The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-13 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The propositions contained in the new
Army Estimates appear undoubtedly open to this
objection, that they involve a considerable increase
of charge without any visible increase of strength.
An addition of nearly a million to the cost of the
army will simply leave the numbers of the line,
the militia, and the volunteers what they are sup-
posed to be at present. It is impossible to over-
look this feature of the scheme, but the weight of
the objection will be materially diminished Ly a
careful examination of its details. The whole in-
crease of charge may be divided into three parts.
First, there is the accidental and temporary expense
created by the occurrence of leap-year and the ex-
ceptional price of provisions. For that, of course,
no Minister could be responsible. The charge
comes as an inevitable contingency, and must be so
accepted. Next, there is the expense deliberately
proposed for the purpose of keeping our establish-
ments at their presumed strength by a more regular
and certain supply of recruits ; and, lastly, there is
the outlay which we are recommended to incur for
the sake of an effective reserve. These last two
items form the only debatable parts of the scheme.
When it is said that the addition of nearly half a
million contained in the Supplementary Estimate
brings no additional strength to our military esta-
blishment the statement involves a fallacy. It is
true that the regular army would not be raised above
its 140,000 men (Indian garrisons excluded), nor the
militia above its 120,000 ; but then it must be re-
membered that whereas at present these numbers
are nominal, the object of the estimates is to
render them real. In fact, the first thing required
was a provision of some kind or other for bring-
ing up our establishments to an actual instead of
au imaginary strength, and maintaining them
at that standard. At present the number of re-
cruits needed to supply the annual vacancies in
the line is not yet forthcoming, while, at the same
time, the Militia, instead of being 120,000 strong, is
barely 90,000. General Peel desired to place both
these forces on a better footing, and for that pur-
pose he proposed the direct increase of pay, which
in itself represents one half of the additional charge.
This charge, from its very nature, appears a large
one, but it is defensible for the very same reason.
As General Peel remarked in his speech, it is as
effective as it is direct. It goes straight into the
pocket of the soldier, without the loss of a single
penny by the way. Nothing is intercepted for costs
of administration or other expenses ; the men will
get the whole extra sum which the nation provides.
There is good reason, too, for supposing that this is
what the men themselves desire. It was found
some time ago in the case of the navy, that though
the actual receipts of a seaman in the Queen's ser-
vice were greater, all allowances considered, than
those in the merchant service, the clear increase of
pay which the latter offered sufficed to turn the scale
in its favour. The men overlooked the allowances,
and looked only at the net amount of wage. Even
if they instituted a more careful comparison of
terms, they preferred to take their whole pr.yin
money, which they could spend as they pleased,in-
stead of having a portion of it spent for them, no
matter how well. It may be assumed, therefore,
that if our soldiers are to have better pay, the addi-
tion will produce the greatest effect if represented
in ;the •shape of hard money, as General Peel has
proposed. Indeed, he predicted with confidence that
the £400,000 or £500,000 a year to be thus applied
would yield us a return in the shape of complete in-
stead of defective establishments, so that we should,
in reality, obtain an increase of military strength, not
by addition to our presumed numbers, but by the
actual maintenance of those numbers from one year to
another. This, we may say, has been the chief as well
as the most costly object of the new estimates. It
was first required to complete the army and the
militia, and to render each force actually effective