Sixty Yers of the Record Reign.

Oamaru Mail, Volume XXII, Issue 6870, 21 April 1897, Page 4

Sixty Yers of the Record Reign.

AN EPOCH OF EMPIRE-MAKING Sir Richard Temple, Bart., in Sydney [Morning Herald.] VL IMPERIAL DEFENCE. The present state of the forces of the British Empire on land may be set forth thus: —Regular forces (home and colonial), 156. JOO ; army reserve, 85,000; militia, 122.000 ; yeomanry, 11,000 ; volunteers, 232,000; European forces in India, 77,000. Total, 683,000, The native army of India numbers 145,000 men. The Native Indian States have 20,000 men specially organised for Imperial service. They have nominally large forces, out of which one-third may be taken as effective, for at least home service, in the British sense of the term —quite 100,000 men. To all this must be added the colonial militia or volunteer forces embodied and trained :—The Canadian Domain, 34.000 men ; Jamaica, 2000 ; Cape Colony, 7000 ; New South Wales, 6000 ; New Zealand, 8000 ; Queensland, 3000 ; South Australia, 2000 ; Victoria, 5000. Total, 67,000 men. This, added to the previous figures, brings up the total to 1,015,000. Inasmuch as in a widely-scattered dominion some items will escape enumeration, the sum total may be stated at about a million of men. This represents a peace establishment consisting of men either under arms actually or ready to be placed under arms at the shortest notice. It comprises Europeans, 683,000 plus 65,000, or 760.000 men of the white race, and 265,000 men of the colored races ; threequarters, therefore, being of the white race, which thus has absolutely the numerical predominance. The cost of the army in the United Kingdom, exclusive of India, amounts to 21 millions sterling annually. This peace establishment of about a million of men, though large enough to be compared, will be found to be le:-s than that of some others of the great military Powers. Nevertheless, it possesses two striking and valuable characteristics not to be found in any of them. In the first place, in the absence of any conscription, it is maintained entirely by voluntary enlistment. No such system is known in any of the armies of Europe, and only to a limited extent in the army of the United States. Nor could any other Power except the British keep up such a number of men as a million without conscription. This cardinal fact proves a remarkable willingness in the British race for military service. In the white or European portion of the regular forces the service is for a short term of years. But in the colored portion of the forces the service is undertaken for the whole active time of life, with anticipation of pension at the end.

Ia the second place, 114,000 men, soldiers belonging to the British Isles—irrespectiva of the colonies—are servingbeyond the seas, generally several thousands miles away from home : that is, 77.000 men in India and 37,000 in the colonies and E_«ypt. This represents a military effort continuously put forth which is not equalled by any modern Power e-xcept under a system of voluntary enlistment and which demands enormous resources for maritime transport. Such being the present number at the end of the reign, the question arises as to what were the numbers at its beginning. In the first place, the army reserve and the volunteers did not exist in 1837. The European forces in India were only 36,000 men. The native army under the British Government was larger then than now ; instead of the 145,000 of the present time, it stood at 2 IS,OOO. But then the forces of the Native States, are not now reckoned as available at all for the British Government. The colonial forces, now 07,000 men, were not then in existence. The census for IS4I for the British Isles showed the number of 130,000 men in military service ; but another account gives the regular army of 102,000 in 1831. The yeomanry stood at 10,000 in number. The 'militia was at a somewhat low ebb ; some years later it was stated at 25,000 men. Thus the figures may be aproximately set down as below : —Regular army, 110,000 men ; European forces in India, 36,000 ; native Indian 218,000 ; militia and yeomanry, Total, 399,000. Consequently it may be tusic the Imperial forces on land have been more than doubled during the reign. Alterations have taken place during the reign in most branches of military administration. The old term of service—a comparatively long one—had been given up, and a much more limited term, called the short service, lias been arranged, with the condition that, after leaving the colors, the men shall belong to the reserve. The numerical growth of this reserve has been already stated. It will furnish the best pessible material for reinforcing the army whenever military operations are undertaken. On more than one occasion the j men have answered well to the call to rejoin the standards. The arrangement is believed to have helped to render recruitingpopnlar atatimewhenmore thanoo,ooo were recruited yearly. The old system of purchase in the army has been abolished, and admission to the Military Colleges of Woolwich and Sandhurst for entrance to the army is by competitive examination. The number of candidates for these examinations i 3 remarkably large. Tho_ organisation of the regular and the auxiliary forces in combination for the defence of the country against invasion has been matured. The principle of engaging the horses of private persons for military service under certain conditions has been established, and the number of horses thus engaged is from 14,000 to 15,000, a valuable adjunct to our resources. The present strength of the forces of tho British Empire at sea may be set forth thusßattleships, 42 : port defence ships, 23 ; first-class cruisers, 4S ; secondclass cruisers, 56—total armoured or protected, 169. Sloops, gunboats, and others, 181. Grand total, 350. The torpedo craft are in number 151.

There are 10 cattleships of the firstclass building—a matter of prime importance —besides 22 cruisers. Further there are 11 merchant steamers subsidised by the British Admiralty reserved cruisers, besides many others which are held for disposition, and marked for preferential.employment, without subvention. Of the war vessels in commission nearly one-half would at any given time be on foreign service, often at great distances from Home, as those on the Indian Ocean, on the China station, in Australian waters, in the Pacific Ocean. The present number of officers, seamen, and marines is 94,000. The cost of thb, the most powerful navy ever sent forth by Britian or any other country, amounts to 22 millions sterling annually, or nearly one-quarter of the whole expenditure of the State. There are in these times such immense differences la the quality of war vessels and in the calibre of their armament that numbers by themselves can give but a faint idea of naval power. Similar totals, given on the same conditions as those by which the British force has been set forth will stand as below :—France and Russia together : Battleships, 52 ; port defence vessels, 33; first-class cruisers, 34 ; secondcruisers, 39—total armoured, 158. Sloops and gunboats, 169. Grand total, 327. Torpedo craft, 218. j Besides the quality and speed of war' vessels and the calibre of the guns, very ; much must depend on the scientific edu- j cation of the men—much also on prac- j tice in the manoeuvring and handling of ! the vessels in the open ocean. In this j particular practice, apart from all other \ considerations, a superiority may be'

claimed for those who command, navigate, and man the British ironclads. Among the naval events of the reign has been the foundation of an Australian navy. Sydney, in New South Wales, is the headquarters of the British squadron in Australian waters, with 14 war vessels. But, further, by the Australasian Naval Force Act of 1887, five first-class cruisers and two torpedo gunboats were equipped for service there on condition that they should not be removed in case of war. An agreement was made for a term of years providing for the vessels being built by the British Government, and stipulating that those of the Australian colonies who were parties to the agreement should pay 5 per cent of the original cost and all costs of maintenance. The sums paid on this account by New South Wales, Victoria, Queensland, and South Australia amounted in all to L90 ; 000. Much attention during the reign has been given to the defence of the military ports at Portsmouth, Devonport. Chatham and elsewhere. The fortification and other defensive arrangements of Portsmouth in particular have been on a suitably large scale. But in this branch of Imperial defence it is generally thought that very much yet remains to be done. The mighty changes in the navy, amounting to entire transformation —the substitution of steam for sailing power the use of screw propellers, the armourplating, the guns of colossal calibre—are all among the works of the present reign. Owing to these changes no sort of comparison can be made between the strength of the navy at the beginning of the reign and at the present time. The number of ships then was about 300 sailing vessels ; Britain was still defended by those wooden walls which had been illustrious in many wars. The cost of the naval administration did not exceed six millions sterling annually. The revolution in the armament since then can best be understood by the fact that the number of guns was not less than 16,000, whereas in the present day, with an infinitely more powerful fleet, the number of guns will hardly exceed 2000. -

The provision of coaling stations has been a noteworthy feature in the naval administration of the reign. All the war vessels have power of sail as well as of steam ; and although the utmost economy is exercised in using coal for steam purposes, still such power has frequently to be used at most times, and in time of war might have to be used always. But as the space on board ship for storing coal is limited, and as the sea distances between the various parts of the Empire are vast, the means of replenishing the coal supply becomes a matter of the gravest consideration in the event of maritime warfare. Hence the absolute, need of coaling stations placed at suitable positions in the several quarters of the world, and duly fortified. Some public anxiety was excited in regard to this some years ago. Since then vigorous efforts have been put forth, and the arrangement of coaling stations is now virtually complete. Some allusion has been made to them in the foregoing article on the Crown colonies. Ifc will be well to specify them more exactly here. They are : Gibraltar and Malta, for the Mediterranean : Aden, for the Red Sea ; Colombo (Ceylon), for equatorial waters; Singapore (Straits Settlements), for the approach to China ; Hongkong, for the China Seas ; Thursday Island, between Australia and ISlew Guinea ; Sydney, for Australian waters ; St. George's Island, in the south-west corner of Australia : Mauritius, between Australia and South Africa ; Simon's Bay, for the Cape of Good Hope ; Sierra Leone, for the West Coast of Africa ; St. Lucia, for the West Indies ; Halifax, for the North Atlantic ; Eiquimault, near Vancouver, for the Pacific Ocean. A consideration of the world's chart would show that these stations from a girdle of posts almost in a circle round the world. From point to point on the zone they are dotted, with fortifications, with guns of great calibre, with suitable garrisons, and with adequate supplies of coal. Each point, too, has a strategic importance in a military and maritime sense, with a commanding influence also y Ver trade routes. Some of, >-&§-' posts are among the most important politically on the G r |± e earth; the Cape of Good Hope and Gibraltar are the most interesting stategically, but there is not one of them without some strategic value peculiar to itself. The cost of the army and navy (exclusive of India) amounted at the beginning of the reign to 14 millions sterling annually, when the national earnings were estimated at 350 millions sterling annually. It rose to 28 millions in 1881, by which time the national earnings had risen to 1250 millions sterling annually. It now stands at 43 millions, while the national earnings are reckoned at over 1400 millions. Thus within the last 15 years the British nation has had to spend for Imperial defence a larger proportion than previously of their earnings. The growth of commerce and shipping, however, has exceeded even the growth of expenditure for the forces on land and sea. The disproportion between even the mighty fleet of to-day and the trade it has to defend appears to be extraordinary as compared with the armaments maintained by the Great Powers of Europe in relation to the extent of their commerce.