the same time that I had fully meant what I had said with reference to the great waste of time and the failure on the part of thousands of young men to fit themselves for the defence of their country, owing to the absence of some form of legislation which would make it necessary for them to devote some of their time to the development of their physical and moral welfare. The Press, as a whole, fully acquitted me of any intentional desire to call those who had attended the Test Match loafers. They also a.s.sured me that they were in full agreement with my remarks otherwise, and with the end such remarks had in view, that they fully intended to start a campaign with a view of bringing about the necessary legislation for universal service on the lines suggested by me, and would not rest until that object was achieved. This they accomplished.

As is now well known, by an Act of Parliament in 1909 the principle of the universal liability for all males from 12 to 25 years of age to be trained for military service was made law for the first time in any English-speaking community, and I was more than satisfied that my personal views which I had held for so many years, ever since in South Australia, in 1895, I had prepared the first scheme for the approval of Charles Cameron Kingston, had actually become the law of the land.

Before leaving this subject I must give praise to those officers and citizens who, taking up the question at issue after the reading of my lecturette and the events which followed, formed the Defence League of Australia, and published a paper named _The Call_, which never once failed in unhesitatingly and most strenuously calling on Parliament, the citizens, and the Government of Australia to bring about the introduction of the Universal Service system. Its leading spirit was Colonel Gerald Campbell, of Moss Vale, a most energetic Volunteer officer.

An amusing incident occurred the night that I was entertained by some of my friends at the Union Club on taking up the command at Sydney. After dinner we played bridge. Mr. X, who had not been long married and had got into the habit of 'phoning home in the evenings that his business kept him in town, was asked to play at my table. His wife did not relish his rather constant absences and sternly refused to go to sleep until he returned home at night. This annoyed him much. Result, some arguments when he reached home. On the night in question we played till about 3 A.M. "Surely," thought Mr. X as he drove home, "the wife will be asleep to-night." Very silently he entered his house, undressed, and opened the door of their bedroom. It was all lighted and his charming partner very much awake. Tableau!

"Now," she said, "look at the clock--4 A.M. I am full up. You can leave this room, please."

"No, my dear," he answered her; "to-night was not my fault at all. You see, we gave a dinner to our new Commandant, General Gordon, and then we played bridge. I was asked to play at his table. The old man [_sic!_]

would not go to bed, so I had to stay. So you see, I could not help myself."

"That will do," she answered. "You have told me many tarradiddles before; now you want to make an ignorant fool of me. Well, I am not one. I do happen to know that General Gordon is dead! Go away."