The Press.
London, England, 1857-05-30 00:00:00

PRINCESS ROYALS DOWRY.

On the bringing up of the report of the Committee
on the Annuity to the Princess Royal,
Mr. CONINOHAM objected to the vote on principle
and as a precedent for other votes hereafter, and also
to the amount or the vote, which he moved to reduce
from 8,000/. to 6,0001. a year.
Lord PALMERSTON expressed his regret that Mr.
Coningham should have again raised this question,
and trusted that the house would abide by the vote
of the committee.

The house divided, when Mr.Coningham's resolu-
tion was rejected by 328 to 14.
The resolution having been agreed to, a bill was
ordered to be brought in founded thereupon.
On the report of the Committee of Supply,
Mr. NlxatitßE objected to tho vote of 4 ),000/. for
the marriage portion of the Princess R)vil, con-
sidering that the annuity of 8,0001. was sufficient.

Mr. CoNtsGit tm and Sir J. TaErAwsey likewise
opposed the vote.
Upon a division the vote was affirmed by 361
to lb.

ARMY ESTIMATES.

On the order for going into a Committee of Supply
upon the Army Estimates, _ _ _

Mr. W. WILLIAMS moved to refer the estimates
to a select committee. He characterised these esti-
mates as extravagant, observing that from the
manner in which they had been prepared he was
unable to compare them with those of former years.
If the Government were convinced that they were
in accordance with the requirements of the army
they could not, he said, object to refer them to a
committee, which, he was sure, would make enor-
mous reductions in them.

This motion was not seconded. Upon the original
question,
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY inquired who was responsible
for the outlay of this expenditure. He thought
there was a want of responsibility in this matter,
and that the law was much neglected. He also
asked why the number of heads of expenditure had
been reduced.

Mr. SPOONER put various questions with reference
to the Government manufactory at Enfield and
supply of arms.
Sir J. RAMSDEN, in reply to Sir J. Willoughby,
stated that the Secretary of State for War was
responsible for the expenditure of these votes, and
that the alteration of the forms was made with a
view of affording fuller information to the house.
The returns Mr. Spooner inquired for of the Enfield
accounts would shortly be laid before the house.
The house then went into a Committee of Supply
upon the Army Estimates, when
Lord PALMERSTON rose to move till
explaining the unusual course he was
fact that Sir John Ramsden had but
come into office to do more than master

iese estimates,
taking by the
t too recently k •
'ter the dotal
r- •

526

of these estimates. The first question, said the
noble lord, which suggests its3lf to one charged with
proposing the estimates is the amount of force
which should be proposed, with, on the one hand,
the greatest regard to economy, and on the other
with the greatest regard to efficiency and the defence
of the country. Without attempting to rival the
continental interpretation of the axiom, "Si vis
pacem para bellum," we should consider the pecu-
liar circumstances of this country .

We have not only our own island to defend, but we have
great colonial dependencies scattered over every region of
the globe, and we must consider what is necessary for the
protection of them and of the country not in a state of
actual war, but what is necessary to protect them against
sudden attack without much previous warning. Therefore
our military establishments must provide for the defence
of the country against unexpected danger, and also for the
defence of our colonial dependencies.
Our position is one which, without meaning to imply
any doubt as to the continuance of peace, requires peculiar
caution on our part. These considerations were explained
by my right hon. friend the First Lord of the Admiralty
in moving the navy estimates. We have close to us a
great military and naval power—a power far superior to us
In her great military establishments—a power which is
nearly equal to us in the amount of her naval establish-
ments. And we must recollect that modern improve-
ments have in a great degree altered the conditions of
both naval and military war. The improvements in pro-
jectiles, the great improvements in shipping, have alto-
gether altered the relative position of countries so near to
each other. In former times when we were at war with
France—long may it be before that happens again !—the
means of assault were confined to the collection of a great
number of sailing-boats in the ports of the Channel, of
which notice could he naturally given, and it was therefore
easy for the Government to take precautions against any
danger that might arise therefrom. But, as was stated by
my right lion. friend, there is now at Cherbourg the means
for collecting a large naval force. The ships which we
now build are of such magnitude that whereas formerly
only a few hundred men could be transported by one ship
now more than 1,04)0 or 1,200 can well come upon one
keel. The circumstances of the country are peculiarly
fortunate. lt is impossible for this country to rely entirely
for its defence upon its naval means. There must be
within the territory of the country the means of effectually
maintaining ourselves, even supposing our naval protection
tolbe denuded or ineffectual. On the one hand I think
it is the duty of the Government (and if the Government
neglected their duty it would then become the duty of
Parliament) to take care that our military establishment
is not numerically larger than is really required for the
emergency of the time; but, on the other hand, having,
as we ought to have, a comparatively small military Web.
lishment, it ought to be so organised as to be capable of
speedy and great enlargement, and to contain within it those
elements of science which are becoming every year more
necessary for military establishments. It should also be
so organised that those who may have to command it
should be practised in those military evolutions which
they may have to perform upon taking the field either at
home or abroad. Now, the great fault in our military
arrangements I;ithertu has been that they have ended with
a regimental system. But I may observe that our regi-
mental system is as perfect as that of any service in the
world. Nothing could be superior to the British regiments
I remember bearing the Duke of Wellington say that the
British soldiers, led by the gentry of their country, would
do anything that was within the scope of human beings to
accomplish. If we wanted any examples we should find
them in the late war in the Crimea. Many of us have
read that anecdote of the battle of Inkermann when the
gallant soldiers, assailed by numbers which to many other
men wou!d be overwhelming. being almost exhausted, and
their ammunition in a condition in which any troops
might with honour have retired, the cry went from one to
the other, " Well, lads, we must stand our ground: but if
we go back the girls of England will laugh at us." That
simple expression of determination was just as heroic as
any of those more eloquent and inflated sentiments of
patriotism which are to be met with in the most eminently
classical authors. Well, then, the arrangements in our
regiments were as good as possible, but there they stopped.
The condition of our army in a time of peace precluded
that practice of evolutions and movements which belonged
to larger bodies collected together. The brigade system
and the divisional system were studied in theory, hut were
seldom capable of being practised in the field. Those
officers who have the good fortune to serve in India see
these things on a larger scale, but our officers at home
were compelled to stilly them only theoretically in the
closet: and a man might as well expect to learn how to
swim by extending himself on a mahogany table as to
learn military evolutions by reading books in his arm-chair
by the fireside.
But these defects in our military system were now
remedied by the establishment of camps such as at
Aldershott, which gave both men and officers or por-
tunities of acquiring that practical knowledge which
is so essential to the successful conduct of the ope-
rations of a campaign, and which would perfect
brigade and divisional organisation. With regard to
other detects of our military system, such as the
want of a field-train and a hospital staff, they were
now remedied; and these, with the supernumeraries
and the augmentation of the artillery, which would
permit us to put 140 guns into the field, contributed
to increase the present estimates as compared with
those of 1853-54. There wiiLs .no increase in the
infant of the line \'slight increase of
he engineers and
8,917 men ablia.;

•

infantry of the line ; there viaAjoslii
the cavalry, and an increase of the
artillery, the number of men beieg 6