HC Deb 06 August 1878 vol 242 cc1397-401
MR. HAYTER

said, he desired to call attention to the Report of the Joint Committee of the War Office and of the Civil Service Commissioners appointed to consider the question whether the present literary examinations for the Army should be supplemented by physical competition. The question had already been twice discussed by noble Lords in "another place;" and as it was a very important one, in the opinion of all those who took an interest in matters relating to the efficiency of the officers of the Army, he trusted that some expression would be given to the views entertained by the Secretary of State for War upon the advisability of giving the number of 1,200 marks to candidates for competition in physical tests. The Commission which had made the recommendation consisted of three civilian and three military Members, whose names, of course, carried with them very great weight. But, at the same time, it was to be observed that this was a very peculiar innovation. The upshot of the Report was, that to those who showed efficiency in three of the following six subjects:—namely, Riding, Walking, Running, Jumping, Swimming, and Gymnastics—should be given 1,200 marks additional, the consequence of which would be that an examination supplementary to the ordinary Army Examination would have to be held. It was important that the opinions should be known of such men as General Sir John Adye, the Rev. Dr. Bidding, Head Master at Winchester; the Rev. Dr. Perceval, Head Master at Clifton; and the Rev. Dr. Faber, Head Master at Malvern College; all of whom had written, in reply to a general Circular sent to them, more or less in the sense that there was a danger that the intellectual studies of youths would be neglected for the physical subjects for proficiency in which they were to receive the 1,200 additional marks. He asked the House to consider the particular exercise of riding. How unjust would it be to some candidates, whose parents were not rich enough to afford to keep horses, that the sons of more wealthy persons should receive marks for an acquirement which was beyond their reach? Again, it was very frequently the case that officers were many years in the Army without having to ride at all, from which it would be seen that competition in this exercise would be to them, at any rate, superfluous. When it was considered that swimming was now taught in all public schools, and that cricket matches and boat races were increasing year by year, he considered it proved that there was no want of physical activity amongst the young men of the present generation. There was, however, in intellectual acquirements great danger in the competition between the officers of the English and officers of foreign Armies. It was to be remembered that the Germans, in their struggle with France, had a very marked superiority in the intelligence of their officers. It was the desire, therefore, of Lord Cardwell— and he trusted it was also the desire of the present Secretary of State for War—to raise, by every means, the intellectual standard of our officers. The officers now had an opportunity of studying all branches of their profession, while he would remind the House incidentally that every candidate for the staff had to pass an examination, to prove his efficiency in riding. Upon these general grounds, therefore, he maintained that there was no necessity for the additional stimulus recommended for acquiring ex- cellence in physical competitions, which, in his opinion, would operate prejudicially against the necessary progress in intellectual studies of candidates for the Army. In conclusion, he would remind the House, in proof of the ample supply of candidates for the Army, that at the last examination, out of 180 candidates, no less than 70 had been already rejected.

COLONEL ARBUTHNOT

thought the opinions quoted by his hon. and gallant Friend had hardly been a fair sample of those contained in the letters included in the Report of the Committee. That Report pointed to two objects which it was desirable to gain—in the first place, the exclusion from the Army of mere bookworms; and, secondly, to prevent the loss to the Army of the services of those who might be good scholars, and who had the advantage over the whole or a large number of those who got their commissions. The opinions of the schoolmasters which had been quoted were two-fold; some were in favour of a certain number of marks being given for efficiency; others thought it should be a sine quâ non that a certain amount of efficiency should exist. In his opinion, a combination of these two plans would work well—that was to say, a certain test examination as to physical power should be introduced, with a moderate number of marks as a sine quâ non, and those who excelled should be able to gain a limited number of marks with a view to making up a number that would turn the balance in their favour over some others who were no better than themselves.

MR. CAMPBELL - BANNERMAN

expressed his entire concurrence with the remarks of his hon. and gallant Friend (Mr. Hayter), and trusted that the Government would pause before accepting the recommendation of the Committee. He was no fanatical devotee to competitive examination; but, whatever might be thought of the subject, it was the fairest mode they could have of entering the Public Service; and the defects originally found in it had been gradually eliminated by the care of the Examiners. The great error which underlay the Report of the Committee was the opinion that, in the competitive examination of young men, those who took the highest place were necessarily bookworms, and that the rest were fine gallant fellows who were a great loss to the Public Service. Was it not notoriously the case that the best men in the schools were often distinguished in the cricket-field or on the river? On the other hand, it might very well be that a youth stood very low in the list, and yet would not be made an efficient officer by any such proposal as that contained in the Report. Hon. Members opposite talked of numbers being lost to the Army through the system of examination. Now, the standard of examination was not so very terrible, and if candidates applied themselves to study they ought to be able to pass. The proposal of the Committee would, if carried out, enable some stupid youth to leap over the heads of his more successful competitors, simply because he might have the knack of leaping high and running fast. He admitted that it was desirable for an officer in the Army to be up to a certain standard of physical endurance; that his stamina should be good. One of the officers examined before the Committee pointed out that, after a long and hard march, an officer should be able to look after the comfort of his men. It was admitted that he should be a man of endurance; but as to the question of jumping, running, and walking, everyone knew it was a sort of knack. He would rather see candidates from cricketing elevens, or from the eights on the river, which would supply youths possessed of the happy qualities of judgment, patience, and temper, so necessary to the officer in the Army. As for the artificial way of putting them through gymnastic exercises, in order to discover who could run and walk fast, it seemed to him an extraordinary proposal to proceed from the Civil Service Commissioners. He did not want to make any strong observations about schoolmasters; but if he wanted an opinion upon the subject under consideration, he should certainly not go to them. He urged his right hon. and gallant Friend to consider fully, before adopting the Report of the Commissioners.

COLONEL STANLEY

would endeavour to confine his observations to as short a space of time as possible. He did not intend to follow his hon. and gallant Friend opposite into the various opinions of schoolmasters and others who gave the results of their experience to the Commission. Owing to the circumstances of the year, there had been neither time nor opportunity for properly considering the very interesting question raised. It had been his duty, and the duty of others, to read the Report carefully; and, as a result of that, he was bound to say that, in his opinion, the onus probandi rested with the Commissioners, and that there were points to be attended to before their suggestions could be carried out. Two questions, very much to the point, were—first, were the young men who were now candidates for the Army, physically of a lower standard than those who presented themselves before competitive examination became the rule? So far from that being the case, a finer set of young men, take them all round, could not be found. His hon. and gallant Friend near him informed him that the distinguished General who commanded at Aldershot had expressed an opinion that "the officers of the present day are the finest we have had." The second question was, could we institute such a course of study without injury. It was obvious that this consideration underlay the recommendation of the Commissioners. They seemed to admit riding and swimming—probably two of the most valuable qualities which a man as an officer could possess—while they excluded putting the shot as, in the first place, useless, and liable to strain young men. If it were proved that the officers of the Army were subject to diseases which could only be the result of over study, he thought the question would merit more prompt and close attention. He was only expressing his individual opinion, and that without hesitation. The obvious bias in the minds of all schoolmasters was that if you really give marks for muscular exercises an injurious effect would be produced on the mental training of the candidate. It should be borne in mind that these young men were very like young horses, and that if they trained them too much they were very likely to end by losing all, and it was necessary to be very careful not to damage their constitutions. No doubt, cœteris paribus, the physically best men were preferable; but while he did not wish to disparage the Commissioners, he was bound to express his personal opinion that the burden of proof lay with them.