The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1879-06-21 00:00:00

'IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

In the HD Tin OF LORDS, Jane 16, Lord Hssipton called
httentlan to the case of Canon Fleming, of York Cathedral,
Who, it was alleged, had been deprived of certain rights and
privileges of a member of the Chapter. The Esrl of Beacons-
field and the Archbishop of York replied at some length to
the noble lord.

Lord Truro asked whether Her Majesty's Government
had finally determined to appoint an exclusively military
committee to inquire into the defects of our present mili-
tary organisation.
Lord Galloway said that four months ago the Secretary
for War realised the fact that the British Army was in a
il(ate of collapse, and yet all that could be suggested was an
Lord Bury replied that it was intended to appoint a
Psvely military committee. Up to a certain point Her
Majesty's Government admitted that the present system of
military organization was not satisfactory, and in that state of
circumstances what could they do but apply to their military
advissrs ? The committee would report to the Government
What was the opinion of military men and of the Army. He
tdonlit he might say that the names of the committee had been
sagreed upon by the Secretary for War and the held-Marshall
Commanding-in-Chief, and they would be made known in a fe w
days. It would be unfair to the committee and would not
conduce to the public service to make known the instructions
to be given to it before those instructions had been laid
before the committee itself..
Lord Cranbrook vindicated the part he had taken n carry-
ing out Lord Cardwell's scheme, which he had done his beat
to develope, seeing that it had been adopted by Parliament
after full consideration.
After a few remarks from Lord Dorchester and Lord
Waveney,
Lord Cardwell said he had no apprehension in respect of
the materials of which the committee was to be composed.
Rs Chairman would never forget the absence of a Reserve
in the Crimea, and never would be for an Army without a
Reserve. The remarks made by Lord Cranbrook that even-
ing eonfirmed him in the impression that the inquiry was not
to be a superficial, but a complete and substantial one.

A number of orders having been advanced a stage, their
lordships adjourned at twenty minutes to eight o'clock.
In the Boum OF COMMONS, Mr. Bonrke, in answer to
Mr. Otway, stated that Mr. Consul General Vivian had not
been recalled from Egypt, but had merely come home for a
Short leave of absence on private affairs; and, until
be returns his duties will be discharged by Mr.
lAscelles with regard to the production of papers,
the Government had very carefully considered the
Voint, and had come to the decision that it would
not be consistent with the public interest" to publish
any additional Egyptian papers at present. Mr. Otway
asked when they might be expected, to which Mr. Bourke re-
plied that he could net say, as it depended on circumstances
now occurring which were under the control of the Govern-
Meat

answer to lir. Pell, the Chancellor of the Exchequer
laid it was proposed to make the annual statement of Local
I'lnance on Thursday week, when he hoped also to be able
to take the Public Works Loans Bill; and, in answer to Mr.
'Monk, Lord Bandon said it was impossible for him, id the
Dresent state of business, to fix a day for the introduction of
the Railway Commission BilL
Rtacpoole having asked whether there was any ob-
Jection to permit all ranks of the Army to wear their beards
.1,71 accordance with the example set by Field Marshal his
."Q„ yal Highness the Prince of Wales, his Serene Highness
the Prince of Saxe-Weimar, and the officers and men of the
nas'lrp Colonel Stanley said that, looking at the faces around
"'rd, he would not presume to give a general opinion on the
question; but he saw no reason at present to depart from
the Queen's Regulations, which forbid the wearing of beards
tu home service: Mr. Stacpoole gave notice that he would
tall attention "1,0 the subject of beards" in Supply.
At five o'clock the House went Into Committee of Supply
on the Army Estimates, and at one had agreed to six votes.
More than an hour and a half was spent on the vote for
atilltary Law' and a motion, which was not pressed to a
division to strike out the salary of the Judge-Advocate-
General: led to a lively discussion on the duties of
this Offilaland the expediency of suppressing the office.

The next vote, that of £266,200 for the Medical Establish-
runts and services then came on, and was under debate for
More than two hours and a hail—it being subjected to a
pleu_gthY criticism by several hon. members. Colonel
,
-"luleY having given explanation,: as to the provision of
biedical officers in South Africa, Mr. Parnell, Mr. Sullivan,
11-r. o'6haughneasy, and other members inquired as to the
areatment of wounded Zulus in the hospitals. After the
Chairman had reminded the hon. plembers that the question
before the House was the vote for the Army Medical Depart-
-1:4•51at, Colonel Stanley said that if any member of the House
Would send him auy statement which they believed to be
authentic in regard to these Gases, he would forward them
La order that they might be made the subject of inquiry and
teDOtt. Alter some further observations from Mr. Parnell,
1:4h0 moved an amendment that the vote be reduced by
000, a long discussion ensued, in which several hon.
Members took part. Eventually, the amendment having been
DP leave withdrawn, the vote was agreed to.

-
10111 the next vote, of £495,280 for the Militia, Mr. Par-
ne moved to reduce the vote by £25,000, which, on a
tiivisioD, was negatived by 190 to 8.

On the next vote of £47,900 for the Yeomanry, Major
O'Beirne moved to strike off £5,000. The amendment was
4egatived, and the vote agreed to.
Oa the vote of £612400 pay and allowances for Volunteer
Sir W. Barttelot urged how necessary it was that
i'3!mbailtrative battalions, when brought into camp, should
absolutely under the command of one man. He
lled to ask whether it was the intention of his right hon.
Tena that all administrative battalions should be consoli-
/Tted, and, if not, whether greater powers, should be given
bmmanding officers. He thought when men came out
(43 camp almost at their own expense that larger allow-
:LI.. should be made to them than at present. He un-
erstood that 2s. a day was to be given to men encamped
!?r three or four days. If the 2s. were given in addition to
re extra half-crown, it would be a fair allowance. He wished
know whether it was the intention of the Government
tat the clothing of the Volunteers should be altered. He
ought that the Volunteer adjutants when retiring should
nave the same pay and allowances as adjutants retiring from
Lhe Militia. Volunteer adjutants could not now receive such
aral allowances unless they were incapacitated and had
_
for 15 years.
Mr. A. Brown hoped that the case of the adjutants would
he favourably considered. He thought some of the recom.
ndations of Lord Bury's Committee very valuable, but
were WON others quite impracticable.
Mr. M, Stewart hoped that the Artillery Volunteers would
receive more attention from the Government than bad
hitherto been given them. In the south of England Shoe-
btlrYnesi was a sufficient camp of instruction, but there
was no such place in the north, except Irvine, where a camp
had been estabibhed within the last two years, What was
Wanted was a fund to sustain the efforts made for their in-
struction. He also pointed out the disadvantages under
which Volunteer adjutants lahc.Tred as compared with ad-
in the Militia And other branches of the service, and
ftcPed the Government would be able to glva some assurance
that these anomalies would he rectified.

TGovernment would increase the •
re _
thin g allowance of Volunteer adjutants.
ord Bich° said there was a strong feeling on the part of
-ny Volunteers that it was desirable to retain the gray uni, •
riTo• It was more durable than red and less liable to be
rut. Moreover, gray was the colour which was used in '
e..adlar for service, and which had been selected by Sir '
Wolseley as the most serviceable for the Ashantee
vice' ' t was no doubt the better colour of the two for set,
In the field. It had been suggested that the main diftl-
entiy of supplying the Volunteers with gray uniforms in time ,
atwara would be an administrative one; but, he thought, con-
g the difficulty that was experienced in times of peace
th • e Volunteers in procuring cloth of any description from
See Government stores, it would be better for them to rely
Limn prtsenivate contractors at all times. 'Unless the Govern-
intended to enforce complete uniformity between all
e2tnches of the service in the matter of belts, buttons, lace,
• It would be useless to enforce it with regard to the
'e-n• utlr of-the cloth only. (Hear, hear.) A far more import-
'az:natter, however, was the question of the number of
prate
nt to be required from the Volunteer recruits. At
thirty drills were required of them during the
of their service and only nine in subsequent years
a was now proposed to require them to go through
;other 30 drills in the second year of their service. There
e."chubb thing as driving a willing horse too fast, and
-*v ,was afraid that the only effect of this requisition
ro.ld be to lessen the numbers of the force without
rl2,_creeeee_
g its effielency, and it was hapezdous to in,
o, :re the tench with the only decently sound portion
; °o
-r military sy:tem. He hoped, therefore, that the Go,
earnment would not.peeee this proposal for increasing the
:tut:leer of drills required. (Hear, hear.) He also hoped that
been Government would not adopt the suggestion that had
w made of limiting the numbers of the Volunteers. (Hear.)
th
:eenregard to the adjutants be heartily endorsed all beet
ad b said of those officers, to whom the Volunteers owed
ttninch• With respect to another class, he asserted that
fees' could not obtain good sergeants without supplementing
had been raised whether they were entitled to
e„ Government allowance. As to sergeautenalore, tie
rsstion
iiiteent'i°n. His right hon. friend hed stated that there was
and never had been such a rank s.s thet of sergeant-
the Volunteer force, although commanding officers
ra re e
„ -roPowered to appoint men to cio the duty of sergeant-
at was a mistake, as the Warrants of 1863 and
would show. As the services of the adjutants had been
valuable, so also had been those of the sergeants and
tn'yeant.majors. The latter had bond fide rank in the
nnnteerx under the Warrants to which he had referred,
4114 they wer fairly entitled to pension.
r• X. Brown urged the claims oi the adjutants to in-
-41:1841d retiring allowances. The sum now oaaeed them--Ke a day, or about ZllO per annum after tnirei
service—was not sufficient for a body of men who
leaea, nroved themselves so valuable and bii4 done so much
country and for the Volunteer force.
4ifr Wilmot wished to say a word in favour of seariet
tee,orroa for Volunteers. If tile men knew how to clean
Z7s' scarlet coats they could keep them in just as good c-
on t-
e as green or gray uniforms.
th'e'tVr• ICay-Shuttleworth said the Artillery Volunteers of
eaeuragh he represented had no objection to the record-
the eakt on that there should be thirty drills every year, but
Deeyt ""tight one week at Shoeburyness would be more
ant to them than a whole year of drill. They therefore
lord that im-
the Government would give greater facilities
ArtilterY Volunteers to go to Shoeburyness.
8
taceoole thought the Volunteers ought to be clad in
▪ cGsts like the Line and the Militia. Ile hoped that
1100 a?
of Volunteers would be placed in the same posi-
ElLaa adjutant; of the Militia.
rne- HaYter said the proposed amalgamation of rest,
veers was very much disliked by the officers of Volunteer
eerelaents ie London. He hoped the increased camp allow-
paid to the men whe had already gone into
h7c...0210t0hel ary d'
Lindsay said the committee referred to by
eef• gentlemen went into the enquiry with a desire if they
fo.rw their way, to increase the allowance of that magnifloent
C; ths Volanteers. With regard to the staff sergeants,
jiegulatione laid down that a certain sum should be given
ehosera ; but if the Volunteers wished as it were, to bribe
" th lergeanta away to themselves, they should do so
(e/ei-elr own expense and not at the expense of the State.
tho,) As for the dress of the Volunteers the Government
tauta that red was the best colour, and they would do
to _ r best reasonably, but not forcibly, to induce the men
e 4.140, Pt it. These who were willing to adopt it would have
thnin advantages by being able to draw their clothing from
tailZr"ernment clothing depot, paying for it out of the capl-
grant. It was proposed to give 2e a day to Volunteers
• Went into camp, and that he thonght would be a liberal
bgdwane-e• With regard to adjutants of Volunteers they
r.,___borne a very heavy and arduous task, and had borne it
well. They were deserving of every considers-
with the sanction of the Treasury, to give them
th_u thet could be given to them. It was proposed,
„..—"refore,
;Increased retiring allowance, which would be a sub-
ihs'e t'aeil improvement on what they had hitherto received.
te-re"DX had been said of the additional drills. He
• ught eften they were going to spend so much more
e.Y en the force it was quite reasonable to require
eltielenc The more discipline and exercise they
;Dosed on theY'Yolunteers, the more popular the force
l'e°4ld become,- Tee wee strong advocate for consolidation.
_Atter
Ot °aly economy, but efacienCY would be promoted.
aome conversation, Colonel stanley stated that
tr:ady 91 regiments of Volunteers had adopted red, against
47 egiraents in green and 87 in gray. Where soy changee
al made it should id be to red, but he would deal with
tn
ab,aotta in a spirit of consideration. He hcped that after the
ma Eaten that had taken place the
, Committee ould pale
vote, and then they should report progress. (Hear,
w
Now.)
t T h 4 motion was agreed to, and the Chairman 117aa ordered
0 raDort progress.
iol4reral Bills were forwarded a stage, and the House ad-
, aled at 20 minutes past two o'clock.

the
...-CTISE OF LORDS, June 17, the RaCeCOUllet (Metro-
Zi,`") EIJI posed through Committee without amendment,
er in_qf.ctuai attempt by the Duke of ilichmoud, sup-
PortbY the Lord Chancellor, to introduce an authority to
"atatrates in Q tarter SOSSIOIIII to grant a licence 60 tOe
" et Immediately.
t
1... he order for the recommitment of the Omnibus Degu.
Bill, Lord Bedesdale, who has charge of the measure,
Ueted that in deference to the opinion of Her Majesty's
thernment he proposed to except from the operation of
8111 the metropolis and other places in which omnibuses
are now regulated by local authority.
he Marquis of Salisbury explained, in reply to )ord