§ GENERAL DUNNE, in rising to ask a Question relative to the annual training of the Irish Militia, said, he could conceive of no reason whatever why the Militia should not be called out for training this year as in former years. If the defence of the Government for the course they had indicated was that what was called Fenianism existed in the Irish Militia, he desired to know what grounds they had for believing such to be the case? If the Inspector General of Militia, after consulting the officers commanding regiments, had made a Report upon the subject, he desired to know whether it would be laid on the table? He was aware that some of the staff of the Limerick Militia had been suspected of sympathizing with Fenianism, and certain non-commissioned officers had been accused of being mixed up with the movement; but it had been proved, at an inquiry conducted by the Inspector of Militia, that they were entirely innocent of the charge imputed to them. He believed that the reports respecting the existence of Fenianism throughout the country had been grossly exaggerated, and that the course pursued by the Government had greatly tended to intensify the fear of the people as to the extent of the movement. When it was perceived that the Government were greatly alarmed, it was thought that a rebellious spirit pervaded the land to a far greater extent than was really the case. No doubt in the towns, or at least in some of them, there were young men who had entered into this foolish society. Many who had 178 left this country as clerks and shop-boys had, from necessity, or the spirit of adventure, enlisted and served during the wars in that country. Some had attained a certain rank, and when the war ceased returned to exhibit themselves to their friends, and spend the money they had acquired, as well as spread Republican doctrines, but they found little favour in the country. He had inquired into the truth of three or four reports made to the Government relative to that part of the country in which he resided, and he had found them to be totally false. Expressions of a seditious character might have escaped from the mouths of certain persons, but those expressions were not indicative of the real state of the feeling of the people. He held that Government had neglected its duty by not consulting the local magistrates as to the state of the country, and that the information received from stipendiary magistrates was not reliable, because few of them were sufficiently acquainted with the people. The reports of the police-constables also had been too much relied on, for many had been discovered to be incorrect. He believed that the course of the Government in not calling out the Militia as usual was extremely injudicious, and more than any other step they could have taken it would tend to encourage the spread of Fenianism. What would be believed in America when it was known that the Government were so afraid of the movement in Ireland that they dared not call out the Militia for the annual training? Would it not encourage the Fenian conspirators in that country—perhaps tempt them to some violent undertaking? He believed further that the procedure of the Government would be very unpopular, and create an unfavourable impression among the men; for they would thus be deprived of their pay, which did much to attach them to the Crown. There could be no doubt that the conduct of the Irish Militia had, on former occasions, been exemplary, and this fact could be learnt from the reports of the commanding officers and the Inspectors of Militia, who testified to the uniformly good conduct of the men, whether in quarters or elsewhere. The Constabulary force was supposed to consist of 12,000 men—the Government did not complain of disloyalty in them, in fact they were trusted and employed to put down Fenianism, and yet they were composed of precisely the same class as that which composed the 179 Militia. He, therefore, could not understand the distrust which the Government had manifested towards the Irish Militia. Another consideration which should weigh with the Government was that private individuals, counting upon the regular embodiment of the Militia, had incurred large expenditure in preparing their houses for the reception of the force in different parts of the country. It was a service capable of being rendered very popular; by the outlay which it occasioned, benefit was conferred upon many parts of the country; it acted to some extent as a nursery for the army; upon every ground he could conceive nothing more impolitic than the distrust shown by the Government in declining to embody the Militia. Bearing in mind that the population of Ireland had decreased to the extent of a quarter of a million since the last Census, he thought it the duty of the Government to adopt every means, and especially so obvious a means as embodying the Militia, to keep young men at home. If, on the contrary, they were not trusted, and were held not fit to be embodied, it would be better to disband the regiments at once. The same assertion of disloyalty, unsupported by proof, would be equally an argument for not having any Irish Militia whatever now or hereafter. He should conclude by asking the Chief Secretary for Ireland, Whether it is intended by the Government only to suspend to a later period in this year the annual training of the Irish Militia or not to call out that force during the year 1866; whether this determination has been taken after consultation with the Officers commanding regiments; and, whether such Officers have reported disaffection in the corps under their command; and to move that those Reports, if any, be laid upon the table of the House?
§ MR. CHICHESTER FORTESCUEsaid, it was not quite so simple a question as the hon. and gallant Member appeared to think, whether or not they should call together at the present moment so large a number of men as were usually drawn from the large body of the population from which the militia was recruited. As the hon. and gallant Member did not believe in the existence of Fenianism he took a different view of the subject from that of the Government. With regard to the questions which had been put to him, he had to state that it was not the intention of Her Majesty's Government to call out the militia regiments in Ireland for the present. [Ge- 180 neral DUNNE: During the year?] The Government had not yet decided whether the militia should be called out for training at a later period of the year—that could be decided hereafter according to circumstances—but for the present Government had decided on not calling them out. In answer to the second Question, he had to state that the Government had not consulted the commanding officers of regiments upon the subject because they did not consider it to be their duty to do so. It was not usual to do so, and it was useless as to any general military arrangement, for the reason that the Government were in a far better position to know the political feeling of the class from which the militia regiments were taken than the commanding officers of the regiments, who were disembodied, scattered over the country, and many of whom were non-residents. No official reports of disaffection in the men from any of the commanding officers of the regiments had been received, and from the fact of their being disembodied and scattered over the country it was impossible that such reports should have been received. The House would readily believe that the members of the Irish militia must inevitably be more or less affected by the spirit of Fenianism, as the class from which they were mainly recruited was unfortunately more or less tainted with it, and without meaning to cast any imputation on the fidelity and loyalty of the militia as a body, it was impossible for them to escape from the infection. The Government had, therefore, thought it to be better to be on the safe side, and that it would be unfair to the militia to call them together in large masses at a time when all the barracks in Ireland which usually received them were filled by detachments of troops, and to expose them to the attempts and to the machinations of Fenian agents, who, the Government knew, from information they had received, had directed their endeavours especially, although he believed with limited success, to } the corruption of the Irish militia.