ENGLAND'S FOOD SUPPLY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 5505, 4 March 1896, Page 2

ENGLAND'S FOOD SUPPLY.

I Lord'vVohr-loy is reported by cable to have i i. vprcKioci the opinion that England's food ; : !-:Mnj;[ iV -:oii\d b* maintained in the event of ■ -•:' ir.v^LiiK; out. It will be interesting 1 !:••> lvti-.T. tut. : wts upon' which the Com-mander-in-Chief relies for this confidence. The. general idea is that the maintenance of the food supplies of the Mother Country is more a naval than a military question, and in this connection It is worth noting that tie United Service Gazette, when commenting upon "the rapidity and smoothness vith, which the mobilisation of the flying squadron was effected" during the Transvaal trouble, asserted that the squadron, even if quadrupled, would have been an insufficient reinforcement to the fleet to enable it to cope satisfactorily with the enormous responsibilities that would have devolved upon it had war actually broken out. Part of its dufa would undoubtedly be to protect the mercantile marine of England; and ' though ships enough could be obtained, the authority already quoted declares that the men to man them could not be got save by calling up the naval reserve. The country, however, has confidence in Lord Wolseley, and that confidence appears to have been fully justified by the state of military preparedness disclosed when the War Office two months ago called upon the authorities to' make preparations for mobilisation. The Broad Arrow admits, however, that the commendable despatch shown in the matter was only rendered possible by ignoring the rules of the War Office. "Every kind of irregularity," it says, " was committed, for the reason that, as something had to be done without loss of time, it was apparent that time must not be lost by corresponding through the strictly regulation channels. It ib one of Lord Wolseley's specialities to be irregular. In former days, when in command in the field, his indifference to the recognised rules of procedure used to drive the War Office authorities to desperation. Lord Wolseley had a knack, when a thing had to be done, of doing it in the shortest way." This executive faculty is a valuable thing in a military commander. No doubt Lord Wolesley has clear and definite ideas as to how England's food supply could be maintained; even were the Mother Country at war with a great naval Power, and his opinion will do much to reassure those who have misgivings on the point.