THE ROYAL ARTILLERY INSTITUTION. 219 
upon its military ^centre—that is to say, its main arsenal and the seat of 
its manufactories of war materiel. When, however, both of these objec¬ 
tive points not only lie close together, but are also unfortified into the 
bargain, no room can remain for hesitation. Such a combination 
presents the example of two prizes of unequalled magnitude, which may 
both be won by a single cast of the die. From the above considerations, 
therefore, it would appear that the main arsenal—if such it is to be— 
should be established well in the interior of the country, at some great 
strategic centre tolerably remote from the capital, and there fortified 
with all the art that engineering skill and science can command. Nor 
should the main arsenal only be fortified in itself, but it should also be 
further protected by other fortified places in the vicinity. 
The Strategic Points occupied by the Army. 
The situation occupied by a main arsenal should evidently not only be 
a great strategic centre itself, always containing a considerable amount 
of troops, but should also possess easy communications radiating in every 
direction towards other strategic points permanently occupied by the 
army. These communications form at once the channels of supply for 
the depots established at the various district head-quarters, and at the 
same time afford the means of rapidly pouring the troops from other 
parts of the country into the common reservoir of the entrenched camp 
surrounding the place of arms. Since we have already inaugurated a 
system of decentralisation as regards men, by the localisation of the 
forces and the establishment of depot centres, it would appear to be 
only a logical result of our military policy that a similar decentralisation 
with regard to war materiel should soon take place. Since, in principle, 
each tactical unit should be prepared to take the field direct from its 
own head-quarters, it is evident that the depot centres should comprise 
depots of supply sufficient for the provision of at any rate arms, clothing, 
tents, and camp equipage. These depots would, however, be merely 
supplementary to those established at important strategic points in the 
various military districts. These latter should be, at any rate, second- 
class arsenals, but how far they should be charged with the manufacture 
of war materiel remains to be considered. 
Presence of Baiv Material. 
One of the chief considerations which usually govern the establish¬ 
ment of manufactories of the ordinary commodities of commerce, and 
which, strategy apart, we conceive to be to a great extent applicable 
to that of those intended for the manufacture of warlike stores, is the 
presence of the raw material. Great manufactories of ordinary articles 
are usually established in localities producing the crude material, and these, 
in the course of time, become great centres of industry, attracting within 
their sphere large populations of skilled artisans and of miscellaneous 
labourers of all kinds. In the first instance, the presence of coal and 
iron has generally been the motive for the commencement of our 
principal manufacturing industries; and the labouring population, 
29 
