The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1852-12-07 00:00:00

ME LIVERPOOL STANDARD, TUESDAY, DECEMBER 7, 1852.

THE NATIONAL DEFENCES.

WH!LE the lion of the League faction irretrievably
damaged his ephemeral reputation by his absurd
boasts and inflated declamation about the National
Defences, the really popular party who are at pre-
sent in power have very properly devoted their
attention to placing the kingdom in a better state
of defence. 'When the cry was for taking off taxes,
it was necessarily accompanied by a demand for
cutting down expenditure ; and what more easy
for amateur statesmen and successful demagogues
than to reduce the Navy and the Army ? It mat-
tered little that the sage experience of the illustrious
hero, now gone to his rest, had declared that our
defences were inefficient. The self-confidence of the
presumptuous upstart proclaimed that our best de-
fence was in bales of cotton ; and, though his pre-
diction of the profound peace of Europe

directly afterwards falsified by the Continent being
in the full blaze of revolution, the faction still ad-
hered to the cuckoo cry, and wildly dreamed of
pacifying the fierce passions of lawless men by the
mockery of Peace Conventions and similar rubbish.
To the credit of Lord JOHN RUSSELL, he at-
tempted a step in the right direction by his propo-
sition for a militia force, but he had not the moral
courage to persevere in demanding supplies for a
proper addition to our naval and military forces ;
and it has been left to his successors to justify the
confidence which has been placed in them by car-
rying out this prudent precaution. It is a manifest
duty to provide against probable, or even possible,
evils ; and though the peace advocates twaddle about
warlike preparations being provocative of warlike
demonstrations, every sane man knows that an
efficient state for national defence is the surest gua-
rantee for the preservation of peace. It may be
said, by those whose wish is father to the thought,
that there is nothing in the state of Europe to jus-
tify an apprehension of the present profound peace
being disturbed; but this is a very short-sighted
view of public affairs.

The new-made Emperor of France has, it is true,
made many professions of peaceful intentions,but all
his previous acts have given the negative to his pro-
fessions. He has ostensibly commanded a reduc-
tion of the numerical strength of his army, but he
has in reality made it more efficient, while the
force of his steam-navy is being considerably and
actively augmented. He may, after all, have the
best intentions to preserve amicable relations with
the ancient enemy of France; but who can foresee
how long he ma) be able to restrain the anxiety of
his soldiers to gratify their thirst for military glory,
and their more prominent desire to wipe out the
stain of Waterloo ? The interests of Great Britain
are too mighty, for the prospect of their being im-
perilled to be left to chance, and the Ministry have
pursued a wise course in taking such precautions
as may help to guard against the risk of defeat.
Although the increase in the estimates for the
coming year will, it is said, exceed f 600,000, the
improvements to be effected are of a comprehensive
character, tending to materially add to the efficiency
of our naval and military forces. To the former
there is to be an addition of 5,000 seamen and 1,500
marines, while screw machinery is to be introduced
into eight or ten line-of-battle ships. The army is
to be rendered more efficient, by the addition to the
artillery force of 2,000 men with 1,000 horses, and
the equipment of 200 guns for field service. Orders
have also been issued to hasten the preparations
for constructing batteries in the Isle of Wight, and
to expedite the works as much as possible.