At a luncheon given to the officers of the London
Veteran Reserve by Major Hansford on Tuesday last, Colonel Seely, Under Secretary of State for War, made a very interesting speech. The Veteran Reserve, he declared, had the approval of Lord Haldane and the Army Council from the beginning, an approval which he was able to assure them would be per- manent. Colonel Seely went on to announce that they had already secured in the City and County of London a body consisting of 347 officers and 4,115 men. Those responsible for the London Veteran Reserve must be congratulated upon having performed a very notable public service. As was found in the case of the Surrey Reserve, the difficulty is to get in touch with the Veterans and to make it known to them that the two London Associations are anxious to register their names and addresses. As unhappily those names and addresses have never been kept by the military authorities, the only method of reaching the men is through the newspapers or by means of public meetings. We know the bundle of hay is full of needles. The difficulty is to make the needles aware that they are wanted. As soon as they do know, they are willing enough to be drawn out.
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