Arizona republican., 1899-03-20
FRANCES SOLDIERS.
The Military Commanders Are All
 .6 Too Old.
Saving Feature of the Army Ia the Efficiency of the Young and Ambitious NOncOmm1s-
 stoned Officers.

One of the features which make the French army corps so terrible weapon of attack, when properly handled, is the large number of noncommissioned ot1ls cers who have wen minor commissions, such as sous-lieutenant and captain, and if their education is faulty they more than atone for it by superb cour- age. They hope to win their promotion by the sword and not by the book. It is this very class of whom Won Moltke soid, in 1870, that while they possess no other instruction than that of the bad primary French instruction, and give evidence of gross ignorance, it was pre- ciselY these officers who, for the great CT part. strove on the battlefields of France to wash out, at the cost of their blood, faults for which they were in no way responsible" As class, the French officers are equal to any officers on the continent up to a certain point.
 The advanced age of the French mlli- tary chiefs makes it impossible for them to cope with hardship and fatigue. The officers between 2S and 50 are at their very best, and any young man who has thoroughly understood the teaching at St. Cyr might mount a horse and lead an army corps, but the absurd rever- ence for age makes this an impossibil- ity. In our own day we have seen the magnificent clear-headedness of youth in three departments - Kitchener in war, Harmsworth in journalism, and Lasker in chess, all of whom seek to emphasize the great lesson that the coming general must be between the thirties and forties. The statement that Frances commanding generals are be- tween 5S and 65 is almost confession of coming defeat.
 Another fault lies in the tendency of the French officer stationed in Paris tC grow fat. The English officer. never has this ridiculous leaning toward em- bonpoint, but if one were to watch a batch of officers enter the Cercle Milf { taire-those in the forties and fifties- one might easily mistake them for al- dermen in uniform. This argues lack { of exercise, and would augur badly for . the drill of the troops were it not that in France, as in England, the bulk of this work depends upon a noncom- missioned officers. Luckily for France. her young army officers are in the pink of condition, ready for any emergency.
 
 physical and mental systems. The new rules laid down at St. Cyr in 1897 must result in an improvement in the morale of the French commanders of the fu- ture. The tyranny of mathematics is abolished, and every effort is to be made to instill into the minds of the students that war is not so much a science as an art, which can be best achieved by good sense and inspiration.
 Gen. Maillard, enc of the professors of tactics at the Ecole Superieure de Guerre, says very wisely: Under the preteNt that the progress of science and industry will be used in the coming fight between the nations, it is pro- claimed that the conducting of war must be scientific, and that it will de- mand high mathematical knowledge. Nothing is more opposed to the spirit of war. The Rule of Three alone, up tc the present, has sufficed, and will suffice, for all problems depending on but to conduct a war means that the chiefs must have high natural qualities. a professional knowledge which must be constantly advancing, strong, cultured intelligence, but, ; above all, the spirit of reflection, of cal ,ulation-in a word, the philosophical f spirit. New Century Review.