The Wheeling daily intelligencer. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1865-1903, 1888-05-14
ESGLANDs ARMY AND NAVY
Said to be in n Had way-Publc Frightened
Mt the Condition Of Things.

Mt the Condition Of Things.
LONDON, May 13.-When the usually
stolid Englishman gets frightened he
goes all to pieces, and his symptoms are
highly entertaining. Just at this mo-
ment the horrible conviction is rampant
in the minds OF Britons that the song
was wrong after all, and that they are
apt to find themselves slaves almost any
fine day. The angry muttering about
the weakness OF the navy and OF the
country's fighting apparatus generally,
has grown into storm ofhysterical in
dignation.
Instead Of singing; "We've got the
men, we've got the ships, we've got the
money too" this unhappy people are
crying out: "We've not got any men or
any ships worth mentioning; they won't
spend our money to buy 'em, and We
could not lick Bulgaria or Switzerland"
The trouble was started by Lord
Charles Beresford, who worked his way
into high position in the navy, found
that things were in very rotten condi-
tion, with jobbery, corruption and in
competency plentiful, and said so.
Beresford seems fairly good reproduc-
tion OF the old, devil-may-Care type OF
British tar, and he is bow-legged. He
played unlimited and dangerous pranks
as MILDLY, fought a regular prize fight
later on and won 1t, in a Whitechapel
barn on Sunday morning, and in many
other ways has worked into the hearts
OF his countrymen. While Beresford
has been exposing the weakness of the
navy, Lord Wolsely has been doing rs
much for the army, and incidentally ex-
planning how, besides having weak |
army, England utterly lacked the forti-
fication to keep back the strong armies
OF other countries.
Hosts of lesser lights have been max
ing speeches and writing articles to add
to the panic, and even the old Duke Of
Cambridge himself, cousin to the Queen
and Commander-in-Chief OF the army,
has proclaimed that things were wrong
by begging on every conceivable occa-
sion for money to put them right. The
Government Is very sensitive to these
attacks, which are regularly aggravated
by the malicious buzzing OF Lord Ran
dolph Churchill.
Last night, in the Upper House, Lord
Salisbury made an attack upon Lord
Wolsely for The latter's indiscreet dis
closures, an attack so bitter that it is
difficult to see how Wolsely will be able
to avoid resigning. This will add fuel
to the flame, for Wolsely, having partly
through ability, but largely through
favoritism, had every opportunity OF
showing off in critical times, has come
to be known as "our only general"
Lord Beresford, nothing if not plucky,
and who has already resigned because
the admiralty would not do us he said,
is now challenging them to try him by
court martial and dismiss him in dis!
grace from the service if they can
prove that he has exaggerated and
made statements not founded on fact.
He is liable to cause scare and panic.
1t is not in the least likely that the ad-
mirality will take up the challenge, as
BeresiOrd evidently knows what he is
talking about. Unfortunately for the
country the sole effect OF all this scare,
SO far us one can see, will be to extract u
good many millions sterling from the
peoples pocket, for little attention is
paid to the sensible ones who demand
that instead OF more money being poured
into the official ratholc, amateur otlicial-
ism be pulled up by the roots and good
men and properly organized system
substituted.