The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-15 00:00:00

EVENING, JUNE 15, 1858.

GRIM ENAL COURT.—(This Day.)

OLD 00IIRT.
(Before the Recorder.)

William .isawes, a respectable-looking young
man, aged 132, described as a chemist, pleaded
guilty to a charge of fraudulently obtaining 24
canvas bags, , value 10s. There were several other
charges agai n st the prisoner for a similar offence.
Mr. Bod!Lin, on the part of the Crown, elected
to receive tote prisoner's confession on the ;first
charge, ant I having explained the system under
which the i✓ risoner obtained the bags,
The Rec order sentenced the prisoner to► six
months' imr irisonruent with hard labour.
Charles R andall, aged 40, a letter-sorter in the
General Post Office, pleaded guilty to a chargo of
stealing a let ter containing a gold watch. Tb ere
was also anotl ►er charge of stealing a letter con-
taining money.

Mr. Bodkii., who appeared with Mr. Clarke for
the Postmarst4 3r-Ganeral, explained that the :pri-
soner, it hai 'been found, had carried on a rxiost
extensive sys tem of stealing letters containing
Bank notes an d other monies to a large extent, but
in some instax Ices it was recovered.

_ .
The Recoreer asked how long the system had
been carried of

Mr. Bodkin.- —From November last up to thei 6th
of June, when he was arrested.
The Records r sentenced the prisoner to six y!ars
penal servitude.
Ann Stephel Is, aged 31, a married woman, was
indicted for fhloniously uttering a forged Post-
office order for • the sum of 10s., well knowing the
same to be forged. The prisoner, a respectable-
looking woma r,, pleaded not guilty.
It appeared that a Post-office order for 10s.
was sent by a person named Sansom from
Aldershot Can gyp, payable at the Camden-town-
office, to his wife, and directed for her at home,
where the priso nor lived, who was aware that the
letter was explt:ted. She, on its being delivered,
took possession of it ; and went, accompanied with
another woman, to the Post-office with it unsigned ;
and on its being represented by the clerk that it
must be signed, by Mrs. Sansom, the prisoner went
away and soon after returned with it signed, when
the clerk at the' counter at the time paid the pri-
soner the mom ay. Soon after Mrs. Sansom called
with the letterp when it was discovered that her
signature to thf a order was a forgery, and the pri-
soner was giver a into custody.
The evidence was clear as to the prisoner's guilt
—she persisted ;in saying she hadonly accompanied
another woman. to the Post-office, and did not re-
ceieve the monfl y. _

The jury fou,::d the prisoner guilty.
The Recorde c said it was a very serious offence,
and sentenced t;1 me prisoner to 12 months' imprison-
ment with hard. laborer.

POLICE IN 19PLLTGENCE.—(This Day.,

MA-R LBOROUGH-STREET.

SICITTLE-SHARPI NG. —A. LIICICY ESCAPE.—William
Webb, John Will jams, George Smith, William Smith,
Henry White, arm l Thomas Welsh, well, known skittle-
sharpers, were cb4 rged with conspiring together to de-
fraud Thomas Skil drake, of 13, Charlotte-street, Pimlico,
of the sum of 10/. .Bs.

The prosecutor,, who gave his evidence in a very con-
fused manner, saiti I be had only returned from Australia
a few a eeks, anct:that on the previous afternoon he was
going along the St rand, when he was accosted by Geo.
Smith, who asked the way to Trafalgar-square, to which
place he directed him. They then got into conversation,
the prisoner tellir ; him he had just come from Oxford,
and that he had z u rt been in London since the Exhibi-

tion. Directly el :er, the prisoner Webb came up and
spoke to Smith, as id soon after made a bet with Smith
that he would throw a 14lb. weight 30 yards. They
then went to a pub lic.houso near Hyde-park, and asked
him (prosecutor) I o go with them. When they got
there instead of tla rowing a weight they began playing
at sktitles and betting, as he was induced by some of
them to bet, and J ost his money. When Webb began
playing, he threw- the ball over the mark, but altered
his playing when I,,ets were made.
The rest of the prosecutor's evidence was so confused
that Mr. Bingham, suggested to Mr. Lewis, senior, who
appeared for the ;prisoners, that the money found on
them, which they cannot deny was the prosecutor's,
should be handed c ver to him.

A constable her o stepped forward and said he had
seen all the prison' re together previous, and knew them
to be companions. One of them previous to joining the
others changed his hat, and another one assumed
spectacles.
After some con: venation between the prisoners and
their advocate, awl a hint from Mr. Bingham, that if
they did not adopt his recommendation he should remand
them, the prieonws handed over the money and were
dischargel.

a -
the strength of the force. But how did the recruiting
go on in the regular army, to which, in time of war,
we could alone trust ? There was an instructive ar turn
on the subject on the table of their lordships' house,
from which he found that when we went to war with
Russia the army was below the establishment voted by
28,800 men, including the Artillery, Sappers and Miner',
and colonial corps, and that the whole force we had
available was only 151,000 men. During the whole war
the force was never brought up to anything like that
voted by Parliament. Iu 1855 the ordinary deficiency
was 45,000, and at one time it was 55;000 below the
number voted, and in 1856, at the termination of the
war, it was still 44,800 short of the proper number— the
total force of the army being 183,300. So that during
the war, with all the stimulus which was put on recruit-
ing, allowing for the wear and tear of the war, we only
increased our army by 37,000, and the total force, in
eluding colonial corps, was only 188,300. Could any
one tell him why, looking at the great armed force that
we maintained during the Spanish war, and considering
the great increase in our population, in the two years of
the last war we were only able to add to our army the
contemptible number of 37,000 ? This was mainly
owing to the militia, which was kept up at 65,000 men.
These fac a required consideration, and if the proposed
commission was appointed he bored that its inquiries
would not be confined to the organisation of the perma-
nent staff of the militia, but would be extended to the
consideration of arrangements now in force for keeping
up the militia, and for aiding to the army in time of
war. He believed that if proper arrangements were
made we might keep the regular army at all times at its
proper number, and in time of war readily increase it to
meet an emergency ; while if you put the militia back
to that which it was intended to be, and what it ought
to be, a strictly local force, not embodied even in time of
war, composed of those classes who could not afford
permanently to learn their homes, but who would be
willing to come out in the defence of their country, and
officered in the same manner, you would obtain a large
augmentation of the army during war. What he wished
to say was, that the question of the militia could not be
considered apart from the mode of recruiting of the re-
gular army, and be thought that the attention of the
Government ought to be turned to the question of how
you were to provide a competent reserve force on which
you could ray in case of war.
Ttae Marquis of CLANRICARDE hoped the com-
mission would inquire into the state of the law as effect-
ing the militia iu Ireland, where the law differed from
that of England. He also hoped that sufficient barrack
accommodation would be provided, eTecially, in the
deuth of Ireland. This was most important, in the event
of any sudden outbreak of hostilities. (Hear.) Thi re,
was money laid out to a very considerable extent in order
to erect new barracks, because the old barracks had been
condemned by every inspector-general for the last 20
years. (Laughter.) Whenever they might have the mis-
fortune to be concerned in any serious European war, it
would be necessary to have a large militia force in the
south and west of Ireland. Ito merely threw out those
suggestions, and be hoped they would bo deemed de-
serving of the consideration of the conerni,-sion,
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE said that after all that
their lordships had heard that evening, he thought it
was evident that the best thing to be done was to have
a commission of inquiry. Varioes questions had been
proposed to the house, and several valuable suggestions
made in the course of the discussion. He was, he be-
lieved, justified in saying that the inquiry proposed was
to be a full and ample one ; and that being the case, and
it being intended that the inquiry by the commksion
should go to the arrangements and organisation of the
militia, past and future, be did nut propose now to trou-
ble their lordships with any lengthened obeervations on
the subject, especially as he had no doubt that if he was
called on to do so he should be obliged to detain their
lordships a considerable time whde he dealt with the
various questions which had been raised. There were
only one or two subjec s which ho thought it essential
thathe should notice, The noble duke on the cross benches

(Cleveland) very naturally thought that the militia regi-
ments were placed in an inconvenient position when they
were called on to volunteer for the army. He (the Duke
of Cambridge) could fully ant, r into the feelings of com-
manding officers of militia regiments on that sul4ect, and
it was with the view of meeting their objections that the
late Government gave orders that no officers of the line
should be sent down to militia regiments until the men who
bad volunteered were made over to the line. He believed
that those directions were adhered to, and that at the
last volunteering not so much inoonvenieace was ex-
perienced by the commanding officers of the militia as
before. He did not quite concur with the noble duke
that it was not desirable that the militia should furnish
volunteers for the army. 'lle noble duke and the noble
earl opposite asked what was the object of the
He thought it might be made useful for both the objects
to which it had been turned. By good regulation he
believed that militia regiments might be kept complete
for the purposes of the defence of the country, and yet
afford valuable assistance in recruiting the ranks of the
regular army. The noble duce had eaid that it was diffi-
cult to getnon-coatiatiss'oned officers from the linefer the
militia. He was not aware to what period the noble
duke alluded, but if he alluded to the time when the
army was reduced and it was intended to transfer a
certain number of non-commissioned officers of the line
to the militia, it should be remembered that very shortly
afterwards there was a sudden call for troops to India,
and the transfer of non-commissioned officers had been
stopped, as it seas nece,sary to retain as many non-com-
missioned officers as possible for the ordinary duties of
regiments, and there w ere scarcely oncugh for that pur-
pose and to perform the duties of barrack yards ; and
no doubt the non commissioned officers of the line whom
it was intended to transfer to the militia were not made
over. With regard to billeting there ceuld be no two
opinions that if it were possible to put the militia into
barracks that would be the proper course ; but it could
not be done unless barrack accommodation was largely
increased, while it was to be doubted if the country
would go to the expense, and even if the country was
inclined to do so it would be years before they were
completed. The emergency pressed, and the question
was e hat was to be done with the militia when they
were called out. Wherever there were barracks in Eng-
land, Scotland, or Ireland, they would be willingly con-
ceded by the military authorities, but there was a very
small amount of barrack accommodation vacant and very

.ttle could be afforded to the militia. Weh regard to the
calling out of the militia and their embodiment, the noble
duke had referred to the embodiment of that force in
the hest war. But it should be remembered jtbat the
militia was embodied because there were no regular
troops left in the country, and hut for the militia the
country would have been entirely denuded of troops. To
a certain extent the same thing existed now ; there was
a great demand for troops in India, end a large force was
required for the colonies, and in order to make up the
deficiency of force in this country, a certain pertion of
the militia was embodied, and he ventured to think that
that arrangement was the best the': soul I he made tinder
the circumstances. He agreed with the noble earl oppo-
6to that the question of recruiting the army and miltia
ought to be considered by the cemmission ; but he was
happy to say that so far as recruiting for the army went,
nothing could be more satisfactory. (Hear,) Although
this was a time when labour was in demand, Viere were
daily received large accessions to the ranks of the army,
and if their lordships would look to the returns of the
recruiting, they would be astonished at the good feeling
exhibited in all parts of the country in the coming for-
ward of men to join the army. (Hear, hear.) He would
not go further into the question, as this was not the
execs time, when a commission cf inquiry was about to
be appointed, to enter into details, and he would only
add, that he was rejoiced that her Majesty's Govern-
ment had determined on taking that step.
Lord LYTTLETON said, with reference to what had
been stated to bo one of the main functions of the militia,
namely, the feeding of the army, he was of opinion that
you called on colonels of militia to do what it was not in
human nature to do ; for as fast as they made goad sol-
diers of their men they were urged to get rid of them,
and renew a tact like that of Penelope 's web, which was
ailvays beginning and never ending. His own regiment,
the W orcestershire, which was a very good one, was
recently embodied, and was disembodied again in a short
time because it had not furnished its quota of men to the
regular army. It was a fundamental mistake to regard
the militia force from this point of view, and not to con-
sider it as a reserve force for the home service. With
regard to the statement that men were not got for the
army fast enough, the reason was to be found in the
fact that the army were not paid enough, were not made
comfortable enough, and had no sufficient prospect of a
provision for their old age. Our system stood self-con•
deenned by the existence of a bounty as a necessary
adjunct to recruiting. Why should there be any neces-
sity for a bounty There ought to be a sufficient mili•
tary spirit in the country to bring men into the army if
there position there was made such as it ought to be.
The proper system would be that the bounty which was
now wasted should be given to the soldier at the end of
his time of service instead of at the beginning. It was
worth consideration whether there might not be a re-
serve established consisting of men who had paesed
through the army, which would be more economical
than the militia, but at the present moment he would
not go into that question. What would be the condi-
tion of things if the whole of the militia were to be called
out it is difficult to say, for it was known that men had
enrolled themselves In several regiments at different
times, and if the whole of the militia was called out there
would be at least 40 per cent. of the men missing from
the different regiments. Ho hoped the subject would
be careful:y and fully considered, and that the Govern-
ment would not be satisfied until an effective reserve
force was established in this country.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE said that there were
only two points among the various suggestions which
had been thrown out in the course of the discussion ;but
before noticing them he would press on the Under Secre-
tary for War the advisability of laying on the table the
instructions to the commission as soon as they were
issued. With reference to the subject of whether the
militia was to be considered a reserve force or as a feeder
to the regular army, be thought that no report of any
commission was likely to prevent the recurrence by
Government to that system on an emergency ; but it
might perhaps guide them to knowledge of that which
it was important to ascertain—namely, how the
system had really operated, and whether it had added
to the effective force of the army, or whether it was only
an expenditure of an additional bounty, and in fact really
interfered with the recruiting of the army. The noble
earl (Grey) had referred to the origin of the system in
the last war, and the illustrious duke (Cambridge) bad
truly said that the embodiment of the militia during the
war arose out of the necessity of sending a large num-
ber of regiments of the regular army ou active vervice)
and which rendered the militia requisite for the purposes
of garrison duty. But be (the Duke of Newcastle)
thought that the system had been carried on too long
and too far. He looked on it that at the beginning of
the war the militia force was an effective means of
speedily recruiting the army. In the beginning of that
War it was a question of bounty, when it was necessary

to get 30,000 to 40,000 men, but at that time recruits
did not come in as fast as was required, and you bad to
make soldiers of them after they were recruited, while
the militia supplied trained men. This system, however,
might be carried too far, and he believed it did nut result
in getting men for the army as easily and speedily ae
might be expected. Under our present system, in case
of war you must have regiments of militia embodied to
garrison the different porti and stations at borne, but he
believed that was the extent to which the embodiment cf
the militia should be carried, at least for a short time
after the beginning of a war. It was, however, a mistake
to maintain a militia force not for the purpose of defence
at home, but the purpose of supplying the army with
recruits. It was a system which was enormously
expensive, and by no means efficient. He knee-,
however, that some persons were of a different Opinion,
and he was certain that :he proposed commission would
only do a portion of its du'y if it did not inquire
hvioTiwthfarergatrhdis
tothe
system of recruiting was to be carried.
question of barracks, the illus-
trious duke had said that if militia regiments were
embodied it was necessary that they should go with
billets, because there were at present no barracks to
accommodate them, and it was possible to erect a suffi-
cient number of barracks f r the purpose. He (the Duke
of Newcestl) was anxious to say a few words on the
subject of barracks. Ho could state from experience,
as a Secretary for War, that there was no regular sys-
tem with regard to barracks in existence. For years
every succesive secretary for war and commander-in-
chief had gone on upon a band to mouth system. He
was desirous that some means should be adopted to re-
medy this, by eetabliahing some regular system for pro.
viding barracks in every locality where they wore re-
quired. During the late war he Lad felt great anxiety
on this subject ; but, at that time, such was the pressure
upon every department connected with the administra-
it was impossible to deal with i,. That lion of the army,
pressure no longer exited, and he hoped the attention of
the government would be directed to the subject, with a
view to the introduction of some settled and permanent
system. He hoped their lordships would shortly have
before them the instructions issued to the corumilsior,
and then they would have the opportunity, if those in-
structions were not sufficiently extensive in their charac-
ter, cf pronouncince an opinion upon them.
Viscount MELVILLE complained of the utter ina-
dequacy of the barrack accommodation in Scotland, and
remarked that not one tenth of the money which had
been spent upon the erection and improvement of bar-
racks in this country had been expended for similar par-
poece there.
The conversation then dropped.
CHANCERY AMENDMENT BILL.
This bill was read a third time and passed.
RAJAH BROOKE, &c.
Lord KINGSTON was procee,ling to put some ques-
tions which he had placed on the paper, ie reference to
Rajah Brooke, and certain customs appointments; but
what he said was quite inaudible in the gal:cry ; end,
after being called to order by Lord Malinesbuly, he was
interrupted by a motion fur adjourning the house, which
was agreed to ; and

Their lurchbip- s aljournol at 20 minutes pat 7 o'clock

HOUSE OF COMMONS. _(YESTERDAY.)
MILITARY COURTS MART[ AL.
Mr. WARREN moved for a return of the number of
military courts martial held in each year during the lait
five years, spscifying whether general or dis! riot, and,
in the former case, distinguishing whether held on com-
missioned or non-commissioned cfficeri or privates.—
Agreed to.