15 JULY 1916, Page 3

The veil of mystery which for some reason or other

has always shrouded the National Reserve, or, as technically we ought to say, those supernumerary companies of Territorial units which are composed of National Reservists, has of late been to some extent lifted by the establishment of the Royal Defence Corps. We have no criticism to make in regard to the merging of the National Reserve in that body, for the step is doubtless one taken: for good administrative reasons. We do, however, hope most sincerely that in the zeal of new construction the military authorities will not forget the great debt which the Army owed at the beginning of the war to the National Reserve, and will not destroy or sterilize the machinery under which the force was created.