CURRENT LITERATUR E.
A COMMON-SENSE ARMY.
The United Slates Army. By Colonel Sir Howard Vincent, K.C.M.G., M.P. (Cosburn, Newbury. Past-free, la.)—Sir Howard Vincent has done well to render his account of the United States Army, originally delivered as a lecture at the Royal United Service Institution, generally accessible to the public. He has an admirable knack of giving his readers in the shortest possible space just the information they require, and of his many accom- plishments that of being a born journalist is by no means the least valuable. It is the vogue nowadays for the military man to despise the journalist. Sir Howard has the qualities of both, and his little pamphlet of tWenty-four pages is consequently worth a dozen official handbooks. The military spit= . of the only other great Anglo-Saxon nation in. the world should at all times be worthy of our closest attention, but thin 'should be never more the case than now, when, as Sir Howard shows us, the latest developments are the outcome of a quick-witted and common- sense adaptation of the lessons of the South African and Manchurian Wars, the true significance of which, as regards matters of principle at 'haat, we in England have been too slow to grasp. It may well be asked by readers of Sir Howard's paper why our Army reformers do not seek information from our cousins across the Atlantic rather than from the systems of alien peoples who have had no war experience for over thirty years. In theory, the military system of the United States is founded upon the obligation of every able-bodied American citizen to serve his country in arms if called upon to do so. In practice, both the Federal Regular Army and the Militia Force of the several States are recruited under a purely voluntary system. The Regular Army, which is regarded as the basis or skeleton of a much larger Army in time of war, is probably both as to officers and men the best physically, the most intelligent, the most highly trained, and the most perfectly equipped of any army in the world. With a present numerical strength of three thousand seven hundred officers and sixty-seven thousand men and an establishment of a hundred thousand, it is a professional army in the best sense of the term. The pay of the officers is far higher than in any other country—and few, if any, of them possess private means—while pensions are paid at the rate of seventy-five per cent. of the pay earned at the date of retirement. As regards the men, for every vacancy in the United States Army there are four candidates ! Consequently both their physique and their intelligence reach an extraordinarily high standard. " There are no recruiting sergeants hanging about the street corners with dazzling uniforms, specious promises, or proffered drink. Advertise- ments are simply inserted in the leading papers stating for what branches of the Service recruits are wanted and giving the address of the recruiting officer, where full particulars as to pay or prospects can be obtained either personally or by letter." The term of enlistment is for three years, but re- engagements up to twenty, or even thirty, years of service are frequent. This Regular Army has no Reserve. The Reserve is in theory the whole nation in arms, or eighteen millions of able- bodied 'men, a total which exceeds the aggregate 'of the mobilised armies of Europe; in practice it consists of the Militia Force which is maintained by each State. This principle of the whole nation as the ultimate military reserve—" every citizen of the State the born defeiider of it"—is therefore one which it is possible for a free people to accept and yet remain free. "It is," runs Mr. Root's Report, "of vital importance to have a trained force of Militia ready for instant service when called upon, and also to have a large number of citizens sufficiently instructed and exercised in the art of war to organise, train, and command Volunteer Forces." And this, as Sir Howard reminds us, for a country which is removed by at least three thousand miles of ocean from any possible invasion ! Clearly there is in America no " blue-water " school ! The States' Militia bears little or no relation to the British Militia, but corresponds almost entirely to our Volunteer Force. In time of war, when called into the service of the nation, it forms, with the specially enlisted Volunteers, "the Volunteer Army of the U.S.A." It is organised, armed, and disciplined exactly as the Regular Army ; it is paid at full Army rates for such periods as it is out for training. The States take a great interest and pride in their Militia, as do the counties and municipalities composing each State. The drills are held throughout the year, with a short annual period of camp training, and it is recognised that the function of the Militia is to put as many men as possible through the course of training it provides rather than to aim at the perfection of a much smaller number of men. The Militia Staff is formed by Militia officers, as in Switzerland, and not, as with us, by Regulars, who would have to go back to the Regular Army, and would not be available when they were wanted in war. Provision is made for a large reserve of officers. There is absolutely no friction between Militiamen and the Regulars, who regard themselves as part of an army, and fully recognise their own limitations. We have, we hope, given our readers enough of Sir Howard Vincent's admirable pamphlet to tempt closer reference to its most interesting pages. It is clear from what he tells us that we might do much worse than follow the example of our virile and, withal, money-making kinsmen. The Americans, like all com- mercial and civilised people, prefer peace to war, but they are also a businesslike people, and look facts in the face. On October 6th, 1906, President Roosevelt, addressing the shooting teams of the Queen's Westminster Volunteers and of the 7th Militia Rifles of New York, declared " The best way of ensuring peace is to shoot straight" A more general acceptance of these doctrines in Great Britain is the Bret preliminarY to real Army reform.
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