TOPICS OF THE DAY.

SHALL THE MILITIA BE ABOLISHED?

wish. from the bottom of our hearts that the facts Y.Ir as to the services rendered to the nation by the Militia during the South African War could be placarded throughout the country, or in some other way brought. directly home to the knowledge of. the people. If they could be, and if the nation could thus be made to realise the act of madness which is contemplated by those who propose the abolition of the Militia, we are certain that the British people would refuse their sanction. So monstrous a false conclusion from the premisses is not to be found in the whole region of political sophistry. It is as clear as the sun at noonday that we could not have got through the South African War without the aid of the Militia. The facts are there staring us in the face, and cannot be denied. Yet with those facts before us, and with the knowledge that we may at any moment be called upon to face even greater dangers than those which we • encountered from 1899 to 1902, we are going deliberately to throw away a national asset of incalculable value. • 'The Militia enabled us to wage the South African War without failure.

• We may be called upon to engage in an even more arduous struggle before many years have passed.

. Therefore let us forthwith abolish the Militia.'

So stands the syllogism which, with the best intentions in the world, the present Government are proposing to the Country. We have no desire to attack the Adminis- tration from a party point of view. The' matter is far too serious for Amt. Besides, it is obvious that if the question 'is made one of party attack, the immense strength of the Government majority will be quite sufficient to obtain the sanction of Parliament for their scheme. What we ask is that the 'electors, without con- sideration of party; should examine the proposals in regard to the Militia for themselves, and if they come to the conclusion, as we believe they must, that we are running a terrible and unn, .s.ary risk in abolishing the Militia, they should ask the Government to reconsider their plan. There must be no talk about defeating the Government, or of forcing them to withdraw their scheme as a whole. All that it is necessary to ask is that the Militia shall be left as it is,—or, rather, shall be left as it is in principle, but subject to certain minor improvements which, with no great increase of expense, will materially increase its efficiency. On these grounds we specially desire to appeal to members of the Liberal Party. Unionists may be suspected of espousing the cause of the Militia rather to embarrass the Government than to save the force. No such suspicion • can fall upon members of the Liberal Party, and though the Government could, perhaps, not yield to their political opponents without loss of prestige, they can perfectly well yield to a demand from members of their own party without suffering any injury.

With so much of preface, we desire to set forth the recent record of the Militia as it is given in the Duke of Bedford's admirable speech 'delivered in the House of Lords on Thursday, March 21st. Note that no rhetorical appeal is made to the historic position of the force, or to what it aceomplished in former generations. The case for the Militia is based upon facts which are within the memory of the whole nation, facts for the most part not six years old. During the South African War the Militia, in the first place, transferred fully fifty thousand of its men to Line regiments. Next, the whole of the hundred and twenty- four Militia infantry battalions were embodied, together with thirty-two units of artillery and two regiments of engineers. For every Militia battalion thus embodied at home a Line battalion was liberated for service abroad. There actually served in South Africa sixty-one battalions and in the Mediterranean and Egypt nine battalions, while six companies of garrison artillery and three and a half companies of engineers served abroad. In all, over a hundred thousand Militiamen served either in South Africa, in Egypt, or in other oversee dependencies. Thus more than a hundred and twenty thousand men were pro- vided by the Militia for the purpose of the war, a number greatly in excess of the contributions of the Yeomanry,

Volunteers, and oversee Colonial contingents 'taken tegether. Perhaps it may be said that though the numbers were large, the quality was poor. Happily, such an objection cannot possibly be borne out by the facts. Though some units did better than others, in the Militia as in the Regulars, it may be said without any danger of contradiction that the Militia" have nothing to fear from the closest examination of their South African record. In other words, the impression that the Militia did little in South Africa except cause anxiety to General officers on '- lines of communication is a gross libel on the forte. Here are some of the facts which prove this up to the • hilt. We quote verbatim from the Duke of Bedford's speech :—

"Address at Kroonstad by General Sir W. G. Knox, on the departure of the 3rd Battalion The 'Buffs for St. Helena :---

• You have acquitted yourselves nobly, and I cannot recall one

single instance in which you have failed me. Wherever I expected an attack and knew the 3rd Buffs were there, I always felt per- fectly safe, and never had one moment's anxiety.'

Sir A. Hunter said of this battalion that it was like a seasoned Line battalion.

General Sir Charles Knox, in reference to the 3rd Battalion Royal Scots (Lothian Regiment), said that 'the esprit de corps and the admirable system which prevails in the battalion leave nothing to be desired, and might well serve as an example to many Line battalions I could name.' The battalion had formed part of a force under General Sir Charles Knox, and had =itched nearly 700 miles in three months with much fighting.'

3rd Battalion King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment).— This battalion, with a few mounted infantry, formed the garrison

of the Sand River. They were attacked by about 800 of the enemy with two pen-poses and a field gun on January 14th, 1900, and signally defeated their assailants. Lord Kitchener issued orders thanking the regiment for their gallant conduct.

6th Battalion The Lancashire FAsiliers. — Joined General Settle's column and took part in a fight at Luckoff on Novem-

ber 28th, 1900, when the enemy's position was cleared- this

Militia battalion at the point of the bayonet in such a mnner as to occasion the following appearing in the General Orders 'The final assault, which contributed to the rout of the Boers, was highly creditable to the battalion,'—the record adding, 'It fell to the lot of few Militia units to take part in an engagement of this character, and the skilful and intelligent manner in which the battalion carried out the attack showed what Militiamen can do when given the opportunity.'

The Militia, in common with all other forces, met with disasters. The 4th Derby Militia was compelled to surrender at

Rhenoster. They were attacked by a superior force of the enemy

supported by five guns. They were without any artillery support. They fought on till their commanding officer was killed, and they had lost 140 men killed and wounded. The ' Times History of the War' says They made a brave fight, though it was-hope- less from the first.'

4th Battalion The Cameronian (Scottish Rifies).—Major- General Paget in his report commented on their steadiness and pluck at Lieukop under a heavy shell fire, enough to shake the nerves of any but the best troops.

4th Battalion The Prince of Wales's (North Staffordshire.

Regiment).—Successfully defended Fraserburg. General French complimented the garrison for their successful resistance, and thanked the troops for their splendid behaviour. This battalion subsequently occupied 80 miles of blockhouses, and before leaving for home General French addressed the battalion, and accorded all ranks high praise for their arduous and self-sacrificing labours throughout the campaign.

A Subaltern of the 4th Battalion King's Own (Royal Lancaster Regiment) with 30 seen on February 23rd, 1901, successfully held

Fish River Bridge and Station for four hours against an attack made hi 250 of the enemy until the armoured train came to their assistance. Lord Kitchener telegraphed his congratulations for • gallantly maintaining the defence and continuously refusing to surrender.'

Corporal Cummings, of the 3rd Battalion Royal Scots, with a small piequet, successfully maintained his position against 50 Boers on January 12th, 1901.

Lance-Corporal McKinnon and six men of the same regiment were attacked by 100 Boers when holding a small post near , Hallfontein, but drove the enemy off. Both these Mil were specially commended for gallantry in the field by the General Officer Commanding Communications, Orange River Colony, Kroonstad, in his Divisional Orders.

There are many more favourable mentions of the Militia in action. '

226 Militia officers were mantioned in despatches, and 245 non-commissioned officers and men."

We venture to say that thisis a record of which the Militia have every right to be proud, and it is with something akin to shame that we record the fact that, instead of having received credit for this splendid service, the general public has been given the impression that they owe little to the Militia for their conduct in the war, and that they require tote exCuaed•by such apologies as,—" They -did their best; but that best was bad owing to the miserable condition of the force"; Instead, the verdict should be 'that, in spite of the gross official neglect from which the force had suffered, in spite of the fact that at the beginning of the war they were deprived of their, best men and best officers, and in spite of the knowledge that they fought without any of the encouragement which would have come from having officers belonging to the force in high places and, on the Staff, and, finally, without having powerful friends in the Press, they conducted themselves throughout the war with splendid fortitude and- gallantry.

We have not space to deal in detail with the reforms which might very greatly increase the efficiency of the Militia, but we entirely agree with th Duke of Bedford's plea that if the Militia were organised on a proper basis with a recruit training of six menthe, it might not only continue to be what it is—the greatest feeler for the Regular Army—but would also attract recruits in sufficient quantity to keep its own battalions well supplied with men. The only material point on which we differ from the Duke concerns his assertion that the obligation of a month's training each year does not limit the class from which the Militia recruits are taken. We believe that if, after six months' recruit training, only a week or ten days' service per annum were obligatory, a great many men would join the Militia who now cannot afford to do so. This, however, is a minor point. For the moment the essential thing is to save the Militia, and to retain a force which, as we have shown, is capable of rendering military services so great to the nation. In the Militia we possess not only a military aseet of great actual value, but one which is capable, we believe, of very great development. In asking the Country and the Government to pause before they destroy the Militia., it is well to point out that to save the Militia does.not necessarily mean the sacrifice of the rest of Mr. Hnldane's scheme. The County Associations and the Territorial Army could perfectly well exist side by side with the Militia, without injury to either force, and the Volunteers and Militia between them are quite capable of producing the drafts required to render Mr. Haldane's mobilisation scheme effective.