WAR HORSES WANTED.

Dominion, Volume 1, Issue 175, 18 April 1908, Page 3

WAR HORSES WANTED.

BRITAIN'S DILEMMA. // - AN INTERESTING DEBATE.' . For two and a quarter hours at a recent meeting-.-of tho Royal United Servioe Institute (England) a heated debate was maintained upon the subject of what the Government should'do for the country in the. matter 1 of breeding its own horses. Colonel Granet said tho number of animals necessary to mobilise the expeditionary forces, troops . ;at home, territorial forces/ and to bring all ■ units up to oorrect f strongth, Was. 173,000,, and of that total 59,000 were riding ' horses,.. the . great: majority .- being cavalry horses. They should havo a reserve of ;about 10 'per cont.' to meet' the demanfls •made by such .things, as accidents in. trains, deaths on board ship, and so on; Assuming that tho .wastage of war was such''that; every unit would be-required to bo completely rehorsed every, six months (considerably less than 'their experience in. South Africa),, at the end of the ypar of such a war .they would have taken from the United /Kingdom •332,000 horses, - of. which 180,000 would .be riding horses.. What'woro. tho • resources of tho country? It was extremely difficult'.to arrivo at anything -liko a; corrcct estimate, of what the military horse , population was. With, soine assistance. they had como to an estimate - of 1$ million horses,;. and about 15.0,000'were-for-cavalry purposes. Therefore, going- on: with his' assumption; at' tho end of a year".of. war' they .would • requiro 180,000 cavalry, and they, only had 150,000 to meet the supply 1 with. The' birth rate among, horses was a decreasing one. There-were 10,000 fewer foals dropped in-1906 than 'in tho year before, and;7s per cent., of those would have-been horses suitable for military; purposes. . In:lreland there a serious decrease. ; During the South African war the Whole, of the-horse; population of .the world was open to, them. . It was extremely /doubtful .Whether they would enjoy such an advantage on any future occasion. He understood that the Secretary; of Statg,,for War and- the' President of the Board, of/Agriculture had had laid before them an important scheme for ■ tho'' encouragement ' of horsebreoding.' The War Office, too, had a , scheme ' in hand ,to secure for ' the country more horses for mobilisation. ~ (■'.'■•

Sir Edward Hutton suggested 'that'horse-, purchasing: agencies should be formed in .Canada and. Australia. Breeders out there dicr riot understand, the standard/required: The horses from South America were certainly not equal to tho demands which were placed; upon.them-during .the lato; war..- /. .Colonel Birkbcck' explained ...the/French system>:of / Government' horso-breedingi »• and pointed out its immense advantages,'to : tho' farmer, who; he confessed, was .prompted by patriotic' feelings as .much as anything; and lic-lped in raising willingly of' the right kind 'ofArmy' horses.' ■ .

. Mr. Thomas Tilling' said farmers tried •to breed from mares purchased at a small cost, and, irrespective ...of their suitability ! -for breeding sound animals.' Farmers,iop,; complained, that they- could not - sell "their .l)orses at-a profit. The 'truth was- : they didnot produce a marketable animal. , The horse they satf nowadays, was only fit to work on farms,, and very few. wero. fit for. town. work. A horse -good for town -work - was good . for Army work. • .The, "horse" fanner found .it best to breied .show horses. Tho horso that fetched 'tho most, money wag the horso with the most action, and ho was not-always. tho most useful.. There wore-n great -many nonhorse counties':" What, they wanted was'ii supply of proper Did tho farmer really knbw.what type of Army"horse''to", pro* duce? There was a,sad. dotbrioration .'inthe size',of horses -produced-to-day.-; Whilc-they wanted; a, sound, serviceable horse . f fair sizo, they had had' to : reject a large number ■ because-they-were dwarfed. That only, showed that, some, Government-aided system should, exist,or,,tho'-right . class of : horse would continue'-; to bo more difficult to - get.' 'They had guns—but'thoy had. no horses to draw tbom. .- • Mr. /Algernon, Turner', explained. the system .the. Brood- Maire Society - had placed before the' .Government, The remedy, in short,- was suitable" mares, stallions, ■'. andorganisation.' Steps should ' bo taken, at ionce, to : mako" the breeding of 1 a goneral utility; horse' remunerative, instead of non-paying, as it was at presorit. The Shire, and : the thoroughbred wore instances of remunerative -prices; being paid for animals which commanded already market.'' Neither required assistance from tho Government; Tho genera] utility horse to-day: was a thing of haphazard he was a misfit. . Today tho difficulty was to get rid.of a horse, and tho middleman,came along and, took all the profit.'. What' they 'proper!"'to 1.1 te Gov.ornraeht was IKSt •> <•<,? 'u' US' placed-. eS &<»' vi ih« Minister, of Agricmuiro, £10,000 to go to marcs, £10,000 to 'adequate stallions, andtho -remaining.; £5000. to organisation and'management:' Mr. W.-.T.:Trench- said he was astounded at tho remarkable figures Col. Granet had given.' - They-had'hitherto been-told that, all tho horses'they needed-annually for tho' Army were. 1500-to 2000., , /Col.. Caldwell said.-, nearly;9o-per. cent, of the horses-bought, for London's 'buses were foreign or imported horses, because, the,'bus: horse raised, in the; United Kingdom had gradually lost-its; substance, power; and size. Up :to the: .present they had; _been; playing with- the question .of ; horse-raising -by, voluntary -organisation.' What were 28 .stallion premiums a year. Suitable mares ought:, to bb : kept: in. the country and not sent .out of, it. Tho Brood Mare Society was anxious to dosomething, while , the Government was doing nothing. Lord Valentia- said an Army Remount, De-, partment buyer was never seen in. the market towns of the Midlands, where there. were;a,s good cavalry.' horses •as ever , camo out of Ireland.. 1 '

Mr. William Sergeant/ said ' the. farmers' wore quite; willing to help ; tho" Government if- this latter would- help- them. Patriotismwas useless;-unless it ;was''profitable.'., Give, £5000' a year for 12,000 suitable mares,- and; the'State-aidcd-farmer "would'soon be ori.the high road: towards solving the difficulty.: • Mr. Chaplin said pounds, shillings, and pence' lay at' the root, of the whole thing, yet he would be a bravo man who dared to suggest to - the Chancellor of the . Exchequer that : the taxpayer ' should be ittrther burdened. . ' '• ' •