The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1900.

Waikato Argus, Volume IX, Issue 774, 8 October 1900, Page 2

The Waikato Argus GEORGE EDGECUMBE, Proprietor. MONDAY, OCTOBER 8, 1900.

The appointment of Lord Roberts as Commander-in-Chief of the British Army has been hailed with satisfaction throughout the Empire. The veteran Field Marshal has proved himself both in India and Soutb Africa as entitled to rank in history with the most able of the generals who have done so much towards building up the great British Empire. It is admitted on all hands that the handling of the 'troops in South Africa by subordinate officers has generally been most unsatisfactory. European critics who have watched the campaign have been unanimous in their praise of the rank and file, both of the regular army and the volunteer forces from the colonies and the Old Country. But they do not hesitate to state that hundreds, if not thousands, of lives have been sacrificed through the incompetency of the officers. None dispute their bravery, this is so evident as to bfcouie a fault. The people of the Empire are now thoroughly roused, and judging by the speeches delivered prior to and during the election campaign, the most rigid reform will be insisted upon. Officers will be compelled to make themselves competent or leave the service, and the system which prevails at the, War Office will without doubt be thoroughly remodelled.

Severe criticism is nob confined to officers of foreign armies. It will be remembered that the cable informed us some time back that after a review of 80,000 men at Aldershot' Lord Wolseley publicly declared that thoy were not fit to take the field. The reports of what took place, which are now to hand by mail, fully justify the cablegram. We gather from them that some time before, at a previous reviesv, Sir Alexander Montgomery Moore had toL-i the officers thnt if they handled their men in the same manner in a real battle the whole force must be annihilated. Some weeks passed before Lord Wolseley went down to Aldershot to see what effect this severe criticism had had, and a big field day was held. The newspaper criticisms of the performance were very unfavourable. The idea was that an arrny about 10,000 strong, mostly volunteers, was being pursued by a much superior force of regulars. At the close of the proceedings the general commanding decided that the inferior force of volunteers had beaten the regulars. Lord Wolesley called the offieers around him and gave his opinion of their performance, which waß most condemnatory. He concluded by saying : " I have not been particularly struck by the way the troops moved or by the way in which they were guided." The question naturally suggests itself as to how much of the blame for this state of affairs attaches to Lord Wolesley himself, who has held the position of Oonimander-m-Chief for some years. If he did not recognise the deficiency, he is certainly to blame ; but it is possible that both he and the officers be condemned, are the victims of a bad system. It will be for Lord Roberts to alter all this, and if Lord Kitchener is as sociated with him as AdjutantGeneral, there is every reason to hope that in future the magnificent material of which the rank and file of the army is composed will not be deprived of victory and their lives sacrificed on the altar of culpable incompetence. The wish has been expressed that the new Commander-in-Chief shall actually command the whole of the forces of the Empire. We cannot help feeling that this should be delayed until the whole army system is reformed.