THE BRITISH ARMY.

Greymouth Evening Star, Volume XXXI, 25 January 1901, Page 4

THE BRITISH ARMY.

A Frenchman's Opinion

Mr H. Somers Somerset, who attended the recent French manoeuvres at Charters, formed a poor opinion of the strategy of French officers. The leesons we have been taught in South Africa as to the deadliness of long-range rifle fire the French, he says, in an article in the 'Nineteenth Century,' utterly disregarded. The mistakes they persistently made were worse than anything Lord Wolsely complained of at Aldershot, and the manoeuvres, speaking generally, weifedramatically old-fashioned. He closg||with an account of a conversation he with a French officer, which represents "the general opinion' of the French Army:—l was much struck by the quiet contempt with which he spoke of the recent achievements of the British arms, and by the eminent opinions which he quoted as his authorities- " Your navy is strong, but your army—you have no would say, and then hasten back to praises of the fleet to cover the unguarded utterances His opinion of the course of any future war between England and Franco was not without iaterest. They would draw away the floet from the Channel, and if they could keep the sea clear for fortyeight hours a hundred thousand men might land in England. The war would then be over. " The English 1 I know the English," he would say. "We should kill a few, we should march on London and kill a few more, and when thoy saw that the others would stop fighting and pay. Wo know the English. Look at their surrenders in Africa ! It is all arranged. But I hope there will never be a war. It would bo a pity. I like the English very well myself. Oh, yes, it would be a flying column, but what of that ? There'would be very little danger, and we should make our, ammunition at Woolwich. And then you havo no army."