■654 PROCEEDINGS OF SECTION J. 



between lessons, one or more of these exercises may be taken, and 

 the effects on the carriage and development of children have been 

 far more valuable than those observed when the gymnastic classes 

 ■were in operation. 



The changes introduced by the regulations of 1891 benefited 

 the teaching of drill by bringing it into accord, as far as it went, 

 with the drill of the army, b)^ improving the muscular training, and, 

 lastly, by providing for the formation of cadet corps. In all large 

 schools battalion drill is taught in addition lo squad drill ; and, 

 where there is no cadet corps, the dummy mviskets employed in the 

 physical exercises are also used in teaching the manual exercises. 

 The male teachers of Brisbane and neighborhood have formed a 

 volunteer corps, and this, though of recent formation, has received 

 considerable praise from the commandant Already there is a 

 question of forming a second company, as the one now in existence 

 •is becoming too large, and the example of Brisbane teachers will 

 dou.btless extend. But with all this preliminary work there is not 

 yet any public or official recognition of the third great use of drill in 

 State schools — I mean the training of the youth of the colonj' to take 

 their share in the defence of their country against foreign attack. 



In Switzerland — a country shut in by the four great military 

 powers, Germany, France, Italy, and Austria — it has been found 

 possible to make the (h'ill taught in the elementary schools of the 

 ■utmost value in the general scheme of national defence, and by 

 its help to minimise the cost of annual training, while develoj)ing to 

 the full the armed strength of the nation. Drill is a compulsory 

 subject in all schools and colleges receiving State aid or recognition 

 throughout Switzerland. From six to twelve years of age in the 

 -elementaiy schools, and from twelve to fifteen years in the canton 

 schools, every Swiss boy receives military training, ■with a view to 

 fit him for active service in the field when he attains to manhood. 

 From twelve to fifteen in the secondary schools and canton schools 

 he is drilled in corps similar to our cadet corps, and takes part in 

 the manoeuvres of the military forces of his canton. So complete 

 is his training as a child that, when called to the colors at the age of 

 twenty, he has only to undergo about two months' training the first 

 year, and a fortnight's drill each successive year, until he has reached 

 the age of thirty, to keep him in a state of efficiency; w^hile, to main- 

 tain the national skill in marksmanship, the men between twenty and 

 thirty are called out at intervals, chiefly on holidays, for practice 

 at the butts. From thirty to forty the Swiss are still liable to 

 military service in time of war, but in time of peace they are not 

 required to leave Avork or business for purposes of drill French 

 and German experts speak in laudatory terms of the Swiss military 

 organisation, and regard it as economical and efficient. This ])ractical 

 rise of the drill taught in elementary schools has no such thorough 

 application in Australia, although Victoria and New South Wales 

 by their extension of cadet corps are as usual leading the way. 



