We are bound to say that, in our opinion, reason
seems to lie with Captain Holmes, both in regard to the interpreta- tion of the Regulations, and also as regards the absurdly dog-in-the-manger attitude of the War Office. No doubt the official who drew up the Regulations would have liked to any "shall not," but realized that he could not do so, since the members of the National Reserve are not enlisted men, and it is not competent for the War Office to regulate what clothes they shall wear. All that the War Office can legally do is to say that any man who ventures to clothe himself in uniform shall instantly cease to be a member of the National Reserve, or that the unit which allows a man to be on parade in uniform ehall be dissolved, and so on. But we venture to say that the authorities will never attempt any action of this kind. The Regulations as to uniform are, in fact, ultra vireo.
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