MILITARY NOTES.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1012, 30 December 1910, Page 2

MILITARY NOTES.

[Edited Br Echelon.] NEXT YEAR'S BISLEY. BRITISH AND GERMAN JUSTICE— AND PUBLIC OPINION. Evidently, tlie military authorities aro beginning to recognise that in tho bioscops lies a- valuable aid to field training, for-a proposal which has been well received has been mado to make records of field formations and other - training movements, and eend thein to all the military centres of the Empire at Home and abroad. The proposal is being considered, and there is every likelihood oi its being earricd into execution in Alderi • i(lra is for cavalry, artillery, and infantry to bo kinematographed whilsc engaged in.various phases of field operations, attack and defence, and the films sent to Canada, Australia, South Africa, and other parts of the Empire to eiiable the military authorities there to witness exactly how tho methods laid down in SS 0 . "'awing manuals are carried out. fins will ensure, it is hoped, all the troops of tho Empire being trained on exactly tho saiiie lines, so should the •ay como when they are needed'to be ensagttt together, there will bo an automatic working between tho whole of the Empire s tqrees. "

;Ths council of the National Rifle' Association has adopted some important resolutions w)Wch havo as their:object the increase of Territorial interest in the Bis-lc-y meeting. The service rifle programn:o, it is proposed, shall be divided into two parts—for experts and non-experts—une loriner class to shoot for tho present principal service" riflo contests in the second week of the • meeting. ■ Shooting for.the latter, or non-expert class shots,, it is proposed shall ,be on tho .lines of the staudarxl test, and shall occupy th 6 days iijimediately preceding the .competitions for export shots. . By non-exnort shots is meant those who have not ivon a nrizo of £o or moro in-liny competition of Khft National Rifle Association during tho five years, and in Territorial competitions must be men who ai'e.serving in the Territorial Force, or, bo in the first-class Territorial Reserve: In nonexpert all-comers' contents the.competitors must bd permanently reside.nt in tho British Isles. Hut charges are also to bo considerably reduced. A figure target is to Be adopted ar. sIO' yards, with rings for-scoring purposes. At 500 and 000 yards the targets will remain tho same. At. 200 yards the. bull'seye will be five inches, the inner twelve inches, tho magpie twenty-one inches, and the outer, tho remainder of the target four feet square. At 800. yards ,tho .bull's-eye will be eight inches, the inner seventeen inches, the mtigpio twenty-six,inches',' im'd: tho outer a circle forty-si's inches-iiv diameter. At 500 yards the -vrill.bc eighteen inches, the inner , thirty, inches, the magpie forty-six inches, and the outer tho remainder. * a six . feet square , target. At GOO yards the dimensions will be tlio sains as at 500 yards, but, tho target will be seventy-two'inches in diameter, circular. i ...

The council 'has also arranged' an Inv nerial Challenge Shield Competition, ior which Lier.t.-Col. R. W-. Schumacher lias offered a silver challenge-.shield, value <£60, 'as well as silver- and-, bronzo commemorative medals, and .0250 in money. Tho match will be held.ihrauguout the Empire, nnd may be fired on any day, Sundays excepted, between May 1 and 21, 1011, on any" ranee in any' part of the Empire. It is open to-'any number at teams from the: fallowing: tinite: Company ct an O.T.C.;cadet- company or, .corps, school not;having:aa O.'X'.C.. Contingent or cadet corps. unit of Boys Scouts, company of the Bovs'' Brigade,; company or the Chure.li •. Lads'". Brigade, coftjsmy. of tlie Catholic.B'«:tsV;Bri^dci''Wy^rgamsa.: lion or rifle clubs; ;

The recent trial, in, England of Lieutenant Helm (the youiVg-Gcrmim officer who \ was detected-in the act'of making sketches of Fort Widley, Portsmouth, nlid subsequontly triod nnd convicted-ofwrongfully-, nllniiiin? iiiffcvm'atimr endM in tho' ?ccu?etf. .being bound over in: J3230 to. Mme up.for;?mlginnnt when called upon. .This.result-is.tho., subject of som© severe iV>mnVent in- tha. editorial columns of the ""Aldcrshot'Unitary Mail." "'We'hardly-know whether tlio country ought to laugh .or beaijgr.v at tho farcical result of the - proceedings a<*ainst Lieutenant Helm," says ..he "Military Mail." "Time,,, trouble, andmoney appear to have been wasted . to provo that tho sketching of British military positions by foreign ..officer?: is' an offence of which no serious''liotio'e-need-be-tliken.. Wo do not for a moment .Warrtfc Lieutenant Helm: lie tc'ok'the chance ,o£ detection in a ghroe which-aHvPoWei'S'play with orto another, nnd had ho vonld havo bctiri entitled 'io pliiiiife himself on bis success. He may, however, consider himself extremely 'fortunate-; bad he been defected; and captured on' French soil, -he would iiave .iiiet, assuredly;' with very different treatment." "■ ;Compared'with the treatment which; was metod out in 'Getmany to the young' Englishmen in tho BhOrkum- ,cs-oinago case (Messrs Brandon and French), who were

sentenced to four years' .detention iri.a fortress, it certainly ,would-',,'appear that Helm \vn? treated very. : leniently, so 16iiiently, in fact, as to.itijpiro the suggestion—made in a Londo.n paper before the 'c.is 3 of' Brandon hnd . Trench came before the Court at Leipzig—that leniency ih the one case might secure corresponding treatment, in the other. Subreouenf events, as everyone knows, showed Hint the, German authorities were uninfluenced in the slightest, degree by the result of'the Helm cfisc. Whether, the English . Court did, right or wrong in letting young]' Helm off so lishtly is a'question which is''complicated by tho result of the trial of Brandon 1 and Trench. There .is .no cbubt at,all .that [üblic opinion upon tho : Helm .-ease was influenced by', the unexpected severity of the sentence imposed upfm tho two Englishmen. at Leipzig—apart altogether from tho question as to whether the sentence fitted tho offence, the term of four years' imprisonment certainly was not' expected,in England—and, cannot do regarded in the. light of. a- dispassionate As counsel .for "the prosecution (Sir llufus Isaacs) put it .in ■ opeuing tho ease, "this is the first time that there has been a prosecution of an officer' of any foreign | State for this offence, under the Official; i Secrets Act, and the object of the prose-' cution has been attained, inasmuch as ithas been shown quite clearly that the taking of sketches in tho way in which Lieutenant Helm took them and the acts that he -committed were offences against tho law'of England and punishable by.'' his Majesty's Judges." He would, however, cbservo that Lieutenant Helm, hod been for about four weeks in prison be-., fore being liberated on bail, and what weighed most with the Crown was that Lieutenant Helm had admitted tho offence. Provided that ho was willing further to express his unfeigned regret and that he would undertake that he would not' do any of these acts again, ho wouldask his Lordship, in his discretion, .to treat him with the utmost leniency he might sec fit to exercise. Mr. Travers Humphreys, counsel for Lieutenant Helm, remarked that the accused had been described by irresponsible persons out of Court as a spy. He was not a spy, and ho was entitled to' say that ho had proved before a competent tribunal, that he was no spy, because he was charged in. the- first instance with tho felony which consisted of tho misdemeanour with the addeil circumstance that the sketches had been made with the intention of communicating them to a foreign State. If that charge had beenbrought home, ho might have been rightly described as a spy, but that charge, after careful consideration by a Bench which included some retired-officers, was dismissed.

In giving judgment. Jtr. Justice Bankos said .to Lieutenant Helm: "As a soldier you must, I think, realise the necessity of the law rendering such conduct punishable, and a' 9 a soldier, also, you must' realise tho gravity of such an offence. It is true that, as. your learned counsel has pointed out, no proceeding has been taken ogainit you on the far graver charge of making those sketches for the purpose of communicating them to a foreign State, and you are entitled to stand tlioro and sav that, though that charge was originally formulated, the justices in the Court below thought there was no evidence to substantiate it. But. tho offence to, which you have pleaded guilty is still a serious offence and, in many cases, ought lo bo severely, punished. In your particular case, as you have confessed tho fault and undertaken not to repeat it, the Attorney-General, has not ' pressed the charge against' you,' aid, for.;-myself," I. eee nd/.iecessity" for'

inflicting any punishment. The sentence avhieh 1 pass upon you is tliafc you 1)0 bound over in X'ioO to conio up for judgment when called upon. I should like to say this: I trust that when, you leave this country von will leave it with a feeling that, although we may lie vigilant, and perhaps, frorii your point of view, too vigilant in the detection of offenders against our laws, 1 yet' iu the administra•s", t! lo s e laws we are just and merciful, not only to those who are subjects of this realm, but also to those who, lil;c youreself, seek the hospitality oi our . shores. If you are prepared to pivo tho required undertaking, I shall immediately discharge' you.". The defendant consented to .be bound over and .was accordingly discharged. Apropos, it is interesting to hear that whilo tho BhOrkum case was pending, tho Berlin. correspondent of "The Times telegraphed 'one evening: "In a disgraceful article the /Berliner Neueste Nechrichten' demands that the untried English should be made incapable of reporting what, they may have seeii. Describing the prisoners as. dangerous persons who can carry/ in their heads what they have not got on paper, the journal expresses the- hope that they may be subjected to a long period of detention, iii Germany 'with appropriate mental treatment,' so that they may not retain too clear a memory of what they have seen." Contrast this outburst with . the sportsmanlike attitude of the British journals, upon tho receipt of the hews that a sentence, of four years' imprisonment- had been imposed.