The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-06 00:00:00

OUR GUNPOWDER.

The Pall Mall Gazette says :—" Unless we are totally
misinformed, if all the powder mills in the country were
set to work to make the powder of which we are in abso-
lute need, not one month or two, not one year but two,
or even a longer time, would pass before our present
deficiency could be made good. For
az ne
corrobora-
tion we refer to the report of the Magpi
Committee, of which Mr. Ashworth was re,ii-
dent. That we are in instant need of this
powder the authorities have themselves declared
in the most emphatic manner. They are paying private
manufacturers £6los. a barrel for what, had the Admin-
istration been less economical and more provident,
might have been got long ago at '4O or 45 per cent.
less. If the powder is not needed, why this prodigious
waste ? If it is so badly wanted, why was it not provided
before ?"

OUR NATIONAL MILITARY DEFENCES.—This WAS
the title of a paper read on Wednesday evening at the
Dialectical Society by Mr. Rigby Smith. The chair was
occupied by Dr. J. Thompson Dickson. Mr. Smith, in
his opening remarks, said that he intended to confine his
paper simply to our military defences. The three prob-
lems with which he should deal were—lit. The present
facilities for communication and expert concentration ;
2d. The improved state of arms, rendering a higher
state of intelligence indispensable to the soldier ; and
3d. Our peculiar insular position. The national
defence should be entrusted to properly disciplined
citizen soldiers, and the professional forces should only
exist as a permanent staff. For home service we
wanted an army of 50,000 men, in a high state of efficiency,
ready to go at any moment to any part of the world. Next
we wanted a second line of 100,000 men available for im-
mediate defensive services, and a third line consisting of
200,000 or 300,000 men, equal in efficiency to the present
militia or volunteer regiments. None of these men should
be deteriorated by an idle life in barracks, but should
all follow civil pursuits. The whole of the youth of

the country should receive a short military trvainin

generally about six weeks' drill would he sufficient—
given at such a time as would least interfere
with other studies or pursuits ; but a selected body
destined to recruit the first and second lines, say from
30,000 to 50,000, should. annually receive a six months'
training. The saving of expense by this system would
enable liberal provision to be made for the wives and
mothers of those who fell in battle, and also for those
severely wounded. The present system of officering our
artillery and engineer forces should on a some-
what modified basis, be extended to the new
system throughout. The non-professional officers should
only be appointed after a certain period of service and
passing a strict examination. Yearly manoeuvres
on a large scale should be organised to keep the troops
practically acquainted with field movements. The first
line should be filled solely by volunteers, and the second
and third lines in the same way if possible, if not by
ballot. The troops for colonial and foreign service would
of course become permanent soldiers, and should be em-
bodied out of the system sketched, Compulsory training
and volunteer foreign service should be the two pillars of
a sound military system in a free country. An interesting
discussion followed in which varied shades of opinion found
expression both pro and con, with regard to standing
armies under any regime. A general agreement, however,
predominated in favour of abolishing the purchase system,
the abolition of the overpowering aristocratic element in
army government, and constituting our military organisa-
tion on a more effective and democratic basis.
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