THE BRITISH ARMY.

Kumara Times, Issue 2910, 25 February 1886, Page 2

THE BRITISH ARMY.

The most recent returns of the strength and ilntrihiition of the British army will |„> examined at the present moment, >viih more than ordinary inlerest. h is a question for constant (talmte how far f.'n-.t [J. itnin would be able .to hold her own in. any bi« war 1

Numerically, she is, of course, still supreme at sea. Numerically—from a military point of view—she is very little stronger than either Servia or Bulgaria. Yet she is called upon to defend a larger area than most of the European Powers, and to defend it in a very scattered and disadvantageous form. The effective army of Great Britaiu is estimated at about 220,000 men. Even though this force weie actually ready to put into the field, in regard to numbers it is sadly disproportionate to the nine, million square miles and three hundred million human beiDgs which it is expected to defend. .Australia and Canada no longer look to the Mother Country for troops. Ninety-seven thousand men—many of whom are, of course, raw recruits—are employed at home, Ireland claims no less than 26,000, Scoilaad 4000, India 63,000, Essypt 15,000, Gibraltar 5000, | Malta 6000, South Africa 5000, and | China 2000. It does not require the ! eye of an expert to perceive that the British Empire is protected and maintained as much by moral as by physical force.