MR. B. JOHNSTONEsaid, that in calling attention to this subject, he would take occasion to state that he had hoard about ten days ago that 10,000 of the embodied militia were about to be disembodied, and that he had consequently felt it his duty to wait upon the light hon. and gallant Gentleman the Secretary of State for War, to represent to him the peculiar position in which the Dumfries Regiment of Militia was placed. He had also called upon the Under Secretary for War, and had mentioned to him that the regiment in question had been ordered last November from Scotland to Aldershot, where it was stationed at the present moment. He had added that agricultural labourers were hired in Dumfriesshire only twice a year—namely, in the months of November and March, and that, as a consequence, the men who composed the regiment had just missed the time when they could hope to be employed. The Secretary for War had informed him that the principle which was to be adopted in the case of the militia was to continue the enlistment of those regiments which had contributed the greatest number of volunteers 1226 to the line, and which were, moreover, in the highest state of efficiency. He (Mr. Johnstone) had stated in reply that his regiment required only twenty men to complete its quota, while in point of efficiency it was second to none in the service. They had been the first to volunteer for foreign service during the war, and he thought it would be neither generous nor just to the men of his regiment to send them back to Scotland at a time when it would be impossible for them to obtain employment, the only periods at which agricultural labourers were hired in that country being March and November. In order to show the efficiency of the officers of the regiment, he might mention that one of the captains had taken a first-class certificate at Hythe. He thought the circumstances of the case were so peculiar as to justify him in bringing them under the notice of the House, and hoped, therefore, he had stated sufficient grounds for the Government to reconsider this case.
GENERAL PEELsaid, he perfectly appreciated the kindly motives that induced the hon. Gentleman to bring forward this subject, but thought that when he had heard the explanation of the reasons for the step of which he complained, the hon. Gentleman would be convinced of its necessity. The circumstances under which the militia were called out were these:— In consequence of the drain of troops from this country to India, it was determined to embody 25,000 militia. At that time the number of rank and file of the regular army in England was 45,998. When he came into office he found on the 1st of April the number of embodied militia amounted to 29,915, and the rank and file of the regular army to 71,581, being an increase of 25,000 men. The only vote which had been taken on account of the militia was one of £150,000. That sum would only maintain 10,000 men for six months; and, of course, with 30,000 it would only suffice for two months. Unless, therefore, an additional vote was taken, it became necessary—though they did it most reluctantly—to reduce the number of embodied militia regiments. The principle upon which the reduction was effected by His Royal Highness the Commander in Chief, was to dismiss first those regiments which had not contributed their full quota of volunteers to the line, and thus it was that the regiment in question had been selected for disembodiment.
MR. SCOTTsaid, he could confirm the 1227 statements of the hon. Member for Canterbury as to the peculiar hardship of discharging the Dumfriesshire regiment at this time. Had they been disembodied before the 25th of last month no objection would have been made.
§ Motion agreed to.