NOTES AND COMMENTS.

New Zealand Herald, Volume XXXVII, Issue 11433, 25 July 1900, Page 4

NOTES AND COMMENTS.

Tire whole nation (says the London Daily Mail) has smarted with indignation at many of the facts revealed to it by tho stern test of war. It now knows that the army was not properly trained; that, as Lord Wolseley has confessed, the British War Office will not venture to impose upon the soldier manoeuvres by which ho is likely to profit, because hard work would discourage recruiting ; that, consequently, a slack, haphazard style of field day at Aldershot was tolerated, the fruits of which wo have reaped in bitter sorrow at Modeler River, at Colenso, and at Sauna's Post; that somo one at tho .War Office was so unintelligent as to suppose that we could discomfort the Boers, mounted to a man, by the employment of foot soldiers with next to no cavalry, whence the now classic despatch to the colonies at the outset of the war, " unmounted mon preferred;" that our scientific artillerists were so behind the times as to send our army into the field with useless muzzle-loading mountain guns and without a single long-range-weapon of position; that our artillery,was and is now numerically inadequate, besides being •inferior in quality to that of the enemy. All these things tho public will remember. -The time will 'come after the war when wo shail ; h#Ye to jmk%-M\ PM-fit ill? grsen& iiMtftj

able system, which lias evolved chaos and defeat, and call upon Lord Roberts and Lord Kitchener, with the support of the whole nation, to give us the,. Wot: Office, and .the army that wo need. A typical instance of •War'; Office- methods has been supplied :us in the last few } hours. ■;;;.The-; organisation which is afraid . to , enforce: hard } work in manoeuvres,: for fear of discouraging recruiting, is yet capable of allowing British soldiers' lives to be sacrificed to no useful purpose on a field day, because it has neglected to provide the men with proper head-, dress. No condemnation can be too strong for the conduct of those who are responsible for the deplorable affair at-'Aldersiot; when in a broiling sun thousands of men were pub through manoeuvres in foragecaps..;. As the result of this five men are dead, hundreds are in hospital, and hundreds more have" suffered grievously. Such is the price which we have to pay for tho negation of responsibility and common sense in our military system. ' '

Tho successful man (remarks'tho Westminster Gazette): has always enemies, and Lord Kitchener is" very far from being an exception to this rule, but in the present case the snarls and snaps of the captious critics need in no way concern him. It is no secret that Lord Roberts' rapid movements, which have done as much as anything to disconcert tho plans of our enemies, could not possibly have been executed but for the laborious care with which Lord Kitchener supervised every detail of the transport arrangements. It is absurd to blame Lord Kitchener when accidents happen through the failure of one of the general officers or his subordinates to correctly estimate the danger to which his section is exposed, and the correct method of meeting it. Lord Kitchener has been so often of late in men's mouths as the man to whom the task of reorganisation of the War Office should be entrusted, that it is quite easy to understand that may people are only too glad to take every chance of striking a blow at him. .

Engineering says that the Japanese mercantile marine is continuously growing, both in the number of vessels and in tonnage. The latest published statistics show that there* aro 723 Japanese registered steamers with a tonnage of 489,371 tons; and, in addition, 2556 sailing ships, large and small, with a tonnage of 256,896 tons. The leading Japanese steamship companies continue to show great energy and enterprise. The Nippon Yusen Kaisha has extended its services to North China, a field of commerce which is more and more attracting the attention of Japanese traders. In January, 1900, the company instituted a new direct service between Nagasaki and Hongkong. The s.s. Awa Maru, a vessel of 6309 tons burden, built in Nagasaki, was constructed in a shorter period, and at less, cost, than a similar steamer launched from the same yard in 1898. Two more vessels of equal tonnage are shortly to be commenced at the same place. The company enjoys a subsidy from the Government, and this enabled a dividend of 9£ per cent, for the past year. The lines to Europe, India, Australia, and America-, are in good working order, and command a large share of the trade. The Osaka Shosen Kaisha, which pays 8£ per cent, per annum, is expanding its business, and is reported to have under contemplation the raising of further capital, and the addition of a number of steamers to its present fleet. The number of vessels which it is proposed to construct are, it is said, 15 small and 17 large ones, with a tonnage of about 35,000 tons.

Th'e experience of the famous Krupp, of Essen, affords a remarkable illustration of the progress of European mechanical industry during the last 85 years. The Napoleonic wars which devastated the Continent for nearly a quarter of a century were brought to a close in 1815; and since then Western Europe has enjoyed almost unbroken peace, with the exception of the terrible episode of the Franco-German war of 1870-1. The result has been that mechanical and metallurgical industry has made astonishing strides. Krupp, of Essen, set to work in 1832 with a small foundry, employing nine men. In January this year the pay rolls of tho company, into which Krupp has long since blossomed, showed that 41,750 persons were employed by it, of whom 25,000 were at work in Essen. Tho Krupp works consumed in 1895 more than 1,000,000 tons of coal and coke, and the consumption has gone on increasing year by year. The quantity of water and gas consumed by the company is larger than that of tho whole city of Dresden, although Dresden comprises 340,000 inhabitants. The Krupp works have 3000 tools and machinesdriven by 458 steam engines, making up an aggregate force of 36,650 horse-power. No less than 50 miles of railway are laid down in the Krupp works, and upon this mileage 36 locomotives aro employed, whilo the averago number of trucks upon tho line is 1300. The Krupp Company owes these marvellous results not only to the security of a prolonged peace, but also to the accumulation of German capital and the increase of German population. German labour and German capital have not only multiplied at home, but have overflowed into all the leading countries of the world; and as German commercial and social relations have been extended, the great Krupp business has grown also. The Krupp works must at the same time have been directed with remarkable intelligence. No doubt tho surrounding conditions have gradually become increasingly favourable, but Krupp and his associates are entitled to the credit of having turned theso condtions to the utmost possible account.

Our latest news from China states that the Emperor of China has requested the intervention of America. This would imply that he has regained his liberty, and is acting independently of tho EmpressRegent. The Japanese press condoles with tho Emperor, and promises its friendly offices if the rebellion is strongly repressed. Tho Chinese, officials still adhere to their statement that the Legations in Pekin were safe on the. 18th, but a Chinaman, writing from the capital the day after, reports that the massacre took place on July 12. Li Hung Chang was coldly received at Shanghai, the Consuls refusing to visit him officially. A report from Russian sources states that the British at WeUhai-wei defeated the Chinese,, capturing two hundred rifles. An attack by the Boers on the railway north of Honingspruit, in the Orange River Colony, was successful, the lino and telegraph lines being destroyed. They, also captured a supply train and a hundred Highlanders. De Wet's commando lias been defeated by General Broadwood, but details are not to hand. Five of tho .West Australians were killed.