MR. ARNOLD.FORSTER'S DEATHBED SCHEME.
[To THE EDITOR OF THE " SPECTITOE."] Sin,—Although Mr. Arnold-Forster's deathbed scheme for the Volunteers is now a thing of the past, it was so well received by the country generally that there is danger of the Liberal Government adopting it in toto. It will not therefore be amiss to draw attention to the fact that it contained one proposal sufficient in itself to wreck an otherwise fairly workable scheme. I refer to the thirty drills to be performed by the
men who do not attend camp.
The Volunteers may roughly be divided into two bodies of men: first, those of one, two, and three years' service, who may be described as the active service men ; and second, those of four years' service:and upwards, who may be designated the Reserve. If the career of a Volunteer recruit be followed for a few years, it will be found that he almost invariably goes to camp during his first year. He usually enjoys it so much that he also goes during his second year. His third year is the critical one, as unfortunately the proportion of men who remain more than three years is comparatively small,—in fact, only the pick of them remain. Let us assume that our recruit is one of the pick. In his third year he is still keen, but the edge of it has worn off and he does not go to camp. In his fourth year he obtains promotion and attends camp. But thereafter, owing to other calls upon his time, he is not to be depended upon for camp more than once in every two or three years. For all that, he is obviously a valuable man, and a distinct asset in his battalion. He has performed sixty recruit drills, and at least ten annually thereafter ; he is probably a good shot, and spends a fairly good time at the ranges; above all, he has attended three camps.
That this man should be asked to perform thirty recruit drills each year he does not go to camp is simply incredible; but none the less that is what the proposal amounts to. No doubt the intention would be to make them more of the nature of field exercises; but what commanding officer of a city battalion, or of a scattered country battalion, could arrange thorn ? No ! they would simply have to be recruit drills varied by an occasional march-out. Our friend the recruit—now a man of from twenty- five to thirty-five; married; an industrious citizen; one of the class that has from the first been the backbone of the Volunteers —sorrowfully makes up his mind that he has to resign. He cannot find time to do the thirty drills, and even though he could, he is not prepared to give it, as he knows perfectly well that it would be time wasted. All he requires is a few drills each year to refresh his memory, and more than that it is absurd to ask of him. Such is the type of man that the thirty drills would lose to the Volunteers. Can this be faced? I believe not, —and I am satisfied that all who have the interests of the Volunteers at heart will agree with me. As I have endeavoured to show, a very small number of drills will keep the trained Volunteer efficient. What is really required to obtain further efficiency is more shooting ; and to encourage the men to spend more time at the ranges I venture to suggest that every hour of shooting practice be counted the equivalent of one hour's drill. Five of these practices along with five ordinary drills, and attendance at camp every second or third year, are all that is necessary for the reasonable efficiency of the trained Volunteer.
[We concur. The proposal to make practice at the range count instead of drill is a very happy one.—En. Spectator.]
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