CHAPTER XI 



CONCLUSION 



" The poor dog, in life the firmest friend, 

 The first to welcome, foremost to defend, 

 Whose honest heart is still his master's own, 

 Who labours, fights, lives, breathes for him alone. 



Byron. 



AT the present time the energies of our statesmen are 

 directed to the conservation of the nation's finances, 

 and rightly so. Hereby is necessitated the wholesale 

 closing down of the countless departments that owe their 

 being and growth to the exigencies of war. I would, there- 

 fore, like to point out, that there may be danger in this 

 policy, in that certain branches, which in themselves make 

 for economy, may be swept out of existence. In the case 

 of the army dogs, it may be said, that it would be difficult 

 to find a department from which such a standard of money- 

 saving output, could be procured at such a low cost. 



On a peace footing, the Training School could be run 

 on a very economical scale, and a steady supply of guard, 

 messenger, and sentry dogs could be sent out at small 

 cost as required. I think I have shown, by what is pre- 

 viously stated in this book, that one of the chief advantages 

 obtained from the employment of dogs, has been the great 

 saving of man-power. Now this advantage would always 

 be maintained relatively, no matter how much the army 

 may be reduced. 



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