THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION". 
365 
men. It might strike some of those present as remarkable, after the educa¬ 
tion to which they had been subjected, that they should still complain of the 
want of instruction; but that they did want such instruction especially in 
the higher ranks, no man who had not taken leave of his senses would deny. 
(Hear, hear.) His observations amongst officers, and especially the junior 
ranks, convinced him that there was a great desire for better information as 
to the duties of their profession; and he regretted that scarcely anyone of 
sufficient authority had come forward to impress upon the country what was 
necessary to be done in this direction. (Applause.) It was certain, how¬ 
ever, that nothing would be done unless the men who led the army exerted 
themselves. They might hear and see in the newspapers all sorts of quack pro¬ 
positions—(laughter)—for increasing, controlling, re-organising, and bother¬ 
ing the army in all manner of ways. (Laughter and applause.) The army 
wanted to improve itself—(applause)—and what it needed most was some 
directing power in each branch, which would take officers and soldiers by the 
hand, to supervise and assist them in becoming efficient, instead of grasping 
to itself all the credit and all the power. (Applause.) They wanted 
greater enlightenment throughout the service, and improvements in their 
organisation and efficiency would then emanate from themselves. (Hear, 
hear.) That royal commission appointed to enquire into these subjects, 
of which he was a member, had sat for more than twelve months, and had 
done good service to the cause; but everything considered by that com¬ 
mission might and ought to have proceeded from the army itself, and 
not have required a royal commission to point it out. (Applause.) The 
army wanted leading men who understood its requirements, and would 
come forward and show, clearly and forcibly, what ought to be, and where 
national confidence was eminently deserved it would not long be withheld. 
(Applause.) 
Major-General Sir L. Simmons said he was not personally acquainted 
with any particular locality out of the uninclosed land he had spoken of 
which would be suitable for the purpose indicated, but he had no doubt that 
there were some districts, called mountainous, but no worse than the country 
over which an army would have to operate in time of war, which might 
be available. He believed that Wales especially had such districts, and 
there were some in Yorkshire; certainly there were among the moors of 
Scotland extensive districts, to which there need be no difficulty in conveying 
the troops by rail or steamer, and where the principal sacrifice would be a 
few fat bags of grouse. (A laugh.) As to the duty which devolved upon 
those in high positions to force on the education of officers, he quite agreed 
with General Eardley-Wilmot. The monstrous difficulty was to bring sufficient 
pressure to bear to induce those in authority to see the necessity which 
existed for improvement. (Hear, hear.) General Eardley-Wilmot well knew 
that officers who saw defects in the system, and desired to press upon the 
government the need of a change, must first make a representation to the 
authorities ; and he was sorry to say that changes almost invariably involved 
expenditure of money, which was the great obstacle to their adoption. Unless 
an idea was well written up in the papers—and he doubted very much whether 
such a proceeding was within the province of an officer—(hear, hear)—it was 
difficult to press it home. Ho one had felt this difficulty more than his friend 
General Eardley-Wilmot, who had been the anxious and energetic advocate 
of higher professional instruction among, the officers of the army, and to 
whom were due, in a great measure, the advantages in this respect enjoyed by 
the officers of his own corps, it being through his exertions that had origi¬ 
nated many of the opportunities afforded to them to improve themselves, and 
thus to maintain and raise the position of the royal regiment to which they 
belonged. (Applause.) 
