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. 1910. NEW ZEALAND.

NEW ZEALAND JUNIOR CADETS (REPORT ON THE).

Presented to both Houses of the General Assembly by Command of His Excellency,

The Commandant of thb New Zealand Jcniob Cadets to the Hon. the Minister of Education. Sir,— Wellington. 16th May, 1910. I have the honour, pursuant to subsection (2) of section 36 of the Defence Act, 1909, to submit the following report on the Junior Cadets of New Zealand for the year ended 31st March. 1910. The cadets known hitherto as the " New Zealand Public School Cadets " have, by the coming into force of the Defence Act. 1909, become part of the " New /('aland Junior Cadets," which include all boys in New Zealand from twelve to fourteen years of age or to the date of leaving school, whichever is the later. Regulations under the Defence Act. 1909, were uazetted and came into force on the 18th March, 1910. The head teachers of all the boys and mixed schools (public and private) in the Dominion, numbering 2,231, were asked to supply particulars re the numbers of boys of cadet age at their respective schools, and to make recommendations' re officers, &c. From the returns received so far there are in the Cadet Branch 419 cadet units and 19,246 cadets, and in the Scout Branch there are 594 patrols and 5,054 scouts, and a grand total of cadets and scouts of 24,300, an increase of 9,614 on last year's numbers. These scouts have no connection with the Boy Scouts Organization : they comprise patrols formed at the small schools where it would be difficult to work cadet detachments. I understand that the controlling authority of the Boy Scout Organization is recommending its units to come under the control of this Department, in accordance with the Regulations for Junior Cadets relating to Boy Scouts. Owing to my taking command late in 1909. and in consequence of the vast amount of reorganization which I found to lie necessary in consequence of my having taken over the entire control of the administration, 1 was only able to inspect a small number of units during the year. Wherever I went 1 found the officers, non-commissioned officers, and cadets enthusiastic in their work and anxious to learn, but without the necessary means at their disposal. The one outstanding request everywhere was for instruction. To place teachers without any military experience in command of units, and expect them to learn their work from books, so as to enable them to train and comma ml their cadets, is setting them a difficult task. On the other hand, as there are so many units scattered all over the Dominion, an enormous staff of instructors would be required to enable each unit to be visited at anything like reasonable intervals, and the travelling-expenses and allowances would be very heavy. It is recognised, thereloie. that the only feasible way of properly training the cadets is by so training the officers that they will in turn be able to act as instructors of their commands. The appointment of a sufficient staff of peripatetic instructors for all the units would involve considerable expense. To meet this difficulty, provision was made in the regulations for the formation of a Cadet Officers' Training Unit at each of the training colleges in the Dominion, by means of which all the male students at these colleges can be so trained as to fit them to take up positions as cadet officers at the schools to which they may subsequently be appointed. I am glad to record that Cadet Officers' Training Units have already been formed at Auckland and Wellington, and it is expected that the other centres will soon follow. As there are, and will for many years be, a large number of cadet officers who will not pass through these colleges, it is intended to hold officers' training-camps annually at Auckland, Wellington, Christchurch, Nelson, and Dunedin, for about a week's duration, and in conjunction with the Cadet Officer's Training Units. Arrangements were made during the latter part of the year, through the Chief of the General Staff. Council of Defence, for members of the Permanent Force and district staffs to give instruction