HC Deb 10 May 1858 vol 150 cc363-71
GENERAL CODR1NGTON

said, he wished briefly to call the attention of the House, before going into Committee, to several matters which were closely connected with the efficiency and well-being of the army. He would first refer to the present system of recruiting, which he thought was not worthy of this country. Considering the great number of men in the army—amounting nearly to 200,000 troops—we ought to have a very large recruiting establishment. The number of recruits required must amount to at least 20,000 a year, if not nearly 30,000, taking into account the casualties likely to happen from the climate of India. The system of recruiting as at present managed, he had said, was unworthy of this country. It was supposed that the army consisted of volunteers, but how did we obtain them? We seduced and cajoled men into the service by means which were dishonourable and degrading to the profession. He thought, if greater inducements were held out to recruits by the localities, or by those by whom the men were enlisted, in the shape of arrangements which would conduce to their comfort, we should raise a greater number of volunteers, and in a far more creditable way than we did now. As a general rule, the standard of height ranged from 5 feet 6 inches to 5 feet 7 inches, though sometimes we had had it as high as 5 feet 8 inches; we reduced it to 5 feet 3 inches for India, and had latterly raised it again to 5 feet 4 inches. Instead of paying a really good price for men of 5 feet 6 or 5 feet inches, and of good character, we got, by lowering the standard, a totally different class of recruits, inferior in character and in physical capacity. We got men, in fact, from the low town populations, instead of from the agricultural districts and the agricultural towns. This, he thought, had been the cause of much evil. He happened to have served on the Billeting Committee, and he knew that great complaints had been made by the licensed victuallers of the class of re- cruits that had been enlisted since the Crimean war, and of the great difficulty experienced in establishing any discipline among them. For himself, he regretted that the system which originally obtained of naming regiments after particular counties and towns in which they were raised, and so of identifying them ever afterwards with those counties and towns, had been discontinued. It was a practice which tended to promote and keep alive the most kindly feelings between the men in the same regiments, and between them and the localities in which their military lives began. It had the happiest effect on the characters of the soldiers, who looked forward to the time when, their term of service ended, they would return to their native places, and live in the society of those among whom they had spent their early days. The late General Sir Charles Napier, in a book published in 1837, strongly culogized the practice of naming regiments after the counties and towns in which they were embodied, adding that he himself would willingly return to his own native village where he had spent his childhood. I may be, perhaps, allowed to read an extract from his work on this subject:— I have always thought that each regiment should belong to, and have recruiting parties in some county or town of which the regiment should bear the name and arms on the colours. The 50th are West Kent; 52nd, the Oxford; 43rd, Monmouth, &c. This old custom seems to lose ground, which is, perhaps, to be regretted, as it might be turned to advantage in many ways. If each regiment had a town, in which it was recruited, though the men might be from other parts of the kingdom—if in that town he had certain rights granted to him—if there he might leave his family, and be assured that the magistrates and the people would guard and respect those he trusted to them—if to that town he felt assured he was to return from time to time; and that there he and his comrades would close life together, sure of occasionally seeing the regiment in which they had spent their youth. If this were the case, he would feel that town to be his real home;—if he saved a little money or got a larger sum in prize money, he would spend it in buying a cottage near that town; there his character would serve him—his name would be inscribed in some urbane record as a brave and honourable soldier; his deeds of valour would be known; and in war he would go forth to battle with a light heart, for his family would be protected if he fell. I speak as I feel; I would willingly return to my own village of Celbridge, where I spent my childhood. To a soldier his home is where his comrades in the war congregate. I appeal to the Engineers, to the Artillery, to the Marines—do they not all feel that Wool- wich, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Chatham are their homes? Do not most of them settle in or near those places. The nature of man makes him desire to finish life with those among whom his best days have been spent; and if regiments had each a town, of which they bore the name, it would foster the better feelings a soldiers, it would make them serve more cheerfully, and it would make them feel how much the comfort of their latter days must depend on their obtaining a high character. It the 50th had Canterbury or any town in Kent as its head quarters, there I would live in preference to any part of England. Such are soldiers' feelings: we cannot get rid of them, and a wise Government would turn them to good account. He (General Codrington) wished to see a system of recruiting established which would conduce to the honour and credit of the country, instead of the haphazard, undignified way in which soldiers were now caught. With regard to the keeping up of the establishments of the army, there had been great pressure in the direction of economy, which had resulted in reductions being made. He spoke now of the Military Train. If there was one body more deficient than another, on starting the army for the East, it was the Military Train; and if there was one body more than another on which the comfort of that army depended, it would have been a well-organized Military Train. The Military Train had been reduced to 1,100 men for the whole established army of England, which was just sufficient to move one division of all army. He wished to suggest that, as there was a certain amount of Military Train, it should not be kept as a matter of economy to do a variety of dirty things, but should be put to the purpose for which it was designed, namely, that of enabling troops to move with their tents, ammunition, and ambulance. That could be done at Aldershot. There was no reason why there should not be a certain number of packhorses kept there, that the ammunition should not be packed, and that they should now and then move ten or twelve miles out into the adjacent country. The Train might be kept together to show how a brigade, or a regiment, or a division was to march, complete in its establishment for field service. Again, the Commissariat Department had also been very much reduced, from the necessity of keeping the accounts under a different system. Those accounts were now more under the supervision of a military auditor than of commissioned officers actually identified with the military service, and accustomed to serve with troops in the field. That would be rather a serious matter when it came to a question of foreign service, into which he feared the military auditor system would introduce an element of discord. He also understood that the new arrangement was much less economical, and that the military auditors who had been appointed to go out with the Chinese army had cost £4,000, as compared with £1,300, about the sum which would have been expended for a Commissariat establishment for the same purpose. There was another point to which he wished to allude. A sum of £20,000 a year was received from the Ionian Islands to the credit of this country. Notwithstanding that, it had come to his knowledge that an officer there had to pay a duty not only upon his wine, but also upon the clothes he wore. He thought that very hard, and he trusted some inquiry Would be made into the matter. The canteen arrangements in the Ionian Islands were also objectionable. A very large sum was paid in the shape of rent or head-money by the canteen-man, according to the number of men, and that rent must come out of the profits received from the soldiers, which he (General Codrington) did not think was right. He saw no reason why such a system, which existed no doubt in other garrisons besides the Ionian Islands, should be continued, as it was abolished in England, unless the money raised were applied to increase the comfort of the soldiers or to provide recreation for them, in the way of lighting and warming their barracks, and giving them the means of amusement.

MR. MONSELL

observed that the right hon. and gallant Gentleman (General Peel) had stated on Friday, with respect to the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich, that the new arrangements which would be carried out in consequence of the Resolution passed by this House a few days ago would entail considerable expense on the country in keeping the engagement entered into with the students in the military school at Carshalton. At the present moment that school cost the State nothing. The amount received from the boys there was something like £5,000 a year, while the expense of the establishment was about £4,500. But, as no more pupils would now be taken into that school, their number would, of course, decrease from year to year, until they were entirely absorbed by the Woolwich Academy, and next year or the year after the sum received front students would not be sufficient to support the staff. He wished to point out to the right hon. and gallant Gentleman, however, that he was under no obligation to charge the State with the present education of the Carshalton students. Perfect faith would be kept with them if they were allowed to go to private schools, care being, of course, taken that on presenting themselves at Woolwich at the proper age they should not be subjected to any competitive examination which, as they were received at Carshalton under the old system, would be exceedingly unjust. The country, therefore, need be put to no expenditure; all that was required was that the Carshalton students, no matter where they were educated in the meantime, should be allowed at the proper age, to enter into the Woolwich Academy, after a pass examination, should their attainments be satisfactory. Another point to which he wished to call the right hon. and gallant Gentleman's attention was the present state of the buildings of the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich. That Academy was originally built for the reception of boys between fourteen and sixteen years old. Now, there was no objection to allowing boys of that age to sleep three or four in a room; but at present the Academy was occupied only by young men who were admitted between the age of seventeen and twenty, and who were therefore frequently twenty-one and twenty-two before they left. It was perfectly monstrous that young men of that age should not have a room to themselves, and he would therefore beg the right hon. and gallant Gentleman to ask even this year for some small Vote in order to provide additional accommodation.

COLONEL KNOX

said, it struck him as rather extraordinary, considering the number of years which the right hon. Member for Limerick (Mr. Monsell) had held an important post in the Ordinance Department, that the suggestion he had just made should not have occurred to him before. The evil to which he had drawn attention had been complained of for years, and the right hon. Gentleman had for a considerable period been in a position to rectify it; but he (Colonel Knox) had never heard that he had taken any step for the purpose of doing so. It was a pity the right hon. Gentleman had not grappled with it when he had the power.

MR. MONSELL

remarked that he had stated at the outset of his observations that there was not the same objection to three or four boys of fourteen years of age sleeping in the same room that there was to young men of seventeen or twenty years of age.

SIR FREDERICK SMITH

observed, that he concurred with the hon. and gallant officer (Sir W. Codrington) in thinking it very desirable that something should be done to make the recruit feel at home when he entered the service. This was the reason why the marines recruited so much better than the line, because when they came home from service afloat men knew that they would return to the division in which they enlisted, and to which they continuously belonged. Having himself served at Aldershot, he had always been of opinion that the Land Transport Corps was the only thing wanted there to complete the education of the officers and men in the art of campaigning.

COLONEL BOLDERO

said, he considered the marines the best service into which a man could enlist. After serving three or four years afloat a marine often found himself with £60 or £70 in his pocket, with part of which he might buy his discharge, and with the rest enter into some little business. In the line such a thing could never occur, and he was therefore not surprised that the marines formed the favourite corps. With regard to the remarks that had been made respecting the cadets at the Royal Military Academy at Woolwich sleeping three or four in one room, he (Colonel Boldero) remembered the time when two subalterns used to reside in one room. At the time he was at Woolwich, he lived three or four in a room, and rather liked it, for this simple reason, that the provisions not being so nice as they desired, they were thus enabled to club together and provide additional comforts. They also made the cadets below them their fags to do the cooking, lay the table, and so forth. Messing four together was far cheaper and more comfortable than messing one in a room. He did not, therefore, see much ground for complaint in what the hon. Gentleman had said.

MAJOR WORTLEY

owned, he was surprised at hearing his hon. and gallant Friend say in effect that because the evil had existed in the British Army of keeping two subalterns together in one room, therefore the practice should be continued at one of our principal military academies. It remind him of the old argument which had been used in favour of retaining "Brown Bess" in the hands of the soldiers rather than supply them with the rifle. All he knew was that when the regulation of placing two subalterns in a room was dispensed with and each had a room for himself, it occasioned a feeling of great satisfaction among that body of officers, and he was sure that the gentlemen in the Royal Military Academy would consider such a measure to be equally a boon to them. Their sleeping in different rooms would not prevent their messing together.

GENERAL PEEL

said, he could assure the hon. and gallant Officer opposite (Sir W. Codrington) that he had devoted much attention to the subject of recruiting during the time he had been in office. If hon. Gentlemen considered the requirements of the service at the present moment, and the pressure upon it, they would not be greatly surprised at the measures adopted by the Government for the purpose of obtaining recruits. In order to place the matter in the proper light and show the pressure that existed for men, he would briefly point out the condition of the army with regard to numbers this year as compared with 1857. In 1857, before the mutiny broke out, the total strength of the army was, in round numbers, 157,000, of which about 30,000 were in India, consisting of four regiments of cavalry and twenty-four battalions of infantry. The total British force at this moment was, in round numbers, 223,000, showing an increase of 66,000 men, which they had been called on to raise in doe course of the year. The establishment last year consisted of twenty-three regiments of cavalry, and 105 battalions of infantry, of which there were four regiments of cavalry, and twenty-four battalions of infantry in India. At the beginning of the mutiny it was necessary to send out to India from the home establishment seven additional regiments of cavalry, and thirty-six battalions of infantry; thus reducing the British establishment to twelve regiments of cavalry, and forty-five battalions of infantry. To make up the deficiency thus created, two new regiments of cavalry and one of infantry—the Royal Canadian Rifles—had been created, and twenty-four additional or second battalions. In order to increase the numbers of the army the strength of the cavalry regiments had been raised from 469 to 666, and the infantry from 840 to 950. He saw no reason why the whole contemplated establishment should not be completed during the present year, especially when they considered that during the last eight months they had enlisted as many as 48,000 men. But it was not the British establishment alone that had to be supplied. The casualties in India were very great; and there was besides an absolute necessity that they should keep up the system of relief for regiments abroad, without which the army would greatly deteriorate. There were at this moment ten regiments in India that ought to be relieved, and also some that had been in the Colonies for many years. It also appeared that notwithstanding the increase which had taken place from recruiting operations, our strength at home was less than it was when the mutiny broke out by five regiments of cavalry and ten of infantry. That fact ought to be borne in mind; and as soon as it was ascertained what was the total number of regiments permanently required in India, it would be the duty of the Secretary of State to have adequate relief supplied. From these statements it would be seen how great was the pressure upon them in regard to the army. He thought some means might be employed to make the permanent staff of the Militia more available than at present for purposes of recruiting and drilling. With regard to the Commissariat and Military Train to which his attention had been directed, it would be admitted that nothing was more difficult than to keep up in time of peace an establishment which could be suddenly expanded for Commissariat purposes in time of war. This difficulty had always been experienced; but he could assure his hon. and gallant Friend opposite that the most careful inquiry was being made, and would yet be made into the subject, with a view of carrying out, as far as possible, practical improvements. He would also take the other subjects which had been mentioned into consideration. He was very glad to say that a plan load been suggested by which faith could be kept with the students at Carshalton, without any expense to the country. The accommodation for those at Woolwich should receive attention; but he would remind the House that at the time he came into office the determination come to was that they should be removed to Sandhurst.

COLONEL NORTH

said, he would remind the House that he had opposed the reduction of the artillery at the time it took place, and he must say that at a time like the present, when there was so great a pressure for men, and the establishment was 20,000 under its number, he could not but regret that no less than sixteen regiments of militia should have been disbanded. He thought that if the officers of the militia had received commissions as a return for the number of men they induced to go into the army, a great increase of the regular army might in that way have been insured.

Motion agreed to.