TOPICS OF THE DAY.

THE MILITARY MEASURES OF 1860.

IF any one were to ask the Prime Minister what course the Go- vernment intend to pursue in regard to the great question of na- tional defence, he would probably tell the impertinent queriet that the measures of the Government respecting the defence of the country will be stated to Parliament. It is necessary and right that Ministers should be reserved ; but such is the curiosity, and, we may add, anxiety of the public that the unavoidable inquiries and anticipative arrangements are watched, and some corners of the curtain are sure to be lifted up, so that a glimpse may be ob- tained of the designs in contemplation. Great changes are im- minent ; what they will be exactly none can say. We have re- peatedly referred to the subjects under discussion, some of which will be found in the following array of heads of legislative or executive measures more or less distinctly announced. 1. An augmentation of the numerical strength of the Regular Army. 2. New Cavalry Regulations, involving a reduction of the price of commissions, reduction of the financial burdens of outfit, stricter surveillance by commanding officers. 3. The Remodelling of the Militia. 4. Removal of our great arsenal from Woolwich to Weedon •' accom- panied probably by the appointment of civilians as heads of depart- ments on the precedent afforded by the appointment of Sir William Armstrong. Subsidiary to this will ho the manufacture of u ro n- pved artillery, small arms, and ammunition.

5. The further development of the Navy.

6. Fortification: a large grant to defray the expense of works for the defence of our dockyards and ports. 7. The Reorganization of the Indian Army. 8. The Reform of the whole War Department, including the Horse Guards. 9. Regulations to facilitate the establishment and management of the Volunteers.

We need not say that this is not a list of the measures of the Government ; but we have a right to infer that the questions in- dicated in our list will at least be dealt with, since they are under consideration in a Ministry containing men so well able to handle them in a manner satisfactory to the public and in the interest of the military and naval services.

Some measures have already been actually put in operation: for instance, the measures for the enrolment of a Naval Reserve; the classification of soldiers and sailors with a view to a diminu- tion of flogging in both services and the promotion of good con- duct by the separation of the good from the bad men ; and the appointment of a committee to consider the question of Volunteer uniform and equipment.

With regard to other measures of greater moment, the public has been informed that the Defence Commission have reported in. favour of adopting instant measures for the protection of our dockyards, and have suggested an. expenditure which looks start- ling at first sight,—ten millions,—but which, on reflection, our readers will perceive can hardly be expended in one year, and therefore will not constitute an immediate drain on our resources. The necessity of defending our dockyards and harbours even Mr. Bright would not question, but we may anticipate a great struggle not only on the question of the best mode of raising the money, but on the best mode of executing the works. It may be remem- bered that Mr. Horsman was the first publicly to advocate a plan which we believe had already floated through the minds of those who were in power in. 1857.

Two questions in our list will demand from our Government great foresight to avoid future evils, and great delicacy in treat- ing existing interests. They are—the great War Department— how shall the Horse Guards be made to harmonize with it? The Indian Army—shall its European force consist of British Regi- ments of the Line alone, or of Line Regiments and Local troops ? The former question, it is said, stands over until the requisite in- quiries have lbeen completed; but it is easy to see that the de- fenders of the old and now mutilated Horse Guards system, are driven to their last defences ; and that none can say how soon they may have to capitulate. The Indian question presses for settlement. Whether the wise plan of having a permanent Local European force and a changing force of Line Regiments, or the

unwise plan of having an army of Regiments of the Line, be adopted, it will be necessary to augment the regular force at our disposal. It is said that 10,000 men will be added by raising the service companies of the Regiments not in India from 100 to 120 men. Will the necessary additions stop here ?

Another serious evil is under treatment by the Minister of War. There are sixty cornetcies vacant in the Cavalry of the Line! Why ? Because those young gentlemen who can afford to in- dulge in the shameful extravagance of cavalry officers will not submit to an examination ; while those who would undergo the very simple teats now applied, cannot stand the expense involved in the acceptance of a commission. Government, it is said, will propose that in future cavalry officers should not be compelled to keep two chargers; and that the regulation price of a cavalry

commission should be reduced to a level with that of an infantry commission. These are good measures as far as they go ; but the great reform required is a reform which will ensure tolerably good commanding officers; men who can rule and who will rule; and

who will resolutely stand out against expensive habits. The vacant places in the cavalry exist, in part, because the style of living, in every sense, in a cavalry barrack, is below the standard demanded by society. Then, among the proposed military reforms, in the front rank stands the Militia question. The Globe is afraid that "in esti- mating our permanent means of national defence the public has allowed one very important element to slip from its recollection for the moment.' That element is the Militia of the United Kingdom. We may remind our well-informed contemporary that the public is at present engaged in a military work peculiarly adapted

to its capacity—the work of raising corps of Volunteers. The re- form of the Militia is decidedly a question for the Executive. It is one with which the public can have little to do, except in so far as landholders, rural and civic magnates can give a hearty sup- port to the well-considered designs of the Government. So far as the press and the public are concerned, we are much mistaken if, a few months ago, they did not pay a very large amount of atten- tion to the Militia, and still more mistaken if it should prove that the majority did not consider the present system utterly defence- less. The public, therefore, wait for the initiative of the War Office, and perhaps we shall not be far wrong if we infer from the hints of the Globe, that the day when some comprehensive change will be proposed is not far distant.

We quite agree with our contemporary that the Militia should be established on a permanent footing as a Reserve Force, and solely as a Reserve Force. It is the constitutional means for the defence of the country, and should include in its ranks those per- sons who have some local standing, and whose views of life do not permit them to enter the Line. It should be in such a state of efficiency that in a moment of emergency the whole, or nearly the whole force on paper, should be found in the field, ready to act with the regulars, and fulfil all the duties which pertain to the profession of a soldier. Certainly the last use to which a. good Militia should be put is the first to which our revived Militia has been put—namely, that of being a "nursery to the Line." Efficiency under such circumstances is impossible. The right sort of men will with reluctance enlist in a regiment, when it may be called out today and disembodied tomorrow, or milled out, kept embodied, and employed exactly as if it were a regiment of the Line. Looking to the treatment of the Militia since 1852, and especially to the uncertainty attending service in its ranks, no one can be surprised that there are nine hundred commissions vacant. Gentlemen will not join a force which is neither a Regu- lar force, nor properly a Militia ; and Colonels will not take pains with their corps, if half their men are to be seduced away at any moment by recruiting sergeants. Moreover, the system of recruit- ing for the Militia is so bad, that no commanding officer can be sure that his men will come when he calls for them. The Globe suggests a new system which seems to us to be founded on a cor- rect appreciation of what a Militia should be, and also on sound military principles. Our contemporary says-

" In devising a remedy for the defects in the Militia system, the Ballot will suggest itself as a rough and ready measure, but one which for many rea- sons should be approached with reluctance. Before resorting' to so extreme a step it appears to us that other meats might be adopted of keeping the Mi- litia up to its strength and fairly efficient. Some such a plan as we are about to suggest would possibly be found effeetiye. It is intended to apply to a County regiment of ten companies, or 1000 men. The men should be enlisted for six months' immediate training, with the obligation of attend- ing eight days' training during each of the following nine years ; the bounty to be paid at the expiration of each period of training, and the militiaman not to be called upon to serve out of his own district, save in ease of invasion or of a war with one of the great European Powers. The permanent staff would be employed in the early part of each year in recruiting 120 young men—from eighteen to thirty years of age. As far as possible those should be obtained who are resident in the district, and whose occupations and cir- cumstances are such as render it probable that they will be resident for the nine subsequent years during which they would be liable to serve. These 120 recruits should assemble at head-quarters about the 1st of April, and be drilled until about the middle of September, when they should be joined by the rest of the regiment for eight days' training."

The writer correctly argues that an annual recruitment would keep up the numbers, a very great point. The immediate training would secure, what is even more essential, a knowledge by the recruits of the fundamental elements of their calling. Six months judicious training should make them soldiers of average excel- lence, and the subsequent annual drill would keep that know- ledge alive. We question, however, whether nine years is not too long a period, and whether the interests of the militiaman and of the country would not be better served by substituting five for nine years, with the option of remaining in the service so long as the soldier is efficient. To make the Militia regiments local would be to give men a stronger interest in their corps, and would certainly secure a class of men upon whom more reliance could be placed in the hour of trial. Officers would also join if there were anything like certainty in Militia service ; and the whole force would be more effective. We trust that the Exe- cutive will not overlook the Militia. There will never be a better opportunity for remodelling it than the present, and probably never a better War Minister than Mr. Sidney Herbert.