THE ARMY ESTIMATES.

Otago Witness, Issue 2719, 25 April 1906, Page 14

THE ARMY ESTIMATES.

(Per Sierra, at AucL'and.)

A despatch from London on March 8 wys:—On introducing'the Army Estimates, I ''amounting to nearly £30,000.000, in the > House of Commons to-day, the Secretary j for War (Mr Haldane) announced that j tho Liberals did not desire to destroy the j army, but required greater efficiency at less expenditure. The Government had accepted j what he denominated the "blue watar | principle"—nariiely, that the navy at its present strength wa« capable of defending Britain from invasion, and though a strong navy was a costly thing it was useful, as it made it possible to cut off much of what would otherwise he necessary army expenditure. In pursuance of this policy of dependence on the navy it was decided that the ammunition stores constructed for the defence of London were unnecessary and would at once be rooted up and some 3CO guns mounted at various points, .for the defence of the coast would be ewept awhy. The troop? at "Wei-hai-wei (China) would "■ be withdrawn, and some of the colonial garrisons would be reduced. These chaus's did not involve an enormou6 sum, but would mark the beginninsr of economy. """-e JBritish army required for over-sea purposes must be of high quality, not to be obtained j by conseripf ion, and should be 6triefly j limited in dimensions. The size of *he . aimy depended chiefly on the Government's policy, and Mr Haldane wished that the nations would consider togther whether a ' reduction could not be made in the anna- j ihenf'burden, which was pressing on every j civilised nation. The Minister for War said I he- thought that the north-west frontier of ] China was no longer endan^pred and later he pointed out that Great Britain wa*s not j alone in spending enormous sums for the | army. He instanced Germany, and France, ; and added, " the United States is a veiy I efficient nation, and confines itself to an army of 60.000 men, hut neverthete&a that army costs close on 115 million dolian-." "Great Britain," he added, "will ntv?r be able to reduce her striking foroe wrho'.it providing some power of expansion behind it at home." He suggested a 6 a possible device the system of dividing training into two parts, on« being preliminary and elastic, and giving the men the elements of military training, the other to lie reserved for the period following the outbreak of hostilities, and to be devored to more severe training. But all training must be voluntary, as anything like conscription would defeat its merits. *. LEGISLATION FOR IRELAND. A London message, dated March 27, states that it has been practically determined not to attempt to introduce a larger programme for Irish legislation during the present session of Parliament, but it is

expected that the Government will introduce legislation for Ireland early in next eeesion. Sir Anthony Patrick M'Donneil, Under-Secretary to the Lord Lieutenant of Ireland, who obtained fame last year owing to his advocacy of the so-called "devolution " plan is engaged in formulating a reform scheme. The -features of the plan are closely guarded with the Ministry, and it is expected that months will elapse* before ministers will engage in an informal conference on tha subject with the Irish Nationalists.