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officers of sufficiently proved ability and training, and then we shall always in future have an admirable body of young men who have passed the Royal Military College, and who could not be sur- passed in every requisite qualification for military service, especially for the duties of Adjutant.

21. The want of non-commissioned drill instructors would be an impediment. I have so frequently brought this subject to notice in the shape of embodied infantry schools, that I only advert to it in the hope that eventually they may be established. Such instructors are a crying want in the force just now, and perhaps the Imperial Government might assist in maintaining these schools in order that the reserve companies might be provided with trained Canadian officers and non-commissioned staff. 22. At first some trouble might be experienced in finding suitable officers to command the com- panies when grouped for battalion drill into seven battalions. The Deputy Adjutants-General would be obliged to seek out and secure the services of the most experienced officers in their districts, as Lieutenant-Colonels, Majors, and Adjutants, and good officers* could undoubtedly be found; only, as they would have little interest in the corps, and only act as a point of duty, they would have to receive sufficient pecuniary inducement.

23. In the event of the reserve battalions being called away for active service out of Canada, I am of opinion that officers of the army should be Commanders and Adjutants. They would be told off by the Horse Guards upon the order for service being given, and should proceed to Canada to take command and enter upon their duties.†

24. In alluding to the militia reserve as the source from whence to draw Imperial reserve men, I do so in the sense that every male in Canada, with certain exceptions, is liable by law to serve in the militia, and that most of them are enrolled in the reserve, amounting to 650,000 men, between the ages of 18 and 60.

25. As the whole success of such a project in Canada depends upon co-operation with the militia, and as the local command of this Imperial force should, I conceive, devolve upon the Deputy Adjutants- General of military districts, so, therefore, should the Militia Act and the rules and orders for the militia be made applicable to the Imperial reserve while in Canada. The terms of their enlistment and the commission of the officers would, of course, contemplate their serving under the Army Disci- pline and Regulation Acts as soon as they were called upon for active service out of Canada.

26. The issue of arms, accoutrements, and clothing by the Imperial Government might either be made from an Imperial central depôt, or might be entrusted to militia district storekeepers. The stores should be, when issued, kept in private armouries, in charge of each Captain and superintended by the district staff.

27. While the Captain of each company is the proper person to hold responsible for the safe keeping of Government property, especially in country districts, from whence the best material is drawn, the staff of the battalion to which the Imperial company is linked, should, of course, be utilized chiefly at the time of the annual training, as if the reserve company was part of the Canadian militia battalion.

I believe, if worked on the foregoing plan, the scheme of an Imperial reserve would be popular, and, therefore, succeed.

(Signed)

E. SELBY SMYTH, Lieutenant-General.

Appendix No. 6.

, m

CANADA.

Ottawa, March 27, 1880.

Inclosure 4 in No. 1.

Sir P. MacDougall on Sir Selby Smyth's Memorandum, dated Ottawa, March 27, 1880.1

PARAGRAPH 4. It is hopeless to expect that the Canadian Government will maintain three regiments for permanent duty in time of peace. Should they do so, it would, of course, be at the cost of the present active force.

It is equally hopeless to expect the English Government to assume the charge of maintaining the three regiments referred to.

Paragraphs 5, 6, and 7. It requires careful consideration to determine the best method of dis- tributing the reserve men. If a few battalions only of active militia were chosen in a militia district with which to affiliate companies of the reserve to the exclusion of the remainder, considerable jealousy might be created.

Looking at the matter all round, I am inclined to think that it would be a saving of trouble, cost, and jealousies to enrol the Imperial Canadian reserve just as the militia reserve are enrolled in England, where they are borne on the strength of militia battalions individually, not in separate com- panies. The reserve men could thus be distributed indifferently throughout the battalions of the active force. They would be formed in companies, with officers on paper, outside the active battalions to which they belong, and would be assembled in battalions as a distinct body every year. might perform their regular drills with their respective active corps, and afterwards their reserve training.

The men

The enrolment of "tramps" could easily be prevented by the qualifications for enrolment; that should embrace height, age, medical certificate of fitness, certificate of good conduct, and proficiency in drill and musketry, and fixed abode.

Paragraphs 8, 9, and 10. Agreed.

Paragraph 11. The reserve battalions, when under arms and in the pay of the Imperial Govern-

* Possibly from the retired or unattached list.

+ It is quite probable that some of the Canadian Lieutenant-Colonels might be found willing and qualified to command in the field, and equally so that Cadets from the Royal Military College would be excellent Adjutants.

Inclosure 3.

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