The times., 1901-05-12

start Let him understand that SOL
diering is hard, stern business. and
not play. The average officer hasn't
a mind above golf or cricket. He knows
nothing OF drill. He can't ride. The
mounted infantry is farce. n Boer
horse is a part of him. If there is a
body OF them and you watch them
through q glass each man is of, has
taken cover and led his horse away be
fore you can say knife But watch
body OF British. They have to wait
for orders before they dismount; cover
has to be pointed out to them; they
have no initiative. Napoleon got his
officers from the ranks. Who would
make such good officer as a sergeant
major? Instead of glory when they
come home-glory and guzzling-some
Of the officers should get three years
you know where
For some days after Pretoria was
taken. / was much in the company of
officers of the Canadian contingent.
and their views Of the South African
situation were refreshingiy straight
forward and enlightening. / talked
with Toronto captain who wore the
ribbon OF the Northwest Rebellion, and
had served with Roosevelt in Cuba
merely for the fun of lighting, and /
asked him what he thought of the
whole show He was q man whose
judgment was sound. d man Of the
kind that we know as the sound busi-
ness man of this contiuent-a charac-
ter with prestige almost unknown in
England
".Wen. he said. 1t isn't the way we
would do il, is it2 We colonials have
been taught that nothing we could do
could possibly be just right; nothing
We could say could just suit the point;
and we are brought over here and
dumped into country with a lot of
officers who don't know as much as a
child at home would know about the
game
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that sentiment was manifest. for both
the Australian and Canadian forces
were volunteers of the same type that
constitutes the United States volun-
teer army in time of war. Business.
men, professional men, and society
men-all sorts and conditions-volun-
teered from purely patriotic feelings;
they each went from a new country,
where every man Is to some degree an
adventurer. The same spirit that had
sent men to the colonies now sent men
to the war They are men with intel
Hgence and courage enough to better
their personal surroundings. and con-
sequently are capable of approaching
situation with daring and executing
ii with success. While the colonialS
were in the field in South Africa 1
think their opinions of the imperial
officers took the shape of amusement
rather than contempt; but when they
have returned to their homes their de-
riSion is bound to become scorn: for
been taught to feel is broken and they
have suddenly awakened to the fact
that they of the New World have out
stripped the mother country in prac-
ticality.
THE imperial officer did not hesitate
to show his contempt for the colonial
oliicer-not because he lacked intel
lect or bravery, or anything that
soldier should have, but because his
social position was not equal to the
English idea 1t was the old-time
prejudice against the man in trade
for the British society cannot under
stand the spirit and life of a new
country. where every man, rich or
poor. of high or low birth, is what
they call in trade The colonial Of
ficers felt this treatment keenly, for
they soon perceived their own military
superiority; although they did not make
manifest their sensitiveness, they re-
sented the lofty manner of the inn
perial orncers.
The superior practically of the Amer
lean and colonial equipment is shown,
according to Mr.. Archibald, in drill tao
tics. and equipment The Canadian, as
he noted, has adopted the soft felt hat
and the Mcclellan saddle, while the i'm
perial sticks to the helmet and the fat
saddle, suitable only for riding in the
park in drill. the American is taught
to seek cover when attacking; the British
officer scorns to DO anything of the kind,
and as the Tommy is peculiarly de-
pendent on his leader, this weakens the
Of the troops in action con-
Again, the American officer
personally drills and disciplines his men
the British officer is apt to leave all that
70 his "non-corns." AT any rate, he can
if he chooses; and whatever attention
he personally gives to his regiment is
given from love of the work and not be-
cause he has TO DO it. There are such
men as Cottar, Bobby Wick, and Ouless
in the British army, outside Kipling' s
world; but, according to the present au-
thor, they are a good deal commoner in
the American army. principally because
they have to be. A cavalry lieutenant
who had to depend on his man to come
saddle his horse for him would not be
Of much use in an Indian campaign, and
when a mans scalp is likely TO depend
upon his having his subordinates well
and being in thorough accord with
them, he is likely to see that they are
in that condition. The officers who have
been kept on active service in the British
army in India and elsewhere are prob
ably not loafers; but the sings and ar
rows of this correspondent are not di-
rected at them, but at the men who have
have never done anything but play polo
and go TO afternoon teas. 1t is they who
have justly earned the contempt Of the
coIonlals. For such men as Roberts,
Kitchener Hector Macdonald, and other
thorough soldiers, Mr.. Archibald has, as
everyone must have, sincere admiration.
It is significant that until the arrival of
"Bobs"-an old East Indian campaigner-
British success in South Africa was con-
spicuous by its absence. The fact proba-
bly, is that wherever a civilized army
comes into collision with fighters more
or less unciviliZed it learns something
The Boers have been fighting savages
aud wild beasts, just as the Americans
had in 177G for something like a CEN
tUry; and they have learned some hun
ters' tactics. On this point the present
author merely says what about five Amer
leans out OF ten thought during the early
defeats Of the British in South Africa:
The tactics Of the American soldier
have been the outcome Of generations
Of Indian wars and OF fighting in
woods and mountains Our colonial
fOrefathers established the general
principles Of our present fighting
methods when they learned the art of
warfare from the natives of the viii
derness. When Colonel Washington
saved General Braddock's defeated
British regulars from annihilation by
the Indians, he employed, In the
main, the same tactics we now use
Washington implored the British gen
eral 10 dispose his men like the pio-
neer volunteers, as individual fighters;
but the royal officer disdained to take
lessons from d colonial The British
stubbornness was in the end fortunate
for the colonies, for the American vic
tories of the War of Independence
were won by the common-sense tactics
natural to men who had handled long
rifles from their boyhood, and who had
learned TO hide first and shoot after
ward. The slaughter Of the retreat
from Concord TO Boston the terrible
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