§ SIR JOHN SHELLEYsaid, he rose to ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether Her Majesty's Government adopt the views of the late Administration with respect to Volunteer Corps, or whether they will be disposed to supply a sufficient quantity of arms for practice.
§ MR. SIDNEY HERBERTIn answer to the question of my he n. Friend I have to state that the Government have taken into consideration the offers made by the various bodies of gentlemen who are willing to serve as volunteers; and I am glad to have this opportunity of expressing the sense which we entertain of the public spirit which has been evinced in promoting the formation of these corps. We propose to accept the services of the rifle corps upon certain conditions. The first of these is that a safe and sufficient range shall exist for their practice. In order to insure this —to secure that object—it is proposed that a military officer shall be sent down to each locality to examine the ground selected, and to report upon the safety of the arrangements which any of these bodies may adopt. I think it will be obvious that without such a precaution any corps that may be formed would become useless for want of practice, or that, if it did practice, it would become dangerous to the public. In the second place, we ask that there shall be a safe place for the custody of arms. Thirdly, that the rules for the government of the corps shall receive the sanction of the Secretary of State for War; and, fourthly, that there shall be a periodical inspection of the corps by a military officer. Supposing these four conditions to be fulfilled we propose to issue to each corps a certain proportion of arms sufficient for exercise, drill, and practice. It is not necessary for that purpose that every man in a corps should be armed; and we propose to issue Enfield rifles to the number of 25 per cent of the effective members of the corps. That arrangement would supply with arms one section of every company. Then, again, with a view to facilitate the drilling and practice of these bodies, we propose that a payment of one shilling a day with a billet should 535 be made from the funds of each corps to a sergeant of the disembodied militia or other competent person who might have to teach them their drill. In order further to secure the efficiency of the system it is proposed that twenty-five adjutants and 100 sergeants of the disembodied militia should receive instruction in musketry at Hythe, and that the latter should afterwards be available for the instruction of the volunteer companies. Lastly, arrangements have been made to enable a limited number of officers and men of the volunteer corps to repair to Hythe at their own expense, and there receive a short course of instruction, from the 30th July to the 15th August, it being necessary that this course should not be prolonged, lest it might interfere with the practice of the regular army. Another observation which I wish to make is, that the Government, taking the same course as their predecessors, are most anxious to encourage and to give a preference to the formation of artillery corps rather than of rifle corps in the maritime counties, where our chief commercial ports, our great arsenals and the batteries which defend them are situated. The men in the former case could receive their instruction in arsenals where there is a sufficient range for practice; and I think it is obvious that the public service would be more benefited by artillery corps than by rifle companies. The artillery corps would supply the place of the regular artillery employed during a war in the field, and they would thus materially add to the available force of the country, almost as much as if they were regularly engaged in its service. They possess other advantages over rifle corps. They have a precedence in rank, and they have no arms and ammunition to buy and no range to obtain. All these circumstances must tend to facilitate the formation of artillery corps. With respect to another question which has been raised, I have to observe that as far as the organization of Volunteer Corps is at present concerned Her Majesty's Government have no intention to do otherwise than to accept the offer of independent companies. We must recollect that a false step made at first in the calculation of numbers—one that is fallacious—will be very difficult to retrieve. At present, therefore, the offers of companies only will be accepted. When we see he w many companies there are, their force, and he w they are composed, it will be for us to consider he w far a higher 536 and more efficient organization may be carried out. I hope to be able, in the course of a few days, to issue a circular which will embody all these particulars, as well as some other details with which I need not now trouble the House, and which will enable Lords-Lieutenant of counties and other properly qualified persons to form these corps, without entering into any lengthened correspondence with the War Office. With respect to the arrangement for supplying arms for only 25 per cent of the men, it is to be understood, that in the case of a war, when they would have to be called out, they would all be armed.
§ LORD ELCHOsaid, he wished to know whether, in addition to the 25 per cent of the men who were to receive arms from the Government, the others would be allowed to supply themselves with arms at their own expense?
§ MR. SIDNEY HERBERTsaid, that there was nothing to prevent any number of the men from supplying themselves with rifles provided the gauge was the same as that of the arms supplied by the Government, so that the same ammunition could be used in both cases.
§ LORD GALWAYasked what was the kind of arm that was to be furnished by the Government.
§ MR. SIDNEY HERBERTsaid, it was to be of the pattern of 1853. He did not propose to make any change in the rule laid down by the late Government.
MR. ESMONDEwished to know what course the right he n. Gentleman meant to pursue with regard to the formation of rifle corps in Ireland?
§ MR. SIDNEY HERBERTsaid, that the Government had only taken into consideration those cases in which offers had been made to them to raise volunteer corps. They had received no such offer from Ireland, and if any were to come it should be a subject of special consideration, inasmuch as the law in that case was not the same in Ireland as in this country.