Star.
London, England, 1824-05-06 00:00:00

T P.;: . .'d I L 1;.

S7r T. LETHBRIDGE lue,7nted a Petition from two
Magistrates (Sir ..1%)!):1 Ct,x Ilippi.ley, Harr. .11;d Mr.
complAiiiina of t!,e use of the Tieati-Alid,
which they con•idered a severe tnialc of itunisiituttit.•
IkIr..DI:.'NISON would not give any opinion on .! c
subject of the Petition, as I: had received the sancti,,,,
of the Magistrates of the County. Lie considered t:ac
tread-haill to be a Salutary ,nvoe of poni:bineitt,• a 14.1
that it did net bredk the i.pirit or ihjtire- the health c I
the -prisque: s. There wei.e. j;iilt • better-conducted
than tiloscira the County of Sutler; di( sursvea•

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amined them twice a week, and the health of the pri-
soners was most spicily attended to.
Mr. HOBHOUSE said that the tread-mill had a ten-
dency to dew:We the prisoner. Every one who was
exposed to the gaze of spectators when he was stuck to
the wheel like a dog, must entirely lose his self-respect.
He thought the punishment to be quite contrary to the
spirit and
.hunaanity of the F.ny,lish Law. The Peti-
tion was ordered to be printed.
IRISH MILITIA ESTIMATES.

Colonel DAVIES rose to obtain leave for bringing in
a Bill for reducing the Militia Establishment of Ireland.
The Militia of England, amounting to 50,000 men,
cost 195,0001. while that of Ireland, which did not
exceedlB,ooo men, cost upwards of 95,0001. If this
military establishment were necessary for the peace and
security of the country, something might be urged in
favour of it; but the forces never moved out of the
county where they were quartered, and therefore could
only exist for upholding the pride or contributing to the
amusement of the Colonels and Commanders. If the
Irish Militia were put on the same footing with the Eng-
lish, tile country would save 30,0001. In Ireland Loge
bari.Lks are empty, and the troops were quartet ed near
their own country. The Honourable Member briefly
adverted to the several charges which composed the
amount of the estimate; and concluded by asking leave
to bring in a Bill to enable his Majesty to reduce the
regiments and battalions of the Irish Militia when dis-
embodied.

Sir G. HILL was surprised that the proposition of
the gallant Colonel shauld have been brought forward
at this period of the Session. The main object of it was
to reduce the Staff of the Irish Militia. It was true, as
he (Colonel Davies) had stated, that strong remon-
strances had been made against it; but after they had
undergone the fullest discussion, Acts of Parliament
were passed fixiag the number of those who were enti-
tled to remuneration from the Government. Tio this he
conceived that the excellent conduct of the Officers,
commissioned and non-commissioned, fully. entitled
them. It would be the height of hardship and injustice
to turn adrift to misery and starvation those who had
so meritori,iusly served their country. He submitted it
therefore to the feeling of the House not to be guilty of
a breach of faith in, seconding the proposed reduction.
Mr. HUME was surprised to hear the Honourable
Baronet complain of the motion being brought forward
at this time of the Session; fur if he had attended is his
place he would have known that the subject had been
broached three different times. What his Honourable
Friend objected to was, that such a large Staff of Officers
should remain in Ireland, while there was so small a
number in England. He thought that all the Colonels
who had written the letter, statiag that the Govern-
ment had no right to reduce the Staff, should have been
immediately dismissed or brought to a Court-Martial.
The House had already declared that they had no right
to do so. He was not aware that there was anything in
the Acts of Parliament relative to the Militia which
could prevent the Government from dismissing the whole
Staff at this tnomei*.

Mr. GOULBURN said, the question between him
and the Minot:l-Able Member was simply as to the pro-
portion or amount of reduction. He begged of the gal-
lant Officer to ?member, that the constitution of the
Irish 'Militia ditftned very considerably from that of the
English NViitia. He •sai sure no Hollow-able Gentle-
man who atteu•led to the situ:l:io•n of Leland xvuuld he
at a loss for th• :ca•on. why the Staff of the Militia of
that cen!,•.:y was k,: cater than that of Erglind )et
it had been consiaerably reduced, pro;mrtion tielv, Ia
amount. At the close the war, the Staff of the Eng•
lish Militia was reduced in the proportion of ten to
seven—that of I:eland in the proportion of two to one;
which consequently shen•ed a much larger scale of re-
duction in the latter than the former. To the credit of
the Irish Militia Staff, it ought to be known that they
were ever anxious to place themselves at the disposal of
Government, and had tendered considerable service in
assisting in the collection of the revenue in 1818, and in
other duty in subsequent yea: s. Fur these and many
other reasons lie felt himself bound to resist the motion
of the llonourable Gentleman opposite.
Mr. HUME explained. . _ _

Mr. C. 11. IIUiCkIINSON entertained no doubt of
the meritorious services of the lush Militia ; but the
Right 'lotion' able Gentleman had produced no argu-
ment to prove why the Militia Establishment of Ireland
should be kept up on a mote expensive footing than
that of England.—Colonel DA 'VIES replied.
The House then divided, when there were
For the motion, 10 I kaitisr it, f:ti I Majority, 16.
On the motion of Mr. li►:ryr:ov the Scotch Juries 13111 passed
through a Corurnittee—the Report was ordered to be received on
Monday next.