Evening star., 1885-06-06

The Warehouses Of the World.
From the London Telegraph.
Horses, or, rs the French phrase 1t, s9a oues-
ton chevaline," must always be suggestive OF
considerable anxiety to nations about to en-
bark upon a big war. We learn, upon the au-
thorfty OF the Baron d d'Etreillis, better known
under his assumed name of "Ned Pearson"
that Colbert, the great minister Of Louis XIV,
was the first to perceive the dangers to which
france was exposed by the scarcity aud infe-
riority OF the horses existing within her borders
at the close of the seventeenth century, and
stud farms supported by the state, which Mr..
Edmund Tattersall desires so ardently TO see
sys ihs o fs snnny hi, able
not hesiI 4. or delay to act, at coIbert's IN NJ
the Sole "'is sroand s which 0 d eoud jusiif1 SRH1
its interference with private inter.
ests and especially with agriculture-to
good supply OF horses for the French army"
The example set by Colbert was followed by
the great Napoleon, whose use of horses be-
any similar space of time in ancient or modern
history. Finally, Napoleon Ill conferred un.
rna aa a@Svdnsages @ upon his subjects 10y transfer
breds. to the other side of the channel, and by
indoctrfnating Frenchmen with a taste of Eng
nsh horseTacins. Again, it is notorious that fsr
the last fifty years Germany has devoted her
attention zealously to buying and breeding
horses for her army, and has done SO with such
as the eyes and ears of the German force in
Nading France in 1870 were SO well
mounted t;n as to excite universal admira-
witnessed the operations OF the Franco
Serman war. 1t has been laid down, indeed,
sy von Moltke. Mat in an army thoroughly
EQUIPPED for active hostlitieS there ought TO
Ue Two norses for every five men employed in
the field. Probably there never was a war i'm
which so many horses and mules were found
a n Of tba
gaged In the great American struggle between
1861 and 1865. The southerners, or confeder-
anes; ;1 were obliged TO fight the war through to
the bitter end without being able to draw sup
plies OF horses and mules from abroad. The con-
sequence was that during the last twenty-four
months of the exhausting strife the cavalry re-
eiments of the confederacy, commanded, after
the death of Generals ]. f. b. stuart and Nor
gan, by Generals FitZhugh Lee, Wheeler and
FORREST, were Shrunk to little more than squad
rons. On the other hand, the armies OF Gen.
Grant. Gen. Sheridan and Gen. sherman were
supported and rendered additionally formid-
aDle py the presence of a aSplendidly-equipped
cavalry force, mounted upon horses drawn in
great measure from the Dominion of Canada
In the report of the quartermaster general at
washington, which covers the last year OF the
war, 1T Is distinctly stated that the consump-
ton Of horses and mules by the federal armies,
which numbered not less than one million men
under arms when disbanded in SS5 amounted
to five hundred head in every twenty-four
hours.
The only two great nations which contain
enough horses within their borders to meet all
the eSiseneies OF war or peace are, unquestion-
sSnas asy Ran o1 and he United States In his
Mr.. Antonio G,lIeliga tells us that the un.
Wleldy empire under the dominion OF the Great
nite Car covers one-sixth of the habitable
globe, while its population hardly exceeds that
OF Austria and Germany, its two nearest neigh-
bors combncd.'' Mr. Gallenga adds that the
Kev. henry Lansdell. in journey of five
months, from the Thames to the mouth OF the
Anioor, went over twenty-siX hundred miles
by rail, ffty-seven hundred miles by steamboat
or about eleven thousand three hundred miles
altogether almost in a straight line. This
amazing empire, sparsely occupied by human
beings, when its prodigious bulk Is borne in
mind, boasts possession of more horses than
any other nation upon the face of the globe.
General Sir Robert Wilson. who was British
Sian army during tho Moscow campaign In
ISl2, tells us that no troops in the world are
peter = mounted or can defend ground better
than the Russian regulars. Their artillery"
he adds, sis SO well horsed and SO nimbly and
handily worked that il bowles over all irregu-
1arities OF surface with an ease, Iightness and
velocity which give it great superiority. The
NlVac.ty and alerfnesS OF their cavalry and the
unquaiiing steadiness OF their infantry make it
Il pleasure 20 command them in EXTREMIST diff
hculties; for, as is the case With the British
soldier, the most unbounded confidence may
be rerosed-to use sailor expression-in their
answer at the helm In every stress of situation
and underline greatest trials From the same
source We learn that the FIRST Napoleon had wit
messed with admiration the unyielding valor of
most unpropitious for its display, and had rec
osniZed qualities and prppenstIes which would
render Russian armies, when properly organ
lied, pre-emnent in the field. "He had become
with the no less resolute character
OF the Russian peasantry, and had found moth
ing wanting which art and discipline might
not supply for the construction of military
force ON the most extensive, efficient and eco
nomlcal basis At that time the Russian
soldiers pay was not more than twelve shiil-
lhgs per annum, and his only ration in time Of
peace was water and rye bread baked like
biscuit Behind the army stands an enormous
territory, with a reserve OF horses-a considera-
bic proportion of them, it is true, not more than
ON thirteen to fourteen
million head. There is no more fatal error than
that which arises from undertaking an enemy'S
error which the history Of the
past shows that of all Others this country is the
most apt to commit. Turning to the United
States, we find that not less than eleven million
head of excellent horses is contained at this
moment within the broad limits OF the Union
u stock upon which, i'll combination with the
equine resources of the Dominion Of Canada, it
Is probable that the war department of this
country will have to draw largely in the event
o. pDotr;rcted war with such power as that
welded by Russia.