While dealing with the Reserve we may draw attention to
a curious fact. The bulk of the men who join are ex-.Regulars, whereas the bulk of the officers are ex-Tohneteers. No doubt this is to be accounted for by the fact that the greater number of ex-Regular officers are in the Reserve of Offieeraaad therefore not eligible to join the National Reserve, i.e., they are already earmarked by the military authorities. It is, however, very much to be hoped that those ex-Regulars who do not belong to the Reserve of Officers will not hesitate to join and so set a good example. That the quality of the ex-Volunteer officers who join is excellent we should be the very last to dispute, but they themselves, we are sure, would agree that there is nothing like long experience, and that such long experience, as a rule, belongs rather to the ex-Regular than to the ex-Volunteer. In truth we want for the National Reserve as many of both sorts as is possible. We cannot have too many ex-Volunteer officers, but we can easily have too few ex-Regulars.
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