The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-13 00:00:00

the Queen's troops must depend upon the superior health of
the local troops. But the returns do not bear out that con-
clusion. The health of civilians is said to deteriorate ac-
cording to length of residence in India. Mr. Martin, a me-
dical authority in the Indian service, says that length of re-
sidence in India, so far from conferrinpimmunit y from illness
leads to physical degradation. The general assumption is
that English regiments, on landing, have so much sickness
that they lose their men. This is not, however, borne out
by the facts. Mr. Refurnish asserts that the most beneficial
results will follow from the practice of more frequent reliefs.
It is perfectly well known that men come home invalided
from India who are quite competent to serve in this climate.
Another observation I wish to make is one suggested by an
old Indian of great experience—that of late years there has
taken place a great change in the character of Indian offi-
cers. They are not so entirely devoted to India as their
scene of service as they formerly were, when they used to
go on leave only to the Cape of Good Hope and return to
India again ; a practice which led the officer to regard India
very much as his home. The more rapid and easy commu-
nication with England now enables officers to come home,
instead of going, as heretofore, only to the Cape; and this
circumstance has tended very much to diminish the differ-
ence between the officers of the local army and those of the
line. (Hear, hear.) The former are not so exclusively Indian
as they once were. But what are the services for which these
officers are required ? They are r rincipally on what is called
staff employment, and that in India has a very large signifi-
cance. It includes diplomatic service, employment as agents,
magistrates, and judges, service in the Commissariat and
Ordnance departments, in the pay-office and in public works,
and indeed in every conceivable mode of employment. So
far as the civil service is concerned, I think the supply
from the army is a very valuable one ; but the efficiency of
the army is impaired by the removal of officers from their
regiments. (Hear, hear.) The system is by universal ad-
mission the worst that could be adopted for the army. The
officers are taken from their regiments and employed in the
discharge of civil duties, perhaps for many years, and then
return to the command of their regiments when they have
ceased to have any practical knowledge of military matters.
(Hear.) (The right hon. gentleman read the opinion of Sir
P. Grant in corroboration of this view.) The arguments
against our expectations of getting a sufficient supply of
officers from the line are founded on a state of things in
which those officers have not been in a position to obtain
those appointments. It is only recently that Staff appoint-
ments have been thrown op ,n to troops in the Queen's ser-
vice, and therefore it is not fair to argue that young men
will not in future be found to do that which hitherto they
have not had any opportunity of doing. Upon this point
Sir C. Trevelyan says :
" But if, instead of this, an Indian career were opened to
line officers, and it were arranged that a certain period of
regimental service in India, with a certain proficiency in
military science and the native languages, would qualify for
transfer to the local Staff Corps, young men would crowd
into the line regiments serving in India in order to push
their fortunes in that country."
•

Other authorities have expressed similar opinions. )Whet I
contemplate is a body of officers so raised, so trained, and so
employed by the Indian Government rising in the corps
by certain numbers who would be devoted to an Indian
career. That is the ultimate state of things which I hope
to arrive at, but which cannot be arrived at for some years,
as the existing Indian officers have a prior claim to service
on the staff. They are to a great extent at present em-
ployed, and it is only as vacancies occur that openings for
officers of the line will present themselves. This attempt
will afford ample time to ascertain whether or not the
officers of the line will furnish a sufficient number of can-
didates. If the supply from that source should not be
adequate, there will be ample time for us to take
other means for procuring the requisite supply
of officers. I know that some fears have been
expressed lest we intended to break faith with
the Indian officers, but those fears are unfounded, as
such an idea has never been entertained. (Hear, hear.) It
would be most unjust, most ungenerous, and most unwise
to break faith with those officers. (Hear.) Take the case
of an European regiment in the company's service. All the
existing officers of that regiment must have risen by regi-
mental seniority until they arrived at general seniority.
All the officers in that regiment will come in as Queen's offi•
cers, available for general service. Every man in that re-
giment will have entered for 10 years, and at the end of
that time will be entered for general service. If the regi-
ment remains in India for 10 years, the probability is that
neither officers nor men will have any complaint to make
of Indian allowances. After that time the regiments will
be available for general service. With regard to these re-
giments we propose to try a system which is much advo-
cated by many gentlemen in this house will be successful
or not. We do not propose to introduce the purchase system
there. A man entering will rise by seniority to the rank.of
captain, and thence to the grades of major and lieutenant-
colonel, partly by selection and partly by seniority. I do
not myself entertain that antipathy to the purchase system
which is felt by some, but I will enter into the subject now.
The real difficulty does not occur in European regiments or
in the amalgamation of forces. The difficulty arises from
the number of officers of the native army whose regimenti
have been disbanded. There were 74 regiments of regular
native infantry in the Bengal army, but only 15 now re-
main. No one will propose to create anew the Bengal army
as it existed before the mutiny. These officers could not
claim it as a right that the Indian army should be main-
tained on its former footing and to its former extent in
order that their pay and privileges should be preserved
to them unchanged. Nor could they claim that a
European army should be formed with a view to their em-
ployment. The arrangement which we propose, as it
seems to me, violates no right to which they can lay
legitimate claim, and it is just the course proposed
by Sir Patrick Grant in reference to the Madras army,
when he suggested the reduction of 12 regiments.
There will be no difficulty in forming a staff corps and
officering the regular regiments from this corps. In some
districts a large number of officers are employed, and if
some facility be offered to that end I believe it will lead to
the retirement of many, and that ultimately ~we are more
likely to want officers than to have more than we need.
Then I have heard that a great many officers would be glad
to change their positions for a similar rank in the line.
Every officer of the Indian army will, if he chooses, have
the power of exchanging into the line, and will be eligible
for command in any part of the world. (Hear.) Thus the
general plan will be, that the European regiments will
form part of the Queen's army, the existing officers retain.
ing their positions, rising by seniority, as they do now;
that officers will be eligible for general service, rising by
seniority to the rank of captain, and afterwards by selec-
tion to the rank of major and lieutenant- colonel ; that the
existing officers of the Indian army will be employed either
as they are now in the regular regiments, or in various
situations on the staff; and that ultimately vacancies in the
staff corps will be filled up by candidates selected from the
Queen's general army. (Hear, hear.) That is an outline
of the scheme for the regulation of the Indian army. But I
wish to place before the house the alternative, which is a
matter for serious consideration. We are called on to main-
tain a local army of at least 40,000 men. The number of
local troops at this moment I will assume to be 15,000. The
que,tion, therefore, is not one of maintaining an existing
establishment, but of raising 25,000 men in addition, and of
raising them in this country for service in India. New,
how is that to be done ? Lord Canning's last minute pro-
poses 24 additional regiments for Bengal alone. It is
admitted that new regiments cannot and ought not to
be formed in India. That experiment has been tried, and
failed. We must form, drill, and train in this country for
the service of Bengal alone 24 European regiments. What
will the advocates of economy say to this ? In the mean
time we are to maintain the same number of Queen's troops
in India. And then, when these new and raw troops are
trained and drilled, I suppose the old and experienced soldiers
are to be disbanded. I ask the house seriously to consider
this question. If we adopt the views I have stated we
shall be put to the expense, trouble, and delay of raising
these men, and of training them in-England for a-certain,
number of years, paying out of the Indian revenue for the
double force of Queen's troops now forming part of the gar-
rison of India, and the force trained in this country which
is to form the future garrison. I do not think that anybody
will entertain such a project on the score either of economy
or efficiency. (Hear.) Hitherto I have said nothing as to
the authorities on one side or the other, but I must beg the
house not to be led away by the notion that this is a mere
question between Indian and English authorities. The
highest Indian authorities are extraordinarily divided on
the point. Lord Ellenborough, who has paid great atten-
tion to it, is strongly in favour of an Indian army. Lord
Elphinstone, who has had more experience in India than
almost anybody, who has been Governor of two Presiden-
cies, whose conduct throughout the whole of the Indian
mutiny has met with universal approbation—(cheers)—and
who has shown himself most competent to deal with Indian
questions, is in favour of the amalgamation. Lord Canning
has sent home a strong minute against amalgamation. Sir
C. Trevelyan, who, with all his faults, knows a great deal
about India—(hear)—and has paid great attention to all
military questions there, expresses an equally strong opinion
the other way. There are no two men who are better ac-
quainted with India than Sir G. Clark and Sir J. Lawrence,
and they express directly opposite opinions. Sir Archdale
Wilson, the conqueror of Delhi, goes one way ; Sir J.
Outrain, the conqueror of Lucknow, goes the other way.
Sir R. Vivian is strongly in favour of a local army ; Sir
Patrick Grant desires amalgamation. Going back to the
past, we find that Sir T. Munro was favourable to a loca

army,while SirJ.lc:oha thought amalgamation desirable,

Mountstuart Elphinstone was in favour of a local army;
Sir C. Metcalf thought there ought to be one army only.
I have quoted half u down authorities on each side who
most decidedly differed among one another; and the argil.
malts I hAvo endeavoured to lay before the hoase are not
(Mr-Lorne by the overpowering weight of Indian officers.
' Lord Cornwallis was strongly in favour of one army, and
that in the time of the Company's rule, He could not carry
out his views, the India Company being too strong for hint,
and overpowering the opinion- of one of the most experienced
statesman and soldier,;,. , (Hear.) I was surprised the other
day to hear t;; Duke of Welling on quoted as an authority
for 94 native army. Now, in 1812 Lord Melville wrote to
thp puke of Wellington, then in Spain, and asked his
opinion on this subject. I need not state howgreat was his
experience of Indian matters, and haw entirely he was in-
fluenced by the sole cons idgytivas of the good of his country. I