The Sun.
London, England, 1852-03-30 00:00:00

THE MILITIA.

Petitions against the enrolment of the militia were
presented from different parts of the country by Mr.
Hume, Mr. Henley, Mr. Thornely, and other Hon.
Members.

Mr. Secretary WALPOLE then rose, in pursuance of
the order of the 20th day of February last, " That leave
be given to bring in a Bill to amend and consolidate the
Laws respecting the Militia," to bring in the Bill accord-
ingly. In doingfthis he owned he felt no ordinary anxiety,
and he threw kimself on the indulgence of the House while
he stated the liew,of her Majesty's Government on this
highly import‘ant subject.—(Hear, bear.) Ho felt on
the one hand the vast magnitude of this subject, and
the difficulties that surrounded it, while on the
other ho experienced the deep responsibility which
attached to him in bringing ,it forward, and had he
been in the private capacity of an independent Member
it was doubteul whether he should ever have spoken
upon it.—(Hear, hear.) But he was convinced of the
absolute necessity of some such measure as
that which ho should presently have the
honour of proposing, and if he were to
shrink now from the task which devolved upon
him he should be not only neglecting his duty as a
Minister of the Crown, but in his opinion actually
abandoning the best interests of the country.—(Hear,
hear.) Consider for a moment the circum-
stances under which they were placed. They
must all agree that this country ought
to be in an equal state of defence, whatever might be its
means of attack, with the other powers of Europe; but
was that our position at the present moment?—(blear,
hear.) No; the country having enjoyed the blessing
of peace for nearly forty years, had been
lulled into a state of apathy, and it was now hardly
posssible to imagine, let alone believe, that there was
any possibility of danger.—(Bear, hear.) But though
ho trusted, nay he believed, that any actual danger
was far removed from these shores, yet, looking at the
state of Europe and at the elements of anarchy and con-
fusion which might break out not many months hence,
ho thought they were bound to see that the country was
in such a state of defence as to be able to resist
any attack that could possibly be made upon it.—
(Cheers.) A question was put to him the other night
by an Hon. Member as to whether Ministers had re-
ceived any information from abroad as to render a measure
of this nature necessary, and he now frankly admitted
that they had not, but it was that absence of informa-
tion, and our being on friendly terms with all our
foreign allies, which made the present the most fitting
opportunity for introducing such a measure as
this.—(Hear, hear.) Looking, therefore, at the cir-
cumstances under which the present Government came
into power, and the admission not only of all our military
and naval authorities, but of the House itself, that the
country was now in a defenceless state, the Ministry, in
the event of a war, would be liable to be impeached if
they failed to press on a measure of this kind, so that
the country should be ready for the foe should ho ever
make his appearance on our shores.—(Hear.) There
were three classes of objectors to the observa-
tions he had made—first, those who thought the exist-
ing defences of the country were sufficient; secondly,
those who saw no immediate danger and no immediate ne-
cessity for a militia; and, thirdly, those who considered
that if they increased the defences of the country they
ought to do so by adding to the army and navy, instead
of having recourse to a regular militia. Now, he
would say a few words on each of these three classes
of objectors. With regard to the first, viz., those who
deemed the present defences of the country sufficient,
he observed that oar army consisted at present of about
160,000 men who were scattered over different parts of
her Majesty's dominions. Now, before they arrived at any
hasty conclusion they ought to ask themselves what use
could bo made of these troops for home defences. It
was true they had a large army, but it was not a quarter
of the army of Russia, not a half of the army of Prussia,
not one-third of the army of France, and very little
more than the army of Belgium.—(Hear, hear.) Be-
sides, those powers had more compact domi-
nions, and could readily concentrate their forces,
while ours were scattered over the world, and
could not be collected together for defence
at home without leaving parts unprotected. Tho very
greatness of our empire was one source of its weakness.
They could not, though availing themselves of all
the forces at the central depots and in the
manufacturing districts, bring to bear upon the
coast more than 25,000 men. After deal-
ing with the other two parties to whom he had referred,
he proceeded to show the necessity of preparing a de-
fence in the event of an incursion or at-
tack being made upon the country.—(Hear, hear.)
The objections to increasing the navy and army were
—first, that they must increase considerably the per-
manent expenditure, which the House of Commons
would not be likely to sanction in a time of depressed
revenue; and, secondly, both army and navy were
instruments of attack as well as of defence, and
if we wore to increase them wo should arouse
suspicion and provoke Jealousy among fin cige
powers, at a time, too, when there was least occasion
for it. It was evident that the navy must be our chief
reliance for defence, and yet it would be impossible to in-
crease it adequately unless we bad a covering force on
land; and with regard to an increase of the army the
Noble Lord the Member for Tiverton on a former
occasion had so adequately stated the reason against
that—namely, that a standing army was opposed
to the habits and feel ngs of the country, that he
did not need to allude to them again. There were
many reasons why the national militia should be relied
on for defence, the chief of which was that it
had often done good service, but the calling out of the
militia was attended with great hardships and incon-
veniences. These, however, it was thought by her
Majesty's Government might be got rid of by means of
a scheme of voluntary enlistment, and it was on this
principle that her Majesty's Government proposed to
found their scheme of a national militia. The number
of men proposed to be raised was 80,000.—(Hear, bear.)
The Right Hon. Gentleman then proceeded—Now to
raise that force in one year would be open to two objec-
tions. It would be difficult by means of bounties to ob-
tain men; and we therefore propose in the first year to
limit the force to 50,000 men. The second advantage to
be derived from that would be this, that instead of hav-
ing all the periods of the service terminate at the same
time, they would terminate at different times, and you
would have some skilled men always remaining.—(Hear,
hear.) We propose to raise the force by means of
bounties, which we think might be paid in sums of
money down at one payment; or, for the sake of con-
venience to those who might wish it—agricultural la-
bourers, for instance—in monthly payments at, say
2s. 6d. per month. However, we intend to leave it en-
tirely optional. With regard to officers, the House is
aware there are five qualifications; but we think these
qualifications may be dispensed with in all officers above
the rank of major. We think it would be a great ad-
vantage to have the militia officered by men who had
previously been in the army, and who may have retired
on half-pay. Therefore, we propose, in that case, that
such officers as have been in the army, the fact of their
having been in the army should be equivalent to a qua-
lification.—(Hear, hear.) With regard to drilling and
training, the House is aware that at present the
militia are brought out only 28 days in the year.
From all the information we could obtain on the sub-
ject, we think that 21 days would be sufficient; but
then there are cases in which the period might be ex-
tended or reduced. For that reason wo will provide
that the ordinary number of days shall bo 21, the Crown
being invested with the power to extend the period to
seven weeks.—(Hear, hear.) With regard to the ex-
pense, I must say that in the first year it will..be_ van
rovide b
considerable in consequence of having
to
proud the ex-
ties, arms, and equipment. But iff
syeorvuitude, the whole
penso over five years, the period o
will amount to about 1,200,0001., ortahlemosfitrastt thyeearratethoef
250,0001. per year; but
expense will necessarily amount this ttohisabarts 4n0a0t,i0000041.1
—(Hear, hoar.)
and we Wteher.leofooktrhoeu-consider great altera-
force, laws in reference to it
oseofththaet
lions should be mad© in
ansroapiso
as they now stand.--030as ;;:rd, hear.)
pm
equipments, as
purse.
the expense of the arms
shoulderneiasr
borne. by thedptsutrbileict
bounties, should be
rand e that each
h
hear.)We -.6.P that, in the neglectof • so doing • ,
its proper vete
y
el furnish that amountof
should reasons expenditure
such quota, if provided, would re '
which 5- la then, in a short quire.—(Hear,
hear.) See , compass, is the Bill
which we Will now submit for the approval and •
adoption
of the House. The reasons for its adoption,
as also the
objections to it, with one exception, I think I have ex-
plained in the course of my observations.
But there is
one objection which I think I
objection is, that is so large a
force of volunteersought to explain. The
with
must necessarily interfereethe recruiting you
must
of
ftohue
army. We have consulted military
authorities on the
point, and we are informed that the• 1
objection will not
hold, as regards
With reference to the ages of the men, the
Mouse •is aware that a recruit must not be more than
24 years of age, and of the height of 5 feet 6 inches. We
propose that the height for the militia shall be 5 feet 2
inches. We propose that the ages of the volunteers may
range from 18 to 3.5 years; so that there, consequently,
can be no interference as regards age. With reference
to height, the House is probably aware that the height
for the British army is 5 feet 6 inches; for the Russian,
5 feet 4 inches, and for the French, 5 feet 1 inch._
(Laughter.) Gentlemen may smile at this, but although
lam speaking in an English House of Commons, it
ought never to be forgotten that a nobler or more gallant
soldiery never existed in the world than the French.—
(Cheers.) If they can fight battles, and they have fought
gallantly throughout the length and breadth of Europe,
surely our men at 5 feet 2—(Great laughter)—surely
our men at 5 feet 2 must be equal to the work.—(Hear,
hear.) Sir, lam quite aware that this is a subject upon
which I am so little competent, and which involves so
many difficulties, that I may not have expressed myself
as clearly as I could have wished to the House.
Lord J, RUSSELL—What is the length service?
Mr. wAIROLE—Five years. Sir, I have endea-
voured to give a plain and simple statement of the real
facts of the case as I believe them to exist with reference
to the state of our national defences. I think I have
shown the absolute necessity there is for some improve-
ment of these defences. If you believe that you ought
to inoure yourselves against those ousuAlties Rbiely IA"