The Daily News SATURDAY, MAY 2. BRITAIN'S MILITARY FORCES.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LI, Issue 112, 2 May 1908, Page 2

The Daily News SATURDAY, MAY 2. BRITAIN'S MILITARY FORCES.

J i iliu Loudon Daily I'-xpic.-.-. is to m believed, the ne»v UritMi army »difiu« is n failure. A'.ujrilinj; to it, instead ot 7., [ H . r cent. of Volunteers and 'JO I'fi' Kilt, of the 1 iii|ivri.i 1 Yeomanry enlisting. only lill per cent. Volunteers anil a few Yeomanry have enlisted ill tliu lerI'itorial army. It is well to rememlHir, however, tliiit the Express is a bitter opponent ol the (Joverniuent, and its 'prejudice might lie lellected in it» slal"nieiits. if tlic statements are true, it means that Britain will have to accept the only alternative, namely, conscription. At the time he unfolded his scheme, Jlr. Haldane made it plain that if l,i H plan for the reorganisation of the military forces failed the country must resort to conscription, repugnant as it was to the majority of Britishers. Under Mr. llaldane's proposals, the militia I was to disappear, as well as the volun . teers and yeomanry, lieing replaced by a territorial army, which was to be organised, at least on paper, into divisions ; and cavalry brigades, each with its proper complement of artillery and am- ! munition columns, mounted troops, en- ' "ineers, tiMiirsjiort, hospitals, ami al > "übsidiarv -crviocs. Tlie composition ol I the divisions was to lie as nearly as posIsible that of division* of the first line, or regular army. It was hoped that fourteen divisions (lorresponding with Hie number of recruiting districts) and

i fourteen cavalry brigades would evontu- ■ allv lie formed. Tile total strength ot ■ the territorial army, including garrison 8 artillery, would then lie about 3»0,000, lin-t the SIM.WWI of the existing auxi- * lion force.-. Tlie territorial army was intended to War a somewhat close re- ■ .semblance, to the National Ann) o France (the Cardes Mobiles), at the lime of the KrancO-Cennaii war. llie men were to lie trained entirely on volunteer lines; that is to say, there i was to be no period of continuous in- ■ st met ion for recruits, and the annual < training in camp \vsl„ to consist ol til- < teen davs as a maximum, and eight aa minimum. Other drills and nlle practice were to be carried out in the men > own time. In the event of the mobilisation of the regular field army being nocewiry the territorial army was to be at once enilioilicd, and would then un ilor'o a training of six months; after which it- was supposed that the territorial troops would be ready tor the Held. There is to be a fixed term of g service in the territorial army, and the 1 men are to receive pay when embodied H or undergoing training. The term ol It# „(.rvice is to.be four years, hut nidiH viduals mav resign on giving three S months' notice and paying a line ot U. B Tlie territorial army was placed umlei the War Ollice lor purposes of command and training, but its administration was "* vested in country associations, llttsc were to n>n>ist 'of prominent county ollicials ami local representatives, with commanding officers of territorial troops •uul it military elcnu'iit. Jt was calculated that the cost t torial armv would ilie only t...5h.1,4 ) . ; ,oainst C the anioiint expendcd last year on tin* prwiit auxiliary force's, Further savings are hoped for wli.-n the reductions in the regular fi.ries have 1 completed, and then full olivet i- fell.

THU.MAN bAMifinN Jul.!.. I |t>» urn t'l'in a i- man ■ hold mi I his lib' is tr.igi.-aily illuslratnl in Uie in tin' late Mr. Thomas Langdoii .Mil, «ho, enjoying the most robust IkmHli. ill the prime id hi- manhood and at tin' lieighi of success, stumbles in alighting from a Wellington Ira wear, and receive* injuries which in the course of a few days terminate fatally. By his deal It Tarinaki loses one of its most successtul self-made men and a sterling character. .Mr. .Toll was tree from that sellishness and sordidness which somehow or other associate themselves with so many of the men who achieve material success and advancement. lie was ever a fair-minded, sympathetic, generous-hearted man, devoid of .all pretence, and ever ready to help a fellow over a stile, llis career is a striking example of what determination, perseverance, and hard work, properly directed, can accomplish, lie started life from "scratch." and rose to the po-ition of being the biggest private butter anil clieesp maker in the Dominion. Eloquent testimony to liis worth and to the eontidenee reposed in him is the way in which the farmers of the Plains always -upper!ell him. an against supporting til,, co-operative factories ut establishing factories of their own in tho ilis Irict in which deceased enjoyed :t monopoly, llis hold over the larmeis of his district was amazing. They_ believed in him and trusted him implicitly. D.*pitc itie tact that strong rival concerns [tressed him at every turn, his operations expanded year by year, lie dewlojtcd into a veritable "butler king. ' Power —and he wielded a great deal of power in Southern Taranaki—in his bauds was not abu-eil. Whilst lie helped hini-elf. lie was not unmindful of the right- anil interests of others. A more con-iilerafe man (here was not in the district. His untimely end will come as a great blow to bis many friends in Taranaki. and particularly to the people of the district where bis interests were centred anil to the development of which lie l>:id contributed so much. To his wile and relation- we extend our eon-dol-lec.

,in niK Korirni i'.u:n. OimuieJvial. ( liiirrii Service*. Ciit't"Ji County Council. Wellington Mayoralty.