THE BRITISH ARMY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 106, 25 October 1911, Page 5

THE BRITISH ARMY.

MOBILISE IX 48 HOURS. By Cable—Press Association—Copyright London, October 23. Mr. F. Dyke Acland, M.P., in a speech at Tiverton, said that the Government had made every effort to restrict the area of the Turco-Italian war. Speaking of the territorial force he said it could mobilise absolutely equipped in forty-eight hours, and was equal to meeting any possible invading force.

BRITAIN'S .MILITARY NEEDS. •Speaking in reply to Lord Roberts in the Rouse of Lords in April last, Lord Haldiine said there were many dafeets in the Territorial Force because they had not got their numbers. The reason was that they had enjoyed a ten years' peace. As soon,as war threatened up would oro the numliers. At present they had fivesixths—272.ol)o men—out of the establishment. That was something. They could create within three years an army of fourteen divisions complete in all its accessories. Expert testimony from many quarters went to show that as a force the Territorial army was steadily improving. Tic mentioned this not for the purpose of taking an optimistic view. Heaven only knew he had been optimistic enough in trying to raise this force throughout the country. He was not there to be optimistic, but to give the hard facts. There was an enormous work still to be done, but he was not hopeless, like his noble friend, of racking anything out of the voluntary svstcm. Tf he were he should feel himself in a position of great difficulty, because it was necessary to have an adequate garrison in India and other places overseas, and his belief was that could not be accomplished if they had a system of compulsory service even for home defence. Sir fan Hamilton had studied the Continental system, and he agreed with th.it officer that they could not raise a voluntary and compulsory army out of the same material at the same' time and get the enormous stream of volunteers re quired for the necessity of our Empire to have the greatest army for overseas service that the world had ever seen—the greatest and. lie believed, the most efficient. It was not the case that his original idea was to raise 000,000. What he said was that in the case of sudden invasion we should in great stress of war he able to raise 700.000, 800,00(1. oil 000,000. He was never sanguine enough to imagine that on a peace basis and under a voluntary system we could sot 000,000 men. What he believed was that we dare not try for this countrv organisation on the basis of Continental armies He did not think the quality nf the men could be nearly as good as in our smaller expeditionary force, and we should imperil the safety of India, which was the greatest military necessity. With reference to South Africa, he believed we performed a wonderful feat under the leadership of Lord Roberts with a Minuter of a million of men. Not one Power on the continent had the organisation to send overseas that number of men. and we could only possess such an organisation on the voluntary system. ' ' I