The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-24 00:00:00

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS—THURSDAY.
Their Lordships assembled at five o'clock,
The Princess LoUise's Annuity Bill passed through corn-
&tee, as did the Juries' Act Amendment Bill.
OUR NATIONAL DEFENCES.
The Earl of CARNARVON, in calling attention to some
oints connected with the national defences, condemned

the proposals of army reorganisation preferred by the Go
yernment as utterly inadequate. He had no hope that the
Militia could be kept up to an efficient standard by volun-
tary enlistment. Fifteen millions of money was an
adequate, if , not .an extravagant, price for an
efficient army ; and to ask the country to
pay that sum, and not give an adequate
return, was outrageous. Yet Mr. Cardwell had
comparatively nothing to offer in return for the enormous
outlay he proposed—scarcely anything but the abolition
of purchase, and this it was proposed to do without any
provision for ensuring promotion. The Government
scheme held out no promise of permanence in military
arrangements. He complained bitterly both of the
Government reductions and of the manner in which they

had been effected. It was preferable, if any reductions
were made, to disband unskilled men ; yet the
Government hard cut down both the artillery
and the cavalry. Two years ago a committee-
reported in favour of torpedoes, but up to last summer
there was but one in stock. The store of powder was
most inadequate, as was the store of breechloaders. At
the time when Mr. Cardwell said there were 300,000 in
store; he (Lord Carnarvon) was told that some regiments -
were armed with muzzle-loaders. About three years had
ji
elapsed since the famous fortification scheme was decided
upon ; yet in 1869 not one leading place was
in a state of completion. The decentralisation
of arsenals was a most important item in the
recommendations of the commission of 1859,and yet every
requisite for an army was concentrated within the mew
politan district, which was itself defenceless. With respect
to the army , he doubted whether even now it was any-
thing more than a mere collection of regiments ; whether a
single army corps could be put properly in the field.
Equally doubtful was it whether our intelligence depart-
ment for military Maps was adequate. The education
of the officers was not keeping pace with the times.
He concluded by regretting that the Government • did
not offer Parliament the choice of making a military
service obligatory upon the greater part, if not the whole,
of the adult population, and also that nothing had been
said about camps of manoeuvre, by means of which alone
the defects of our military system could be ascertained.
The expedient was necessary, and it was i,nly just that
the services of every able-bodied freeman sh ..t'.d be given
to the defence of his country. The administration at the
War Office was deplorable ; and if ever we were again
involved in hostilities, we should be as unprepared as

ever.

Lord NORTHBROOK defended the administration of the
army, arguing that the reductions were not reckless, an 3
that the Government did not, as was urged by peers oppo-
site, come into office for the-mere sake of reducing expen-
diture, without regard to efficiency. The military policy
of the Government had been one of concentration—massing
the national forces at home, instead of scattering them 10
distant dependencies; and this policy, they maintained, wag
the best. The cavalry had been reduced in two years by not
two hundred men, and the artillery by only three hundred
and fifty. With respect to infantry, the men discharges
were invalids, those who wished to retire, and bad cha-
racters. In -1808 the total establishment was about
85,000 ; in 1870 it was 87,000, the reserves besides being
much stronger. Since last autumn augmentations of be-
tween 20,000 and 30,000 men had been added. He de-
fended the Control Department,which,moreover, had been
introduced by a Conservative Government. The stock of
powder was sufficient, and as to the new kind of pebble
powder, it was necessary to obtain machinery before it
be manufactured. It was possible that a regiment
might have been armed with muzzle-loaders, but if so it'
was one returned from India. The delay in the cow"
pletion of the fortifications was owing to the changes
the capacity of ordnance.
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE thought a debate of this kind
should more properly be raised upon some definit
measure. He believed that the measure of the Goverft-
ment was such as the circumstances of the case demanded'
and that it was better to amend their present system
than to introduce a fresh one. As to the personal allw
sions to himself, he said that as it had been frequentll
stated of late that he was one of those who were not 0'
posed to go with the spirit of the times, he begged tdo
assure their lordships that he endeavoured always, 0,
would endeavour, to support every amendment calculate,'
to improve the British army.
The Duke of Richmond, [Earl Grey, and Earl Dela'
warr continued the discussion at length.

Their Lordships adjourned shortly after ten o'clock•

HOUSE OF COMMONS-THURSDAY,

- - -
The Speaker took the chair at ten minutes to far
o'clock.
The Ouse and Calder Conservancy Bills, with several
other private bills, was read a second time.

NEW MEMBER.
Mr. J. Colman took the oath and his seat for Norwielli
The hon. member was introduced by Mr. S. Morley
Dr. Dalrymple.

THE PAYMENT OF MINER'S WAGES.
Sir B. ANSTRUTHER gave notice that in committee
an
the Mines' Regulation Bill, he should move that til°