Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLDFIELDS GAZETTE Cromwell, Monday, June 19, 1905.

Cromwell Argus, Volume XXXV, Issue 1942, 19 June 1905, Page 4

Cromwell Argus AND NORTHERN GOLDFIELDS GAZETTE Cromwell, Monday, June 19, 1905.

Tiik greatest problem at present before the British people at home, and in the oversea parts IMPERIAL of the Empire, is , DEFENCE. Imperial Defence. There is not a shadow of doubt that Britain, while spending in defence far more than any other nation in the world, gets far less return for her money. The money spent by Great Britain on her army and navy during the past few years has increased until now the amount reaches the huge aggregate of sixty three millions of pounds per annum, and yet, according to the London Times, the army is epiite inadequate to meet the responsibilities that would be cast on it in case the Empire had to conduct a great war, such as that now being carried on in the East. The army is too weak in numbers to hope to cope successfully with the multitudes that can be put into the field by other nations. it is Eiid that half a million men are

necessary for the defence of India, and in case of an invasion of-Great Britain, the forces that could meet an invader would be insufficient to render his repulse the certainty that it should he. Lord Roberts writes to the British Press calling attention to the unsatisfactory state of military matters, and suggesting the establishment of rifle clubs, because shooting is the great thing in an army. He says that many of the reverses suffered by the British troops in South Africa were directly due to bad marksmanship. It has been suggested that each component part of the Empire should be called upon to state definitely what forces it could and would be willing to place in the field in case of the Empire's becoming engaged in a great war. It is a strange thing that, although the British are preeminently a mercantile people, they cannot run an army on business lines. This is caused to some extent, we fancy, by the aristocratic tastes and tendencies of the officers. If the army were democratised, it would be cheaper and more efficient. Under modern conditions a military officer has to be a highly trained and intelligent specialist, and intelligence, diligence, strength, and originality of character should count for more than sixteen quarterings or a large private income. But still the problem remains :—How, without introducing conscription, to find enough men to form an army numerous enough to satisfy all requirements ? This is the problem that the British people must solve, and solve quickly, if they wish to stand in as strong a military position as is desirable. Another problem is the great and rapidly increasing physical deterioration of the British people —a deterioration that leads to the rejection of about three recruits out of four, and which has raised the utmost solicitude in the minds of thoughtful men, to whom the race is more than the individual; a sturdy people more than millionaires and commercial records. The fact is that the sturdy yeoman of Britain who stood in the forefront of every fight from Cressy to Waterloo, and whose dogged valor brought victory to our arms, is rapidly becoming extinct. It would pay the British people, as a military measure, to burst up large estates and deer parks in the British Isles and repeople them with a sturdy and independent peasantry. City life, especially in the crowded quarters where the poorer people congregate in their thousands and tens of thousands, is not conducive to physical development. Luckily there are not wanting, men in Britain to call, with trumpet voice, the attention of the nation to these serious matters; and it is to bo hoped that the intellect of Britain may prove itself equal to the task of solving two of the greatest problems ever offered to the nation, namely, to put its defence forces on a proper footing, and, as a necessary corollary, to restore the pristine vigor of the race. To us in oversea Britain, the defence problem presents a somewhat different aspect. We have to provide for two things ; firstly, to defend ourselves ; secondly, to effectively assist the common cause in a great Imperial war. The first we can do by maintaining our local defence forces at a reasonable strength, and above all thoroughly equipped : the second can, perhaps, be best effected by a liberal but judicious support in men and money of. the Imperial Navy, which will always be our chief and first line of defence.