The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1901-04-02
IS
FOR ARMY
British Scheme of
the Military
Reform.
NOTHING MAY
CONE OF 1T
A Scathing Arrangement of King
Edwards Much-Vaunted Mill . :.
tdry System.

| NEW YORK, March 25.-The London
of Englands scheme of military reor-
ganization, says:
| The new scheme of military organiza-
ton may be roughly described as the
half way house to CONSUMPTION. 1t in
wolves the development of the existing
system of voluntary enlistment and
AUXILIARY services under conditions
which preclude reasonable expectation
of success. When the experiment has
been tried and the results are found
unsatisfactory the way will be opened
for compulsory service. The. war Of
flee will then be in a position to as
sert that everything was done under the
voluntary system to provide an adequate
army for the defense of the Empire.
but the men were not forthcoming, and
that an elaborate paper scheme proved
a failure. The only alternative, from
the official and military point of view,
will be Compulsory service. The mill
tary experts, who have been contending
for years that CONSUMPTION was newt
able and that the Empire could not be
defended without it. unite in pronounc-
ing Mr. Brodrick's speech mastery
perceive the trend of an exceedingly
artificial attempt to provide 125, 900 new
troops and to organize six army corps,
in as many districts, for constant train
ling and annual maneuvers. Mr. Brod-
rick himself spoke like an official who
was condemned for political reasons to
make bricks without straw and had lit
tie confidence in the voluntary system.
The reorganized army will consist of
three army corps OF regulars, with
headquarters at Aldershot, Salisbury
Plain and Dublin, and three army corps
of auxiliary forces at Colchester, York
and Scotland, with sixty battalions of
militia and volunteers, a considerable
body Of imperial yeomanry and TWEEN
ty-one volunteer field artillery batter
les. Each corps will have it's own
staff, troops and stores and be virtually
self-administrative There will be no
great increase of regulars, although
| from thirteen to eighteen battalions
will be gained by the withdrawal of
Mediterranean and Colonial garrisons
! and by the transfer of Indian troops to
tropical points and placing eoaling sta
tions under the control of the navy;
but $4,000 will be added to the militia,
! the yeomanry will be recruited to $1,000
and in one way or another over 125, 900
fresh troops will be brought under
training in six districts. All these
changes are made in order to keep
three army corps in readiness for for
eign service in an emergency, yet to
/ leave three army corps behind to pro-
vide for home defence: and whether
the troops are dispatched abroad or
/ held in reserve, every corps will have
its own ammunition, cavalry, artillery
and transport and be Systematically
trained for modern warfare. The
scheme looks effective on paper; the
chief practical difficulty is promptly
suggested by French, German and Aus
TRAN critics. How can the men be OBJ
! tained2 What magic can recruiting
have in the future which it has lacked
IN the past? There is no increase of pay
for regulars or militiamen, and there
are no additional attractions in a ser
vice which is TO be rendered more ardu-
Gus than ever before. The scheme of
reorganization involves the liquidation
OF a political debt. When the Sails
bury government dissolved Parliament
last autumn it pledged itself to reor
gan1ze the army, and consequently
some project which looked impressive
ION paper had to be brought forward
after the elections. When that pledge
was made the Government itself was
open to criticism for having underesti-
mated the fighting resources of the
Beers, and il was convenient for Min
listers to lay stress on weak points of
the military system and the necessity
Tor complete revision of methods.
The Ministers, in redeeming their prom
Use, indict the patriotism of the nation,
the loyalty of the Colonies and the eff
clency of the volunteer system. Their
scheme of reorganization is virtually
confession that everything went wrong
IN South Africa that the army was
unequal to its work, and that the vol
untary system broke down. That in
nCtment is not well founded. The Min
lsters miscalculated the resources 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 mount
cd forces; the Generals were amateur
ish in such battles as Nicholson's Mex
and Colenso, and reckless at Stormburg
and Magersfontain; the officers lacked
feXibility and quickness of mind; the
staff work was bad and the medical ana
transport services were defective. Al
|aershot has not come out well, nor mas
Pan Mall nor Downing street put the
soldiers never fiinched in their duty,
and the army as a whole enconntereo