426 
COMMENDED ESSAY, 1899. 
which have been described, and at the end of three years we would have 
the finished article; a 1 st Lieutenant with a good general knowledge 
of his profession and a specialist in one branch of it. He would be 
sent to a company abroad. His major would be glad to see him, he 
would enter at once on his duties; if he were left ^o himself he would 
by that time have learned right from wrong, and there would be no 
question of his needing licking into shape and not getting it. There 
he may be left for the present and we will turn to discuss the advan¬ 
tages of the system 
Advantages of First—The rough edge would be taken off a Gentle- 
the proposed man Cadet before he was sent to his company, where 
System. there may be no opportunity for doing so. 
Second—It will be easier to instruct the young officer. At present, 
when a young officer first joins, he has to undergo a certain amount 
of drill and instruction, but he does it alone, whilst his brother officers 
are enjoying themselves elsewhere. In his heart he probably wishes 
he were with them. It would in nearly all places be hard to get a 
young officer to do six hours drill a day and to work in his spare time 
as well, but by having a course with an examination at the end of it, 
this matter is quite easy 
Third—The present unsound practice of sending young officers 
abroad haphazard would be done away with. A gunner is not allowed 
to leave England until he is twenty; why should an officer be less well 
cared for ? This is not only a question of health. The first three 
years’ service are very important ones, during that time habits are 
formed and characters determined, perhaps for life ; surely it is impor¬ 
tant that a young officer should be carefully watched and not allowed 
to learn undesirable foreign habits and customs before he has seen a 
little of his own country. 
present Fourth—The specialists who are at present not borne 
specialists. on the strength of companies would become extinct, 
or rather would be absorbed into the companies. In case of an attack 
every one would fall into his place and help to fight the batteries. 
The fiiemaster would have seen his ammunition is right in peace, 
and in war he would have to show that he knew how to use it. The 
Instructor in Range Finding would have trained his men in peace, in 
war he would have to remember he is a gunner and his schoolmaster 
vocation must for the time be put on one side. This is very necessary, 
for if you take a station where there is only one Position Finding 
specialist and three forts with instruments, he cannot be in more than 
one place at the same time, and in war time he must depend on the men 
he has trained and not on himself. So he would become a Gun Group 
Commander ready to help at the Position Finder, if ordered to do so. 
Unrecognized Fifth—It is a matter of common note that there are 
Specialists. unrecognized and unpaid specialists in the Garrison 
Artillery at present. If heavy armament work has to be done, the 
Commanding Officer is told that one of his officers is good at this work 
and fond of it. If a calculation has to be made or plans drawn up, 
another officer is pointed out as having taken up this line, These are 
