The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1872-06-13
z R & III G. z.
Speech Of the Duke. dAumaie in tho French
Assembly ON the Reorganization of
the French Army.
PARIS, May 20, 1872.

the alabsolbing question OF army reorganization,
which. owing to the position OF the speaker has, OF
course, attracted considerable attention. The
speech was plain and businessikc, and was listened
ITO, on the whole, with patience and attention. l
subjoin translation
4 GEETLEMEN-lt Is not onr business inst now to
structon; what we have before us is bill on the
recruiting OF the army, and to that mean to con-
line myself lpa,te<l. When you determined that
this bill should pass to Its second stage you ac-
knOwledged IN principle 1t was necessary, and by
tho VACCINATIONS with which you received the clo-
ad'Addiffrct Pasquier, you adopted In manner the
principle OF personal servce-a principle which
times the basis Of our military legslation but which
1T is now contemplated to apply In more complete
and absolute manner than before. The bill you are
discussing Is necessary, because our legislation In
the matter OF recruiting had fallen into such state
Of confusion that 1t has to be reconstructed aresh
As it now stands 1t is so inadequate that at the
time OF our nrst reyerses, before our great disas-
ters, 1t became necessary TO have recourse to ex
ceptional and extra legal measures TO- procure al
supply OF men. Therefore you have to frame law
which win give the army the numerical strength,
the efficiency and solidity 1t requires without inter-
hndering the increase OF the population and drain
ing the manspring Of public wealth. You must
they are to be called to fulfil that first and most ga
cred Of dutes-thc duty Of defending their coun-
try (sensation, "TreS-bieni tr6S-btenr Gentlemen
the law OF 1882, which even now is the basis Of our
system OF recruiting was good law, for 1t fulfilled
the object 1t was meant to achieve. That object
was to place at the disposal OF the Executive an
army OF 100000 menthat Is to say, from 100000 to
$50, 600 men ready to march to the frontier That
object was fully attained; the experiment. was
made not only under the government OF July, but
ALSO what IL more important, under the govern
ment which followed II, aud which was not disposed
to view with favor any measure OF Its predecessor.
The Provisional government OF 1913 was after six
months able to mobilize the number of men have
peted by clause Of the law Of 1881 on the National
Guard, which organized, under the designation of
detached corps OF the National Guard, the
as the Garde Mobile. This law, however, was q
clumsy one. 1t was so complicated and nnwieldy
cTua s hEr ana 1 ON whom s
2sponsibnlty devoved felt not little uneasy about
/ II. The state of Europe was such that alarming
complications might be apprehended; men imbued
with the passions OF 1913 were still in power, and
those passions sabs!sed not perhaps, among. the
peoples, but certainly among their rulers; but no
moderation gained SO much ground there vas SO
much confidence in the wisdom OF the government
and the good sense OF the country, that there was
an indsposition to remodel the military law IN the
matterol the Garde Mobile, as It's strcyy military
aed were accented by the entire
: must ascribe tho failure Of The attempts
a. Of the aw 1882 and
the so-caed abuses OF the system of substitutes
the inadequacy OF the legal enactments respecting
the reserve, which was never either drilled or EN-
bodied. The abuses OF the system Of substitutes,
must canddy ten you, appears to me to nave been
obnoxious in civil than IN military life, ami that Kind
OF white slave trade which was openly carried on
the traic of the insurance companies against mill
tary servcev and other matters OF detail which it
is unnecessary to recapItulute. No doubt the sub
stltutss Were looked apon IN the army WIN de-
but which stuck to them wherever they went The
chief result OF this prejudice was to exclude them
from the cares, but not from the cite companies
were capital soldiers. Then there came the law OF
You have SO fully dealt with it that don't see have
anything new to say aboutit The experiment MI
honest 0neI am quite willing TO believe that-but
it was carried on q great deal too long, Its effect
r was to gcneraizc the system or substitutes which
was before only an exception; and when IT was re-
< pca!ed, the habit had become 80 general that the
number OF people buying themselves oil suffered no
= dimnuton. At the same time 1t encountered the
ssrs anG to sac an extent as to
= clude the volunteers, who, before this law, gencr
ally filed up these cadres Hence there has arisen
- difficulty In obtaining supply OF commits
Il stoned offcers-a difficulty which must continue j
~ the system OF substitutes be Not entirely done away
ii the great majority OF the country be fully prepared
a to accept the burdens OF compulsory service the
infably resort to the system Of substitutes II they
e found that the privilege were conceded to any
h one person. That door must be finally shut !;
: there must not be Substitution under any shape
whatever, not even In the exchange OF ono number
drawn at the conscription) for another for how
ever small the ooph0le may be ut the outset 1t Will
Abecone as wide as church door In course OF time.
We must do away with 1t utterly In the interest OF
the army and In that of the country. II the system
= Of substitutes were toerable with a small contn-
& gent, when the contingent grew larger SO did the
y social, political and military drawbacks attending
~ IL, and with the whole contingent called out IL
would be utterly intoerable. 10 eradicate thor.
q 0ughly any idea that the system Of substitutes
= may perchance ever be re-established 1t will be
necessary to vote the Incorporation Of the whole Of
& the contingent, as the bill proposes. am aware
many people whose opinion is entitled to respect;
i they consider that it will be source OF
financial embarrassment; cause OF weak sts,.
might be impaired by The constant passing through
n its ranks OF men who would, 80 to speak, only ap
= pear In Sneir corps TO vanish again. great many
8 pe0ple-competent judges mcan-would, there
= FORE prefer That portion Of the contingent should
not be called out but receive their military instruc
ton in their native place or its immediate neigh
Il borhood The idea Is not new one; II has been
tried repeatedly but never fully worked out. The
Lunevillc in 1S02 it was then decided that 0o,0oo
8conscrpts should be left at home and drilled there
They remained al a. h9me but they were not drilled
4 drill the reserve without displacng IT.. At more
recent period 1t would appear that the reserve
! was actually drilled In that way, and not
y without success. The men could be satisfac-
torily handled. Nevertheless, In spite Of this ap
parent success, think that the plan, even i tried,
expense would be very nearly as great as that at
tending total Incorporation for the men must re-
ceive a Kit and some kind Of UNIFORM and cadrcs
must be detached to drill them. And all these ex-
4penses utter waste, for the expense is only ap
Il parent. FOT WHY INC luCu tlluS ullicu no nOJ
belong to what may be described as "a military
family,n and that which makes the soldier is that
y he has military home, where he knows every
body and everybody knows him. And for these
reasons il Is necessary to incorporate the whole Of
4 the contingent, c'0ui, oai; t1s-tten tresbten.'D
p Look at what has taken place whenever the re-
serves have been called out to join the coors.
Some were raw youths who had never been drilled,
or, IL they had, had never been permanently at
tached to any corps Others were old soldiers sent
home on temporary furlough, which they considered
mostly ss a final release. The raw youth who had
never served-bewlldered, nustcred-had 70 be
rapidly put through his drill to be Immediately
prepared for active service. The old SOLDIER sad,
zdiscontentcd. out OF sorts found himself utter
stranger in his corps, where no one knows his
Eantecedents. He may have been sergeant or
corporal, but lie now Is a mere private; he may
have belonged to cOmpagRte dettte, but he ceases
to rank as SUCH However, find am making a mis-
take the cite companies have ceased TO exist. If
my old comrade General Trochu, will excuse my
saying So that was the only bad thing he recon-
mended in his book, and 1t was the only one which
was attended TO. u.aughter.) The Incorporation
OF the reserves In ordinary times IL not attended
with any serious inconvenience. The men soon
settle down; but In critical times, when difficulties
become pressing, then inevitably 1t leads to mill.
St,, ip,..r tseo tnr,u tvl,f ha