Mr. MACDONALD (Pictou):
We do not keep data of that kind. I do not think there would be a very great percentage, although there would be a considerable number. The total number of officers of all grades in the. Canadian army does not amount to more than three hundred.
Mr. WOODSWORTH:
I asked that in view of the statement that was made to me by one of the officers of the board some years ago that a considerable number of the graduates of the college applied for commissions in the British army, and that we received very little benefit indeed, if you call it a benefit, so far as the Canadian forces are concerned.
Mr. GRAHAM:
I have kept out of this
military discussion although it has been hard work. If there is an institution in this country that ought to have the unanimous support of hon. members it is the Royal Military College. Should there be any members here who have got the idea that there is something repulsive about the military college, or that it is an institution that should not be supported by the Canadian people, I would advise them to pay a visit to it. To my mind there is no institution in this country that develops an all round manhood like the Royal Military College does; it develops young Canadians mentally, physically and morally. The knots are knocked off the boys who join in a few weeks. It is true that sometimes the treatment is a little rough,
but any lad who goes to the Royal Military College and stays there comes out a real man. You will find throughout this country men in different walks of life who have been trained at the military college, and they are fit to take their places anywhere.
Mr. MART ELL:
They are well equipped for civil life as well as for a military career.
Mr. GOULD:
I am afraid they would not be of much use in stooking grain.
Mr. GRAHAM:
The physique of the
graduates is such that they will easily match a man at stooking grain or anything else.
Mr. GOULD:
I will accept that challenge.
Mr. GRAHAM:
I have always been
strongly in favour of the Royal Military College ever since I visited it. Before that time I did not believe in it. I met boys there who had gone in ungainly youths and had been converted into perfect gentlemen. At the Royal Military College they have a severer physical test than at any other institution in Canada, and there is no other place where they get such an all round training. I have a strong and abiding faith in the belief that a man to be mentally strong must be physically fit, otherwise he is top heavy and not of much use.
Mr. IRVINE:
How long has the Royal
Military College been in existence?
Mr. MARTELL:
Before you came to this country.
Mr. GRAHAM:
I do not know; I suppose it was established nearly fifty years ago.
Mr. ROSS (Kingston):
During the time
of Alexander Mackenzie.
Mr. IRVINE:
If it has been in existence
for fifty years and has produced such great mentalities why is it the graduates are not to be found occupying positions of eminence in this country?
Mr. GRAHAM:
But they are. They are occupying some of the highest positions in Canada. I do not carry a list of the graduates in my pocket, but I will guarantee to my hon. friend that if he obtains a list of the men who have passed through the college he will find that a great many of them are occupying high positions not only in Canada but in other countries. I met several of them in the Old Land, men who had taken positions that were a credit to Canada and a credit to themselves. I must not mention war because there will be trouble. I hate war as much as any person
Supply-Royal Military College
else does, but let me tell my hon. friend this: Such is the training given at the Koyal Military College that when the war broke out hundreds of men engaged in engineering and other walks of civil life throughout Canada were the first to say "We are ready"; and if you follow their record, either in the engineering corps or other branches during the war you will find that the deeds of the graduates of the Royal Military College are emblazoned in letters of gold upon the banners of their country. I know something about the college and what it does and I say this, as a man who has had years of experience: If I had to cut all these items but two, the votes I should retain would be those for the Royal Military College and the cadet service.
Mr. ROSS (Kingston):
Do not imagine that the Royal Military College is in my constituency because it is not.
Mr. GRAHAM:
It is close.
Mr. ROSS (Kingston):
Yes it is close. But I know something about the college and I can say about it that those who criticise and decry, live to praise. One only needs to visit that institution to ascertain its value to Canada. Some 1,300 graduates have come from that college and 900 of them served in the great war. No other institution has such a splendid record as that.
Mr. WARD:
I understood the minister to say that some 1,300 had graduated from this college since its establishment?
Mr. MACDONALD (Pictou):
My deputy tells me that is incorrect. Those are the graduates for a period of ten years.
Mr. WARD:
Even at the reduced period it seems like a lot of money to be spent on it.