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    876 ' ' . ' __ THE LEADER. [No. 338, Sat...

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    THE REDUCTION OF THE FORCES. TJndbe the ...

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    The Pea.Ce Oe Europe. At All Times The "...

    Nowhere is ifc believed that the crisis has passed in Spain . The O'Downeii . usurpation seems atpresent but an equivocal success . There is an ominous pause in the conflict . It would be more satisfactory to the new Government not to bereeeivedwith so little opposition . "We must believe , then , in the probability of a state of confusion arising in that peninsula , the only question being whether it would be lef t to exhaust itself , or whether an external influence would be brought to bear in favour

    of one party , and against the other . In that case it would not be safe to calculate upon the continuance of a good understanding between Great Britain and France . Up to this time England has had a Spanish policy , worthless , no ~ doubt , but always opposed to that of France , and it does not seem that the ofiBeial alliance of the imperial and constitutional Governments lias gone so far as to remove every landmark of diplomacy and t > pinion . To mark the difference , Ijotjis ¦ NaioiiEON has sent O'Donotbli . the Gross

    of the I ^ eg ion , called of Honour . Spain , however , is less a source of anxiety than Italy . In that country there is a probability of war . We may be told that all the military preparations going forward are defensive ; but when contiguous States set double guards upon their frontier , when border cities are fortified , and camps established , virtually hostile , almost within signal distance , the expectation of a struggle is

    implied . The Austrian and Sardinian Governments , moreover , are positively at issue , upon serious matters of international law , with so much rancour , that ho calculable chance seems to exist of a sincere or permanent accommodation . But supposing Austria and Sardinia to be diplomatically reconciled , the result does not depend solely on them . Luther said : Whenmonarchs agree to parcel out the world , perhaps the Lord Goa will arise andmake a different distribution . There

    is the nation of Italy to be consulted : now , we take it to be demonstrable that the statesmen of Austria and Sardinia cannot effect a « atisfactory settlement of the Italian question , even as it concerns their territories alone . " Wlen two claims are inconsistent one must be modified . Now , either Yienna or Turin must give way . Has Vienna ever given way to Turin ? Has Turin ever given way to Vienna without mortifying and exasperating the Italian people ? This Italian people , let us

    remember , has become an important party to the discussion . , The Republicans alone are powerful enough to discompose the plans of the several Cabinets and their self-inspired supporters . It is very easy to say , as we hear it said with suspicious pertinacity , that TVLa .: szini is a dead politician . If he be dead , why is he stamped on ? "Why are a hundred pens ©^ gaged in proving that he is of no cons equence whatever ? This may be said in reply , —that it is not known at what moment a large and well-equipped army may start up in the peninsula , receiving its commands from the

    untiring Genoese . The subscription for Victob Emmanuel ' s artillery has a formidable rival in the subscription for Mazzini ' s muskets . It is well that this truth should be recognized , in order that the Government at Turin may understand that the capitulation of Piedmont would not be the capitulation of Italy . Meanwhile , the Sardinian fortresses

    Mft , prepared for defence ; the argument in fa vour : of reprisals of confiscation becomes "g wmger daily , and it is hoped that the ^ ledmontpse camps of exercise will not be formed far . from the frontier . Again the SffSS B ^ i - Of Bo "a partism is visible . SSrFV I * W " forb & d < m to aid in the fortification of Alessandria % ai ™ ° ? a * er , Italy i 8 disTurbed by the signs of coming trouble . Mmatism creeps on

    in the kingdom of Naples , and has its influential advocates in France , to-whom unhappily the most inj udicious replies are made in Italy . "When Xottis Napoi / eou ' s relative is proposed for . the throne of the Two Sicilies —as if Naples were a royal living , in the gift of certain great Chancellors of Empire—a counter-proposition is made , and Naples , independently of the Neapolitans , is offered to

    Yiotob Emimanttel by his friends . The Italians , however , have learned to estimate the good-will of ¦ France . They have heard of their exiles—Italian subjects— -dragged through the territories of the French Empire , with iron collars on their necks , suffering outrage in French prisons , and transported , like convicts , to Dover . And they are invited to crown . Mubat King of Naples .

    Neither t tie Austrian nor the Prussian Governments have been induced , by the transition of EaTope from a state of peace to a state of war , to effect any reduction of their military forces . Of course we are aware that great reductions were announced in the official Gazette of Vienna . But we know what that means . Two or three myriads of ajmed men are taken to the rear , and not paid for a time . But they do iaot the less constitute an army . They only enjoy a vacation ., but

    are not relieved from their responsibility to martial law , and are liable to be summoned , at any hour , to the service of the State . Even in Prussia there has been some political restlessness of late , which has broken out in Neufchatel , where the recen t insurrection may turn out to have been the premature fruit of a conspiracy not hatched at Berlin alone . Neufchatel abuts unpleasantly into the drowsy land of Germany , and has been warmed into obnoxious life since its union

    with the Confederated Cantons . " Whatever schemes of philanthropy were attributed , upon the conclusion of peace , to the Court of Russia , seem in no danger of being realized . Hussia remains Russia without Nicholas , and it would be premature to say that all doubtful points , in that direction , have been settled . A constitution has not yet been found for the Danubian Principalities .

    But , after all , whatever may be the general inclination of mankind to peace , and whatever the ingenuity of governments in evading a settlement of disputed questions , the great probability of the future is that pointed at by Mr . Hoebttok . The principles upon which the mass of Europe is governed , and by which the diplomacy of Europe ia regulated , are totally incompatible with the interests of the several nations 3 and when the nations understand their interests the day of reckoning will have arrived .

    876 ' ' . ' __ The Leader. [No. 338, Sat...

    876 ' ' . ' __ THE LEADER . [ No . 338 , Saturday ,

    The Reduction Of The Forces. Tjndbe The ...

    THE REDUCTION OF THE FORCES . TJndbe the name of ' reduction , ' the British army is about to receive a permanent increase . There is something so little methodical in our system , that it is nob easy to place the proposed arrangement before the reader in a perfectly natural and distinct form . Our old plan lias been to divide the army into regiments , each under its colonel or colonels ; permitting those regiments to find themselves separated or aggregated according to -the necessities or accidents of the day . When they were brought together under an army , they were arranged into divisions or brigades according to the nature of the particular movement to be carried on . The one permanent classification of the army ia into different kinds of forces—cavalry , infantry , artillery , and so forth ; but within those several kinds only into regiments . Tho French system is to form ' armies , ' aud to accustom the constituent parts of tho army to adapt

    themselves to the whole , so that the soldiers constantly practise in combined action , with a large force . During the war in the" Crimea our regiments were expanded by recruiting to an . unusual size ; new corps were formed and many of our officers for the first ti me became acquainted with comb ined duties in brigade or division . In reducing the army Government does not sim ply return , to the former organization of the peace establishment . ' The division into regiments is of course still maintained ; but the permanent

    organization will be in many respects new . Each regiment will maintain eight companies of about 100 men each , for active service ; and will have about 200 m en , divided into ' four companies , at its depot ; the regiments thus consisting of about 1000 men . The Land Transport Corps will be reorganized as the Military Train . The Artillery will not be reduced , but will be maintained in the full strength which it had acquired during the war . The forces at home will be constantly trained in the camp and field duty . In short

    abandoning the old position of keeping up certain regiments at home , distributed with more or less symmetry in divers topographical districts , we shall be keeping up a real army . It is true that the gross number of men will be reduced : at present the total is reckoned at about 153 , 000 men ; the reduced forces will probably consist of about 125 , 000 . But even this slight reduction is greater in appearance than in fact .

    What will the new army cost ? Our last peace establishment barely reckoned 100 , 000 men , and could in no respect compare with the army now proposed , either in . organization or equipment—there were no camp exercises to be carried out . The expense , therefore , of the 125 , 000 men will be far greater in comparison to ' the expense of our last peace establishment than the simple increase of 25 per cent .

    It is evident that those who have laid down the new plan for the British , army contemplated something more , —that the plan has been clipped here and there in order to diminish the expense . One point alone will establish this fact . Each regiment of eight service companies of 100 men each will have four reserve companies of 50 men each , more or less in depot . Now , any man in the slightest degree acquainted with military subjects is well aware that this proportion is not at all sufficient- - " We quite admit

    that the army , under its intended improvement , will not require so large a reserve as it did during the war , not only because the draughts of men . will be less , but because there is evidently an intention to abandon the vicioua style of recruiting -which was thought necessary or expedient during the contest . We ne $ d not say that we do not believe in the necessity or the expediency of bad recruiting . The purchase system , excluding from

    commission all but the wealthy , or the connexions of men already in commission , and coupledAvith the restriction of promotion from the ranks , tends also to exclude from the ranks all but those who are alien alike to the trading and the ' gentle' classes . The consequence is that the field of recruitment is narrowed in , exactly the same ratio . It ia very undesirable for the Boldier to begin his business too lato in life , although recent experience lias ascertained that it is undesirable at least to scud

    the soldier abroad too early in life . A particular range of age , therefore , is desiguuted by the two conditions , of choosing the recruit not too young nor too old . In comp liance with these conditions , the appeal ia mado to a mere fraction of tho whole population ; and at th e commencement of the war , in order to obtain a sufficient number of recruits , the

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 13, 1856, page 12, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_13091856/page/12/