VOLUNTEERS.
[To TEE EDITOR OF THE " SPROTATOR.")
SIR,—May I draw attention to a way in which exempted men (con- ditional and absolute) may still make themselves of use to their country— namely, by, joining the nearest Volunteer Corps, and making themselves efficient as early as possible ? I believe that on the representation of Mr. Percy Harris, 3LP., the Government are considering whether training with the Volunteers should not be made a sine qua non for all exempted men ; but in the meantime I would through your columns appeal to the tribunals to express publicly their desire that all exempted men should without delay make themselves efficient Volunteers. There is no means of enforcing this, nor can it be made a condition of exemption; but this course has been adopted in some places, and in Southwold an expression of this desire by the Mayor was met with ready acceptance by those applicants to whom it was put. I know it is the fashion to smile at the Volunteers, but I would like to say that we have sent up considerably over a hundred men from this battalion to the Army, where I understand they are giving a good account of themselves, and there is no reason at all why the organization which we have set up at our expense should not be used to train the Army of exempted men who will then form a useful reserve for future needs.—I am, Southwold, Suffolk. Commandant 3rd Batt. Suffolk Volunteer Best.
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