THE BRITISH SOLD ER.

Timaru Herald, Volume XIIC, Issue 14058, 16 November 1909, Page 3

THE BRITISH SOLD ER.

AN APPRECIATION. (From tho "Spectator.") At home the great manoeuvres in "Wiltshire, Berkshire, and Oxfordshire, in which no less than fifty thousand men have been engaged, have t'ocussed attention upon our soldiers. A mast striking testimony to their value as citizens, is to be" found in the letters which Mr Robert Blatchford, the Socialist, is contributing to the "Daily Mail." Mr Blatchford has just come back from the German Army manoeuvres, but he finds that the British infantry soldier lias nothing to fear in comparison with the German, except in tho matter of numbers. Itis very satisfactory to find Mr.Blatehford, "in spite of his Socialistic views —views which often tend to make their holders pessimistic as to existing conditions—declaring that our soldiers are so well trained and bear so good a character. As his own Army experiences (he was once a soldier) were thirty years old, he did not know beforehand that our men were sober and intelligent and took a pride in their work. He had only deduced that from their bearing and appearance. He found, however, his deductions backed by a military friend of his, who assured him that the men "are all I judged them to be, and that they have the confidence and respect of their officers, and of the civilians with whom they have come into contact," — a verdict with which all who know the Army at first hand, and not merely by report or by guesswork, will heartily agree. Mr Blatchford adds a very picturesque illustration:—

I " Tlie change in our soldiers since I had the honour to serve may be emphasised by a comparison. All Londoners know the difference between the London cabman and the London chauffeur. There is the same difference between the soldiers of the 'seventies and the soldiers who are now engaged in the banoeuvres. The new men are steadier, better educated, Keener, brighter, and younger. 'the London caboy was in many ways lovable; so was the hard-drnming," Jiard-.-.wearing, hard-lighting old soldier. Utit education i.s better Mian ignorance, and drink i.s no usu to men who nave hard or serious work to do. The younger generation, civilians as well as soldiers, drink Jess and think more.

.... The men here are line, straightlimbed, well-set, clear-eyed fellows. 1 venture to say there i.s no better material extant. No pains should be spared with them. They are worth all that can be done lor them."

buch testimony is worth having, and is specially interesting as coming from one who himself has served in the ranks. And here we may notice a curious fact in regard to the British Army which is immensely to its credit. In three generations three of the most prominent Radicals— we had almost said revolutionaries—of their dav were Corbett, Bradlaugh, and now Mr lilatchford. All three began their hves as private soldiers. It might have been supposed that men with their views would have denounced the Army as a place of tyraunv, class oppression, social degradation, and so forth. Not a bit of it. All three atter they had left the Army never tailed to speak well of it and of the way m which the men were treated by the officers. Mr Blatchford is perhaps the most enthusiastic of the three, but the other two on several occasions gave testimony to the value or Army service, and to the ivav in which men who respected themselves could maintain and improve their selfrespect while serving their country in arms We doubt whether aliv Continental country could show sud, ~ record. •