The Sun.
London, England, 1867-06-07 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.-LAST EVENING.

On the order for going into committee of supply,
Mr. HERBERT called attention to certain of the re-
cruiting orders of her Majesty's regiments of Foot Guards,
and moved that in the opinion of the House no order
should exist which has for its object the exclusion of Irish-
men from those regiments.
Sir C. RUSSELL cefended the system of recruiting pur-
sued in the Guards on the ground that it established a local
connection on the part of the several regiments, by means
of which men were not only brought into the ranks in suf-
ficient numbers, but Me officers who had charge of the re-
cruiting were enabled in great measure to ascertain the
character and antecedents of the recruits, whilst., as a ride,
little could be learned with regard to Irishmen who might
offer themselves. But it was not the fact that the system
operated to the total exclusion of Irishmen, for at the pre-
sent moment there were 116 Irishmen in the brigade of
Guards, of whom 16 were in the battalion, the Coldstrea.ms,
to which Mr. Herbert, himself an Irishman, belonged. On
the whole he contended that the system had been simple,
economical, and eminently successful.
A sharp discussion followed, in which the question was
treated by several members as another insult to Ireland,
and a proof of ingratitude to the Irish people on the part
of the Saxon.
Sir .1. PAKINGTON said that the system of recruiting
for the Guards depended entirely on the commanding
officers, and that he, as Secretary for War, had nothing to
do with it. Ow peculiarity of it was, that no man was

, admitted into the service, whether English, Irish or Scotch,
unless he received a good character ; and another was
that the recruiting was carried o n principally in the country
districts, and not in London. Although he had no autho-
rity in the matter, and was not aware of the existence of
any rule of exclusion applying to Irishmen, he would com-
municate with the officers in command, and express a hope
that if there were any rule that could be considered offen
sive to the Irish it should at once be rescinded.
General PEEL said that the only object of the recruit-
ing regulations in the Guards was to ascertain the charac-
ter of the recruit, and that in enlisting Irishmen there wag
great difficulty in getting at that.
Eventually Mr. HERBERT expressed himself satisfied
with the assurance of the Secretary fur War, and withdrew
his motion.

Major JERVIS, having directed attention to the report
of the committee appointed to inquire into the administra,
:ion of the transport and supply departments of the army,
elicited front Sir J. Pakingtou a statement to the effect
that he had referred the report to the consideration of the
various heads of departments in the War-office, many of
whom were deeply interested in some of its recommenda-
tions. As soon as he had possessed himself of their views,
he should then consider how far ho might be able to pre-
pare a plan to be submitted to the house, or whether it
would be desirable to remit the subject to a committee or
a Royal commission. After all that had passed, there
could be no doubt that the organisation of the War Depart-
ment must be fully and fairly considered. In replying to
the Marquis of Hartington the right hon. baronet also ob-
served that he felt himeelf entirely free to act on the report
in any way he might think expedient.

Subsequently the house went into committee of supply
on the army estimates, and agreed to numerous votes, in-
eluding those for the manufacturing department, military
stores, military education, surveys of the United Kingdom,
miscellaneous services, administration of the army, re-
wards for military services, pay of general officers, out-
pensioners and disembodied militia, yeomanry cavalry, and
♦olunteer corps, the discussion of which occupied the
greater part of the remainder of the sitting.
The other orders on the paper were afterwards disposed
of, and tho house adjourned at a quarter past two o'clock.