The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-26 00:00:00

ANTI-MILITIA SOCIETIES.

On the motion for going into committee of supply,
Colonel NORTH referred to the letter of Somerville,
read to the house on a previous day, which he thought
did great credit to the writer. He would call the attention
of the house to the following statement made by the
honourable member for Westminster. The statement
was to the effect that the French had not more than
15,000 troops to invade this country. '4 If this should be
the case it would be undesirable totepend the puhtitt
money on such large armaments' as the country
at present maintained. A statement also had
been circulated, that the pay of officers who were quite
unnecessary, would support 20,000 seamen. The
hon. member for the West Riding had, in a speech,
said that he drew a distinction between the
force to protect commerce and the large marine of this
country. The hon. member had said that he wanted to
see 20 or 30 members in the house who would not
support any Government that did not attempt to reduce
our armaments. The hon. member for Manchester told
the meeting that the Duke of Wellington was held up to
the world as the saviour of his country—a statement
which called forth cheers and hisses, but he thought the
hon. gentleman would have displayed more taste had he
been more sparing of his taunts at the expense of the
army. (Hear.)
Sir DE LACY EVANS denied that he had ever made
such a statement as that which had been imputed to him
by the hon. member for Manchester.

THE ENROLLED PENSIONERS.
Mr. RICH wished to bring under the notice of the
house the expediency of gradually increasing the num-
bers and efficiency of the reserve force of pensioner
battalions, without detriment to our established militia
and regular forces. Parliament had hitherto paid too
much attention to the active, at the expense of the
reserve army, and the consequence was, the
army estimates of this country had been exceedingly
large. The active army ought to be kept down to the
lowest point consistent with the safety of the country,
while the pensioner battalions, the formation of which
was due to Lord Hardinge, ought to be improved
and augmented. At present these battalions
which numbered some 30,000 able-bodied men, were
kept up at a cost of 40,0001. a year, but only 16,000 of
them were in the habit of being called out for service.
Now these battalions could hardly be treated as an
efficient reserve force, and he would, therefore,
suggest that the regular army should be gradually re-
duced, and these reserve battalions increased to 100,000
men, who could be kept in a state of efficiency at a mo-
derate expense, and called out for garrison service in
the event of the exigencies of the national defence
requiring the concentration of the regular army at other
points. His plan would be to extend the system of giving
short pensions for short service, and require the pen-
sioner to enrol himself in an effective battalion of reserve.
The only objection he had ever heard to this plan was
that it would have the effect of draining the army
of its best men ; but those who made this objec-
tion should remember that the services—the active
services—of the soldier would still be at the dispo-
sal of his country, while a large portion of his pay
would be saved to the Exchequer. There would be
besides the additional advantage of having all the
branches of the army in a constant state of efficiency, and
while that was the case there would be no room for the
fears of those alarmists who had raised the cry of a com-
ing invasion. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. S. HERBERT had listened to the statement of
the hon. mein'ber with much interest and attention, but

it appeared to him that the plan which the hon. Mem- I
ber proposed could not be safely carried out. He was
bound to admit, however, that the time was not far dis-
tant when something must be done to organise soldiers •
who were discharged from the army on pensions, after a
short term of servitude. This plan of retirement after a
short service was introduced by Lord Panmure, when
Secretary at War ; and although there were defects in
the details of that system, yet, on the whole, it had been
found to work well. But it was not right to force
the soldiers to leave the army after ten years service ;
it was much better to leave it optional with the soldier
to remain or not, but for those who choose to retire on
pensions it was necessary to have some scheme of organi-
sation, and he could assure the house that the subject
was constantly engaging the attention of the authorities
at the War-office.
THE BURMESE WAR.
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY rose to move for an address
for copies or extracts of communications which may
have passed in reference to hostilities in Ava, and in
relation to the annexation of any portion of the Burmah
territory to the British Empire in the east. It appeared
to him that the whole question of peace or war in India
required the consideration of Parliament, and that the
system of undertaking hostilities against power without
the concurrence or sanction of the home Government,
should no longer be continued. When any question as
to hostilities arose in any part of Europe or our colonies,
there were responsible Ministers to have recourse to,
who had to answer for the exercise of the prerogative of
the Crown ; but in India there ag no check at all in
the exercise of the practically unlimited powers lodged
in the hands of the Governor-General and his advisers.
lately The war in which we had been involved with the
Burmese might be a just one or not ; if it were not just,
wee had got into a hopeless scrape. The question in his
mind was, whether this war might not have been
avoided, and whether, in point of fact, the British em-
pire had any great interest in carrying this war to a
conclusion. He thought that of late years the military
and naval forces of the empire had been directed with
too great recklessness against those nations of the earth
who happened to be less advanced in civilisation
than ourselves. We all know what had been the
consequence of invading Affghanistan, and also of
the Burmese war of 1825, which had led to such
a waste of treasure. It was true we received 1,000,0001.
of the expense from the King of Ava, paid in very doubt-
ful coin ; but it would be difficult to make out that the
' British empire gained much by that transaction. The