NATIONAL RESERVE ORGANIZING OFFICERS. [To TSB Emma oz THE "
SPF.CTAITOL") SIE,—It is hardly necessary to call attention to the strenuous and valuable work carried out prior to and since the outbreak of war by organizing officers of the National Reserve Force. In addition to providing a large reservoir of trained men, sent to the front within a few weeks of the war, with the addition to their military knowledge of business information and trades acquired during re-entry into civil occupations, the National Reserve and its organization have proved one of the best recruiting channels and instruments the British Army ever had. What happened when war broke out ? The War Office Recruiting Officer soon dis- covered that the organization of the National Reserve was the best machine to use for recruiting ; he had at once a reservoir' of old soldiers to act as recruiting sergeants who knew every possible recruit in the district. Organizing officers of the National Reserve threw their services into the work, through which the Recruiting Officer was rendered most valuable assist- ance. That organizing officers do not receive any pay for their services and work seems unfair and beyond comprehension ; all the more so because they have to place themselves in a position of financial responsibility at times to carry on the organization properly. There are strong reasons why it should not remain any longer an unpaid post—apart from the general principle that honorary • positions are not always conducive to great effort and efficiency, and can be surrendered at will. The work of keeping np the Register involves considerable work and time, and had organizing officers been paid officers under the Territorial Force Association, I venture to state that the general organization would have been more advanced and np-to-date when war broke out. It is all the more necessary now that the post should be a paid one, because the increase in the forces will greatly increase the work of registration after the war, and the organizing officer should be held responsible to give his men sufficient drills to keep them from getting rusty. That organizing officers should be paid for their past and present services has now been proved up to the hilt, and their case should be brought to the notice of the War Office and
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