THE BRITISH ARMY.

Dominion, Volume 5, Issue 1267, 24 October 1911, Page 5

THE BRITISH ARMY.

SPEECH BY LOED-HALDANE. &j Telegraph—Press AEsor.ra.t.loo--CoDJTlsh» (Kec. October 23, 10 p.m.) London, October 23. Lord Haldane, Secretary of State for War, speaking at Chelinsford, eaid the country would be. unable lo maintain an iirmy on the Continental scale, except by compulsory training, and he did not sec the possibility of either party seriously proposing compulsion. There was, he declared, no justification for pessimism over the Torritorinls. BRITAIN'S MILITARY NEEDS. Speaking in rcpl.v '"o Lord Roberts in the House of Lord's m April last. Lord Ilaldane saiil there were, many defects in the Territorial Force because they had not got their numbers. The reason was that they had enjoyed a ten years' peace. As soon*as war threatened up would go tho numbers. At present they had fivesixths—272,ooo men—out of the establishment. That was something. They could cre-ato within three years an army of fourteen divisions complete in all its accessories. Expert testimony from many quarters went to show that as a force tho Territorial army was steadily improving. Hβ mentioned this not for tho purpose of taking an optimistic view. Heaven, only know he had been optimistic enough in trying to raise this force throughout tho country. He was not there to bo optimistic, but to give the hard facts. There was an enormous work still to he done, but ho was not liopcloss, like his noble friend, of making anything out of the voluntary system. If he were he should feel himself in a'position of great difficulty, becau-o it was necessary to havo an adequate garrison in India and other places overseas, and his belief was that could not bo accomplished if they had a system of compulsory service even for home defence. Sir lan Hamilton had studied the Continental system, and he agreed with th.it officer thai they could not raise a voluntary and compulsory army out of the same material at the same time and got the enormous stream of volunteers required for tho necessity of our Empire to have tho greatest army for overseas service that the world had ever Been—the greatest and, he believed; tho most efficient. It was not the case that his original idea was to raise 900,000. AVhat he said was that in tho case of sudden invasion we should in great stress of war bo ablo to raise 700,000, 600,000, or 000,000. He was never sanguine enough to imagine that en a peace basis and under a voluntary system wo could get fIOO.OM men. What ho believed was that wo dare not try for this country organisation on the Kasis of Continental armies. Ho did not think the quality of the men could bo. nearly so good as in our smaller expeditionary force, and wo should imperil the safety of India, which was tho greatest military necessity. With reference to South Africa, ho believed wo performed a wonderful feat under the leadership of Lord Roberts with a quarter of a million of men. Not one Power on tho Continent had the organisation to send overseas that number of men, and wo could only possess such an organisation on tlio voluntary system.