The Sun.
London, England, 1852-06-16 00:00:00

44..,.

t he upper class would bo most severely felt by the poorer
(*Ltta, end it is desiVable, therefore, so' far as you con
annsestently with the exigencies of the public se: vice, to
avoid imposing a tax of this kind upon those who they
be unable bear it. In tiro LIl of the, late Govern.
mean as in the Act of 1802, it was proposed in the first
;
'llat4nee to proceed to the ballot. The present Govera-
luaU, however, considered most anxiously whether it
would not ha poseible altogether to dispenss Vole the
bs"eBsily ot having recourse to a mole of proceeding so
adl erne to the feelings of the country, ono involvieg so
mLLtth additional expense, inconvenience, and hardship,
and after all, in nine.een cases out of twenty, not obteine
1,e,1C the services of that:o upon whom the ballot fans. In
r° year 1831, which was the last °se:Bice when the
allot was put into exercise:a force was required to be
rthan 18,000,
of 2,500 men. There were balloted for not less
tuan 18,000, and' of 'that number, after going through
all,. the precesses.of the preliminary inquiry, there were
44,000 or 16,000 exemptions which wore .claimed and
substantiated, while of the 2,000 or 3,000 actually taken
11% more than 120 of those who were balloted for
served in the force; the remainder having provided
substitutes. It came, therefore, to this—that by the
volunteer system you will get at once the same class -of
Persona--not the most desirable, perhaps, but still ca-
pable of makiug'very good soldiers—who .serve 83 Sub-
stitutea after you heve gone through all the delay, ex-
pense, and inconvenience of the ballot. Let me just
Point out to the House, with a view of showing the delay
and expenseeof proceeding under the ballot, some of the
steps which are necessary to put that system in motion.
ll
na the first place, as soon as possible after the 10th of
,uote'teer, a sub-division meeting is appointed to be held
'e every county; lists are then to be returned of all men
between the ages of 18 and 45 in the division; then
comes a notice to persons claiming exemption; lists are
sou to be made out of persons who have net 'claimed
exemption, notice of appeal is then to be given, and,
utter disposing of the appeals, complete lists are .to be
tt.ado oat and forwarded by each sutedivtsion meeting
tn'a the general meeting of the county. This general re
turn •-
„then to be forwarded to the Secretary of State,
the numbers to be raised are apportioned to each sub.
division, then comes a second meeting of the sub.divi-
!ion to appoint the members subject to the arrangements
Issued by the general meeting. Three weeks sifter that
It third sub-division meeting is to be held, to proceed to
tittle the ballete. Notice is then to be given of the
men who have been struck by the ballot, and three
Weeks after .ft fourth subdivision meeting is obliged
to be held for the purpose of calling upon the men
ultimately chosen by the ballot, to appear to show cause
if they can why they should not serve. All these pro-
ceedings occupy a period of, from first to lasn'not much
short of three months, to say nothing of the great ex-
tinge incurred in the various stages. The great bulk of
ese expenses were, under the Act of 1802, defrayed
t'roat the county rates. We look upon this as a grievous
Pressure upon the local finances of the country, and we
believe that even if it cannot be Altogether avoided, yet,
its far as possible, we desire to throw it upon the gene-
rsl fawn; of the country, it being clearly and unexcep-
tionably amexpense which should be borne by the cone.-
tttll at large. We hope that in most cases we may be
nutie to dispense with the tedious and expensive machi-
nery of the ballot. We hoped so at the commencement
Of the session, and further information which we have
°Lane received leads us to believe that in many, if not in
most, of
kit the counties of England we shall experience no
e -teeny whatever in raising the quota which may be
14t, ed by volunteers, and without having recourse to the
(u
ear.) We do not purpose to alter the cha-
tleter of the existing militia—we do not desire to intro-
duce a force of . a lees constitutional character than the
Present militia—we do not wish to obtain an army of
under th name of a militia; but we to
lea
eeserve the force,,e subject as the present force is, todesire the
co
tatmand.of those country, gentlemen who, in the time
°llauger to the country, have never hesitated., to !eke
their proper places in its defence, and who are entitled
to r • -
t, receive as upon former occasions they have received,
tie confidence of the. Crown in raising and commanding
;Tee force when necessary. We have, however, with a
* to the increased efficiency of the force, made an
alteration in the qualifications of the different ranks of
the officers. While under the present system the legal
qualification depends upon the possession of landed pro-
ru7t3r, we propose that with respect to all officers below
oto rank of. Major—that having the honour to hold ti
t 0 tifltuniseion in her Majesty's service shall be assumed
be a sufficient qualincation for the militia. At the
▪ e time let .me guard myself by saying that it is not
,'",,.ended in the slightest degree, by the introduction of
''neers holding commissions in the regular forces, to in-
terfere in any degree in this appointment—that will
rest as before with the lord-lieutenants of the re-
ta*Peetive counties. The time for which we propose the
ilitia shall be called out in each successive year is a
rieatiod of 21 days, liable to be diminished at the discre-
fof her Majesty to three days, comprising, in point
of
tatot, nothing more than a mere muster, and of being
Pretend
to . not less than fifty-six days. I do not
vreteed to say that a drill of twenty-one days is suffi-
ties,
see7t to convert a raw recruit into an effective
inter; but I think it will not be contradicted that a po-
Ca Of fifty-six days under able and intelligent officers
t 'quite sufficient to enable the rawest country recruits
° take that position, and discharge all the duties which,
o
bra in the event of an invasion, they would bo likely to
of called upon to occupy and perform, while even a drill
if twenty-one days will be found to be of great advantage
e sub
sequenn training. Another important point iu
the
atntitill is a provision for enabling the- Board of Ord.th'a .to select, at a higher rate of pay, some men .from
militia for the purpose of instructing them in the
of artillery—a knowledge which could not fail to
tserviceable to them when called upon to perform Iner-
i:ail' duty, There-are provisions in the'Bill fore qualis-
ng tbnpressure of raising the men in different years. It
1 the
that of the 80,000 men 50,000 should be raised
taa present year, and a reduction being then made in
ao9 nvaileble population for future years, not More than
1,,,,'°06 will be raised in the following year. There is a
trision alsorthat in the event of the 50,000 not being
ttvilsed in the present year, an excess over the 30,000
the
be raised in the .next year, sufficient to snake up
nit number of 80,000; and in the event of threat-
nt:ll or actual invasion, power is reserved to her
lastY to increase the total force to 120,000 men.
si„,tir,oposing the adoption of the volunteer system we are
L-"„IPLY adopting a plan, which was in actual operation in
ttnaati during the whole of the last war. In the course of
n last war the number of en who volevolunteered into the
regular troops from the militia was 64,000, and among
h:tn, the Noble Duke at the table (Wellington) will not
tbktsfe to say that he found many who, after a very
by the
period of service, were every way worthy to stand
eftgie aide of the old-trained soldier of the Peninsular.
el bear.) We propose then to revert to the
:nsitnown constitutional system of the militia, but we
1
°Pose to reverse the process which has hitherto taken
Place, and instead of making volunteers subordinate to,
kid f
th ()flowing the ballot, wo propose to take the ballot as
great majority of the counties, without the expense at-
antasot upeu the ballot, and without much difficulty,, we
nnall raise by volunteers the full, number of men which
eete
be required, and that this force will be raised by
Persons who ,es volunteers will receive at once that
stinty which they would receive as substitutes under
the
ballot, with all its inconveniences and expense.
while upon the one hand I do not feel it consistent with.
the discharge of the high and important duty which
devolves upon me to deprive the Crown of the last re-
'▪ efiti ice, of that which I think necessary, though undoubt-
;;;Y an ineonvenient and oppressive mode of proceeding
t the service of the.country, yet I desire to postpone
the exercise of that method until all others have been
w ille4. I believe that in. the course of the year wo shall
o
taiu theexperience that it will not, be necessary to
ttave recourse, to any such . proceeding; but that . the.
itts'alt.ef Englishmen will induce them to come forward
de 'volunteers—to tender their services first of all, no
ijutilbt, for the performance of a comparative trifling duty,
mote
eventually to take upon themselves to perform those
th're effective ones which may fell upon them in case it
tf,cttlid bo necessary to employ them in actual service. I
stunt that your Lordships will give, if not an unanimous,
viZtl. events a very general concurrence to a -policy,
t b, following in the. first instance the course recom-
mended,,i_ by the late Government, but departing from the
471 recommended by it.with respect to some of the do-
e:v.lst we have thought it our bounden duty to attempt to
fify through Parliament for the purpose of giving per-
-4 end entire security to the country, not againat any
Present invasion, but against the possibility of hostile ag-
eession.-.-(flear, hear.) I beg. my Lords, to move the
laond reading of the Militia Bdl.
The Marquis of LANSDOWNE said that he felt too
greatly the importance of the subject to remain altoge-
ther silent on tho present occasion. While lie was not
prepared to give his negative to the motion of the Noble
ho felt it his duty thus early in the debate to state
sge grounds upon which he assented to the proposed
n
ttnsure, Itin believed, in common with her Majesty's
'at/erne:not, .witto his colleagues with whom 'be had re-
4ntl '
Y acted, he might add in common with the
111„4,e ,5t portion of the reflecting people of this-country,
the 'would be utterly unsafe to leave the defences of
In'a country in their present condition, and he. would
WI" shrink from taking his share in any unpopulsrity
ka—,ett mightattach to an attempt to put those defences
" was bound, however, at
the more effective state. -
nos.same time, to say that while ne abstained. from
op-
ing such a measure, because he felt in the present
dirdetu3lntsta"" of the country and of Parlittenent,miefasthuerye
at alll--- Pass this measure they could adopt no f
if, h calculated to give efficiency .to
far to give a
our de ences—
,,,ip,c slid, on that ground he was bound Ito..
tentartg acquiescence to the adoption of the measure, it
ger„l,ltqually his duty to state fairly and without exag-
kitnon the doubts and difficulties that pressed on his
1411 with respect to the efficiency of this measure; above
ree'o',! it was to be considered as a solitary measure for
at `inf.,. the exigencies of the defences. Whet was the
if ur° of those exigencies? It. would be a different casts
e,Y
eotia were Propering by slow degrees to_ to !wise :this
it ottitrY to that station which most of them were satisfied
the-04 to occupy. But it was not a crisisenadmitting
to Possibility of invasion—that would be likely to lead
foe! ieng-Protracted war. What we required was a large
er 'a stationed along our shores, which should at once
the'4 such an invasion. Now did this measure give us
Rave,%s*urance that an .efficient and well-diseiplieed army
att lie was compelled to come to the conclusion that
trtgLnot. What would be the effect of twenty-one &ye,
in furnishing
or even of forty-two or fifty-six days' trainin,r,
blid Oishill2; us with the material which we wanted? Ile
been told, on competent authority, that from a drill
- number of recruits for the regular army, the utmost
thatbe could be expected of them in twenty-one days would
Th that they should be able to' march.—(A laugh.)
tr eY would 'certainly not be considered fit to be ern
u'aied with muskets or bayonets. At least twenty-one
do"' more drill would be requisite before they could be
to!Likitte4l to carry such arm. Well, then, would a
militia
tiled coo or evemin two years' be junta:4;l!
t'raei°4•te" with an experienced, powerful. .
trained army?—(Bear, near.)
state of things to fancy we had such an army, wilul In
. It would be tin alarming