372 COMMENDED uHssayY, 1895, 
does so at the expense of the fighting power of the place. 
dztitey Now we know very well that the actual Artillery Garrisons of our 
nommat« Coast Fortresses, as laid down in the Schemes for Mobilisation, do in 
very rare instances conform to the normal or theoretical proportions. 
As a matter of fact the numbers are generally insufficient, especially if 
we consider the necessity for reliefs, and of provision for casualties. It 
is not, however, in deficiency of numbers that the matter is most 
serious. ‘The worst discrepancy is, as a rule, in the matter of quality 
so to speak. 
The supply of unskilled labour may in most cases be supplemented 
in time of war by drafts upon the local labour market, but the skilled 
labour, in proportion to its technical character will be less and less 
possible to extemporise. Moreover no super-abundance in one depart- 
ment of skilled labour will in any way make up for a deficiency in 
another. 
Skitedand By skilled labour, using a certain freedom in applying the term to 
duties. the duties of Garrison Artillery is meant— 
(a.) Officers’ duties, that is to say the higher technical duties in- 
volving discretionary powers. 
(0.) Specialists’ duties, that is technical duties requiring very 
_ skilful manipulation and a certain amount of local know- 
ledge—as for example the duties of artificers, electricians, 
telegraphists, position-finding and depression range-find- 
ing operators, to which may be added certain minor 
employments such as those of magazine and store-men 
entailing peculiar responsibilities and requiring intimate 
acquaintance with the batteries. 
With respect to officers’ duties, there are many difficulties all more 
or less embarrassing. In the first place the officers and superior non- 
commissioned officers available on the outbreak of war will generally be 
an hetrogeneous body taken in part from the regular forces, and from 
the auxiliary branches. Many of them will have been non-resident in 
times of peace, and their qualifications will have been difficult to 
ascertain. Secondly, the relative proportions of each rank will hardly 
ever tally with the posts which have to be filled according to the 
Defence Scheme. Thirdly, the proportion of officers to men according 
to the regimental establishments may prove very unsuitable when 
officers and men are distributed according to armament requirements. 
All this difficulty is plainly due to the fact that inthe Garrison Artil- 
lery, the organisation by companies and divisions is for purposes of 
administration and has little to do with the requirements of war. In 
this respect a Garrison Company is altogether different from a Field 
Battery, which is not only an administrative but also a fighting unit. 
As regards the specialists, there are also many obstacles to satisfac- 
tory working, and these unfortunately are more in practice than in 
theory. In theory we know that with the exception of officers, the 
entire fighting staff of every fortress should be found by the Regular 
