The Marquis of Hartington brought forward the Army Estimates on
Thursday night. He showed that the real demand for the year was 12,645,0071., a reduction of 874,6391., and less than the amount spent before the Italian war. The number of men will be 35,700 at home, 5,953 Guards, 45,920 abroad, and 70,000 in the Indian Army, or 157,573 in all, 4,000 less than last year. Re- cruiting is going on at the rate of 15,600 a year, or 300 a week, and he contended that this was sufficient. As to artillery, Her Majesty's Government adheres to the coil gun, thinks that Sir W. Armstrong can produce a 6-ton, 12-ton, or 20-ton efficient gun upon that principle, but experiments were still going on, and whenever the question had been settled it would be the duty of the country to provide a considerable number of heavy service guns. He believed it would be possible to convert 60,000 Enfield rifles into breech-loaders very rapidly, and afterwards the Govern- ment would be able to decide upon the most perfect form for that weapon. The only unsatisfactory point of this statement seems to be the question of time. Government will get, it seems clear, a good gun and a good rifle, but it has neither now, and in the event of war would be unprepared to meet it except with weapons gone out of date. The regular criticism followed, but no new statements were made.
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