Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1905-12-20
|Ah ELASTIC REStRvl
Lord Roberts Scheme for Ma,
tional Military Training
Special cablegram to The star.

Special Cablegram to The star
LONDON. December 19-Six months have
passed since Lord Roberts issued his stir
ring appeal in which he urged a system Of
national training in the rudiments of miis
itary enaciency as the only alternative to
CONSUMPTION on the continental model. The
National Service League an influential and
steadily growing body of which Lord Rob-
erts has recently consented to become the
president. Is now hard at work upon some
of the problems involved. OF the members
OF the royal commission which inquired into
the conduct of the Sout- African war.
LORD Esher, Sir F. barley and Sir. J. Edge
an ihdorsed the weighty memorandum in
winch Sir q. Taubman Goldie pleaded for
system Of national military education.
me majority report OF the Duke of Nor
folks commission. on the auxiliary forces
issued early In the year of 1914 even went
30 Iar assto advocate universal military
service for one year Since Lord Roberts
assumed the presidency OF tho NationaJ
service League, however, following II nm
py aggressive work in all quarters of the
unisea kingdom 1t fs believed that tho
movement has made substantial progress
II mas received the support of such widely
oiHerent bodies as the London chamber OF
commerce and the Oxford Union, the lat
ter OF which recently listened to an address
by Lord Roberts himself The oxford
Union, In fact, passed a motion in favor
or national training by a large majority
LORD Roberts In his address to the Oxford
Union maintained that the defense of tho
Indian frontier was Impossible without
the maintenance of a really elastic re-
serve for great national emergencies SIR
Q. Taubman Goldie in his report upon the
Boer war said.
Only an extraordinary combination of
fortunate circumstances saved the empire
during the early months of 1900, and there
Is no reason to expect repetition of such
fortune, il, as appears probable, the next
national emergency finds still discussing
our preparations
Value Of an Elastic Reserve.
Lord Roberts maintained that the value
of the Indefinitely expansible reserve pro-
yided by a trained nation could hardly
have been, more strikingly displayed than
in the recent war in the far east 1t is be.
lieved that the Japanese general staff I'M
der-estimated the forces that Russia could
bring to the front over the Siberian rail-
way and maintain there, and nothing saved
Japan from disaster but the fact that be-
hind her organized forces she possessed
In her population material which few
months spfficed to turn into admirable sol-
diers
As Indicative of the interest which is now
being taken in military matters ii Is worth
noticing that efforts are being made for the
creation of an equally elastic reserve of
officers. The claim is made that the Souta
African war showed that the value of
hastily raised forces varied directly with
the efficiency of the officers. The claim IL
made that every public school ought to be
made a training ground for officers espe-
clally In the senior classes, which ought to
play the part in the general national train
ing that Woolwfch and Sandhurst do in the
regular army. 1t is also urged that the uni
versities should make the higher military
training now confined to the staff college
an integral part of their curriculum.