The times., 1901-05-19
Circulation Statement.
The Rrifish ARMY.

statesmen and generals, and is SUB
ject open for discussion. In engaging
in it we cannot help saying of botf
officers and men in the service that q
braver lot Of people were never placed
under fire But we must also allow
that, considering modern conditions, 3
more poorly led or a more uuinstructeo
lot in the actual business Of warfare
was never brought together. Only tc
refer to this factor in a general way
the failure of the British Intelligence
Office to learn that the Beers had q
splendid equipment of modern artii-
lery. before the beginning of hcstilities
in South Africa and the monumental
blunders at Colenso Spion Kop, and
Magarsfontein are in evidence.
The truth is that the British army as
at present organized and oficered is not
a modern army in the strictest sense.
Its leadership is in the hands of men
who. from subaltern to field marshal
are selected on account of their social
or political influence. under conditions
which close the service as a career to
poor men, who nevertheless might be
great soldiers. man like Napoleon
would have been barred from the Brit
ish army by his poverty. Since the
abolition of the purchase system mat
ters have been a little, but not much,
better. II still remains that a British
army officer cannot live on his pay. So,
practically. the establishment is only
available for the sons of rich or COM
paratively rich men. who can afford
to give their boys allowances in addi-
ton TO their receipts from the Govern
ment of three hundred pounds an
nualIy in the line regiments and three
or four times that amount in the
Household Brigade. or in any Of the
crack cavalry regiments
To the military mind it goes without
saying that such a system must re-
suit in a poor army. II is on social
and not on a professional basis. Prac-
ticaily. each company Of King Ed
wards troops is under the command Of
its first duty sergeant The captain
and the lieutenants are seldom in bar
racks. except for the purpose of parade,
or when individually they happen to be
on guard duty Neither officers nor
men in the past have been subjected to
technical instruction Of a kind de-
manded by present conditions nor given
adequate field work under the direction
Of competent grand tacticians or stra-
tegists. The lack Of proper organiza-
ton has extended to the confines of the
service. The staff has been discovered
10 be equally lacking with the line.
The Franco -Prussiau war, which ought
70 have warned the British War Of
fee Of the weakness of the British or
ganization for the purposes OF land
operations, does not seem to have given
It the merest hint on the subject The
British troops went into the South At
riean war unprovided with entrench-
ing tools, and uninstructed in their use
If they had them. The tactical books
on field work. especially in the matter
of scouting. which General Butler sew
erai years ago, and General Baden
Powell recently. wrote, appear to have
been lost upon the army, and in one in
stance upon one Of the distinguished
authors; fer General Butler walked
AHAD q zap d lAlE BelAAlC u NU4EllSD
which might have been discovered in
advance by the most elementary
method of scouting. The mistake
which Lord Methuen made at Magars-
fontein is notorious. Il is but just in
this connection TO say that serious
blunders Of a general character ceased
after the arrival of Field Marshal Lord
nj -,
South Africa; but exceptions, unfortu-
nately. do not affect the rule Of English
military incompetency.
That drastic reform is needed in the
British army has not escaped the at
tention Of England's Government. But
10 effect it is a hard question Not a
point in organization or discipline can
be touched without offending some
great family or political influence
Marshal Ratzenhofer, Of the Austrian
army. reminds US that England has
profted nothing by the lessons OF the
Crimea or Of the Afghan campaign, and
he thinks that nothing of practically
reformative character viii follow the
South African experience.
Mr. St John Brodrick, Under Sec
retary for War, has presented a bill
providing for army reorganization to
Parliament which recently passed its
first reading; but IT is SO unsatisfactory
from d professional point of view that
there is reasonable doubt OF its final
passage. In present circumstances, 1t
is not believed possible through yolun-
tary enlistment 10 establish and main
tain the six army corps basis proposed
by Mr. Brodrick. Lieutenant Colonel
Lee. who was with our army in Cuba.
as a military observer, tells his Gov
ernment that If ii proposes to depend
upon volunteers it must initiate the
United States and give them the pay
rations, and privileges that American
soldiers enjoy. The alternative Will be
a word and idea that
every Englishman abhors. Yet II must |
come If the Kingdom viii not compete |
with private employers in the labor |
market, and II the British Ministry is |
determined 10 have an army as large |
and effective as il would appear on
paper were the Brodrick proposals |
adopted
IL ever there was time in history |
when England needed a strong and |
thoroughly trained army, it is now. |
military