The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-05 00:00:00

VIE STORE OF BREECHLOADERS.

We (Times) have been requested by Mr. Cardwell to
publish the following letter, which completely refutes a
statement so often and so confidently made as to obtain at
last undeserved credence:

" January 3,187 L

" My dear Gladstone,—ln the Times of this morning I
aee the following passage, which is stated to be contained
in an address to you from some of your constituents, now
in course of signature, 'because your War Minister, Mr.
Cardwell, had the audacity to state in the House of Com-
mons that he had in store 300,000 breechloading
rifles, a statement which he must (officially) have
known contained the grossest mis-statement of facts
ever attempted to be foisted on the House of Com-
mons.'

"As this is not anonymous, though Ido not yet know
by whom it is signed, I think it right to call your atten-
tion to what took place.
"On the Ist of August Sir John Hay stated in
the House of Commons :—` I do not believe* there
are 20,000 stand of breechloaders in store ready to
arm our Regulars, Militia, and Volunteers.' I had
before me on the table a paper from the Surveyor-
General of the Ordnance, in which it was stated that
there were 300,000 in store, and I made that statement in
reply.
" The next day Sir John Pakington again referred to
the subject :—` Was he, then, to understand that the
regular army, including the regiment referred to
in Scotland, was supplied with breechloaders;
that the Militia were, to a certain extent, supplied,
and that, over and above this, there were three hun-
dred thousand of these arms in store ?' I answered,
Yes.' Sir John Pakington was extremely glad
to hear it, and he was glad that he had been the means of
bringing out a statement upon a matter that had not pre-
viously been properly understood ;' and I made the
following statement Perhaps the best plan would be
for my right hon. friend to move for a return of the num-
ber of breechloaders in store—a return which I would
gladly give, and that would furnish the information with
minute accuracy.' I said, I had repeatedly stated that
I was informed by those who were responsible to
me for the custody of the breechloading weapons, that, in
round numbers, the number of breechloaders in store at
that moment was 300,000.'

" Sir John Pakington expressed himself `perfectly
satisfied, and had no desire to move for any return on the
subject.'
"A return was moved for by Mr. Sinclair Aytoun
on the Bth of August, and the answer to it was as
follows :

IN STORE.
Snider Rifles and Carbines:—
At home stations on the Bth of August, 1870 231,240
At foreign stations, including India, by the
latest accounts ... ... 53,039

Total number of Snider arms in store.. 284,279
Carbines and muskets of other descriptions :
At home stations ... 16,500
At foreign stations ... ... 144

300,923

"It thus appears that the statement I made was
literally true, and that I was careful not to state more
than I knew.

" The-groundi on which the statement of the Surveyor-
General to me was made are shewn in the return of which
I enclose a copy.—Yours truly,

" EDWARD CARDWELL.
"Right Hon. W. E. Gladstone. M.P."

Mr. Justice Keating opened the trial of the Nor-
wich Election Petition yesterday.
THE WEEK OF PRAYER.—At the third of the
special prayer meetings held at the Freemasons' Hall yes-
terday morning, the Rev. Dr. Wardlaw presided. One
of the gentlemen who offered prayers was Count Bern-
storff, jun.

The Lords of the Admiralty have directed the
Trafalgar, seagoing cadet training ship, to visit Mahon,
Algiers, Palermo, Candia, Beyrout, and Jaffa, and to
allow officers to go to Jerusalem and other places of
interest in the vicinity. Parents wishing their sons to be
of the party must authorise a bill to be drawn upon their
bankers to the amount of seven or eight pounds.— Western
Morning News.