20 MAY 1916, Page 3

In the case of Volunteers, as we have so often

pointed out, numbers—until embodiment takes place—are of a special and pecu- liar importance. As must always happen with men who are half- time, or quarter-time, or even one-seventh time soldiers, military work can only be accomplished by a system of rota. If a battalion whose Members can only give one day or one night a week to military duties is asked to supply two hundred guards a day, the unit will clearly have to consist of at least fifteen hundred men if it is to carry out its undertaking.