The Sun.
London, England, 1870-04-19 00:00:00

LONDON, TUESDAY, APRIL 19, 1870.

THE great annual display of the Volunteer force
has passed off with unqualified success. The weather
was of Italian brilliance, albeit the sun, owing
probably to the blotch indisposition, was
rather tardy in making its appearance ;
the troops were very numerous ; and the
good folks of Brighton offered their best reception.
_ _ _

Indeed, given -weather and the men, and it is hardly
possible that a review at Brighton can be other than
a success. Dover and Portsmouth possess great ad-
vantages, there is no denying; but Brighton
can offer abundant accommodation, affords
plenty of general amusement in addition to the great
show of the day, and is near London, whence most of
the corps are drawn. The railway facilities,
too, are on a scale well calculated to guard
against the risk of a break-down. It is
no trifling duty to land 25,000 men safely,
even at a distance of but fifty miles from the great
centre, to creditably execute a complicated series
of manoeuvres, and then convey the host, with
the still greater host of spectators, back to
their homes. At Brighton the danger of failure is
reduced to a minimum, and it is well that it should
be so. The Easter Review is a great event of
its kind. It combines some of the serious
business of Wimbledon with the more purely
recreative display in which the Parisians so much
delight.* It is seldom that the Volunteers appear in
such force for a single day's evolutions. And
it is right that the public should have
an occasional opportunity of testing the merits of the
remarkable force which arose in a time of sudden
panic, but which was not, like most other products
of fear, destined to vanish with the original cause,
which has gradually grown in favour with the nation
and at length taken rank as a British in-
stitution. The well-being of the force de-
pends upon popular sympathy, and the shop-
keeping people is not apt to sympathise
with what it does not see. In this respect yester-
day's review answered its purpose admirably. The
display was excellent, the music and marching all
that could ba wished, the manoeuvres were well
done, and the enjoyment of the spectators appeared
to be unlimited. This is all there is to be said.
Successful holidays, like the history of peaceful
nat 'ow, require no description.
Would that the subject ended here. If good
" marching-past," excellent band-playing, and the
loyalty of citizens at Brighton were all that was

needed to make an efficient Volunteer army

the time for anxiety would be past. We
can manage an Easter Review now, whatever might
be the case in fcrmer years. Unfortunately
the more perfect the annual show becoines, the

deeper is the swpicloa that great improvements

are needed to make the Volunteers a formidable
weapon of defence. It is one thing to fight a mimic
battle on Sussex Downs; it is another to beat off a
well-disciplined and well-led enemy. The perfect or-
ganisation which would transform 150,000 riflemen into
a great army has yet to be undertaken, and until the
nation directs the attention of its representatives to
the matter, the deficiency is not likely to be made
good. The troops themselves are not to blame.
They have with great industry and patriotism devoted
themselves to learning everything which it was in
their power to learn. But the proper facilities have
not been forthcoming ; in many professional quarters
—the fact is unquestionable—the force has been
regarded as "irregular" and obnoxious; and scant
encouragement has bean offered. In order that the
Volunteer army should be all that its best friends
could desire, it is needful that it should be so orga-
nised with a military train, and so accustomed to
work in largo masses, as to be ready for
practical war at any time. At present the
army consists of a number of regiments, each inde-
pendent of the others, and each still more indepen-
dent of the regular professional force. It is not, as
it ought to be, a continuation of the red-coated host,
differing in the conditions of service, but alike
in other respects. In case of war the two,
under present conditions, would be no more capable
of mingling than oil and water.
At a time when the formation of a great reserve,
quit 3 distinct from the Volunteers, is under serious
consideration, it is more than ever necessary that the
wants of the free army should be earnestly taken up.
A force which has cost so much time and money in
preparation is surely worth keeping, and if the
Volunteers are to be kept, now is the proper moment.
If once a regular reserve be formel whilst the free
reserve remains in its present anomalous condition,
the fate of the latter will almost surely be decided.
It is obvious enough that the War Office and the
Horse Guards will do very little. The organisation of
the Volunteer force has become what it is
through neglect, and by neglect the professionals
hope that some solution of the problem may be
found. It is quite time that the House of Commons

demanded a final settlement. Tho difficulty
is simply to find some means of raising
the Volunteers to their proper position as an
assistance in the work of defence to the regular
soldiers. The two bodies must be made homogene-
ous. There must he one system for the control and
organisation of both, making all due allowance for
difference in the conditions of service. The
problem is not easy ; but it is surely not insuperable.
It requires willingness on the part of the authorities
to undertake the labour, airl willingness on
the part of the men to undergo the
necessary training. If these conditions can-
not be met, the question as to the wisdom of
maintaining the force will next present itself.
It would be deplorable indeed if so much
labour, money, and loyalty bore no fruit ; but
it is obvious that things cannot remain as they are.
Admirable as is the specta'3le, the Volunteer army
needs some more substantial final cause than an
Easter Review.

THE proposed reduction in the postage of news-
papers and printed matter is a step in the right
direction. It is remarkable that a department, which,
of all others, has shown enterprise and energy and
a readiness to depart from the groove of routine in
order to benefit the public and itsJlf, should so
Luna have
.paiutaiu9.d... the present high. rate of