The Sun.
London, England, 1849-03-20 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF COMMONS, March 19.
The Sunderland Waterworks Bill was read a third
time, and passed.

THE ARMY ESTIMATES.
Mr. F. MAULE (in continuation from our Third
Edition) said—The Hon. M,mher for the West Riding
had said that when an increase was made to the army at
any time in the colonies, it was not reduced afterwards
when the cause of that increase was removed. 'That did
not apply to Canada, for whilst in 1838 and 1839, owing
to the rebel►ion there, the troops were 13.825, the num-
bar now was only 7,708. In Bermuda the number was
much the same as in 18:!3,-1.080. In New South
Wales the number iu 1834 was 2,636. It was:now 4,000.
Bat it must be remembered that the colony or New Zea-
land had been added to our colonial possessions in that
part of the world, and that, the colonists had had
to be defended against the attacks of a very
warlike and skilfull body of natives. In the Mauritius
the number in 1833 was 2,000; at present it
was 1,520; and, considering that the people were not
altogether friendly to English rule, it would not be
safe to reduce the number further. In Jamaica the num-
ber in 1833 was 4,000, including the flack troops; it was
now 1,940. In the \Vest Indies, not including Jamaica,
the number in 1833 was 5,281; it was now 3,160. In
St. Helena the number now was 375; and in Hong Kong
(first garrisoned i❑ 1846) the number had been reduced
from 2,000 to 1,140. He had asked many Gentlemen
connected with the trade in those seas, and they all
agreed that it was absolutely necessary to have a mili-
tary post in that quarter, and that Hong Kong was the
best. He thought that the Committee would agree with
him that it would not be prudent to reduce the colonial
force lower than it was at present.—(Hear, beer.) Ile
then came to the next consideration, of the force re-
quired for the mihntetrarce oF peace and order at home.
Ho never was one who wished to maintain order in this
country by military despotism, but it was necessary- to
maintain a sufficient foie° to protect ;hose who were at
tachcd to order, ho were embarked in commerce, and in
the general pursuits of peace, i❑ case of tumult and out-
break—(Rear, hear)—and to support the magistrates in
the execution of their duty, in enforcing the laws against
the refractory. At this moment the military force in
this country consisted of 53,000 men, of whom 27,000
were quartered in England and Scotland, anst 25,000 in
Irelaud; Ouzo were rank and file. 04 the 25,000 lu

Eeglend, and 2 000 in Scotland, they were seettered
very generally over the iteanufacturima end populous; dis-
tr;.ets in Lancashire, Yorkshire, and coentiee of that de.
scriptien, ard, numerous es that ;-..0i3y rnielit appear to
be, the floe se might be eurprist•d to be told that, not in
thin nor in the .past year alone but e:euer; fly in every
year, as far back as he could remember, looade,,e; to the
requirements made by the civil to the military ttthori-
ties for the aid of the military power, that number of
troops had no light duty to perform. He held in his
hand a list of the applications made in the year 1848 by
the civil magistrates to the military authorities for
assistance in preserving the peace on various occasions,
• and in different towns in this country. In that
list were included the towns of Brecon and Car-
digan, Derby, Weymouth, Durham, Wigan, Liverpool
(on six • differ, et ree :tees.), Ash ton- melt r-Line,
Rochdale, Leiceeter' Nott big hem, Bath, Teignmoutla
Stockton-on-Tees, Birmingham, Dadlee.e Sheffield,
Leeds, Barnsley, Halifax, Doecaster and Keighley.
Some of these applications —ere made on extremely fri-
volous and vexatious grounds; but still, it the udlitery
heti not been there, complein s would have been made
that Ministers were neelectine :hen duty. end that the
country was not provided with treops sufficient to pre-
vetit the outbreaks which had taken place. At Leeds the
Mayor had called a meetine, at which resolutions were
passed in favour of reform. But the mayor had in one
minute signed the requisition for that meeting, in order
to give the public sit Opportunity of expressing their
opinions on the subject, and, in the next, had signed a
requisition to the officer commanding the troops, to fur-
nish him with u military force in the event of any breach
of the peace taking place.—(A laugh,and " Hear, hear.")
Fortunately, no collision had taken place on that occa-
sion, but the circumstance showed that it was considered
necessary to have troops in readiness in the manufac-
turing and other districts of England in which disturb-
ances were anticipated. He believed that it
was a wise economy to have these troops at
hand; that prevention was, in 99 cases oue of 100, better
than cure; and that, although the public might be taxed
a few thousands extra to maintain a greater number of
troops than would be otherwise absolutely necessary; yet
that it was wise to do so, inasmuch as they were pre-
venting collision and an effusion of blood, from the cir-
cumstance of its being known that the troops were at
hand, and ready to act, if the occasion should arise for
their services.—(Hear, hear.) With reference to the
fourth consideration, the relief to the troops in India
and the colonies, if Hon. Gentleman would read the
speech of Sir R. Peel in 1845, they would remark the
stress which he had most properly laid on the bounden
duty of those who had charge of the military arrange-
ments of this country, to see that those who had entered
into the service of the country should not be banished
into honourable exile, but that they should have the
prospect; within a reasonable time, of returning to their
friends in this country. The rule acknowledged to
be the proper ane was, that regiments serving in
India should not remain there more than fifteen years,
whereas they had in some instances been compelled to
serve there for a period of 26 years; that regiments
serving in any of the nearer colonies should not be
abroad more than ten years; and that every regiment re-
turning to this country should remain here for at least
five years. Now, with the numbers of the army as at
present proposed by the Government, these desirable
ends could just be attained, but if the House agreed to
the proposition ot the Hon. Member for Montrose, and
reduced the number by 14,000 men more than the Go-
vernment proposal, the system of relief to which he had
adverted would be most effectually prevented. He hoped
that such a number of troops might be maintained as
would enable the Horse Guards to relieve troops which
had served 15 years in India and 10 in the other colonies,
audio enable them to serve five years at home; and
153,000 men were not more than they were
warranted in placing at the disposal of the Government
for the purpose of effecting these important objects and
maintaining the general interests of thecountry. He might
now place the vote in the hands of the chairman, with
the simple request that the House would not agree to the
motion of the Honourable Member (Mr. Hume), but the
custom of explaining the votes in detail which were in-
cluded in the army estimates rendered it necessary for
him to take a rapid glance at the money votes succeed-
ing the vote for ne-n. The first vote being for the num-
ber of men (103,254), the second was the estillsate of the
charge for the payment of that number and amount of
the land force.. 'rho gross charge for the financial year
1848-49, exclusi.ve of India, was 3,971,1221.; for the
present year, 3,655,588/., being a decrease of 315.534/.
The third vote was tor the general staff. Last year the
gross charge was 172,8861, this year it was 173 3761,
being a small increase of 4901. On the home stuff there
had been an increase of 1,6061, or. the foreign staff a
decrease of 1,116/., making the total increase
4901. Vote 4 was for the public departments.
The gross charge in 1848 9 was 96,5914; in 1849 50,
94,1991, being a decrease of 2,3921. Vote 5 was fur the
Royal Military College, in which there was an increase of
1,1254, but the institution was self-supporting, and the in-
crease would be provided from its own resources, and paid
into the Exchequer. Vote 6 was for the Royal Military
Asylum. The gross vote in 1848 9 was 19,5591.,
in 1849.50, 19.2984, being a decrease of 2611. Vote 7
was for the yeomanry. The gross charge for 1848 9
was 80,309/. ; for the present year it would be 66,2864
being a decrease of 14,023/. The Government had
effected this reduction in the charge for yeomanry by
directing that they should be assembled for simple, ex-
ercise only during the present year. Looking to the
facts that there had been frequent insi ections of the
yeomanry, that the various corps were well drilled and
appointed, and ready for efficient service ; that they had
been generally " out " last :tear, and that many had
voluntarily served in the spring on particular service,
the Government felt that, without any imputation dero-
gatory to that body, and without diminishing its etli
ciency, the assembling merely for exercise would be suf-
ficient in the present year. These were the votes on
effective services, the total decrease in which was
330,5951. The votes for non-effective service
b gun with Vote 8, rewards for distinguished
services, the gross charge for which in 1848 9 was
15,507/., and in the present year 15,120/., being a
decrease of 3871. Vote 9, the pay of general officers
amounted to 76,0001. to 1848-9, and in the present
year to 65,0u01., being an actual d crease of 11,000/.
There came, however, this year into the vote a charge of
rather an extraordinary nature. In 1818 General Mur-
ray was promoted from a lieutenant-colonelcy in the
Life Guards to the rank of a major-general, and claimed
to be retained en the strength of the army as lieutenant-
colonel of the regiment from which he was promoted.
The War-office and General Murray differed upon this
subject, and the cons, quence was that the latter, refused
to draw any pay at all during the whole period from
1818 to 1848, and the amount of his pay remained in
the hands ot the public, being paid back into the Exche-
quer. On the death of General Murray his executors
put in a claim, for principal and compound interest, of
24,0001. The amount which would be paid to them was
13,9081., which showed an apparent increase on this vote
of 2,908/. Votes 10, 11, and 12, which formed the buik
of what was called the dead weight of the army, were, as
many Honourable Members must be aware, most
scrupulously attended to by those who adminis-
tered the financial affairs of the army.—( Hear,
hear.) As a proof he would trouble the Committee
with the difference in the amount of this vote since
1821. In that year the whole number of officers of the
army on full pay, unattached, retired, half-pay, and fis-
reign half-pay, was 17,426; in the present year the
number was 10,514, being a diminution in the present
year of 6,912. There was an increase of 1,016 officers
on full pay, but there had been an increase of men in
proportion. In 1822 !Ise pay for officers unattached was
182,1264; in 1849 it was 65,000/., a decrease of 117,4261.
The charge for officers on retired full pay in 1822 was
145,2351.; it was now 56,000/. The half-pay in 1822
was 870,000/ ; it was now 400,0004, being a reduction
of 47n 000/. The foreign h,lf-pay amounted to 97,000/.
in 1822; it was now 44,000/. The decrease on these
three votes since 1822 was no less than 745,000/. So
far as the dead weight was concerned it was, therefore,
evident that it had been narrowly watched by every
successive Goveinment.—(flear, hear.) The next vote
(13) was for widows' pensions. Last year the gross
charge was 129,8551; this year it was 128,7781, being
a decrease of 1,077/. Vote 14 was for comparative
allowances, which was 95,500/. this year, against
98,000/. last year, a decrease of 2,500/. Vote 15, in
pensions, presented a gross charge last year of 38.5801.
this year of 35,5411., a decrease of 3,0391. Vote 16 was
for out-pensions, the charge for which in 1848-9 was
1.248,8101., and in 1849.50, 1,224,053/., a decrease of
24,757/. One item of this vote, of 600/., required ex-
planation, as it had been misunderstood and misrepre-
sented. It was for the payment of an officer (Captaio
Tulloch) who had been sent to Canada for the purpose
of reviewing the pensioners in British North America,
' in order to ascertain the possibility of forming them into
a similar body to that which had been formed out of the
pensioners at home. This body were paid through the
Commissariat, and it was believed that many of the
same defects in the mode of paying the pensioners in
British North America would be found to exist which
had been exposed in this country. Captain Tulloch
would investigate the whole circumstances respecting
this body of men, and he had no doubt that the result
would amply repay this outlay of 500/. On vote 17, for
Superannuation allowances, there was a small decrease,
the gross charge for 1848.9 being 38,232/., and, for
1849, 38,000/. The whole decrease in the charges
for the non-effective service for the present year was
48,029/., and, on the effective service, 330,595/., making
a total decrease on the effective and non-effective ser-
vice of 378,624/. as compared with last year. .But then
it was stated that the votes for the present year ought
to be regulated by the standard of 1835. He was glad
to see that Mr. Hume proposed to arrive at that stand-
ard gradually, and not suddenly; but he would venture
to compare the expenditure for 1835 and 1849. So far
as regarded the charges of those two years he believed
there was a very small difference in the actual burden
of taxation for the maintenance of the army. In 1835
the gross charges on the army estimates were 5,906,7821.;
in 1849-50, 6,142,211/., being an increase in one year over
the other of 235,000/., and no more. But since the year
1835 many charges had been placed on the army esti
mates, with the consent of all parties in that House, and
after :he most mature deliberation on the part of the
House. He might instance the 50,000/. which had
been foregone as poundage, and the expense for mili-
tary" prisons in lieu of cirporal punishment. The
number of points in which the present estimates neces-
sarily differed from those of 1835 were much greater
than might at first view appear. If, for example, they
had included in the votes for 1835 as great a charge for
education as was contained in the estimates now before
the House, it would be found that the army expenses of
that year would greatly exceed those of the year 1849,
sad that, too, for a less force than was to be maintained
in the present year. It had been, of coutse, the aim of
every Government to render the effective force of the
array as much as possible what an effective force ()tight
to be. taking care at the same time to keep the non-effec-
tive force at the Jewest possible point; consistent with
justice and expediency. He admitted that since the year
1835 shere had been a large addition tg the 0144 of the