THE PROGRESS OF THE VOLUNTEER MOVEMENT.
WE offer our heartiest congratulations to the War Office and to the Central Association of Volunteer Training Corps upon the exceedingly successful and efficient way in which they are solving the problems of the new Volunteer movomeut. That movement is not only going strong, but it is going wise. The difficulties of detail which seemed so great in the abstract are working out quite easily and reasonably in the concrete, and giving one more example of Lord Salisbury's well-known saying : "The mountains at a distance look an insurmountable barrier, but when you get up to them you al ways find a pass." It is worth while to notice how the passes have been found. Take, for example, the question of uniform. The War Office very naturally did not want to see military bodies which they could not raise themselves adopting what might have turned out to be parodies of the uniform of the Regulars and Territorials. They also, for a very good reason, did not want to encourage any further demand for woollen and khaki materials. They have all they can do to get enough for their own wants, and clearly could not allow com- petitors, who will soon number a million, to come into the market. On the other band, the Volunteer Corps, though they in no way wished, or wish, to usurp the Regular uniform, very naturally and properly wanted to have uniformity of dress, and also wanted that uniformity to possess a distinctly military character. They appreciated the great advantages in regard to discipline and the military spirit conferred by uniform, and they felt also that, whatever the " scrap of paper " signed at the Hague may say, their only real protection as combatants is a distinctive dress of a military character. What matters here is not a subtle point of international law, but what in the event of Volunteers being made prisoners would be the view of the ordinary German Subaltern or Captain. Common-sense at once replies that he would not make fine distinctions as to particular sorts of uniform, but would treat as soldiers persons dressed as soldiers and acting together under officers also dressed as soldiers, and none other. Hague Convention or no Hague Convention, the German officer is pretty sure to refuse to recognize a removable brassard. Possibly he will refuse to recognize any uniform differing from the ordinary field service dress, but at any rate there is a much better chance of his recognizing a Volunteer uniform than of his respecting a brassard.
Happily the apparently, but only apparently, divergent views of the War Office and the Volunteers have been comfortably reconciled. It is now fully recognized that the Volunteer Corps may provide themselves with a dress of a distinctive military character. It has been arranged
that the Volunteers must use cotton drill of a green-grey colour and not woollen cloth, which is required for urgent
military purposes. Where, however, corps have already made definite contracts for a supply of woollen cloth uniforms no objection will be taken. In future the follow- ing very sensible and well-thought-out regulations in regard to uniform are to be observed :—
"The uniform approved by the Military Committee of tho Central Association of Volunteer Training Corps is a Norfolk jacket, with shoulder straps, made in a green-grey rainproof drill. For non-commissioned officers and men it should be made with a closed collar and military cuff ; for officers with open seek to show tie, and plain sleeves so that bands can be worn. The rank of the
officer should be indicated by white braid bands worn on the cuff. This coat, where possible, should be worn with breeches or trousers made of whipcord of the same material as the coat, brown leather gaiters and boots. A leather belt can be worn instead of belts of the same material as the jacket; and the cap, where obtainable, should be the ordinary military peak cap, but no objection would be made to the forage cap or felt hat ; but the headgear should be decided upon by each corps. The Military Committee recommend that the Norfolk jacket should be made-. full so that it can be worn over thick clothes or a cardigan jacket. It is also suggested that if it can be afforded, the jacket should be lined."
We may mention, in case people do not quite realize it, that the green-grey rainproof drill material is thoroughly practical and serviceable stuff. The fact that it will seem at first a little cold for winter work really does not matter, as any amount of warm clothing can be worn under it. It can be treated as a short and smart waterproof over- coat. The material ie one which dries very quickly, and will never get sodden or heavy with rain. For ourselves, we venture to suggest that the military peaked cap—that is, a cap like that of the ordinary soldier—will win the day in the case of most corps. On the whole, it is the cheapest and best. And here we may add that, in our opinion, the prohibition of woollen cloth is a blessing in disguise. It means that the cost of the Volunteer uniforms will be halved. Made in large quantities, there is no reason why the Norfolk jacket should not be made for ten shillings, or even less, and the whole kit purchased for a pound, or even under. While on the subject of uniform it may be as well to point out that, in the opinion of the War Office, to which, of course, all Volunteer Corps will bow without any argument or question, the wearing of a uniform does not do away with the necessity of wearing a brassard. All affiliated corps can receive the brassarde if the application is endorsed by any of the following :— " The Lord-Lieutenant of a County (or the Commandant of a County Regiment appointed by the Lord-Lieutenant), the Mayor of a Town, General Officer in command of a Distnct, Chief Constable, Chief Recruiting Officer, or the Visiting Officer of the Central Association."
The brassard is really the stamp of Government approval of the particular corps, and shows that it is no amateur body, but has been properly affiliated and recognized. Allied with the question of uniform is the question of ranks and badges of ranks. The War Office began by issuing what looked like a rather threatening and dis- couraging command. The Volunteer Corps were not to make use of any military titles employed in the Regular Forces, or to have badges of rank on their uniforms like those in use in the Army and Navy. The bark of this order, however, has proved very much worse than its bite. The very distinguished and experienced General Officer who is the Military Adviser to the Central Association, Sir O'Moore Creagh, has approved a series of regulations which appear to us to solve the whole problem quite admirably. The Volunteers get distinctive ranks and badges, and they are of a thoroughly military character. At the same time, the users of them will not in the very least degree be made to look ridiculous or seem to be under any military disparagement.
We now come to the most difficult of all the original problems, the problem of the " genuine reason." We must confess that, to begin with, we were inclined to think that the beet plan would be to forbid enrolment in the Volunteer Corps to persons of military age, except only in the case of those men who had offered themselves for enlistment in the Army and been definitely rejected by the military authorities. It was urged, however, that beyond the men who had applied and been rejected there were a good many men who could not offer themselves for various reasons which ought to be recognized and respected by the Government—namely : (1) Men in Government employment ; (2) men in railway employment; (3) men on ships and other forms of trans- port ; (4) men employed on Government contracts; (5) men whose absence with the colours would throw a great many other persons out of work or prevent the essential industries of the country, like agriculture, from being carried on ; (6) men who could not enlist because they had relations dependent upon them for their liveli- hood. The military authorities, recognizing the strength of these pleas, and recognizing also, no doubt, that, other things being equal, it was a very good thing to have the men of military age, who could not be spared from civil duties, instructed in the elements of drill and in the use of the rifle
and spade, decided upon what we have always thought an exceedingly fair and reasonable compromise. They agreed to waive the principle that the men of military age ought to enlist with the colours, and not in what the American satirist named the " Stay-at-Home Rangers," and to let men with what they called a genuine reason claim the privilege of the older men and drill and organize for home defence—provided that they would sign a declaration under which their names would be registered as those of men willing to come up and join the colours if called upon to do so by the Government.
No promise was made as to how the Government would exercise their right to call up the men on the register, but it was understood, of course, that they would not do so except in case of real necessity. In fact, the Government entered into an understanding which was in the nature of a bargain. ' If we allow you the privilege of entering an affiliated Volunteer Corps, though you are of military age, you on your side must express your willingness to do more should we judge the need to be imminent.' If the Government had not laid down a condition of this kind, it ie obvious that they would be fighting against their own recruiting system. They would, in effect, be providing a soft job which might salve the conscience of the half- patriot, and make the youug man of military age feel that he had done his full duty when as a matter of fact he had not done so. The difficulty, however, was to define a "genuine reason," and for some time a battle has been raging over this point, the War Office being asked to define what they mean by a genuine reason. Very naturally, however, they have always refused a specific definition, not wishing to tie themselves down toe strictly.
The Central Association, feeling less hampered, have specified three classes of cases which, they tell us, can be taken as exempt, and they no doubt have good ground for the faith that is in them. They saythat (1)participation in Government contracts is a genuine reason, and they note that employment on railways has already been laid down by the Home Office as a genuine reason. (2) Next they put persons in Government and municipal employment, such as clerks in the Admiralty, Inland Revenue, water supply, teachers, &c., who cannot get permission to enlist from the authorities controlling them. (3) Finally, there are the people who suffer from physical disabilities, which in fact means the men who have been rejected from the Army by the medical officers. The Central Association go on to point out that the fourth class are undefined, but can be taken to include cases where enlist- ment would entail serious dislocation of business and the throwing of men out of employment. In the matter of this last class theCentral Association advise the respon- sible officer of the corps to get into communication in the London recruiting area with the Chief Recruiting Staff Officer, and outside that area with the Chief Inspector of Recruiting. Here, again, we have a thoroughly sound compromise. The Government wisely will not define too closely a "genuine reason," and the Central Association, without stating exactly to whom the term applies, point out the three sets of people who, at any rate, are entitled to exemption. Here, indeed, is a real case of so/situr ambulando. The Volunteer Corps have marched right through the obstacle which at first sight waned to make the problem a very serious one.
It is to be hoped now that the work of affiliation will go on at a progressive rate, and that corps will no longer struggle to incur the extra expense of woollen clothing, but will settle down to their very smart-looking green-grey non- woollen. waterproof Norfolk jackets and military peaked caps. As to corps names, the Central Association, mice again wisely reticent, do not interfere with the titles adopted by affiliated corps, though they state that it is imperative that the word " Volunteer ' should be introdnced in some form or other. Besides the fact that the Government require this, they point out that in Art. I. of chap. 1 in the annexe to the Hague Convention it is stated that, "in countries where Militia or Volunteer Corps constitute the Army, or form part of it, they are included under the denomination' Army.' " It is not necessary to go into further details to show bow widely and how wisely the -Volunteer Corps are growing. It is like the gathering of rills soon to form a mighty river. The companies, like the runnels on a mountain-side, are gathering into brooks of regiments, the
regiments are swelling into brigade rivers, and very soon these will be combined in a flood that " flows with pomp of waters unwithstood "—the flood of a million or a million and a half Volunteers, for this is the number which will doubtless be reached before the next harvest is out. And here we must put in a word for the Fund which we are endeavouring to raise. The inspection, help. and encouragement of a million and a half men cannot possibly be organized with rut a central organization. In spite of the ungrudging voluntary work that is given by Lord Desborough, the President, Sir O'Moore Creagh, the Military Adviser, Mr. Percy Harris, the Secretary, and Mr. Stuart, the Treasurer, not to mention the rest of the Committee, the work cannot go forward without the sinews of war. It is for this reason that we are very anxious to provide at least £3,000 for the purpose in question. Those of our readers, then, who have not already contributed will, we trust, let us have their aid. Subscriptions for this Fund should be sent to the Spectator Office, or direct to Messrs. Barclay and Co., Goslings' Branch, 19 Fleet Street, London, E.C. Cheques should be made payable to the " Spectator Home Guards Fund," and crossed " Barclay and Co.. Goslings' Branch." Cheques sent direct to Messrs. Barclay and Co. should be crossed "Spectator Home Guards Account." All cheques received will be acknowledged in our columns.
Previous page
