How can this impossible state of affairs be remedied, and a body of leaders, constantly practised in the execution of those duties in command of troops that would be required of them in war, be formed? I. On active service the rôle of the regimental commander is both wide and important. To issue successfully from the test of modern war, he must have character, experience, and facility in manœuvring his unit in the field, must know his men well, and therefore have found the time both for intercourse with his officers and for perfecting himself in his profession. In battle it is men he has to deal with, and not files of papers and storehouses. But, situated as he is at present, he is so overburdened with important administrative details that most of his time is passed dealing with requisitions and inventories instead of with flesh and blood. The penalties he incurs by neglect of his administrative duties are far heavier and more tangible than those incurred by neglecting the tactical training of his regiment. The greater part of these duties—those such as are connected with clothing, transport, and rationing—should be removed from his shoulders. He should be made the controller of these sections of duty, and not the person actually responsible. Nor is his position easy in respect to the _personnel_. The great shortage of officers, especially in those units quartered in inferior barracks, is the cause of many difficulties. When mobilization is ordered, some of the already too small number of officers are told off for the innumerable miscellaneous duties and detachments; commanders of battalions and of companies are interchanged; many of the men are transferred to other units, a mass of reservists join, and, if there is not time for the new arrivals to settle down with the few old hands, the commander has to lead into action a regiment which he does not know, and which does not know itself. Our mobilization schemes, therefore, require revision in this respect, and every regiment should have in peace-time a permanent establishment of officers and men who would accompany the regiment on service. The company commanders in particular should not be removed from their companies. But to make such an arrangement possible, it is essential that one of the senior captains (who might be appointed to the staff) should run the regimental school. It is also important to keep the regimental commander as a man apart as far as possible; he should be made to realize upon all occasions the peculiar importance of the duties entrusted to him, and the respect due to himself personally by reason of these duties. II. In Manchuria, just as in the wars of the second half of last century, the great value of the infantry brigade as an independent fighting unit came out strongly in all the large battles; as also did the great influence of its commander on the result of the fight.