The Express.
London, England, 1848-04-07 00:00:00

admirably cared for, that whenever a dismounted parade
takes place, there is as nearly as possible one person in au-
thority to look after five men ; when the corps is called into
the field, and all the horses chance to be effective, we have
four troopers watched and kept together by an officer or a
non.commissioned officer respectively. What we propose is,
that you reduce the number of regiments on the home estab-
lishment from seventeen to twelve; that you transfer the
men and horses of the corps about to be disbanded to those
you keep on tow' and that, settling the strength .of the latter
at an average of 400 mounted men each, you retain quite as
numerous and effective a force as you have now, at a outsi-
derable saving of expense in a pecuniary point of view.
We do not mean to say that tke saving will he very great.
But we are confident that the tone of the cavalry CIIIII4It fail
of being raised as soon as its members feel that ske country
is determined to treat them like soldiers ; and this much of
moral good would be worth seeking,
to e
than a saving of 11,0001. or 12,0001. the Exchequer.

In passing over the Household Brigade we must
be allowed to say that the writer, in deference to the
courtly tone of the circle of readers addressed by the
Quarterly, passes over °Le of the worst abuses in the
service. He finds fault, and justly, with the excess
of officers in the British cavalry regiment, in general.
The British cavalry in the aggregate has one com-
mis4oned officer for every fourteen non-commis-
sioned officers and privates, while the French
has only one for every eighteen. But in the Guards—
these show, holiday regiments—the excess of
officers is still greater than in our cavalry of the line.
In the the. c regiments of Guards there are for 1,053
privates, 90 commissioned and 159 non-commissioned
officers; in the let, 2nd, and 7th Dragoon Guards,
there are fur 1,077 privates, only 89 commissioned
and 105 non-commissionedofficers. While the whole
British cavalry is over-officered, that brigade which is
least likely to be called into active service exceeds all
the rest in the super fluous number of officers. We
say nothing at present of the invidious privilege in
virtue of which the captains in that heigarla take
higher rank than their standing and services entitle
them to.
The reduction in the infantry which might be made,
were the artillery on a proper footing, is thus stated
- •

- _
Another step might be to reduce every one of the reserve
battalions which have become, in the course cf the last three
or four years, quietly engrafted upon the line. If fifteen of
these, be dispensed with, you lighten the army estimates of
inure than three thousand men. But a still more important
retrenchment might be made by reducing as many regiments
or second battalions, as it has been shown that, by the pro-
posed increase to your artillery force, you could spare from
your foreign garrisons. Thus the establishment of two ser-
vice battalions of artillery at Gibraltar lets loose an equal
number of line battalions from that place. A battalion by
the same process may be spared from Malta and one brought
from Bermuda ; while at home we really do not see what
you want with other troops in Dover, Sheerness, or Edin-
burgh Castle, after you shall have occupied each with the
bead quivers of an artillery battalion. Now see what the
effect of these changes will be. You have added to the ar-
tillery 10,000 men. You reuuoe of the infantry.-15 reserve
battalions, 3,000 ; 7 battalions of 903 each, 6,321 ; total,
9,321. The entire addition to the numerical strength of the
standing army would be under four hundred men. The
extent of additional strength for defence' and the value of
the preparation made fur war, defy calculation.
Now, here we have the opinionof a military man,who
thinks that the army ought to be kept up to at least its
actual strength, that a considerable reduction may be
made in the cost of our cavalry, and both in the num-
bers and cost of our infantry. Let us now look a lit-
tle further into the matter than he has ventured to
do, and inquire whether it be so self-evident as he
appears to think, that our army should be kept at its
present effective strength.
The distribution of the effective rank and file of the
army (both cavalry and infantry), on the lst of Jan.,
1848, is stated in this year's estimates as :

In Great Gritain or returning home 38,9n9
In 1re1and26,299
In India .
Abroad (exclusive of India) or going out 95,792
The number of troops in India, considering the re-
cent rtductiens, we may assume to be about the
mark ; besides, their charge is borne by the Indian
government. A considerable part of the reduction con-
templated by the writer in the Quarterly would fall
upon the 33;i92 " abroad, exclusive of India." But a
much greater curtailment might be effected here than
he has in view. The truth is, that the portion of these
troops maintained in the colonies (properly so called)
are kept there less to defend the colonists
than to uphold the Downing-street system
of colonial government. The old colonies
in North America, before systematic insult and mis-
govtrnment drove them into insurrection, were per-
fectly competent to their own defence, and that at a
time when the means of communication with the
mother-country by sea were much less speedy and
regular than now, and against a more skilful and
dangerous enemy than is likely to threaten
any of our present settlements. Leave the
local government of our colonies in the hands
of the colonists themselves, and in time of
peace not a soldier will be required in them be- ,
yond the local corps organised and supported by
' themselves. As for the dependencies, Malta, Gibraltar,
Corfu, &c., our author, with all his prepossessions in
favour of extended dominion, is obliged to admit that
some of them are not worth what they cost us. "It
may be a point of honour with us, and, to a certain
extent, of interest too, to keep what we have, no
matter how intrinsically worthless many of our
/% reign possessions may be." Worthless indeea! Of
what use are the lonian Islands to us ?
Again, of 65,201 effective rank and file stationed
in Great Britain and Ireland on the Ist of January,
1848, and admitted by our military essayist to be
amply sufficient, how many are maintained for pur-
poses of police ? and how many might be considered
available for defensive purposes in the case of war?
With regard to Ireland, it would be hopeless to say
anything till the panic excited by the insane
and criminal blustering of some vain men has
subsided. But in so far as Great Britain is
concerned, the organisation of an efficient civil
police in every district, backed by an enrolment of
special constables accustomed to act together when
required, would enable us to dispense with the ser-
vices of a further portion of our 38,908. The writer
upon whom we have been commenting declares :
"As matters at present stand, give us what we ask—
I°o,ooo good infantry and cavalry, with SO guns—and
we shall have no fear for the safety. of London in case
of any attempt in the line of invasion." In the same
spirit he elsewhere remarks, " Our preparations in
time of peace should be purely defensive." And again,
" A war of conquest, or even aggression, is a sort of
game which England will never play again till her
rulers shall have lost their senses. • • Oar
hands are already stretched over a wider extent of the
globe's surface than they can conveniently cover."
Thus speaks a real soldier: how different from the
language of the patrons of army-jobbing in the House
of Commons!

GERMANY.

PRUSSIA.—Our correspondent, writing from Ber-
lin 04 April 3, says:
The speech of the royal commissioner yesterday
at the opening of the diet, the two projects of law
presented to that assembly, the address to the Kini
the declaration of the conservatives that they wont
not refuse their support to the present liberal minis-
try, and, in general, the entire proceedings of yes-
terday, have given very considerable satisfaction, even
to the workisg classes. The only two points open to
slight animadversion, are the provision by which no
persons under 30 years of age are eligible, and the
system of indirect election. It is not at all unlikely
that the latter arrangement will be hereafter modi-
fied. The two projects of law will be discussed to-
morrow, and probably voted the next day, and then
there will be an end of that diet which his Prussian
majesty convened some twelve months ago, proprio
metu, and which he opened with an inordinately long
' speech, in which his royal prerogatives, person,
family, and ancestors, formed the prominent topics.
Times are indeed changed in this kingdom, and, for-
tunately for its repose, the King has changed with
them.
Commercial and monetary affairs are still very bad.
Failu-es and rumours of failures are now amongst the
chief topics of conversation. You need not be sur-
prised to learn that one of the great banking firms of
this capital will shortly wind up its concerns. The
whole financ4l and (state) banking system of Prussia
was rotten at core, notwithstanding the great sacri-
fices made by the ex-Minister of Finance to keep up
the quotations of the funds and to favour the Bank of
Prussia. The first storm has upset the whole system.
The Berlin Bourse continues very depressed. Im-
portant failures in adjacent lands or towns act very
prejudicially on the state of affairs here. Credit is
momentarily at a stand still, and manufactories as
half idle, many wholly so. Although the funds are
at a low figure, there are scarcely any purchasers;
On the other hand it must be stated that there does
not appear any great desire on the part of the holders
of bonds to dispose of them at the present quotations.