The Sun.
London, England, 1869-03-12 00:00:00

LOA' DOAV , FRIDAY, MARCH 12, 1869.

The War Secretary last evening duly brought for-
ward the Army Estimates. Mr. CHILDErts has been
emulated by Mr. CARDWELL. The two Right Hon.
Gentlemen have been aboutequallysuccessful, within

a few nights of each other, in demonstrating to the
satisfaction of the House of Commons in Committee
thedeterniination of her MAJESTY'S Government to eco-
nomise as much as possible the general amount of the
national expenditure in their-respctive departments,
without, however, in any way sacrificing the effi-
ciency of either of the two great services. The ex-
planation given yesterday by Mr. CAP.DWELL had
this superiority over the explanation afforded to the
House a few nights previously by Mr CHILDERS
that the former was much more terse, more pointed,
and more condensed than the latter, without at the

same time evidencing, in any one particular, any
appreciable deficiency in detail. However this
may be, the delivery of tLe War Secretary's
Speech on the Army Estimates occupied but
a little more than half the time occupied
by the delivery of the First Lor lof the Admiralty's
speech on the Navy Estimates. The report of the
two presents to view a contrast like that between ten
and twenty. To put the gist of the whole explana-
tion at once under view, it may be said that
these new military estimates show a total reduction
upon the year in money of about ten R:r cent. en
the entire amount, or, in other words, upon the
active services, of £1,196,659. The actual airriuni
proposed to be granted being £14,230,400
This economy, he clearly showed, had been effecte
by two means. First, by means of a recall of troops
from the colonies to the number of 15,1 men,
reducing the forces in our colonial possessions to a
toLl of 31,852, but raising the number of our
troops at home from 87,505 to 92,015. The
economy thereby enured amounts in Money to a re-
duction upon the yeir of £573,059.
The rest
of the economy, to the tune of some £623,591,
being secured mainly through the success of the
newly-arranged control system adopted by the late
Government_a proceeding on the part of that Go-
vernment of which Mr. CARDWELL intimated at once
that he and his colleagues highly approved. It is a
system theoperation of which is now extended to many
of our fereign stations : and the effects of it,
coupled with the reduction already arrived at in
the way just now explained by means of the recall
of a little over fifteen thousand men from our
colonies, brings up the total reduction in the Army
Estimates for the new year, as before announced,
to one million and very nearly two hundred thou-
sand pounds sterling, or in precise terms to £1,196,650
altogether. The regular army here at home, as we
have seen, will in consequence of these arrangements
for the recall of 15,173 men from colonial service,
amount to a little less than 100,000, to exactly
92,015 in all. Coupling the Royal army, however,
or, in other words, the Regulars, as they are termed,
with the reserve forces, the Militia, the Yeomanry and
the Rifle Volunteers, the total force in this country,
as Mr. CARDWELL observed, will, in the ensuing year,
amounts to 381,828. An increase of nearly 49,000 on
last year—of 3901, to be precise—the total force
in this country last year having amounted to just
341,997. So that we increase our force at florin by
39,831 at the same time that we are economizing to
the extent of £1,196,650. And while these doubly
satisfactory facts stand thus, we have the consolatory
assurance brought home to our convictions at the
same moment by the right hon. gentleman the Secre-
tary for War, that both in great guns and in small

arms we are already at this present time in possession
of better weapons than any other army in the woad.
Not, of course, that Mr. CARDWELL would have us
infer, front that, anything so absurd as that we have,
according to actual arrangements, arrived, so to
speak, at perfection in the shape of what have
come to be cllled arms of precision. On the con-
trary, he follows up the gratifying assurance we have
just mentioned, namely, that our soldiers are better

armed than any other soldiers who could be named,
by intimating- that it is proposed to manufacture

for trial a few Henry -Martigny Rifles, which

said rifles have been recommended for adoption as the
future weapon for the British Army. Altogether
the speech of the War Secretary)ast evening was
in the highest degree satisfactory, an 1 no won-
der that it WAS So —showing as it has

done, beyond all' possibility of disproof, that while
there has been elTeeted a considerable reduction in

our military expenditure, that economy has been ef-

lccted shnoltaneously, with an appreciable advance-

went in the general efficiency of the service.

We

Lave more troops, those troops are better armed,
they are being better cared for—and yet while this
has been accomplished, or is being accomplished,
we have saved upon the year considerably more than
a 'Billion sterling.

THESE are not the palmy days of despotic govern-
ment. An old-established dynasty may, by cautious
abstention from tyranny, manage to steer clear of
the whirlpool in which OTIIO, IsALELLA, and
others have met with shipwreciq but the arbi-