ARMY AND NAVY.

Evening Post, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 25, 30 January 1912, Page 7

ARMY AND NAVY.

LORD BERESFORD & ADMIRALTY POLICY. SERIES OF DISASTROUS MISTAKES. By Telegraph.— Frees Association.— Copyright. LONDON, 29th January. Lord Charles Beresford has issued a pamphlet entitled "The Betrayal," publication of which Was suspended last autumn. He states that the whole of the Admiralty's policy from 1902 to 1911 wae a series of disastrous mistake*. -The personnel of the Navy had been starved, the efficiency of the training impaired, and coaling and repairing stations ill the overseas Dominions dismantled. The present condition of the trade routes was & national danger. In 1903, Lord Beresford states, there were sixty small cruisers on foreign stations; now there were twenty-three, and this, despite Ahe fact that privateering, winch was abolished under the Declaration of Paris, had been insidiously revived, by the peace conference of 1907. Sea-borne trade was now open to sudden, secretly organised attacks conducted by merchant vessels which a few hours previously might be sheltering in neutral harbours as non-combatants, and a few hours later may repair in the same harbours and take in supplies before embarking on fresh adventures. It . was often forgotten that heavy armoured ships depend for their utility upon complementary unite. Lord Charles adds that a war staff is essential for the proper organisation of the fleet. AEMY'S "OBSOLETE WEAPONS." LOED HALDANE IN DEFENCE. LONDON, 2sth January. Lord Haldane, Secretary of State for War, spoke at Gateshead, in Durham, in reply to Mr. Bonar Law's Albert Hall address. He said the Litter's references to "obsolete weapons" in the Array were due to . a casual reference made by Lord Roberts, who had no opportunity of studying at close quarters the new howitzer, which was the finest in the world. The latest British field gun, alao, was the best .in use, oxceptjng the French gun. The Territorial field gun was slightly heavier, but for most purposes an good as the German regular field gun. > Lord Haldane expressed the^ hope that the new British infantry rifie would prove the best in. the world. The supply of Horses for the Army had been greatly increased, and the War Olfice W£g introducing changes in the transport facilities, by the adoption of mechanical means. In The Times of 18& December appeared a lengthy letter frOm Lord Boberts, headed " Unreadiness for War,*' ia which the Field Marshal said :—: — "What is the condition of even our regular army? I have no- hesitation in saying that, in many most important respects, the regular army is not fitted for war. Our rifle is very inferior to the rifle with which the French and German Troops are armed. It is proposed to provide a new bullet for it, but even with that bullet onr men will be at a disadvantage. The point-blank range of the French and German rifles is 800 yards, that of the British rifle at the highest is 600 yards. The equipment of our artillery is acarcely more satisfactory. Our fuse and fuse-setters are not up to date; our sights are not up to date; 1 , with the result that our gum is not an automatic firing gun. Again, in aviation we are behind other nations. That science is in its infancy, but it has already proved of the utmost service in detecting the movements of an enemy, and thus in eliminating to a great extent in military operations that uncertainty which we are accustomed to call •the fog of war.* France and Germany have recognised the supreme importance of the command of, the air. The former already possesses a fleet of 200 aeroplanes. Germany proposes to 3 rand this next year one and a-half milons on aviation alone. In England there are only four aeroplanes fit to take the field. The Army Council has> not even entrusted this most important military subject to the General Staff, and Lord Haldane and his associates a&ure us suavely that if we wait we shall profit by the success, or failure of others, and eventually obtain information as to the best design for a dirigible of on aeroplane. This assuredly b not the line of policy for a country famous beyond all others for its invention and enterprise, whether in peace or war. We may wait, but war will not wait. Thb idea is absurd : it is of a pieoe with that other unaccountable idea of the Secretary of State for War — that it will be time enough to begin serious training when war has been declared! "This brings me to the Territorial Force itself, and upon that subject I confess 1 find it difficult io write temperately. Under the conditions of modern warfare two things are essential for » soldier. He must have discipline, and he must be able to shoot with precision, whether with rifle or cannon. How & the ordinary citizen to acquire either this discipline or this skill from a few afternoons in a. drill-hall and a fortnight at the outside hi camp Once a year? The thing is impossible; th« absurdity is so glaring that it is difficult -for any man who cares for tho safety and honour of this nation and Empire to write of it wath patience."