The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-29 00:00:00

ence by that house with the detailed management of the
army, because it was not a part of the constitutional func-
tions of the House of Commons, or that there should re •
main on the public mind any circumstance that might give
rise to the opinion that injustice had been done to any class
of deserving men. (Hear.) He ventured to suggest to the
hon. and gallant =lnter to withdraw his motion, and
thereby avoid committing the house to ar y interference in
the detailed:military administration of the army, and that
being done, he (Lord Palmerston) would engage on behalf of
her Majesty's Government that a commission of inquiry
should issue. (Hear. hear.) The Government had no de-
sire to shrink from inquiry.
Mr. DISRAELI, whilst agreeing with the noble lord
with regard to interfering in the detailed management of
the army by that house, contended that they had a right to
bring forward any matter of grievance, and that in address•
ing the throne in connection therewith, they were acting in
a perfectly constitutional manner. lie thought, under the
circumstances, that the gallant member might leave the
matter in the hands of the Government.
Gen. LINDSAY accepted the proposition of the noble
lord, and withdrew his motion.
COLONIAL MILITARY DEFENCES.
Mr, A. MILLS rose to call attention to the correspond-
ence which has recently been laid before Parliament be-
tween her Majesty's Government and the eilorernors of
Canada and of New Zealand reopec.ively, concerning the
military defences of those colonies, and to move an address
for copy of all communicatians which had passed since
the commencement of the year 1863, between the Secre-
tary of State for the Colonies and the representatives of
the Crown in the British dependencies respecting the
mode and cost of their military defences. As regarded
Canada, a commission, consisting of eight members, of
whom seven were Canadian•, had last year recommended
that a militia of 50,000 men should be maintained in the
province, independently of a reserve force. The Parlia-
ment of Canada had, however, refused to sanction that bill ;
and the total force actually maintained at that moment was
no more than 1:5,000, under one fourth of that recom-
mended by the commission. The reason assigned for that
was that the Canadians did not consider themselves in peril.
Well, but if they were not in peril, for what purpose were
from 10,000 to 12,000 Imperial troops quartered in the pro-
vince ? The cost of the Imperial army in Canada for the
year 1862 could not have been less than £1,000,000; whilst
the contribution of Canada to her defences was no more than
between £60,000 and £70,000. Then, turning to the case of
New Zealand, he found that the charge for the maintenance
of the army there was £520,000, while the contribution of the
colonists to the defences of the island was only £lO,OOO. He
considered it was high time Chet both the Canadians and
the New Zealanders should bear a much larger proportion
of the military expenditure necessary for the defence of the
two colcnies, and that the people of this country ought no
longer to be taxed for purposes purely colonial.
Mr. 'WILLIAMS thought the facts which had been
brought before the house by the hen, member were of the
greatest importance, and ho had no doubt if the matter were
thoroughly investigated, th it it would result in a saving to
this country of three millions sterling. lVhenever the
United States had any quarrel with this country the threat
of seiz.ng Canada was always resorted to.
Mr. C. FORTESCUE said he agreed in much that had
fallen from his hon. friend who brought forward the
motion with regard to the Government of Canada. It was
evident from the papers which had been laid before the
house that the Canadian Government had a very inadequate
sense of their duty as to the defence of the province
in the event of any danger occurring. The house would see
that an opinion to this effect had been frankly conveyed to
the Government of Canada with all the weight and autho-
rity whioh the Home Government possessed. But while he
said this, he did not wish the house to underrate the exer-
tions which were made by the Government and people of
Canada. Too little had been done, but still something was
done, and something more was in process of accomplishment.
The latest advices represented the volunteer system as being
carried on with great activity. Sone 35,000 volunteers were
under training, and that number was rapidly increasing.
In addition to that, successful attempts had been made
to render the rural militia of Canada fit for service in
any emergency that might arise. The real difficulty in
military organisation arose in the rural districts, where,
owing to the intervals that occurred between one settle.
ment and another, and the population being thinly scattered
over a large area, it was found difficult to bring bodies of
men together for the purposes of drill and military training.
But what had been done and was doing was this, that the
officers and non-commissioned officers of the Canadian
militia in the rural districts had formed themselves into a
drill association, and no officer was allowed to remain on the
list of the militia without qualifying himself. His noble
friend at the head of the Colonial Office had in courteous
terms acquainted the Government of Canada, that nothing
would tend to place the defences of the province upon such
a footing of security as a measure of direct taxation. (Hear,
hear.) He now approached the vexed question as to the
proportion which the colony should bear in the payment of
troops and the means of defence. It was impossible to lay
down any definite rule on the subject; but it was important
to bear this in mind, that, while the mother country allowed
the greatest possible freedom to Canada as regards all mat-
ters of internal policy, still, as regards external affairs, such
as war defences, and the like, there was but one Parliament
—that of the mother country—and but one Government—
the Imperial Government—to whom all questions of peace
and war, and all the external affairs of the whole empire,
alone belonged. (Hear, hear.) It was impossible to ituirra
fairly whether the present force in Canada ought to have
been sent there or not without taking into consideration the
prospect of war at the time the force was sent out. In Canada
at that time prevention was better than cure. The main
security which Canada had against aggression was the belief
that war with Canada meant war with England. In time of
peace her Majesty's Government thought that the Colonial
Government was bound to defend itself; and he believed
that, in spite of its past shortcomings, Canada would do its
duty when danger arose. The case of New Zealand was a
special one. When a war broke out there, it was not on a
question between the mother country and the great Powers
of the world. In that colony, Englishmen had settled in
in the presence of a warlike race. Ten years ago they were
given representative institutions ; and since then the policy
was recognised that, if the colonial Government waged a
war within her own frontiers, she was bound to carry it on
at her own expense. The double Government in New Zea-
land had failed to protect this country and the colony from
the dangers of a war, and her Majesty's Government were
now leaving the colony to defend itself, making it, how-
ever, responsible for the repayment of the advances made
fur the maintenance of a local force in the colony, and the
construction of a military road which would be of lasting
advantage to it. He regretted that the correspondence with
regard to the other colonies was not in a state consistently
with the public service to produce to the house.
Mr. AY rouN expressed his regret that her Majesty's
Government had changed tts colonial policy. Canada
was well able to defend herself with her two millions and a

half of population, 1,900 miles of railway, 7,000,000 of im-
ports and expotts, and a revenue of £1,900,000. The expen-
diture of Great Britain for her naval and military force was

17s. per head, whereas in Canada it was about 4d. Great
Britain expended more on the defence of Canada than did
that colony for itself. The number of troops in Canada was
too small for any effectual purposes of defence ; and if war
occurred additional troops must be sent out, or the army
would be humiliated by being obliged to abandon that ter-
ritory or be annihilated. Some of the Australian colonies
had voted large sums for their defence compared with the
£50,000 raised by Canada. If a war broke out with America
this country would have to drain its homo garrison for the
protection of Canada—an event which no government:could
contemplate with satisfaction. He believed public opinion
was favourable to the continuance of our connection with our

colonies ; and he was anxious it should be maintained, from
its being advantageous to this country in a commercial
point of view. The Government was pursuing a perilous
course towards Canada.

Mr. ADDERLEY was of opinion that the papers showed
that we had come to a crisis in our relations with our colo-
nies, and that the Government had looked the matter boldly
in the face. We had now arrived at what he called the third
phase of our colonial government. In the first we left the
colonists to themselves, only imposing restrictions on their
commerce which :we thought at the time advantageous to
ourselves, but at which they revolted. The next phase was
when we attempted to govern the colonies from Downing.
street ; and the third phase was when we restored to the co-
lonies complete self-government, with constitutions more
free and democratic than our OWD, yet retaining in our
hands their protection and defence. That was incompatible
and the consequence was, that the Government at home
and those in the colonies were at issue and diametrically
oppose
was
iht a
he fallacy.
power
opposed to each other. The arguments of the colonies that
Thethey
argument
am celhati mt uponthat
th
eus f
foreign
theirgn
policy w
defenceas
of the home Government, and that therefore the colonists

were entitled to thruw the whole cost of wars upon the

English taxpayer had not one shred of soundness about
It was certainly no justification for Canada merely present. it.
ing 15,000 volunteers as its quota towards the. defenceso
that part of the empire. He entirely agreed with the
for-
mulae laid down by one well acquainted with the subject, who said that every soldier sent to Canada represented 100
natives, who would recruit the defences of the colony if the
soldier had not been sent. The hon. member proceeded to
criticise the position of the question in New Zealand, and
denied that the Constitution Act of 1852, in transferring to
the colonists the management of their own affairs, had re-
served to this country the native policy. It reserved it to
the Crown, and not to this country or to the home Govern-
ment. He cordially approved the course which the Colonial
Minister had taken with reference to the colonies. He only
regretted it did not go further, and had not been adopted
long ago, and he trusted that the House of Commons would
support that Minister without fear in the opposition they
would be sure to receive from the colonies until they saw
that this country was earnest in its intentions.
Mr. C. BUXTON knew no subject which was more de-
serving of the immediate attention of the House of Commons
than the defences of Canada. Undnnbtedly the chance of
England going to war with what was formerly the United
States of America was quite as great as was her chance of
going to war with any other country inthsewh a war,orld,anidt
though every one must profoundly deprecate such
could not be denied that a feeling of the greatest irritation

Epglitad prevailed smug the people of the Nerthern