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 oar
military affairs. (Hear.) He confessed he was one of
those who had thought war should not take place, but 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 i. 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 lity 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 any 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 neon 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
wily 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
as 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 com-
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, vhen 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 wore 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
person to submit the names of the officers to the Queen, and
at once to see the commissions made out, instead of it being
necessary, as it was at present, for seven or eight letters to
pass about the business ? (Hear, hear.) The present sys-
tem must necessarily pause considerable delay, and cases
might arise where that delay might be prejudicial to the
public service. (Hear, hear.) So again with regard to the
supply of arms. If arms were required for the troops, the
Commander-in-Chief informed the Secretary at War ; the
Secretary at War wrote to the Secretary of State request-
ing the Queen's authority for the supply of the arms ; the
Secretary of State wrote to the Master-General and Board
of Ordnance, communicating the Queen's pleasure, or tak-
ing upon himself to give the Queen's authority ; and his
letter became the authority under which the arms were
furnished. Thus there were five forms to be gone through
before a single musket could be issued to the soldiers.
(Hear, hear.) Now, why again should there not be a mi-
nister of war to take all the necessary steps himself?
(Cheers.) But what were the duties of the Secretary at
War? He prepared the army estimates for the regiments
of the line ; he checked the details of military discipline,
and he attended to the execution of military law. The
military estimates were prepared; however, according to
the orders of the Secretary of State, the Secretary at War
being a mere clerk—a " cranny." Crannies, it might be
necessary to inform the house, were what they called na-
tive clerks in India—men who would copy an English
letter with perfect accuracy without knowing a single
word of the language, and the Secretary at War had about
as much to do with the estimates as the crannies of Bengal.
(Laughter.) The expenditure of the money granted by
Parliament for the army department took place under the
warrants of the Secretary at War; and that was the rule
he (Mr. Hume) wished to see extended to the whole of the
payments on account of our land forces. The Secretary at
War also decided upon all doubtful claims respecting pen-
sions to widows and wounded men. In conjunction with
the Commander-iii-Chief and with the consent of the
Treasury, he made alterations in the rates of pay and al-
lowances. He was also required to answer all questions in
Parliament connected with the administration of the
army, as far as they came within his department ; but
surely if they wished to make him an efficient minister
they ought to place the entire army under his control, and
thus enable him to answer for the whole of it, instead of
only a single department? (Hear, hear.) Another duty of
the Secretary at War was the insertion of all promotions
and appointments in the Gazette, and he was charged with
the protection of the civil subjects of the realm from mis-
conduct on the part of the soldiers, as well as with all cor-
respondence with magistrates respecting all complaints
against officers. He also brought before Parliament the
Mutiny Bill, framed the articles of war, and issued orders
for the removal of troops. These were his duties, as de-
scribed by the commissioners, but the artillery and engi-
neers were under another set of rules. The Master-Gene-
ral acted in his military capacity in precisely the same re-
lation to these corps as the Commander-in-Chief to the
rest of the army. The civil duties in relation to them were
placed, however, in the hands of the Board of Ordnance,
the respective members of which took each one department.
The clothing of the army, instead of being as it was in
France, Austria, Belgium, or Russia, under one manage-
ment, presented another anomaly. The clothing for the
artillery and engineers and the militia, and the great coats
for the whole of the army, were provided by the Board of
Ordnance, but the clothing for the regiments of the line
was done by colonels in a manner quite separate and dis-
tinct. (Hear, hear.) If the members of the Board of
Ordnance were engineers or artillery officers, there might
possibly be some reason for keeping the departments dis-
tinct, but in point of fact the members of the board were
neither one nor the other. All barrack buildings were
placed
under the control of the Ordnance, but while he (Mr.
game) admired the talents of that branch of the service be.
was bound to say that they did not always adopt tht
provements of modern times. He thought that if there
s,
was a war minister who would advertise for c_
a. a
less
expense. would be able to get better buildingsn,
informed,
t
anormed, by
expense. (Hear.) He (Mr. Hume)
the way, that artillery officersand hadg
i beee r s could not be
appointed to the command of division ; that General
Burgoyne, for instance, could not have been appointed to
the command which had been entrusted to Lord Raglan.
Perhaps r the
u
p
Was that so ?If it had been the _e idn
erhFrance,, even
Bonaparte could never
right hon. gentleman (M . Sidney
h:veliada m
Herbert)a would o
ofgeneral officers to
this point. Again ; the appointment
foreign commands was settled by the Commander-in-Chief
and the Secre and the
taayof State ; Secretary at War often
• '
knew nothing of an appointment in his official capacity
until the officer applied to him for his paeans money.
(Hear, hear.) He (Mr. Hume) thought that the Secretary
at War might be more conversant with the merits of offi-
cers than the Colonial Secretary ; and he was afraid that
the public had not always been served as well as it might
have been, in consequence of the present mode of selecting
officers for commands. (Hear.) An army was of little use
without a good commissariat. In England and Ireland the
troops were supplied by contract, and so were the guards;
but the militia were supplied by the colonels as they best
could. He understood that by a new arrangement the
commissariat was to be supplied by the Ordnance in Ire-
land, by the Treasury in England, and by contract abroad.
He hoped this was not true. It appeared by Sir Charles
Trevelyan's evidence that the present plan was enormously
expensive. The Treasury should never be an executive
office ' • but it ought to control the expenditure of every
other department. (Hear.) The Colonial Secretary had at
present the power of conferring the distinction of the Orde.
of the Bath; but what did the Colonial Secretary know of
the merits of officers? The Secretary at War, however,
was concerned in all questions of promotion, sale of com-
missions, and retirement upon half-pay, and he would be
much more fit to judge. (Hear, hear.) He (Mx. Hume)
would now lay before the house an authori!y, to which he
begged their particular attention—he meant that of the
eommissioners. Their recommendations were as follows
—" L That the greater part of the aelhOrity, with rote.