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Proceedings of Parliament.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Thursday, April 3.

NEW MILITARY SYSTEM.

MRWINDHAM rose, to submit a measure for the improvement of the military system of the country. This was nothing more than the application of those general principles which he had on many Occasions stated to the House. When they looked to the state of Europe, they would find that there was no country in which the military system was on such a footing as in this. It would be his part that day, to propose a remedy for the existing evil, and his plan would embrace the means whereby the establishments of the army would be rendered so far better, that it should provide adequately for the permanent security of the country. His object was not to look at the present danger, and to provide for getting rid of that, without paying attention to the future, to exhaust in efforts, to meet an immediate exigency, the best means of the country, on which its ultimate safety and permanent interests could alone depend. It might well be supposed, that the first step towards the attainment of his purpose, would be the creation of an army, or to provide such means as would tend to the certain attainment of such a desirable object, an extensive and formidable army. By this he meant such a mass of the population of the country, as would be adequate to the exigencies of the times, separated by their habits and calling from the rest of the community, regulated by their own laws, and governed according to the terms of their service, forming a totally distinct corps from their fellow subjects, who should not have either to labour or toil, to work or spin, whose trade should The people of this country were as brave, as spirited, and as highminded, as the inhabitants of any country in Europe; but for years past the House had toiled and laboured thro' measures for the improvement of the army, and yet the state of that army had not been May 1806.

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They had heard much of levies en masse, of an armed nation, of eight hundred thousand men in arms, trained and disciplined; but such measures, however imposing, had not provided adequately for the object that ought to have been kept in view. They were too fond of thinking, that when they had a certain number of men in arms, they had an army; and in this they resembled the child, who, when he stuck a twig in the ground, fancied he planted a tree. - Whatever might be. the number of men of such a description in arms, they could not be considered in the light of an army. An army was a corps, which, from its moral constitution, was as different from any other class of the community, as any natural body from another that had distinct physical qualities. It had been said that the theory of the military science, and the art of war, might easily be acquired by bodies of men otherwise constituted, and that this distinction was wholly ideal. But it would betray a total ignorance of human nature, to assert that any body of men of that description could be capable of the same spirit, the same feelings, the same dispositions and character, as a corps regularly trained to the profession of arms, and systematically formed to subordination and discipline. The object was to provide an adequate supply for the regular army, and not as heretofore be content with measures of substitution. It was unnecessary for him to remind the House what armies had always been, and what they never had proved to be. more notoriously than in the present times. They all know that armies decided revolutions, and governed the destinies of nations; that it was by armies, by bodies detached from the other classes of the community, that the fate of empires were determined, not by levies en masse or an armed population; when an army falls, all is lost. Look at the two great battles that had in late times decided the respective campaigns and wars in which they took place, and their ef

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fects, and they will afford a striking il. lustration. Look at the battles of Marengo and Austerlitz, and the effects that resulted from them; and though the numbers engaged in each, and the havock, were immense, yet they were inconsiderable, compared with the vast extent of the consequences that had been produced by the issue of these con

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But the population of a country, however disposed, without an efficient army, can afford no medium of resistance against an invading force. Its efforts would produce as little effect in arresting the progress of an invading enemy as the surrounding air. Was this not a truth, was it not a firm conviction which every man who heard him felt? This country too had its spirit, it felt an attachment to its laws, its constitution, and its Sovereign; and it was impressed with indignation at the very idea of an attempt to make it the scene of a foreign conquest. He was sensible that it possessed all these virtuous qualifica. tions in a very eminent degree; he was ready to go as far as any man in doing justice to the spirit and zeal of his countrymen; he had his hopes too, and he clung to them as fondly, and cherished them as warmly, as any other gentleBut when they looked to the fate of Switzerland, they could see but little reason to trust to hopes founded upon such grounds. If ever there had been a country, the inhabitants of which were determined to defend it-if ever there had been a country which was capable of being defended, it was Switzerland. The Swiss were a nation of warriors, vigorous in their constitutions, robust in their bodies, all trained to the use of arms, and devotedly attached to their country. They had conducted themselves too in a manner that did not discredit their national character. It was not safe, therefore, to trust to these resources, which had proved unavailing to that warlike nation.

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After some further prefatory matter, the Hon. Gentleman proceeded to state the outlines of the improvements which he was desirous to introduce into-the regular service, and our general system of defence. The first improvement which occurred to him, was what he had frequently mentioned, that of limiting the period of service. It was singular

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that this was the only country in Europe in which the enlistment of a soldier was for life. From the adoption of the opposite mode, he expected an accession of a new description of men, whom he would encourage by certain rewards, without weakening the system of military discipline; though, by thus having a better set of men, there would be less necessity for exercising punishment, either for desertion or other offences. Desertion, he was persuaded, in a great measure, originated in the seduction of offering large bounties, and of the consequent competition between the different recruiting parties. The effect of this measure, however, he was ready to admit, must be very distant. Its operation would nevertheless be certain, and permanently beneficial. would produce a favourable change in the notions of the mass of the people, and in those who professed a military life. In the bill which he should offer on this part of his plan, he would propose to fill up the blank as to the period of service, in the first instance, with the words seven years." At the end of that period the soldier would, if he chose, be entitled to his discharge. If he chose to renew his services for a similar period, he should propose that he should have a small increase of pay, such as ád. per week, or some such trifling advance, not more than an equivalent to the probable diminution in the value of money during the intermediate interval of time. He would also propose a further increase of pay for a third renewal of enlistment. These regulations would apply only to the Infantry. For the Cavalry and Artillery he would propose periods of ten, six, and five years, at the expiration of which, they would be intitled to their. discharge, as in the case of the infantry. Those who had served twenty-one years would be entitled to the highest rank at Chelsea, which would be raised considerably above what it now was, being only one shilling a-day. Nor would any farther call be made upon them for service,

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With regard to those embarked on the Colonial service, they would be kept for six months after the ratification of a treaty of peace, fed and maintained and sent home at the charge of government, when according to their respective claims, they would be invested with

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the immunities already particularized. These were the principal features of the alteration which he would suggest in the condition of the soldier. were others which were also desirable, but into these he would not go, as they were not at present fit for legislative provision. One of them, however, he should mention, and he conceived it was not likely to be objected to. It was that of making an additional allowance to officers widows. Small additions had already been made from time to time, and the prosecution of the system with the advantages already enumerated, would tend to the better recruiting of the army, as they would make the service a bounty in itself.

Having stated this as the outline of his plan relative to the regular army, he should proceed to what he considered of equal importance; and that was the political question, what could be done with the mass of the population not in the shape of an army. The only instance which he recollected in history, where a population had resisted a regu lar army, was the case of America. But attentively viewed, that instance afforded no valid reason for this country adopting a similar system, when the narrow scale on which we acted was compared with the immense continent of America. The views he entertained on the subject of the population were to be found in those records, which were not generally deemed very authentic, but which had been so in this instance. He certainly felt for the errors of the two late Administrations, as they had thrown difficulties in the way of that project; and the present Administration came forward under very great disadvantages, as the ground on which they had to tread was not cleared. What might have been then right, had since been found to be wrong; and, in his own opinion, he wished for nothing but the most simple of measures. In 1803 the country was terrified by the dread of invasion; but to suppose that what could have been done then could be done now, was certainly a very bold idea. At that time, it would have been better for the service to have been purely voluntary. Nothing could have been better than to have given the mass of the people an opportunity of coming forward, with proper instructors, to

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teach them what they were to do, when they met the enemy, without any military decoration or character whatever. This mass divided into small associations and corps, swarming over every part of the country, led and directed by regular officers, would have formed a much better protection for the time, instead of armed associations of men of a higher rank serving at their own expence. The population would thus have been led on under the guidance of regular officers, and would not only harrass and wear away the enemy, but from the habits they acquired, would furnish recruits for the regular army. Whether this plan, had it been adopted, would have succeeded or not, it was not for him to determine; but it certainly was the cheapest of all expedients. We all know that corps of another description had been formed, upon false conceptions. The Government said, "Our country is in danger; every man must arm.' The volunteers armed; and then they said, "let us look and manoeuvre like soldiers" and in this the Government acquiesced. From this he dated all the difficulties that had since arisen. differed entirely from those who accepted the services of many of these corps. They were men who, from their habits of life, never intended to be soldiers, and served under officers of the same ideas with themselves; so that they could not be supposed that hard substance which could be moulded into troops capable of taking the field against the enemy. It was ridiculous to think them as good as troops of the line, because they looked as well; and if they alone were to be employed to drive the enemy, then was the fate of the country already sealed and decided. The volunteers were nevertheless of some service. There was first the advantage of numbers of men being enrolled, and next that of their having been trained, from which circumstance they might in time become useful. He professed himself adverse to the practice of calling them out on permanent duty, as it was of very little avail towards the attainment of the object in view, and was attended with an enormous expence. He wished for as many volunteer corps as possible, and for a great part of the population loosely trained; but these advantages he wished to have at as

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cheap a rate as possible. Recruits would, upon this plan, be furnished ready for the army, with the additional advantage of their being acquainted with the use of firearms, while the whole of the country would be covered with an armed peasantry.

This was his view of the matter, but the system that had been followed, went to include all volunteer exertions in volunteer corps. His first objection to this system was its immense expence. The volunteer system had cost Government, in three years and a half, five millions; in subscriptions from the pockets of individuals, it had cost as much more; and though this might not be considered on the same footing as if it had come from Parliament, it was entitled to great weight; there was, besides, the expence each volunteer went to for himself, which altogether amounted to no less than the same sum. Thus the Government expence, and the subscriptions, were each in itself equal to half the property tax; both together to the whole property tax; and the cost to individuals, which should not be overlooked, was equal to either of them. If we were to pay for the volunteer system at this rate, we should consider whether it was equal to what we might obtain for the same sum in another shape. He maintained, that when locked up in corps, the men were not capable of being of the same use in aiding a regular army as when left loose. He did not mean that they should be entirely without combination. Even the Tyroleans could not be of use, unless they were combined in some way. Having trained them in bodies, it was best to leave them uncombined till the time of calling them into action. It would be always in the power of the King, by his prero. gative, to array them as it should seem fit, in time of invasion or alarm of invasion. The stronger men, and those of better age, may then be formed into corps, and the rest left loose. Whether victorious or otherwise, in the first onset, there would be a loss to supply, for which we would have the whole active population of the country ready trained. These were the ideas that governed him, and on which a wise and permanent. system may be established gradually, for he was no friend to sudden change. No longer looking to the volunteers for

assistance in the field against the regular force of the enemy, he would relax their discipline and retrench their allowances. He would leave their allowances infinitely above what they ought to be, though much below what they were now. The reduction would not be carried into effect till there was a force to replace the volunteers. But it was to be understood, that, in reducing volunteer corps, the men were not lost, they remained on the spot, with the advantage of all their training, capable of being combined again and employed as occasion might require; whereas, a regiment once dispersed was lost for ever. It was one of the advantages of his plan, that it could be easily got rid of, if it was not found as beneficial as he hoped : It was to be in force but a year-not to be renewed unless it should be found advantageous. Its object was simply to train the military population-voluntary training was to be encouraged as much as possible.-He wished to tread as much as possible on old foundations. On the principle of the levy en masse act, his plan gave the preference to voluntary training; but with a power of resorting to compulsion, if necessary; it went also to assert the King's preroga tive right to every man's service in case of invasion. .It excluded the exceptionable part of that act, the training of all classes together. This objection was one of the reasons for his preferring the volunteer system to the levy en masse, though that volunteer system soon after took a false shape.

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The first part of the reduction he would propose in the volunteer expences, would be a substitution of the June allowances for the August allowances, of a training of twenty-six days to a training of twenty-eight days. total reduction that would be thus made on the estimate of this year, which was 1,479,000l. exclusive of cloathing, the cost of which was 347,000l. would be 878,000l. The allowances to yeomanry would be reduced from 120l. a troop to 2 l. a man. The saving by this reduction would not be very great, but the allowance of 120 l. troop was far too much: 21. a man was fully sufficient. 'The reduction of officers pay in the substitution of the June establishment to the August establishment, was 210,000l. A reduction of the allowances and pay

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to drill serjeants, the present number of whom was far beyond what was necessary, would afford 54,757 1. Under the head of permanent duty, a reduction of no less an amount than 300,000l. may be made. It was the unanimous opinion, that the Inspecting Field-Officers may be spared, and that their business would be as well executed by the Lord Lieutenant, or the Civil Officers under him. This would yield a saving of 35,000l. The suppression of the marching guinea paid by the Receiver-General, a most improper allowance; this would yield 198,000l. making a total reduction of 878,000l. These reductions he proposed, not from any hostility to the volunteer system, but with a view to necessary improvement in the military state of the country. To such volunteers as would enter henceforth, Government would allow nothing but arms. To those now on foot pay would be allow ed, because they had been hitherto in the habit of receiving it; but cloathing would not be allowed after this year.

With respect to the mode of compulsion, if compulsion should be necessary to carry the training into effect, he could find no other means than to have recourse to that species of lot familiarly called ballot, which was the most convenient—(a laugh.)-He hoped it would not now be attended with its former terrors. The age at which service would be required was from 16 to 40. Those between these limits would be divided into three classes-the first class to comprehend all from 16 to 24-the second all from 24 to 32—and the third, all from 32 to 40. It would be left to the Crown to apply the power of calling out which of these classes it should please. The number of days training was to be 26; the men to be allowed a shilling, as a compensation for the loss of their half-day's work. Voluntary trainings were to be accepted at the dis cretion of the officers, and to go in diminution of the ballot. There were not. to be any particular cloaths, nor were the men to be embodied; but it was to be in the power of the Crown to collect them in 14 days in some town for the purpose of more speedy training: those who absented themselves from training, on any other ground than serving in volunteer corps, were to be subject to a fine. The training was to be perform

ed by detachments of militia, and of the regiments now nominally connected with the counties, which would, by this, gain a real connection that would enable them to recruit much better than the parish officers. They would exert themselves in the training, in the hope of afterwards getting the men into their own regiments.

The militia should now be considered as part of the established army, and for home service it was certainly equal to any other part of our force, with the single exception, that it never had seen service. If it should be necessary again to fill up the militia, it should be done by means of a recruiting limited bounty, as in Ireland, and not by the ballot, With respect to rank, he hoped no vò lunteer officer would have any difficulty to allow to officers of the line, the recompence they were entitled to. To claim rank for property or birth, to the prejudice of men who had fought for their military distinction in the remotest quarters of the globe, was unjust. He should propose, that no officer of the line of a higher rank than that of Captain, nor any Captain commanding a corps, should be commanded by an officer of volunteers. These were the principles upon which he looked for a great and permanent supply to the regular army. They were calcuated to do what was recommended by the eminent statesman we had lost, to get our whole population gradually into that trained state, of which every one would be capable of being made a compléte soldier in a very short time, and with very little trouble. The measure would give one general training; it would give it without taking the men from their homes; it would give it by proportions, free of expence, and commutable for voluntary service in a corps. It was but an annual measure, that the opportunities of amendment may recur as frequently as possible.

Mr Windham concluded a very long speech with moving, that leave be given to bring in a bill to repeal the Additionał Force Act.

Lord Castlereagh considered this new military system, so elaborately detailed, as abounding in fanciful theories, difficult at any time to reduce to practice, but extremely hazardous and impolitic to be attempted in the present situation of

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