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

TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 27, 1852..

country did want more defences, be had no faith in
the effieienov of MAW(' Bells, and he for oue
hoped the House would pause before it adopted this
expensive measure.—(Hear.)
Colon 1 LINDSAY said the hest evidence of the no-
comity of an eug,nentetion of our de•ensive force way
to be found in the two Militia Bills proposed by two
separate Governments. Having corrected some errors
into which some previous srakers had fallen with re
gird to the amount of cff,niive force at the disposal of
this country, the Hon. cud Gallant Gosntli men said he
was decidedly opposed to adding to our hems forces by
recalli. g troops from our colonies. The que-tion of
protecting our colonies ought to be coneulered eistrac's-
edlY, end quite apart from any plan for forming a
militia.—(dear, hear) As a soldier, of course, he
should prefer 20,000 regularly disciplined ni-n to 80 000
militiamen; but then ne wanted troops for our gar-
risons. Surely, if they were to Wu- the course of in-
creasing the standing army, 8,000 men would not be
enough to add to it. Less than 20,000 men increase
would not be sufficient to put the country in a proper
state of defence. Well, thee, they should next con-
sider the expense of their standing army. Tne total
number of men voted for the standing army was
101,837. For the purp ese of ascertaining the expense
of such army let them deduct the officers' who cost the
country nothing except their pay.— (A laugh.) The
number of non-commissioned officers and men would
then stand stand 97,418. The total pay of these men
amounted to 1.866,2571.; their clothing wee 287,379/.
total, 2,153,6361. Now, the pay and clothing of 20,000
additional men in this proportion would amount to
472,6411. The money required to raise these men,
being 5/. for each, would amount to 100,0001.—total,
572,6411. But where were they to put these 20,000
men ?—(Hear, hear.) They must provide new barracks
for them, and also devote a large sum for good-conduct
money, for hospital accommodation, for the movement of
troops, for coals, candles, great coats, and for the sub-
sequent incomes to the pensioners. A sum of 65,0001. or.
70,0001. must then be added to the expenditure. Much
had been said in reference to the volunteer system. From
what they had lately seen of the enthusiasm of the
people, he believed that in the event of danger they
would find plenty of volunteers, but he was afraid they
never could be relied on as an efficient body. The
Duke of Wellington was opposed to the volunteer
system for the defence of the country. In 1511, in
one of his dispatches to Lord W. Bentinck, that illus-
trious man wrote to this effect :—" The enthusiasm of
the people is very great, but I would never tract any-
thing to the enthusiasm of the people." Now every
objection that had been urged against the Bill before
the House would apply equally to the Bill of the Noble
Lord the Member for Loudon.--(Hear, hear.) One of
the objections of the Noble Lord to the measure was
that the bounties would induce a great number of bad
characters to join the militia. He (Colonel Lindsay)
was of opinion that it might; but they would probably
get a much larger number of bad characters by the adop-
tion of the substitute iysti m.—(Hear, hear.) He
thought it was objectionable to pay the whole of the
bounty money at once ; but if they distributed it over
a certain period of time they would be more likely to se-
eure proper steady men. These men might be drilled
by good sergeants at such periods of the day as would
not interfere with their ordinary occupations. He would
also suggest the propriety of drilling them by companies
and never by battalions. He would support the second
reading of the Bill. _ _ _

Mr. CARD WELL thought it was their duty to sup-
port the st-cond reading of the Bill. Uuder any circum-
stances, when the Government asked the House to con-
sider a measure which they declared to be necessary in
order to preserve their shores from invasion, they would
be undertaking a solemn responsibility if they offered any
opposition to it. How much greater would that respon-
sibility be on this occasion, when they considered that
there had been so great a concurrence of opinion between
the present and the preceding Government as to the ne-
cessity of examining their national defences carefully, in
order to the placing them in the position in which the
people of this great empire had a right to expect that
they should be placed. It had been proposed to increase
the standing army, and another proposal was that they
should withdraw a portion of their troops from their co-
lonial possessions in order to secure to the people here a
larger proportion of military protection. Now bethought
that this was a moat reasonable proposition, and he hoped
that it would meet with due attention in the proper
quarter. But that was a measure which could not be
accomplished in a day. It must occupy a considerable
period of time to accomplish it.—(Hear, hear.) When
they invested some of their colonies with considerable
powers of self-government, he thought it but fair that
they should be required to provide for their own military
protection, and thereby save this country from paying for
it. But these were all reasons why they should go into
the consideration of this Bill. They were met by an
argument—and there is certainly a general impression
prevailing out of doors—that they were about subjecting
this country to a system of forced conscription to be
carried on by the instrumentality of the ballot. He did
not think after so many years ot peace that they would
ever succeed in carrying such a system into effect. In
Mr. Norman's able pamphlet, in which he reviews the
burdens of this country compared with others, the
writer says—" France is ground down by a system of
military conscription which must be regarded as a large
and unascertained pecuniary tax. England, however,
is totally free from a military
.conscription." He (Mr.
Cardwell) understood that it was intended to work
this measure by a system of voluntary enlistment;
and the probability of a forced conscription was
to be the last resort, which it was not intended to
carry into operation. Whatever this country might
be disposed to submit to under the severe exigency
of immediate danger, he was of opinion that
there was no possibility in times of peace of inducing the
people to submit to anything like forced conscription.—
(Hear, hear.) What was the step they were now about
to take ? Surely they were bound to consider how the
law at present stood. The 42d George 111., c. 90, was
an enduring law. It stands upon the statute-book, and
was in permanent operation. For nearly twenty year,
they had annually dealt with it by passing a law sus
pending its operation for twelve months; and within
that law they had left a power which might be exercised
by an Order in Council to suspend the suspending law,
and to revive the enduring law. If, then, they c efeated
this Bill upon the second reading, the House of Commons
would find itself placed in this predicament : the mi.
nister would say, I teld you, upon my responsibility,
that this kingdom is not safe from foreign invasion. al,
predecessor has told you the same thing.—(Hear, hear.)
You, therefore, cannot dispute it. Yeti have, however
refused to go with me into an inquiry into the derail.
of a Militia Bill I have proposed in order to rented)
if you wished, have moved such
this evil. If you thought that my mitigatory clause:
wore not strong enough, in the Committee upon m,
you theught proper, bat instead ot
Bill you might,
foytwoortianrathade:niagsueactonsfoue
pension Bill, because I do not think
alterations as
you rejected my Bill altogether
I shall not, therefore, ask you
that our shores are safe-from foreign inlvils.,ioann.d
gshat
:
oe
ustatuteconstituenciesa i
ifi
Militia
eßoirigi
Bill. I,
not like such 0
proceed by compulsory conscription through the means
I, therefore, '
proceeding I cannot help it. The responsibility rests
upon the advice of successive Cabi•
not hold myself responsible for the adoption of the other
alternative into which you yourselves have driven me."
—Meer, bear.) He said then that out of respect to
ofl :hien boaPellroat.tionlit;
c,,ta__out of respect to the safety and independence of the
with you for rejercetaindginmgy.
country, and also by that jealousy of compulsory coo-
ccriptiote they were b mud to adopt the second reading •
of this Bill.—(Hear, hear.) If they were soma ed by
this spirit they might be able to establish a mode la)
which preliminary
the Crown, acting
arrangements could be made for the
proper organisation of a militia, and at the same time
guard against the danger of compulsory conscription.
hey would thus be piecing the Minister in a state the
would compel him to be answerable for the safety of thi-
s eountry. Under such circumstances he could not mon•
fells it with his conscience to do otherwise than vote fie
tbil second reading of this Bill.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. CHAPLIN reminded the El Jude of the necessity
of affording every facility for the transport of troops
from one end of the country to the other. The Presi
dent of France and his G erernment were taking the
most effectual measures for the completion of such rail-
way communication, by branch lines from Rouen to
Ceen, and from thence to Cherbourg. Although a Bill
had been passed in 1848 for a line of railway from Sa-
lisbury to Exeter, in o inseqaenee of several untoward
circumstances that had subsequently occurred, it was
never carried out. If the Government would but con-
sent to advance 550,000/. at 3 per cent. interest, to'
thirty years, he pledged himself to place snob unquea-
tionable security in the hands of the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer as would satisfy
him of its validity.— ( A laugh.)
Admiral BERKELEY said it was generally agreed
upon that the defences of the country were not in a
satisfactory state. The Noble Lord the Member
for Tiverton (Lord • •Palmerston) said that there
were two measures open to the House to adopt :
one was an increase of the standing army—
the other was the calling out of the militia.
But be was rather surprised to find it never struck e
Noble Lard that there was another plan which might be
resorted to—namely, a force to be raise
ene d by velu.tnhteererost.
This might be done at one-half the expense f
the other plena. and would pro" much
Noblegnoroe Lord sp„ke effective
for the object they had in view. The
of the French being enabled to raise 50,000 or 60,000
men in Cherbourg, but he did not tell the House how
Channel.
Now men were to be transported across the
Now there were, no doubt, a great many diffiou ties in
the way of increasing the defences of
_the
.c.nuntry.
Every Gentlemen who bad spoken on tsh
own to subject ap.
peered to have a favourite nostrum of n pro.
An EL de Gentleman connected with the railway
ITreet:e interest of the country had just proposed his nostrum
which be, no doubt, thought the most valuable that they
bad as yet considered. Nothing was more ridiculous
then to magnify the resources at our .00mmsrui. It
was quite a, absurd as the panic that had been lately
thrown over the country. The proposition he was
about to submit ,1V•45 one that would net cost the
country 200,0001 He would only udic the Rouse to vote
for the navy 4 000 men and 1,000 buys. By giving that
number, in addition to what the Admiralty had at pre-
sent, he would undertake to say that
they would have a
fleet of 30 steamer, in the Channel, no • none of which would
be under 900 or 1,000 tons burden, erased with the
most valuable guns foie and aft; and six other steamers
of a larger class. These •
wouldpresent a formidable
force before which he would defy any enemy to stand.
He would tell the Noble Lord that it would take 80 or CO
vessels to embark those men he spoke of as being reedy
for action at Cherbourg. and it would take as many
more vessels as he proposed to equip to protect them in
the Channel. They should recollect they were not
talking of the common occurrence of war, but they were
to consider how they could best guard against a surprise
and an attempt to brrade our shores while they were
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