be remembered that this is not show. The figures above leave the Territorial Army out of account. But it cannot be too clearly understood that, although the citizen troops must of course have proper arrangements made for supplying them with their authorised establishment of horses, those arrangements ought to be kept entirely distinct from whatever organisation is designed to make the analogous provision for the troops in First Line. It is by no means certain that the Army Council recognise the importance of this fundamental principle now. They certainly did not recognise it a couple of years ago, for they then approved of a plan of registration and classification of horses in civilian hands, Territorial Associations being responsible for its execution, no matter whether the horses were intended for the regulars or for the citizen forces! The plan was speedily abandoned, it is true; but it was abandoned, not because it actually proposed to place the Expeditionary Force on the same footing in this matter as the Territorials, but because it was a hopelessly ineffectual project for registering and classifying horses for military purposes in any case. The requirements of the Expeditionary Force are totally different from those of the citizen army, as Not only must the Expeditionary Force be mobilised complete within a very few days of the order being given, but it is not unlikely to find itself face to face with the enemy within three weeks of the emergency arising. Not only must its horses be of the proper class for the work they will have to do, but they must also be in thoroughly hard condition. The position of the Territorial troops is entirely different. There is, in the first place, by no means the same hurry, because the home defence army is practically certain not to be called upon to fight until after the Expeditionary Force has gone. Then, again, even those who view our arrangements for protecting the United Kingdom with the greatest distrust, only at the worst look upon invasion as a possibility. When the Regulars are mobilised and sent abroad, they will almost certainly be required to fight, and that speedily; but the Territorials might be mobilised a dozen times and might never fire a shot. The mobilisation schemes for the two separate categories of our land forces should in fact be kept as distinct in respect to horses as they are kept distinct in respect to personnel. A few observations will be offered further on with reference to providing the necessary remounts for the citizen army; but for the present it is only proposed to consider the position of the First Line. Horses required for army a moment's purposes divide themselves of consideration will serve to course, in the first place, into two classes, riding horses and draught horses. Riding horses may be said to roughly subdivide themselves again into two further classes. There is the type of animal suitable for cavalry chargers and for acting as the mounts of officers and non-commissioned officers in the artillery. Then again there is the cob type, which is adapted for mounted infantry and for doing duty as the infantry officer's and noncombatant officer's charger. The latter type is plentiful in the country-so much so that, given adequate arrangements, the problem of procuring the necessary number of cobs in hard condition, all of them broken to saddle, should offer little difficulty. The cavalry charger class is not to be found in at all the same quantities; but, as a matter of fact, very large numbers of this type of animal are not required to mobilise the Expeditionary Force. Of the 44,000 horses needed altogether, only about 9000 would be riding horses, and almost half of these might apparently be cobs. The truth is that the remount problem in connection with cavalry has received a great deal of attention of late years, and this branch of the service is upon the whole reasonably well provided for. It has been fortunate for our Dragoons and Hussars and Lancers that Sir J. French and Sir D. Haig have held influential positions at and about headquarters, for in addition to their special acquaintance with cavalry requirements, both of them pos sess that invaluable gift, the gift of getting things done. Thanks largely to their influence and to their efforts, very nearly enough horses fit for service to turn out the three squadrons per regiment at their full war strength, are now actually kept in troop stables. The "boarded out horses, moreover, provide a nucleus of fully trained animals in addition; a few of these ought to be ready to take the field practically at once, and most of them ought to be ready to take their place in the ranks after a few weeks in military charge. There appears to be in reality no disquieting lack of the right type of mounts for cavalry purposes in the United Kingdom, nor does the number seem to be rapidly decreasing. One hears stories of buyers for foreign armies draining the market in Ireland, and suggestions are put forward from time to time with the idea of putting a check upon this. It has even been proposed to impose an export tax. But so far from this foreign buying being hurtful, it is in reality a perfect godsend, because it stimulates breeding. Still, if the cavalry is now fairly well off, the position of the mounted infantry is absolutely deplorable. It is not that much difficulty is to be anticipated in procuring the necessary number of cobs to mobilise these troops-there are plenty of such animals in the United Kingdom, as stated above. But the idea of placing partially trained troops of this class on steeds which are not broken in a military sense, and of despatching them at a few days' notice to meet efficient cavalry in action, is preposterous. The contingent which it is at present proposed to include in the Expeditionary Force requires, all told, 2583 riding animals, and it is doubt ful if the troop stables at Longmoor could turn out 600 fit to take the field; in other words, quite 70 per cent of the men will be launched on active service bestriding mounts untrained to military exercises. Happily there seems to be some hope that mounted infantry will ere long be reduced to a mere fraction of the establisment at present laid down, and it may even disappear altogether out of the Expeditionary Force.1 But unless something of this kind be in prospect, the horsing question in connection with this category of troops seems primarily to be one of casting and replacing every cob borne on the peace establishment which cannot be regarded as fit to take the field (apart, of course, from temporary illness or injury), and of then adding hundreds to that peace establishment if stabling can be found and if men can be made available to look after them. As regards riding horses required for other branches of the service on mobilisation, these ought not to be difficult to procure if a proper organisation existed. There are plenty of such animals available in the country, and the total number of remounts to be taken over for this purpose would only amount to a very few thousand. The problem of procuring the additional riding horses is in fact one that should be easily overcome if the subject were only effectually grappled with. The draught horses needed to mobilise the Expeditionary Force are of what is generally described as the light draught class. But as a matter of fact this light draught class may be said to consist of two somewhat different types. There is the powerful, thick set animal which a few years ago was so familiar in the omnibuses of our great cities - the horse which is indispensable as the wheeler of a gun-team, but which ought furthermore to be used universally for draught purposes in the field artillery, if procurable. There is also the somewhat lighter class of horse which is used in civil life in less cumbrous vehicles than an omnibus, and which may be set down as adapted for military transport work as a whole. The two types of 1 This seems to depend upon the return of the four cavalry regiments now in South Africa. It is not quite clear whether they remain out there owing to want of barracks at home, or in consequence of some ill-advised promise made to the Union Government. But if there is one thing more unmistakably taught than another by the history of that region for the last five-and-thirty years, it is that serviceable mounted troops can be raised locally at the shortest notice. It may be well to leave a garrison of infantry and artillery and engineers out there until the Defence Minister has set his house in order; but the cavalry should be brought home without delay. course merge into each other; but, speaking generally, they represent animals which are employed for comparatively speaking fast work on on the roads of the United Kingdom, and which on that account are tending to disappear. The introduction of mechanical transport is diminishing the numbers of such horses that are available, and it is this falling off that constitutes the most disquieting symptom in connection with the problem of army horses. Of the 44,000 animals required to mobilise the Expeditionary Force, about 35,000 are draught animals; and over 10,000 of these will apparently be required for the artillery. The vanishing of the omnibus horse adds enormously to the difficulty of securing the requisite gun horses at very short notice; and it is most unfortunate that more effective steps are not being taken by those responsible at Army Headquarters to face the embarrassment which unavoidable circumstances has created. The field artillery, which we propose to utilise for oversea warfare, needs to be particularly wellhorsed, seeing that it is equipped with an especially powerful, and therefore exceptionally heavy gun. The weight behind the gun-team is greater than in any Continental field artillery. It exceeds that in Austria-Hungary by 2 cwt., 1 that in France by 3 cwt., that in Germany by 5 cwt., and that in Italy by 6 cwt. Lord Haldane and Colonel Seely have expressed anxiety on this subject recently, and the matter is no doubt "receiving consideration" in Whitehall-but one knows what that means. The mobilisation of the transport has of course to be thought of too. Motor vehicles are rapidly superseding all except the lightest forms of horsedrawn vehicles in our towns, and to a less extent in the country, and the consequence is that the light draught horse is becoming scarcer and scarcer. It is quite true that mechanical transport has superseded horsedraught to some extent even in the Expeditionary Force, decreasing the total number of remounts required on mobilisation by some 8000 or so; but that represents a reduction of less than 20 per cent on the total formerly required, and it is doubtful whether much more can be effected in this direction. The saving has, moreover, mainly been in transport horses, not in artillery horses, and artillery horses offer the greatest difficulty. Ireland fortunately continues to produce fair numbers of animals suitable for gun-teams, because the Irishman is not content with the clumsy, slack-loined beast with which the English farmer is satisfied for farm work; but owing to the de 1 A somewhat different stamp of horse is required for horse artillery from that best suited for field artillery; but the horse artillery of the Expeditionary Force only comprises six batteries with the affiliated ammunition columns, and conditions of space forbid dealing especially with this minor branch. creasing demand for horses of Army, as will be pointed out this class on this side of St George's Channel, breeding them on the other side has received a check. It must also be remembered that, even when the Irish farm horse is of the right build for artillery purposes, the question of condition has to be considered. The horse taken out of an omnibus was ready to be harnessed to a gun straight away; but the same horse taken up from slow farm-work and soft diet would require two or three months in military charge before becoming fit to take its place on active service. Seeing that the light draught horse in general is so much on the decrease in the United Kingdom, the question suggests itself whether the heavier types, the Shire horse and the English farm horse, might not be used for military purposes. It remains to be seen whether mechanical traction will in course of time appreciably diminish the number of Shire horses in the country, but the motor system is already being introduced for vehicles of the brewer's-dray character. These animals are delicate by nature, however, and they are therefore unsuitable for army work. The farm horse outside of Ireland, besides being a slow mover, is of a stamp difficult to keep in condition under the hardships of an active campaign, even supposing that the animal starts in hard condition which could hardly be the case. At the same time the ordinary farm horse might prove useful to the Territorial further on. In so far as the Expeditionary Force is concerned, we do not seem to be able to get away from the fact that great numbers of light draught horses in hard condition will be needed to mobilise it, that the numbers actually available for the purpose are diminishing, and that the time has come to deal with the matter in the serious spirit in which the question of mounting our cavalry in peace and war has already been dealt with. Certain steps taken at Army Headquarters of comparatively recent date have no no doubt somewhat improved the situation. An elaborate organisation has recently been set on foot with the object of registering and classifying all the horses in the country which are adjudged to be suitable for military work on mobilisation, so that, in theory at least, those that are considered fit can, if needed, be impressed at once. But all the registration and classification in the world will not produce animals of the right sort if they do not exist, nor does the mere fact of an officer or ex-officer classifying a horse as fit for a gun-team ensure that the animal is really fit for a gun-team. Moreover, all these measures which have been initiated with such flourish of trumpets, and all these announcements which have been made on the subject of impressment when the occasion arises, are somewhat discouraging to the horse owners who happen to maintain animals a |