The Sun.
London, England, 1806-07-22 00:00:00

MILITIA.

Oil the third reading of the Militia Office'rs' Pay:
WI; •
The Earl of RAD:VaIi
,protested against 'it as a.
Bill that. Offered an insult 'and *injury to the Militia,
whilst it was at the same time a breach of faith•to-
wards that. valhable body of men, it having been
clearly Oclared,by Parliament that the pay of the
:Militia Officers should be equal to that of the Officers
of the Line. He lamented that every Party 'who'
'came into power seemed inclined to give a blow to
'the Militia. The engagements that had been enter-,
ed'into' with the Militia had now nearly all been
broken; the men, had, been taketroht of the Regi-
ments to serve in the Line 5 Officers had been ap-
pointed wichout, the requisite landed qualifications ;.
:low the pay.of the Otlicers was to be rendered less
than that of the Line, and. he supposed their rank
would next b,t2f affeCted. He wished to sneak against
this measure in the strongest terms his liberty
of spe,:ch'in Parliament would allow ; and viewing
it in the light he did, he felt it. his duty to move,.
that 'the Bill be read a‘second titve this day twee

. .
months, • .
77ce .garl of TVESTMQ RI, A ND also thought the
Bill a breach of faith towards, the Militia,' and was at
i> loss to conceive 'on what grounds it could be stip-
ported. On a former occasion, when discussing any
of the military measures of his Majesty's Ministers,
it had .Ipc.!en said, do not take a measure singly, but.
.-loo!,: at tile whole plan, and with this licence he
would take' the liberty'of adverting- to a Bill, lb..- re-
gulating the rank of. Volunteer Officers, which,
'either thrJugh his mistake, or the mistake of others,
had passed :through the House without his havirlg
an opportunity of tn.thing any remark on it—a Bill
Nviiich ho conceived calculated to give offence to the
- Vonutteers, without any, benefit being likely to be
thrived from it. .

I,orfl G4E, NVILLE declared Illmself a 'warn)

. friend. tit‘the Militia, which he consisiered a Very
valaabie part of our military fOrce, net only as at-
fording a force for the defence of the Country in the
hour of hanger, but also as giving an opportunity to
Gentlemen of landed property, not &using to enter
'into the regular Military protession of evincing their
Zeal and spirit, and of obtaining that degree' of mi-
litary know/edge which.would render, them essen-
tially useful in a crisis of public danger. There was
'riot the slightest intention, oil-the paq of
,His Ma-
jesty's Ministers, to give a blow or offer any insult to
the Militia; nor could be conceive how, this Bill
could be so construed. He denied that there was any
breach of faith ; all that had formerly been declared
by Parliament was; that the Officers of the Militia
Should receive the same paY as Officers of the Line,
that is to say, the pay which the latter then received ;
Taut it never could he contended, that from thence a
principle was to arise, that the'pay of the Officers of
the Line was never to be augmented without at the
same time augmenting, to an'equal amount, the pay
cf the Odicers of the Militia. •lt should be recol-
leaed, that thp Officers. of the Line "made tha mili-
tary profession the business of their lives, and were
liaLle to many duties of service. to which• Militia
Officers, were Dot ; the latter, besides; might pursue
other avocations, at the same time continuing the
exercise of their duties us Military Officers. He could
.pit, therefore, ~conceive in what way the Bill could
operate as a hardship UpOtethe latter.
• 'Lora ELMON objecte,d that the Bill was incon-
sistt•nt itself, inasamuch a 4 it Merely professed
in its title to_he a Bill frle.ol,ilating the pay of Mi-
Jitia Officers in 4ngland alo.,&otlapil, whilst in the
hody of the'Bilthere were enaaments applying to
the Yeomanryand Volunteers of Ireland.
The .4,4r1 AWIR4 observed, that a trifling
Amendment would
.obviate the inconsistency of
Which the Noble and Lehrtied LOrdCeniplained: 'lie
professed•hiraself a warm friend to the Militia, and,
coinciding completely with the arguments urged by
his N 0615, Friend (Lord Glrcnviliej, he could not
conceive in'wleat way the Bill could be Considered,
as offethig any insult ,to that valuable part, of 'our
Military He thought the lamentation of the
_Noble Earl (West:not-land), that he had missed an
.::OpOrtunity of debating the Bill for .replacing the
`r3til; of the Volunteer Officers, was nneediess, as
every part of of Ministers, tts/embodied to
t he diflZ:rot lircenht-till to that -House., had
teen Most alkiy by Noble Lords on the
other Side, who had suircely omitted
,any opportu-
Diev attacl:ing them. :With ri..,!:,;pe6t to. that Bill,
however, ht., w wild observe., that obi only no offence
was intended.to the yciunteets, but- he was colivinced
that no offenco couh.f tal.;ed by the Volunteer

as they 'oust th:L, 1 eau want of expe-
ri...:rice in aetihit Setvice;• t Cie not competent to
take the Fietd Oftteers of the Line, and
of hlr,t,,t;,' boctit-2s of troops, the evont oi, their being
a.:.tunhy caVrt:Ci 011( for the el'etorice of the Country. •
Earl. Z ILIA ::M likewLse titfendM the ILIA, on

grOunds similar to those urged- by Lord Grenv:lle
and the Earl of Moira.

The Earl 'of RADNOR repeated his former disap-
probation of the
The Earl of H4R,DIVICKE objeaed to the Bill;
on the ground of the increase of p4y not being ex-
tended to Captains in the Militia,' many Of whom,
he said,' from having
~been appointed without the
qualification previously required, stood as much in
need of an increase as any of the others-to whom it
had been extended.

Earl SPENCER thought if the not extending the
increase to. Captains bad the effect of bringing back
the Militia, in that respea, to 'its former principle,
that 'of only having Captains possessed of the landed
qualification-before required, it would produce a good
of e&.--He defended. the Bill on the grounds before
urged ;, and as to the rank of Volunteer Officers, he,
as a Volubteer Field-Officer himself, considered that
Bill as a boon, and be had no doubt it would be ge-
nerally considered by Volunteer Officers as a favour,
as, with all that zeal and spirit which they would
doubtless evince in the hour of danger, they could
not, from want'of experience, feel themselves ade-
quate o the command of large bodies of Troops.
.The Dake' of RUTLA ND expressed his entire
disapprobation of the Bill, which
.116 conceived to be
subversive of the constitution of the Militia. •
The LORD CHANCELLOR contended.that the
former declaration' of the 'Legislature", that the pay of
the _Militia Officers Would be the same as that of the
Line, could 'only apply to the then pay of the Regii-
lar Army, and not to any filture augmentation.—
Those Noble Lords who conceived that this aug-
mentation ought to, be extended equally to the Mi-
litia might use that as an argument against the Bill,
but it never could' be maintained .that the not ex-
. tending to that force.an increase of pay, granted under
special circumstances to the Regular Army, was sub-.
' versive of the Constitution of the Militia.
Lord ELDON said a few words in explanation. •

Earl CAMDFN opposed the Bill. He thought the
measures brought forward by Ministers were not ex-
aaly in unison with their professions of regard for
the Militia and Volunteers.

The House- then divided on the questiod that the
word•" now" stand part of the Motion for reading
the third time.—COntents 13 5 non-contents

8 ; ,majority
On our re-admission we found

The Earl f WESTMORLAND • on his legs,
speaking on the question for reading the Same Bill a
third time. His Lordship eqressed, his disapproba-
tion generally of the measures'•which. had been
brought forward by Ministers„
.and considered his
own honour and characaer, as well as that of those
with whom he recently a6ted, involved in his oppo-
sition to them.

The Bill was then read a third time and passed.
PUBLIC\HARI3OURS.
On -dip rnt. into a Committee on

_n the question ror goint;
the Public Harbours'Bill,

.The E;211 of LIMERICK complained that a Bill
of this' importance had been brought forward at so'
late a period of the Session. It appeared to him
likely to he,rnisChievous in its operation, as intended
to prevent persons having property on the banks of
navigable rivers, as
.far as the tide flowed, from
making the least improvement'on their estates with-
out giving notice to the Secretary of the Admiralty.
The peitalty for not giving this notice was 2001. and
many persons might thus be entrapped without being
at all aware of t:c natUre of the law. He thought it
would in many eases be uSeless as to the interests of
the palic,"and instanced the river Shannon, in ire-
w,nere.tne tide flowed a mile higher than ves-
sels of any burden'could come up, yet' this Bill would
equally operate in that 'part of the river where it
could hot be-of the least use.

Lord G IiENFiLLE 'sold, the Bill had, been
brought for.ward as soon as the grievance to which
it applied 'was known; and it was a measure which
he contended was highly necessary in order to pre-
serve our public harbours and navigable rivers froth
obstructions. It was merely required of the person
making any embankment or other work, in the.si-
tuations mentioned,' to send.notice to the Secretary
of the Admiralty, which could be but a very trivial
hardship. Many other rivers might be in the situa-
tion of the. Shannon, where the tide flowed higher
than vessels of any burden could ❑avigate, but it was,
notwithstanding, important to prevent obstru&ions
in those parts of such rivers, in order to prevent the
navio-able parts of those rivers from being ultimately
injured.
The Earl of LIMERICK said a few words in sup-
port' of hiS former objections. •
The B►ll then passed through the Committee, and
was reported. •
The. Scots Forfeited Estates Bill was read a se-
cond time, passed through the Committee, and
was reported.
The Customs Regulation Bill, the Oak Bark Bill,
and the other Bills on the Table, were ordered for
committal, passed through Committees, and were
reported.
• Adjourned till to-morrow (this'day).

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

MONDAY, JULY 21

. The Douse Was won:toned; in the usual form, to
the House of Peet.i. .

_ _ •
The SPE A KE4,..0n return, declared that the
Royal Assent had been given, by Commission,to se-
veral Report of the Lords.]
Njw Writs were ordered
.to be made out for Mem-
bers to serve fOr Seaford, Sussex, in the room of
Sir IL So4ivan, deceased; for Buckingham, in the
rcioni of ViSCO;ylt Proby, who has accepted the
Stewardship of the Chiltern
.Hundreds ; and for En-
niskilling, in the room of John King, Esq. who has
accepted of, the Stewardship of the Hundred of
DeSboroucrh.
rtiie Lords' Amendments to
.the Philanthropid So-
ciety andlßankrupt.Laws' Bills were taken into con-
sideration, and agreed ty.
Thee. Report of the Committee on the. East India
Accounts I.ra~s received, and the Resolutions read.
Mr. PAULL chid not objet to any of them, but
wished to Miirk this circumstance', that there wits a
dcfailcation in t:he revenue ref Oude alone to the
amount of 450,0001. and other defalcations, in all
about three Millions sterling.
Lord isloapk.Tn said, that the proper time to con-
sider that point would be when the accounts Caine

CV
Mr. PAULL t;aicl a few words in explanatioh, after
which the Resolutions were og,reed