The Express.
London, England, 1860-07-25 00:00:00

gat ervress.

igivestlsessests !stymied tor The Express" Loudon Inaba
Piper, most be at ths °Mee, 10, Bouveriestreek by Tye
• deck on the day of pahlicatlos.

ZATYIq.IFT.,

Tog zymase. TER OViILAND RA;CTE. Mears. Clap/ea.
dale, Compton, Backdoor. and C. Mathews: \lmes M sii
HC WM. LD $E AN Awns. c. mum..a a campus ;
Mrs, E. iltawilllan.—AM RALLONMEN. Ilse Loclereqa.

PRINCESS 8.

MI EV1017310, HOlll TAFTIIB.:-The French vaudeville,
MILITAIRE ►r PIiNSIONNAIRL—LA COILDE SENSIBLY—
AN AII6I,4CADE AT IKKEKIIANN.—AiId BOViLEII OUT.
Yr. H. 11iddloomb.--Coalruenetat 7.

lITOH WATEL AT LONDON BRTDOIL
TIM DAT —Manila', llit. 4010 Afternoon, Th. nu.
Tu•ScoAiwW—lluridas, TL MN Afternoon, Mi. ea►

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, JULY 25.

THERE is no foundation for the fears that have
been expressed lest Lord Psutimsron's plan of
spending an additional Nine Millions in warlike
preparations should be too much discussed in the
House of Commons. The Times which, yesterday,
saw in imagination five hundred members of an
independent turn of mind sitting down in July to
study a blue-book of one hundred and fifty pages
of applied science, with no other wish than to
arrive at perfectly original conclusions, is, doubt-
less, by this time re-assured. Of those who warmly
support and those who as warmly oppose the
plan, the great majority will take its material
character from the Minister on trust wilout er
amining for themselves its adaptation as a means to
an end. It will, however, be a great misfortune
and a great diagraoe to our Legislature if this
scheme is allowed to pass without the fullest and
freest discussion which a great and far-reaching

measure can receive from the House of Commons.
Neither the lateness of the session, nor the
arrears of public business, nor even the claims of
the expecting grouse, can form • sufficient excuse
for a hasty and desultory treatment of the
question involved in the proposed vote. It is
mere flippancy to represent what is now recom-
mended as simply an adaptation of our defences to
improvements in the art of attack. That was not
the argument of the MINISTER or WAR on Mon-
day. Mr. SIDNZY HERBRILT defended this expen-
diture as • substantive addition to the active
power of the nation. Every Englishman must
wish his country to be strong, and therefore must
desire that the representatives, before pledging
the public revenue to a vast expenditure, should
well examine the various means of attaining that
object.
We object to the proposition of Lord PALMER-
STON that it is either partial, fragmentary, and
inadequate, or part of • plan which the Govern-
ment have not the courage to disclose. It cannot
be necessary again to demonstrate that the works
recommended by the Royal Commissioners do not
constitute a system of national defence. The Com-
missioners themselves disclaim any such pretensions
for their scheme. They point out that the main
object of an invading enemy would be to march
for the capital, there to dictate peace on his own
terms. There is, then, either something more to
come, or the unwarlike part of the nation will be
just as liable after as before the execution of these
works to be thrown into a state of panic as
often as credulity and insolence may com-
bine to spread disquieting rumours. If it
is important that precautions be taken
against an attack such as never has been
and never may be made, it is scarcely less impor-
tant to secure our COMlllette and our peaceful civil
life from cruel alarms to which of late they have
been frequently exposed. We are, therefore, jus-
tified in maintaining that the plan propounded by
the Government does not guarantee that "corn-
" partitive safety" which Lord PALMERSTON has
wisely recognised as the proper end of the precau-
tions of • free and brave people. When we
have spent Eleven 31illians, the estimated cost
of the new works, we shall have made no provision
against the advance of a disembarked enemy to the
capital ; for the notion that he could be molested
by • garrison inning from Portsmouth or Dover
assumes an affluence of military resources far
different from our present condition, and which
has not been anticipated except in the specula-
tions of irresponsible authorship.
The present proposals, then, being manifestly
inadequate, the House of Commons and the natiou
have a right to know how the Government means
to supply the further defensive preparations
pointed out in the Report of the Royal
Commission. It is not dealing frankly and
fairly by the country to draw it on towards
an enormous expenditure by a little at a time,
making every acquiescence the foundation of a
new demand. Nobody, we believe, entertains a
moment's doubt that the natural and in-
evitable sequel of the plan already an-
nounced is a large increase of the regular
army. We find the evidence of it in the re-
corded and official opinions of professional men,
and, which is much more important, we find it in
the necessities of the case. In the memorandum of
the Horse Guards Defence Committee, which we
published yesterday, signed by his Royal High-
ness the CIENIAAL COMMANDING-re-Cnise and •
portion of his staff, this expectation is confidently
expressed. We are told :—" The Committee
" concur with the Royal Commission to the full
" extent of their propositions, both as regards
" works, and the number of men necessary to gar-
" risen them ; but they are of opinion that, of the
"whole force required, a larger proportion of the
" well trained troops of the regular army will be
"necessary than appears to be contemplated by
" the Commissioners. Believing that the Report
" of the Royal Commission will tend to create an
" impression that the defence of the dock-
" yards, when fortified, will be provided for
"to so great an extent by the irregular
" forces, that the standing army will not
"be trenched upon to a degree worthy of
" mention, the Committee consider it their duty
" to express their opinion that, in order to inspire
" that confidence which is necessary in the defence
"of such important works, the proportion of
" regular troops will be so considerable that it
" must he taken into account. Certainly, a large
" Proportion of well-trained artillerymen will I
" essential, more especially on those sea batteries
" which are intended to oppose ships—a service