El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1910-07-11

! on the part of many Englishmen in
/ the menace of the rising German power
| The fear OF Germany is the handspring
/ Of much revolutionary thought in this
| country. Until now there has been no
! reason why Great Britain should de-
mand military service Of all its young
men. Voluntary enlistments kept up
! the necessary force, and England al
though governing the greatest empire
! ever subject to one crown, never need
] ed a great army.
J In the Eighteenth century, when
/ England laid the foundations Of the
present empire in the Seven Years war
/ with France, the British depended upon
| others to do their fighting The Ger
mans did it for them in Europe. and
were well rewarded with substantial
| subsidies The American colonists aid
/ ed them in America, and added Canada
/ to the British dOminiOns. In the last
| quarter of that century England was
I unable to defeat her rebel colonists IN
America, although she hired German
! soldiers to fight Tor her. Then the
| thirteen colonies were lost, and Eng
| land learned a lesson and ever since
has 50 governed her possessions that
force has seldom been required to back
| up diplomacy.
l. Brains Greater Than Army
nineteenth
tpry Napoleon threatened the British
supremacy, but England did compa ra-
| lively little fighting on land. Subsidies
were paid to the Gernlar armies anc the
brain of Pitt battIed for Britain In lieu
OF legious- Wellington conducted the
Peninsular campaign, and was captain
on the glorious field Of Waterloo. but IL
was Nelson and the navy, not the great
duke, that saved England. German SOL
diers were fighting for British suprem-
acy then.
With the downfall of Napoleon and
the dawn of the modern age of machln-
cry. Great Britain<at once began to re-
alize the fruits OF its maritime suprem-
acy and its splendid isolation" Con-
tinental Europe INDUCED in a long Sc
RES OF bloody wars, Germany was only
name for a score of quarreling states,
the French imperial instinct died on ST.
Helena While these other nations
were at war, England was waxing rich
in commerce Only the Crimean war, in
which England did not fight alone. and
the Indian Mutiny, seriously interrupt
ed eight decades of profound peace
BOer War Single Handed
Then came the Boer war For the
first time in its modern history Great
Britain faced an embattled nation alone
There were no Prussian allies, no Hes
sian mercenaries. The BOer republics
England imagined that the war would
be brief and inexpensive. The navy
could do nothing, for this was a land
fight, campaign in which the British
were on the offensive. The magnificent
patriotism of the British people, at home
and in the colonies, responded to the
unexpected call and thousands upon
thousands of volunteers dOnned the
kings coat and went TO the South A.
rican war But it cost many lives and
more than a billion and a half dollars
Of treasure.
The inefficiency Of the British regu-
lar army was proved in the Boer war.
Ever since that time the Imperialistic
party N Great Britain has been de-
handing a greater army During the
past year, under the influence of the
German scare. this demand has swelIed
into a great chorus which threatens
to drown out all other questions except
those concerned with the navy
Large standing Army.
The territorial forces, an organized
militia of a nominal strength of $4,000
and having 100000 effective men, is the
concrete result of this agitation But
the voluntary enlistment principle has
been preserved intact The territoriaIs
are enlisted only for home defense and
may not be used except in the British
Isles They are, in fact, a militia or
ganized for the purpose of repeIling an
should the navy fail TO preserve
the inviolability of British shores
The territorials may be compared to
the militia in those American states
whose national guard is rated as first
class They have a certain amount OF
regular drill work, some special IN
Struction, and must spend several weeks
each year in maneuvers. The territorials
are, however, much more closely related
to the regular army than the American
nllitla. al
IS connected with some regiment of reg
nIars, and the men have the benefit Of
instruction from regular army officers.
The Boy Scouts" are another result
Of the German scare. They are young
boys in school who volunteer to submit
TO a certain amount Of military disci-
Dline and training. They correspond
to the High school cadet corps Of Amer
can cities, except that Gen Baden
Powell has appealed to boy nature by
a khaki uniform and a
combination Of wild west and South
African scout drills for the more formal
Ind exacting dress and duties of
,adet.
Great Interest in Army.
The territorial volunteers. the boy
scouts, the Girl Guides" and the i'm
'erialist agitation generally has had
ne effect of awakening a patriotic In
crest in the army which Britain never
'efore has possessed. Mr. Kipling's
cOlding is no longer needed The Eng
ish are frightened and Fey are enthu-
iastic about their army. In spite of
popular excitement. however. the So
allied Blue Water school maintains the
scendency and Britain relies upon its
avy TO save 1t from invasion. This i'm
licit trust in the navy is probably the
My reason why compulsory military
ervice has not been adopted If the
Conservative party should again come
ITO power it Is probable that some sys-
EN- Of universal service will be instI-
uted.
The British army is quite small it's
ocular force at home and abroad. ex-
luSise of India, amounting only to
n mn ah