COMMENDED ESSAY, 1892 . 
615 
are in action ; in addition to wliicli he is the vehicle for the transmis¬ 
sion of orders from the Lieut.-Colonel. 
Bat, at present, he may be a Captain or subaltern borne on the 
establishment of one of the batteries of the division. The Fire Dis¬ 
cipline of his battery must suffer, especially if he happens to be a 
Captain, as it has no guarantee for the supply of ammunition. If the 
Brigade Division is to be the tactical unit, it must be complete in 
itself, and have its staff of Adjutant, Quarter-Master, Staff-Sergeants, 
and Gunnery-Instructor. Recruits join batteries in driblets, but if 
this arrangement were adopted they could be put through uniform 
courses of marching, riding, gymnasium, sword, carbine, and recruit’s 
gun drill in larger classes, under divisional arrangements. This has 
proved a success in the French and German Armies, where the recruits 
all join on the same day, and obtain uniform preliminary training, 
uninterrupted by fatigues. 
Discharge op Worthless Soldiers. 
Officers commanding divisions should be given greater facilities for 
discharging men of bad character, or insufficient intelligence. The 
present system of drafting the bad characters from the depots to 
service batteries 1 is most injurious to Fire Discipline. They are 
usually drivers, very young, and quite unfit for the hard work required 
of them. In many cases this tends to crime and disgust with the 
service, and they either desert or go to prison, thereby throwing 
increased work on the already attenuated establishments. 
There are not many of them, and it would have a most wholesome 
effect if they were summarily discharged, and the batteries kept up to 
strength, especially in the Horse Artillery. 
Inducements to Self-Improvement. 
Two suggestions of Lord Wantage’s Committee affect the subject 
of this essay :— 
1. That all Acting-Bombardiers should have extra pay. 
2. That deferred pay should be done away with in its present form. 
There is not enough inducement to men to work hard to qualify for 
an acting stripe or as a first-class gunner or driver. Ho difference is 
made at present between a keen intelligent man and a lazy slovenly 
fellow, so long as the latter steers clear of the defaulter book. The 
system of paying men extra, according to their proficiency, has ob¬ 
tained the most valuable practical results in the R.E. and A.S. Corps. 
It would be a really good bargain for the country if the £21, at present 
earned as deferred pay at the end of seven years, were distributed as 
follows :— 
Hot less than £5 retained as a lump sum to be given on a man leav¬ 
ing the colours after three years’ service, or more. 
The remainder used so as to allow— 
Id. extra per diem to be paid to men on being rated 3rd class. 
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1 “ R.A. Standing Orders,” Sec. XLV., para. 26. 
82 
