Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1902-03-22

the treatment which Lord yvo,sa1ey re-
ceived from the present ad,inistra-
tioh IN cohection With the Boer war;
and especially of the bitter attack
made upon the Field Marshal nv lord
Lansdowne in the House of J.ords Iast
spring, was strikingly shown rba, AL
i''os' i'iii',euia'eiy afterward the King
Shiiiihoieu LORD Woiseley to MARI
borough house, and personally APP
pointed nm as special amba dor TO
notify MS accession to the throne to
the rulers OF Austria, Turkey and to
several OF the smaller co,irts lord
Lansdowne, who had meanwhiIe he
come minister Of foreign y fairs had M
voice in the appointment and was
merely directed by the KING ~ make
the necessary arrangements for Lord
Wolseleys special mission. The King
moreover KNOWS that Lord Wolselcy
combines the genius of q succassfuI
general with very pronounced Gifts Of
diplomacy, and of dealing with diGicuIt
situations.
1t is not by any meaps tb, .irst .i,no
that the field marshal has heen sent To
various parts OF the globe to evolve or
ger out vi cuaos, and to pour oil on
troubled waters-he has already been dis
patched three times to south Africa for
purposes such as these and tho.e who
were disposed two years ago to criticis.
his administration as ander-in-chi,f
OF the BRUSH army have been compelled
10 acknoWleuge mat Lord Roberts, who
succeeded him, has shown himself even
still less able TO cope with the obstr11c-
ton raised by the civilian element NJ tha
war department. headed, as the latter in
ri at,-.I.
state intent on reducing the commander
ln-chlel TO the role Of a mere tig1rehead
and upon usurping all the prerogatiyes of
a generalissimo There was but one
single branch of the military administra-
ton over which Lord Wolseley had abso-
lutte and undisputed control while com
Misunderstanding, namely, that OF mobil-
iZation and of the reserves which consti-
tuteu the one feature OF the present war
so entirely successful as to excite the
WarmeSt degree OF admiration at Berlin
and other military centers on the CONT
nent For ii is only military men who
are aware of the clever organization and
the skill that is required to not merely
mobilize an army of some 20O. 600 men but
also to convey it fully equipped across
the sea to the field of operations more
than 1000 miles away from home within
the space of a few brief weeks
1t is no eXaggeratlon to state that it is
large force of reserves which has enabled
her in this present war to dispense with
the hiring of foreign mercenaries to
which she was reduced at the time of the
Crimean war, when she experienced the
utmost difficulty in sending out an army
of even 5000 men to take part in the
siege of Sebastapol. Realizing that Eng
lishmen would not stand CONSUMPTION or
compulsory military service, Lord Wolse-
ley introduced, together with the help of
Lord Cardwell, the present short service
and reserve system. taking a leaf out of
the book of King Frederick William III.
of Prussia in the matter When that
monarch, at the beginning of the last
century found himself bound down by
French treaty stipulations and financial
considerations not to increase his army
beyond a certain maximum figure-name-
ly, 40,00G-he introduced the short service
and reserve system. There We're never
more than the stipulated number of men
with the colors. But as soon as they had
completed their military training they
made way for others, and We're enrolled
in the reserves. 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
40 900, but of near 210,000 trained soldiers.
1t is thanks to the adoption of a scheme
of much the same kind by Lord Wolseley
that England in its present war has been