The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1821-03-10 00:00:00

tine of forces, he ascertained the expense of owls
man to be—of the life and horse guards, about 70h
p.'C man; of the dragoon guards. 481. 10s. per
isiaii; of the foot guards. 341. per man ; end of
The infantry of the line, 31/. per man : fronl *which
it wet evident' that • considerable Waving
.might he
effected by reducing, as they ought to do, the
more .expensive, which were also the least evade
able description of forces. He did not wish ten=
necesarily •to reduce the efficient mid availirlabli
force of the country, but he must press on the
consideration of the disuse, the necessity of some
reduction of the more expensive sud less useftil
establishnients. The difference iu the charge for
these corps, between 1793 and the present year,
was as follows :-
1792. • 1821. Ditrereiee.
I.de and Home Guards L 63,006 L. 92,191 L 49,115
MIX'," Gololk 1" i 105,130 451,644. 287,514
Dragoons ' *.'
Foot Gelsiler;iiir;..... 154.970 222,959 68,089
—,— ,—.
1 . L 383,000 L. 787,794 L. 384,728
The memo sishe whole military establishment, ordinary
and eahribdlellMiiiiil7ll, according 'twoifieial diseumeats,
n ielisidierilligne
For WWI id ' 510,349
Makin; a total of
while for 1810, as appears from the Supplies for
that year, the total for Great Britain and Ire-
Isord was 9,500,2161., making • difference of
7,269,067/. ; a disproportion for is hick he con-
tended there was not the smallest possible resins,.
The army estimates for the current year are less
than throw for 1810 by 133,4981. ; so that some re-
duction in the actual expenditure might, as it
,reined. be expected. That difference, however,.
might have been Considerably augmented by the
erloption site different plan in the reduction of the
forves,' which the country had a right to expect
would have' been the case, since the benefit had
heeu pointed out by the Noble Lord himself.
From the statement of the Noble Lord (Palmer-
ston) before the Finance Committee in 1817, it ap-
peered• that the difference of expense betweeii 8,000
hoop's formed into 10 regiments of 800 men each,
and the some .number formed into 20 regiments
of 400 men each, se they were iu the estimates
of 1792, would give a saving to the public of
74,3121: The regiments of 1821 are estimated at
t,50 men each, fur 93 regiments, and will cause to
the toughy au increase of expense on 60,000
rank loud file, of 211,0251. more thin would
have been required if the regiments had beau
reduced to 75 in number, of 800 men each, as re-
commended by the Noble Lord himself in 1817;
and by the latter arrangement the reduction of 18
regiments might have been gained. He would now
proceed to notice.the staff establishments, of which
it was. his intention to propuee a very great reduc-
tion in the Committee. In 17192. the expense
of the whole staff of Great Britain, at home,
smouuted to 6,4271. ; in 1821 it was 28,495/. ;
giving • difference of 91,9581. on the general
staff slime, reclusive of the Irish and medical staff:
Of this sum' the Commander-in-Chief's Office.
erot the couutry annually 15,782/. which office did
nut exist in i 792. Ile was so far from wishing to
depreciate the services of the illustrious person at
the head of that office, or of the Adjutant or
Quarternosoter-Getterul, or of the Noble Loid,
that he featly believed the duly at the Horse
Guards was well attended to; but if he were asked
why he wished to reduce those offices, he would
answer, because he thought the duty might he
'lone at a lower rate, and therefore might' to he re-
duced. What was the state of the Stuff abroad ?
In Mt, the charge for the Staff iu the West
Judie., North America. and the Mediterranean,
was (7,1 18/.; in 1801, 19 9331. ; mid in 1921,
814191. •'rhe Staff in the old. Colonies, the
charge for which in 1803 was 19.93.51. cost in 1821
51,490/. ; and the new Colonies acquired since
180-2 involved air additional expense under this
Brad of 31,039/. Thus the increased expense of
the Staff abroad, since 1792, was 65,4111. The
Hon. Gentleman then proceeded to observe upon the
anomalous condition of some of our Colonies, such
as Ceylon, Worthier, Cape of Good Hope, •frini-
dad, and Malta, which, although they were por-
tions of the British empire, were out of the pale of
the eonstitutiori ; and to none of them had any of
i,s blessings been extended, except Ceylon, whew,
iii the infiuite Credit of Sir Alex. Johnstone, the trial
by jury Irid been established. He contended that
it' these Colonies were placed on an equal footing
with other parts of the empire, instead of being left
t • be taxed at the merry of Ministers arid Go-
vernors. they would gladly contribute to the pay-
ment of • part, if not the whole of the expense of
their civil and military estribledimeirs. Ile also
commented on the absentee system, and on the
well-known fact, that each of those Coloilies while
•in the hoods of other nations, defrayed the whole
charge of their adcniuistration ; but the nicenent
tiny came into our possession, they hecitnie
a constant drain to the revenue of this country.
This consideration it was which had caused the Com-
mittee of Finance, is their Report, to remark,
that it would become a serious question, whether
if those Colonies continued to be a drum on the re-'
venue of this country, it was worth its while to
keep them.--/Hear, hear, hear.)—Fie was tint
.1 mail who was willing to give up any one
colony, but he was anxious that their 'lye-
eues slersikl he applied to the discharge of some •
portion of their own expenditure, Mots(' of being
levisbed in large incomes to various officers, many
of whom never went Leer them. The next head
of expense he had to notice was, the Hospital and
Medical Staff abroad and at home, exclusive of the
East ladies. lii 1792, it sinoinited, exclusive of
Ireland, 'to 43,5456; in 1821, Ireland Was in-
cluded. and the amouut was 132.4821.—betug
se increase of 108,071. The expense of the-
public deparinteins of the army, which consist.
ed ,of the Wer.office, the Army Pay-office, keit
for Great Britain alone, was. in 1791, 8-2,33911
Nt
1831, 133.074/..--making a difference of 80,7361:
1 for Great Britaiu alone, to which was to be
added thief-writ for Ireland in 18-21, teeing 10,5181.
The ettPllll2e of the office of the Secretary at War
with an establishment of twenty-one clerks, in 17929
":8.237h. In .1821, the expense of the souse
"we, the establishment being 76 Clerk. timoiln's
to 34,183/4 to which is to be added for the depart•
Wert of arrears' 17,1361. This latter expense was
occasioned by the establishment of a separate
branch, for the purpose of bringing up the ins-