432 
COMMENDED ESSAY, 1899. 
position of The position of the Garrison Artillery is improving 
the Garrison every day. There was a day when the Corps of 
Artillery in Royal Engineers was so little thought of that the 
the Regiment. men a t the bottom of the term leaving the Academy 
were ordered to go into it. That day has passed and now we see the 
Sappers chosen from the top of every term. There was a day when 
the Garrison Artillery was a despised and neglected service, but that 
day has passed. 
The day is in the near future when, with the Garrison Artillery as 
with the Engineers, the increased pay will bring home influence to 
bear, and commissions in the Garrison Artillery will be eagerly sought 
for and given to those at the top of the list. The officer who passes 
through the Garrison to the Field Artillery will cease to exist, 
position of Before closing, let us regard the position which the 
Artmer v 'tn Garrison Artillery occupies with regard to the rest of 
the Army. the Army, and it will be seen that it is of vital im¬ 
portance that anything which tends to increase its efficiency should be 
done, and done at once. It is an accepted fact that the Navy is the 
first line in the defence of the empire. Articles are written daily to 
impress on the public that we are dependent on it for our very exist- 
ance, and that defeat at sea means starvation to the British Islands 
within a few weeks. 
Every European complication calls forth more ships, their equipment 
is hurried on, and improvements rapidly introduced. It was a fact 
commented on by all, that at the 1897 Jubilee Review, practically all 
the ships had been built since 1887. But all these ships are powerless 
without coal and of very evanescent use without dockyards to put into 
and arsenals to refit at. These coaling stations, dockyards and arsenals, 
depend on the Garrison Artillery for their defence. It is therefore a 
fair thing to say that the Garrison Artillery, if not part of the first line 
is at least the very front rank of the second line. As such its require¬ 
ments and efficiency should take precedence of all other branches of 
the army. 
It is no doubt an excellent thing to train up the cavalry and infantry 
and have them ready to start for a small expedition, or prepared to 
take a very minor part in some European war. But the Garrison 
Artillery stands on an absolutely different footing; its efficiency con¬ 
cerns the vital interests of our empire as it is; and with the Navy, on 
it depends the fact of our very existence. Its role is not showy. 
The German Emperor comes to Aldershot and sees nothing of it. 
The foreign ambassadors crowd to our great Naval reviews and scarce¬ 
ly realise that it exists; but in every corner of the earth, from Hong 
Kong to Mauritius, from Bermuda to the Thames, the Garrison 
Artillery stands armed and waiting, guarding the dockyards and arsen¬ 
als, the coal-yards and harbours, and “when the strong man armed 
keepeth his palace his goods are in peace.” 
