Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-12-30
LORD ROBERTS
On What the Modern
Army Must Do.
A Terrible Lesson Awaits Ma
ton Who Fails to See.
That Very Best Army in World Is Only
One to Have.

London. Dec 29-The army as it was
and as it is to b. the text under which
Field Marshal Lord Eoerts in the
January Nineteenth Century reads Bii-
tons a noteworthy lecture on the duty
OF all classes if Great Britain would
meet the demands of modern warfar"
After frankly pointing out existing de-
ficicncles Earl Roberts writes:
"A terrible lesson awaits the nation
whose soldiers find themselves opposed
by equally brave but better trained OPP
ponents on the field of battle. NJ
amount of money. no national sacrifices
will then avail, for modern warfare
moves fast and time lost in peace can
never be made up during the stress of
campaign. | hold this view very
strongly and would urge my fellow
countrymen with all the force at my
| command, to look the plain facts in the
| face"
Earl Roberts does not advocate COM
pulsory service. but maintains that
| Great Britain must have q large re-
| serve force and If citizens of so great
| and prosperous a nation as ours are to
| remain exempt from compulsory ser
| vice in time of peace. without the safe
| ty of the empire being endangered, the
| right class of men must be attracted
| to the regular army by good conditions
of ray and pensions and it is tbs
| bounden duty of the state to see thai
| every able bodied man in this country
no matter to what grade of society he
may belong. undergoes some kind OF
| military training in youth. sufficient tt
enable him TO shoot straight and carry
out simple orders if ever his service:
are required for national defence
Lord Roberts points out how the in
PRODUCTION of modern glhls necessitat
ed the complete adjustment of th'
idea that men must be mere machines
Officers ne says are no longer directly
able to control their men because the
fighting formation has been changet
and therefore the men must have IA
: higher standard OF indivual intelli
gence while among the officers intel
: ligcnce self-reliance and the power o
leading must be on proportionatel.
2 higher level.
, 1.-The sooner this is realized to the full
est extent he says. the better for a
ranks when the hour Of trial comes.
Lord ROBERTS says tne report vi III
commission on the war in South Afric
made it clear that much is still needle
before Great Britain has an army fit
all respects for war under modern cond
| tons. Among other things she must hav
n a larger proportion of mounted troops fo
rapid reinforcements and in order
: quickly seize points of vantage. He refer
r to the action of the government in order
e ing new quick-firing guns for the CON
plete re-equipment of the army, and say
these guns will he 12i5-pounders for horse
| and 1SlH-pounders for field artillery.
a simultaneously with Lord Roberts al
ticle it is officially announced that 16O ba
teries will be supplied with new guns at
n cost of si75OoOO and that the order wi
be executed within 20 months.
- Lord Roberts concluded his article &
o follows:
1T will be necessary to have a reser,
force Of officers amounting to some thou
l. ands. These can be made available by
=. system for the military training of II
lie entire youth of tie country. Such r
"a serve is essential to our success, no ma
40 ter under what system our army may
| organized"