§ Commander BELLAIRSasked the Secretary of State for War, with the view of shortening the military training after young men are called up, whether the Army Council will consider the advisability of compelling all boys above the age of seventeen to join school corps, Volunteers, or Regular Forces, with such exceptions as the interests of the country demand?
§ Mr. FORSTERAll men who came under the Military Service Acts are called up in ample time to be fully trained by the time that they are eligible to take the field. No immediate military advantage would be obtained by the adoption of complete training from the age of seventeen, which would have the result of withdrawing men from useful labour and of largely increasing, not only the size of the training centres, but also the cost of the Army to a considerable extent. Intermittent training could only be enforced with difficulty, and would not produce military results commensurate with the considerable increase in the training centres.