requirements, were prematurely placed at the disposal of the
department.]

[Sidenote: Mr. Stanhope's two corps exceeded.]

There was little breathing time between the successive embarkations of
the mobilised divisions from the commencement on 20th October, 1899,
to the completion on 18th April, 1900, with the result that in the
space of six months more than the equivalent of the two army corps and
the cavalry division, laid down in Mr. Stanhope's memorandum as that
which we should be prepared to send abroad in case of necessity, had
left our shores. By the despatch of these troops, followed by later
demands for reinforcements, our organised field army was practically
exhausted, and home defence, "the primary duty" of the whole army, was
enfeebled to a dangerous degree. In place of the army corps, "partly
composed of regulars and partly of Militia," required by the
memorandum, there remained for home service a few regular troops, some
hastily formed "Reserve Battalions," and such of the embodied Militia,
the Yeomanry, and the Volunteers, as had not already gone abroad--all
being for the most part unorganised, partially trained, and not fully
equipped.

[Sidenote: Demand exceeds supply of units.]

Mr. Stanhope's view of the "improbable probability"[16] of the
employment of "an army corps in the field in any European war"--and if
not in Europe, then where else?--certainly not in South Africa--had
had its effect. In respect of numbers, it imposed a limit on the
powers of preparation; and the condition of affairs was precisely
expressed by the following sentence: "The war conclusively proved,
therefore, that Mr. Stanhope's memorandum did not make sufficient
allowance for the general needs of the Empire."[17]

[Footnote 16: "... But it will be distinctly understood that
the probability of employment of an army corps in the field
in any European war is sufficiently improbable to make it the
primary duty of the military authorities to organise our
forces efficiently for the defence of their country."--Mr.
Stanhope's memorandum. See pp. 5, 6.]

[Footnote 17: Extract from note placed before the Royal
Commission by Lieutenant-General Sir William Nicholson. A.
18,245.]

_Intelligence and Maps._

Whatever interpretation might be placed as between the Governments on
the accumulation of warlike stores in the Transvaal and Free Stat