Q. And, consequently, you take a serious view of Volunteering?
A. Assuredly, or I would not give up most of my leisure time to master drill in all its branches.
Q. Do you obtain any social advantages by wearing the uniform of a Volunteer?
A. No; on the contrary, the grade of a private in the long run causes considerable expense; and the commission of an officer is inseparable from large expenditure and a loss of self-respect.
Q. Why is the holding of a commission of a Volunteer officer "inseparable from a loss of self-respect"?
A. Because, in the general estimation, the holder of a commission in the Volunteers is worthy of ridicule, pity, or contempt.
Q. Can you give the reason for this impression?
A. It is probable that it has been created by the consideration that a Volunteer officer is chaffed by his friends, sneered at by his enemies, and mulcted of much money by his comrades.
Q. Then a Volunteer officer or private usually joins the force from the most patriotic of motives?
A. Certainly. Nine-tenths of the rank and file and their commanding officers wish to qualify as soldiers capable of repelling a foreign invasion.