ARMY HORSE SUPPLY.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14889, 31 January 1914, Page 7

ARMY HORSE SUPPLY.

TOO FEW FOR WAR. LORD ESHER'S SLASHING AT-AO-*. (s-rom OCR OWN CORRESPONDENT.) LONDON, December 19. A couple of letters which passed between Colonel Seely, Secretary of State for War, and Lord Esher, president of tho Territorial Force Association for tho county of London, give some idea of tho position of the Homeland in regard to the supply of horses suitable for Army purposes. Replying to two letters from Lord Esher, Colonel Seely says:— "Tho gravamen of your indictment is, in your own words, "On a general mobilisation every available horse that could bo purchased voluntarily would bo required for the Regular Army. Nono would remain for tho use of the Territorials.' This is a complete delusion, as I hope you will admit when you have read this letter. •'The Territorial force can only be embodied on an occasion of national emergency. Such a general mobilisation automatically brings into operation those powers of impressment conferred by the Army Act upon the Army Council, who are thereby authorised to draw upon the available horse supplies of the whole kingdom by a system of compulsory purchase to meet the requirements of the expeditionary force, the regular forces,"not included in the expeditionary force, and the Territorial force, lt has never been in couternplation to rely entirely upon the maintenance of the full estab- ; 'ishments of horses in peace, or upon voluntary purchase; the former would : be prohibitively expensive; the latter ! could not furnish an adequate supply. ANNUAL MILITARY CENSUS. •'The machinery for -putting in motion this system of impressment has

recently been again throughly overhauled. Arrangements have been made for an annual military census of the horse population. Tho final result is tabulated, and enables the War Office to watch each year tho actual horse population and its variations. "To moot the total requirements of a general mobilisation somo 140,000 horses of all kinds are required; in Great Britain alone there are 2G0.000 horses available for military purposes. W© have more than three "times the total number required. Of light horses , there aro two available for every one required; of light draught horses for artillery thero are two available for overy one required; and of-heavy draught horses for transport purposes there aro nineteen available for every one required. "You deplore the fact that foreign Powers havo purchasing agents in this country. So far from this being a cause, for alarm, it is a very . great help to our Remount Department, since the larger, demand :■' ..-thus created.is an encouragement to breeders of light honses to provide thefm in greator numbers than if the British War Offico were the only military purchasers. The Lost thipg we want to do : is to limit the sale of horses to foreign agents, as this Would have the im . mediate effect of reducing both the quantity and tho quality of tho general supply." "A PURE DELUSION." Lord Esher's reply is characteristically slashing. Referring to an article in tho "Army Review," which Colonel Seely had 6ent him, ho says:—"That cheerful optimist, Colonel 0. F. McMunn, D.5.0., ap_va£s to believe' that if tho Regular Army wero sent to Egypt or India, and. the Territorial forces were to be thereupon embodied, any officer of field rank armed with Form A and Army Form A 2029. accompanied hy handy magistrates and accommodating constables, fhd equipped with other mysterious forms, could requisition all the horses they pleased for the use of our Territorial Yeomanry and' Field Artillery. This is a pure delusion. Such action on the Government under such circumstances would not be tolerated for n moment. I adhere to my words, 'That on a general mobilisation every available horse that could be taken voluntarily would be required for the Regular Army.' None would remain for the use of the Territorials, except what yon could impress, and this method you would not venture to enforce unless the country were on the brink of invasion. I present you with that qualification for what you can make of ii. . "Colonel McMunn states that on a I general mobilisation 140.000 of the 1 (460,000) horses would be required. This leaves a balance of 320,000 horses, every one of which, let us assume, will be suitable and sound. The South African War Commission reported that 518.794 horses and 151.781 mules and donkeys wero provided Tor South Africa, and that nearly the whole of them wore expended during the campaign. Yet previous to that war it had been always calculated that in the event of the despatch abroad of two complete Army corps with a cavalry division and lino of communication * troops, 25.000 additional horses would be 'required for mobilisation and to meet the wastage of war. In view of this experience you can imagine that your happy confidence and soothing phrases do not inspire mc with a profound sense of security in the ability of your Remount Department to supply our Territorials with enough horses to go round. "The astonishing view that the purchasing agents of foreign Powers aro a help to them by encouraging breeding must be a surprise to most cavalry officers. My main wish is to help you and the energetic officers who are engaged in the terribly uphill work of providing thid country with an adoquate Army, but I must ask you to forgive mc for refusing to accept the assurances which facts obvious to all the world gainsay, and the acceptance of which is certain to entail heavy retribution."