THE NEW TERRITORIAL ARMY.
IN any great new departure in administration two things are necessary,—an abstractly perfect scheme, and a popular response to it. It is impossible, of course, to judge correctly of the first unless the second is present, for faith which is not shown in works is notoriously hard to estimate. Mr. Haldane, we well believe, has strenuously exerted himself to devise a sound scheme of defence, and, aided by his twenty-three War Office Committees, he has left no stone unturned to secure success, no contingency unprovided for. A scheme which is the fruit of such genuine intellectual effort is bound to have great merits, and, we hope, that cardinal one of popularity. Mere innovation never attracts a conservative people like ours, but a bold and serious reconstruction must impress the most casual newspaper-reader. Last Saturday at Blair Atholl the Secretary for War made a speech at the opening of the new drill-hall of the Scottish Horse, Lord Tullibardine's famous regiment, which is one of the most effective Volunteer organisations we possess. On Monday the War Office issued certain papers defining the constitution and work of the new County Associations, on which the future of the Territorial Army largely depends. Between them, the speech and the papers enable us to judge, at any rate, of the " perfect pattern and perfect ideal " which Mr. Haldane says that he and his advisers have framed. The Secretary for War dealt mainly with the second line of Army organisation. He was addressing Volunteers, and the question of the Regulars and the Militia was not at issue. We have always granted the merits of the con- ception underlying the Territorial Army. The only question is,—Will not an organisation closely approaching that of the first line exact more than the men can give, and will it not in aiming at an impossible ideal of efficiency mils that efficiency which was attainable ?
Mr. Haldane, dealing with the two Scottish divisions of the Territorial Army, gave a specimen of his new policy. Taking advantage of local sentiment, he will create a Highland and a Lowland division. The Highland division he proposes to equip with mountain batteries,— one in Perthshire, one in Inverness, and one in Argyll- shire. This is an admirable idea. The Highlands lend themselves, with their high passes and mountain roads, to a thorough training in this branch of artillery. In case of invasion the mountains of Scotland would be one of the chief centres of resistance, and it is well for their inhabi- tants to learn how to utilise natural advantages. More- over, there is no better training for a gunner than the management of guns in difficult country. Finally, some of the men in the Territorial Army will see service overseas, and as any future great war is likely to be fought on a mountainous frontier, it is well that they should know the rudiments of mountain fighting. Mr. Haldane, further, wishes to make the infantry battalions each a thousand strong, and to make no distinction between war and peace establishments. He is confident that the men will be forthcoming, and that the Scottish Volunteers will have no objection to taking their place in the new force. At one time, as our readers are aware, we feared that the terms were too onerous, and that they violated what seems to us the essential principle of our defence,—that the country must take from each man the service that he can give. But Mr. Haldane has been quick to learn from the criticisms of those best acquainted with the Auxiliary Forces, and the new conditions as he announced them last Saturday are not, in our view, too hard. A Volun- teer is required to engage for four years, but an oppor- tunity is given him to resign on short notice. Again, he engages to come up for training for a certain time each year under penalty of a fine; but Mr. Haldane promises that this fine will never be exacted when a man has a bona ;fide reason for not coming. He hopes, at the same time, that employers will feel it an honourable duty to make it easy for their employes to get away. " We do not want unwilling men," said Mr. Haldane. "It is only the willing men we want, and we shall not use willing men harshly." They will be asked to go into camp each year for fifteen days, and he thinks that eighty per cent. of the men will do this. But for those who cannot manage the whole time there will be eight-day camps. Provision will be made for fifteen days' camp for all, and of course if all do not attend there will be a considerable saving, about £20,000 in the case of each command. But the Treasury will not be allowed to take this. It will be handed to the General Officer Commanding to be applied to week-end camps and other devices for the training of men who have not been able to go out for the whole fifteen days. Moreover, there will be provision for Staff-rides, lectures, and other kinds of training which can be given at odd times. Mr. Haldane says that he has been saving for the Territorial Army, and the result of his parsimony is an allowance for the Auxiliary Forces of approximately three millions.
" Plenty of money and plenty of men " may be taken as the summary of Mr. Haldane's optimism. The " model scheme " for establishing the County Associations which the War Office issued on Monday shows the minute attention which has been given to every detail of the plan. There is a great deal to be said on a priori grounds for the proposal. If the nation is to be brought to a sense of its duty in matters of military service, local patriotism must be enlisted, and this is best done by taking advan• tage of the existing county organisations. The power of a county magnate is still very great, though philosophers may belittle it. According to the " model scheme," each County Association will be composed half of those representing the Territorial Army and half of those repre- senting civil elements. Its military members will be appointed by the Army Council out of the officers of the local Territorial Forces, the membership being apportioned among the different branches of the Service. The repre- sentative members will be nominated by the Army Council on the recommendation of the County Council, the Borough Councils, and, if necessary, the governing body of a University. The President will always be the Lord-Lieutenant, and there will be a secretary or secretaries from the Territorial or Regular Forces. The work of these Associations is, as Mr. Haldane put it, to look after the military life of the country. They have to raise and maintain the Territorial Forces and look after the Reservists. Each Association is responsible for the organisation of territorial units within the county, and for their administration, except when they are called out for training, or embodied, or on active service, in which cases they pass under the General Officer Commanding. Such a scheme, of course, can only be tested in practice, but it seems to us to have been framed with care and good sense, and there can be no question about the merits of the policy. National defence cau only be achieved by a nation in arms, and if we are to arm the nation we must begin by rousing the interest of the small and workable local units. No doubt the whole scheme is still a " Grand Perhaps," but some uncertainty is inseparable from all new departures, and Mr. Haldane's optimism is infectious, and may go far to kindle that popular interest on which everything depends. " We mean to trust the people," he said, " and we believe that in trusting the people, and bringing the Army and the people close together, in founding the Army in the very nation itself instead of leaving it as a caste apart, lies the solution of a problem which has baffled us so long." These words summarise the gospel of defence which we have always preached.
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