§ The whole expenditure of the Army may be divided into three heads, the cost of the "personnel," of general administration, and of supply. The subjoined table attempts to show the total amount under each head.
201§ ARMY ESTIMATES, 1886–87, recalculated, showing approximately the Cost of the Personnel of the Regular and Auxiliary forces as distinguished from the remaining Expenditure.
| 1. Charges for Personnel. | |
| REGULAR FORCES. | |
| £ | |
| Estimated annual cost of Regimental Warrant Officers, non-commissioned officers) and men, including Pay, Good Conduct Pay, Deferred Pay, Engineer and Departmental Pay, Clothing, Rations, Fuel and Light, Transport, Equipment, Ammunition, Barracks, Barrack Stores, with cost of Medical Attendance and Medicines, Chaplains, Prison Staff, Schools and Libraries, and Regimental Paymasters | 7,201,000 |
| 136,350 men. Average cost, £52 4/5 per head. | |
| 136,350 Officers. Average cost, £52 4/5 per head. | 1,374,000 |
| 4,934Officers. Average, £278½ per head | |
| Total effective cost of "personnel" of the Army | 8,575,000 |
| Total non-effective cost of "personnel" of the Army | 2,770,300 |
| (Average rate per head, effective and non-effective, £80 3/10 all ranks). | 11,345,300 |
| 3. Supply Charges. | |||
| Purchase of Horses (14,151) and Forage at £25 a-year | 464,210 | ||
| Veterinary Department | |||
| Wages, &c. (Vote 9) | 345,510. | ||
| Rents and Water (except £34,00) (Vote: 10) | 88,000 | ||
| Transport of Stores £68,000 | (Vote 10) | 198,000 | |
| Transport &c, Egypt (excess) £130,000 | |||
| Warlike Stores, Vote 12.— | £2,569,000 | 2,076,650 | |
| Less amount estimated for Barrack Stores | £140,000 | ||
| Less amount estimated for Equipment | 150,000 | ||
| Less amount estimated for Auxiliary Forces | 202,350 | ||
| 492,350 | |||
| Works and Buildings, Vote 13.— | 925,800 | 488,800 | |
| Less amount estimated for Barracks | 437,000 | ||
| Maintenance of Local Force at Suakin (Vote 1) | 58,000 | ||
| Total Supply Charges | 3,719,170 |
| ESTIMATES, 1886–7. | |
| Numbers. | |
| All ranks. | |
| Regular Army, enrolled | 141,284 |
| Reserve | 56,900 |
| Militia | 119,356 |
| Yeomanry | 11,540 |
| Volunteers, efficient | 218,207 |
| Total of all forces | 547,337 |
| Cost. | ||
| Personnel of above forces | £14,065,450 | |
| Administrative Departments | 1,341,680 | |
| Supply services | £3,719,170 | |
| Less Navy | 1,000,000 | |
| 2,719,170 | ||
| £18,126,300 | ||
| Less Indian, Colonial, and Egyptian contributions included in appropriations in aid of Vote 1 | 908,000 | |
| £17,218,300 | ||
| Add small sums not included in foregoing figures | 14,900 | |
| Total agreeing with Net Estimates for 1886–7, viz., £18,233,200 less £1,000,000 for Navy | £17,233,200 |
§ These tables show pretty clearly that, assuming the maintenance of the existing establishment of the Army on the present scale, any substantial reduction of expenditure must be effected either in the cost of administration or in the charge for works, armaments, and stores.
§ Vote 12 (Stores).
§ And indeed it is sufficiently notorious that reductions of Army expenditure, while maintaining our existing establishment, have largely been effected in past years by drawing upon our reserve of stores. There have been occasions when considerations of economy have reduced this to a dangerously small amount. But indiscriminate reductions, effected for such an object, are neither safe nor altogether honest, and I hope that the time may soon come when the necessary reserve of stores will be authoritatively fixed in all branches, and rigidly maintained in all circumstances. It is, however, to be observed that the expenditure in Vote 12 comprises not only the sums necessary for the maintenance of our armaments and our reserve of stores, but also large sums which are now being annually voted to strengthen the defences of the country all round. The estimate for the supply, manufacture, and repair of warlike stores (Vote 12)—that is, for the manufacturing departments of the Army—amounts next year to £2,943,500. Of this £1,707,000 is required for Navy armaments. The system under which the Army Votes at present bear the charge for naval armaments has the effect of preventing the true charge for the respective services from being understood by the public, but it is intended next year to make arrangements for separating this expenditure.
§ The following table illustrates the normal and special expenditure under this Vote.—
205| VOTE 12.—GENERAL OUTLINE OF ESTIMATE. | ||||
| (A.) | (B.) | (C.) | ||
| Head of Service. | Ordinary normal expenditure. | Sepcial Services in addition to A. | Total amount required to complete Special Services mentioned in B. | No. of years of complete C. |
| £ | £ | £ | ||
| Maintenance of armaments and practice, including equipments, transport, ambulances, &c. | 200,000 | |||
| Gunpowder | 50,000 | |||
| Field Artillery | 20,000 | 80,000 | 248, 000 (4) | 3 |
| Rifles | 100,000 | 125,000(2) | 1,190,000(5) | 3 |
| Ammunition | 120,000 | 80, 000 | 240,000 (6) | 2 |
| Carbines, pistols, and swords | 20,000 | 40,000 | 50,000 | 1 |
| Barrack stores | 80,000 | |||
| Accoutrements | 40,000 | 20,000 | 50,000 | 2 |
| Harness | 21,000 | 10,000 | ||
| Machinery | 30,000 | 31,500 | ||
| Minor items | 242,500 (1) | 35,888 (3) | ||
| Coaling stations, armament of | 126,680 | 358,310 | 2 | |
| Total | 923,500 | 549,068 | 2,136,310 | |
| Total, normal (A) | 923,500 | |||
| Total, special (B) | 549,068 | |||
| Naval requirements to be transferred next year to Navy Estimates | 1,707,561 | |||
| Total | 3,180,129(7) | |||
| Appropriation in aid | 236,629 | |||
| Total | 2,943,500(7) |
§ Remarks.
- (1.) Includes establishments, experimental services, camp equipments, War Department vessels, &c.
- (2.) Less than previously proposed owing to delays of patterns hindering manufacture. 25,000 magazine rifles only.
- (3.) Includes vessels, and miscellaneous.
- (4.) For 31 batteries to complete 60, to be armed with B.L. armament.
- (5.) Includes 375,000 magazine rifles.
- (6.) To get up to 60,000,000 reserve of .4 cartridges.
- (7.) Repayments not included, as they are added to items of Vote and deducted en bloc.
§ N.B.—The purpose of this statement is to show broadly the appropriations of money to certain general heads of Service. These appropriations will not be traced in the Estimates which are necessarily prepared under the head of Wages, Materials, Contract Supplies, &c.
207§ Vote 13, which deals with works, buildings, and repairs, may be analyzed in a somewhat similar form.
| VOTE 13. | |||
| GENERAL ABSTRACT OF ESTIMATE. | |||
| Total of Vote £862,300. | |||
| Vote for 1887–8 | Required to complete | Remarks. | |
| For Maintenance— | £ | £ | |
| Ordinary and current repairs | 353,190 | ||
| For new works (under £1,000, to be completed in this year) | 117,589 | ||
| For works in progress (begun before 1887–8)- | |||
| Barracks | 111,249 | 315,065 | |
| Fortifications and Ordnance Store buildings | 61,227 | 200,407 | Of this, £133,000 is for submarine mining works at military and mercantile ports. |
| Manufacturing establishments | 40,500 | 4,110 | |
| New works (over £1,000 to be begun this year)- | |||
| Barracks | 29,700 | 46,120 | |
| Fortifications and Ordnance Store buildings | 38,957 | 60,705* | |
| Manufacturing establishments | 12,750 | 27,850 | |
| For coaling stations | 77,200 | 201,210 | |
| Total | 842,302 | 855,467 | |
| Salaries and miscellaneous Engineer services | 125,802 | Annual charges, subheads A to K, of Vote 13. | |
| Total | 968,104 | ||
| Less appropriations in aid | 105,864 | ||
| Total | 862,300 | 855,467 |
§ *Of the £60,705, the following items are each of £5,000 and upwards, viz.:—
| York-New Ordnance Store Establishment | £15,500 |
| Portsdown Hill-maintenance of revetments | 11,000 |
| Woolwich Arsenal-means for lifting and landing guns up to 240 tons | 10,200 |
| Fort Augusta-new powder magazine | 5,000 |
§ The object of this analysis of these Votes will now be clear. I am anxious to bring prominently forward the fact that the manufacturing and engineering departments necessarily enter into contract engagements extending over several years, and that a sudden curtailment of Estimates may often mean not only the stoppage of a particular work, but the loss of a large part of the money already expended, or it may involve a breach of faith. Take, for instance, the expendi- 208 209 ture upon our coaling stations, which is, and ought to be, regulated by the General Scheme laid down in 1884, accepted by the Treasury, and at that time submitted to Parliament. Upon the faith of that scheme we have induced some of our Colonies to vote, and to expend large sums of money, on the understanding that, if they would undertake the cost of the works, the Imperial Parliament would find the armaments. In more than one case the Colony has kept its part of the bargain, while the Imperial Government has not obtained the necessary funds to do so. In all these cases the faith of Parliament is deeply pledged, and, quite independently of the great interests involved, we are bound in honour to provide the necessary funds at least upon the scale laid down in 1884.
§
Or take the large expenditure occasioned by the introduction of the new rifle and of the now field gun. It has long been admitted that the rearmament of our forces in these respects is a matter of urgent necessity. The above table shows the large sums required to accomplish this result. As soon as a step of this sort has been decided upon by the military authorities, a comparatively small Vote is proposed to Parliament for the expenditure during that financial year; but the House becomes practically pledged to continue similar votes from year to year until the whole sum has been provided. To suspend it for a single year is to cause great waste of public money, or to inflict losses upon the trade only to be satisfied by pecuniary compensation. The system, indeed, has great disadvantages; and it is well worthy of consideration whether some scheme could not be devised which would on the one hand guarantee proper Parliamentary control at the initiation of such expenditure, and at the same time secure the completion of the works or of the armament without being exposed to the fluctations of Parliamentary opinion. In the time of Lord Cardwell, whose Army Estimates have often been taken as a standard by economists, some part of this expenditure was outside the control of Parliament and not shown in the Army Estimates, and was from time to time borrowed under the head of "Defence and Localization Works." Works of precisely the same character, but in these modern days of far greater cost, cause the large increase in Votes 12 and 13. Perhaps I may be allowed to give an illustration of this increase of cost. The Commission on the Defences of the United Kingdom in their Report of 1860, which proposed works at the cost of 11 millions sterling, thus dealt with the armaments:—
Upon a general estimate we are led to believe that the works herein proposed will require for armament not less than 2,500 pieces of artillery, in addition to any that are now mounted, or already demanded for works which have been sanctioned previous to this report. Taking them at an average of £200 each, on the supposition that a portion of them will be rifled ordnance, the estimated expense under this head will be £500,000.
§ It is scarcely necessary to observe that the sum then named as the average price of the guns required, is now about the cost of a single shot from one of our big guns.