Cincinnati daily press. [volume] (Cincinnati [Ohio]) 1860-1862, 1861-06-13

The Gigantic Military Preparation Of
France-Rnglnud Greatly Alarmed.
The London Times Of May 20 has this
leaderi
II will edify some Of our readers II they
will cast their eyes down the review Of The
French army In our columns to day. -Four
hundred thousand men, being a hundredth
Of the whole population of France, one out
of every sixteen able bodied men, and more
than all the able-bodied men Ia this vast
metropolis, are raised by forced CONSUMPTION,
and maintained by forced taxes-we can not
finish the sentence-for what2 In this ooun-
tn, tChether for a just or a groundtess terror,
as are accustomed 10 believe ourselves The prob
able object of inUdSion. Many Of us have seen
with our own eyes the invading force pre-
pared and maneuvered. Nay, Mr.. Disraeli
has we'll observed that England has been
invaded, not at all with uniform i'll success,
at least once a century. ever since the begin
ming of her annals. This alone might serve
TO Justify a moderate armament; but the
truth is that our army is very little more
than a depot for our Numerous distant and
scattered requirements. Its principle is to
get the greatest amount Of work done by the
least means, and to make one man, by selec-
ton, voluntary feeling, good pay, good treat
ment, and a frequent change of place, do
duty for several men. No Englishman
whose opinion is worth listening to on the
matter thinks our army one man too large
for its actual employment.
He may be of opinion that we have too
many little wars; that we undertake too
much colonial protection; that we have no
need TO garrison so many stepping stones
round the world, and so forth; but, assum'
ing the work to be done, it is impossible to
say that the power employed Is excessive.
We can have no other object but use, for
parade we have none. The military force in
this metropolis is neither so numerous nor
SO prominent as the police, and in many
parts of the Countrywide greater part-a red
coat is as rare as a black man or a cream
colored horse. In France all is the contrary.
France fears no ~inVdsiOH. She has neDer been
Invaded, exceptb y those hoD drove back her oDn
invading armies. She is aware that against
all the thunders of all her neighbors-Bel-
GUM, Germany, Switzerland, Italy, and
Spain, FIVE electric wires are sufficient. They
will no more invade her spontaneously than
they would plunge of free will into the era
ter of Htna. France has no colonies or
foreign use for her soldiers, except where the
soldiers themselves are the use, and, in a
vicious circle, redundant means are the in
sufficient end. Nevertheless, under no fear,
with no real object, France has an army SO
large as to be in every great city and popu-
lous town, a large part of the population,
and a prominent feature in the general
effect. OF course, we can not suppose this
to be mere vanity. There must be a pur-
pose, and, if the purpose be not confessed,
it must be surmised.
But it is when we pass from the vast mus.
ter of the men to the organization, aids, aud
appliances, that weare most struck with the
vast ~disproportion of the means over the end.
This is no militia; nc army o fdefense to wake
like a sleeping lion; no living wall of men;
no bodies to be passed over by the would-be
conqueror of the country. 1t is most en-
phatically an instrument in the highest state
of efficiency. AS in the well-trained human
fI9EIe, the nerves, the sinews, the muscles
predominate, and there is no spare flesh, the
| efficiency Of an army for immediate oper-
rations consists in its cavalry, staff, train and
administrative services. To quote the COM
parison of the British and French armies in
our colonies, with only twice and a half the
number of foot soldiers, the latter have,
speaking in round numbers, five times as
many in the administrative services, three
times as many in the train, four times as
many in the staff, and six times the cavalry
/ that We have, besides ten times as many
horses, while they have but one third more
in the engineers, and about one half more in
the artillery.
Again, in the French service the proper.
lion OF Objects 10 mtn is rs Ou6 10 ten, auO
in the English service as one to nineteen
The French cavalry numbers 76. 903; its
artillery, 1888; its train, $3.50; its ad.
ministrative services" 1881; its horses
IS, EOS. This is eminently a locomotive
army. All know the trouble we have tc
prepare a moderate force for an expedition
If we have to send twenty thousand men,
far or near, it is all the same. What a fus:
aud inquiry for horses, artillery, wagons
- nQha.r, anNnnataat 60 No-
ticular servicesl But here all is ready at
moments warning. "a Frenchman will
his sword" said Napoleon, "can marcel
through the world" Here is the very
sword for that service. What can France
herself, the compactest territory in tn
world, want with seventy thousand horses
That is the number in France alone, deduct
ing Algeria.
Indeed there is nothing in that ~so-callel
colony to qualify the general character G
the French army as a vast extravaganza G
power and display, if not ambition and ag
l erosion. Algeria is only the school of tn
: French army. The clue to its objects mus
l be found in such occupations as that ofRomt
, and-sball we add-of Syria. With fou
hundred thousand men and thirty five thou
Z sand horses, eating their heads off at homt
: there must be a great temptation to lodg
them wherever room and work are to :
: found. No one ever possessed a good weapo
! without a strong inclination to use it, an
even if France had no immediate hopes {
e e definite policy, still the mere handling Of
mighty and manageable a force, must itse
j. be suggestive. The sword must be apt to CT
5 through its W sheath. We haze lately Sc,
: this east army pour forth like burning kdU
and step not til ii had run its appointed coMrs
: Is ii formidable to nobody? If 10 any natio
q 10 Which more than ourselves?
Z The particular occasion on which tn
= comparison has been made is to show theTe
q cost of this colossal armament. 1t was late
stated in the House of Commons to
# ETA, 600, 900, such being the sun appropriate
10 the Minister of War. A more caref
q inspection Of the estimates, compared wi
:. ours, adds many and considerable items
this sum. Taking all things into accouI
!, such as pensions, military works, and t
vast amount of the personal sacrifices i
10 ficted both on those who are forced to pu
a chase substitutes for the CONSUMPTION al
those who can not afford to do SO, the cost
- the French army is estimated at twenty 70
a millions. IL is true that we, too, shou
throw in our yeomanry, our militia and o
n volunteers, the latter standing for q We
AZ large cost to themselves and the hbel
20 public. But those are purely defensi
h. forces, and can not enter into the comparis
is with an army, every man of which may
1d sent ACROSS Europe at the word of an e
- peror. tits for such a force, so gigantic,
H. handy, so terrible, that France is nOW pay
in money and in forced labor tVsnty four n
fit lions a gear.
If she should regret over much that
he costly and beautiful a weapon is vast
IN that would only be a folly Of ordinary
er- currenee. We usually wish to turn to
count or to find a use in everything that
es, cost us money and that we have brought
10. perfection. That France should ever
he unconscious of her power, or backward
he use it, or that she should be insensible
nd the ordinary allurements Of ambition, is
what we learn from her history. France
ed Frapca still and will he 80 To the end of