We notice with great satisfaction the line taken by Lord
Dundonald in a speech made by him last Saturday and reported very briefly in Monday's Times. Lord Dundonald said that he had seen what the ordinary Englishman could do without much military training, and he was certain that we should not get, under the present scheme of Army reform, the necessary men for the defence of this country unless the con. ditions of service were made easy. "If the spirit," he Con- tinued, "which animated the great artisan class who wanted to defend the country but could not afford the amount of time that was now asked—if the spirit which animated the whole English people were recognised, if they were given ranges and facilities of instruction in musketry, and if they were allowed to do the work in their own time and in any kit they liked, we should not only get the Army we asked for, but the country would also be properly defended." Readers of the Spectator hardly need to be reminded that these views have been con- sistently advocated in these columns during the past year. We can accept with equanimity the censure heaped upon them as the irresponsible chatter of civilian critics when they are endorsed in every particular by a military expert of the stand. ing of Lord Dundonald.
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