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    v . ' ¦ ¦¦¦¦ . Jan. 31, 1852.] «¦$*¦ %t&...

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    NOTES ON "WAR. BY A SOLDIER. No. IV.— Sh...

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    Social Reform. "Notes Of A Social Ckcono...

    meaning of their cry is , protection for . vested abuses ; Protection , not of the weak against the strong , but of the strong against the weak—protection for the rich , taxation : for the poor . Prot ection , in its general sense , denotes that benefit or safety which every citizen hath specially secured to him by the laws ; but > under an aristocratic regime , " the rich and powerful only are protected . Thus , the law secures the privileges originally acquired by the , sword ; and the inheritance , even , of the insolvent noble . The law maintains the right of the landlord to his broad acres , and of millsThe law defends the

    the cotton-lord to his . rights and privileges of corporate bodies which are ever hostile to individual freedom , and to which the public interests are constantly sacrificed . But does the law afford any protection to the children of adversity ? Their rights and privileges may be summed up in . one word—the Workhousb . T |» e workhouse school , the workhouse diet ; the workhouse without work , the workhouse peopled with sluggards and idlers ; such are the protecting influences that soften the harsh and cruel fate of the pauper . The workhouse or the gaol is the

    alternative . Not only do the workhouses supply a large portion of the criminal population of towns , to the enormous cost and detriment of society , but they are occupied by totally unproductive consumers , who thus exhaust resources which might otherwise be devoted to the profitable and productive employment of labour . I affirm , that the right to labour is the first , the most sacred , and inalienable right of every man ; and that the right of the poor to support- —that is , to proper nourishment , convenient clothing , and an occupation not incompatible with health—and the right of the rich

    to engross ,-are reciprocal privileges ; the former being the only condition upon which the latter is enjoyed . Blackstone has defined the allegiance which binds the subject to the king , as a return for that protection which the king affords to the subject . For all men , ' * immediately upon their birth , are under the king ' s protection ; at a time , too , when they are incapable of protecting themselves . Natural allegiance is , therefore , a debt of gratitude . * ' Gratitude—for what ? For the protection—of the workhouse ? The Times newspaper of the 14 th November , 1851 , shall supply me with a few items of this " debt of gratitude " : —

    ** The list of deaths in the Kilrush Union-houses alone , for the year ending March 25 , 1851 , fills more than twenty-four folio pages | jjt'hpW of " , ; the Enriistyjnon about the same number . The sum" total for the former union is 1642 , for Ennistyrnon 1386 ( total 3028 ) . Out of the 1642 at Kilrush , the number that did not die of the dysentery , diarrhoea , or debility , ¦ which , marks the death of the famished , is 417 , leaving 1225 who did die of hunger . " .

    Talk of gratitude ! why , the very bonds of allegiance are broken asunder . If the right to protection be violated , the claim to gratitude must be forfeited ; and if men are to be tried for their lives and hung for shooting one landlord , what punishment shall be inflicted on those who have starved 1225 peasants to death ? Lords of the soil , I tell you that the safety of your title-deeds depends upon your acknowledgment of the rights of labour ; upon the establishment of a system of national rating , and the abolition of the law of settlement or serfdom . The waste lands are lying uncultivated ; the unemployed labourers , who determine the rate of wages , are standing idle ; the credit of the nation

    is well established ; the cellars of the Bank of England are filled with gold ; but the Pboplr ( who , like bees , would supply you with honey , but may sting you to death ) are starving in the midst of abundance : yet the most ample means are at your control to create a superfluity of wealth , a superior character , and a good government for all . Remember that you , " the Happy Family , " who pretend to have a prescriptive right to rule the destinies of England , you are responsible for the errors of those whom you profess to govern , who are miserable only because they are ignorant . You , who are the real criminals , have no right to punish niiBguidcd wretches in a state of moral idibtcy , who have been nurtured in ignorance , and habituated to

    crime . The right of labour , or the right of the unemployed to productive , self-supporting , ¦ and consequently profitable employment , is the real Charta of the operative classes . The workhouse , therefore , must be transformed into the cooperative and agricultural association , in which every associate shall receive a fair share of the produce of his own labour ; and in which " he that would not work , neither should lie eat . " The fertilizing social conglomerate of large towns might thus be spread over the land ; and the

    work , not the workhouse test , be applied to all * The gaol might then fairly be made the receptacle for idlers and sluggards , who would be compelled either to work or to starve , for they should be allowed neither to beg nor to steal . , Man , who is destined by nature to be the , redeemer of the earth , whether consciously or unconsciously to himself , is ever in" search of happiness ; but while ignorance , pauperism , and crime prevail , he must ever be unhappy ; and by his natural

    constitution he can never rest nor cease from labour until he have subdued the earth , and reduced to harmony and order the moral and social anarchy amidst which he livesi The laws of the moral , like those of the physical , world may be shaken for a time by storms and convulsions , but the great elements of order remain for ever untouched ; and , after the clearing of the atmosphere , they are seen in all their original symmetry and beauty . William Coningham .

    V . ' ¦ ¦¦¦¦ . Jan. 31, 1852.] «¦$*¦ %T&...

    v . ' ¦ ¦¦¦¦ . Jan . 31 , 1852 . ] «¦ $ *¦ % t & tttt * V » ¦

    Notes On "War. By A Soldier. No. Iv.— Sh...

    NOTES ON "WAR . BY A SOLDIER . No . IV . — Shooting not Fighting . The ruling influence of gunpowder in the organization of modern armies has tended to equalize the value of the men who compose them , to neutralize bodily strength , activity , energy , and daring , and to reduce all to the same level of unintelligent shooting machines ; and , as we have already observed , very bad shooting machines . Brave they may be ; they may keep together , endure a heavy fire , and die in their ranks ; but they cannot fight—touch them , and their

    power of cohesion and resistance is over . But no national force , hastily organized , either for resistance to tyranny or td an invasion , can compete with regular troops in shooting , or in steady and compact manoeuvring . But we shall not attempt such competition in our proposed system . Missiles , in our proposed system , will be confined to their legitimate use—to that of protecting and masking an energetic and immediaie attack . If the assailants are well covered-during their advance by the fireqlf adroit and active marksmen , so much the better ; they will not be less cooland collected undee the screen of a friendly

    fire , which will enable them to advance without the necessity of accelerating their pace , will render the hostile fire less accurate , and draw At off in some measure from the principal lines to the scattered line of skirmishers ; so much the better , also , if there be some force of artillery to reply to that of the enemy ; but however weak the artillery , however inferior in numbers and skill their skirmishers may Tie , there is but one single indispensable condition for the complete success of an adequate force armed with weapons adapted for close combat , and opposed to a modern army , anfl that is a steady

    and persevering advance . They must not open out from the fire , fall into confusion , or recoil when it begins to produce some effect in their ranks , but go on and stop it effectually . As long as they move on without disorganization , all will go well ; their turn will come , their victory is certain . No amount of missiles that can be brought to bear upon such a force during the time that it marches over a thousand yards of ground , which would be about ten or twelve minutescould possibly reduce its numbers so as

    mate-, rially to impair its fighting power . For accurate rifle fire must be slow , deliberate , and confined to a selected body of very expert men ; and , therefore , however galling , can never be numerically destructive enough to disorganize determined assailants ; and rapid , close , concentrated , regular musketry fire , is incompatible with aim or just direction , either for long or Bhort distances . Marvellous tales of accurate practice with rifles at 1000 yards , and even at longer ranges , will not alarm anv one who knows the

    delicate accuracy of elevation that would be necessary in order to hit a three-story house at that distance . With special advantages of ground and knowledge of distance , and by very adroit hands , ranks of men , or even conspicuous individuals , may occasionally be hit designedly at extraordinary long distances ; and , as the imprbved firearms will undoubtedly carry the ball with full force more than and

    1200 yards , chance shots will sometimes kill wound at that extreme range . But the results of chance and of rare fOull , under peculiar and temporary circumstances of position , will be so trifling that they do not deseive to bo taken into consideration . Artillery is chiefly destructive when it is weeps the level surface of a plain ; but it makes much more noise , and is much more likely to cause confusion und panic among inexperienced troopto , on broken and irregular ground , where its fatal effects must be comparatively small from , the increased difficulty of tlioeo

    taking aim and of computing distances ; while very ricochets , or grazes and bounds of the snot , which cause wide deflections from the intended flight , are liable to create great consternation until their cause and consequences aro understood . Wiunn 1200 yurda the artillery can begin to mnke play with round ehot , howitzer eheJls , and spherical case ( the moat formidable of all when skilfully used ) , but it

    will astonish much more than its value warrants . The fire will increase in destructiveness as the distance shortens ; but . at 500 yards the range will be too short for shells ( noisy humbugs ) and spherical case , and too long for canister shot , the extreme range of which is 350 yards . \ And 400 yards may be considered as the utmost limit for a really " telling " fire of sharpshooters , with the best weapons . And in passing over this space , in the last lour or five minutes of an advance and charge to the very muzzles of the cannons and muskete , without doubt an attacking force would suffer severe loss ; without doubt round shot and canister would crush and

    mangle , and even some well-directed volleys of musketry make havoc here and there ; but what then ? Would not such things occur in an orthodox battle of eight hours of missiles and manoeuvring ? If the records of modern warfare prove that at least a hundred musket bullets and twenty cannon balls are required to knock over one enemy in many hours of firing ,-and when a great part of the troops are stationary for a long time , how many shots will it take to kill or wound an enemy in ten minutes , and when the distances are constantly varying in consequence of a rapid advance ? And s urely no one can expect to win decisive victories without loss . Our arguments for as speedy a close combat as possible may be shortly summed up thus . If you don't like the enemy ' s missiles , go and stop them : there is only

    one way to do it . If your own missile machinery bad , the more necessity is there for adopting that mode of fighting which renders all the enemy ' s missile machinery , powerless . The best marksmen among the enemy will prove the worst fighters . If a man knows that he possesses great skill , and has exerted himself to the utmost , and done his best to kill and wound his opponents , to check their advance and keep them off , and finds that he has failed , and that , in spite of all his efforts and those of his comrades , they are rapidly advancing , he will be very unfit and disinclined to join in a hand-to-hand conflict , not to mention that his weapon is unsuited for such work , and that an excessive expenditure of gunpowder has a bad effect on both mind and body .

    The regular soldier , _ pf course , possesses no more than an ordinary share of animal courage , pugnacity , and pride ; but from experience of a sternly enforced system of subordination , he is impressed with the absolute necessity of implicit obedie , and being answerable for nothing beyond his own personal good conduct , he comes to rely cheerfully and undoubtingly on the skill and military science of his appointed " leaders , and on the constant support of all his comrades ; and in this obedience and this mutual trust lies the strength of a modern army ; but the soldier has no confidence in his individual power , and looks to the movements of the mass for a sue *

    cessful result—an instinctive feeling entirely in accordance with the theory and practice of the modern tactician , who , by neglecting to furnish the soldier with weapons for close fighting , by not training him for individual exertion , and by exclusive attention to a mathematical precision of battalion manoeuvre and battalion firing , has manifested a total oblivion of a very simple fuct , that a body of men has strength and value only in proportion to the strength of the individuals of which it is composed . Now , the individuals of our modern infantry have very little strength or value as real fighting men , and , consequently , but little spirit or inclination for close onloi in

    combat ; they are capable y manoeuvring masses , making a tremendous noise and smoke , and projecting bullets at random . " Carrying a position with the bayonet , " " driving back the enemy with the bayonet , " are terms frequently used by writers of despatches and histories ; but no living soldier haa ever seen two lines of infantry approach so close as to push , and thrust , and fence with bayonets . Modern warfare is a system of demonstration and imposition ; and the fear of striking home , or rather the impossibility of striking home with such things as bayonets , and pouches full of cartridges , has led to long , sanguinary , and fruitless engagement , and to protracted campaigns , that have occasioned ultimately

    more bloodshed and misery than the most decisive and slaughterous victory could possibly have done . And it has come in fact to this , that in a modern war thet final advantage must inevitably rest with that side which possesses the longest purse , and the largest population from which to draw its recruits . Must it lor ever bo so ? Shall standing armies , trained and disciplined soldiers , skilled gunners , and costly contrivances and storep , for ever give a preponderance to the power of Despotism over that of a People ? Is a good and glorious cause nothing ? Aro faith and a intelli

    purpose nothing ? Is courage nothing ? Is gence nothing ? Is devotion even to death nothing ? la projectile mechanism everything ? I will not beliove it . I see the weak point of modern military art strained further still by all the Governments of Europe , and there may Patriotism break in and not only conquer , but utterly subdue , standing armies . Wherovoi- and whenever there is a just cause torouao the spirit and norve the arm of the people , a national force is invinciblo under intelligent leaders , and with the simplest armament and organization . to y ^

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 31, 1852, page 15, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_31011852/page/15/