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DEFENSIVE EFFICIENCY: CITIZEN SOLDIERS.
London, 20th January 1852.
Bra—Thanks to the public press, there is now some prospect of an im- provement being made in the equipment of our troo ; for, if we may judge by the announcement of a contract to furnish 23,111 rifled muskets to the Government, it would appear that public opinion has at length succeeded in penetrating that hitherto impregnable fortress of military prejudice the Horse Guards, and in stimulating the authorities therein located to attempt some amelioration in the equipment as well as an augmentation in the num- ber of our land forces. So far so well ; but the soldier will be rendered very little more efficient by having a rifled barrel to his musket unless he also has a better lock and better practice ; as without an improvement in the former he will never be able to keep his aim steady when he fires his piece ; and without an improvement in the latter he will never be able to hit his mark at all. The lock can be improved by an order to that effect ; but the practice is at present next to impossible, from the lack of places adapted, to rifle-shooting. The first thing for the Government to do should be to pur- chase sufficient disposable land near to all garrison-towns, to form a place for rifle practice, which should be open to civilians upon payment of a small fee, when not wanted for the military. If this were done the number of volunteer riflemen in England would increase amazingly ; but now if a man buys a rifle he has no place where he can fire it off without risk. An in- crease of the army will only be a temporary means of security, whereas an increase of volunteer riflemen would be a permanent and a costless security. If the means of practice were afforded by the Government, or by corporations, there would soon be no town in England without its rifle club ; and no country more dangerous to attack than England. It must be borne in mind that every improvement in small-arms gives a comparative advantage to the undisciplieed defender of his country over the disciplined aggressor; and Switzerland owes her independence entirely to the skill of her population in the use of the rifle. As this country has now despatched nearly 10,000 of her best troops to South Africa, there is no doubt that an augmentation of the regular military forces is much needed; but no augmentation that is likely to be proposed will be sufficient of itself to guarantee us against hostile aggression, unless that force be supported by a population accustomed to the use of arms. Such a population would soon spring into existence if an oppor- tunity for rifle practice were afforded them; but without such opportunities it would be ridiculous to expect any effective assistance from the population in repulsing an enemy. What we require to insure our permanent security are, first, an improved system of manning our Navy in case of sudden emergency ; second, an im- crease in our Artillery of at least 2000 men and 3000 horses ; third, an im- provement in the arms and equipments of our Infantry, Marines, and Artil- lery, and in their skill in the use of their arms,—in bayonet as well as ball practice ; and fourth, the formation of rifle clubs and practice-grounds throughout the kingdom. By these means, our present state of defenceless- ness would soon be changed into one of security ; not a mere momentary makeshift to calm a transitory alarm, but into &permanent system of defence, which would guarantee us against all future alarms of hostile aggression.
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