On the formation of Mr. Gladstone's Government in 1880 I was offered by him, and accepted, the appointment of Surveyor General of the Ordnance.
Mr. Childers, on becoming Minister for War in 1880, at once took vigorous measures to bring to maturity the changes which had been instituted by Lord Cardwell, but of which some, from one cause or another, had been rather retarded. One of his first acts was to complete the localisation of the infantry regiments in counties, which had been so strongly recommended by Colonel Stanley's[122] Commission of 1877; and which is now exercising so beneficial an influence in welding the regular and militia forces, and in the gradual formation of local ties and associations. Another measure, introduced in 1881, was an increase in the pay and pension of non-commissioned officers, and the appointment of those in the higher grades as warrant officers. Essential as it is to maintain the system of short service for private soldiers, as affording the only method of creating a reserve and of giving strength and elasticity to the army in war, it is at the same time desirable that a proportion of the non-commissioned officers should be induced to prolong their duties in the ranks. The same difficulty, it may be observed, is felt, and the same remedy adopted, in the chief European armies, where considerable advantages as to pay, pensions, and ultimate civil employment are given to non-commissioned officers who extend their service.
Principles of Promotion and Retirement of Officers
Amongst the many problems which have to be considered and solved by the War Office, none perhaps is more complex than that of providing a system of promotion for officers in order that a sufficient proportion of the most capable may attain to the higher positions at a time of life when their previous experience can be fully utilised. The great and real difficulty may be explained in a few words. In the army, as probably in every profession more or less, the number of employments available for the higher ranks is comparatively limited, whilst the junior branches are crowded with young men, all full of life and energy, gradually gaining experience, and all animated with the one laudable hope of rising to the top. In the military profession perhaps more than in others, the organisation of ranks is strictly defined as to numbers, and is supposed to require a considerable excess of officers in the lower grades, who, in time of peace at all events, have not adequate occupation, and some of whom as the years pass away, losing their zeal and activity, become unfitted for responsible posts, when their long deferred opportunity arrives.
There are two methods of partially solving the difficulty: one, which is now mainly in force in the British army, is a graduated scale of compulsory retirements with pensions at certain fixed ages. No doubt it tends to clear the list, and thus to make room for the juniors. But it has great drawbacks; first of all in its excessive cost, and secondly, that it does not in reality discriminate between the efficient and the inefficient. Age alone being the criterion, it often happens that promising officers who have no wish to retire, are compelled to do so—and this is not only a hardship on individuals, but injurious to the State, in depriving it of men who carry away with them into private life valuable experience gained in various parts of the world. It is, in short, a system which, if rigidly enforced, is costly in both senses, without adequate benefit to the army. In 1876 a commission under Lord Penzance investigated and reported on the subject, and it is chiefly on their recommendations that the above arrangements were adopted.
There are, however, other ways of meeting the difficulty which would at all events tend to remove some of these objections. In the first place it must be remembered that the duties of the British army are far more varied and severe than is the case with the Continental powers. More than half our troops are always at foreign stations. Many officers, therefore, as they arrive at middle life, and whose health has suffered from tropical climates, find themselves compelled to retire; and a scheme of voluntary, in lieu of compulsory, pensions would meet their cases without injuring capable officers, and without inflicting individual hardships. But there is another and a more efficacious mode of meeting the difficulty; namely, by a careful reorganisation of ranks. Lord Penzance's Commission was quite alive to this alternative, and said that a reorganisation of ranks would meet the question in another way, would be less costly, and would prevent the loss of valuable officers, but that it was beyond their instructions. As I have already mentioned, the present organisation rests on the hypothesis that a fixed proportion of officers is requisite in each rank, with a vast preponderance of juniors. But is this really essential? Now it so happens that of late years considerable modifications have been made in every army in Europe except our own, tending to reduce the disparity. On the Continent the infantry regiments, for instance, are now organised in double companies under mounted officers, and the cavalry in squadrons. It is held that under the modern system of fighting such arrangements are more efficient; and they virtually lead to an increase in the upper, and a diminution in the lower, ranks, which in point of promotion is exactly the remedy wanted.
Mr. Childers in 1881 introduced changes with this two-fold object in view, and the following table exemplifies the result in an infantry regiment of two battalions.
| Ranks | Establishment before 1881 | Establishment after 1881 | ||||
| Lieut.-Colonels | 2} | 4} | ||||
| Majors | 4} | 6 | 8} | 12 | ||
| Captains | 20} | 14} | ||||
| Lieutenants | 32} | 52 | 30} | 44 | ||
| — | — | |||||
| Total | 58 | 56 | ||||
By the old plan the number of field officers to juniors was, as will be seen, 6 to 52—or 1 to 8-2/3. By the new one it became 12 to 44 or 1 to 3-2/3. It will be evident at once that the prospects of the juniors as regards promotion were greatly improved, and it had the additional merit of being more economical as regards pensions, and further, as it is held by many that the new organisation is more efficient for war, it would appear to have everything in its favour. Unfortunately, owing to diversities of opinion, although the ranks were thus re-arranged, the battalions have never been divided into double companies; so that the most important part of the scheme has not been completed and remains untried. Indeed, the tendency during the last few years has been of a retrograde nature. In my opinion, the proportion of the ranks should be rigidly enforced so as to reduce the juniors to a minimum in time of peace, as being better in the interests of the officers, more in accordance with the requirements of modern warfare, and more economical to the State. The following figures giving the proportion of senior officers to juniors in the army in 1884 and 1894 respectively, will illustrate my argument, and will afford proof that the changes made three or four years ago have injuriously affected the prospects of young officers in respect to promotion.
| 1884 | 1894 | |
| Number of General and Field Officers | 2,586 | 2,128 |
| Number of Captains and Lieutenants | 5,601 | 6,723 |
| —— | —— | |
| 8,187 | 8,851 |