The Sun.
London, England, 1867-03-08 00:00:00

of the reduced strength; and almost every one of these '
men would be entitled to this boon if they could find em-
ployment for themselves. I think they would bo of
great use in the militia. They would not require 28 days'
service. All that we require of them is that we can place
our hands upon them whenever they are wanted. This
would give you a small army of reserve, and I propose that
the militia should be raised up to its full strength of 120,000
men, and that militia officers should be invited to call upcn
one-fourth of them to join the reserve establishment. They
would not be called upon for any other service except in
case of war coming on, and then they would be required
to servo in the regular army. I would propose to give
them double the ordinary bounty. Instead of £6 for five
years, 1 would give them £l2 ; and I think when men saw
the reserve getting double money for the same duty they
would be induced to enter. I should allow any officer who
took a number of men to the reserve to rais,, an equal
number of men,so that you leave the militia regiments as
they were before, and you have an army of reserve whi h
you never had before. Many a man who would not
wish to spend his life in the army would not object to one
campaign. _ . _

Captain VIVIAN—What pay does the hon. gentleman
propose ?
General PEEL--Exactly the same as the militia, with
double bounty. The only additional expenses to the
country would be that one-fourth of those 120,000 militia
men would receive that double bounty. If you want to
raise men, I say give an inducement by increasing their
pay twopence a day ; and I fully believe that, with that
inducement, and with the chances of belonging to the
army of reserve, militia will come rapidly forward, and
that by these means you can raise any quantity of men.
I would not take any man from the militia until he has
done drill ; that would enable him to take duty at any
time when called upon. For every hundred men drawn
to the reserve I would give permission for them to be
accompanied by an officer who should take a com-
mission in the regular army. I know this is an
experiment, and that it depends upon the voluntary
action of the people. Ido not wish to have recourse to
any other means than that voluntary enlistment which
has always supplied this country with troops. Recol-
lect this is the only country in the world where
the people are free from military service ; and if you gentle-
men who " sit at home at ease" can get an army on the
moderate terms I have mentioned, I think you will do very
well. (Hear, hear.) There is power to raise 30,000 pen-
sioners, an admirable force, which I think it will be very
good for us to keep up. It is the only force which the civil
power have a right to call out. No one can object more
than I do to calling out the volunteers—(hear, hear)—and
as the pensioners tre not called upon to go abroad, I do not
propose to give them more than the militia. In all this I
have carried out every suggestion the Royal Commission
made with regard to the army of reserve. Before I came
to these conclusions I wrote also to his Royal Highness the
Commander-in-Chief to ask his opinion, and his recom-
mendations were almost identical with those I have just
mentioned. Aite7all, it comes to this—You have a militia
of 120,000, of whom one-third or one-fourth will belong to
the reserve, the only alteration in the condition of service
being that if war became imminent they could be called
upon to serve abroad, and the only additional expense
would be the addition of double bounty. This is not a
matter for consideration just now. We shall have time to
reflect upon it. I can say now is, that if the recom-
mendations I nov make are carried out, it will ba a great
pleasure to me to think that the last act of my official
duties has been the improvement of the constitution of the
army. The hon and gallant gentleman concluded, amid
the cheers of the house, by moving the vote for 139,163
men.

The Marquis of HARTINGTON was under the im-
pression that theßeserve scheme would injure the efficiency
of the Militia, hit deferred pronouncing a definite opinion
on it until further explanations had been given ; and re-
commended the committee to follow his example. On the
general estimates ho maintained that the excess on last
year's estimates was larger than General Peel had stated,
and indicated various items on which a reduction might
be possible.
After some remarks from Mr. O'REILLY in defence
of the Recruiting Commission, pointing out that the com-
position of a Reserve Force was not referred to them, and
expressing a general approval of General Peel's scheme,
Mr. GLADSTONE asked for some further explanations
as to the ultimate cost of the plan, particularly as to its in-
direct effect on the cost of recruiting. Admitting that an
increase in the cost of the army might be inevitable from
the general advance in prices, he was disappointed that no
attempt had been made to seek a compensation in reduc-
tions where they were possible, and insisted on the neces-
sity of a special organisation for keeping down our military
expenditure. _ _ _

In the desultory discussion which followed on various
points in the Estimates and the Reserve scheme, Lord
Eustaco Cecil urged areorganisation of the War-office.
Mr. H. Seymour made a smart attack on the Commission,
wht,,i, was defended by Colonel W. Patten and Mr. Whit-
bread ; Colonel North advocated a more liberal scale of
pensions, and Sir C. Russell the employment of soldiers in
industrial occupations. Other suggestions were made and
questions asked by Mr. Newdegate, Lord Hothani, Colonel
Gilpin, Colonel North, Colonel Sykes, Captain Vivian, and
Mr. Childers, and nearly every speaker expressed regret at
General Peel's retirement.

General PEEL having made a general reply, the first
vote of 139,163 men was agreed to.
The Shipping Local Dues Bill passed through coin.
mittee, and some other bills were forwarded a stage.
Mr. FAWCETT brought in a bill to repeal certain por-
tions of the Act of Uniformity relating to Fellows o 1
Colleges.
Tho houso adjourned at 25 minutes past 11 o'clock.