The Morning Post on Monday published from its Shanghai correspondent
a very instructive article on the progress of Army reform in China. He visited recently the Chinese Aldershot, Paoting-fu, where the two best divisions of the Army are quartered. He was especially impressed by the infantry training, which for smartness and precision cannot be excelled, though as far as work in the open is concerned it is marred by excessive mechanical formalism. The gunners were scarcely inferior to the infantry, except for the weak- ness of the Chinese ponies as draught animals. The barracks are clean, airy, and well equipped, and the hospitals and colleges are provided with the latest appliances and managed by Japanese instructors. The writer thinks that there will never be good Chinese cavalry, owing to the quality of the native horses ; but he anticipates an effective force of mounted infantry. The chief defect in the new Army is the variety of armaments, but every effort is being made to remedy this from the new Chinese arsenals. The work depends entirely upon the energy and genius of Yuan Shih-kai, who, of course, may be withdrawn at any moment; but it is worth noting what can be made of the Chinaman in good hands, and how much power for reform a single able Viceroy can succeed in acquiring.
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