iTo THE EDITCEI OF IRE SPECTATOR.")
Sm.—May I, as a Territorial officer of ROHM years' standing, reply to the letter of Colonel Reid in which he criticises your articles on Lord Haldane and the Territorials titter denying a stutement of yours in language more Wont than courteous, he adds several sentences which show considerable ignorance of facts, and which savour in their bombastic and, one might say, alum-ire phrasing of the type of Regular officer who, after neatly losing the South African War for HE, happily became almost extinct. In these sentences he makes three statements:— it) " The essence of the Territorial system was unreadiness for war." No one, least of all Territorial officers, would argue that the Territorial Force was no fully trained for war as it afterwards became, bit 1 think every one will admit that, if there had been no TerritoriAl Force, the Expeditionary Force neeld not have left this country when it did. It is not necessary to discuss whether the Territorial Force could have resisted invasion in the early slays of the war, but the fact of its
• xistence certainly influenced the decision to send the Regular Army abroad at once.
(I) "That the Territorial Force orgauisal ion woo put on the shelf when war broke out." If that is the ease, which of course I deny, bow is it that there still exist many conndete Terri- torial divisions recruited and sepplied from Territorial Force depots P
"The ' Terriers' were drafted into brigades; of Regulars ti fill gaps." In same cases this was certainly done, but Colonel Reid's remark implies, I think, that tio Territorial Force division went en service as a complete unit. I do not Snow how molly actunlly did so, but Stucco were certainly several which did. Perhaps Colonel Reid has beard of the 314t (.11121,10.0 Division. which the Germans, with peculiar facilities for judging, ranked even higher than the Guards Division in fighting qualities; yet the 51st Division isa part of that "thorn " Army, for which Colonel Reid has evidently such contempt.
To what extent the spirit of such letters as Colonel Reid's hindered the smooth working of the Territorial Force in the sisys before the war it is impassible to est imate.—I am, Sir, Ise., TEEt•ITORIAL MAJOR.
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