The Wichita daily eagle. [volume] (Wichita, Kan.) 1890-1906, 1900-01-30

of its true character, that few words
of explanation may hep 10 elucidate the
cable dispatches which for the next few
| weeks Will contain brief accounts OF the
parliamentary conflicts which are certain
10 rage on the subject OF the British War
| department. The remarks probably wall
gain interest from the fact that they
come from the pen Of one who has known
Lord Wolseley for some twenty years or
more, who is acquainted with the gener-
osity of his character, and who can speak
from personal experience OF some, at any
rate, Of the insuperable difficulties by
which he has been handicapped.
| Briefly speaking, Lord Walseley has
been the first English soldier to realize
| that the conditions of modern warfare
are entirely different from those which
preailed in the early part of the century
and cen as late as the Crimean campaign
and the civil war in this country. He was
| the first to appreciate that war lad
ceased to be a mere question Of grit
| pluck, and indifference to the sacrifice of
human life, but had developed, on the
| contrary, into a mathematical science
] He was the pioneer Of the student sold
iers in England, and precisely in the same
| way that the famous German Field Mar
shall Moltke made point of following the
Franco-Austrian, and even the Cfimean
wars, for the purpose of acquiring irfor-
| nation, so did Lord Wolseley, az that
time a young Lieutenant Colonel, follow
in person all the principal events of the
| civil war, sometimes with General Lee
| and at other moments at the headduart-
ers of the union army, with the idea of
turning the knowledge thus obtained to
subsequent good account in the English
army. Indeen, Wolseley's book on Cen
eral Lee is regarded by all the War de-
partments of the old world as oae Of the
standard works or the titanic struggle
between the North and the Sau-h five
and thirty years ago.
On his return to England Wolseley be-
came the co-worker of old LORD Card
well, who was the Secretary of State for
War atthe time, and who, known to TIE
general public principally as the man who
abolished the UBIQUITOUS purchase os Of
ficers' commissions, shares in reality with
Wolseley the credit of having ini.Cdl ced
the present short service and reserve sys-
tenn.
Had Lord Cardwell and walseley had
their way they probably would hav, in
troduced compulsory military service
that is to say, enforced the provisions of
the existing military law, at present a
dead letter-as the best means Of placing
Great Britain on a foting of military
quality with the other great powers Of
Europe. But as public opinion was OPP
posed to anything Of the kind. they took
a leaf out of the book OF King Frederick
William III. of Prussia
When the latter at the beginning OF the
century found himself bound down by
cial considerations not to increase his
army beyond a certain maximum figure
if I remember Alright 1t was 10000 men
he introduced the short serice and-reserve
system. There was never more than the
stipulated unmber of men with the col
ors. Butas soon as they had completed
their military training they made way
for Others and were enrolled in the re-
serve. The consequence was that when
the coalition of powers against Napoleon
took place Prussia was able to put into
the field under the command of Field
Marshal Butcher an army, not of 1900
men, but of near 100000 trained soldiers
It is thanks to the adoption of a scheme
of much the same kind by Cardwall and
Wolseley that England has been able to |
put into the field in South Africa a we'll |
euipped and wen-trained army OF near |
160. 900 men without reducing the military |
forces in India below their normal |
and without leaing any point Of |
the vast British Empire lacking its ordi- |
nary and adequate protection.
AT the time of the Crimean war Eng |
land experienced the utmost difficulty in |
sending out an army of 5000 men to |
take part in the siege of Sabastopol, and |
when more soldiers were needed was re-
duced to the extremity Of hiring foreign |
who brought in many cases
disgrace and shame upon the British flag. |
Today, thanks to Cardwell and Wolse-
ley, England is able not only to dispense |
with the assistance Of foreign MERGE
naries, but cen to hesitate about putting |
any militiamen or olunteer soldiers into
the field. finding that the reserves, who |
have responded in the most patriotic I
manner to the call upon their services,
have supplied the crown with all the mil
itary strength which It needs.
1t is doubtful whether there are many
people. save the personal friends of Lord
Walseley and Lord Cardwell, who recall
the bitter opposition which these two men
were called upon to face in Carrying out
this work Of military reform. Lord Card
well, gentle, sensitive, and high-spirit-
ed man. felt so cruelty the abuse heaped
upon him by the people of high and low
degree that he may be said to have died
of a broken heart. Lord Wolseley, fortu-
nately, was made of sterner stuff. and
continued his way undismayed by either
newspaper abuse or by military and polit-
zeal intrigue. One Of his most relentless
was the old Duke OF Cam
bridge, the then Commander-in-C Chief,
who declared that CardwelI and Walseley
between them were running the army, and
who neer neglected any opportunity Of
putting obstacles In their way or OF pub
licly or privately revIling them.
In fact Wolseley may be said to have
carried every reform at the swords point
Finally It became SO apparent to every
one that the old Duke was bar TO every
species Of military progress and reform
that he was compelled by the last Liberal
to resign. Wolseley being
appointed in his place. The Liberal Cab
met, foreseeing the possibility OF the com
-,o-,5 -f--r7saF Of the army -z-hFrt q I