[To Till EDITOR OF THY " SPECTATOR.1 SIR,—Whilst cordially agreeing
that the County Associations should as soon as possible turn their attention to con- stituting a Reserve, I think a separate corps, in the shape of a County Guard, as suggested in the article in the Spectator of February 1st, would not form such a useful body, or one that could be worked nearly so economically, as if the units of the Territorial Force were allowed to form their own Reserves. This is not a new idea, as several officers in the Volunteers have for many years recognised, and at times tried to bring before the authorities and the country, the number of good men, often the best in the regiment, who are lost to the country who would be willing to come forward in case of danger, but whose business prevents their continuing to go out annually for a period of training, with the result that they have left the Volunteer Force in the prime of life. I would suggest that every efficient man leaving the Territorial Force, if he is approved of by the Colonel, should after four years' service be asked on leaving to join the Reserve of the com- pany, squadron, or battery, &c., to which he belonged ; he should then be placed in Reserve A of that company. He should after a certain age pass into B, C, D, &c. He should on leaving the first line take with him, or leave in the company stores, khaki uniform, &c. He should be called up for one or wo days every or every other year, perhaps at the county prize-shooting, when he should appear in his uniform, and be inspected as to his health, shooting, and clothes. The sergeant-instructor should keep the roll of the Reserve men in the company, and should be answerable to his Captain, and the latter to the Colonel, that every man who has left the force and has been approved of should be kept on the list of the Reserve, clothes kept for him, and his address up to date. Rifle ranges should, as in Switzerland, become much more common; county prizes should be given to be shot for, to encourage the Reservists to keep up their shooting by prac- tising at the village ranges. Whether ex-soldiers not on the Army Reserve should be placed on the roll of the company, squadron, or battery Reserve of the place where they reside, and also the names of young men who have made themselves efficient by attending Church Brigade and other training camps, is a matter to be considered. I would also have a list of all ex-officers of the Army, Volunteers, Territorial Force, Yeomanry, and Militia who reside in the neighbourhood, who should be invited to be on the Reserve of officers of the battalion. I would also keep a list of gentlemen who have had no military training, but who from being able to shoot, ride, &c., would be useful, and be allotted some duty on mobilisation. If it was argued that keeping the lists of the Reservists, &c., would entail too much work on sergeant- instructors besides having their own men to look after, I would suggest that in future they should be relieved of recruiting for the Army, which has, I think, been most unpopular both with the sergeant-instructors and officers commanding Volunteers. Many of the latter consider that this has not only not been a success in getting recruits for the Army, but has had a most deterring effect in the past in enrolling men for the Volunteer Force. I think a scheme of this sort- is preferable to the one sketched in the article, because I think it would be much less expensive, more easily worked, and on mobilisation Reserve A would go to head- quarters till required to reinforce, when its place there would be taken by B, &c. I suppose that with two hundred and fifty thousand men of the Territorial Force in the first line, the Army Council would like at least five times that number in the Reserve. I think by this scheme neither the expense nor the numbers would prevent that force being ultimately obtained. But I would draw attention to the fact that a good many Volunteers may not be inclined to take service in the first line of the Territorial Forces, but might be willing and suitable to enter the Reserve, and that no time should be lost in securing these men if a Reserve is decided [We admit many advantages in our correspondent's proposal, but we doubt it being as cheap as ours. Again, it is only applicable to the Volunteers and Yeoman y, and leaves out the ex-Regulars and ex-Militia, in certain ways the most important - sections of the trained men whom it is sought to utilise. Possibly a combination of our scheme and his might prove practical.—ED. Spectator.]
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