Monday's papers publish a letter from Lord Wemyss deal- ing
with the question of the Militia. Lord Wemyss thinks that the Militia force will be destroyed by the proposal to make all Militiamen liable for service at any time and any- where. We cannot agree with him here, though we do agree with him that the Militia is the basis of our home defence system. In our view, the military forces of the nation should consist of (1) the present Regular Army, its duties being that of policing the Empire; (2) Militia (3) Volunteers ; (4) a Home Defence Reserve, only to be called out to resist invasion, and consisting of all the trained men in the country who, not enrolled in any other force, had entered their names on a register and accepted a retaining fee. The Militia should be increased in numbers, and there should be established a regular Militia Reserve, through which all Militiamen should pass as a matter of course. This Militia Reserve should not be liable to service outside these islands. The pay, 8c., offered to the Militiamen must, of course, be made sufficient to attract men in the required numbers. The Militia should be looked upon as a great military school, through which as large a portion of the population as possible should be passed. The inducement to get trained men, after they had ceased to belong to the Army or Militia, or their respective Reserves, or to the Volunteers, to place and keep their names on the registers of the Home Defence Reserve would be an old-age pension of a shilling a day after sixty-five, and a small annual retainer.
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