THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1910. THE NECESSARY HORSE.

Wairarapa Age, Volume XXXII, Issue 9704, 29 January 1910, Page 4

THE Wairarapa Age MORNING DAILY. SATURDAY, JANUARY 29, 1910. THE NECESSARY HORSE.

■ It was inevitable that with the increasing use of the motor there should be a falling-off in the supply of horses. It was hardly a matter for surprise, therefore, when a cable .) message was received the other day ; intimating that the War Office authorities are seriously perturbed over the deficiency of horses for military purposes, as shown by the recent horse census. The motor has ceased to be merely'a luxury in the I Old Country. The horse hansom, if not actually doomed in London, is certainly in a precarious condition, and there must be thousands of motor buses and motor-vans running in various parts of the country. This has had an effect on the horse supply, which really ought to have . been foreseen by the War Office;

The Government have been warned again and again that they were running dangerous risks by not making better provision for emergencies. The attitude of the War Office in this matter has been painfully char-

acteristic of the unfortunate disposition of those in authority in England to "muddle through.'* Al! that the State has done to encourage breeding has been to pay ±'4,200 a year in premiums to stallions. In addition to this, owners of hunters and omnibus companies have been paid an annual fee to hold their horses at the disposal of th nation in time of need. The New Zealander, with certain' 'bus teams in his mind, may smile at the thought of 'bus horses being relied upon for cavalry and artillery, but these despised animals are really regarded by the War Office as a valuable asset. In the hey-day of the horse 'bus a single company in England owned as many as 12,000 horses, so, it is easy to understand how the inarch of the motor has affected the national reserve. The effect of the Government's niggardly policy was seen in the South African War, when the world had to be scoured for remounts. Foreign countries, on the other band, have

not only bought many thousands of the best horses in Great Britain, but spend large sums on the maintenance of studs and the encouragement of breeding. It is true that the British horse still stands first in quailty. Writing at the time of the Olympia Horse Show in 1908, an authority on the subject declared that there had never been a time when more and better thoroughbred horses of various kinds were raised in England. The trouble is that the quantity is defici-! ent. The shortage in 1907 as compared, with natione! needs was over 12,000, and it was predicted that in a few years it would be 50,000. The War Office became alarmed a few years ago, and drew up a scheme by • which farmers were to receive a 1 bonus for good colts, and were to take care of cavalry horses when not required. In spite of all the scien- > tific developments of the last few years, cavalrv are just as important in warfaie ■ >. ever they were—and the time is inrdly in sight when we i shall be abio to dispense with horses for guns. Peace, in her pride in machinery, may despise the horse, but in war that noble animal is as } essential as he evdently was in the days of Job.