Birmingham age-herald., 1895-09-04
DEFECTS OF THE FRENCH ARMY
Keenly Pointed Out by Military Writer in
 a French Review


 | notes the New York Sun, are being urged | by French newspapers and military ex- perts. The agitation springs in part from | the discovery of serious defects in the present organization, the existence of | which has been demonstrated by the expedition to Madagascar, and it at | tracts the greater attention because the | oft-repeated prophecies that the great | European war is at last at hand are heard once more. The prophet in the present instance hides himself behind the | signature of Capt. G. G. and writes | in the Nouvelle Revue that the outbreak | threatens to come in 1S96-97. He argues | that Germany will endeavor to profit by l the temporary advantage given her by recent laws increasing the effective | strength of her army and by its equip ment with improved artillery Her plan | would be to attack France before Rus Sia'S preparations for war are compleled which will not be for several years. Rus sias railroad facilities are not great enough to oblige Germany to concen- trate a large force upon her frontier and | before the armies of the czar were ready | to move Germany would have tune to make a supreme effort to crush France | The French critics are therefore urging | the necessity of increasing the efficiency of the army without delay, so that the | forces of the repuDllc indy pe pIep1iS Su l to withstand the shock.
 | One of the most serious defects shown | by the experience in Madagascar IS the l inability of the French war department | to exercise ordinary foresight. The ex- pedtionary corps has been held back | in the miaSmatic SWamps and forests | of the coasts, where it's strength IS being | sapped by levers and dysentery, solely | by the lack of sufficient means Of carry | ing supplies No fewer than 4S00 wagons | of a special type were sent along With the expedition to carry supplies, put they were useless, because no practlcaple | roads were found upon~which they could | be hauled. No wharf was provided Tor unloading the vessels carrying supplies. l Even so essential a drug as qunine Is | lacking it having been provided in the | form of solution which the soldiers re- l fuse to take, instead of in pills. In gen l eral, the situation is such as to raise the l apprehension that in case of war the | French army, though properly equipped 1 for fighting, might find itself crippled l and helpless before the German hosts | simply from ina bility to obtain supplies | of food.
 | Another serious question brought up by | Madagascar is the age of the soldiers. In | the opinion of some critics the expedition | indicates that the bulk of the F'rench | army is too young to support the Ia | tigues of campaign. The average age l of the men sent to Madagascar is 22 | years or less, and they are daily falling | victims by scores to disease, exposure | and fatigue. It is pointed out that the 1 expedition should have been composed | of men not less than 25 years old and in | ured to military service. Unfortunately | such men are not to be found in the | French army under the present system 1 of universal conscription and three l years service. What the remedy shall | be, and what would happen should hun I ,11 raf | youngsters be employed in campaign 1 in actual warfare, are questions for | which no answer has been found yet. l Notwithstanding this state of affairs, | it is proposed to lower the standard of | height of recruits, a measure made nec- | essary by the fact that the population of | France is not increasing fast enough to | fill the ranks according to the plan. In | the last century, under the royal govern ment no recruits less than feet tall | were accepted. During the revolution 1 there was no limit of height, so great was | the demand for soldiers. In 1901 it was l fixed at feet 319 inches, and in 1904 at | inches less. It was raised again an | inch after the re-establishment of peace 1 in 1S12 and continued about the same un- l til 1872, when it was made feet 1R l inches, which is the present limit. Army officres are now trying to persuade them | selves that this is really not the mini- | mum height of man capable of SUD- | porting military fatigue. They argue | that as a penalty for violation of the re- l oruiting law some men under height are 1 in the army, and have proved capable soldiers, and they think the same might | be true of little men. They propose to | set the minimum height at feet 4 inch. | Visitors in France are struck by the
 seeming small stature of the soldiers un- l der the present regulations.
 | If the private soldiers are too young, | it is asserted that the commanding gen. | erals are too old to be capable of SUD- l porting the fatigues of campaign. At | the present time none of the generals Of l the highest rank, with three exceptions, l Is less than 62 years old. With the same | number of exceptions none of the com l manders Of army corps Is less than 50. 1 There is not single general of division | who was born later than 1S40, and most | of them are from 50 to 65 years old. It | is calculated that the average age among l them is from fifteen to twenty years l greater than that of officers of the same | rank in 1859. Furthermore, it is pointed | out that Napoleon was displaying the | very height of his genius when he was | only 30. Two of the highest officers in
 the French army now, among those who | would be called upon to lead it in case | of war, are more than 70 years old. Un- | der the present system general IS al- | lowed to command force of 5000 men | until he is 65, although a simple colonel,
 in command of only 15O0 men, is retired
 at 6O The evil is ascribed to the present
 system of promotion, in which up to the
 rank of major, length of service has | more weight in determining who shall
 be promoted than the merit displayed
 by individual officers. To remedy the
 evil it is proposed to lower the retiring | age of general officers from 65 to 60 years,
 to make such retired officers consulting
 members of the war councils, and to
 provide that no officer shall be promoted Ito the rank of general if he has less than
 three years to serve before retiring. The
 high average age of general officers is
 now considered a source of peril to
 France, as it is taken to indicate lack
 of activity, power of rapid decision and