Mr. Hardy moved the Army Estimates on Monday, providing for
an Army of 131,720 men of all arms and a total expendi- ture of £13,935,200, and the debate was remarkable for the , universal testimony borne to the success of Lord Cardwell's inno- vations,—short service, the abolition of Purchase, and local brigading. Colonel Mure, in particular, a great opponent of short service, as fatal to proper recruiting, now formally retracts his I opinion. No harm whatever has been done to the character of Ithe officers by the abolition of Purchase ; while short service, with Mr. Hardy's increase of pay, has made the Army so popular that last year 30,000 recruits entered the Army, and 40,000 the Militia ; while the men, in the main, are as fit as any we have ever obtained. The reform now needed is a new system of promotion and retire- ment, which will remove the stagnation in the Army, and this the War Office promises shall be brought before Parliament to- wards the end of the year. As was expected, the admission of officers to commissions through the Militia has been found to open a door to jobbery, and in future, Militia officers seeking commissions are to undergo at Sandhurst a competitive examina- tion in military subjects, a great improvement, as under the present system the officers who have borne the expense and labour of passing through Sandhurst are at an unfair disadvantage. There was scarcely a break in the chorus of laudation as Mr. Hardy sat down, only Sir H. Havelock raising the old question as to the quality of the recruits.
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