THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1900. BRITISH ARMY REFORM.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 13207, 14 February 1905, Page 4

THE OTAGO DAILY TIMES TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 14, 1900. BRITISH ARMY REFORM.

The question of army reform has been very much beforfe the British public since the report of the Royal Commission set up to inquire into the' conduct of the war in South Africa- heaped ignominy and discredit on the War Office and our military system. The stern necessities of the situation have compelled the Home Government to wield the besom of reform with unwonted vigour, arid that instrument- in the hands of Mr Arnold-Forster, the present Secretary of War, seems to be doing exceedingly useful work. The public, however, has a remarkably short •iicmory, and although apt to clamour • ery loudly over the fruit of maladministration, soon losefe iutc-rest in the practical 'details of necessary reforms, and once a grievance has been ventilated the mass of the people frequently become indifferent to t-ho means adopted to amend matters. It is therefore distinctly interesting to note that just at a period when there might otherwise be a danger of a relaxation of'the Government's zeal lor modernising and improving the efficiency of the army Lord Roberts has presented such a striking review of the British army from the Crimean epoch to the present time as cannot fail to harden up the apparent determination of the Imperial authorities to bring their military system as nearly up to date as it is possible to have it. The appeal for with which Lord Roberts concludes his article, con.-

tained ifl the' January number of the ■Nineteenth Century, recalls the despairing efforts of the great Duko of Wellington, in, 1847 to awaken the attention of the Government to the defenceless state of the country'. At that-time,".however, Great Britain had eiijoyed over 30 years of almost uninterrupted peace, and it was simply -impossible to excite public interest in the question. Mr Cobden, speaking at Manchester, politely declared that the Duke of Wellington was in his dotage, and scant courtesy was paid to the. timely warnings of the hero of Waterloo. But the bitter experiences of South Africa are sufficiently recent and have burned so deeply into the public mind that Lord Eoberts ' will obtain a wide and sympathetic hearing where the words of the Iron Duke fell on deaf ears. Lord Eoberts contrasts the old army of the fifties, when the .military efficiency of the unit was judged by the precision of its movements and the smartness of its turnout, with the modem army, which must be utilitarian down to the last button on its gaiter, and capable of thinking and acting for itself when the exigencies of war require it. Such a- wide gulf separates the conditions of the army which fought in. «the Crimea, with those of the troops that entered Pretoria in 1901 that a considerable mental effort is necessary to realise the contrast. There is little to connect the Light' Brigade with any mounted troops employed in the Boer war, apart from the native gallantry of the soldier, which no doubt remains' unimpaired. Nor had the infantry, which earned the " Brown Bess" and performed great feats of valour and endurance in a brilliant but uncomfortable uniform much similarity to the khaki-clad men who learned in Africa to obscure themselves behind an anthill and to look for the enemy, without betraying their presence, along the barrel of a weapon which was effective at a couple of thousand yards. The long peace which preceded the Crimean war lulled the country into such a feeling of security that" the army was allowod to degenerate into a condition of inefficiency which would now be almost inconceivable. The extraordinary conservatism of the naval and military authorities, even after the Crimean war, is 'shown by the fact that the breech-loading Armstrong gun was actually adopted in 1858 and then discarded in 1864 in favour of a muzzle-loading gun. It was not until 1878 that the Elswick Company was able to convince the Government of the- necessity of returning to the breech-loading gun, and the tardiness lately displayed by the authorities in modernising the artillery in the service is therefore quite in accordance with precedent. But while the retrospective portion of Lord Eoberts's article is decidedly interesting, it is his remarks on the requirements of the future that deserve the closest study. "Owing to the introduction of rifled arms and smokeless powder," says Lord Eoberts, " war is daily becoming more and more scientific, and a far higher standard of individual intelligence is demanded of both officers and men. . . . One has only to compare the conditions under which Waterlob was fought to realise the change. At Waterloo 140,000 men with 396 guns fought all day over an area of about three miles-in length to one mile and a-half in depth. . . . Except, for a short time Napoleon and Wellington were never more than a mile apart. It was possible for both commanders to have complete control over the whole of the troops from first to last." The expsrience of South Africa, wliicli produced engagements over a front extending sometimes for 20 miles, showed how a combat might be protracted through the impossibility of the infantry' being able to come rapidly to close quarters with the enemy, and' it often happened that before reports could be received from distant parts of the- field momentous changes occurred in the tactical situation. Among the conclusions drawn by Lord Koberts from his South African experience is that of the mclispensability of a far larger proportion of mount-eel troops than has .hitherto been considered necessary. In future warfare more important duties than ever will devolve upon the cavalry of .an army, which will bo fully employed in scouting, reconnaissance, screening the movements of the main body, etc., and nothing should be allowed to interfere with its mobility. Discussing the question of the improvement of the status of the cavalry arm, Lord Roberts candidly declares that if the best men are to be secured the pay of its officers must be increased to enable those possessed of more brains than money to make a career for themselves. Good horsemanship and an unerring eye for country can only be acquired by constant practice, and for this reason polo and hunting are very desirable pursuits for a cavalr. - officer. In addition to an adequate force of cavalry, Lord Roberts asks for a mounted infantry force of a strength not less than one-fourth of the infantry establishment. The men composing this force, in his opinion, should bo infantry pure and simple, trained annually under their own officers at the mounted infantry schools. Naturally Lord Koberts emphasises very strongly the necessity for greater intelligence, selfreliance, and power of leading on the part of officers than were required in the days of short ranges and close formations. This also leads to the question of a large reserve of officers, for, while a soldier may be fitted for active service with comparatively short training, officers cannot be improvised, and without an adequate supply of welUtrained officers the army cannot be efficient. There is a deep significance to be attached to Lord Eoberts's words on tho question of training. . He says: "Dogged courage and fearless leadership are as essential to victory as of yore, but individual bravery must be coupled with individual intelligence in the soldier; while the officer must add to dash and the self-sacrificing courage and power of command inherent in him the thoroughness of ;i well-trained professional in military science. A terrible lesson awaits the nation .whose .soldiers find them-

e I selves opposed to equally braye bub i. better-trained opponents on the field f of battle." While opposing comr, pulsoiy military service in the sense a of conscription or a. modified form ' 5 of conscription, Lord Roberts sum? j up his views on universa.l military* t training by contending that the State s should require every able-bodied man 3 to undergo sufficient military training in his youth to enable him to , shoot straight and carry out simple . orders if ever his services are required t for the national defence. After all, , such a systen/ of training is the , mildest system of national insurance i we should be content with, and it 1 might easily stand between .the . Empire and disaster in the hour of 1 need.