A ROYAL COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL TRAINING.
[TO THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SID,—In your article on the above subject which ap- peared in the Spectator of the 12th inst. you advocate the appointment of a Royal Commission to consider the physical and military training of our lads. The Government has already appointed such a Commission for Scotland, and I am moving in the House of Lords that England should receive like treatment. The Lads' Drill Association has since its formation in 1899 strongly advocated a system of training such as you suggest in the article referred to above. We have striven to impress on the Government and on the public generally the vital necessity of (1) systematic physical training, in our schools, and (2) military training for our lads up to seventeen years of age. The publication by the Board of Education, at our request, of an official course of physical training' for use in elementary schools will unquestionably do good. The training will be carried out in a systematic manner ' and on scientific lines, and an improvement in the physique of the coming generation will be the result. Last year I introduced the Military Instruction Bill into the House of Lords. This Bill dealt with the military training of boys of all classes, but it was thrown out in Committee, the Government opposing it on the ground of expense. The Government has, however, sanctioned the issue of free ammu- nition for Cadets, a concession valuable not only on account of the financial relief it affords Cadet battalions and corps, but as a sign that the authorities appear at last to recognise that the military training of our boys is a matter of national importance deserving the attention of the Government. H.R.H. the Prince of Wales has testified to his interest in
the work carried on by the Lads' Drill Association by graciously consenting to become our patron.—I am, Sir, &c,
FRANKFORT,
Vice-Chairman. Lads' Drill Association.
[The movement for the physical training for our youths owes, as all the world knows, a deep debt of gratitude to Lord Frankfort. His letter affords the most valuable support to our demand for a Royal Commission to inquire into the whole subject, and a Royal Commission to be presided over by the Prince of Wales.—ED. Spectator.]
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