The Express.
London, England, 1861-03-16 00:00:00

LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 16.

Ev mason, can find a reason for extravagance.
When money has been spent it is always easy to
draw up a plausible account of the way it has been
got rid of. And the more extravagant the trades-
man's bill the greater seems to be the necessity of
setting forth the items in elaborate detail. When
the services have been rendered it is no use object-
ing. A thousand reasons will be produced to demon-
strate that the charges, large as they may seem, are
barely remunerative. The only plan is to offer a
certain sum at starting, and to decline the services
upon any other terms. It almost seems as if this plan
must be applied to the Was Muroran. Of what
use is it to wade through these 155 pages of Army
Estimates I Of what use is it to put a string of
questions to an Under Secretary touching the 23
votes, or the various items comprised in them 1
You might as well try to stop the extravagance
of your cook or your house steward by questioning
him as to all the items of the weekly bills. If
your expenditure were ten thousand a year, he
would probably spend an hour in elaborate calcu-
lations to show how he had saved you three-and-
sixpence. Just as Mr. Biaixu entertained the
House of Commons with elaborate details about
the saving of 3,0001. on an expenditure of more
than a hundred times that sum, by reason
of some paltry changes in the Staff.
Sensible housekeepers insist upon practical

economy—not upon explanations ; and if the
management does not improve the practical
remedy follows : somebody else takes the place.
Lord Hussar mid his Under• Secretary had both
better take warning. Even Lord PLLIIIIISTON
must have seen that the people of this country will
not stem; ii much longer. It is very well for Major
JI

to denounce the ignorant impatience of
taxation, and affect a horror of economy. But the
facts are too serious. These are peace estimates.
They represent the normal military expenditure.
England is at peace with the whole world,
nor I. there any prospect of hostilities.
Even if there were, it is notorious that
the forces at the command of the Go-
vernment were never more formidable, for
within the last year an army of 130,000 Volun-
teers has sprung into existence, and is by the
highest authority declared to be efficient. But
the Militia having been disembodied, and the
vote for fortifications entirely withdrawn from
those estimates, causing • reduction in them
of some 757,0001., the fact remains that, after all,
the net reduction is only 186,0001. The reason is
that eight out of fifteen of the votes for effective
military service have been increased by the sum
of about 660,0001. This is a serious matter.
Whether the country is at peace or at war the
story is the same—still an increase. Looking back
for a few years, it appears that whilst the number
of men has Moused only 21 or 22 per cent.,
the increase of the charge is about 60 per cent.
Lord Pa ursiorrox tells us that no greater reform
was ever made in the public service than the re-
organization of the War Department. It meg be
so, though there is strong reason to doubt wheeler'
the so-called reorganization has been anything
more than a name. But one of the grand objects
for which that change wee made has failed. The
country was promised increased efficiency aid a
diminution of expense. But in neither respect
has there been any considerable improvement.
The clothing of the troops is said to be somewhat
improved, and the comfort& of the soldiers are
said to be increased. But these improvements
cannot be worth 251. a man. Nevertheless,
it seems that whereas in 1853 the cost of the
army was 751. for each soldier, in 1861-62 it has
risen to 100/. And the singular fact is, that this
constant addition to the military expenditure
takes place in the midst of continual changes and
the introduction of new methods, all of which are
alleged to be both more efficient and more econo-
mical. It is impossible to doubt the gross extra.-
vagance of the War Department. Indeed, it is
singular that not one single voice, except that of
the notable Major Jon mivroNs, was raised in its de-
fence. The Army is not too large, perhaps, but the
country does not get its money's worth.

Such is thu unanimous opinion of every per
▪ who has considered the subject—even of Mr.
HINLICT sad Mr. WALPOIJS. It seems that the
divination of every extravagance in the Army
or Navy is now agreed upon. The country,
it is said, is in the crisis of an adminis-
trative and constructive revolution. The whole
system of gunnery and projectiles is unhinged.
Vir.s acquirit 'undo, for the demand of money to
meet these changes increases every year until
it has now reached 2,200,0001. But if any
anxious inquirer desires to know the precise way
in which this enormous sum is expended he must
content himself by the ample information vouch-
safed in the estimates, that 790,0001. is to be
expended in the purchase of " Miscellaneous
" stores," whatever that may Mean—an excess
over last year of 77,0001.
It is impossible for Lord PALVEINTON much
longer to neglect the warnings addreseed to him
from both sides of the House. The country is
determined to be secure, bat the course taken by
the I:overnment tends to discourage and disgust
the nation and hasten • reacttou towards unrea-
soning retrenchment. The public spirit of the,