COLONEL DUNNEsaid he rose, pursuant to notice, to call attention to the subject of Recruiting for the Army. The question was one of the highest importance and demanded the utmost consideration of the military authorities, inasmuch as the fact was notorious that enlistments had been gradually decreasing for the last few years, and if something were not done to check the downward course it was obvious that the efficiency of the army would be seriously impaired. He held in his hand a Return, which showed that a great falling off had taken place within a few years in the number of men enlisted. In 1860 the number enlisted in the United Kingdom was 21,664, but in 1863 the number was only 6,924, and in the year before that 388 the number was 4,642. In 1859, on the Motion of the then Secretary for War, a Commission was appointed to examine the subject, and that Commission, which was presided over by a distinguished officer, made several recommendations, all of which, he believed, were carried out, though not to the full extent; but there were several causes which tended to prevent an increase in the number of men enlisted. One of those causes was the high wages generally received in England by the class of men from whom the recruits for the army were taken. That cause did not operate in Ireland, but on the other hand the vast immigration which was carried on from that country and the consequent diminution of the population made it difficult to get recruits there. Then there were certain proceedings which acted on the feelings of the people, and discouraged them from joining the army. There was, too, great uncertainty in the service, the army being sometimes increased to a considerable extent and then suddenly reduced. Then there existed great uncertainty in reference to pensions. Men who had become soldiers were frequently thrown on the world without a pension, because, if they were disabled by disease, they were told that they had the seeds of the disease in them when they enlisted. He thought that when a man passed the medical officer he ought not to be subject to the contingency of losing his pension by an attack of heart or other disease. Another cause which deterred men from enlisting was the concentration of troops in large camps, such as had been formed at Aldershot and at the Curragh. Formerly, when a regiment returned from foreign service, it was quartered in some town where the men had an opportunity of meeting their friends, or, at all events, of mixing with persons of their own class and obtaining some relaxation; but in these camps the drill was so constant and severe that many men regarded foreign service as a relief. Other objections arose out of the method of reckoning service, and the deductions which even after the improvements that had recently been introduced were still made from the nominal pay of the men. The pay of an infantry soldier was 1s. 1d. a day, including the 1d. beer money. From even that small sum there were many deductions, leaving him only about 4d. a day for himself. Another cause of difficulty arose from the limitation of the period of enlistment. According to 389 the evidence of Sir George Wetherall, when examined before the Commission, the diminution of the period of service to ten years would render it necessary that we should, exclusively of the men required for India, enlist annually, instead of from 10,000 to 12,000 men, 23,000. He doubted whether our population would supply us with enough men to meet all our wants The standard had been lowered from 5ft. 7in. to 5ft. 5in., but we had not got the number of recruits that were needed. He knew that recruiting had lately very much increased, but that arose from the circumstance that the militia had recently been out for their annual training, and we could not anticipate any continuous flow of men from that source. He now came to the encouragements to men to enlist, and to the changes which he thought ought to be made. One great encouragement, that of promotion from the ranks to commissions, had singularly failed. The Commission stated, that although, in ten years, 570 men had been promoted from the ranks, recruiting had during that time been more active in the Indian service and the artillery, in which no such promotion was offered. One great reason why men did not enter the army was the insufficiency of the pay, and it was necessary that both that and the marching allowances should be increased. When men were on the march they often suffered much from the insufficiency of their pay and the want of food. When men were fed well they drank less. As to the time of service, in the cavalry men were en listed for twelve years, and in the infantry ten years. He confessed he could never understand the distinction. It was, he thought, most desirable that men should, if they chose, be allowed to enlist in the infantry for a longer period than ten years. If a man entered the army at the age of sixteen or eighteen years, he was, after he had served ten years, fit to go into any other business, and had great inducements to leave the service; but he was then at his prime as a soldier, and it was most desirable to retain him in his regiment. Sufficient inducements were not, in his opinion, held out to lead men to re-enlist in India. Many men who took their discharges there and came home no doubt afterwards re-enlisted; but the State was put to the expense of paying their passages to this country and out to India again, it would, therefore, be good economy to hold out inducements to them to continue their 390 service in that country. The best thing, in his opinion, that could be done was to raise the pay of the soldier as his period of service increased. He believed that would prove more efficacious than adding to the bounty as an inducement to men to enter the army.
THE MARQUESS OF HARTINGTONsaid, he was glad the hon. and gallant Member had called the attention of the House to the subject, as it would give him an opportunity of removing the misapprehension which seemed to prevail in the public mind regarding it. The Returns of men enlisted at the various recruiting stations to which reference had been made no doubt showed that a considerable decrease had taken place since 1860. These Returns, however, were confined to the recruiting stations, and did not embrace the number of men who were enlisted at head-quarters. If in 1861, 1862, and 1863 the number enlisted at the stations was extremely small, it was because more men were not wanted, as the strength of the army was being gradually reduced. There was, therefore, as far as these Returns were concerned, not the smallest ground for alarm. That was the first year since 1860 in which there had been any pressure whatever in supplying the demand for recruits. A large body of men would be entitled to their discharge, and it was no wonder if the recruiting machinery, which had during the last year or two become rather rusty through disuse, should not be capable all at once of meeting the requirements of a sudden emergency. It therefore became necessary for the Horse Guards to issue fresh instructions on the subject; but there was nothing in the Horse Guards' Circular at all of a novel character. It was intended only to remind officers in charge of recruiting parties of various things which were formerly well known, but which had been somewhat forgotten of late years, owing to the limited operation of the system. He did not think that there was the slightest ground far apprehension as to the number of men required for the army that year not being obtained, as the increased efforts consequent upon the issue of the Circular had proved entirely successful. In the end of the last and the beginning of the present year the Commander-in-Chief and the military authorities in charge of the recruiting department were rather afraid that there might be difficulties in raising the establishment to its proper figure. The number of recruits, however, for whom 391 levy money was asked did not exceed 21,300, including the Indian service and all the men entitled to take their discharge. Of that number a little over 10,000 were the men entitled to their discharge; but from past experience it was calculated that between 50 and 60 per cent of those men would re-enlist; and if only 5,000 out of the 10,000 should realize that expectation, the actual number of recruits required during the year would only be 16,000. But during the last three weeks, when recruiting had been commenced with increased activity, there had been obtained an average of 353 men each week, which would give 18,356 for the year. There was no reason to fear that that rate of recruiting could not be kept up, because this was the worst season of the year for it. It was the period of the hay harvest, which would be followed by the corn harvest, and there was more abundant employment throughout the country than at any other time during the year. Under these circumstances, it was scarcely necessary to follow the hon. and gallant Member through his remarks as to the means which ought to be taken to induce men to enlist. He had shown that recruits were not at present deterred from joining the army. The hon. and gallant Member had alluded to the recommendations of the Commission appointed by the right hon. and gallant Member for Huntingdon. Some of the recommendations of the Commission had been adopted, but some of them—such as that in regard to increase of pay for increased service—had not yet been carried out. The Ten Years' Act ought to have a fair trial before any alteration was made. It was quite possible that after further experience of the measure it might be found necessary to re-arrange the terms of service, but it was extremely undesirable to adopt a new system when there was no pressure, and the existing plan had not been fully tested. He was sorry the hon. and gallant Member had spoken of the 1s. a day as if it represented the soldier's pay in the same way as the 1s. 6d. or 2s. earned in other employments. Everybody must, he thought, admit that so far as food, clothing, and pocket-money went, our soldiers were in a much better position than almost any class of labourers in the country. He did not, of course, mean to compare the position of the soldier with that of the skilled labourer. In seeking for recruits the Government did not pretend to com- 392 pete with the demand for skilled labour; all they could do was to enter into competition with the ordinary labour-market, and a minute investigation of the pay and allowances which a soldier enjoyed would, he felt assured, be sufficient to convince any man that his position was superior to that of the unskilled labourer. He received good rations and his clothes and lodgings for nothing, besides other advantages. The only other point in the speech of the hon. and gallant Member to which he thought it necessary to refer was that in which he stated that men in the regiments serving in India and the colonies were brought home, at great expense to the nation, only, perhaps, to be re-enlisted in this country. Now, with respect to that point, he could only say that a sum was taken in the Estimates for increase of bounty to men re-enlisting in the colonies. In India a man received a considerable sum for re-enlisting on the spot, instead of putting the country to the expense of bringing him home. He did not know what other plan could be adopted in order to attain the object which the hon. and gallant Member seemed to have in view, because a soldier naturally wished to come home at the expiration of his ten years' service. The only way of preventing him from doing so was to offer him a sum which he would be likely to consider it worth his while to accept. In conclusion, he had simply to observe that he felt obliged to the hon. and gallant Gentleman for having brought the subject forward, because from certain letters which appeared in the newspapers it would seem as if a general impression prevailed that recruiting had come to a stand-still, whereas, as he had stated, it was progressing at a rate which if kept up, as there was every reason to hope it would be, would more than meet the wants of the service.
§ Main Question put, and agreed to.