The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-25 00:00:00

remonte (studs) and veterinaries—namely, 2 regi-
ments of Carabineers, 10 Cuirassiers, 12 Dragoons,
8 Lancers, 11 Chasseurs, 6 Hussars, 6 African Chas-
seurs, and 3 Spahis (Arabs). The regiments in
France consist each of 882 of all ranks and 660 horses
divided into 6 squadrons. A squadron is composed
of 7 officers, 8 non-commissioned officers, 16 briga-
diers and farriers, and 4 trumpeters forming the
cadre, and 95 privates, or 130 of all ranks, with 100
horses. A regiment of the African Chasseurs mus-
ters 1,127 of all ranks and 975 horses, divided into
6 squadrons, each of 170 all ranks and 148 horses.
A regiment of Spahis has 1,163 of all ranks,and 1,240
horses, likewise divided into 6 squadrons, each of
which numbers 177 of all ranks, and 191 horses.
Artillery.-19 regiments, 1 regiment Artillery
train, 1 regiment pontoniers, and 14 companies of
workmen. The 19 regiments give 103 field batteries
horsed (montees),7o foot batteries,32 horse batteries,
and 7 mountain batteries, numbering 28,823 of all
ranks, with 11,707 horses. The regiment of Artil-
lery train has 6 squadrons, sof 5 companies, and 1
of 10 companies(in Algeria),of 3,509 of all ranks,and
2,623 horses. The regiment of pontoniers musters
12 companies, containing 1,414 of all ranks, and 111
horses. The 14 companies of workmen number
1,152, officers and privates.
Engineers.-3 regiments in France, mustering
each 1,911 of all ranks, and 20 horses, divided into
2 battalions, each of 7 companies, besides a company
of workmen of 102 officers and privates. In Algeria
9 companies, and 1 of workmen.
Train.—Construction parks, 44 officers and pri-
vates ; repair ing parks, 22 ditto ; 5 squadrons of 24
companies, and 4 companies of workmen.
Veterans.-1 company of non-commissioned offi-
cers, and 4 of Artillerymen-648 of all ranks.
Administrative Services.—Military hospitals, 58
chaplains, 761 health officers, 335 officers of admi-
nistration, 3,429 hospital aides; commissariat, 3,365 ;
clothing and encampment, 375 ; intendance, 340 ;
and justice 84—officers and privates.
The total amount voted for the Army under the
head of Ministry of War is £14,919,896, and "credit
essential for the inscription of military pensions,"
£BB,OOO, making a total of £15,007,896. It will be
necessary to add to this sum certain amounts in
order to arrive at the real cost of the French Army
and to be able to institute comparisons between it
and the British Army Estimates. The additions
are :—ln the Ministry of Finance, charges on the
Consolidated Fund, Marshal Pelissier's dotation,
£4,000; military pensions, £1,563,200 ; estimated
proportion of expenditure under the head of
" Legion of Honour," £454,503. In the Ministry
of Public Works—£24,ooo for strategical roads ;
army dotation fund, £2,268,400, obtained from
" smart " paid for exoneration from military ser-
vitude, and charges on the Consolidated Fund,
and expended in bounties, extra pay, &c. In
the Ministry of the Interior, contribution to the
Paris National Guards, £3,200; subvention to the
Gardes de Paris, £153,880 ; barracks for gen-
darmes, £92,000 ; guardhouses, £1,200. In the
Ministry of Public Education, army chaplains,
£1,132. In the Navy, gunpowder and ordnance,
£105,364. In the Colonial Department, general,
artillery,and engineers' Staff, £24,730; gendarmerie,
engineers, train, spahis, discipline companies, and
native troops, £140,201; estimated proportion of
cost of rations, hospitals, and transports, £223,279 ;
and £71,868 for military services of barracks, en-
campment, artillery, and engineering. In the De-
partment of Algeria, for gunpowder, £11,648 ; army
interpreters, £B,OOO. Doubtless many other items
should be included, such as those for horse-breeding
establishments, and numerous works in Algeria.
Leaving these aside, however, as being liable to be
called in question, the items quoted and the sums
voted to the Minister of War give a total of
£20,158,501 as the cost to the State of the French
army. Althongh it would be too tedious to estab-
lish an exact comparison, because of the different
systems of keeping accounts in the two countries,
an approximation can be made out that will be
sufficient for-all practical purposes, and that on the
whole will convey an accurate idea of the expenses
that figure in the French Budget and in the British
Army Estimates :

British Army

French Budget. Estimates.
1; £
Administration
Pay, provisions, fuel, &c 11,272,272 .. 6,463,048
Clothing 876,431 .. 525,416
Recruiting
Movement of troops 91,011 .. 180,000
Justice 48,241 .. 50,125

,
Purchase of horses: 235662 .. 59,466
Forage..
Stores and factories
Education
Barracks 93,200 .. 690,159
Civil Buildings 179,407
___ ~.

Fortifications

24,000 ..

158;185

Pensions 3,225,936 .. 2,112;868

£20,159,624

£14,606,751

When it is remembered that the French army is
recruited by conscription, that military servitude
is remunerated at a price paid by the State below
the market rate of labour, it will be evident that
the £20,000,000 sterling paid in taxes for the army
is very far from representing its full cost to the
nation. What is the amount of real cost it is im
possible to ascertain exactly. In his evidence
before the Army Recruiting Commission the As-
sistant Under Secretary of State for War in Eng-
land said, " Conscription, which is at first sight and
superficially a cheap mode of recruiting armies, is,
in reality, the most expensive that can be adopted.
It is a tax by lot—confessedly the very worst kind.
. The case is still harder with those who can-
not afford to purchase substitutes; on them the
conscription is a tax which takes at one swoop their
whole capital—i,e. their labour and their time.
. . . In these cases the pecuniary amount of the
tax is represented by the difference between the
value of the conscript's labour at his own calling
and his pay as a soldier." If we take this difference
at 6d. a day—which is certainly the lowest, and in
the case of skilled labourers not a tithe of their loss
—the annual value representing the unremunerated
labour given by soldiers will be £3,935,416; for out
of the 400,000 effectives of the French army there
are 376,484 non-commissioned officers and privates,
and 23,576 commissioned officers. Consequently, the
total oost of the French army will be £24,094,040,
an amount which must appear onerous beyond mea-
sure to Englishmen, and dissipate many illusions
among them as to the disproportion between the
cost of the French and British armies.-7inzes.