Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 1909 THE MODERN BRITISH ARMY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XLIII, Issue XLIII, 16 April 1909, Page 2

Nelson Evening Mail FRIDAY, APRIL 16, 1909 THE MODERN BRITISH ARMY

summary of the position is that recruit- ao ing for, the regulars probably ia better c< than in any previous equal period of ai peace-time; that for the special reserve « (roughly equivalent to the old militia) g' it has been much larger and of better p: type than for the superseded force, ° while the- recruits are reported to in- « elude many who would not have enlisted under old conditions ; and that tho Territorial or volunteer force, undergoing what tho Minister called a boom, shows a total of over 240,000 out of a projected establishment of about 313,000. Of noncommissioned officers and men, the forces a showed at the end of February, 75.7, j and of officers 78.2 per cent. v • ■ • • • ' The keynote of British Army reform sine? the Boer war has been "modernism." flow necessary that reform has * been was amply demonstrated by the earlier experiences of the troops in South Africa during the encounters with the Boers, and subsequent realisation, the 1 outcome of careful investigation, in- i duced Mr Haldane to declare recently ( that owing to the weakness of the ( auxiliary forces the nation "was never , nearer to thinking seriously of compulsory service." But he offset his ctatementbya reassuring optimism, and said that tho nation had shown that it "wnp perfectly capable of taking rain of itself under a voluntary system," pnd had «ptal)li."h«d a bulwark between the country and compulsion far stronger than any bulwark that touted before." At tho same time, it is beyond denial that defects in the Imperial war organisation, disclosed by tho Farwell Commission — lack of •efficient supply and transport, and absolute absence of finance — have kept the Army Council busy for two years developing a new scheme. The lesson that has been learned and is now being applied in England is that great numbers alono are a hindrance rather than a help ; that efficiency consists in a sufficient force well trained, well armed, and well equipped. In th<" or ganising and shaping of that force- old traditions have had to be abandoned, old difficulties combated, and new methods installed. • ♦ • • • Further reform in both Army arm Navy is being directed towards improvements in tho hygiene of soldiers,' and sailors' accommodation and environ, ment, in educating them out of and auovo many of the habits and traditions that have debased them in the past, and in furnishing entertainment and recreation which shall elevate instead of degrade, and give variety to leisure hours calculated to make the lives of the rank and file as pleasant and as comfortable as may be. A committee is sitting now to ''investigate the physiological effects of food, training, and clothing upon the soldier," and exhaustive inquiry is being made as to tho ■■•i -ntific composition of tho nw.V rations." and the best times of d.iy, and the best periods of r<--*t, for man-hint;, "*o as to get the most work out r.f the men with the. least discomfort." The army schoolmaster — "an official I have come {o appreciate more and more as I know the inside working of the machinery," said Mr Haldane — is abroad. Thirteen and a-half per cent of the recruits can scarcely read Tind write, and the schoolmaster remedy for this is seen working in the fact that last year 32.000 foldiers obtained certificates of education, fought only by those who previously could not have secured them. V • • • • Another important change in qualification* of a recruit for tho army is that the mere fact of a youth having bad teeth i.= now no hindrance to enrolment, while for th? cavalry it i« not necessary that the recruit should know something of horses before enlistment With regard to the former matter, one is reminded of the rejection of a stalwart New South Wales volunteer for tho South African Contingent because he had not a perfect set of teeth. His quaint protest sums up thp situation as it ha 3 existed for years, depriving British arms of hundreds of suitable «i---"tmentfi. When turning away disappointed ho said, "I want to fight the Boers ; not to eat them." At a. cost nf 6s 8d each, British recruits latterly have liad their mouths inspected and dental defects rectified, and by that m"an.« capable soldiers who under former '■"no'itions would have been ffobnrred have Eeen secured for the Army. Then, with regard to horsemanship, it is curious that under modern conditions of enlistment most of tho British Artillery garrisons appear to haw been drawn from fishermen, who, Mr Haldane said. r 'had an invincible obejetion to mounting a horse." The difficulty for the Cavalry arm remains to some extent, for there are in Britain many thousands of young fellows who have never been on a horse, or very near one. But it is being found that all obstacles can be surmounted by systematic training after enlistment. Meantime, the old anxiety regarding scarcity of horses is altogether j set aside by tho circumstances that motor traction for army purposes is now an accomplished fact. Summing up the conditions and trend of British Army reform, it may be said that broadly the British defence plan is that of a ''striking or expeditionary foree — a regular centre with voluntary arms radiating out of it but ready, under a gradually perfecting system, to be amlagamated " with it on the linking system." Should the present idea be put into practice, and visible resources be drawn upon, the nation will be capable of providing 23 army corps. "A sufficient hom^ defence force to moke impossible invasion on a large scale, is the foundation, of British strategy." said Mr Haldane. In pursuance of that ideal not only are the various forces — regulars, reserves, and territorials — being rated and equipped with every fitting convenience that ingenuity and investigation can suggest . but complete plans of homo defence have been worked out, under which "every hundred yards of the coast of these islands" have undergone military survey and territorial units been allotted to defence according. I} '

THE OUTCOME OF RECENT REFORMS. IT was announced in a recent cablegram that the British War Office had arranged for the use of 2000 taxi-cabs for the transport of soldiers "in case of invasion." The information typifies the policy of activity that has marked the- ' Army administration by Mr Haldane, > and -which has be?n reinforced by the ' public enthusiasm of the past two or 1 three months. But there are at work forces quite apart from naval rivalry or 1 popular disquietude tending towards the i strengthening of the British Army. One < important factor was indicated by the ] (5-crrtary for War when he said in the > course of a notable, speech in the House 1 of Commons on the Army Estimate* last • month :— "There is no doubt that the army is becoming a much more popular ' occupation than it- was some time ago, ♦ ajid I trust that wine of the reasons i that made it- unpopular have beeneffec- ' tively extirpated." At any rate, tho I <