THE NATION'S NEEDS.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LII, Issue 193, 18 September 1909, Page 4

THE NATION'S NEEDS.

■i EVERY MAN A SOLDIER. GREAJf SPEECH BY LORD ROBERTS. London, July l'J. ."It was not at Trafalgar, but at Waterloo, ten years later, that Napoleon was defeated. No great war ever ended i at a uttval victory. Thifc; in the presence of the record ; attendance of the year in the House of Lords to-night, Field-Marshal Earl Roberts, who conquered Britain's foes when many-of us were in our cradles, sounded the trumpet-call of alarm in moving the second reading of his National Service (Training and Home Defence) Bill.

When the clerk called out the title of his' Ell Lord Roberts stood up at th» front cross bench under the edge of the gallery, marched briskly up the floor, and took his stand at the table at the spot where Lord Lansdowne usually a.I dresses the House.

Ik>rd Roberts spoke in a strong, clear voice, itrongeryiWSe'eir,' thaa in any of his* other recent speeches, and his seventy-six years seem to have pasj-'d 'ovef'luni lightly. The great assembly listened with tense attention, but n >w atfd' then the House of Lords, ne. r given to any violent expression of feeling; sent forth a warm supporting n>'l of applause. . THE SPEECH. The following are the main points of the speech:— I can assure your lordships that public opinion has advanced a great deal in the last few years, and in the last .few months it has made more rapid progress towards the consummation desired by the National Service League than ever I could have dared to hope for.

I can only reiterate my conviction that our present military policy involves a wilful gambling with the safety of the country and of the Empire. It is incapable of providing' a force sufficient to deal with the serious military problems which confront us in various parts of the Empire, or with the defence of the United Kingdom. tttat our Tegnlar army is quite excellent, as far as it goes,-no one has better reason to know than I myself. I believe it to be as good as, if not better than, any army in the world; but, however good it is, the fact remains that the maximum force theoretcially available for oversea purposes is barely 150,000; and any consideration of the strategical requirements either of the defence of India or of the self-govern-ing colonies will show that such a for><e is entirely inadequate for the purpose. But are 150,000 men really availa.de to-day, or likely to be available in the future? Have we or are we likely to get the officers, the seasoned men over twenty years of age, and the trained horses required to mobilise six big divisions? The same applies to the Territorial Force. I have nothing but admiration for the spirit in which its members devote their spare time to their patriotic task. There is no mistake about their'patriotism. The mistake'lies in assuming that the existence of this country can safely be entrusted to a force the training of which is limited to the few days which are all that can be given under the present adverse conditions, and the total strength of which, in spite of social and journalistic influences, has not yet been brought up to the low establishment of 315,000. The only standard by which our forces can be judged is that of "the strength of the forces which they be called upon to meet. ' I am only too well aware of the fi;t that the majority of our fellow-country-men comfort themselves with the belief that a supremely powerful navy is all that is needed to secure our safety, and that an army, except for foreign service, is superfluous. There are even those who go so far as to accept as » truth the humiliating idea, ventilated mora than once lately, that if our navy should be even temporarily beaten, theie would be an end to the British nation as veil as to the British Empire. NAVAL DEFEAT. I myself have ao doubt whatever that this*ignominious finale will certainly be arrived at if, while our land forces are in their gresent deplorably weak coaditioiisuch a calamity as a naval defeat **«*"•> to *efall us.

And the people of this country must decide whether they will court extinc-

tion. by remaining unprepared to resist invasion should we.by any chance tern-

'; porarily lose the command of the home •watejs, or whether, toy adopting the 1 precautions which almost every other ' civilised nation has been forced t.i * adopt, thcyV will render, these islands .impregnable so long as our fleets have absolute strategical freedom and arc able to keep the routes of our chief food supplies open. To-day our army is absolutely insignificant in numbers as compared 'with ' the armies of the first-class Continental Powers, and we can only hope to have

a very small, portion of that army—the regular portion—trained as fully as are

the armies of the Continent. And if this' small fully-trained portion his other work to do away from these shores—as is almost certain to he the cafe —we shall have to depend, as Mr.

Haldane has frequently told us, on our citizen army alone for the defence of this country. If, therefore, the citizen army is required for this supreme duty, surely no doubt should be allowed to exist as to its fitness for that duty, no efforts should be neglected, and no sacrifices should be considered too great, to ensure its being sufficient in numbers, and as efficient in tHe* matter of training as it is possible to make it.

I am well aware that the public generally have most unfortunately Been led to believe that the Regular Army—no

matter how urgent the demand for its services may he elsewhere —will not ie sent out of this country until the Territorial Army has become sufficiently trained to be able of itself to defend these shores—a period of six months after the outbreak of war being the minimum that Mr. Haldane calculates on as having at his disposal for this purpose—and until the navy has assetted itself sufficiently to ensure its su-

premacy at sea being undisputed. I cannot find words to express my amazement that such a policy should

ever have been contemplated. I cannot believe that any one in the United King-

dom could be so absolutely lost to all sense of proper feeling as to consent

to such an arrangement if it were really understood that it implies leaving India and the oversea States to struggle unaided against possibly overwhelming numbers and the possible sacrifice and abandonment of our countrymen abroad who are doing Great Britain's work under the shelter of Great Britain's flag. These men have entered upon their duties realising that tEey were running certain and often grave xisks, but at the same time in the firm faith that, in. the event of serious trouble arising, assistance would at once be sent to them from the Mother Country. ' As I explained when I had the honor of addressing this House last November, nothing short of a million of men .wili suffice for our needs, and even this la-go number would be of no practical use un less all ranks, especially the senior ranks, are adequately trained, and unless the citizen army is provided w ! th capable- commanders and a thoroughly efficient staff. Briefly stated, under the proposals cf the Bijl we should have a Territorial Army some 80,000 in excess of the present establishment, and we enould be able, with proper organisation, to mobilise the million armed and trained men necessary, in my opinion, to safeguard us from invasion. I now come to the cost of the scheme. The total cost estimated by the National Service League amounted to less than fourvmillions over and above what the presenffTcrritorial Army is estimated to cost. But even if the cost of

the Bcheme were slightly more than

J, four millions, we should have for this :[. extra.sum about 1200 additional regular :t officers and a large number of regular ;S . officers, besides, as I 's:■ have already shown, some 80,000 more [:>• men than Mr. Haldane's scheme gives us, with a practically unlimited reserve. Surely this would be a small price to ;"■■ pay for national security. FOR. HOME DEFENCE ALONE. The'army advocated by the Bill is meant for home defence and home defence alone. , Thi3 army would give absolute strategical freedom to our navy and to our regular army, and so enormously en- , banco their striking powers oversea. Every man should deem it an honor to help in the defence of his countrv; every woman should feel that the children given to her are at the disposal of her counjry; and everv boy, as part of his education, should be physically aid militarily drilled and be taught patriotism, to honor the King and the flag, and to use his rifle skilfully. The voluntary system has been tried

- for fifty years, and, although no doubt .. the Territorial Army is a grand organisation and iii every way better than fc. ' was the volunteer force, it can nevi'r J . provide the; required number of efficient- * . ly-t rained men to enoure our saMy i'l'

from invasion or give us the means of expansion in time of war without the

introduction of universal training. And! 1 cannot for one moment believe that," ,our countrymen would hesitate to accept universal training, were the necessity fo r the measure put plainly before them by the leaders of both parties. i