TECHNICAL EDUCATION AND ARMY REFORM.
[To THZ Maros Or TRH "SPECTATOR."]
Sin,—The questions of education and Army reform are pressing for practical solution. Lord Wolseley stated on retiring that he had been the head of the greatest school in the country. Let the Army become not merely the greatest school, but the great technical school, of the country in time of peace, and the recruiting problem will be solved. To rise from the condition of ordinary labourer to that of skilled labourer or mechanic is the hardest single step up ward- When made, the income is increased from fifty to one hundred per cent. on the lowest scale of wages. Few well-to-do people realise this, and still fewer understand its importance. The step would be made easier if while serving the capable men were trained to industry and the soldiers' time divided between training for war and for civil life. The keen com- petition and increased use of machinery require additional intelligence to keep pace with the times. On February 26th, 1900, Lord Monkswell raised the question in the House of Lords (see "Hansard"), and stated that the "soldier must be educated
to fit him for civil life, or conscription must follow." Lord Lansdowne agreed, but sai41 the difficulty was to get soldiers to interest themselves in their education ; that £75 per battalion had been set apart for the purpose, with a disappointing result. Who can be surprised at this ?-075 to improve the condition of eight hundred men ! This is not the spirit in which to start a great movement. Our captains of industry do not act in this peddling fashion. The standing camps in different parts of the country might be made to some extent self- supporting, the men being brought forward in civilian work by degrees and paid as their work becomes valuable. It is essential that this work be done seriously as part of Army routine, not looked upon as an excresvence to be tolerated. If the ambitious and discontented labourer realises that after serving his capacity as a wage-earner will be increased and his prospects improved, the pick of by far the most numerous class of the nation will flock to the Army ; and as no class has a monopoly of brains, this ensures a recruit who, if properly handled, will become an asset of exceeding great value, while the Reservist will raise the standard of labour throughout the Empire.—I am, Sir, &c.,
Previous page
