The sun., 1878-06-09

OF pages for the sons OF nobility. nm artillery
school. school Of engineering. and the NichO-
las STAFF Academy in all of which the course OF
study is selected with special reference to the
needs Of the officers OF the various arms and
corps.
The army OF Austria Tins heen much i'm
proved since the bloody defeat ~ Sadowa. 1t
consists Of 1887 officers and 2s0.3ll mon on
peace footing. and 29.j9G officers and i.Oi375j
men on a war footing The Government has
founded an admirable system OF schools for all
the arms, besides tho war academy for the siaif
and for the education Of officers for high COM
mands. Promotion is carefully regulated ac-
cording to seniority. in turn. and hy selection
out ot turn. but no promotion eithcr In turn or
out of turn can be had unless the candidate has
his certificate oi qualification drawn up at rcgi-
mental headquarters and filed with the War
Department. Tho qualifications oi ench officer
are determined by Lonrd Of officers Of the
grade next above and in addition cadets must
have n certificate from the officers Of their rcgi
mont us to social worth and character
The German army is divided into thrcc
classes-ncld troops. depot troops. and garrison
troops. ON II pence footing it numbers 1880
officers and 40299g men. and on Il war footing
3s.ll9 officers and i.302l29 mon. 1t is wcll
known that this organization has been perfected
through much bitter experience and by many
years Of hard and patient work. Every detail
is fixed by regulation nothing is lcft'to chance
or to individual will. Tho perfection of the sys-
tcm. however. ns tho author well observes.
" lies less in tho military organization than in
the exactness with which men Of every grade in
every branch OF service are trained In the clll-
ccnt performance of their dutcs.' Tho frc-
qucncy with which this complete but efficient
system has been described renders it unncccs-
- 10 hon. 4t.
schools and colleges abound. and at Berlin
there Is n war academy the object of which is TO
prepare officers for the staff and 10 NJ them for
high commands. Tho efficiency with which 1t
does this work Is made manifest hv the recent
Victories over both Austria and Franco. and the
fact that Germany is now acknowledged to be
the foremost military power OF the world.
Tho army Of France. which was established
upon its present basis by the laws II 1870 ON
peace footing numbers 93.6j7 officers. 27.Oil
gensdarmos. and 1860 mon. It's strength on
n war footina. is estimated at l.73O.OOO men.
Since the Franco-Prussiun war and the over
throw OF the Imperial system. every cflJrt has
been made by Republican France ,o reoreanizc
and regrnerate its army. No matter how hot
the contention between Lesitimisis. Bonapart-
lists. and Republicans may have been. this ono
great object has been kent steadily IN view. til
now IT is perhaps true that the French army is
ns thoroughly organized and efficient as that of
Germany. The means by which this remark
able result has been accomplished in the short
space ol three years are fully set forth in tho
work before us.
The regular English army. from which we
have inherited our military organization, laws
and customs is 50 nearly like our own that We
need give only its numbers. 1t amounts TO
1000 officers and '2ls.6l5 men. The militia
consists Of about l2o.000 men. and the volun-
teers. it is now claimed. are ~ splendid force cf
l93.n0o wcll-drilled mon. while ovcr COO 900
men having passed through that force are scat
tered about over the kingdom. most Of whom
pre- ready to reIoin the coors in case of noed.
When j, Is practicable 10 rcenforce the home
army by men and organizations drawn from
India IL must bc admitted that England with
her enormous resources Of money and military
Appliances will become the greatest military
power Of the world
Tho work before MS shows clearly that in Eu-
rope military service is held to bc OF para
mount Importance. Tho term 10 service varies
Ia different countries from twelve h. twenty
years, usually beginning about The twenty hrs,
year Of age. The soldiers. after serving from
three TO four years with tho colors remain
from four to five years longer subject to the
call to tho ranks "a reserve Of trained men,
10y which the army can be raised immediately
10 the war footing. and still have surplus of
! disciplined mcu to ill the vncun 'ios oc'asiOned
by casualties or disease. In addition o. reserves
and trained soldiers there Is maintained in Ger
many AMI Italy q second body oi mon termed
the Er,at1" or supplemental reserves. whose
trimming las boon limited to two or more
months.
The work before us discusses two schomcs for
tho reorgan i2uon ot our army. First. IN time
~ war 10 di-hand the infantry regiments and
assign the OH 'crs thereof TO tho volunteer in-
fnntry. az the same time maintaining the cavalry
and artillery iE tho highest state of efficiency
possible, and at sufficient strength 10 afford the
proper proporiion' - those arms 10 such for,e
Of infantry as might be callcl out This sue-
gesilon is based upon the fact that cavalry and
artillery require much longer training than the
infantry, and in order to securo,iho best results
should bc kept constantly under arms.
The second plan rofers both to the pence and
war footing. and while the author prefers
slight increase Of the officers. sufficient to give
one additional Major To each regiment of in
fan'ry. he thinks it can be carried out that it
shall result in n positive decrease Of enlisted
men. 1t rests upon compulsory military ser
wee on the part Of all ahlc-bolicd male citizens
and IA briefly rs follows: The stnf and stat
corps should be placed upon an interchange
all" relation with the line-that Is, all on 'ors
below the grade of major should boz sclocied
from the lieutcnanis % the lnc by dctail.'attor
passing u suitable examinations; they should
serve from two to four years in the staff and
then return t. the line. while other oilicors
similarly detailed take thoir places in the stnG.
Tho appointments in the stOn including the
rank OF Major and above should be pcrma-
mont, and be filed by selection from those who
have served in the stan or who shall PASS sats-
factory examination. He recommends tho con-
s"ldation of tho ordnance and artillery under n
Chief ~ Ordnance and Artillery. with "a perma-
neit ordinances establishment. 10 consist of tho
present officers " that corps, including the
rank of major and above. The licutrnanis an
captains FOR ordnance service would be detailed
from the artillery. as heronbeforc indicated.
and would be so many supernumornry ofn-
cers The artillery itself would consist OF the
Same number Of regiments a. arc now in
service, and might be consolidated into corps.
Depot companies. Ms n matter of course.
/ consist Of hut few men and officers and
roally amount to but little except pcrma-
! nent recruiting stations. They would hc To-
] tod .lt,,.. 4