The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1885-02-13

new Soudan expedition It is wen known that
the troops first sent to the field under General
Wolselcy comprised the cream OF the army. and
the critics say that the skimming process will be
completed by the drafts about to be made Many
regiments remaining at home are already re-
duced to skeleton battalions, and experts declare
that il is now impossible to place in the
field 5000 men fit for active service. Many
bitter things are said of General Wolseley, who.
as Adjutant general of the army, has had I'M
questioned control over all details of enlistment
and organization. The condition of the British
army Of to-day Is compared to that of the French
forces just before the Franco. Prussian war,
. when splendid army existed paper only.
Hints are given OF crooked dealings in tho com
missary and quartermaster departments and
charges are openly made of incompetence, favor
itism, and willful blindness in higher quarters.
Great enthusiasm is manifested among the
volunteer regiments over the prospect that
they may soon see some active service, at least
as home guards. scores OF regiments having
formally requested to De employed in any way
that the present exigencies may make advisable,
and it has been decided to call out reserve
force of 10 900 men from the ranks OF the volun-
teers. These win be used for garrison duty in
England to take the place Of regulars sent to
Egypt, and to avoid the necessity OF weakening
the irish garrisons. 1t is expected that the In
dian troops TO be sent to REINFORCE General
Wolseley will be ready to embark next Thurs
Gay. They will comprise Hindoo and Moham-
medan soldiers in equal numbers
The Pail Mall Gazette last evening had a Mt or
the blues and said. With the cream of our
available fighting force locked up in the Soudan.
what can we do but give in here, there and
everywhere all around the world until at last
we arc sharply brought up by some demand to
which we cannot give inf 1t is sheer, downright
madness to go plunging forward with
ont taking steps to replace the drafts
this campaign is making IN our
strength. If 10000 men, the pick Of our
soldiers, are to be informed in the Nile valley
until the next autumn. we ought to replace them
by 20, 600 fresh men. In the present depressed
state of the labor market with impending dem
constructions of thousands OF the unemployed, we
ought to have no trouble in enlisting them. to be
licked inro shape in few months The British
nation must not awake too late to discover it has
lost its empire as it has lost Khartoum.
The Times is not pessimistic. Neverthe
less. it says: Sauce for the Liberal goose is
sance for the Conservative gander and if the
catalogue Of blunders in Egypt is to be accepted
as a providentia trial of our own virtue, we
must wipe out all censures passed on the Afghan
war; the annexation of the Transvaal and other
misdeeds which drew down on the Beaconsheld
administration the unsparing denunciation OF
the Midlothian speeches.
Optimistic messages and dispatches from the
Sondan are likely to be the fashion until the
nineteenth day after that which the Estab-
lished Church puts on sackcloth and ashes and
the state begins to hear questions in Parlia
ment and then. possibly, sorne-of the truth May
come out as to the disaster and the bad outlook,
now locked out by Lord Wolseleys censorship
and the War Office apprehensions Of the tax
PAYERS inquiSitivenesS.