The Reform of the Army.

Waimate Daily Advertiser, Volume III, Issue 121, 9 March 1901, Page 3

The Reform of the Army.

London, March 5

In the House of Lords, the Duke of Bedford complained of the Army system, and said it deprived the Commander-in-Chief of real responsibility. Lord Raglan defended Lord Wolseley, and in a carefully prepared speech which lasted an hour, advocated professional control of the army, and rehabilitation of the office of Commander-in-Chief. The Commander could suggest, recommend and exhort, but nothing beyond. The Marquis of Lansdowne, in replying, despite a sauvity of manner and a courtesy equalling that of Lord Wolseley, startled the House. He said that the present system was better than the one which Lord Harbington’s Commission so emphatically condemned. The failures in South Africa were not due to the system, but to not giving the system full effect. Lord Wolseley initiated proposals concerning different departments of the War Office, but only fitfully and when the spirit moved him, and the auxiliary forces have been neglected. The debate was adjourned. In his speech the Marquis of Lansdowne said that when Lord Wolseley resigned he memorialised the Premier on the score of his inadequate powers as Commander-in-Chief, but the memorial did not mention the fact that he was responsible for the direct control of the mobilisation of the army, for utilising the volunteer forces, and for the Intelligence Department.