New-York tribune., 1901-03-25

was taken there was another interval. during
which the system was radically changed and
there were frequent halts and alterations Of
When guerilla warfare came on there was an
other long period Of suspended activity before
the British army could be adapted to it, and
when Lord Kitchener took command there was
a similar experience. II is only just to add that
any European army in South Africa would have
under gone the same processes of transition and
adaptation TO unusual conditions. This does not
alter the fact that the army corps form of or
ganization ard Aldershot methods in general
failed there. and that their revival large
scale in six permanent districts is not the log
lcal sequence to the campaign.
The voluntary system cannot be said to have
failed in South Africa. when in an emergency
over 250.0G0 troops were obtained from the
United Kingdom and colonies. When the crisis
came the auxiliary forces were found effective
and trustworthy. There was an enthusiastic
response to the call to arms. and the colonies
displayed their loyalty in the most practical
way. The Beers were unique adversaries. with
a genius for defensive operations and with an
obstinate talent for guerilla warfare. Any Eu-
ropean army would have had the same protract-
ed struggle to which British soldiers have been
condemned. The voluntary system. first and
last was fully equal to the requirements OF TINS
arduous battle for the empire; yet at the close
Of the campaign the War Office. with a perverse
obliquity Of vision, only perceive the neces-
sity for organizing six army corps. under con-
ditions which will enable. and almost force, a
future Secretary to introduce compulsory SER
vice Who believes that the men can be found
for this protracted service and arduous mannu-
wiring in the six districts? Certainly not the Off
Of .ba have favored
conscrption for many years. nor the military
writer's and experts for. with few exceptions.
they pronounce the reorganization plan essen
TALLY unreal and admit that recruiting at low
pay and with increased work will possess few
attractions at the close of a wearisome war, in
which neither glory prestige has been gained
and in which thousands of soldiers have perished
from Wounds and camp fever. There is, indeed.
no stranger anomaly than this outbreak OF mill
tarism at the War Office when the nation Is
warming for peace and Is in revolt against the
barbarisrn Of war. With the bulk of the war
expenses aggregating f150,OOo,Ooo. 10 be added
to the national debt. and with the reserves OF
taxation well nigh exhausted. this costly reor-
ganization on the French and German plans IS
devised I'm order that the experts i'm the course
of few years may supply proofs that voluntary
enlistment will not answer. and that conscrip-
TO LIoUIDATE A POLITICAL DEBT.
The scheme of reorganization involves the
liquidation of a political debt. When the sails
bury government dissolved Parliament last au-
tumn Il pledged itself to reorganize the army
and consequently some project which looked i'm
pressive on paper had to he brought forward
after the elections. When that pledge was made
the government itself was open to criticism for
having underestimated the fighting resources or
the Beers. and il was convenient for ministers
to lay stress on weak points of the military sys-
tenn and the necessity for a complete revision
Of methods The ministers in redeeming their
promise indict the patriotism Of the nation. the
loyalty of the colonies and the efficiency Of the
voluntary system. Their scheme of reorganiza-
ton is virtually a confession that everything
went wrong in South Africa, that the army was
unequal 70 its work. and that the voluntary sys-
tenn broke down. That indictment is not well
founded The ministers miscalcuated the re-
sources Of the Beers; either Lord Lansdowne or
Lord wolseley sent one army corps to do the
work Of six; infantry undertook the impossible
task Of fighting mobile mounted forces; the
generals amateurish in such battles as
Nicholson's Mex and Colenso. and reckless at
Stormburg and Magersfontein; the officers
lacked fexibility and quickness Of mind; the
staff work was bad and the medical and trans
port services were defective Aldershot has not
come out we'll has Pail Mall nor Downing
Street: but the soldiers never fiinched in their
duty, and the army as whole endured the
strain of a terrible campaign with splendid
staying power. The results in South Africa
have been highly creditable 20 the rank and file,
and have fully vind.cated the efficiency of the
auxiliary forces under voluntary enlistment.
Pail Mall made some woful miscalculations.
and the officers in the field were always up
to their work: but in order to retrieve these
blunders II not necessary to call in ques
ton the discipline OF the volunteer army and
the patriotism Of the nation by the present plan
of reorganization. which stimulates the spread
of nnilitarism in a peace loving community. and
leaves the basis of imperial defence a specious
paper scheme enmeshed with red tape. without
the soldiers in plain sight. !. " F.
BROOKLYN LAWYERS TO HAVE 4 CLUE.
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