Reflects the tactical doctrine of the times and the countries, the officer and the NCO was expected to keep tighter control of his troops, the soldier was trained to wait for orders. Also the battles were still fought largely in the standup/close order manner. We had Gatling guns in Cuba in 1898 but it was the Russo-Japanese War that really proved their lethality. The older Lee Enfields, the P-14 had the volley sights, I have seen excerpts from manuals demonstrating their use so troops could create a "beaten zone" at long range, say 600 yards or greater.