THE STATE OF THE ARMY.

Kumara Times, Issue 994, 6 December 1879, Page 4

THE STATE OF THE ARMY.

A military correspondent of the "Times," writing on the above subject, says that though exception may be taken to the assertion that the army is in a state of collapse, the following facts clearly prove that the term is no exaggeration. On the Ist of this month the total number of soldiers above three months service in 55 battalions of the line in the United Kingdom and Ireland amounted to 21,950. The 18 battalions of the line which stand first on the roster for foreign service number but 10,421 men, and of these 6082 are under two years service. These battalions are 2413 beneath their peace complement, and to bring them up to a war footing would require 9579 transfers. Even the five battalions at the head of the roll for active service are 886 uuder their peace establishment. The five battalions which recently embarked for South Africa, were high on the roster for foreign duty, and presumably were in a fit condition to embark ; yet, owing to one cause or another, upwards of 1000 from these five battalions were rejected on the regiments being detailed for embarkation. We may assume that the rest of the army is in a like condition. Consequently, deducting 260 men from each corps as unfit, we find there are about 11,000 efficient soldiers of over three months' service in the infantry of the line. I'; is not in the point of numbers that the regiments are practically inefficient, but also in discipline. It is well known that non-com-missioned officers are the backbone of the army. With good non-commissioned officers a colonel may take his battalion anywhere ; with bad non-commissioned officers the battalion has no motive power. The one great cry throughout the service is the want of non-commissioned officers. Owing to the short service system, smart young fellows are passed rapidly through the ranks and promoted in the hope that thoy will turn out well. Often, too often, they are untried men—men with little self-restraint. Instead of bearing with the hasty recruit, they needlessly harass the men, and petty acts of insubordination are the result. Insubordination increases, courts-martial are of common occurrence, and a general tone of unhappiness prevades a corps thus cursed. In one regiment that embarked for South Africa there were no fewer than 32 men in prison, in two others 15 ; another corps, now at home, which a few years ago stood almost unequalled for the absence of crime, has had, during the last 12 months, 27 courts martial, and five sergeants within a few weeks have been reduced for drunkenness on duty—in olden times an almost unheard of offence. The linked battalion system, too, has confessedly broken down. The object sought to be obtained by this arrangement is that the battalion at home may serve as a feeder tor the supply of casualties in the twin battalion of the same district serving serving abroad, This, we are informed by Lord Cardwell, would be comparatively simple as regards the double battalion regiments, Yet, at the present moment, instead of 71 battalions being at home to 70 abroad we have but 55 in Eugland to 16 on foreign service ; and of the double battalion corps, the Ist Royal Scots, 3rd? Buffs, 4th King's Own, 6th Royals, 13th Light Infantry, 21st Royal Scots Fusiliers, 14th, 17th, and 24th Regiments have all their battalions abroad. Not only has the scheme failed to work well, but it is exceedingly unpopular among officers and men. So unpopular is the scheme of compulsory transfer on reduction that the officers of 40 regiments in the army have absolutely declined to accept even promotion out of their corps. Officers of the 38th elect to abide by the Ist Staffordshire rather than be turned over to the 80th, the 2nd Staffordshire. Indeed, so atrong is the feeling of this point that pending the decision of the Committee on Army Organisation, all transfers will be suspended in the case of officers who object to the step. If the linked battalion system has broken down, so too, have the Reserves proved a failure. It is true that last year, when they were mobilised, the men came up readliy for re enrollment, about three per cent only being absentees, but in point of numbers they fall far short of what was anticipated. In March, 1871, the Secretary of State for War stated that in seven years the Army Reserve would amount to 18,811 men ; on the Ist of June,;iß73, it numbered 16,949, a grave eiror in calculation.