The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1907-07-14
Field Marshal Roberts on the British Army.

Held Marshal NODeTts on tne brtusu Army
A number Of letters written and speeches
delivered during the last two years on the
requirements of the British army by Field
Marshal Earl ROBERTS, v. c., X. a.. a
now been published with the sanction OF the
author, in book form, under the title, A
Nation in Arms, by f.. p. button a Co. In
an introduction Lord Roberts endeavors
to clear up the doubts expressed as to the
objects of the National Service Lea que and
as to the precise Interpretation OF the words
national service" and "oonscription." Asa
matter Of fact. the objects Of the National
Service League are defined in its official
programme to be: First, TO secure peace
and security for the British Empire by
organizing its land forces in such a manner
! as will render possible the successful defence
OF any portion Of the empire against attack,
and also to make the defensive arrange
ments strong enough 10 render any attack
improbable: and secondly, to improve the
moral and physical condition OF the nation
and thereby to increase it's industrial eff
/ cheney. What was the occasion OF the for
! nation Of the National Service League? II
ia now nearly seven years since the question
was answered through the medium OF a
| letter addressed by the Duke Of Wellington
as the president Of the association to the
editors Of all the leading newspapers. In
that letter, after abiding TO the insuficiency
Of the Naval Reserve. the Duke drew atten-
ton to the anxiety which existed through
! out the United Kingdom as to it's unpre-
p~aredness for war. He pointed out the
unsatisfactory condition OF the army gen.
! orally. He showed how the recruiting for
! the regular forces had fallen OF. even after
the standard had been twice lowered in
two consecutive years. He concluded by
a~verring that -the time has come to abandon
makeshifts and to face the duty OF national
defence seriously. manfully and honestly"
Patriotism by proxy, he said, must be ex-
| changed for personal service. In other
words, the whole youth of the United King
dom must receive a military training. This
view of the situation 80 far as the army is
concerned has since been practically in
dorsed by two royal commissions appointed
the one ito inquire into the military pre-
paration and other matters connected with
the war in South Africa" and the other
ito report on the condition Of the militia
and volunteers The inquiries made by
these commissions were careful, even ex-
haustive. and both we're forced to the con-
clusion that the United Kingdom never
could be prepared for war until some scheme
was devised by which the peace strength
Of the regular army could quickly be ex-
banded to some national standard Of war
strength. IL cannot be denied that the
revelations, findings and recommended
ions Of these commissions we're treated
with more or less Indifference by the British
people, but Lord Roberts tells us thai not
on that account has his confidence in the
patriotism of his fellow countrymen been
abated. He ia still convinced that they
would respond il the issues we're placed
before them clearly enough to make them
realize the urgent necessity for military
reform based on the personal effort and a
slight self-sacrihce OF time and energy
by every a~blebodied citizen. Hence the
letters and speeches which have been
brought together in this volume.
Lord Roberts holds that il would be i'm
provident for his oountrymen TO rely solely
for national security on the traditions Of
their nayal superiority and TO defer all at
tempts to perfect their m fighting ma
chine un il tho finger Of fate should point
irrevocably 10 the penalty OF catastrophe
that awaits a people who in time of eass
and prosperity refus, to be warned or TO
take the most ordinary precautions. He
maintains that IL his countrymen persist
in taking no account OF their wider re-
s~ponsibilities and in ignoring the growing
naval and military resources Of nation that
lie strategically across Great Britain's lines
Of communication with its transmarine
depende ncies or whose borders are prac-
tically .conterminous with those Of the
United Kingdom and il they cling to the
fallacy thai any attempt 20 ~reorganize
Britain's military system is to encouraR e
"militarism" they this countrymen) can
hardly be surprised If they find themselves
brought not only to the verge OF wal itself
but to war that would have disastrous
results, Would il be prudent, he asLs.
70 trus, whatever voluntary system may