PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 15 



be approved for training and would fail to begin, and the 

 proportion who would withdraw shortly after having com- 

 menced. At the present time, very few men remain to be 

 selected and put into training, so that the work of inves- 

 tigating claims and putting men into training has practic- 

 ally ended. It is, therefore, now possible to ascertain the 

 value of the estimate made in April, 1919. Since that time 

 15,475 men have been put into training and have gone on 

 successfully, so that the estimate has been justified. 



Prior to the reorganising of the scheme in April, 1919, 

 5,269 men had been dealt with. This number, together 

 with the number which have been put into training since, 

 namely, 15,475, makes a grand total of 20,744 men already 

 dealt with by the Repatriation Department since its 

 establishment in 1918. It will be interesting to know that 

 an additional 8,896 were approved, but either failed to 

 begin or withdrew after having commenced training, thus 

 making a complete total of 29,640 men approved for training. 

 The withdrawals amount to 30 per cent., which compares 

 more than favourably with the percentage of withdrawals 

 of students who enter on evening courses of instruction in 

 ordinary schools. 



The next important step was to allot with the greatest 

 care and judgment the estimated number, as from the 1st 

 April, 1919, to the different callings in the various States 

 of the Commonwealth. This was most necessary, because 

 the question of successful absorption into civil employment 

 after training had to be considered and allowed for, other- 

 wise there would be the danger of having too many trained 

 for a particular calling. Moreover, it was but fair and 

 economically sound that each profession and trade should 

 take its proper proportion of the men. This was done by 

 first breaking up the total, namely 15,110, into seven 

 parts, having the same proportion to each other as the 



