The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-14 00:00:00

THE REWARD OF INTENTION.

It was stated some two or three years ago that the
late Mr. Snider, inventor of the rifle which bears his
name, and who was so cruelly ill-treated by the `War
Office, was actually threatened with legal proceedings
to recover 21 2s. 2d., said to be due from him for
materials furnished during his experiments at the
time that be was waiting for the award to be made
to him by the Government. Mr. Clode, the solicitor
to the War Office, denied the statement most posi-
tively, and as Mr. Snider's papers were then in the
hands of his creditors, it could not be sub-
stantiated. The letter has now been found,
and is clear and curt enough. Mr. Snider is
told that unless the above sum is paid " on or before
Wednesday next, I (Mr. Park Nelson) shall, take
proceedings for the recovery of it." If poor Mr.
Snider knows anything of what is going on in that
world which was so cruel to him, it will console him
to find that he did not suffer martyrdom in vain.
His case was so hard, so disgraceful, that the War
Office has been compelled for very shame to turn
over a new leaf ; and so while Mr. Snider, the inven-
tor of a new rifle, died in bankruptcy, Captain
Moncrieff, the inventor of a new gun, gets a
fortune.

OUR DEFENSIVE FORCES.

Field-Marshal Sir John Burgoyne has just pub-
lished a pamphlet on " Our Defensive Forces," which
deserves careful attention. He refers to the gradual
increase of military power among the great
European nations, and observes that until
the rapid successes achieved by the Prussians in
the German war, it was not supposed that any Power
could gain such a preponderance. The military pre-
eminence of Prussia is, he thinks, partly to be
explained by the readiness of the people to make
any sacrifices for the establishment of a great military
Power. The placing of the resources of the minor
Powers at the disposal of the paramount State was,
in Sir J. Burgoyne's opinion, an alarming feature in
the late contest; and the complaisance with which
the other Great Powers acquiesced in the spoliation
of Denmark was equally unsatisfactory. He is appre-
hensive that if we diminish our forces while the other
nations of Europe are increasing theirs we must
fall into the state of one of the minor Powers. It is
a dangerous fallacy to suppose that our navy could
protect us. Steam navigation has opened many new
modes of attack, and our seamen are no longer what
they were.. After reviewing the different branches
of our army, and discussing their efficacy, Sir
John says that he has drawn a low
estimate of our actual military force. He
thinks our great want is a reserve, composed, as
in Prussia, of men who have served three or more
years in the regular army, with a proportion of com-
petent officers. His general conclusions are as fol-
lows :-1. Bodies of volunteers will not be available
as a field force, but will be of great service as
garrisons for fortifications in time of war. 2.
With our small standing army and voluntary
enlistment, the maintenance of a reserve of trained
soldiers is impracticable. 3. The main basis of a
reserve must be the militia, and efforts should be
made to improve this service, and to arrange for the
rapid transfer of its members to the line. 4. That
with our existing organisation a manoeuvring force
of 120,000 infantry could be called together, of whom
80:000 would be available for general service. But
with the
this would be the utmost extent of our resources,
and would be insufficient when compared
armies of foreign countries.