British Army Proposals.

Manawatu Herald, 19 July 1904, Page 2

British Army Proposals.

In the London House of Commons, Mr Arnold Forster, Minister ,for War, explained the new army scheme which proposes to divide the regulars into two armies. The first will police the Empire, cdfaduct small wars, and:tfeiir •theT first brunt of. the larget ones. It will be disposed Entirely according to strategical requirements without regard to a rigid system of linking and will be chiefly abroad, only a proportion being kept at Home for convenience of circulation and to provide , a strong force of 15,000 at Aldershot. The period of service will be nine years with the colours and three with.the reserves. The second army will be for Home services, and will only go abroad in case of important wars. It will be strictly territorialised. The period of service will be two years with the colours and six years in the reserves. Mr Arnold Forster proposes 90 or 100 of the best battalions for a general service army, after abolishing fourteen of the recently-raised battalions and five battalions of garrison regiments He will convert the remaining forty battalions into Horae service battalions on an establishment of only 500 men. While profoundly dissatisfied with the militia, he did not propose to abolish it. He described the volunteers as the best material for the army. He proposed to reduce the volunteers to 150,000 efficients. Of these 00,000 will be highly trained, receiving a higher grant; 120,000 of the lower efficiency requiring a less sacrifice of time will be paid a smaller grant. He will give rifle clubs £50,000 annually for ammunition. The scheme would save £2,394,000 a year. The Times says the proposals are not a final solution of the problem, but are an advance in the right direction,