The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1878-03-17

soidlsra
for Malta. Gibraltar, the Channel Islands.
Tor North America II required. aud Tor sl
leaving ample force sui available TO hold our
base Of operations wherever II may DO abroad,
ana our army 10 the held the whole OF our line bat
taons now ut home those al the stations abroad
already enumerated besides seven battaions OF foot
guards, would thus become. available II required Tor
active service This would supply US with more than
The infantry required for Jour army corps.
WHEN WAR BREAKS OUT
According 10 our exs'ing miiitary system upon war
being declared the miiitia is called OUT and hands
over It's the line, who, togo, her
with our 81 class army reserve would give US about
forty thousand good men TO bring up our line bat
ons 10 war strength Our second class army reserve,
cons listing OF old soldiers, although past the prime
oil lie, would supply Us with about fifteen thousand
bay onet. quite nj Tor garrison duty The four CON-
panies OF regular infantry now al each OF tue seventy
brigade depots would ut once DO formed into the
cadres oil seventy oepot bataons and uegin recruit
ing locally. 10 them would be despatched all The
men who last year joined the battaions u
70 intended 10 engage IN active service. rnere
~ a. present considerable number Of men IN Inc
country Who having completed their ten years army
engagements are employed IN CIVIL avocatons; large
proportion OF them could easily DC iniuced 10 rc.en
gage Tor any popular war by mo oier oil good nod
allowance while II lasted and the prospect of bonus
discharge, calculated AT the rate oil 81 per month
Tor tue time they called upon 10 serve. ln TO
country would n DO so easy Us IN ours 10 raise
q special corps IRON the walls and strays Of the
middic aud upper cIussos, aud uuder carsI uy Sc
ircIed Ulcers Il would us the finest military body
the w0rli. II converted INTO mounted iniantry-as
tIink u should be--it might have very great IN
1u.nee upou The result oi cnmpaiRn. It's value ior
scouting ana raiains duties woud be incaicuiabe
Should Do forced upon US sincerely trust that
n corps oil this may 10 Raised. The loyal spirit
OF our colonies has never been moro healthy or
sincere han NOW; know Canada well, ami m only
uo,rg II juslica cay that IN the event oi war 1t
would iur nsu with ungent oil CERTAINLY To- 900
men drawn from lis militia. VINO would soon equal our
best regiments
Our island position AMI our commanding feet give
us many great military advantages possessed
by no otner nation. Great Britain could
OILY 20 invaded by either France Ger
MANY: indeed, / might say only by both COM
bined. ana tue operation, even under more than
Ordinarily favorable circumstances, would always be
Que OF mag uItude aud difficulty anu very hazardous.
Win great naval supremacy We eau at present
unora to dismiss II from our calculations
ana are consequently able TO reckon on
having ample time Tor our needed prepare
because we are not ready" l should like TO know
whom We ever were ever can be SO ready. Our
but It's very excellence precludes the possloby oil
tho nation beng ever prepared Tor war. some OF
our abest men who have been IN power pave lately
told us em puaticaily, when war Is hanging in
the balance, that II Will be high time " prepare
Tor war wnen IL has been declared such IA op'n'oa
could only emanatc from mud essentially non-mill-
tary however great IL be IN other helds oil thought
Surely IL behooves all true lovers oil their country IN
a great national crisis to support those
IN sower IN Droparins for the contingency
OF war Whatever may DO our Individual opinions rs 10
conduct oil our government III grave complications
ike tnat now existing, all rsal patriots agree wish
Ing 10 see tho country strong and the army ready Tor
active service We are most likely to avoid war by
being able to speak witn the confidence which real
military strength alone can give US. would venture
10 protest against the notion that We must
play q teebio part bocauso We are not AS yot III
every way quite ready tor We must accept our
posiiion find II, with all It's advantages and dis
advantages We have enjoyed lite ana pfosperod un-
der our co ut,on, not likely TO
tho daily blessings coners upon Us III order "
be all times ready TO encounter the rarely occur
ring calamity of war; IT, therefore. We are never 10
engage hOstilltleS because We are not pre-
pared Tor them we had better save The
large sums we Annually spend botn army
and navy for unuer our existing Constitution
IL Is hop sss oil being ready 10 draw
the sword without long previous prepAra!on.
ENGLAXD's PRESENT STRENGTH.
At no previous period oil our history have we evor
been strong u military sense AS at present In
tary force ~ these Islands was under 900 men, ana
I'll ere was no reserve whatever beyond pension
ers vino were tcO Old TOR nuid service We're de-
tomorrow about 400 900 drilled would fall
into line II required supported b, 372 field guns,
manned aud horsed BY the RovAi Artillery That
number would roughly be made up as follows-
Standing army ~ home. $4,000
Army and militia reserves. 10000
Militia. $4,000
Volunteers. Observation-Disclosures. ....... lsouVo
Second class army eserve................. 10000
Total. .............. Ala, 900
In this calculation have put the figures very low
ana lett out altogether The 10 900 yoomanry VINO
would be available Tor nome service. have likewise
lot taken Into consideration the number OF regular
troops that would DO available ior war when
tho Mcdltefraneau garrisOns were lurhlsueu ny
Tho militia. 1t Will thus be that
could aL take the field with Two July equipped
army corps OF moro tban thirty thousand soldiers
EACH leaving similar force OF regular troops a. homo
as q reserve When l compare the military strength
OF England With wnat 1t was III 1854 am
amazed al the condition OF military weakness and
hepiessness winch we were wuen We began tbe
Russian oil that year as am at the ignorance of
those who 10 0e heard croaking over our sup
posed 0t strength aud alleged consequent IN
apIllty 10 light Unike most other nations, VIC de-
clare We need have no apprehension oil INVASION;
this coniers upon Us the great advantage Of being
abie 10 cnoVse own time tor beginning
active hostties, anu as our army would
necessarily have 10 be conveyed by sea
able select The lice OF operations considered best
and most suitable TO the iorce We act with. In fact
the initiative would rest with US. anu need not tell
the oil history iuvAIuaUe Is TO tno COM
mander VINO knows how 10 take advantage OF IT, But
II We to this national advantage Of the in
oil great peril is good that that Que bear
sway aud all should support The mode OF action se
lected, even although some may think the plans they
have tbemseive conceived would lead 10 Uettef r0-
suits IL 10 lar more important in warliko matters
that all should act than that tho ideally
best course vf action shouli be adopted.
England never engage IN any great var unlcss
II De thoroughly popular with the nation but II tho
warKe spirt OF the people be aroused IN earnest We
all know that Her VI jcsty VIII never want soldiers 10
Il. ut Tor the nonor welfare OF her Kingdom A
great empire besu mutt ny tor US by the military
achi cvsmeuis OF iorefathcrs Tor my part trust
we may be and always u address them alter
the manner oil Pruce Hall
You won IT, ru, ed IL. kept 1t, gave IL us,
Ihen plain aid Int must our possession be;
Which q with more than with common pain
'Gaiust all the world will rightiuliy naiutan.