The Sun.
London, England, 1852-04-27 00:00:00

enable them to increase their forces. But how stood the
facts? So far was there from being any just ground to
apprehend hostility, that the President of the French
Republic had written to the different powers of Europe
giving expression to the most pacific intentions, which
were seconded by a reduction of the National Guard.
That did not look like purposing to use a large military
force of regular troops abroad; and in the French navy
there was nothine beyond ordinary activity. There was
nothing, then, to show there was coy danger to this
country from abroad, and whenever such a danger
should appear imminent the people would readily give
the executive the means of detente.—(Hear, hear.) lint
there was a danger from letting the executive of this
country have a larger disposable military force than the
circumstances of the country required. Give the e_nn-
cutive the power of garrisoning the United Kingdom
with a militia, while they had 30,000 or 40,000
regular troops to spare, and they might then adoptth
ae
tone with foreign powers which would aboutlethe
very war they now affected to deplore. Facts and the
experience of history showed that it was diange,ruoumsiltio.
entrust the Executive of Esgiaed with tooh arttaut
tary power; but there were no facts to
with-
out any cause or dispute Englend h d e,hno.ws.u. bjected. to
sudden invasion from a friendly power. fencing of in-
vasion, he (Mr. Gibson) had, in 1848, the green-Ist ditli
culty in persuading a French gentleman that England
was not likely to interfere with the form of . government
which France had then adopted, by landing troops on
the continent. That gentleman said, there were two
things England would never do—she would not repeal
the navigation-laws, nor ever cease to interfere with the
formsof government on the continent; and he added
that all the foss which was then made in this country
was for the purpose of putting the people) in a fighting
spirit, to further the old policy of all Governments of
this country. Ho (Mr. Gibson) mentioned this to
show that not only Englishmen, but also Frenchmen,
might suspect invasion, and induine in unfounded
fear on the subject cf international interference.
But the House was told that it was necessary to do
something to waken up the martial spirit of tho people,
enervated by a long peace; and that the only means of
effecting this object was to call out the militia. On
that point he would read an extract from Sir James
Mackintosh, respecting the martial spirit of the country.
[The Hon. Gentleman then read the passage in ques-
tion, which was to the effect that a free nation like Eng-
land, full of power and full of order, contained in itself
all the essential elements of an army. That the people
of England had accordingly proved that in time of need
they could be a nation of warriors, though they were not
a people of soldiers, and that freemen were brave be-
cause they relied on themselves.] With regard to the
panic which had been alluded to, he (Mr. Gibson) would
Add to the valuable quotation made by the Hon. Baronet
tehe Member for Tamworth another from the same
thority—that of the late Sir R. Peel, in reference to the
paeeic of 1848. On the 26th of February, 1848, Sir R. Peel
said that after the panic which had prevailed, he was
glad to find the alarm of invasion had abated—that he
was relieved when he heard it was not the intention
of the Government to make any increase in the mili-
tary and naval force of the country. The Noble Lord the
Member for London also said, when the panic was over,
that though he had heard much of the insufficiency of
the force of the country, the contrary was the case
—that the country was in a state ,ef as great strength
as it required to be, and that it had. nothing to fear from
any sudden outbreak of hostilities in any quarter. He
(Mr. Gibson) was told that he ,aught to bow to the
authority of distinguished men on this point, and he
was willing to do so; but when one pointed out one
course, end another pointed out. another, he could not
.decide which to bow to. In tact, no two of them were
consistent on the subject. A Tate Lord of the Admi-
ralty, for instance, had said tient evening that an in-
crease. in the military force of the country was not
wanted, and that with 4,000 neen and boys added to
the navy be would undertake to make all safe. The
Hon. and Gallant General who moved the amendment
doubted the necessity of any itecrease in the military
force of the country. Therefore, though it might be
presumptuous, as the Noble Lord the First Commis-
sioner of Works -stated, in a p rivate member to en-
tertain an opinion on the subject of the national
defences, when all the authorities disagreed with
one another on the point. he was compelled
to judge for himself. A late Secretary at War
had said that the House and the country knew no-
thing about the national defemeas and that a prelimi-
nary inquiry was, therefore, ne ces'sary. A more con-
fused mess—in fact, a more unsatisfactory con-
dition for the war party—one more melan-
choly, one more humiliating;, one more contra-
dictory, it was difficult to conceive. Referring to the
merits of the question, what was supposed to be done?
A bounty of 61. was to be given, and the Noble Member
for Tiverton said that such was his confidence in the
people of England that those erten who should receive
this bounty would come when they were wanted.
(Mr. G,) admired the generous, confiding spirit
of the Noble Lord, but he cetuld not coincide with
him in his conclusions—more eapecially as the Hon,
Member for West Kent had staeed that in his regiment
alone there were no fewer than 800 desertions, and as it
Was a proved fact that notwithstanding the terrible
punishment awarded to desertion, not less than 53,000
ram had deserted from the regular army in the short
period of ten years. To rely, therefore, on seeing again
those men who had once undergerse the severity of mili-
tary displine was, to say the least of it, not wise. He
(Mt Gibson) doubted, however, whether bounty men
would be obtainable at all in the manufacturing dis-
tricts; for the wages were largor than the bounty. In
that case the ballot would be had recourse to. But the
ballot was a pure conscription, which would take men
from their proper employment, and leave their families
on the parish; and if there was a justification for that
conscription in military cases, tike same justification ex-
isted for pressing men to serve in the navy. Such a
course, however, if it was at any time justifiable, was
not so now, when, according to the statements of Mi-
nisters, past and present, the country was in the most
peaceful possible relations with all foreign states. The
Bill before the House would take people back to the time
of George 111., though the feelings of the country on
this subject had entirely changed since then. He (Mr.
Gibson), for instance, doubted if persons of strong reli-
gious feelings would serve even if drawn, seeing that the
Duke of Wellington had stated that a man with nice
scruples of religion had no business in the army. What,
. then, would be done with them? Would they be sent
to gaol ? Then, again, supposing men with such feel-
ings to be willing to serve, were they to be brought into
contact with the bounty men, ;persons for the moat
part who had lost their characters, and who
were too idle or too vicious to work ? Were young
men religiously and morally educated to be
billetted in public-houses along with these men, and
made to herd together in beer-shops and such places ?
Again, would it not be a wrong and an injustice to
beer-shop-keepers and publicans to billet upon them
these 80,000 men, whom they would have to supply with
maintenance at a very reduced :rate ? In every light,
therefore, under which the question was viewed, though
the Bill before the House might be fitted for the times of
George 111., it was not suitable for the advanced intelli-
gence of the reign of Victoria. The Right Hon. Secre-
tary for the Colonies bad referred to the militia of the
United States iu eupport of the measure; but he forgot
to state the exact nature of the institution. It was only
a muster of the inhabitants capable of bearing arms three
times a year, at which there was no compulsion to ap-
pear, further than a trifling fine of 75 cents. In the six
New England States, however, the militia had been ac-
tually laughed out of existence. To tell England that
4tiseasies an example to follow was, therefore, ridiculous.
mmne,retay fz!f the United States, from California to
were ;.esr,'_Oetteq only of 9.000 men, while persons who
the
ratite7ti there for twenty years had never seen
States as
a soldier. To quote the United
Mr. Gibson) a anexample to England gave him
title information conve to add a little more to the
man- same years yed since the
the Right Hon. Gentle-
United States had address the
Secretary at War of the
a circular to the highest
military officers in the Statesed
to the onthesu
bect,
replies were uniformly adverse
militia.anodnteheoirf
these
said th effectcers, of the musters o General Cadwallader, of Pennsylvania,
n the morals of the people
at drunkennessul,
was most injurious, for that riot,
pol
int
them. An-
morality were the order of the day and fm
Pheosie of view, was
other said the militia, in a militaattryt
samtnuestters were
worse than useless, inasmuch
schoolr of insubordination and vice. The
was borne by the others. He (Mr. Gibson) eel:Els:rim"?'
on the subject, and he wishedtoexress himself strongly
draw The House should bear in mind that they were going
from Lance-
draw up some 13,000 or 14,000 to
young men f
and that PrinciPal shire and Yorkshire alone—the seat of th
ma-
nufactures of this country—this would be no
the
small interruption to the
.productive industry of
nation, and no light injustice to the men themselves,
who would be compelled thereby to forego large earn.
ings, and perhaps lose altogether their employments
He earnestly hoped, therefore, that the measure would
be defeated.
Mr. S. HERBERT said the Right Hon. Gentleman
viewed the militia as an aggressive force conducive to a
state of foreign warfare; he (Mr. S. Herbert), on the
contrary, viewed it as a measure purely of peace. The
Right Hon. Gentleman spoke of the two Militia Bills as
having been passed during a period of foreign war; if his
• (Mr. S. Herbert's) recollection served him right
Itll;-y
were both passed in periods of peace—the Bill 7
of 6,
at the commencement of the peace which followed the
closing of the American war, and the 42d George III:,
e. 90, in 1802, after the conclusion of the war, which
ended in the year preceding. The facts were not, there-
fore, in conformity with the statements of the Right
noirloGentleman. The Hon. Member for Tamworth had
said, on Friday, that there were three ways by which
People, in a private state, could judge of the necessity of
defensive measures. The first was the sensitive ramifi-
cations of commerce, which vibrated all over the country
at the first access of danger. The Hon. Meniber said
we had the press, which made overwhelming efforts to
giveehe public more rapid information than the Govern-
nent—there was commerce, and there was diplomacy.
. Now, with respect to commerce, he very much doubted
whether commerce would clearly indicate the state of
feeling as to peace or war. Capital hoped to the last
mocaent—it would not leave its usual channels until
Compelled—and experience proved that in all wars which
Came -Suddenly on a nation, commerce was the first to
ports,' So,
suffer,' by embargoes and seizures of vessels in hostile
tao
therefore, ho did not think commerce was a
safe
test. Then he would take the press, which the Hon.
Gentleman said would give its warning. But to what
were
.we to listen? Had we not had warning enough in
all conscience—he thought even too much—for it ap-
Pearad to him that the hostile criticisms, and the assump-
tion of hostility which had influenced those warnings,
were unfounded and extremely injudicious. For he held
that every nation w the Ine
as e
affair; .:—avelrt judge of its own internal
ii irrt'
. y trettort naturally resented the criticisms of
g. , , yr," '4
vernment. Every n
own business to' '4'l" considered
deal'wail their own form of government,
that it was their