RIFLE RANGES: HOW TO GET THEM.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE "SPECTATOR.'] have been much interested in the references made in your columns during the past few weeks to the necessity for the better provision of rifle ranges, and more particularly so in the article upon p- 983 of your issue of December 30th. To my mind, the writer of this article has not only thoroughly grasped the situation, but has provided an easy and effec- tive solution of the problem. He says : "It might be possible to have an enabling order by which any local authority could borrow money to make a range, and apply for the guns and ammunition." Speaking from the standpoint of a municipal officer, it seems to me that no more effectual way can be devised of obtaining such essentials towards perfecting every citizen in one of the most important duties which he owes to the State. A short Act of some half-a-dozen clauses, placing rifle ranges amongst the list of works for which local authorities may borrow money under the Public Health Act, and providing for their maintenance, would be all. sufficient. There need be no compulsion upon any town to make such provision, but the larger the town, and the greater the necessity for a range, the more easily would it be obtained. Should any authority be lacking in initiative, all that would be needed would be for the Volunteers and the general public more directly interested in such matters to intimate to the representatives for their respective wards the great necessity for the provision of a range, and that one would be quickly found cannot be doubted. Such a provision would be a very small addition to the multifarious duties and works carried out by the pro- gressive communities of the present day. The Watch Com- mittee which has charge of the policing of the town would doubtless easily regulate the range and provide custodians, more especially so as many chief constables are ex-military men, with an exact knowledge of the requirements of the case, and, moreover, having a large proportion of discharged soldiers and Reservemen under them who would be eligible as instructors and range-keepers. Briefly stated, the mod us operandi would be as follows :—Upon representations having been made to the Watch Committee, the chief constable and borough engineer would report as to a suitable site, together with estimates of cost of construction. The Committee would consider the same, and approving thereof, would forward to the Town Council a resolution asking for the necessary application to be made to the Local Government Board for the desired bor- rowing powers, and forwarding plans and estimates. The Local Government Board would direct a local inquiry to be held, at which any interested parties could appear. The Local Government Board's inspector, accompanied by an inspector from the War Office, would view the proposed site and hold an inquiry, ultimately giving their decision upon the merits of the case, and specifying a term of years during which the repayment of the money borrowed could be made. Such term should be as long as possible, because land in the proximity of towns rarely decreases in value, and further, that the bene- fits to be derived from the range will be reaped more in the future than the immediate present, thus differing materially from many municipal works. Sixty years would probably be
regarded as a fair term, and upon this basis and the money borrowed at 3 per cent. (many municipalities borrow at less) the annual charge in respect of interest and sinking-fund instalment upon a range costing, say, 0,000 would only amount to 210 per annum, which to an average town of, says forty thousand inhabitants would mean one-sixth of a penny rate only. As many towns have a penny rate which is almost entirely spent in providing free novel-reading, a rate of one- sixth of a penny cannot be regarded as a bar to the provision of important and much-needed works for increasing the value of the defensive forces of the country. As regards the necessary instructor and range-keeper, he might well be an existing mem- ber of the police force, told off from town duties, thus relieving the town from an increased expenditure for such purposes and without any appreciable diminution of police efficiency, for the rule that one police constable should be provided for every thousand inhabitants is still in force, although statistics show that crime has been and is decreasing from year to year. Inspection on the part of the Government of ranges thus provided might be carried out by the present Government Inspectors of Police, and a contribution from the Imperial funds made contingent upon a favourable report being given as to up-keep, satisfactory control, and use by the citizens. A stand of arms might be provided by the Government free of charge, and ammunition at nominal rates, which could be supplied to users of the ranges free on, say, Saturday after- noons, half-holidays, and Bank-holidays, and at cost price on other occasions. A scheme such as is outlined above would, I believe, prove perfectly feasible, and would be a simple means of popularising the use of the rifle and in training the ordinary citizen ready for any emergency that may arise in our national life.—I am, Sir, Ac.,
Trobverhampton. J. W BRADLEY, C.E.
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