It is equally unpleasant to learn that some of the guns of the field artillery are unfit to fire, and that one artillery arm achieves the unpleasant distinction of being the very worst in the hands of civilised troops. It is not difficult to imagine the face of our brave gunners should they go into action against some lively and well-equipped batteries of, let us say, the Japanese Artillery which gave such a good account of itself in the Chinese war the other day. The dark shade of* this picture is deepened by the consideration that.'the ideal of a field artillery fozee is unattainable without radical alterations. We have an artillery of position, such as it is, but if we want a mobile force which can by rapidity of movement and accuracy of sustained fire compensate for smallness of numbers we may whistle for it. There is compensation in the reflection that Rome, which was not built in a day, eventually became the finest city in the world, and incomparably the most power ful. The Coloners report gives, this re flection some gleams of encouraging fact. It shows a force many portions of wh ; ch have, made themselves as efficient as the conditions of their service permit, and that all ranks, besides being animated by the finest possible spririt, are alive to the defective conditions under which they work, and are always proposing methods, at great inconvenience to themselves, of getting over them. With material of that sort anything can be done. The Naval Volunteers are a bright par ticular star in the Volunteer move ment, and some of the infantry com panies, notably those of Wellington, are eminently reliable and serviceable. Their officers know little of tactics, field fortifica tion and topography it is true. Bat that deficiency would be very quickly rectified by a little field work. Whatever other defects there are can, it U evident from the report, be remedied very simply and without any groat cost. The main fact disclosed is that the force is of the best personnel, and has vastly improved in the main, and is capable of great and rapid im provement by simple methods. It is clearly not a difficult thing to bring the num bers and efficiency’ .up to the highest standard of soldiering, and to make the efficient manning of the forts a simple and safe matter. 