PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS. 39 



that the Department of Repatriation supplied the necessary 

 funds to meet tlie expense involved. The agreement also 

 provided that any additional buildings would be taken over 

 by the State Education Department, and, further, that if 

 the latter desired, equipment especially provided for the 

 soldiers' training could also be taken over. Under this 

 agreement, the Department of Repatriation has had the 

 use of much accommodation and equipment, and the ser- 

 vices of expert advisers and teachers, especially in the 

 States with large populations. In the less populated States, 

 there was, as a matter of fact, very little in the way of 

 existing technical schools, but little as there was, it was 

 most readily made available. It was, nevertheless, neces- 

 sary, even in the more densely populated States, to add 

 considerable accommodation and equipment, and to appoint 

 a large additional stall of teachers. In some cases, it 

 became necessary to second the efforts of the State Educa- 

 tional Departments by the establishment of special schools 

 more directly under the control of the Repatriation Depart- 

 ment than were those established by the Educational 

 Departments. The building of the additional class-rooms 

 and workshops and the acquisition of necessary additional 

 equipment during a time of great scarcity of materials of 

 every kind were matters surrounded with many difficulties, 

 and especially so because speed in getting training facilities 

 into operation was of the greatest moment. In fact, the 

 difficulty of obtaining equipment became so acute that it 

 was necessary, in some cases, to invoke the aid of the 

 Business Committee of the Defence Department, with a 

 view to commandeering whatever was available in the 

 Commonwealth. Competent tradesmen to act as teachers 

 were also very difficult to find, because so many of the best 

 men were away on active service. However, as the result 

 of unflagging effort, there soon came a time when, in every 

 State, there were in full operation classes of instruction in 



