JOINT UNIVERSITY EXAMINING BOARD. 655 



In Queensland the boys in our elementary schools have a natural 

 liking and aptitude for drill, and the same inclination may pro- 

 bably exist in other Australian Colonies. As far as intelligence is 

 concerned I should be sorry to suppose that tl:e pupils in our 

 elementary and secondary schools are in any respect inferior 

 to those of Switzerland, and already' officers of the Queensland 

 forces perceive the beneficial effects of school drill in lessening the 

 time and trouble of training recruits. That which is impressed 

 upon the child by constant repetition is never forgotten, and the 

 boy learns with pleasure the elements of drill, which are 

 monotonous and distasteful to the adult. 



It is usually laid down as an established fact that conscription 

 >vill not be borne by men of Anglo-Saxon race, but I am not 

 advocating conscription ; arbitrary selection is invidious, however 

 decided. My contention is for universal military service. By- 

 following the Swiss plan we obtain the benefits of conscription 

 without Avithdrawing men for lengthened periods from their farms 

 and workshops, but this can only be possible when it is plainly 

 recognised that the military training of our youth commences 

 immediately upon enrolment in our schools. Compulsory military 

 service is by no means unknown in English history, or in English 

 colonies, and by restoring it to the statute book we are merely 

 returning to customs of our forefathers, which have become obsolete 

 through accidents of jjosition and good fortune. Already in 

 Queensland the adult male population can be called out in levies 

 for military service when the colony is threatened. 



It is not in the province of this paper to deal with military 

 affairs further than they concern the schools supported by the 

 State, but I think that children should be taught to feel a pride in 

 their native or adopted country, and should be led to recognise 

 that it is the duty of every man to assist in its defence when 

 threatened by foreign invaders, and should also understand that he 

 who has failed to train himself for military service when the day 

 of danger comes is not fitted for the rights of citizenship, however 

 estimable a man he may be in other respects. 



3.— THE APPOINTMENT OF A JOINT EXAMINING 

 BOARD FOR THE UNIVERSITIES OF AUS- 

 TRALIA. 



By Rev. Canon POOLE, M.A. 



Federation, we are told, is in the air, but there is no reason why 

 it should stay there, and possibly it is not desirable that it shoiJd 

 be brought about in a hurry. It will be in the end achieved, if 



