BRITAIN'S "PHANTOM" ARMY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 175, 28 August 1909, Page 4

BRITAIN'S "PHANTOM" ARMY.

! "We have no Army,' ' said Lo.d i Roberts some few weeks ago. That \vi:s "lietoric. The real facts are brought out. by p. report just issued by the Army Council. embod\*ini .the report of General French ii'ion the whole nf the fortes. The Army Council shows tint. whei'MS we had in December, 11105, a force ready ' to take the field for service abroad of ! 103.000 officers and men. we now hale an army in the Mine condition of readiness 0f*257.000 men. ; | 111GHTA' KFFICIKXT. i I Moreover, General French tells us that this army, as regirds knowledge and training, is in a very high state of nnicienev. and prepared for service at (lr =liortest notice. That is a very ren.irknWe result of three years' work at Ihe War Odire, and reduc"-- to absurdity Ihe claim that we have no Army except in Ihe eves of those who can only count bv the standards of the eompulsory-scr-L vice avmicn of the Continent. The report of the Inspector-General is dccidedlv satisfactory. The artillery "special reservists'' have been the tnr?et of much disniracriii'-r crit'eism. Sir John French, on Ihe other hind, spealts highly of Iheni. He finds the men to be "of a f.ood tvpe. progressing satisfactorily with their training." nnd sees no reason lo doubt that thev "will form an elli-. cicnt reinforcement for the Regular av-! ii'.lery." I FOR HOME DEFEXCE. ! Upon the Territorial Force the Tnspec- j ■tor-General reports in encouraging terms. As against the 341,000 men available for home defence in October; 1005. we now have 203.000. and this small force represents a higher stiindar-l of training and'efficiency among its individual members. The ranks of the Tep itorials, that is to say. have tilled no | more quickly than we had any reason; to suppose thev would, nnd there is cer-' thinly no ground to despair pf getting a'! the men who are required within ihe next twelve months. "The important point to notice." he says, in deserib- j ini his inspection of the West Riding j camp, "is the extraordinary keenness,; the desire to make progress, the zeal, end the energy displayed by all ranks, Ironi 2cner.il to private." But does the zeal, it may he asked, lead to any scr-. <-ice«ble result? The pessimists say I hat in the case of artillery in particular . the Territorials can never be of any , use. On mobilisation, it should be re-: membeved. they would enter unon a, r;erio'l if continuous training; and what Sir John French says is this: "The artillery struck me more than any other arm.' Their condition surprised me nreatly, and 1 am now quite convinced that after four months' continuous training these batteries would be able to perform very valuable service." CAlll'S, NOT PLAYGROUNDS. The Inspector - General's favoraidc opinion of the Territorials has, Sir Wiliiam Nicholson states, "been confirmed by his recent inspections." These Tectorial camps, in which the young niiiuihood of the country is in increasing numbers to lie found, bear little re-: semblance to Mr. Kipling's ■'Playgrounds of pleasure and leisme,| with limitless entries, j And havens ol rest for the iille where J once walked the pennies." | Eti'ii the Satur.la v l!cyic\y a<lin to j■ thai "as to the Regular Army ninM. of i us will agree \vith Sir John Fien-.-h thai. Doth as to knowledge and trailing, jt is in a high state of elliciencv. aiji) well prepared to take the lie|d ;il short notice, Indeed, so fa!' as it g"es, it is probable that the Regular Army has never been more efficient iliau it is today.''—Public Opinion.