HALDANE OF CLOAN, I sr Viscocorr, British lawyer and statesman: b. Perthshire, 30 July 18%. Richard Burdon Haldane was educated at Edinburgh Academy and the uni versities of Edinburgh and GOttingen. Before he went abroad to continue his studies he had taken his M.A. degree and 1st class honors in philosophy. he had won the Gray Scholarship, the Ferguson Scholarship of the four Scottish universities and the Bruce of Grangehill medal. At Gottingen he studied metaphysics under Professor Lotze. Returning to England, he took up law, was called to the Chancery Bar in 1879, became queen's counsel in 1890, and a bencher of Lincoln's Inn in 1893. His political career began in 1885, when he was elected Liberal M.P. for Haddingtonshire, Scotland. Mr. Haldane had to wait nearly 21 years be fore his services could be rewarded with an office, and then he directly stepped into one of the most important positions under the Crown, namely, Secretary of State for War, to which he was nominated by the new Premier, Sir Henry Campbell-Bannerman, in December 1905. Considerable surprise was expressed at the choice of a lawyer and philosopher to take over the administration of the army, which, for some inscrutable reason, had long been reputed an inefficient and neglected organization. The in efficiency referred to did not lie with the soldiers, whether regulars or volunteers, but with the civilian heads of the War Office; so rampant and notorious, indeed, was this evil that "War Office" and "Muddle" were popu larly regarded as synonymous terms. Promi nent British soldiers, politicians, civilians and newspapers had for many years vainly clamored for a strong and efficient army, pointing to Britain's modern wars as painful examples of "muddling through," the army being in no case prepared for the task expected of it. So far as the regulars were concerned, there was no finer body of professional soldiers in any coun try, for the men were encouraged to remain and serve 21 years and retire on pensions in stead of, as is especially the custom with the rank and file of conscript armies, returning to civil life on completing their short obligatory active service. Outside of the regulars, Great Britain possessed a civilian army of about 250,000 young men, "volunteers," who did their soldiering in such time as they could spare from their work. They paid their own expenses and received little or no assistance from the government; their officers were for the most part retired regulars, but there was no official minimum of drill. Together with the yeo manry they constituted a peace army, illsuited and ill-equipped for war. No practical steps were taken to utilize this valuable ma terial till Mr. Haldane became Secretary for War. Yet the volunteers were, on occasion, more than "Saturday Afternoon Soldiers"—as they were often derisively termed. Large num bers offered their services and fought in the Egyptian and South African wars. Mr. Hal
dane set himself to reorganize the whole force by co-ordinating the volunteers, militia and yeomanry with the regulars. In 1907 he in troduced the Territorial Forces Act, "by which all the volunteers were changed into territorials or second-line troops, drilled, administered and financed by the army authorities. The loose, haphazard system of "membership" was re placed by a four-years' enlistment, and cavalry and artillery were added — which the old regime lacked. Curiously enough, while many military and civil personages bestowed praise upon the scheme and labored with the county associations to make it a success, there were not a few who condemned the innovation and prophesied its failure. Even the veteran Lord Roberts assailed it as being only a half-measure, totally inadequate for a great emergency — which he foretold years before 1914. The critics were right in their way; on behalf of the War Minister it must be acknowledged, how ever, that he did the best that was possible with the material at his hands — under voluntary en listment. He also initiated the "Officers Train ing Corps° from the university cadets; he made the general staff a power in the army and throughout the empire; he perfected the expedi tionary force and backed it with a special re serve; above all, he restored public confidence in the War Office. In 1911 he was created Vis count, and in 1912 he succeeded Lord Loreburn as Lord High Chancellor of England, thus crowning a legal career which began with his call to the bar 36 years earlier. Although he was the object of much criticism as War Min ister, Lord Haldane's high judicial qualifications were indisputable. After the outbreak of the Eu ropean War a strong volume of public opinion turned against him. Years before he had com mitted the indiscretion of describing Germany as his "spiritual home," and had on numerous occasions publicly lauded German philosophy, education and national efficiency. Moreover, he had been a personal friend of the Kaiser; he had made numerous official and unofficial visits to Berlin, and had acted as the British agent in negotiations with the German govern ment relating to the "Naval Holiday" scheme. Almost amusing was the torrent of abuse poured upon Lord Haldane in certain sections of the British press for his alleged pro-Germanism, while simultaneously the German press abused him still more violently as a "treacherous friend." On the formation of Mr. Asquith's Coalition Cabinet in May 1915 Lord Haldane resigned his office and was decorated with the Order of Merit by the king. He published 'Essays in Philosophical Criticism' • 'Life of Adam Smith' ; a translation (with Mr. Kemp) of Schopenhauer's 'World as Will and Idea' ; and Empire); 'The Pathway to Reality.' See GREAT BRITAIN — ARMY.