Tue late events in South Africa have drawn much attention to the great necessity there exists for paying attention to rifle shooting in the British army. The Secretary of State for War hus determined to refer the subject of musketry fire and instruction in the army to ® committee of officers of which General Sir D. Lysons will be chairman, and the Times cannot conclude an article on a recent Indian court-martial without firing at moving objects and on the inadequacy of the proposed modifica tion of the rales for rifle practice to bring about the. results, Though the public are tal interest in the matter, the subject is one which has long ied the attention of the authorities. In the present "Musketry Instructio the importance of good shooting is insisted upon, and one of the first things which a recruit has to be taught is that "all his other instruction in marcbivg and manoeuvring can do no more than place him in the best possible situation for using his rifle with effect and, again, he is to be instructed that "his being a good shot ata fixed mark is of no use if he cannot bit an enemy in the field, which is the object of all his training."
If then the main features of the case, as they presented themselves to the compilers of the volume of musketry instruction, were pretty much the same as those which present themselves to us now, and if (as undoubtedly was the case) these officers were men of at least average ability, who had given their attention to this particular subject, it is hardly likely that we, as outsiders, can suggest any great improvement on the present system of instruction. The recent resolution of the Secretary of State shows that he considers there is room for improvement, but we are willing to take for granted that taking all the citcamstances of the case into consideration, the present system has a great many more good points than bad ones, and is by far the best that is likely to be proposed to us for- some time to come.
Under these circumstances we think we may call the attention of our Volunteers to the General Order which has appeared during the last fow days in our columns relating to "close firing." That we have some very good shots among us is proved by the result of the Into competition with the Cheshire Volunteers, but from some enquiries which we have made we have reason to believe that the number of members of the Corps who fired through their classes last year was stealler than it should have been, ard we have a suspicion that there are some members who have never fired a ballot from the rifles which they carry. Of course a man may be able to shoot, just as ho may be able to taste tea or play the violin, without trying, but it is generally found to be the case that the good shots are among those who practise great deal, and we think we are justified in urging upon all Volunteers the propriety of complying with the very moderate requirements of the General Order. It will be generally admitted that we are in a sition to appreciate the difficulties a large amount of time to idioring. Often important business stands in the way; often the of being at hand in case something should turn up presents equally great obstacle to attending at parade or at the rifle range, but to devote three mornings per year between the hours of 6.80 and 8 o'clock ought not to be too great a tax for any Volunteer. There may bosomemomb of the Corps who will tell us that if ever there is danger they will be ready. If this is what constitutes a Volunteer the Corps is a large one, for it includes every able-bodied man, we might almost say every man, woman, and child in the community. But we have always' understood that the Corps consisted of those who had undertaken to make themselves proficient in some branch of military art, and we do nob think we are presuming upon our position if at the commencement of the season for class-firing we remind every member of the rifle companies that ho is in honour bound to visit the rifle range one morning during each of the months of Jane, July and August. In the "Musketry Instractions" it. la distinctly laid down that every man who has no defect in his sight may be made a good shot. The expression "good shot" must of course be taken to lave rather a wide signification. A good shot generally means some one,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.