Richmond dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1884-1903, 1885-02-17
xxcLAyB's VAR FORCES.

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Az England viii want heavy force
II Africa, some estimate Of her military
strength may he Of interest. 1t In no
ticcable that in some Of the dispatches
alarm has been felt in Great Britain as
30 her capabilities for meeting present
emergencies. and rauors are plentiful
~ 10 ineflsciency in several branches OF
the service. A very clearly-written
article in the last nnnber Of the Edtn-
tuseh R,cicsc. evidently the work Of a
military expert, discusses the whole
subject.
The military policy Of Great Britain
has always been Of hand-to-mouth
nature. Instead OF considering care
fully" writes the critic in the Ed'n-
Sa,gh Rericw. 'what were our mill
tary moods and adjusting the strength
Of our army 10 them. we have reversed
the process and acted As II our require
ments were TO be met only rs far as the
strength OF our army Mt the moment
admitted" In 1900 the total number
Of effective soldiers was 70,745. Then
eamc the necessity Of opposing France
and Napoleon, and in 1910 there was an
English army Of ll2.5ls men. Tenyears
after there were l,il6. In 1880 the
army was reduced 10 its loves point
5000 men. Since then there has been
almost every twenty years an augmcn-
tation of l0,000men. Lord Harrington,
in his speech at the close of last year,
stated that the effective strength of the
army had been increased, and that there
bad also been an augmentation OF the
reserve, amounting in all to some TO-
600 men. In the estimates OF 1884 the
appropriation was based on having an
effective army Of l40,3l4 men, which
was some slight increase over that OF
the previous year. Some time ago there
were 60 900 men in India. 10000 on the
Nile. 10000 in ireland. 5000 in South
Africa making a total of Ill 1000 in the
service. Deducting these ii, 900 men
from the 10000. il will be seen that
there remains sOmething like 29.OOO
Military statistics are exceedingly un-
certain things TO draw deductions from.
Figures stand out very distinctly IN
print. but are not always reliable.
Taking the Statesman's Year Book of
1854. the regular forces at home
and in the colonies are stated to consist
Of l21 oil men. the army reserve. first
class. as 30. 800. the second class re-
serve as 1900, militia l42.S14, yeo-
many l4.404. volunteers 247, OIL
making 57j.3l0 men as the
total home and colonial force.
To this may be added the fegu-
lars in Indian establishments. Gl.64l
men. giving a total of G3G, 9jl. But
numerically. counting only the efficient
men. there are some $4,000 less. OF
militia and yeomanry 4O5, 900 could he
used in case of an invasion. Deduct
ing then from the whole 636,95l the
405, 900. we should have something
close TO $4,000 men. The actual re-
turns show considerable less than this.
At the beginning of last year. and the
increase has been insignificant since
then. the general total may be repre-
scented as somewhere between 1885,
coo and 10000. TO support this
force the sum expended was to
be SIS. GOO. 200. Showing the compost
ton of the men, rs. 5lS were English.
1880 Scotch, and 36.302 Irish. 70
this is TO be added q. As men of various
other nationalitieS. This would make
1888 men. From all these data the
total non-commisSioned officers and
men appears to be. as represented IN
the article of the Edinburgh reviewer,
about l73, 900. though he writes. - ABB
solute accuracy with regard TO the pre-
sent movement is not within our pow
err The condition of these English
soldiers as TO efficiency is equally diff
cult TO establish, on account of the many
conflicting statements. II official sta
tistics were TO be believed. the British
army never was in finer condition. but
the universal consensus of regimental Of
ficcrs is quite the opposite. Twenty
being the age on the Continent when
men are taken for military service. III
England there are many soldiers under
twenty. In the old traditions of the
service. the regulation being that man
of 8 feet should be rejected, recruits
of less height than this are accepted.
and with chest measurements below 81
inches. Returning to height, in 1884,
in the artillery there were 10000 men
under ; feet ), and $50 OF feet ), and
in the same service a very large pro-
portion of the men barely coming
within the required chest circumference.
The writer in the EdiHb,Ugh Reriew III
sits that large proportion of the men
are unfit for soldiers work. From many
causes the waste is large. Men die,
are disabled, or by their wS$y ont Of
service. .:.au so this loss amounts to
10000 a year. PunishmentS for mill
tary dclinQuencies necessary diminish
effectiveness: for it is shown that in
1888 1904 men suffered imprisonment
by coult-martial. To make up these
losses recruiting must always he active.
Desertions are not as numerous as
represented, amounting in 1888 to
3,7l7 men, one half of these men
leaving their colors during the first nine
months Of service.
In examining the army estimates.
the charges for pay of regimental staff
and men was. III 1883 and 1884.
e4.l2l, 1870 for provisions. transport,
and other service. E3. Ill., goo; for
clothing establishments and supplies,
ye7S4. 900. and for the manufacture and
repair Of war stores, 81. 269. 500. SUM
ming it all up. for effective service,
912,GS9, 800 were wanted; for non-ef-
fectiye service, e2.9lG.s0O. There
never has been any conflict in which
England has been engaged when
their . military administration :"
has not been found fault with.
After the Americans. the English are
the most practical of people; but
conservatism in the War Department
seems 10 be Of particularly tenacious
character. Major Buxton has brought
conspicuously before the English people