QUESTION. OBSERVATIONS. (Hansard, 30 June 1882)

THE EARL OF SANDWICH
, who rose, according to Notice, to ask the Under Secretary of State for War Questions respecting the Militia, said, that he did not give a fuller Notice because it would have necessitated a communication with the War Office. He complained, in the first instance, of the early age at which officers in the Militia had to retire, whereby certain officers felt themselves aggrieved, because they had been superseded in favour of junior men, and he had also to bring under the notice of the House the way in which the honours were distributed, which he did not consider just towards the senior officers. The modern practice seemed to be to assimilate the Militia as much as possible with the Army, and he objected very much to the amalgamation of the Militia with the Line. The Militia was an old Constitutional Force, which had always done its duty, and had always been ready to come forward when called for. But the effect of amalgamating a Militia regiment with the 60th Rifles, for example, was to make a kind of bastard battalion of the Line. They ought either to turn the Militia regiments into regiments of the Line altogether, or to leave them as they were, as he thought they ought to be left. He also objected to the system of depôt centres for Militia, and to their being sent away to be trained with regiments of the Line, and hoped his noble Friend would arrange that Militia regiments 906 should drill in their own counties. It was a serious thing to take away from the towns near which they were in the habit of being drilled the money that used to be spent among them. He also thought it very objectionable to send men to be drilled at a considerable distance from their own localities, at depots where there were, perhaps, some five or six officers and 70 or 80 men. That seemed a curious plan for keeping up depôts. Fifty men were lately sent to Winchester to be drilled; they found about 60 at the place, and, what with those required for guard and other services, hardly a company could be mustered for parade. In fact, the whole system of depôt centres was a great mistake, together with the system of linking battalions, the result of which was that half a Militia battalion was sent to one county and half to another. He asked, whether steps could not be taken to secure a more efficient Militia drill, by their own officers in their own localities, pointing out that the Militia was essentially a National Force, which ought to be under the control of its own officers, and not to be considered so much part of the Regular Army. He was glad to to see that some interest had been shown in the Militia lately by the illustrious Duke the Commander-in-Chief and by His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. It would be for the benefit of the country that the Militia regiments should be more cared for than they had been, and he trusted that the War Office authorities would consider the grievances they had to complain of, and take more care in the future that they should be properly treated.

§ THE MARQUESS OF EXETER
said, he could corroborate all that his noble Friend (the Earl of Sandwich) had said as to the inconvenience of sending Militia regiments away from their own locality to be trained and drilled with the troops of the Line. The Militia regiments were territorial regiments, and a consequence of the course pursued was that in his own regiment they had experienced great difficulty in getting recruits, because the men objected to going long distances to the drill.

THE EARL OF MORLEY
, in reply, said, he had to complain that the general form in which the Question was put on the Paper was unusual and inconvenient, and the reason given for not 907 making the Question more explicit was that the noble Earl opposite (the Earl of Sandwich) was afraid that information would be obtained from the Departments concerned, so that an answer might be given to the Question which the noble Earl desired to ask. That was a remarkable explanation of the form of a Question, which form was inconvenient to the House itself, because many noble Lords took an interest in Militia questions, and it was only fair to them that some indication should be given of the line that was going to be taken, so that they might be prepared to take part in the discussion. The noble Earl, however, had informed him (the Earl of Morley) of one subject that he intended to mention. He had heard with some regret criticisms upon the distribution of honours last year; he had hoped and believed it had been settled that it was inconvenient to discuss in that House the distribution of honours by the Crown; and it was not proper to insinuate that they had not been fairly distributed. As to the retiring of Militia officers, it seemed to be assumed that the object in view was the assimilation of the regulations of the Militia and those of the Line battalions. That was a mistake. The only objects were to insure that the officers should be thoroughly active and fit for service, and that there should be such a flow of promotion as would give juniors an opportunity to obtain field rank. He did not think they would experience any difficulty in getting juniors to fill the higher ranks on the retirement of the older officers; but that difficulty, if it existed at all, would not be lessened if officers in the higher ranks were allowed to stay to an indefinite age. As to the amalgamation of the Militia and the Line, there did not seem to be any practical utility in discussing it on the present occasion. Answers had been given over and over again to criticisms on the scheme, which was adopted on the recommendation of a Committee appointed by the noble Viscount who represented the War Office in the late Government (Viscount Cranbrook), and carried into effect by the present Government. It was equally unnecessary at that time to discuss the system of territorial regiments and the object of that organization. No doubt the numbers at the depôts must fluctuate, and Bedford or any other depôt might be low 908 just after recruits had been sent off to the Line battalion. He would admit that the noble Earl opposite was justified in asking for an explanation of the removal of regiments or parts of regiments to other than their own counties for training; but, as their Lordships were aware, there was a very important body of the Militia called the Militia Reserve, numbering about 27,000, who were bound to join the Regular Army when called upon; and it was thought desirable, when Militia battalions and the Line battalions to which they were attached were within reasonable distance, that the experiment should be tried of sending detachments of Militia Reserve men to drill with the Line battalion of the territorial regiment. That experiment had been tried last year in 11 cases; but no report had been yet received as to its result, though, so far from hearing any complaints about the system, he had heard satisfactory accounts of the manner in which the men had behaved themselves from several distinguished officers. On the other hand, he would admit that commanding officers had complained of recruits having to be sent away from their own towns to be drilled. There were reports both for and against the present system of drilling Militia recruits on enrolment as compared with the old system at the general training of the regiment; but the system had been in operation for less than 12 months, and the Department would have the means of judging whether it was better to adhere to the present system, or to return to the former one. With regard to the recent Circular which had been issued by the Commander-in-Chief respecting the mess expenses, its object was, as far as possible, to discourage unnecessary waste and extravagance in the Army; and he (the Earl of Morley) did not think that the noble Marquess opposite (the Marquess of Exeter), or any other commanding officer, need reasonably fear the penalties attached to a breach of that order.

§ VISCOUNT HARDINGE
asked, what measures were being adopted in order to raise the second battalions of regiments to their proper strength, in cases where the first battalion was serving abroad; and also, what steps were being taken to create a stimulus as to recruiting in the case of regiments which had not been able to raise a second battalion? He 909 must say that, in his opinion, the territorial system had not aided the recruiting of the Militia.

THE EARL OF GALLOWAY
said, he had also to complain of the existing system. Under it he had, for the first time in his recollection, been unable to get his own battalion up to its proper strength. He objected to the system of drilling by driblets, which was inconvenient and disagreeable, both to the men and the officers, and hoped they would return to the old system of drilling the regiment, because it was utterly impossible to keep up their strength under the present system. At present, the Line was supposed to be recruited from the Militia; but, under the existing system, a man might be enlisted in the Militia one day, and the next day, before he had had a single day's drill, he might be drafted into the Line. That was a perfect farce. It would also be a great advantage to appoint brigadiers over several regiments, rather than send regiments to be drilled at the depot centres. If that plan were adopted, there would be none of the unfortunate dual government of which so many complaints had been made, and as to which none of the present difficulties would have existed if the system of the noble Viscount opposite (Viscount Cardwell) had been carried out.

THE EARL OF MORLEY
said, as he had already stated, in reply to the noble Earl, when the Militia Reports for the year had been received, they would show how far the new system of drilling recruits on enrolment had succeeded, and whether it required any modification.