BRITAIN'S "LITTLE" ARMY.

Taranaki Daily News, Volume LVII, Issue 108, 30 September 1914, Page 7

BRITAIN'S "LITTLE" ARMY.

A MILLION MKX AVAiI'IARLK. \ PII'KPAItATIO.VH FOR A LOXCI WAR. London, .August 20. ft has been'commonly presumed l that. England's; part in any"great. Kuropcan Mar would be (practically confined to the sea,' ami vliat she could not, until conscription, or some, form of compulsory national service, had been in operation in tho Old Country for some years, take any effective part in land operations on. the Continent. Appare.niij' l.y, however, though we anay not be able to place in the field the swarms-of men available to Continental Pow 'rs, we can throw a few uuoi'e '"hi- battalions" into the scale tbaai sonic people bavo imagined. If. need be, Britain <'an place a auilliou white men in the lie-Id. 'Phis is an immense number for lie, but the arrangemuiits officially announced from day to day indicate most clearly that Karl Kitchener is prepared for the fast. When -war was declared, Parliament sanctioned the raising of 500.01)0 men, »nd, according to statements made last 2|iarch in Parliament we then possessed uOO,OOO trained and -nr.tlv 'trained troops of all sorts, including the British troops in India. In addition to these, a force of 1:00,000 men- is, aecordin™ to official statements, practically raised for Lord Kitchener's second army, and such numbers have joined the Territorial force that recruiting for it Is in abeyance. Add to these 11)0,000 from overseas, as indicated in the cablegrams, a.nd bic numbers begin to loom ahead.. The million men, arc,, therefore, readily obtainable- it is their training and preparation for the field that will be the greatest ' difficulty, as six months at. least is rccjuir-erli to' bring troops up to 1 •the war slawid'iwti. '-.■'.-, There lias been a considerable amount .of vaporing about Earl Kitchener's \ plane, hicliKtijijT statements to the effect j that the new second army of WO.OOO men is being raised for llomev defence, | and is not intended for service abroad. I This is idle gossip; the men have been I enlisted -primarily with a view to service abroad, and have offered' themselves ■ chieflv in' order to ''have a smack at the Gerauiaais." (Lord Kitchener will have tl'.e Expeditionary Force of Home bic-oulars in the field; two Indian divisions will be available, together with, ! perhaps, another division. Jlebind these j will be the now second army, together v.'ilh the Territorials, who volunteer for scrvico abroad, anil who will be detached from tho Home-serving Territorials and formed into separate divisions. All ! these matters have ibeen indicated in ' more or less direct form iu the official ; communications which have heci nccos- j sary in order to firoeced with recruiting. The seret about them, is how, 'iviien and where th<nc troops and' the overseas contingents will be. used-, and . that secret is likely lo be as well' kept as that concerning the ranvraitiife of the* K.N'icditiona v Force which we now know Commenced to leave these ediores on August 7. For to-day every newspaper editor and sub-editor is a Press censor for the Government, and 'won betide, the one whose enthusiasm for "news" overrides his deletion. As for the duration of the w.ir. no man who really knows anything of the financial and military resources of the I in conflict ivi'l venture to hazard a prophet".'. Them a>'e, such enormous reserves on each side that irrevocable (lef-at < or utter exhaustion may j be long in coni'mr. Fniv defeats Tor Germany wiv mean the collapse of her campaign •'n'' a shortened war. Defeat, for the Fre-i-h v taken to mean a long 'war, in vrtyr-h tin mitonibcd resources of the llrit'al) and b'ussian Empirns , would be brmip-bf mlo tlm scale lo turn the balance. Time, money and food , supnlty are afainst Germany and in favor of tire A'Pci. The authority-; are, therefore, prar.ariiwr for a loiur war, while hoping for n. short one. * As, reirar.*:- recruiting, it is officially stated that durin,™ the past week over ' r • - ■■Ma <^"f'" rf^'' ' v '' '"ii'iiMi