COMMENDED ESSAY, 1892 . 
641 
season, and by making it last through three months there is a proba¬ 
bility that the lectures will be more thoroughly prepared and more 
fully comprehended. As a general rule it is easy to arrange the gunners* 
furloughs so that they take place during the leave of their sectional 
officers. A journal of the subjects and attendances should be kept, and 
a short supplementary course at the end, under the captain, may well 
make up for what has been missed owing to employment, sickness or 
other cause, for all three sections. Battery gun drill—as distinguished 
from single standing gun drill—should obviously be rigidly excluded 
from this part of the course as belonging to a higher grade of instruc¬ 
tion. 
At the commencement of the drill season each battery should be 
struck off duty for a week for a thorough course of marching, sword 
and carbine drill, under the Section Commanders, and the examinations 
should take place for laying and gunnery prizes and classification of 
gunners. 
Chain of Responsibility. 
Great stress is laid on the principle that up to this time the Major has 
exercised merely a general supervision over the instruction of the sec¬ 
tions which, as regards matter and method, have been entirely in the 
hands of the subalterns, to whom should accrue credit or blame 
according as good results or bad are attained. Naturally the amount 
of supervision and interference on the part of the Battery Commander 
would depend entirely upon the reliability and experience of the 
Section Officer, and might vary from nil to absolute control. It must 
be remembered, however, that officers have to be educated as well as 
their subordinates—indeed this is one of the great duties of com¬ 
manders—and this can only be done by the early exercise of initiative 
and responsibility under the supervision and guidance of those who 
are more experienced. This is a principle admitted by all in theory, 
but more honoured in the breach than in the observance. “ If you 
want a thing done ** it is undoubtedly easier to do it yourself than to 
train another; but incalculably valuable opportunities of education in 
its highest sense are thereby thrown away. 
1st Annual Inspection. 
Towards the end of March or beginning of April should take place 
the annual dismounted inspection by the Lieut.-Colonel, in gunnery, 
standing* gun drill (single), carbine drill, sword and marching drill. 
Should the general result be satisfactory the battery should be con¬ 
sidered to have graduated in these subjects for the year, a monthly 
parade of each nature being merely necessary to furbish them up. 
Special men should, if necessary, be temporarily relegated to 2nd class 
or recruit squads, and any general short coming on any particular 
point should be remedied by special attention for a few days more. 
The time has now come for the battery to be taken personally in 
hand as a whole by the Captain or Major. The mounted parades will 
be devoted to “ field movements ” on the drill-ground ; tactics and the 
