Page 253 - clra62_0019-(GIPE)

THE STANDARD OF STRENGTH FOil O~"'.L.A.. 245
States liable to internal dis5i ler anX which Jnust main-.
tain large armies initiates a ~vmpetition in arming inter-
nationally which there is no means of getting rid of.
We are saved from th~ international competition, or
think we are saved, by a preponderant Navy; but we
must not deplore the fact itself as if it were altogether
preventible. I doubt if we can say that the expense of
the additional armaments undertaken by some Govern-
ments beyond what is nt!cessary for internal defence is
in actual conditions a great or serious burden.
The second object of an army in an empire like that
of England appears to be the garrisoning of the mother
country so as to prevent raids upon fortified positions
or dep6ts or commercial centres, or even raids of a wider
range, at the outbreak of a war, and in the interval
which may elapse before our preponderance at sea is
converted into overwhelming superiority in fact by the
defeat and destruction of the enemy's fleets. What kind
of raid we should be prepared against, assuming our
actual preponderance at sea, is of course a question of
detail; but judging by the experience of histo:y, and
allowing for the greater mobility now given by steam
as compared with the facility of movement formerly,
I should say that we ought always to have in view
in a great war with a naval Power the possibility of
a descent of 20,000 or 30,000 men upon Ireland-in a
war, for instance, between us and a Power like France,
which has numberless soldiers and a considerable fleet
at its disposal. Up to the limit stated, the launching
against us of an expeditionary force which is prepared
to face the prospect of being cut off or blockaded, for
the sake of striking a serious blow and shaking the
nerve of the English Government, seems always pos-
sible by way of surprise even without command of the
sea by our enemy. Perhaps twenty large ships alto-
gether, perhaps ten only. would suffice for the whole
expedition, which might save bulky transport, for in-
stance. by relying for a beginning of success on assist-
ance in the shape of transport to be obtained in Ireland