DEFENCE NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 3, Issue 633, 9 October 1909, Page 14

DEFENCE NOTES.

. —T— —-9 . ■ (By EoszlohJ

Tho outstanding.feature, of -the military 'defenca scheme is the fact that Canada,, in •cpmmpn' Trith' tlis pthor Dominions, : lias agreed . ife ; organisation far as local- : permit)' throughout- all the ■dominionajV with ono -Imperial General. Staff, "and local.'sections,--ono . in' oach dominion. "There fs'not;-"'f6r;instanco, to- bo a Canadian j -General ? Staff,'but a Canadian section of tho 1 Imperial'Staft'.' - Tho local, control is absolutely rotained, and ali correspondcnco -.between tho ■Dominion and; tho .Imperial'. Government has first to ■bo submitted to tho responsiblo ' Minister. In time of war tho position would tbb as followsTho Canadian Government has ;no power'to"6end troops out of the- country except for tho local defenco of Canada, but tho Militia Act enables tho'Dominion Govern-, ment in case of emergency to call out the whole Militia, and, if Parliament is not .sitting, to convone'-the' -Legislature' within fifteen days to take such steps as may bo required. Tho Dominion retains control: of the way in which a Militia force is to be. raised, whether, by a . Voluntaiy or'compulsorjr',system, and in "fact controls the wholo,organisation from beginning r .tb-,ond. : But ifchas been .agreed that the system of organisation shall be such as to enable : Canada to co-operate with the rest of the ' -Empire: 'Canada has already begun the estab- , lishmont; of an Imperial General Staff. This, which forms;-the essence- of the whole-scheme, ' was adopted iby Canada'on .the. conclusion ;last year of Sir Frederick Borden's mission to . England.,, The. elaboration of . tho scheme now agreed -upon;marks a step forward of tho . hightsfc'impoftarico. Nothing, of. the. kind has been'attempted before,' and the resulti'of the conference from a military standpoint' affords the. utmost- satisfaction, to Canada. Colonel.Eousset, in tho-"Gaulois," is examin-. ,mg tho question of desertion and failure to servo under tho colours in the French army in a series of . interesting articles. That the . evil exists , in, an alarming , degree admits of - .no dispute,'..but there is some divergence of :: opinion amongst experts, as to the cause at .work.' :,One'of-the-principal reasons, doubt-. ■J :less,, is ,o!''.lack'"of.- militdryl spirit which is" .-largely ■ fostered .by anti-militarist . Socialists; •: -but it is not altogether to' be put down - to objection on pnnciplo to tho horrors of s -.war, but largely- to: personal - disinclination. • In .ono of his articles, 6ays "'The. Standard," Colonol Eousset points out that'on January 1, ,1308, the number of refractaires, or men who ought to be under the colours, .but who; are not, either - from desertion, or ■ from havingevaded tho conscription, was 12,783 deserters and 55,528 absentees. This extraordinary number would be enough to furnish two army • corps.-on war-footing, and a little, to spare, and is an appalling, commentary on !he national spirit. '.■ '. Twelve regiments o£ cavalry under MajorGeneral Sir BouglasiHnig recently carried out at' Sabsbury --Plain (England) an advance 1 • coverod by; live-, shell . fire,' : which travelled ;over the force to. an entrenched' line- to. the "■-front of .the'moving .'horsemen. ' This reali6tio : 'form, of ,atfack^was'-first, tried on . the' plain ' ' with a'.fordo-of all --arms against a dummy enemy, and the live shell Are was maintained ' until the infantry: were iwithin' assaulting distance. The dummy position was faked from end to end, and when the distance between tho advancing infantry was getting email, the shell Are - was stopped. ■ It was found that ■ 'tho shelling by tho'.new quick-firers had practically covered the whole area of defence.. . People read a lot nowadays' concerning mili. .tary"affairs,| and very often, come. across; the ,'titls'v"Great General. Staff," . but.' very. few,, refers, outside of 4he ,War-Office and various military commands' at . Homo and abroad'can, say what - ;this .-august .',and learned-.body;: ofmilitary -experts is really, composed, of (writes "Mars, of tho "Military Mail"). Subject to the authority.-1 of.\ .the who. -.is the Supreme Waf Lord, the Great General Staff in Berlin-carries,-, on ./the study of foreign attention - to our . own little afmy—prepares *.'', and -: revises mobilisa-' ;tion. plans/schemes-of .'attack:and defencc, tho 'stu'dy.-'of -foreign-, inventions!' in warlike .mate;rial, such''/a#inewßguns ? r: 6hells, powder,' '.etc',: epending 'jnuchsmoiej; inAth'eir. endeavour to secure"-!ull »lSd? atfSurW information through .'secret and '-other .agents. - The- General 'Staff also ,tho ! education, of Staff Collegeofficers, and recommends them for Staff employment. The whole of tho scheme -for annual manf§s,vre& is;examinedvby the General before final approval is given. There r.re, over 260 officers employed on this Great General Staff, and it is divided: 4 into.; nine .sections. No officers of this staff'are- attached ..to, any outside corps, and they are divided into,three classes;'viz. (1) Those employed upon technical, and scien-' tific work, military t history, topography, trigonometrical and cartographical" duties; (2) fully qualified staff officers.performing strictly military work', such as training of troops for war, staff tours for army corp.vetc.; (3).offi-; cers on probation and attached 1 for dutythere are usually ■ about"lo:.of'these probationers on- duty. : The- Chiefof the, General ''Staff is directly . lesponsible. fori everything, '■Vat he "devotes hisf 'personal' attention to the, .'planning' of "'lmperial and-.staff 'ridesV'of'.HheGreat: Ge'nefal'.Staff. To -assist him : there" are: three of high rank, 'known as Chief Quartermaster Nos. I, 11, 111 respectively,;' also [ a -.General' - Quartermaster, Tho 'Chief 'of tKo'Great ; General Staff is'also responsible .for the Staff,: College, the Railway Brigade,. and: the "administration and organisation .of V military and'.other:; railways;, in '-..the German .Empire. - also ; an efficient Inteliigence.'-Department, a, close examiuaSon of, German ;; -'and other newspapers, -periodicals, and-. ; .books goes on daily, in order that nothing likely, to be v of use to the German. Army ' may bo overlooked. Everything 's worked out: by-the Great General. Staff with, painstaking.minuteness, and nothing-is left-to chance. ..The political, state .and partv..of _ every, civilised nation is known to this collection of the .finest brains, in ; the German Army, every .move in.the; march ;of' military improvement •and science .throughout the . world is known ,to the'experts .in, Berlin. The British Army contains many, clever .officers,. who could perfectly, -.well carry :'biit:thov.'jy,ork 'of the Great iSfciff in Berlin'were'thoy asked to do.so. Certainly, tho study" and practice of i military science, and' the art -.'of war-mayinot be . so "minutely can-ied'out at Whitehali.as it ii in Berlin, but the'British-General Stair in Whitehall' is by'no'means the", mediocre body some critics would have it to - be. There is' such a thing 'as'ovordoing ' the study of military matters" to 'the detriment of the "remainder- of tho Array at. largo; the Great General; Staff in Berlin-has not had.its talents put to actual test in warfaro since" 1870." They overdid tho .strategical schemes--and.;other scientific arrangements in- their, little "war -with f tho -Hereros, arid . forgot to . come" down from the '.clouds of study to the earth of actual realities '.until forced to do so by the.numer'ous pettj .'disasters , that ".'dragged' on ' the.' war.' : in tho ' deserts of German Kouth-West Africa.

Two-jokes from. London "Punch"i G. O. C. with.Staff interrogating a patrol: i-'-What are you?" Wretched Patrol (to the despair, of his. colonol): "Billiard marker in the. Horficefs*. 'mess, your 'Ighhessl" . Lady X. (whose husband has the. worst shooting m Yorkshire) :• "Well, can't you squeeze in a Friday to Tuesday?, Just a couple of days on tbo moor?" Ossy-D'Arcy: "Sorry, can't possibly .leave London... Big schomes on at the War Olhco. We're crossing carrier pigeons with parrots—hoping ,'to get verbal messages through." ,