The evening telegraph. [volume] (Philadelphia [Pa.]) 1864-1918, 1870-08-05

49,
of the army, will listen TO the advice of his
generals only as far as he is inclined to do
SO; and the more anxious he may be person
ally to sustain the military reputation of his
uncle, the more likely are the French to
be ultimately defeated. IL must be
borne in mind that the Prussian
army is much more capable of acting in large
bodies than the French is; the entire organi-
cation of the two armies, their whole disci-
pline, lead to this capital difference. 1t may
be fairly said that in the Prussian army the
most independent man is the captain of the
company. Between him and the commander
in. chief all the intermediate authorities are
merely links transmitting orders. Conse-
quently, if the commanding officers of the
company are intelligent men, the largest army
can act with the greatest possible unity; and
one Of the best means of disorganizing the
Prussian army during battle would be to shoot
all the captains. In the French army, on
the other hand, the fundamental body is the
battalion, whose commanding officer is a per-
son of sufficient rank to imagine himself-and
to a certain extent really to bean indepen-
dent commander. The battalion, amounting
in france to something like $50 men, and
often acting on its own account, makes the
French army in the long run much more fit
for acting in attachments of a moderate size
than in large corps Their comparatively
less stringent discipline has also acted in that
direction. And if the Emperor Napoleon in
tends to give a gr-T-rande 6dtdiUe under his
personal command, he is very likely to be
beaten.
Another point on which much will depend
is connected with the question of who will
take the offensive and who the defensive.
The new weapons make offensive action ex-
ceedingly disadvantageous. For if the at
tackled corps is even much weaker in numbers
than its adversaries, it can. if it profits by
the various cover which the position may
afford, so much reduce the attacking forces
during their advance that the chances of
further fighting will be greatly reduced. If
the French take the offensive they will prob
ably attempt to neutralize this disadvantage
by using great masses of artillery both before
and in conjunction with advancing columns,
as they have often done before, But then
the Prussian needle-gun will operate on the
batteries, in all cases when it can reach
them, and thus one of the greatest adj
vantages of France over Prussia, that
of a perfectly trained artillery, may be greatly
lessened after any battle of this sort. These
disadvantages of offensive action must be
still greater for Prussia than for France. for
tho Chassepot is pretty sure to act more eff
GENTLY than the needle-gun, and the French
infantry soldier more than any other is likely
to prove a better marksman from behind field
works, as q bush or a mound, than when he
has to shoot and advance at the same time.
1t has been said that the Prussian military
authorities were lately of opinion that in case
of a war with France a direct and audacious
march to Paris would give the best chance of
victory; but we must confess we do not quite
comprehend the grounds of such an opinion.
The only advantage that Prussia would
seem to have in invading France is that the
French people are likely to be, as they have
shown themselves to be, very indifferent
fighters al home. Led by the prestige of
u1oru fhau will orr ipnnafr1ouc1y RI tho and of
the world; but when they see foreign soldiers
in their W country they give up everything
for lost, and lose their heads and sometimes
even their courage. With the Germans it is
almost the reverse. They fight better at
home than abroad, although it is not impos-
possible that when brought to the French
frontier every soldier will be as furious to
cross it as Butcher was when, about to cross
the Rhine, he said that he would cross il
alone if the allies confabulated any longer on
the subject. These peculiarlties of national
character ought to be we'll kept in view by
the respective commanders; and it is not inn.
probable that the most fortunate general du.
ring this war will be that one who shall prove
to be not less versed in the management OF
military forces than in the knowledge of the
peculiarities of the national mind.
From a purely military point of view, per
haps, the better plan of a campaign would be
for the French to occupy at once the Rhine
provinces, and to hold themselves there or
the defensive. While for the Prussians the
better plan would be to draw the French az
far as possible into Germany, to give then
there battle, and, if successful, to push thei
enemies before them on to Paris.
THE ENGLISH NEUTRALITY LAWS.
From the Pail Mall Gazette.
1t is not creditable to the Government O
this country that a question like that of tn,
!, neutrality laws should, after our grave expe
rience of the imperfection of those law.
during the American war, have been allowed
to remain SO long in suspense, and have nov
to be taken up amid the heat and excitemen
of a European conflict. There is the les!
excuse for delay in dealing with the subject
since q Royal Commission of high persona
and legal authority examined it in 1868, ant
embodied their conclusions in a report
which supplied all the materials for legisla
ton. BY the seventh section of the Foreign
/ Enlistment act it is a misdemeanor to equip
furnish, fit out, or arm any ship with inten
, that it shall be employed by any foreign
belligerent against any friendly power, or t.
attempt to do so, or knowingly to aid, assist
| or be concerned in such equipment; it is also
a misdemeanor to issue or deliver any com
mission in her Majesty's dominions to any
ship to the intent that it should be SO EN-
!, ployed. The proposal of the commissioner
, was that the following acts should also bt
considered misdemeanors:-''To fit out, arm
despatch, or cause to be despatched, any ship
| with intent or knowledge that the same shall
or will be employed in the military OF nava
{ service" of any belligerent against an
friendly power; also ''within her Majesty
dominiops to build or equip any ship
with intent or knowledge that tn