The New Orleans bulletin. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1874-1876, 1875-08-29
TIE STATE OF THE FRENCH ARMY.

which has excited good deal of attention i
Great Britain, and as most of our readers tax
an interest in the subject, we desire to Civ
them synopsis of that article, which is ev
IDENTIFY written by a competent and nc
unfriendly hand. The writer says that he ha
collected his facts from the most reliable
sources within his reach and that although
they do not tell the whole story, they are cor
rect 80 far as they 60. He adds that thel
publication at this time cannot possibly d.
harm to France, "for the Prussian Staff Office
knows all about them, and Uast deaL more be-
sides"
The first defect which strikes the British
critic is the want Of directing po1cer at the
head-the persistent adherence to routine and
red tapeism which still prevails in the bureaus
of the War Department. Acknowledging
that Gen. de Cissey, the present War Minis
ter, is "an honest man, capable tactician,
straight and valiant soldier, known every
where for the bravery and energy he display
ed at Borny and at Rezonville," he looks
upon him as deficient in nearly all the
special qualities needed for the grand mission"
entrusted 10 him. Backed. as he was and is
by the unanimous support Of the Assembly
and the eager aspirations of the entire nation,
and supplied with ample means to carry out
the task Of military reorganization, he never
theless allowed himself to be Captured by
his bureaus" after very short and inglori-
Gus struggle.
Red tapism in France, our author remarks,
is power against which no man since the
great Napoleon, has been able to contend.
France, he says, is really governed by these
irrepressible bureaux, of which it has long
ego been said-"Les Ministries passent, les
bureaux restent." A change of dynasty or Of
of constitution has no effect whatever on
them. A new minister arrives, his "bureaux"
bow to him, salute his ignorance, entange
him in their indispensable aid, impose upon
him their traditions, stfe his enthusiasts
and his projects, and in six weeks he is their
slave. Like the suddenly enriched individual
described in one OF Dickens novels, he stands
in awe Of his own magnificent looking but
Ter. Gen. de Cissy submitted to this infu- |
ence like all his predecessors, and the War
under Charles Y, Louis Philippe and Napoleon |
iii.
A non-military minister, says the Blact,cood |
essayist, with suffi oent obstinacy of character,
and who would at all events have been free
from hierarchical considerations, or the spirit |
of "camaraderie" or private friendship-pro-
vided also he had had the genius of Lou
vols - might possibly have broken through
every time-honored prejudice and abuse. The
spirit of the younger officers of the army he
pronounces to be far superior to that of the
ministry, which presides over them. The
majority of them have become hard students,
and many of them, among which our author
quotes the names of Fay. of Samuel and of
Lewal, have lately published works on mill
tary questions which have acquired as much
authority as the best treatises on the subject
by German or English authors.
But then there is a large class of officers, |
fully one-third of the whole mum.
Der, who as rule are either too old or too ,
to learn. They are mostly non | 8
commissioned officers, who, having left the {
army at the expiration of their term of SER {
vice, presented themselves when the war t
broke out and in the death OF qualified officers
we're appointed lieutenants, captains and even +
majors in the new neutrality-suspicious. in I
which most of them were confirmed after the i
var was over. Many of them are doubtless t
intelligent, capable officers, but the great s
mass have not received even an ordinary edu- b
'ation beyond the elements of reading and
writing and it is computed that twenty years
must elapse before their places can be taken
~ thoroughly educated officers.
Fortunately, however the majority of the O,
french officers now in the service have passed st
trough the military schools, are full of en- al
rgy and ambitious to distinguish themselves
y hard work, but they are often discouraged 4
nd even impeded in their praiseworthy efforts W
y the stolid opposition of the "vieilles Gu :,
'ttes de peau or "old fogies," and of the =,
mnipotent bureaucracy =
As regards organization, the British writer
ontends that the Assembly is quite as much p,
blame as the Ministry, as they wasted much #
me in useless debates of the organic military VI
WIS., and have utterly failed to provide for the ",
of the staff corps (Etat- Major hi
I'D the attendance or Commisariat the bi
tal ineffi cheney of which was so lamentably an
demonstrated during the late war. ws
After criticizing at great length some of va va
e provisions of the 81 oi sur lie recruite- to
ent particularly that clause of it which W
lables WELT do people to enlist as volun- I'll
ers for one year after paying 1900 francs to ;,
10 State and undergoing a very slight pre- hi,
ninary examination-the result of which stl
1vilege is that the greater part of those very ch
'nscrpts. who, from their previous educa- Oh
On, would have made good Sous-oticiers, -
lily seek to get through their twelve months til,
rvice as pleasantly as they can in order to asl
turn to civil life 70
As regards the "loi des caires," the writer toe
} are now reviewing endeavors to show that M ~,