[To THZ EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR."] SIR, — It has been represented

to me that considerable numbers of people have failed to grasp the exact meaning and object of our proposals. May I therefore give a brief

explanation ? Our contentions are as under •

(1) That British Regulars are capable of fighting at least equal numbers of Continental Regulars.

(2) That a hundred recruits of ordinary qualities can in six months be trained, by an officer enjoying entire control of them, so that in a tactical exercise (that is to say, a "sham fight" of some kind) they shall prove themselves individually more proficient soldiers than any company of Regulars, now in the United Kingdom, that may be selected to compete with them under the conditions originally detailed by me.

(8) That if our hundred recruits prove themselves tactically superior to the selected company of Regulars, and the latter bo assumed, as aforesaid, fit to fight Continental troops, is fortiori the former must be competent to face the same ordeal of battle.

(4) That results obtainable with a hundred men should also be obtainable with a hundred thousand or more.

(5) That men who have as recruits been properly grounded in their combatant duties could be kept sufficiently up to the mark by local training in the evenings and on Saturday afternoons, and by going annually or biennially into camp in accordance with a system analogous to that now followed by the Volunteers.

(6) That the reason why recruits are difficult to obtain for the Militia under existing conditions is that men in regular employ- ment cannot undertake to attend comparatively long annual trainings of twenty-seven days, and that if six months' training at the age of seventeen or eighteen were substituted, recruits would come forward plentifully.

(7) That if the proposed experiment is attended by the success anticipated, two very important facts will have been established: (a) That the Regular Army, owing to company officers being denied a free hand in training their men, is less efficient than it ought to be,—because, if otherwise, a company of recruits of only six months' service could not be found superior to a company of so-called "trained soldiers," selected for its especial efficiency for war. (b) That the Militia might be rendered fit to participate effectually in the defence of the Empire in case of need without subjecting the men to any disadvantage in the pursuit of their callings in civil life.

Lest it should be objected that we propose to confine our attention to field-work only, to the neglect of drill, discipline,

physical development, and musketry, we intend to prove that our hundred recruits, in addition to being superior in the tactical sense to a company of "trained soldiers," are also as good at drill, gymnastics, and musketry as any Regulars of the same length of service. To this I may add that the recruits must also display reasonable skill in military engineering,—that is to say, in the construction of military

bridges, entrenchments, &c. ; that in the field trial -with the company of Regulars the section commanders will be recruits; and that, as the result of assumed "casualties" in action, the command of sections shall many times change hands. In my opinion, no company is properly efficient unless at least fifty per cent, of the privates are fully capable of assuming

command of sections on the spur of the moment as casualties occur; and I am quite prepared to meet, with the recruits, a company of Regulars trained up to that standard. The

better trained the company selected to oppose us, the better I shall be pleased. For the system of training that will be followed may I once again refer your readers to my article published in the Nineteenth, Century for May, 1905 P-1 am,

Sir, &c., A. W. A. PoLLocii, Lieut.-Colonel.

Wingfield, Godalming.

[Colonel Pollock's explanation of what is intended by our experiment should leave no room for further confusion. We note, however, that there is a tendency in certain quarters to say that what Colonel Pollock is offering to do is of no practical value, because everybody has always known that it was quite possible to train efficient soldiers in six months. The criticism reminds us of the old saying as to the three stages in a new invention : "It's a lie. It's contrary to Scripture. We knew it all along." As a matter of fact, however, six months has hitherto been regarded as a totally inadequate period of training. If any further proof of the reality and practical value of our proposed experiment is required, we may ask whether a Militia Colonel of such experience and practical ability as the Duke of Bedford would be likely to give £1,000 to enable it to be carried out. .—En. Spectator.]

[TO TEE EDITOR OP THE 'SPECTATOR.")