THE BRITISH ARMY.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXXIV, Issue 1006, 13 February 1912, Page 4

THE BRITISH ARMY.

In a letter to The Times, on December 18th, Lord Roberts said : I have no hesitation in saying that, in man}’ 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 our men will be at a disadvantage. The point-blank range of the French and German rifle is 800 yards, that of the British rifle at the highest is 600 yards. The equipment of our artillery is scarcely more satisfactory. Our fuse and fuse-setters are not up-to-date, with the result that our gun is not an automatic firing gun. Again, iu aviation we are behind other nations. This science is in its infancy, but it has already proved of the utmost service in detecting the movements of an enemy, and thus 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 spend this next year one and a half millions sterling on aviation alone. In England there are only four aeroplanes tit to take the field. The Array Council has not even entrusted this most important military subject to the General Staff, and Lord Haldane and his associates assure 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 or an aeroplane. This assuredly is 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. The idea is absurd ; it is of a piece 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 I find it difficult to write temperately. Under the conditions of modern warfare two things are essential for a soldier. He must have discipline and he must be able to shoot with precision, whether with rifle or cannon. How is the ordinary citizen to acquire either this discipline or this skill from a few afternoons iu a drill-hall and a fortnight at the outside in camp once a year ? The thing is impossible ; the absurdity is so glaring that it is difficult for any man who_ cares for the safety and honour of this nation and Empire to write of it with patience.