RIFLE CLUBS AND VILLAGE GUARDS.

WE understand that the High Sheriff of Surrey, Mr. St. Lee Strachey, is this afternoon holding a Con- ference of the Surrey Rifle Clubs at Brett Reynard's Restaurant, Guildford, at five o'clock, with the object of making proposals for the formation of Town and Village Guards. It must be obvious to every one that it would be an enormous advantage if every small town and village had such Guards, and if the police and military authori- ties could, in the case of emergency, find an organized body, even though roughly organized, ready to co-operate with them. Mr. Strachey proposes that wherever there are Rifle Clubs—and there are such in most villages and towns in Surrey—they should constitute themselves Town or Village Guards ; that is, the Rifle Club organization should be made use of, for, if it can possibly be avoided, nobody must create a new organization when there are old ones existing capable of doing the work. The danger of the Village Guard proposal is that people may think that by joining a Town or Village Guard they have done all that is necessary to prove their patriotism. Therefore Mr. Strachey proposes that it should be an essential condition of joining a Village Guard that a man shall not be of the age to join Lord Kitchener's new Army of half a million men. No man, that is, must be taken for a Village Guard—except very temporarily—unless he is under nineteen or over thirty. Further, the members of the Village or Town Guard should deem it their first duty to induce every man of military age whom they can influence to volunteer for the Second Army. We must not rest till we have got Lord Kitchener his men. Every scheme, semi-military or philanthropic, must give way to this all-urgent need. in cases where there is not a Town or Village Rifle Club, some person capable of taking the lead in the village should call a meeting of the male inhabitants and organize a Guard.

It may be of use for the present writer to describe briefly bow he helped to form such a Guard in his own village. Last Sunday night at about half-past ten a neighbour, one of the leading men in the county and district, telephoned to him that the police had just called to ask for volunteers to guard the bridges on the railway, as the constables who had been doing the work hitherto were exhausted, and must be relieved at all costs of some of the work. He, of course, turned out and took with him his own commando of chauffeurs, footmen, grooms, gardeners, &c. About twenty men were soon assembled at the big house, and these were split up into night Guards and day Guards, and within some forty minutes the present writer, with his son, found himself on a railway bridge shouldering a shot gun, and making the necessary arrangements with his two village colleagues to keep the bridge protected till he and his party were relieved at about a quarter past two. The next day it fell to him to organize a Village Guard in a place where there was no Rifle Club. Accordingly he got his friends and neighbours to meet him on the principal railway bridge near the railway station at seven o'clock in the evening, and then enrolled some fifty men as Village Guards. These were divided into night and day watches for guarding the three railway bridges in the parish. There was no difficulty in getting men for the night Guards. The day Guards were a great difficulty, as there are few or no unemployed, rich or poor, in that village. However, employers of labour were most sensible in regard to letting their gardeners go, and therefore the obstacle was ultimately got over.

The following are the specific proposals which will be put forward by the Sheriff of Surrey at his conference of Rifle Clubs. We think it practically certain that in this or some modified form they will be accepted by the Rifle Club meeting. Other counties will, no doubt, adopt a similar course of action :—

STEPS TO BE TAKEN FOR CARRYING OUT SHERIFF'S SUGGESTIONS.

(1) Call a Rifle Club General Meeting.

(2) Inform them of Sheriff's message.

(3) Form Town or Village Guard.

CONSTITUTION OF GUARD.—All members of Rifle Clubs over 30 years of ago to be Members. No men under that age to be taken, except only men who have offered to enlist and been rejected by the Doctor.

OBJECTS AND DUTIES OF TOWN AND VILLAGE GUARDS.

(1) To make arrangements for guarding places in the Town, Village, or Parish, such as Railway Bridges in which the Village is situated, and for assisting the Police and Magistrates, or Mayor and Municipal Authorities, in the maintenance of order, and relieving the Police in case of emergency and sudden calls. The object is not the creation of a permanent or standing force, but purely of one of the emergency order. No one will be called on to neglect his ordinary work or duties except there is peril to the Town or Village.

(2) To use all possible endeavours to induce men of thirty and under to enlist, and to assist men willing to enlist to get their names enrolled. Promises of employment at the end of the war to be obtained. Recruits on the Town or Village list shall be made to feel that the Town or Village has a special responsibility in regard to them.

(3) To get in touch with all men in the Town or Village who are eligible for the National Reserve, and to induce them to register their names at once, and to join Class I. or Class IL of the National Reserve.

(4) To support the Sheriff in any way he may order in case he should be obliged to call out the able manhood of the county to assist him in repelling the King's enemies.

ORGANIZATION OF GUARD WHEN FORMED. Steps to be Taken.

- (1) Choose a Captain of the Town or Village Guard. When elected let him put himself in touch with the nearest Magistrate, and also inform Local Police of his appointment.

(2) Let the Guard be divided into Sections. of ten men with a

Section Leader in addition, and Subsections of five men each, one of the five to be chosen as Subsection Leader.

(3) Daring the first two months after formation let as many as can of the Guard meet each evening. Let them find some one who is competent to instruct in company drill and let him drill the Guard each evening. Let those who own rifles bring them to the place of meeting. Small stocks of ball cartridge should be pro- vided by those individuals who own rifles, but no cartridges should be taken to drills or on duty unless at the special request of the Police. For ordinary Guard Duties a good stick, truncheon, or baton is far more useful than a rifle.

(4) Captain should get information as to where picks and shovels can be procured in the Village in case of a sudden demand for means to entrench a position. He should also ascertain that the Town or Village Guard men know how to use these implements.

(5) The Captain in consultation with his men should discuss plans for guarding Village and for keeping order should any request come to him to do so. He should provide himself with a good map (scale : 1 inch to a mile). He should keep in touch with the Town or Village Guards bordering him. He should report from time to time to the High Sheriff, or the person who is organizing Town and Village Guards in the County, who will endeavour to inspect the Guards by himself or Deputy.

GENERAL INSTRUCTIONS.—Men who are already in some other organization like the Red Cross on no account to resign from those bodies in order to take up Guard Duties. This is most important. The Town Guards and Village Guards are super- numerary, and must not be allowed to interfere with existing organizations. Above all, they must consider themselves as under the orders of the Police. If required to do so, they should be sworn in as special constables.

In all cases of doubt let Town or Village Guards look to the Police and Magistrates for instructions. They should consider themselves a kind of voluntary Police.