New-York tribune., 1910-10-09
London, September II.


.s5 some remarks on the present state
the British army, were that not trav-
or1;nc too far afieid. K may answer the
r,7rpose If I give you memory or two
n General Wolseley-I mean Field Mar
sba1 Z-iscount wolseley, but knew him
and All the world knew him so long as
General that this title still comes most
readily TO ones lips or pen I don't
enter rDon military controversies, but
since Mr Hcldane is hailed-by one set
Of military critics-as the re-
generator OF the British army. I will
quote what a great authority said TO me;
The British army has Of late been a
good deal pulled about and has had sew
eral doctors all honestly trying TO I'M
rrove its constitution. Lord Cardweh
lord Iansdowne. Mr Arnold Forster
M Brodrick now Lord Midleton), and
fnalIy Mr.. Haldane. tried their hands
each in his own way Their Iaiiures
differed in kind and in degree, but they
were all failures-or, II Mr. Haldane s
scheme is not vet a failure you will see
.bsr with all its ingenuity and scope,
il VIII not stand the test Of time.
Then he went on;
The one man TO whom the army owes
almost all the efficiency il now mas IS
zTolselev. It was wolseiey who intro
d-1ced short service. and short service IS
-he foundation Of military usefulness
F4e did il in the face Of tremendous op-
position. with the Duke Of Cambridge
then commander in chief, at the head
.r -be oDposirion. But nobody now de-
MES that II was a reform without which
The army would have decayed-
side bv side with thai I print another
euctation: this one from Field Marshai
vVorselev himself But Erst ! ask you 10
re-oember that this great soldier had
served all over the world, beginning with
che burmese war. in 1S52-'53. then IN
the Crimea, where he was pretty wen
shot 70 pieces and won his captaincy al
twenty. then IN India, at Lucknow; tnen
China. then the Red River expeditlon N
canada then the Gold Coast. IN COM
--and during the Ashantee campaign
then Egypt in 1852. crushing the Ara o.
-abeInon: then TWO years later al the
head Of the Gordon relief expedition,
which would have ended in success in
stead OF defeat had his advice been
taken before II started: then Commander
Of the Forces in Ireland, and so on Dur
ing ali this time ne rose steadily IN
rank and IN renown- He was thanked
bv Parliament three times, was raised
70 the Deerage and later made VS.
count. Promotion followed promotion
he vas Ouarrerna s1er General Of the
Forces as early as 1880. then Adjutan'
General and chief executive of11cer OF
the army. 18S7-'S5. and again 1880
finally Field Marshal in 1894 and Com
--an6er in Chief Of the Army 1S95-lSO0
That is a mere skeleton Of his career
but II viii serve as the preface I want
fer nv quotation. When the Boer war
r,roi5a OFT. the command was not offered
70 WoIseley. nor was il till Lord Rober1s
entered the field that the record Of Brlt-
fsh defeats. cteered by the Irish Ma
-5-na1isrs IN Parliament. came TO an end
met Lord Wolseiey during one Of those
gloomy periods. and to my How are
vou2' he answered
Thanks. / am very well ana l speno
ny tine trying 10 forget that l have
ever been a soldier.
Did YOU ever hear a more pathetic
speech? He was then but sixty-fve- He
knew himself still capable Of command
h knew why he had been passed over
h had 70 look on while the War once
Al home and the generals in the field
We'd with each other in colossal blunders
and while. as Lord Rosebery said, the
fortunes Of the whole British Empire
hung in the balance He knew Soutf
Africa he had powers Of organizing
and powers Of lighting which had never
failed him. But the War ONCE, which
had pigeonholed General Sir William
Buffers reports warning his chiefs OF
what was coming, which sent Sir Red
vers Butler 70 the front. on whom
disaster followed fast and followed fast
er. which starved the services ano
thought forty thousand men could do the
work for which q quarter Of a million
proved 10 bs none TOO rnany;-the Wal
once. Of which first Lord LansdOwne
1s9S-1900 and then Mr.. st. John Brod-
rick I4pJ-'03. We're the responsible
ministers had 10 use for such a soldier
z tried. victorious soldier-as WOlseley
Their mistake cost England dear; and il
cost her best captain what was left Il
him OF happiness in life. He was put or
TIE shelf and left there.
X is now many years since I have
seen Lord Wolseley. He no longer live:
II London. The pleasant house in Hi
street. Berkeley Square Is pleasant FOL
other reasons; # il be pleasant. He and
Lady WOlseley are among the privileged
Inhabitants Of Hampton Court Palace
] hear he has aged; perhaps has nevel
recovered from the shock and disappoint
ulent and the many sorrows, public and
personal. Of the BOer War. The year:
there are seventy-seyen Of thena-hav'
dealt gently with him. but there is no
body on whom they do not leave a mark
they and wounds and privatlon and
fatigue and great responsibilities great
a. borne. But down TO a recent periOC
The vigor Of his mind had not been i'm
paired.
I write with a photograph before M
which Lord Wolseley gave me in 1S95
signed and dated. The signature
''Wolseley," is strong and firm. each let
ter clear-cut almost as If with a sword
and il is certainly the slash Of a sabr'
which finishes of the -" The grea
soldier is in a Field MarshaTs uniform