The Sun.
London, England, 1854-03-03 00:00:00

ordinary interest ; now that we were about to enter upon
vast military movements it was of peculiar importance
that the departments of the army should be put.in the most
perfect order. (Hear, hear.) A complicated system might
be allowed to remain in a time of peace, but when we
were on the brink of war it became imperative that an im-
mediate change should be made in the management of our
military affairs. (Hear.) He confessed he was one of
those who had thought war should not take place, bat it
now appeared to be, rapidly coming upon us, and it was in
the hope of strengthening the hands of the administration
in this emergency that he brought forward this motion.
(Hear, hear.) He believed the present mode of managing
the accounts of the army and ordnance departments had
entailed a loss upon the country of no less than between
200,0001. and 303,000/. a year; and that fact alone should
be sufficient to induce the house to call for some change in
the system. To make his motion intelligible, he should
explain that some time ago, a commission was appointed
to inquire " into the practicability and expediency of con-
solidating the different ' departments connected with the
civil administration of the army ;" and the report of this
commission,:which was presented to Parliament in 1837,
and which was signed by Lord Howick, Viscount Palmer-
merston, Lord John Russell, and others of equal eminence,
contained various recommendations. Now, the resolu-
tion which he wished to move was based upon that report ;
it was this : " That it is the opinion of this house, in
accordance with the report of the said commission, con-
firmed by evidence taken before the committee on the naval
military, and ordnance expenditure in the years 1848-50,
that measures should forthwith be taken to consolidate the
different branches of the military service and expenditure,
and to place the whole under the superintendence and con-
trol of one efficient and responsible department." (Hear.)
In pressing such a motion at this moment, it could not be
considered, nor indeed had he auy idea of throwing diffi-
culties in the way of the Government. On the contrary,
he rather thought he was doing them a service. No admi,
nistration for the last 30 years had met with so little trou-
ble at his hands as her Majesty's ministers this session, and
for this simple reason that it was his wish too see the
House of Commons avoiding everything thich was calcu-
lated to throw a difficulty in their way, or which could in-
terrupt in any way the course they had determined upon
for maintaining the honour and interest of the country.
At the same time such was the character of the present sys- •
tem that were any hon. gentleman happened to be charged
with the care of a large establishment of any description
whatever, to conduct it u; on the same principle, he would
very soon bring himself to ruin. What he (Mr. Hume)
wished to be done was that the same plan should be pur-
sued with the army as was the case with the navy ; namely,
that there should be a minister who should have the entire
control of everything connected with the whole depart-
ment. He did not care whether this person was called a
" Minister of War " or a " Secretary at War," all he
wished was that there should be some one person to whom
the whole responsibility should be given. (Hear.) Of-the
eight millions we were going to expend this year, about
four millions would be laid out under one authority, and
the other four millions under other authorities; but
why should there not be, he asked again, the same
united responsibility, as at present there did exist in
the navy ? (Hear, hear.) Of one thing he was quite cer-
tain, namely, that it was contrary to all sound principles
of finance, that there should be such a divided authority
as was now the case. If they questioned the Secretary
at War on the subject of the army he could only answer
OA to a certain portion of it; for the rest they must go to
the Treasury or to the Ordnance. In short, it was ex-
tremely difficult to control the expenditure of the country
with regard to the army, for they never had it brought
before their notice at one view. The Secretary at War
brought in the estimates for the regiment of the line ; in
about a month after they had the barrack estimates ; in
another month the commissariat ; and thus, it was quite
impossible for the house to take a comprehensive view of
the whole department. (Hear.) The report of the coin-
missioners had been drawn up with considerable ability,
and he thought no man could read it without being con-
vinced of the absolute necessity there was for some change.
The orders of the Government with regard to the navy
were at once conveyed to the head of the Admiralty, and
everything connected with the naval expenditure was car-
ried out by that department. But how stood matters with
respect to the army? The commissioners stated that the
orders of the Government, with respect to the land forces
to be employed, were communicated (as they ought to be)
to a Secretary of State, under whose hand. or signature all
the expenditure took place. But who did the house think
was this secretary? The Secretary for the Colonies ! No
doubt, when that arrangement was first made, the thing
was practicable. We had then but few colonies ; but now,
we had 42 or 43 dependencies, which were quite enough
to occupy the whole attention of any Minister, be his
talents what they might. (Hear.) Well, the Colonial-
office communicated these orders to the Commander-in-
Chief and the Master-General of the Ordnance. When
the forces belonging to these departments left the coun-
try on active service they formed only one body, and
they ought to form only one body at home. The
Commander-in-Chief and the Master-General might both
be good men ; but still they were two persons, and a single
individual ought to have the management of one branch of
the public service. The Colonial Secretary submitted to
the Queen the amount of the forces to be employed, and
afterwards made known to the commander-in-chief the
strength of the establishments which had been decided
upon. In time of war, as the Commissioners stated, the
Colonial Secretary also corresponded with officers com-
manding at foreign stations, and conveyed to them the
orders of the Government. Sometimes he had likewise to
issue warrants as to the terms upon, which soldiers were to
be enlisted or pensions granted, and other important
matters. All military commissions were technically issued
under his authority, but it was done in the following man-
ner:—The commander-in-chief took the Queen's pleasure
upon appointments and promotions that were to be made,
he then forwarded a memorandum of those approved of to
the War-office, and the Secretary at War made out two
lists—one for the regiments serving in India, Ceylon, and
other foreign stations, and the other for the remaining re-
giments wherever they might be in England, Scotland, or
Ireland. The one list was transmitted to the Colonial, and
the other to the Home-office ; and the commission, having
been prepared in the respective departments, were sent to
her Majesty for signature. They were then countersigned
by the Secretary of State, and were lastly sent again to the
Secretary at War, to be forwarded to the newly-appointed
or promoted officers. Now, why should there not be one