The Sun. — London, England, 1804-06-06 00:00:00

thlt teen months since any of those Bills were in force) what might be exoefted from such a prin ciple constantly operating ? What vast benefit might be supposed likely to result from the adoption of such a system ? I certainly so far flatter myself, as to suppose that the beeefits likely to result from ti7e adoption of such a system, would be superior to any thing that could be expected from carrying into ef fea any ideas or plans which have hitherto been. anugested or stated by any Hon. Member of - this douse. As to the mode which I shall point out, I confess it differs, in some respeas,,from that which upon a ormer night I stated to the House. I cer tainly much disaielove of the system which is now in force, of calling upon an individual, under severe penalties, either to serve (if drawn) in the Army of Reserve, or pay a fine, which may often be in the highest degree inconvenient: As it stands under the Ad ot Parliament now in force, a person who is drawn for the Army of Reserve, and cannot serve, must pay a fine of zol. and also be liable to a re petition of that fine annually. The Parishes which were deficient were also liable, not only to a fine of 201. for every man deficient, but also to a repe. tition of that fine every Quarter Sessions. This liability to Parishes, as well as to individuals, accounted very sufficiently for the competition which now existed, and for the high bounties whi c h were given; it was not to bet supposed that either individual, or parish so circumstanced, would not offer very high bounties, to extricate them. selves from the penalties they would otherwise incur ; and those bounties, so springing from the high penalties ittflifted by the interfere most materially with the recruiting for the Army. I do not mean by this observation to call into ques tion the principle upon which the House passed the Army. of Reserve Act; but I hope, that whereas the intention of it was merely as a measure of tem porary defence, it will be found, that in the expe rience of it, it has pointed out a means for the per manent increase of oar Regular Army. Without, therefore, examining the principle of that measure which Parliament then adopted, I am content to preserve all the advantages of it. I had before pro posed.a mode cf ballot by which every person who should be drawn was immediately liable to serve, under the penalty of a certain moderate fine. I expressed my opinion, that the fine for not serving should be very moderate, and that the ballot for supplying the vacancies should be made frequently, in order to try whether there were any in the Dis. tria who would prefer serving in person, with the receipt of this additional bounty, to paying the fine, however moderate. This was the idea which first occurred me to me; I must confess, however, that I have, upon very deliberate consideration, so far varied from the opinion which I at first formed, as now to declare that I think we should lay aside en. ;hely all that part of the plan which calls upon in. dividuals, and call diretaly upon the Country for that proportion which they ought to furnish in the pro portion of their population ; for instance, if r z,OOO men is wanting, they should be called for from the different Counties, en the scale and in the pro. portion in which the Militia are now raised. As the Counties should, upon this plan, be called opal, direaly to contribute their quota, so at the meetings of Sub-Lieutenants, a similar representa tion ot the, number to be raised in that distrid should also be made ; and when it has come so far, I think, instead of having a ballot in every Parish to ascertain who shall serve, the Parish itself should be bound to furnish that number of men which it was its proportion to furnish, or else pay a certain moderate fine to be imposed. It is by no means my wish or my object to form a recruiting fund from . those fines ; all I wish is, to stimulate as much as possible, all ranks and descriptions of people, to m eke use of every exertion, and of all the advan tages which local influence gave them, to raise, in their distriet, that number of men which was the proportion of their district. As to the general ex pences of .the Recruiting Service, I think it should be paid from the general fund of the Nation ; and if I wish to impose any fine upon the Parishes in case of deficiency, it will be only for the purpose of sti mulating their exertions to raise their quota. I &hould not, however, propose a fine on the Parishes which should be deficient, gteater or equal to that which, by the present laws, they are liable to; if they were able to find their quota, they should be liable to tio fine. If they did raise the number re qaired of them, I should then propose, that the Receiver General of the Land Tax of the County should pay all over the stipulated bounty, for the Recruits they had raised, and so the local ex. ertions of individuals in their Parishes would be superadded to the general exertion of the State for increasing the Army. From this combined ex ertion I should expea the greatest possible advan. tages ; but should I be somewhat sanguine in this resped, I must say, that, be the advantages great or small, no possible disadvantage can result from the adoption of it ; there will be no sacrifice of any other means or resource which the Country is now possess. ed t3f. This Plan will by no means exclude the ideas of any other Gentleman with resped to other more col lateral circuntetances. Some Gentlemen may be of opinion, that it is of the first-rate importance to better the situation of the Soldiery in general : this plan is by no means in opposition to that izi4:3 j on the contrary, that and any other Plan respehirg t:lts. , improvement of our iVlilitary System in general, was perfetE;y com patible with the Plan, and might be fully discusses' after its adoption. The Plan which I have now the honour to propose, does 'not interfere in the smallest degree either with any general abstrafl ideas of the Military System, or with any collateral views of the present questior; nor dces it in the least interfere with any resources which the Country may now possess. This Plan may now be adopted, and any other measures which may he proposed by any Hon. Gentleman for the additional Defence of the Country, may, on a future day, be adopted also. J feel, however, sanguine in my hope, that the princi ple which I i ave endeavoured to promote must meet t! e general approbation of the House. I trust most con;idently, that it will have the support of those Gentlemen (honking at the Benches where Mr. WIND/JAM and his 'Friends.usually sit), who have so often and so strenuottsly laboured to impress upon the House the necessity of augmenting, in a consi. derable degree, the numbers of our Regular Army. They have felt strongly, that Unless our Regular Army was put t:; on a scale proportioned to that rank which the Country ought to hold, that we should never be able, in war, to take any of those advantages which the circumstances of the times might present for effecting those grand objea, of national policy, and the deliverance of Europe, which they have had so much at heart. I there fore cannot doubt but I shall have their support on the present question. I also trust that those 1 who have felt strongly the hardships and burdens to which individuals are liable, under the present system of raising men by ballot, will join with Me in opinion, that the necessary burden for the defence of the State should not fall so heavily as it has done upon individuals, but that it should be borne by the Nation. It is undoubtedly hard, that infirmity of constitution, or the necessity of providing for a family, which may render it alroast impossible for many ballotted men to serve personally, should also expose them to the heavy penalties, which the existing laws impose upon those who do not choose to serve ; this hard. ship upon individuals has been felt so strongly, and described so eloquently by many Gentle men of this House, that I cannot have a doubt of their support in carrying into effet that very prin. ciple which they have laid down so clearly, and de scribed so well. The consequences of this ballot under the present system, are the enormous boun ties which absolutely prevent the recruiting in the regular way for the Army ; but it must follow, of course, that when individuals or parishes are liable to the present severe penalties for every man that does not serve, they will give bounties for Substi tutes superior • to any thing that has been settled as the Bounty for persons enlisting in the Army of the Line. I do not mean to state that unless the Plan I now propose be adopted, that there are no means left of saving the Country ; I do not doubt but a very considerable additional Force might still be raised upon the principle and the system of the Army of Reserve but I will state, that an equal body of meocould be raised with much less hardship and inconvenience to individuals, and for a more general and important description of set vice, by the Plan which I have now'. the honour to propose. If the Parishes which are called on for their quota shall by their exertions be able to raise them, it is my plan that the whole of the expence of the Boun ties shall be paid out of_ the general Fund of the Nation, and that the Parishes should be only called upon for their exertions to raise the number of men required ; but if through negligence, or any other cause, the Parish should be deficient in its quota, then, and not sooner, I think a moderate fine should be imposed upon them, something higher than the Bounties for the men deficient. Those fines I should, therefore, propose to form into a Recruiting Fund, in aid of the Nation Fund for that purpose ; and I should also propose, in such cases, that the Military Officers of that DistriEl should have liber ty to recruit generally, at the established Bounty, for the number of men that such Parishes should be so deficient, and that the fine 3 should be recovered by a summary mode of proceeding. I cannot but sup- pose that many of those recruited for limited services would, when they had by habit acquired a taste for a Military life, be found ready to enlist for a more general service. The Plan which I now propose appears to me to be at least worth the trial, on this account, that it is not liable to produce any bad consequences, even if it does not produce all those advantages which I am sanguine enough to hope from it. It is no new measure that I now call for, which is to be supported by new and severe re gulations ; it is only to do that which Parliament had already resolved to do, • namely, to complete the Army of Reserve and Militia up to that number which has been voted ; and as for severity, instead of laying any new 'or severe regulations, my objeet is to take away all that severity and hardship to which individuals are now exposed, by the system which prevails of raising men, either by ballot or by excessive fine. I propose, in the first instance, to free the parishes from the fines and arrears which they have at present incurred ; and When .it is re colleaed that they were liable to the recurrence of the 20-7. penalty every Quarter Session, this must be deemed a very considerable relief. They will be immediately freed from their liability to pay heavy fines, and for the future principally be called on not to - pay money, but to use diligence, and to make proper exertions to procure their propor tion of recruits, which are to receive their boun ties, not from the parishes, but from the public purse. Such, Sir, are my ideas with resped to the. mode by which the men are to be raised. Having thus described the nature and extent of the Force to be raised by the Plan which I now intend to submit to the House, I proceed to consider the second head of my arrangement, viz. the descrips tion of the Force, and the nature of the services to which it is to be applied. Upon this part of my subjeEt, however, it will not be necessary for me to trouble the House at any great lengns. I have in a great measure before stated the nature of the Force which appeared to me best calculated to an swer the purpose which the Legislature had in view, and the particular sort of service in which it was necessary they should be employed. It would be needless for me now to enter minutely into a de. tail of this nature, as my ideas on this head are without any material variation the same as those which I formerly had the honour of stating to the House. The limitation of the Force is conform. Bole to that which exists under the present Army of Posaerve Ad.: it is to subsist for five years, unless dismissed i ss sfore the end of that period, upon the Ratification of a- l o ?sfinitive Treaty of Peace; still, however, to he suhjaa . to any farther call, that, under particular circurnstancos a may be made upon them before the conclusion of the War, in case it should last longer than the limited term. Jn the next place, this Force is not to be compelled to se. - ye in any other situation than in Great Britain and trlt;. t. 'slant's of the Channel, such as Guernsey, Jersey, and the other Islands more immediately connected with this Country. Such are the limitations of the service to which this Force is to be applied, which, it will be observed, are stridly conform able to the limitations that before existed on tins subjea—now then, as to the mode in which it will be proper to arrange this Force, so as to make their services as effetaual as possible to answer I the exigcncica of the State. On this part of the subjea kis scarcely necessary to observe, that the Regular Arrny is the most excellent sort of Force which we possess in point of discipline, and every quality requisite to form the complete soldier. Ihe nearer then the description of Force to which I have been adverting approaches to the Regular Army, and the more intimately it is conneaed with it, the better chance does it afford of being rendered fully adequate to every purpose of internal Defence, and of powerful and effedual resistance in case the EneMY should dare to tempt their fate by landing in this Country. The object proposed,therefore, is to attach the Battalions of the Artny of Reserve to those of the Regular Troops. The natural effect of this will be, that the promotions will be regularly carried on ' from one to the other of these Battalions, so that the senior Officer in one situation will be the junior in the next place to which he is promoted, and a perpetual interchange of Officers will be the result, which must be attended with the best possible effects to the discipline of the. Army of Reserve, and to the general good of the service. The advantage must be immense to the discipline of the Reserve, for they will in a great measure have the benefit of being under the eye of Officers who have been engaged in actual service, and in this resped stand on a footing with a great part of our Troops of the Line. The Officer too, will have a great advantage ; for, when he has been at peculiar pains to train a body of men to the use of arms, and a mutual partiality has in consequence taken place between the Officers and the privates, then, though he in the course of promotion should he carried from one battalion to another, he has still the well-founded prosped, that the men whom he has trained may enlist in the Re- gular Army, and give him an opportunity of one day facing an enemy at their head. Tothe private men it will also be of the most striking service, by presenting an additional motive to petted themselves in their discipline, and to behave with that attention to their duty, and that` general propriety, which may. command the attachment, confidence, and esteem of • their Officers: The reason is obvious : if the Officer shall have a welLfounded prosped of commanding the men against an enemy which he himself has trained, the soldier is prevented from behaving in such a manner as to incur the disple'asure of his Officer, from the know ledge that it is not at all unlikely that he may be commanded by the very same Officer in the Regular Troops, though that Officer may, by promotion, be removed from one battalion to another. With regard then to the discipline of the Troops—with regard to the experience of the Officers—with regard to the attachment which will be mutually formed between Officers and Men, and with regard to the sort of intercourse, and family feeling that will be established among them, it is scarcely possible to dcubt that all these things together will be a source of solid and permanent advantage to the Military Establishment of this Country, (Cries of " Hear ! Hear !") There can be no doubt, that if 13,000 of the Atmy of Reserve entered into the Regular Army, when the Troops -were dispers ed in the manner in which they have been, the family intercourse 'which the present Plan will form among the Battalions of the Army of Reserve and of the Line, will be produc tive of much greater effects. How much greater may our confidence be in the result that will follow, when a Battalion of one sort is added to another of a different desctiption, when a mutual transfer takes place from one to another, and when we thus.form an additional motive to the Troops of the Reserve for enlisting into those of the Line, and at the same time augment. the diScipline of the former, and render them admirably -11 - tted• for every purposes of internal defence ? That this will be pro dudive of the greatest advantages no one can-deny, for while it. furnishes a more excellent:Force for the purposes of i n t erna l secur i t y, i t b ecomes a formid. able body, by its experience and opportunities, of exercising with the Troops of the Line. The Plan which I propose will render our security more complete, and without augmenting the num ber of the Force whiCh the Country is to fur_ . nish and maintain, I have improved its quality, and that in so eminent a degree, that 'it is scarcely possible to doubt, that one man, trained in the man ner which I have now mentioned, will be equal to. two men disciplined in the loose and irregular maoa ner in which the irregular troops are now disci plined. With no more troops than the number which the Legislature has already thought pro per to supply, I have doubled their value ; and• this, I apprehend, is the method of consulting true and advantageous economy ( Hear! Hear!). But this is not all. The Plan will be attended with the farther good effect of rendering the Regular Army more disposable, and considering the: advantages which the troops of the Reserve will derive from their intercourse with those of the Line,' it is not at all unlikely that they will ar rive at such a degree of discipline as to be fully ade quate of themselves to protect the Country. In such a Case, the whole of the Troops of the Line may be disposable, . and ready to •be employed in any. enter prize which the emergency of particular circum stances may require. As matters now stand, those who have the highest opinion of the Militia, and few can have a higher opinion : than I myself entertain, both of the Militia and cif the Army of Reserve ; those that have the highest ideas of the discipline, vigour, and bravery of both these descriptions, of Force, would still feel a considerable hesitation in trusting the internal Defence of the Country solely to them, without the aid of Regular Troops. And why would they feel this hesitation Because, whatever may be the bravery, the patri otism, and even the discipline of the irregular Forces, still every one feels that a considerabe de gree of - experience is necesary, in order to induce him to place entire confidence. in any description of Force. But what- will be the of sd of allowing the Army of, Reser.Ve to have the advantage acithe discipline of the Regular Troop's, and of thceieoserien - ce of tried Officers ? The of will be, that every impedlrlierit be removed that can p r event the free diaposal of the Regular Army; that Without shutting up tlc channEls of Recruiting for t h e gegular Army,, if we :fail, at tiny tune, twin.. so y patticulat cause in- the ordinary rn,:t hods of that Force, yet there will still remain a r 7o r l i t t rio ‘., ce. which, every ;3t“ pose of internal Defence, will be folly athaoiw: to the wants of the I 7 11 C,eorust: to r) I,e , ti, .I have,sl ; then, stated t!:!a:a ! in" the description of th4t F ' )rce , e ' F ) and the litnitation of its services, a nd ‘i th ';, two heads I have coupled the third, which wc" t the mode of raising this limited body. I hav e mained the methods to . be pursued, in "' der more effeaually to - attain the requisite riwilb i>u; which was not to be put in execution all at onc e ' , to be carried gradually into eirea. I have sta ted IP . the numbers should be limited to somewhere ah'!-`1:1 74,000 men, and that the Militia should be reduce' in the same proportion. The Militia and the SuPO - Militia are, at present, about 74 , 9 1 / 4 : , men, It is therefore proposed to reduce this f o rce, r` about 24,000 men less than its present establishment' and augment the new FO7CC in a similar Pr"l'f tion) which will raise it to about 74,00 0 me . ll ' the nutnber of the present Militia Establis hment.' The grounds of the Force will thus remain as M a " merly : for we have already exnerienced the g';',° effects of it in some degree : our resources in r• e " enticing will be greatly increased,. and our disposa' ble Troops considerably augmented. This. is Ol e great advantage of the me a sure which I am sh°9r to bring forward, that it affords the best rerriALldc a failure in recruiting by ordinary mean s, and, at J a he same time, it doer not, in any degree, block q' t he .! ordinary channels by which men are raised for ;t l2e . Regular Army ; nor is it of the stnallest inP rY to any other measure of Dalence which has. b/e : 1 , adopted, or that it may be in future n eces:nrY.„, adopt. I have thus briefly laid before the 14 05 1 : a , the outlines of the Plan Which I, thought. be 9 ' i. culated for our Defence in- the present Ci at stances of the Country, a.nd for . furnishinga: s°s. o o% force that may be permanently useful in a nY aa .,, d ' a aerr' '' stances that may in future occur. • 1--haVr;' ll " f ., to omitted one thins which it at ill be.. proper , advert to, and which properly belongs tq ( -abet head, which I mentioned as coupled with tt leit ioraf.•• two, viz, the mode of raising the propose 43 ", u .. l 'aas Force. What I antide to is, the: change 'Y' lic ; o ri taken place in my sentiments and plan +%. l t hr -7, is to the ballot. The reasons for this ch4ne pwreoi[glehr equallythat I s tsrhoonugld with state, t h aen Hdhoi'use pe ; vi • weighed with me (a cry " Hear! ilear ti f s s t oh ta ne t a e ui d inyi ,v o e n r na i ec fo ao d r n m e ot e l f r rr o ean ce c asion, and aPP ar t e i l .;i l ouly r a , moderate fine should be e e s x u o a t et: enormous bounty, which was exceedi l n7l c y ur o e p a p t.:st f . . g i 'l upon individuals, and obstructed the recruitiolo ste t id t t ie ufto H er onuostelserviing Teo., the Regular . Army. The same hardship VV , I S • often experienced by the,.Parish, upon which, b e ever, the burden of the ballot was intentleat tO ;i • thrown. But the question with me, since ed additional infOrination on this subject, has be f , l , Whether the ballot ought at Milo he continue (; oc' great objeft of the ballot was t.' procre a r personal service' - as possilite;an . 0110 Which naturally be expe&ed to result from the, hiihl a ii; ties which it became necessary to give fOr sn-ea; tutes ; but if the bounty or. the fine, was ani . cr e rha t - a 7 - than usual, the danger to be appraahentled less personal service could be obtained. I have . • 1 bf. and but very lately, had recourse to. thd,a,ceporP.o,o•• the ballots, and by this means I have, fourattash2!.eef,, of 30,000 men ballotted for, not more th4rl b eta 2 and 3,600 served: personally, norwirhs,tan the operations of the high bounties' for StIU totes--I think not more than one.twelfth Part ser e. personally for England; and not mor e than 004: sixteenth for Scotland. Notwithstanding, the 9 hardship on individuals, which the ballot occal tct ed, a very small proportion could be procur e are ; serve personally, and 'one great object , was tt' oe fore lost. But the small fine now required 1 1 1 30 11 ps• parish, will remove all temptations to join, as formerly, a pralice which had the most PClll3o ous effea, by raising the price of Substittite?! tdA - eg thereby injuring the Recruiting of -ih R 'l e i t est Troops. The objea of the individual orb ° f ,: die with any of these Clubs, was to procure general Fund, a • sum adequate to procUri lus ill ; in case the ballot fell upon. him, and. g ive, rl, • Club was obliged to furnish a Sui;stitute: - 0 ,‘ 30 3° : • time, whatever the extent of the Bounty e L e might be. Besidea, he hirriself had the' ' e n - e rsor" the high bounty in case he chose to sei . ‘ re , l r • Old ally. From all these circumstances it while the ballot had a most pernicioUS eirer a a J jae a g ing bounties, it was by no means so prP °° : ij ;l,3 ll°( might be expected: If I thought tlia . t n the could answer any solid purpose, and tha t t/ P ra isiog whole it would be the best means f 1 ,1 , 13 0: 3 g the Troops required, with the least d isa ".,, - to the Regular Service, I would ecrtal-sonce.. commend its adoption; but in the Circ" l s which I have stated, when the ballot c h. io jarP found to be produdive of a great deal 0 4: 4 without being attended with adequate ad v 'bea e ; if better means of raising this force c 3 i 1 , 0 Ita v vised, then it is certainly proper rot e r e recourse to those means. I will ther e io llut lieve individuals from the pressure of t he ' s , di s f;• • rd `n ith I will relieve those who have found j ", ' llty greeable- circumstances, and so awe- . eve tho s c : carrying it into execution ; I will rel l 10 ,3 0 who have been employed in it, from t he upl an d feelings which they have often ex periene . e d n , F a rce' ply `the other mode of raising the Additto at pr t , ' which I have before mentioned. I hdve r" ) , t , sent entered very minutely into detail) ooirose given a general outline of the Plan which (sc. to adopt, with the concurrence of the ! -1"" should hope, that ,no par ticular discussion merelY take place upon it at this rime ; I wou!3 sit tlty have it brought forward this week, and concurrence of the House, next week enter Ili t he consideration of the details. Such, hr.a.ver er, v - o ia• outline of the measure which, with a little oca rlY' tion as to the mode of raising the Force , is the same as that which I subrnitted'to the flo.-:'hiog a former occasion. If there has been arty omitted, or if any thing wants explanatioc of at;l ern e : i ta c N b e; e et m ni o n s r 't r i e n ady the t s o e c r o e r s n r i e )l c a t ' s a . vitlh t will Ire , r• that I have confined myself solely to the. oro n • rd rte `Aision, and to thus , P tl:e atte s o u: li aj e c r tt par n t o s w of b , e ,u fo r re m t i l i me it,, l , l ;:ur th , e , r l e ic a i r l e r _ q ,,i t' e Regular Army itsa:4; triati ve to o'" I F lt r a li v a e me so n m t lel''lr'orroepoasicli)::cgts