The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1887-03-12 00:00:00

OUR ARMY.

Ir was a capital suggestion on the part of
the late Chancellor of the Exchequer that
the annual statements of the First Lord of
the Admiralty and the Secretary of State
for War should be printed and circulated,
after the manner of a new bill, some days
before the iaitial vote of either service came
on for discussion in supply. Lord Randolph
Churchill's idea has now been pat iuto prac-
tice, and on Wednesdai morning all the
country knew, through the columns of the
daily papers, what the Right Hon. E. Stan-
hope had to say respecting the great spend-
ing department ow: which he presides. The
memorandum relating to the Army Esti-
mates for 1887-.8 has been duly presented to
Parliament, and so members and their con-
stituents are conversant with the details of
our military expenditure, present and pro-
spective; and thereby much of the precious
time of the Legislation, which would other-
wise be consumed in question-asking and
discussion, may be saved. A capital outline
of the state of our land forces has been drawn
by Mr. Stanhope in the document, five Times'
columns long, wuich he has given to the
world. There, without laborious searching,
one may see what progress has in recent
years been made by "Tommy Atkins" and
by his officers; and there, too, is a ready
of weighinu the :_aethods which govern
the Office exp ,• _ thia
Memorandu:— the reformers can take texts
galore on which to deliver homilies concern-
iag, retrenchment. It will furnish to the
intelligent taxpayer food for much thought
conc_xiiing tLe sys:enas under which the
national accounts are kept. The informa-
tior. is concise, and yet full; it is clear and
accessible. Thera is now no need for wading
wearily through pave after page of reports
of desultory debates in Supply before one
can get at this or that point concerning thu
army. Indeed, the suggestion has been well
made that this official publication of Esti-
mate intentions, before the event, is as good
as the report of a Commission on the sub-
ject. The Laboucheres and Rylaudses of
the House—alas! there will be no Peter
Rilands to terrify the War Secretary in
Supply over his estimates this time can
study the figures, arranged in convenient
black and white, at leisure, and elaborate
their criticisms and shape their amendments
without unduly trespassing on the time of
Parliament in obtaining unwilling explana-
tions from the War Secretary. As to the

statement itself, Mr. Stanhope has, on the
whole. been able tl produce a document
which will not b.; considered unsatisfactory
by the country. Lord Randolph Churchill's
.esignation, "on the Estimates," as hi was
careful to make it cle ix, prep tred us to be

told that there would ba no decrease in the
cost of the army to be made public. There
is no surprise, therefore, in the fact that the

Eithws dernmstrate an apparent increase
for the eniuing year as compared with those
of the past twelve months. A more dissee-

tive examination, however, will show that,
so far as the War Offiee proper goes, there
is actually a small reduction. That, though,
is not of euough moment to justify much
unction, but ore must be thankful for small
mercies in these days of universal armament
and p.A.ennial war scares. Mr. Stanhope
eaudid expression to the conviction
that the estimate framed by his foregoer
represented only " the necessary demand for

this service which aty Secretary of State
would be bould to make ; and he is careful
not to hold out any hope of a large decrease
in expenditure if our defensive forces are to
he maintained at the efficient point, and at
their present strength. The War Secretary
's admittedly no advocate of cheese-paring
and protests against the purchase of cheap

stores and cutting down the cost of clothing
and accoutrements until inferiority is notice-
able. All such false economy and tinkering
with finance Mr. Stanhope wisely eschews,
and for this he will not be the less popular

in the army. Any sudden curtailment of
the Estimates. willy nilly, he also condemns;
holding that a decrease in expenditure is
only to be pern,itted with sarpty when the
WlOney cau be spared siuipiy because it is not
assisci•
_Abet gow the.** ci the new yiø

and of fresh field guns—which we are -told
and believe are indispensable—presses heavy,
and swells the Estimates not a little ; but
payment will extend over a considerable
period, and it would scarcely do to stop the
supply by a stubborn exhibition of economy
on the part of a narrow majority in the
House of Commons, if the country's safety
depends upon the matter. Such would be a
penny-wise, pound foolish policy, indeed
and there is certainly a good deal to be said
for the common-sense suggeition of the
Secretary of State for War, as expressed in
the memorandum under notice, "that it is
well worthy of consideration whether some
scheme could not be devised which would
on the one hand guarantee proper Parlia-
mentary control at the initiation of such ex-
penditure—that is, arrangements for the
provision of supplies:admittedly necessary—
and at the same time secure the completion
of the work without being exposed to the
fluctuation of Parliamentary opinion.