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H.—l9.

31

To descend to the vernacular, discipline consists in " playing the game." We submit to discipline because we know- it is for the good of the army ; we recognize the fact that the army cannot carry on without it. A soldier may not know, and does not question, why he does a certain thing that he is ordered to do. What he does know is that it is a part of the scheme of things—that it is necessary for the good of the whole —and obeys his orders because he must " play the game." A man may be as laa \e as a lion and as reckless as a fool, but unless in action he " plays the game " and does as he is told he is useless as a soldier. He may risk his life in some act which appears on the face of it to be one of extreme gallantry, and he may even lose his life over it; but unless he has done all this in the course of playing the game, acting under orders with his comrades, he is a man without discipline, and not fit to be in the ranks ;heis a weak spot in his unit, and of no use to his commander. As has been said before, and it cannot be too strongly impressed on all, discipline means self-sacrifice, and self-sacrifice is the essence of patriotism. Surely under these circumstances discipline is worth submitting to. But it must he remembered by all whose duty it is to enforce discipline that the manner of exacting it from those under them demands consideration. Tact and courtesy go hand-in-hand to strengthen command. Firmness of character, self-respect, and confidence in one's powers always obtain respect and obedience from one's subordinates. If officers take an interest, as it is their duty to do, in the welfare and comfort of their men, they will gain their esteem, and will be looked up to as they should be. The lessons of discipline are the first that should be inculcated in the recruit: he must bo shown the necessity of it, and that he must submit to it. When this is accomplished, the rest will be easy. One of the first things that discipline will teach him is steadiness in the ranks. It is only thus thai he can concentrate his mind on his drill, and the more disciplined he is the steadier and smarter he will be. It is the man with the wandering mind that looks about him when supposed to be standing to attention, who shifts his feet and moves his hands —this man has never learnt his first lesson, and will never be any good till he has. In drilling his men, the instructor must give much thought, and, if necessary, practice, to the method in which he gives his words of command. An instructor with a bad word of command will never induce smartness in his squad. It is therefore recommended that communicating drill should he frequently practised by all those who instruct, imtil a method of giving words of command is obtained that will insure smartness of movement in those being drilled. Men will never move or drill smartly, and no other way 7 of drilling is of any value, unless they feel that their instructor knows his drill and has confidence in himself. A half-hearted word of command is useless, and conduces to a loss of respect for and confidence in the instructor. Great stress is therefore laid on this subject, and the company commander will be responsible that his instructors are efficient in this respect as much as in others. Since the training during the year is to be progressive, culminating in the seven days' continuous training in camp, it stands to reason that this camp should take place as late in the year as possible. Each quota of first-year men are posted at the same time—in May—to the several units and corps, and these are to be brought on gradually to a state of efficiency, so that they may obtain the greatest advantage possible out of their training in camp with their unit or corps. There may be cases where local circumstances and the vocation of individuals may demand the training of units in camp at other limes than at the end of the year. It is possible that, as a special case, this may be conceded. But it must be borne in mind that a camp held near the beginning of the training-year cannot be so advantageous for training as at the end, and for this reason : At the commencement of the training-year there is a quota of first-year men to be considered, and these go into camp with their unit. Their training must be progressive, and they are only at the commencement of it, therefore they cannot take part in the higher training of their unit in the field. But because, during their time in camp, they cannot be allowed to remain idle while their unit is carrying out this higher training, a proportion of officers and N.C.O.s must be detached from the unit to train the first-year men. This means that the services of these officers and N.C.O.s are lost to the unit; and not only that, but these same officers and N.C.O.s lose the benefit of the training in the field with their unit which they would have had otherwise. Thus it is obvious that every effort should be made to postpone the training in camp to as late a date in the training-year as possible, having regard to the convenience of the employer and the vocation of the individual. Those who are concerned in the training of the citizen soldier will henceforth have their task lightened, compared with the difficulties they had to deal with in the past. They will find that the. quota of first-year men—in other words, the recruits —will all be posted to their unit at one time, instead of dribbling in at all times of the year. In the years to come these recruits will be so far already trained, as Senior Cadets, as to be conversant with the elements of discipline, drill, physical training, and musketry. Thus it will be found that the work of the instructors of the Territorial Forces will be considerably lightened. To this end it behoves those who have the training of the Senior Cadets as their duty to realize the very serious responsibility which rests on their shoulders. The Senior Cadets are the future manhood of the nation, and it is to the lessons inculcated during those receptive ages between fourteen and eighteen that we look for the formation of a character that will make them worthy citizens and good soldiers. It cannot be too forcibly impressed on those concerned with the 1 raining of the Senior Cadets that they will not only instruct them in the elements of their military duty, but will .also bring them up endowed with such a spirit of patriotism, discipline, sobriety, selfrespect, and self-control as will affect them in their after-lives, and benefit their character and ability in whatever vocation they may embark. The training of the Senior Cadets is looked on as the most important part of the defence scheme. It is maintained that the mental, moral, and physical education of the Senior Cadets under a military organization will improve the manhood of the nation, and it rests with their instructors to prove it. The training of the Senior Cadets in their military duties and physical exercises is to be of the most elementary nature, but what is required is that the grounding must be thorough in all respects. It

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