The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MARCH 14, 1901 WAR OFFICE REFORM.

Gisborne Times, Volume V, Issue 62, 14 March 1901, Page 2

The Gisborne Times. PUBLISHED EVERY MORNING. GISBORNE, MARCH 14, 1901 WAR OFFICE REFORM.

The great army scheme developed by Mr St. John Brodrick gives hope that a new order of things has set in at the War Office, and that in future men of soldierly character will have preference to the mere dandies and the class of men whose promotion has been due to influence. Lord Roberts, even before the welcome festivities were over, had industriously applied himself to the work of reform. Mr Brodrick, we learn from the letters of Hr Lucy, has developed a character for stubbornness, but whether he will set himself against Lord Roberts, or will co-ope-rate with the famous soldier, yet remains to be seen. Lord Roberts is well informed in regard to the good qualities and the defects of the army. His knowledge is gained from personal observation and enquiries. He knows that above all things the British soldier requires to be able to shoot straight.. The idiotic message sent at the outset of the war, “ infantry preferred,” was not inspired by Lord Roberts, but that simple message was a proof of the utter incompetency of the War Office management. Mr Lucy states that Lord Roberts’ idea, gained from India and South Africa, is that an army should be possessed of squadrons of men equally at home on foot or on horseback. He also knows that parade-ground dandies are not the best soldiers. Mr -Brodrick has outlined a grand scheme, and though there is a danger of too great a sacrifice being made for militarism, now is the time to avert the danger that was shown to have existed when the South African war broke out. With Lord Roberts and Mr Brodrick working in harmony, there is good reason to hope that such reforms will be made as will give still greater security for peace, from the fact that it will be widely known the nation is better prepared for war. The unfortunate part of the debate in the House of Commons is that it is largely confined to the political and party aspect of the question. In the February number of the National Review, there is a capital article by Count Gleichen, a major in the Grenadier Guards, who is the author of a wellknown work on the armies of Europe. The real question before the nation now, he said, is not, “ How shall we reform the War Office and the army ?” but “Are we prepared to pay the price for national security, and, if so, what is the price ?” The sea-girt position of Great Britain and her splendid naval force allow her to dispense with huge, overgrown standing armies, but it is nevertheless essential that she should have the nucleus of a great army, capable of the requisite expansion in time of war. France, with a population of only thirty-eight millions, has a war army of 4,300,000 men—that is, 112 soldiers to every ioooof population ; Germany has 61 soldiers per thousand of population and Russia 27. The British Empire, with its population of 386,000,000 has a total army of only 900,000 men, including 230,000 colonials and natives, equal to rather more than two soldiers per thousand of population. ■ The one great advantage which Britain possesses over other nations is the power of transporting a small but complete force from one side of the world to the other whenever it may be required. Her strength, in fact, lies in what Count Gleichen calh her amphibious nature, and his scheme of re-organisation is intended to make the most of her advantages. There should be, to begin with, a small force of at least 12,000 men ready to go at a moment’s notice to the ends of the earth, and the ships should always be ready to receive them. Two divisions of, say, 10,000 men each should be organised, capable of mobilisation within a week, so that a force of at least 30,000 men would be available for immediate requirements. At the back of this force, Count Gleichen would organise a Foreign Service Army of 350,000 men trained to arms and physically sound. For home defence Count Gleichen would provide half a million of men, that is to say, about 145,000 more than are supplied now hy the militia, yeomanry and volunteers. This would bring the new model /army up to 850,000 men, exclusive of natives and colonials. Count Gleichen remarks on the weaknesses of the present recruiting systems. If the Empire is to have security, he says, it must be prepared to make some sacrifice, and the only satisfactory method by .which the strength of the army could be raised, he thinks, is the adoption of a modified form of obligatory personal service. He proposes, therefore, that in order to bring the home defence army up to its required strength, 145,000 men should be compelled to go into training for a year. As for the foreign sorvica corps, it would be sufficient to take 20,4)00 of the 280,000 youths who annually reach their twentieth year in the United Kingdom. 11 God knows,” he says, “ that 4n every village and town there are youths enough of whom the local authorities would be only too glad to get rid,”

The South Australian Government has granted a portion of a cemetery site for a crematorium.

, By a new loan to wipe out existing liabilities, the Blenheim Borough Council expects to save £SO a year in interest. The time put up by Menschikoff at Ricearton would have won the Newmarket Handicap with something .to spare;

Two woolsliips, the Craudale and Derwent, cleared Sydney Heads within an hour of each other, and an exciting race to London is anticipated. Both vessels are in beautiful trim for fast sailing. Our cablegrams this morning,'wo are sorry to state, show that there has been a further decline in the price of cross-bred wool. The last sales closed badly, and now we are told that there has been a 5 per cent, fall on the closing rates of the last sales. Such a decline means a substantial loss to a' wool-producing district.

A correspondent forwards what ho calls an other-world communication, special to the Times : —“Persons present: Jupiter Pluvius, St. Patrick. St. P.: ‘ What do do you think of this, Jupe? They’re going to celebrate my natal day on tbe 14th instead of the 17th!’ J.P.: ‘lt’s wrong, Pat j but just allow mo to attend to it.’ ” [This letter was to hand yesterday morning—earthquakes later on.] Some time ago a sample ob-oil from the springs at Ilotuku, West Coast, was tested as a lubricant for machinery with very satisfactory results. A further samplo was sent for examination to the Government Aualyist, who, after testing it, speaks highly of its value. A large co mpany is being floated for tbe purpose of working the springs. The Samoan correspondent of the Sydney Daily Telegraph states that steady progress is being made at the United States naval station at Tutuila. The new Custom House is almost completed, and other buildings are in course of erection. The output of copra from the Tutuila Islands for the last half-year was about 1000 tons*.--

Near Orange, N.S.W., an old man named William Rusden was out fossicking, and at the same time, about dusk, another old settler, Caleb Cundy, was out rabbit shooting. Rusden raising his head above the bank of the creek, Cundy fired, mistaking the head for a rabbit. Rusden jumped up, and then fell dead. The jury returned a verdict of “Accidentally shot.” An informal meeting of the Cemetery Committee of the Borough Council and some of the County Councillors was held yesterday. No definite decision could bo arrived at at that meeting, but the probable outcome will bo that a site will be secured on the basis of the borough contributing two-thirds and tho county onethird the cost. So far, no better site than the Awapuni has been suggested. The Virginian quail imported by the Wellington Acclimatisation Society some time back have (says the New Zealand Times) flourished so well in the' localities in which they were liberated that the society has been encouraged to persevere with the importation of these splendid sporting birds. With this end in view, it has decided to expend another .£IOO in bringing a further consignment of Virginian quail to the colony. After the Sydney railway accident, a girl standing stupefied saw a stretcher going by; the hand hung down by tho side, and she recognised her brother. “ Let me speak to him—let me see his face!” she cried, springing forward. She wondered why they held her back wfth brutal force, and dragged her away, and shouted to the driver of the cart into wliich the covered object had been lifted, to drive away for God’s sake. ■ They knew it was her brother, and that the form beneath the sack was headless.

At the Lands Office yesterday, the following sections in tlie township of Buckley (Tologa) were auctioned : Section 15, block 8, W.. A. Stewart, £8 10s; section 11, block 9, E. C. Gault, £7 10s: section 12, block 9, E, C. Gault, £7 10s ; section 13, block 9, B. Jolly, £7 10s; section 16, block 9, J. E. Clews, £7 10s ; section 17, block 9, John O’Shea, 418; section 18, block 9, J. E. Clews, £7 10s; section 13, block 15, E. C. Gault, £7 10s ; section 14, block 15, J. Mannix, £7 10s. Mr Llewellyn Smith wielded the hammer. The hearing of the charge of indecent assault against Edward Pierwid was continued in the Wellington Magistrate’s Court lately, with closed doors. In cross-examination the girl denied having told the accused that she would be seventeen on her next birthday. The girl’s mother deposed that the accused came to her house once and took part in family worship. When the accused was afterwards asked why he had done the girl a grievous wrong, he ascribed his action to the devil. Tho'accused, who reserved his defence, was committed to trial, bail being allowed.

Some patriotic spirits among the Lawrence youths were debarred, through work, from seeing the Imperial troops recently in Dunedin, but (says the Tuapeka Times) they made up their minds to view the Indians, at any physical cost. After finishing work at ten o’clock on • Saturday night, they started on the sixty-mile journey to Dunedin on bicycles. They encountered strong winds and a heavy downpour, and eventually reached town in time for a welcome breakfast. The wonders of Dunedin were exploited, and the Indian troops gazed on with wonderment, and the return journey commenced in the evening., A weary ride, during which several funny incidents occurred, terminated in Lawrence a little while before their employment required their attention. The lads, whose average age' was about seventeen years, had no sleep from Friday night till Monday night, besides working for twenty hours and journeying oyer pne hundred and twenty miles on tho road.