THE FRENCH ARMY.

Star (Christchurch), Issue 7415, 29 May 1902, Page 1

THE FRENCH ARMY.

*it may be taken for granted that the period of service in the French' Army is about to' be reduced to two years. M. Holland has presented a, report in the name of the' Senatorial Committee for the Army, in which dt is contended that France can and ought to reduce aotive military service. The question is as much a social as a military one, and the Marquis de l'Estourbeil- j lon assures an interviewer -that the mass of the French electorate looks to its own per•ohal interest rather than to the interest of fs_e country; The representatives of the -people are well aware of that fact, and recognise that their positions depend upon the attitude they adopt in this matter. It doe* not however, that the Army will really suffer. At the present time, according to a report furnished by the French War Office, it has 28,400 officers and 492,059 men, as compared with, the 32,386 officers and 569,699 of the German Army. " But the effect of the new system, if it be .adopted, will not Ibe to reduce the effective. There will be fewer dispensations, and: leave will be restricted. Under the existing: systenr a part of the contingent, serves three years, and another part only one year,ythe average being a little less thau/twenty-four months. There would thus be no real reduction of service, but the burden would be more equally borne. M. Holland assumes, that, under a sounder, system,, the. men Would be better trained, and that, after two year* with the colours, receiving a veritable preparation for war, without useless parades, they would be excellent soldiers. We donot find that our French contemporaries display any: una•Jiimity ©I view in regard to this, question. They are not convinced that a reduction of_etvice will necessarily be followed by any real improvement in the trairiing. There ire those, like the Due de Eeltre and the Marquis de l'Estourbeillon, : who would go j further than M. Holland. They think that eighteen months well employed would be 'enough: On the other hand, experienced soldiers view the proposed changes with aome apprehension, ; althpugh anany of them cheerfully recognise that, if the system could be made to work well, it should produce good results. M. Holland, who looks at the question from every point of view, insists that the more the period of service is shortened the more necessary will: it 'be to take account of the tastes and abilities; of the individual soldier. There is at the -present time great carelessness in this matter. Men who do not know how to read*— 4.63 per «ent>— are sent into the cavalry and expected to act as scouts and to understand maps. Such mattere a 6 this he proposes to reform entirely. The year which should be regarded as lost to the; active, army would be added to the service in the reserve, making this .eleven years instead of ten, and the first year would be a state of great readiness ton the part of the men, described as disponibilite For the active army there would be many re-enlistments for non-com-missioned; officers, eaph of whom would cost about. 500 francs -per annum, and the men in that class might number from^sooo to 10;000. y; A" grant of moiiey would be made to 20,000 necessitous families during the time their supports- were taken away foi the army 1 .. The military 'tax would 'also- be . suppressed, 'and 'thus the country.. would ' _"earAeltpgetfieFr-A"a : added' burden ol -from tw^^jto: twehtty-two million francs. M. Holland thinks tbe sacrifice is well worth making, ,, believing that excellent results would follow. The subject will presently be brought before the Chamber: