E.—ld

4

stances it is to be hoped that provision will now be made for granting certificates to those who have already passed and for future cases ; thus giving the officers every encouragement to attend the school and perfect themselves in the subjects taught there. Ambulance. —In the " Regulations for Manual and Technical Instruction, 1903," provision is made under paragraph 23, (a), (1), for " First Aid and Ambulance " (boys and girls), and a payment of 2s. 6d. per annum will be made for each unit of the average attendance. Several schools have taken up the subject, and advantage should be taken of this with reference to the cadets, who could also be trained in " stretcher-bearer " drill, thus affording a means hereafter of recruiting the adult bearer corps. From inquiries made it is believed that medical men would gladly give their services towards instructing cadets in this most useful branch of the service, and the experience thus gained would be of value hereafter either in a civil or military capacitjr. In cases where battalions exist their present staff might be augmented by the addition of a battalion surgeon. The cost for supplying splints, &c, to twentythree battalions would not be very great, and the outlay would not be a recurring one. Camps of Instruction. —The Right Hon. the Premier informed the 2nd Wanganui Public-school Cadet Battalion, when he inspected them on the 17th December, 1903, that he had decided to let the cadets go into camp for training. The announcement was received with cheers. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the advantage which would be gained by all ranks at these camps. At present only drill is learned at the ordinary parades, but at camps all that appertains to the training in fieldwork, &c, would be imparted, and the week's training thus gained would be of incalculable benefit to the state. The various Education Boards of course would have to be consulted as to the time for going into camp. It has been suggested that the last week of the school year (December) would be the most suitable to all concerned. Instructors. —A number of the headmasters of the Auckland schools consider that since the services of a military instructor were withdrawn, the drill of the cadets has deteriorated, and they are of opinion that the old. system should be resorted to as early as possible. If it were possible to utilise the present staff instructors of the Defence Department, and to augment their present salary with a small daily allowance, the difficulty would be overcome, and the gain would be of great value to the training of all ranks. Reception of His Excellency the Governor. —The number of all ranks who took part in the reception at Wellington was 800, and that at Auckland, 550. The muster would have been greater at the latter place but for the fact that the uniforms which had been ordered were not received in time. The following communications were received from the Right Hon. the Premier in reference to the receptions, which are of a most gratifying and encouraging nature, and are highly appreciated by all ranks. Memorandum for The Inspector-General. Prime Minister's Office, Wellington, 20th June, 1904. Him Excellency the Governor, Commander-in-Chief, has desired me to instruct you to convey to the Officers and School Cadets, who took part in the reception to-day, His Excellency's gratification at the cadets being present in such numbers, which fact His Excellency mentions as being a most pleasing feature of the reception. Convey to the officers and cadets His Excellency's pleasure accordingly. R. J. Seddon. To Colonel Loveday, Auckland. 17th July, 1904. Kindly convey to the officers of the cadet corps, who took part in His Excellency's reception yesterday. His Excellency's gratification in observing the strength and efficiency of the cadet corps, and His Excellency is of opinion that it would be difficult to lay sufficient stress upon the importance to be attached to the cadet movement in the colony. R. J. Seddon. Displays. —Competitions in manual exercise, marching, and physical drill were held at Christchurch on the 28th November, 1903. Major Cresswell, of the Ist Canterbury Battalion, acted as judge, and thanks are due to him for the services he rendered on that occasion. The Ist and 3rd Otago Battalions gave a display on the 28th November, 1903. They were inspected by His Worship the Mayor, the Chief Inspector of Schools, and Messrs. Allen and Millar, Ms.H.R., all of whom spoke highly of the appearance of the cadets, and of the manner in which they marched past and did their drill. On both the above occasions the girls went through physical, wand, and club drills. Battalion Parades. —These are being held throughout the colony where battalions exist. Defence of the Empire. —The following from the New Zealand Times' London correspondent of the 10th June, 1904, may not be out of place here as a conclusion to this report, bearing as it does on the system which has already been adopted in New Zealand. I have, &c, L. W. Loveday, Lieut.-Colonel, The Right Hon. the Blinister of Education. Commanding Public-school Cadets.

APPENDIX I. DEFENCE OF THE THE EMPIRE. A Chat with Sir John Ardagh. One day this week I happened to meet at dinner General Sir John Ardagh, who will always be remembered in English history as having furnished to the British Government early in 1899 a very strong and able report on the South African situation, alike in its political and its military aspect. It will also be recollected that this remarkable document came out before the Royal War Commission, whose drastic report created such a sensation when it was published last August, and that it at once became manifest that, had Sir John Ardagh's report been duly heeded by the Government, the South African war could either have been entirely averted or else conducted with success from the outset. Sir John had been speaking early in the evening about the report of the more recent commission on the Auxiliary Forces, which virtually recommended the abolition of those forces and the substitution of practical conscription. He spoke quite openly and unrestrainedly in absolute condemnation of the last report, and when we found ourselves side by side at a later period of the evening I had a long and most interesting chat with him on the general subject of Imperial Defence—both Home and colonial. " Yes," said Sir John, "I do entirely condemn the idea of conscription. Ido so, not merely because it is contrary to all our English ideas and traditions, or because I believe the people of this country would not stand it, but because I deem it utterly unnecessary." &S|j|P ■. "(But difficulty is experienced in recruiting sufficient men for the Army, is it not so ? "j §j§,?Kii|