29 AUGUST 1903, Page 2

With the general observations of the Commission in regard to

the true lessons of the war, and the attention that is being paid to them, we deal in another column. The results of the inquiry into the supply of materiel make deplorable reading —notably the minute of Sir Henry Brackenbury on ammuni- tion. and equipment dated December 15th, 1899, the day of the battle of Cole,nso. High praise is given to the work done by the Engineers and Army Service Corps—Lord Kitchener stated that he considered that the soldier was better fed than in any previous campaign—though it is noted that "on the financial side there does not seem to have been any adequate preparation for a state of war," a condition of affairs prompting the suggestion from Lord Kitchener that competent military financial advisers should be appointed on the staffs of Generals in the field. The defects in land transport are attributed to the pciitical reasons which delayed the general preparations for the war, but the Admiralty is given high praise for the fore- thought and completeness of its arrangements for sea transport. With regard to the question of War Office reorganisation, which is discussed at considerable length in the Report, we can only here note the suggestion of Lord Esher, endorsed in the main by Sir George Taubman-Goldie, that to remedy the present evils a Council should be formed on the lines of the Board of !Admiralty, . and that the post of Commander-in. Chief should be abolished. Sir George Taubman-Goldie further recommends the enforcement of compulsory military national education, in order to guard against the recurrence of the danger which faced us in 1900, when the dearth of trained men and trained officers, and the stripping of our home defences, "produced the most perilous international situation in which the Empire has found itself since the days of Napoleon." The whole Report might be summed up in one sentence. We were saved by a miracle, and yet we are trusting to another miracle to save us in a similar emergency.