NO VOLUNTEERS SEED APPLY.
(To TUB EDITos OP THZ "SrEcTATos.1
SIE,—It is to be hoped that your. protest against the ten- dency to turn the Volunteers into .imitation Regulars will not fall on deaf ears. Any reorganisation of the force should be on the lines of greater freedom and elasticity, of real specialisation as opposed to feeble generalisation. Only those: who know can appreciate the waste of time and energy' involved • in the attempt to force the drill of the average Volunteer battalion up to the regulation standard. I mean no disrespect to my many good friends in the ranks of the Regular Army in saying that the average Volunteer is superior in intelligence to the average "Tommy." But what/ are his chances when "they drill him sometimes between' seven and eight" ? His shooting is, of course, another' matter. The present training camps are admittedly a measure- d emergency for this year; yet only a small proportion of the men is at liberty to attend, even for a fortnight. How are we- to fare if it is found that a smattering or so of the full pro- fessional course can be crammed into the amateur only by compulsory training ? Would not one result be the signifi- cant wording of employers' advertisements : "No Voltnteers
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