With part of Lord Goschen's speech we agree, but we
must point to one very serious discrepancy in his argument in regard to the citizen Army, which he treated with what we may call kindliness mingled with suspicion. He doubted whether you could "absolutely trust a citizen Army without a certain mixture of veteran troops to stiffen the force." Possibly ; but in that case the present system must be very wrong, for the Regular troops which under it are provided for stiffening purposes are anything but veterans. Under the present system the stiffening will demonstrably be pro- vided by the dregs of the Regular Army,—the men and officers who have been rejected for various reasons as not fit to be sent abroad. If, then, stiffening by veterans is to be our watchword, our need must be provided in some other way than that which now holds the field. When Mr. Brodrick has sent his hundred and twenty thousand men abroad, and filled up his foreign-service battalions, there may remain a good many Regular recruits of uncertain ages in the country, but there will be very few veterans. In our view, we had much better organise and improve the Auxiliary Forces till they can do without stiffening than leave them weak and dis- organised as at present, and rely upon veteran troops being got from somewhere to stiffen them. The debate was closed by a speech from Lord Selborne, who put the Government side with no little force and ability. On Lord Rosebery's ridiculous plan of putting Lord Kitchener in the Cabinet he was, of course, perfectly sound.
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