IS ENGLAND READY FOR WAR?

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LIV, Issue 193, 13 February 1912, Page 4

IS ENGLAND READY FOR WAR?

LORD ROBERTS' INDICTMENT.

THE SHACKLED I»LEET. The practical spirit in which Australia is proceeding with the development of its system of land defence (writes a London press correspondent under date of December 22) is now being almost daily cited as a contrast to the evasive and irresolute attitude adopted by Lord Haldane, apparently with the tacit sanction of the Army Council, in relation to th%. military needs of Great Britain. The difference between the two countries, it ia,clearly shown, is that in one the Federal authorities are carrying out a reasoned and generally accepted national policy, and in the other we have a Government, which persists in dealing with defence on party lines, and in refusing to alter! its chosen course by a hair's breadth, through fear that it might incur soma unpopularity with voters of the wageearning class. The dangers of the position here are being discussed with increasing- enefgs and feeling for various reasons, including' the continued failure of the War Office to make up the deficiency of 50>000 men in the Territorial Army, the general anticipation that the strength of this force, will soon fall still further below the minimum strength originally fixed for it; the inadequacy of the trained reserve available for the support of the regular army in war; ithe hampering effect of weak land defence on the moyements of the flee; Sir Edward: Grey's admission that Great Britain was recently "<hj thebrink of war," and the need lor fe stronger expeditionary force, first a*, a factor in diplomacy, and secondly as ja, means of strengthening the Anglo-French understanding. Lord Lansdowne (a former Chief of the War Office, as well &• an expert in foreign affairs), Sir Edward Grey, Mr. Asquith, Mr. Bonar Law, and other statesmen, agree now that England cannot hope to act alone again in European diplomacy. She must have friends on the Continent capable of instantly becoming allies in certain contingencies. France is equally aware of this, but it is said that she will never consent to convert the Entente Cordiale into an actual alliance unless and until,, England provides itself with an army' large enough to render effective help. t« the French forces in any future war With. Germany.

The failure of successive attempts to provide England with an army proportioned to its needs has frequently been attributed to public apathy. But assuming this to be at least partly correct, what is the cause of the popular attitude? It can only be assigned to the continuous clash of authority on the subject—on the one side Cabinet Ministers (mostly adroit lawyers) declaring that everything is all right, or presently wilL be j on the other distinguished soldiers, including most of those who served in South Africa, not only denying the soundness of the official ease, but asserting repeatedly that the country is being left in absolute danger, which increases day by day with the growth' of the German navy. In a remarkable letter which Lord Roberts has issued to the press he returns to this subject with sledge-ham-mer force and candour. Like other'men of military experience, he gave the organisers of the Territorial Army support at the outset of their effort. They' have failed to justify their optimism, and he feels constrained, in view of the risks tcwhich the country has recently been subjected, to force them by continued criticism into the adoption of better methods and greater energy. But it is. not solely to the shortcomings of the voluntary home defence army that Lord Roberts applies himself. He shows that slackness and indifference are injuring the interests of the entire military service of the country. "Inefficiency," he states, "always' breeds inefficiency. We have just been on the brink of a great war; yet what is the condition of even our regular army? I have no hesitation in saying that in many important respect* the regular army is not fitted for war. 'Our rifle is very inferior to the rifle with which the French and German troops are armed. It is proposed to provide a new bullet for it, but even with that bullet our men will be at a disadvantage. The point-blank range of the French and German rifles is 800 yards; that of the British rifle at the highest is 600, yards. The equipment of our artillery is scarcely more satisfactory., Our fuse setters are not up-to-date, with the result that our gun is not an automatic firing gun. Again, in aviation, we are behind other, nations. That science is in its infancy, but it has already proved of the utmost service in detecting the movements of an enemy, and thus is eliminating to a* great extent in military operations that uncertainty which we are accustomed to call 'the fog of war.' "France and Germany have recognised the supreme importance of the command of the air. The former already possesses a fleet of 200 aeroplanes.* Germany-pro-poses to spend next year (1912) £l,500,000 on aviation alone, In England there are only four; aeroplanes fit to take the field. The Army Council has not even entrusted this most important military subject fo the General Staff, and Lord Haldane and his associates assure us suavely that if we wait we shall profit by the success or failure of others, and eventually obtain information as to the best design for a dirigible or an aeroplane. This assuredly is not the line of policy for a country famous beyond all others for its invention and enterprise, whether in peace or war. We may wait, but war will not wait. The idea is absurd; it is of a piece with that other unaccountable idea of the Secretary of State for War—that it will be time enough to begin serious training when war has been declared!"

Lord Roberts asserts that the great majority of the members of both Houses of Parliament, no matter to which party they belong, are in their own minds persuaded that compulsory service is not only advisable but essential to the future greatness and stability of the Empire, and that they are restrained from giving utterance to these views, not from lack of conviction, but from party considerations. The principal points in this striking indictment are ignored by Lord Haldane in the course of a reply which he has attempted in a speech at Bradford. He seems content with the prospect that the main body of the fleet will have to be employed continuously on the defensive in home waters. He also calmly acquiesces in the view that England will be starved into submission in va very short period of the fleet should be defeated. "Whether the home defence force consists of 150,000 men or 100,000 men," he states, "we are done if the sea passes out of our control. Not a shot need be fired. All the foreigners have to do is to cut off our food supply." The present food supply would run short in a week, and in two weeks there would be a famine. The Government has long known this, and regards it with fatalistic resignation. For the rest, Lord Haldane went on with the customary unproved assertions of the Radical politician that compulsory training would "kill the patriotic spirit," and the "enthusiasm" of the volunteers would in the stress of war go a long way to compensate for the inadequacy of their training, and that we get a better expeditionary force with volunteer enlistment than we could get without it.