378 
REMARKS ON CAPTAIN WHITENS LECTURE. 
I will now consider tlie desirability or otherwise of leaving the num¬ 
ber of rounds expended out of the question ; in other words, should 
accuracy from an ammunition point of view have credits given it ? 
(That is for hits per shell). 
In the case of X., Y. and Z., not only was Z/s rate of scoring 
greatest, but he got the greatest number of hits per shell, the relative 
merits of the three batteries in this respect being represented by their 
score for hits, each firing the same number of rounds. 
But in the case of A. and B., ammunition limited and not time. 
Though A/s rate of hitting was greater, B. made the greatest number of 
hits, their merits from an ammunition point of view being represented 
by the scores—A., 100; B., 150. We have already seen that their 
rate of hitting is represented by the figures—A., 200 ; B., 150. There¬ 
fore, if we add them together we get the total scores as under:— 
A. , 200 + 100 = 300. 
B. , 150 + 150 = 300. 
And they come out equal. Now in the case of Garrison as compared 
with Field Artillery, the former is stationary, its stores of ammunition 
are close at hand, and not likely to run short. 
We may therefore, I think, disregard the question of ammunition 
(hits per shell credits) in their case and certainly leave A. in possession 
of the prize. 
But, in the case of the Field Artillery, its stores of ammunition have 
to follow it about all over the country day after day, and that part of its 
lesson in Fire Discipline, which teaches it to get the most effect from a 
limited supply of ammunition, should not be entirely lost sight of; for 
at certain stages of the fight that battery would not necessarily be the 
best which, at a much greater expenditure of ammunition, only made 
a few more hits. Here, I think, the question of ammunition expended 
fairly enters, and a system of credits for hits per shell might have a 
slight share in determining the respective merits of the batteries. Of 
course, to do this, it makes no difference whether the ammunition is 
limited and not the time, or the reverse, but limiting the ammunition 
has this practical advantage, that you know exactly how much you will 
expend, and the firing is not so likely to be hurried during the last 
minute after “ Cease Firing ” has sounded. 
It seems to me, for the foregoing and other reasons, that there is more 
scope for credits for Fire Discipline, as distinct from credits for rate 
of scoring, in the case of the Field than in the Garrison Artillery, and 
it is difficult to understand why these credits should form one-third of 
the total for Garrison Artillery and only one-seventh of that for Field 
Artillery. 
Exactly in proportion as the umpired award is given, in accordance 
with sound principles and proved facts, it will carry conviction and 
receive the assent of the competitors. I would strongly (and humbly) 
urge that the Fire Discipline credits for Garrison Artillery be decreased, 
and that those of Field Artillery should not be increased without further 
experience. 
Guernsey, 
5th Feb., 1892. 
