* * * * *
The results of the British system are shown in the following table,
which gives, from the Army Estimates, the numbers of the various
constituents of the British army on the 1st of January 1909. There were
at that date in the United Kingdom:---
Regular forces ........................ 123,250
Army reserve .......................... 134,110
Special reserves ...................... 67,780
Militia ............................... 9,158
Territorial force ..................... 209,977
Officers' training corps .............. 416
________
Total in the United Kingdom ...... 544,691
In Egypt and the Colonies:--
Regular forces ........................ 45,002
The British troops in India are paid for by the Indian Government and do
not appear in the British Army Estimates. Of the force maintained in the
United Kingdom, it will be observed that it falls, roughly, into three
categories.
In the first place come the first-rate troops which may be presumed to
have had a thorough training for war. This class embraces only the
regulars and the army reserve, which together slightly exceed a quarter
of a million. In the second class come the 68,000 of the special
reserve, which, in so far as they have enjoyed the six months' training
laid down in the recent reorganisation, could on a sanguine estimate be
classified as second-class troops, though in view of the fact that their
officers are not professional and are for the most part very slightly
trained, that classification would be exceedingly sanguine.
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