MILITARY STRENGTH OF BRITAIN.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 743, 22 March 1877, Page 3

MILITARY STRENGTH OF BRITAIN.

The military strength of Britain at the present, time, contrasted with what it was just before the Crimean war, was one of the topics which Major-General Sir John Ade selected to speak upon in addressing a, regiment of Kent Volunteers on December 23rd at Woolwich. He said that before the war we had neither the militia nor the volunteer force, and the army at home numbered but 70,000 men of all ranks. Now, the regular army at home numbers 100,000, with between '3OO and 400 rifled field guns, manned and horsed, a rapidly increasing reserve force, 100,000 militia, many regiments of which were in admirable condition, and 170,000 volunteers. Autumn cam paigns and military schools had done groat things, and the army was more educated and better prepared for war than it had been at any previous period. Martini-Henry rifles are being dispatched to India at the rate of about 4,000 per week, to complete the armament of the troops with the approved small-bore already in the hands of the regiments at home; It is contemplated also to establish a reserve of these rifles and their ammunition, in order that the authorities may be enabled at any, time to issue them, when desirable, to the Native auxiliary forces, who j are at present armed with Sniders, Enfield muzzle-loaders, and muskets of various kinds. The- production of cartridges for the Indian order has reached a million and a half a week, and new machinery is being prepared to set to work to increase the output to upwards of ! two millions per week, with which end it is proposed to take on additional hands.