cide on the amount and nature of the battalions. Last year there were 46 battalions at home, 43 in the colonies, and 52 in India; so that the number of battalions at home has been raised from 46 to 61, and that of those abroad diminished from 95 to 80. This is a step which, as I have said before, appears to me to stand at the root of any sound principle of Army organization; because, as my right hon. Friend the Secretary for War has said, what we require in this country is the complete cadres of regiments at a small strength, and to be able to recruit those cadres in the event of an emergency arising to the full complement they should possess. This leads me at once to the questionthe real question at the bottom of my noble Friend's speech-namely, how is this to be done and what system of Reserve should be instituted in this country for the purpose of augmenting the cadres of the Infantry battalions in case of emergency? When my right hon. Friend the Secretary for War assumed Office he found in existence two classes of Reserve intended to effect this object. The first is called the first-class Army Reserve, which was intended to consist of men who had fulfilled the first term of their engagement and who afterwards enlisted for another five years for service in any part of the world. Of these men there were, at the beginning of the year, about 1,000. The other class of Reserve, which is called the Militia Reserve, consists of 2,700 men. They are Militiamen who, in addition to the extension of their Militia engagement, have volunteered to serve with the Army in any part of the world for five years, the two engagements running on pari passú. Now, I must ask your Lordships to bear with me while I endeavour to draw a distinction between the value of those two classes of Reserve. There is no doubt that' on many occasions, the Militia have been of the greatest service to the country in providing recruits for the regular forces; but, upon the other hand, there are several serious objections to depending entirely on a Reserve connected with the Militia. An obvious objection is that while you replenish your cadres of Infantry of the Line you for the time disorganize your Militia regiments by withdrawing men from the one force and putting them into the other. If therefore you depend entirely upon the Militia Reserve to recruit your cadres and you have the misfortune to require the whole forces of this country at home, you will be deficient of the number of men in the Militia regiments which you have added to your Line battalions. There is also another objection. It is of advantage, if possible, to avoid the complicated arrangements which necessarily follow from having men enlisting in the Militia under two parallel enrolments. If the Militia in this country is to be recognized as a Reserve for the regiments of the Line, I should be inclined, for my own part, to agree with the suggestion of my noble Friend, that all Militiamen should be enlisted subject to service in the Line, in time of war, rather than have any division of the force under different engagements. With respect to the other possible Reserve for the Line, it would be secured by expanding what is termed the first-class Army Reserve, as introduced by General Peel when he was Secretary for War, and connecting the first-class Reserve with a system of shorter enlistment in the Army-or, rather, by establishing a system of enlisting men to serve, say for twelve years, in the Army and in the Army Reserve combined, in whatever proportion might be deemed desirable whether five years in the Army and seven years in the Reserve, or vice versa. I think that, provided we could be sure that, in a reasonable space of time, it would be possible to carry out such a system as that, the Army Reserve so formed would be far superior in every respect to any other Reserve on which we could rely in this country for recruiting the cadres of the Line regiments. The great difficulty with which we have to contend in this matter arises out of the question whether we should be likely to get men for an enlistment of that kind; and that, of course, is a question which can be determined only by a trial of the system proposed. There are many reasons for believing that it would not be impossible to get the men. There is no doubt that since the addition to the rate of pay in the Army no difficulty has been experienced in obtaining recruits for the service. Considerable alterations have of late been made in consequence of the Report of the Recruiting Commission, and great improvements have been introduced in the mode of recruiting for the Army. General Edwards, who has paid great attention to the subject since he has occupied the position of In spector General of Recruiting, has had a very considerable number of letters addressed to him from different parts of the country by men of some intelligence and education, requesting to be informed how they should proceed in order to join the Army. As your Lordships may be aware a change was lately made in regard to the sending of recruits about the country. They formerly used to be sent about the country as though they were culprits; but they now go without any guard at all, and it has been found that in no case, or, at least, in hardly any case, have they attempted to leave during their transit by railway or otherwise. It is also notorious that men who enter the Army often desire to leave it before the expiration of the present term of service-every year, indeed, about 2,000 men are prepared to purchase their discharge; and this fact tends to show that if the period of service were abridged we should be likely to obtain a larger number of recruits. My Lords, the great difficulty in the way of adopting a system of short enlistments is that which has been referred to by my noble Friend-namely the necessity of providing a large number of men for service in India. My noble Friend, in the course of his remarks, was obliged to admit that it would be necessary to have a longer term of enlistment for India, and therefore he found there was a great difficulty in joining any plan with respect to India with the scheme which he has explained to your Lordships. With respect, however, to one difficulty which was mentioned by my noble Friend, I am happy to say that I can remove it altogether. My noble Friend stated that the greatest mortality in India occurred among the young soldiers who had just arrived. Now that statement is totally contrary to the recent statistics of the Indian Army. So much, indeed, is it contrary to the statistics, that they show the fact to be diametrically the reverse. I have here an extract from the last annual Report of the Medical Director General of the Army, and it appears that the average annual number of deaths per 1,000 of Her Majesty's troops in India is, among men under 20 years of age, 7·11. Among men between 20 and 24 years of age the average rises to 16:19 in the 1,000; among men between 25 and 30 years old it is 25.64 per 1,000; among men between 30 and 34 years old it is 32.03 per 1,000; among men between 35 and 39 years old it is 42.78 per 1,000; and among men over 40 years of age it is 62.23 per 1,000. And the observation made by the medical authority on this point is that morta Reserve as the only Reserve for the Army, it should be ascertained whether some scheme cannot be devised whereby a system of shorter enlistments may be introduced, coupled with service in the Army Reserve. My Lords, it is a satisfaction to find that the opinion of my right hon. Friend on this subject has antici a similar sense which has been since given by the very distinguished officer to whose opinions my noble Friend has alluded, and whose opinions must be ever regarded by your Lordships with respect - Field-Marshal Sir John Burgoyne. He uses the following expression, which summarises the views which my right hon. Friend has expressed on this subject— "If the service in the Line could be made more "The rapid increase of mortality with the advance of age is a strong proof of the injurious in-pated the strong expression of opinion in fluence of tropical service on the constitution." It is found, therefore, that the longer a man remains in India the greater chance there is of his death; and, putting aside all questions of humanity, the greater is the expense to the people of India who will have to pay for a recruit to replace him. Now, my Lords, the same observation is correct even with respect to men who remain long in the Army in this country. Sir Charles Trevelyan has pointed out in one of his pamphlets on Army Administration, that, whereas in the case of men under thirty, the average annual rate of mortality among soldiers is less than the average rate of mortality in civil life, yet, the moment you get beyond that age-between thirty and forty and upwards-the average lity of soldiers is greater than the average mortality of men in civil life. It would appear, therefore, that the Service loses by death a larger proportion of men who are above thirty or thereabouts. In dealing with this question, there is also a very important point to be considered-namely, the cost of the system of re-engaging men in the Army at the expiration of their first engagement, which re-engagement entitles them to pensions. It has been pointed out in an able Paper read before the Royal United Service Institution by Major Leahy, of the Royal Engineers, that, if you re-engage a man, it will be found, on taking into consideration the value of the pension to which he will be entitled, that he costs just twice as much as a recruit. That being the case, my Lords, and there being evidently very great advantages in having a Reserve of trained men who have passed through the Army, instead of a Reserve of men who have only received the training of a Militia regiment, which training must, of course, be of an inferior character to that of four or five years in a Line regiment - this being the case, my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State deemed it advisable that, before we adopt the Militia VOL. CXCV. [THIRD SERIES.] palatable, so as to induce a more numerous and 3 A me quite possible that matters may be so managed that we may hereafter have in the Line regiments men who, in like manner, on leaving the service, will experience no difficulty in obtaining employment in civil capacities. My noble Friend has alluded to the condition of the Militia. As I before remarked, when my right hon. Friend came into Office the attention of the Government was first called to the concentration of the forces at home by means of reducing the battalions in the colonies. My right hon. Friend's attention was next directed to the condition of the Militia, which has been rightly characterized by my noble Friend as the first Reserve in this country. My noble Friend called it "the first constitutional Reserve," and, indeed, the word "constitutional" is constantly used in connection with the Militia. I believe, however, that in this country no one force is more constitutional than another; that the Army is as constitutional a force as the Militia, and the Volunteers are as constitutional a force as either. With respect to the Militia, I think your Lordships will be of the same opinion as my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in regretting that the novelty and popularity of that very valuable force the Volunteers should, for a time at least, have apparently detracted from the public estimation in which the Militia was formerly held. Because nobody can draw an invidious comparison between the two forces; they are totally distinct in their character each has its own functions; and I am sure noble Lords who are connected with the Volunteers will not wish to detract from the merits of the Militia, while those noble Lords who are connected with the Militia will not wish to detract from the merits of the Volunteers. No doubt it was found at the beginning of this year that the Militia was exceedingly deficient in officers, and especially in subaltern officers. Of the establishment of 3,485 officers, which is the Staff of the Militia, there had only been appointed 2,138, and of these only 1,859 were trained last year. My right hon. Friend paid immediate attention to that point, and he took in the Estimates of this year a sum of £20,000, which it may be hoped will remedy some of the matters with respect to which Militia officers have had to complain. In the first place, the pay of regimental officers of Militia, of and above the rank of captain, during training, which had been by some accidental circumstance less than the pay of officers of the Line, has been equalized with that of officers of the Line. The grant to Militia officers of 18. a day is obviously too small to enable them to pay for the necessary expenses of their mess. That sum has been raised from 18. to 4s. Officers of Militia also find it very expensive, when put in quarters, to provide themselves with that moderate amount of furniture which is necessary for their comfort in addition to that which they find in barracks; and a small allowance has been given to officers when so situated. Some other changes have also been made. In the first place, officers of Militia have been allowed, with the consent of the Lords Lieutenant of the different counties, to exchange from one regiment to another, which has been represented to be a great advantage to themselves; and likewise, with the concurrence of the illustrious Duke at the head of the Army, the arrangement has been made that a step of honorary rank shall be granted to officers retiring from the Militia after a certain number of years' service; to field officers after twenty-five years' service, of which fifteen have been in the Militia; to captains after twenty years' service, of which fifteen have been in the Militia; and to lieutenants after twenty years' service, of which ten have been in the Militia. In addition to these alterations, none of which require legislative sanction, a Bill has been introduced, and will shortly come before your Lordships, which provides for two important matters connected with the Militia, and for one minor matter. The minor matter is, that it is proposed to do away with the property qualification now required for some ranks of officers. It appeared to my right hon. Friend that, after the property qualification for Members of Parliament had been abolished, it was hardly necessary to insist upon it in respect to Militia officers; and it has been represented as a bar, in some cases, to obtaining good officers to fill up vacancies in the Militia. The two important points are theseIn the first place it is proposed to give power to Her Majesty to put the Militia, when out for training, under the command of general officers of Her Majesty's Army. By an accidental omission in our legislation, while the Volunteers | On the 15th of June, 1852, that was the can be placed under general officers, no opinion expressed by the late Duke of power exists to place the Militia under Wellington, when the Bill for the estasuch command unless they are actually blishment of the present system of Militia embodied. The third provision included was before your Lordships, and I may in the Bill is, that when there is a want add that they were nearly the last words of junior or subaltern officers in regi- spoken by that illustrious man in this ments of Militia called out for training, House. As to the instruction of the officers of the regular Army may be sent officers of the Militia, it is quite possible for a time to assist in training those re- that improvements may be introduced giments. There are several other ques- into the training and examination of tions relating to the Militia of very con- those officers. At the present time there siderable importance. Perhaps the most is a Royal Commission inquiring into important of all relates to the system of the system of education in the Army, of billeting; because those who know the which my noble Friend the Chancellor of Militia are, I think, of opinion that so the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Dufferin) long as that system is continued, it must is Chairman, and of which I myself have be with very great difficulty that com- the honour to be a Member. It is obvious manding officers of Militia regiments that no system of schools of instruction, are able to keep their men under proper such as, I believe, has been instituted in discipline during the time of training, Canada, could be introduced in this counand that it would be of the greatest pos- try with respect to Militia or Volunteer sible advantage to the Militia if any officers, until the question of the instrucmethod of getting rid of that system tion, the training and the examination of could be found. There is also, again- officers of the Line has been previously as has been pointed out by my noble decided. The key of the whole educaFriend-the system of instruction for tion of the Army must be the education officers of the Militia. I do not know of the Regular forces, and the Militia that the officers of the Militia have been and Reserve forces must follow their complained of as ignorant of their du- lead in that respect. Therefore, until ties on the contrary, the Reports of the the Commission reports, it would be preInspecting Officers, in the course of last mature to establish any system for year, in regard to the Militia regiments amending the instruction of Militia offihave been favourable; and I can fur- cers. The main point, I think, in the ther say, from personal communication speech of my noble Friend- and I enwith officers upon whom I can depend tirely agree in the observations that he to give an honest opinion on the made upon it-was that he wanted some subject, that the condition of the Militia organization in this country which will is not that which was shadowed forth bring together the military forces, of by my noble Friend. At the same time whatever class they may be, and will, in I am far from asserting that twenty-times of emergency, enable them to act eight days' training will produce a battalion of Militia perfectly organized, and capable of immediately taking its place with the Infantry of the Line that would be an exaggeration; but, nevertheless, I think that, if called out for service, the Militia would be found able, as they have been heretofore, to perform any duty that might be required of them. With regard to the efficiency of the Militia, I take the liberty of quoting the following words of a very high authority : "If you begin with the formation of Militia corps under this Act of Parliament they will in time become what their predecessors in the Militia were; and if ever they do become what the former Militia were, you may rely on it they will perform all the services they may be required to perform."-[3 Hansard, exxii. 731.] with promptness and with harmony. That is a subject to which my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State devoted his attention immediately after assuming the Seals of Office. The first thing which my right hon. Friend did with regard to it was to consult with the First Lord of the Admiralty and with his Royal Highness the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief upon the general principles of our defence. And I must here venture to remind my noble Friend that in his admirable speech he made one most important and, I think, essential omission. The word "Navy," I believe, did not once fall from his lips. It seems to me that the whole of his argument — the whole of his comparison in respect to the condition of our forces with those of |