The Sun.
London, England, 1860-02-18 00:00:00

THE DISEMBODIED MILITIA.

On the question that the Speaker leave the chair, for
going into Committee of Supply,
Mr. PALK, according to notice, called the attention of
the house to the great expense incurred in raising and
training a regiment of militia, so as to make it fit for per-
Manent duty ; ho also asked the Secretary for War what
arrangements he contemilated for filling up the vacancy in
the numbersin the army that will be occasioned by the dis-
embodiment if the militia regiments ? The militia had suf-
fered from the practice of one Ministry reversing the policy
and undoing the work of another. The militia was an ex-
pensive force, and if organised and maintained as a perma-
nent body would be a reserve from which the regular army
could be reinforced by regiments and battalions. It was a
force no Government could hastily get rid of. Now, he
understood 12,000 of the militia were to be disbanded, and
the number to be supplied by the regiments coming home
from India. He thought the militia should be kept up as a
reserve, and to furnish garrisons for their present fortified
places, and those that might be hereafter erected. If the
Government would confine themselves to ordinary times,
when there was no fear of foreign invasion, to a force of
10,000 men, they would have a well-organised and useful
force, which could be called out without that detriment to
the agricultural interest which the calling out of large bodies
of men for short periods of training necessarily inflicted. He
should like to know to what extent the disembodiment was to
be carried. The estimates gave no information on thatpoint.
However peaceable our relations with France might be at this
moment, he trusted the right hon. gentleman would calmly
consider the state of our foreign relations. The commercial
treaty did not appear to be going on quite so smoothly as was
perhaps originally supposed. It had been said in that house
that the Government were so sanguine they should be able to
pass this measure, and that it would re-unite the bonds of
peace so strongly, that they had not thought it necessary to
eonsider what the effect of its rejection would be on the minds
of the Emperor of the French and the French people. That
was a most important ingredient in the case. The French
people were not so accustomed to the inconsistencies of our
Legislature as we were, and he thought it extremely possible
that if the treaty were not adopted by that house some feeling
of irritation would be created in their minds. Entertaining
that opinion, he thought would be most dangerous and ill-
advised to disembody one single regiment until this matter
were settled. It would be most unwise to do anything that
should diminish the defences of the country. 'Whatever the
number of regiments to return from India, he should, at the
present juncture, welcome their approach with the greatest
satisfaction. Even with them, with the militia, and all the
volunteers that could be raised, there would not a man toe
many. When a Ministry had difficult negotiations on hand,
oata
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large
tru yti
eeffit
aoier
mnu lmt
oetyaftintentions
Stateoe policy
tlnol t
appointed.hfto
soof
for
o l , theb
(Hear,es t force
h ear he
) could have was
secretary Sir J. FERGUSSON hoped the right hon. gentleman the
house,tWh earw giveo
Governmentu ld
them
hiennat hw
fe
someethta
information
militia. It was very important both to the country regarder nmt
ahtt
ao°ll was
tha the
army that they should have a large force of Tili!yia, and
whetherte the
embodied or disembodied ; but he was afraid it would be
found, when the return of the hon. member for Middlesex
was produced, that the number of the militia bore a very
small proportion to the nominal amount
at voted by Parlia-
hmaedn th. e e The
n fennumber
eo f
increasingabsentees
at
every ebolioatknennofalretrgaiinnieningts,
and the force now
eoafvtahi leabsul
Parliamentary
subject. In
ll
Ipnvr
ja7rdae
.....intoetsnpetevaekr
with
tphe
ar ckennetw, ol
knowledge
gt he
had the honour to command there had been for two or three
years an accumulation of absentees most annoying to offi-
cers and prejudicial to the public service. Had the War-
office permitted them to strike off the absentees from that
regiment two years ago, there would have been no difficulty
in filling up the numbers. But during the last two years
there were fresh absentees, and they were cumbered with
the names of those who were nominally members since the
conclusion of the Crimean war, but had long since enlisted
fraudulently in regiments of the line. These men received
itte d w the
respect know
t e
two bounties, and the right hon. gentleman would do well
courseto pu t anth
eend
Governmentt o suck a
intendedsy
the embodiment of the militia from time to time. Without
disparaging the services of the volunteer corps, Government
stern'
to He
pursue wanted
would do well not to neglect or allow the old constitutional
force of the country to fall into decay.
Colonel DIXON was glad this subject had been brought
forward, although it had not met the support it deserved when
he had introduced it. He admitted that themilitiareginients
were raised from the lowest class of society, but discipline and
good treatment had made diem a most admirable national
force. The case of the junior officers of militia, thrown desti-
tute on the world, was a very hard one; and it was to bo
regretted that the Secretary of State for 'War shoutd have
met their claims the other night with the simple remark
that he thought these young men had derived great ad van

tage from having been two or three years in the service.
From the nature of the questions constantly being put in
that house it was undeniable that there existed in the public
mind a lurking suspicion that the political horizon was not
quite so clear as we had hither to fancied it. If, therefore,
wo were to have a militia at all it ought to be kept in a
state in which, should its services b 7 called upon at any
moment, it would be found perfectly efficient. A certain
number of the regiments should always bo embodied, even
though the embodiment of each regiment should last only
fa- a short time. Then we might rely upon having, fur
every regiment that was embodied, six or seven others
thata,_e would be ready in case of need. It was impos- ,
the sminn
downil to understand how the item of £500,000 should be put
the present estimates for disembodied militia, while
officers to keep their
be warnetger
„ _ to be taken for the embodied militia was £300,090.
Vas the militia to be
a service or was r't not ? Were the
never likely to eats in order, though they were
or was the force to lie treated as