A struggle, which must have been severe, between the Government
and the Court, has ended in a victory for the former. The War Office is tired of seeing its reforms frustrated or spoil& by the group of high officers at the Horse Guards, and has supported Sir Garnet Wolseley, who thinks that an army can be made efficient with short service, for the Adjutant- Generalship. The Duke of Cambridge resisted, and even, it is announced, spoke, like Prince Bismarck, of resigning ; but the War Office was firm, and the Times of Friday announces that Sir Garnet will be appointed on April 1st. That is well for the time, but a far wider reform is rapidly becoming indispens- able. It is absurd that a responsible Minister should have all this friction to overcome within his own office, and because of the resistance of his own nominal subordinates. The Army could be governed by a War Minister through a permanent Adjutant-General, as strictly under his orders as any other per- manent Under-Secretary, much better than it is now. Parlia- ment would then at last control the Army it pays.
