§ MR. SELWYNsaid, that before putting the question of which he had given notice, 1066 he would detain the House for a very few moments with some remarks by way of explanation. The right hon. Baronet the Secretary of State for War had partly answered the question in his speech when moving the Army Estimates; but the right hon. Baronet had not explained what he (Mr. Selwyn) confessed he was unable to comprehend—namely, the reasons for the distinction which he drew on that occasion between purchasing and non-purchasing officers in respect to education. As he understood the right hon. Baronet, he did not intend to extend compulsory education at Sandhurst to officers who purchased their commissions, while such education was to be compulsory in the case of officers who did not purchase. As some hon. Members understood it, the compulsory education was only to extend to those regiments in India which were called "non-purchasing regiments." However that might be, he could not see why a distinction should be drawn between those who purchased and those who did not. It appeared to him, that unless some valid ground for such a distinction could be shown, the only question should be—whether there ought to be any compulsory education for officers at all—whether their education ought not to be entirely open and free. The question was one of considerable importance in a financial point of view, because in 1860 Lord Herbert advised the House that if any extension of Sandhurst took place it would involve a very considerable additional expense. Last year a sum of £15,000 was taken for that college, and a large increase was asked for this year under the same head. The time had arrived for resisting any attempt at enlarging Sandhurst, unless some very strong reasons were shown for such an enlargement. He rested the case on higher grounds than those of mere finance; because, considering how great and how widely spread the influence of the army was for good or evil, and viewing the proper education of the officers of that army as a matter of very great importance, he should not grudge any sum that it might be necessary to expend for that purpose. He wished it to be distinctly understood that the council and senate of the University of Cambridge by no means desired to establish a monopoly of military education. On the contrary, they desired that Oxford should join them; and, indeed, Oxford had already made an offer to do so, and he believed 1067 that Dublin would desire to be a fellow-labourer in the work. They all desired that the system of education for officers of the army should be free and open, and that success should be the test of the best method of education. The real question was, what was the best mode of educating the officers of the army. Let the House look at the position in which they were placed. Most of them joined the army at a very youthful age, and were for a great portion of their lives, and not only when in camps but also in distant stations and garrisons, necessarily confined to a very exclusive society. It was, therefore, desirable that this exclusive position, and the contraction of ideas occasioned by it, should be postponed until the latest possible period. It was in that spirit the University of Cambridge made to the War Office their very liberal offer, amounting to this—that they would provide the means of education for young men who intended to join the army, that they should reside at the University for a period of nineteen or twenty months, that at the end of that time they should obtain the degree of military cadets, and that they should receive, not only theoretical instruction, but also military instruction and drill. That proposal had not been accepted by the War Office, but, on the contrary, it was proposed that the plan of compulsory education at Sandhurst should be adopted. He looked with confidence to the support of those of the right hon. Gentleman's colleagues who were favourable to the system in education of payment for results, and who held that proficiency was best proved by examination. If the War Office thought that these young men should pass an examination, he saw no reason why they should insist upon their acquiring the necessary knowledge at any particular place or under any particular circumstances. Without detaining the House further, he would ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether it is the intention of the Government to enlarge the Military College at Sandhurst, and to insist upon a compulsory residence there of all Candidates for Commissions in the Army, or whether the offer made by the University of Cambridge for establishing Military Education at that University will be accepted?
§ MR. HASSARDsaid, he wished to ask the Secretary of State for War, Why the recommendation contained in the "Interim Reports of Sanitary Defects in Barracks," that Gas should be introduced 1068 into the Barracks in the City of Water-ford, had not yet been carried out? Would the right hon. Gentleman also state, Whether any part of the £3,000 appropriated for the accommodation of wives and children of soldiers in the hospital would be allotted to Waterford?
§ MR. LEFROYsaid, that since he came down to the House he had received a telegraphic message from the Board of Trinity College, Dublin, requesting him strongly to support the proposition of his hon. and learned Friend (Mr. Selwyn). The Board of Trinity College had already been in communication with the right hon. Gentleman on the subject of military education. He entirely concurred in what had fallen from his hon. and learned Friend, and he trusted that the right hon. Gentleman's reply would be satisfactory.
COLONEL KNOXsaid, that a vote of £15,000 had been taken in the last year for Sandhurst. A pledge had been given that that Vote should not be used until the Military Education scheme had been laid on the table. That scheme had not been laid on the table, but he was afraid the money had been spent.