"CRABBING" THE TERRITORIALS.
[To TIM EDITOI Or TDB " SPECTATOR:1
SIR,—As a Territorial and Volunteer sergeant of ten years' standing I wish to protest against the systematic "crabbing "by the National Service clique of the Territorials. As an old reader of the Spectator, I must, in justice to yourself, say that you are not so bad as some of your contemporaries, especially the less reputable "Yellow" papers, as you have only attacked the system, while they have not contented themselves with that legitimate criticism, but have attacked the men themselves, and one is at a loss to fathom their object, unless it be that they see signs of the Territorial system proving effective and thereby shutting out the adoption of their pet nostrum. That their attacks are not honest can be demonstrated by the fact that while the " Terriers " (both men and system) are infinitely better than the old Volunteers, the latter were not subjected to such bitter and determined criticism. As regards the National Service League proposals, I may say without hesita- tion that, from inquiries I have made in my own and my brother's corps (which are largely composed of men of the lower middle and working classes), fully ninety per cent. of the men are, like myself, not in favour of those proposals, and for much about the same reasons. This is the first time I have ever troubled any journal with a letter, and I would not have done so now had I not felt so strongly on the matter.—
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