The Royal Military Academy is maintained for the purpose of affording a special military education to candidates for commissions in the royal artillery and royal engineers. Candidates must, in the opinion of the commander-in-chief (who is the president of the Royal Military Academy), be in all respects suitable to hold commissions in the army. An independent in spection is made annually by a board of visitors, appointed by the Secretary of State for War, and reporting to him. Such visitors are not a permanent body, but are not all changed at the same time. The report of this board is presented to Parliament. The academy is un der the control of a military officer, styled governor and commandant, appointed by and responsible to the Secretary of State for War, through the commander-in-chief. The gover nor is assisted by a staff officer styled the assist ant commandant and secretary, who is respon sible in his temporary absence for the charge of the establishment. This officer commands the cadet company, and has the custody of the records and correspondence of the academy / and gives the governor such assistance as he may require. The governor is assisted in the arrangement of the studies by a board come posed of the assistant commandant and tile professors or senior instructors of the different branches. The head of each branch has the supervision and inspection of the studies in his department and reports on them to the gover nor. Admission to the Royal Military Acad emy as cadets is granted to the successful candidates at an open competitive examination.
The Royal Military College at Sandhurst is maintained for the purpose of affording a spe cial military education to candidates for com missions in the infantry and cavalry. Candi dates must, in the opinion of the commander in-chief, be in all respects suitable to hold commissions in the army. The commander-in chief is president of the Royal Military Col lege, and, as at the Royal Military Academy, there is an annual independent inspection and a governor and commandant in control, assisted by an assistant commandant and secretary, who commands the cadet battalion and has the custody of the records and correspondence of the college. Admission to the Royal Military College is granted to successful candidates at a competitive examination and to Indian Cadets, pages of honor and others subject to a qualify ing examination. The characteristic features of the Woolwich and Sandhurst schools are the brief period of instruction and the some what exacting competitive standards or admis sion. The two occupy to a considerable ex tent the relation of cause and effect, with some diversity of judgment expressed as to their expediency.
The Polytechnic School, or L'Ecole Poly technique, at Paris, was founded in 1794 and has been reorganized by various decrees. The object of the school is to train students for the following branches of the public service: The artillery of the army and the marine artillery; the engineer corps of the army; the engine r corps of the navy or naval constructors; the corps of naval officers; the hydrographic corps; the marine commissariat corps; the corps of highways and bridges; the manufactories of the state; the engineers of the powder and salt petre service ; the mining engineers and the telegraphic lines; also for such other public services as require a profound knowledge of the mathematical, physical and chemical sci ences. Admittance to the school is exclusively by competitive examination. After a two years'
course the student may go to one of the special schools of application for any of the above mentioned services, provided he can pass suc cessfully the final examinations and .. de clared to be acceptable for this service by the decision of a committee which draws up the classification list for the public services. Ful filment of these conditions does not give an absolute right to enter any of the public serv ices; admission to any service depends upon the number of vacancies existing at the time of leaving the school, upon the physical aptitude of the student and his place on the order of merit. The school is directly subject to the Minister of War.
The Special Military School of Saint Cyr, or Saint Cyr, as it is popularly designated, dates from the time of Louis XIV, and is intended to supply officers for the infantry, the cavalry and the marine infantry. The course of in struction lasts two years, and no scholar is allowed to remain more than three years at the school. The privilege of taking a third year to complete the course is only allowed where circumstances of exceptional gravity have compelled a student to suspend work at the school. Admittance to the school is exclusively by competitive examination and competitors are limited to those who have obtained certain degrees, or a certificate of qualification for the baccalaureate degree in secondary or classical modern schools. In France the system adopted in the armies at the front is that of centraliz ing the instruction in each army. This in struction embraces: (1) Schools of the line— (a) course for captains which prepares for the command of the battalion, (b) special course for commanders of division depots, (c) course for company commanders, (d) course for non commissioned officers, (e) practical course in engineering; (2) schools of specialists— (a) school for grenadiers, (b) machine-gun schools, (c) automatic rifle school, (d) school for the 37 mm. gun, and (e) school of liaison and signal ling. These schools are generally in a zone about two or three days' march from the front. In addition to these schools, practical instruc tion is given in the division depots to recruits who have just joined combat organizations. Behind the front are instruction battalions formed from recruits of the youngest classes, and in the interior of the country are vast camps where schools of specialists carry on their training.
In Germany, the school which corresponds most nearly to the United States Military Academy is the Upper Cadet School, at Gross Lichterf elde ( Haupt-Katetten-Austalt). This school is fed or supplied by the “Kadettenhau or preparatory, cadet schools. Saxony and Bavaria have their own cadet corps corre sponding to the preparatory and upper cadet schools of Prussia, from which appointments are made to the Saxon army corps and to the corps of the Bavarian army. Saxony, however, has no artillery and engineer school, and officers of those arms have to pass through the Prus sian School at Berlin. Bavaria has its own artillery and engineer school at Munich.
The military educational system of the United States comprises: I. The Military Academy at West Point for the education of cadets.
2. Post schools for the instruction of en listed men.
3. At each military post a garrison school for the instruction of officers in subjects per taining to the performance of their ordinary duties.
4. Service schools. See Aantv SERVICE