VOLUNTEER, REGULATIONS.*
WE must begin by pointing out that the little book which is the subject of this notice is one that ought to be in the hands of every Volunteer—officer or private. The man who has mastered it—and it is not a very difficult thing to master, so well is this work written and edited—will have enor- mously increased his efficiency. Moreover, he cannot fail, by the same process, to have increased his interest in his work and his pleasure in carrying it out. The first thing which will strike the Volunteer as he reads, just as it has struck this reviewer and must strike all other readers, is how very far the Volunteer Training 'Corps have now advanced in receiving official recognition. There are still a good many people who grumble because they think that the Volunteers have no proper status, and who will tell you that they are abhorred by the real soldiers and treated with contempt. That is absolute nonsense, To begin with, no doubt, the military authorities were a little shy of the Volunteers, but their attitude, of resistance has been undermined in a hundred directions, until at last we have reached a point where it is net too much tosay that the War Office are getting to look upon, the Volunteers, not as poor relations, but as very useful, if humble, kinsmen. How far the recognition has
gone is proved, not merely by the King's letter, the Prime Minister's speech, and the Adjutant-General's official com- munication to Mr. Harris, the Hon. Secretary of the Central Association, but even more by the following letter, which was written by the Home Office in reference to gun licences :-
"As I informed you some days ago, I sent your letter of the 4th August, on the subject of gun licences for members of the Volunteer Training Corps, to the Board of Inland Revenue. I am now informed that the Board no longer deals with questions of gun licences, but that the proper authority is the London County Council. I find, however, that the War Office has officially expressed the view that a member of a Volunteer Training Corps, affiliated to the Central Association of Volunteer Training Corps, and therefore recognized by the Army Council, is a person in the Naval, Military or Volunteer service of His Majesty,' and therefore exempted under Section 7 (1) of the Gun Licences Act, 1870. This probably meets the point raised in your letter."
In a word, the Home Office points out that the Volunteer is an armed person in the service of His Majesty As the Home Office is largely run by lawyers, and is in a sense a legal authority, this should take away from the timid Volunteer
• Official Regulations for Vottentear Training Corps andCounty Volunteer Organisations (D Bake. itgland and Wales). Edited by J. P. London; The Central Association Volunteer Training Corps, Judges' Quadrangle, Royal Courts of Justice, W.O. [sd, not] any notion that he is a kind of military pariah, or is usurping functions to which he has no right. He is in truth a soldier, though ho is not paid his Bottle.
Section IV. of the Official Regulations, which deals with training and education, is exceedingly interesting, and shows again what tremendous strides the Volunteer movement has made. We must express the very highest admiration, both from the military and from the literary point of view, of the spirited paragraph entitled "Duties of Volunteer Training Corps." This paragraph, that on the duties of Commandants, and the quite excellent description of the duties of Guides (indeed, all this portion of the work) come, no doubt, from the pen of that distinguished soldier, Sir O'Moore Creagle who has spent his time and energy so liberally in the cause of the Volunteers. It was the greatest piece of good luck that the Volunteers were able from the beginning to obtain the help of a General Officer so open-minded and so efficient. Though we want the Volunteers not to trust to reviews but to read and study this book for themselves, we cannot resist the temptation to quote Sir O'Moore Creagh's description of the general duty of Volunteers:—
" The object will be to constantly harass, annoy, and tiro out the enemy and to impede his progress, till a sufficient foroo can be assembled to smash him. Our Corps must be trained to assist in this, under orders of the proper military authority. The close nature of our country affords every advantage for offensive action. Intricate and enclosed, it would be exceedingly difficult for an enemy to advance. From his landing ho should never be lost sight of, and every inch of ground should be disputed. The. Corps should have a good knowledge of the country. Orders have been issued that the country be driven, and cattle and horses removed and everything within reach of the enemy destroyed without mercy. It is here our Corps can offer valuable aid to the Special Constables and Regular Army. If this be carried out efficiently tho future movements of an enemy would become extremely difficult. It must never be forgotten to inculcate into our Volunteer Corps the great advantages they possess by their knowledge of the country in attacking the enemy. Active indi- viduals and small Corps may remain in an enclosed country, mostly not suitable for cavalry, within the closest distance of such enemy, watching every opportunity to annoy him. Every man should be made to understand that, even if worsted in action and forced to retire, his duty requires him to halt and rally and attack again as soon as possible ; that he need never hurry, and that he is perfectly safe at a short distance from the enemy. Above all, it must be impressed upon him that although retiring gradually before the enemy may be at first neces- sary to allow the Regular troops to collect, yet the great object of irregular Corps is to attack on every favourable opportunity, and as much by the bayonet as by fire; and such attack must be bold and vigorous as becomes men defending their hearths and homes. There cannot be too many Volunteer Bat- talions ; they are essential for the defence of the country as supports to the Regular Army ; and when intelligent and well led and with local knowledge,they will, by their spirit and perseverance, soon attain an ascendancy over the enemy. In this way Volunteer Corps can distinguish themselves in a most honourable manner, and one wholly advantageous to their country. They must there- fore be prepared to move in the lightest manner without baggage of any kind; they must live in temporary shelters, and for this the country is amply suitable. . . . Against our enemy we must employ his own methods, and treat him as he does others ; we must raise the indignation of the country to the highest pitch, and cause to re-act on him that terror which he has used in Belgium. In this manner we will successfully oppose him and show him that a free people fighting for the land they love are not to be invaded with impunity. This ie only an outline to let Corps know on what lines they should train, and in anticipation of orders of which we have yet no knowledge. These will come to us definitely in due course from Generals Commanding, who are thoroughly acquainted with local conditions, and for those orders we must wait, but we must be ready for them when they come. And to this end Corps must be well trained, capable of digging up roads, assisting the civil population to move, should be extremely mobilo, able to entrench and but themselves, good shots and with a complete knowledge of all military features of the country of which they are inhabitants. They should have trained scouts able to give all information required to Regular military officers, and to act as guides to troops when necessary."
That is an admirable picture of the duties which a Volunteer Commandant, his officers and rank-and-file should place before themselves. We wish we had space to quote the excellent directions as to the functions of Guides, and what they should be required to know. They could not be better expressed.
We must pass on, however, to an even more important section of the book—that which contains the regulations
in regard to Volunteer Officers' Instructional Classes. While the public has been lazily dreaming, or, still worse, lazily discussing some idiotic question as to whether a Volun- teer should or should not be present at a music hall in. uniform, and making fine metaphysical distinctions between uniform and uniformity of dress, the Central Committee has been acting and has created a Volunteer University— a sort of elementary amalgamation of Sandhurst and the Staff College, where officers can obtain training on a kind of system of intensive culture, the art of war being packed into a very few lessons. No doubt this sounds either an absurdity or a miracle; yet, as a matter of fact, the miracle is performed. The Volunteer officers who go through these classes in many instances come out with an extra- ordinarily good knowledge of military duties. The syllabus of their work looks so formidable that one hardly likes to refer officers, or would-be officers, thereto for fear of discouraging them. Their first impulse would be to say : "It is quite impossible that I can learn all this in a fortnight's course." They must not, however, look at the question in this way, but must feel assured that what others have done they can do. If they attend these lectures and classes, they will find that afterwards learning from books will be double, nay, ten times, as easy as it was before they got their oral instruction.
We cannot conclude without a word of the very heartiest congratulation to Lord Desborough, the President; the Military Adviser, Sir O'Moore Creagh ; the Hon. Treasurer, Mr. Stewart, the Public Trustee; and the Hon. Secretary, Mr. Harris, upon the extraordinarily happy results they have achieved. In a short time, and with funds which can only be described as pathetically small, when we think of bow much money has often been wasted during the war in producing infinitesimal results, Lord Desborough and his Committee have organized a great army—an army of nearly four hundred thousand men. They are doing the Headquarters Staff work in a way which, all things con- sidered, is wonderfully efficient. We hope that their next development will be the production of a Volunteer Army List. It is beginning to be badly wanted.
Once more, let every Volunteer get this book and master it, He must remember that in doing so he will not only help himself, but that his sixpence, or rather the surplus over the cost of production, will go to help the Central funds.
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