[To THE Einrom OF THE "ErFICTATOR."] STE,—If you will kindly
allow me to trespass on your valuable space, I would like, in reply to your last week's correspondent who signs himself "Fed Up," to give expression to my own sentiments, and, I hope, also to those of a very large number of officers who have at heart the welfare of both the Army and the Empire. I hold no brief for the defence of the policy of the Army Council, nor do I in any way uphold its many inconsistencies; but I do maintain that its methods have been subjected to a great deal of unfair criticism both by the general public and by officers who should know their duty better than to criticise their superiors in the Press. At the present time, when the Empire has reached a crisis in its development, when far-reaching changes and experiments are being made on all sides, can those responsible for the efficiency of the Army and the safety of the country stand aside and allow the flood of progress to pass by without making an effort to compete with modern requirements ? Certainly not. Nor can officers expect that their personal comfort will be allowed to stand in the way of progress, though I .am quite ready to admit that a little more consideration might be vouchsafed us. Sudden changes are seldom popular, especially when they meet with a very small measure of success ; but if the first attempts at the reorganisation of the Army did not meet with unqualified success, neither 'did the first efforts to build steamboats, railways, or motors. It is only by con- tinually rising superior to failure and disaster that ultimate success can be achieved. When the State calls for our services and co-operation in the process of evolving an efficient fighting force, surely considerations of personal inconvenience might be laid aside. I once heard one working man say to another : "Well, Bill, if Joe Chamberlain is right, we working men ought to be able to give up a glass or two of beer a week if it's for the good of the Empire." If the patriotism of the British officer is not equal to that of the working man whose sentiments I have just expressed, then I fear we are in danger of allowing to pass into oblivion the magnificent heritage Of glory banded down by our predecessors, whose deeds won us an Empire. But I decline to believe that the esprit de corps which has made our Army invincible in the past is now dying out, as your correspondent "Fed Up" would have us believe. That those who have deserved well of the State in former days will reap fresh laurels in the future I am certain, despite all gloomy forebodings and despite the pessimism which induces individual officers to voice their grievances in the public Press.—I am, Sir, &c., CENTURION.
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