[1094 and lower orders of society. He would | 440,000l.; the navy cost under two miltain and Ireland, were 74,000 men, and the expense 153,000l., being a large increase beyond the last year. The forces at Ceylon and the Cape amounted to 4,000 or 5,000 men, and the grand total of the military establishment not less than 259,000 men, ready to be called into service on any emergency. Deducting from this number the militia and regular troops in 1792, of 86,000, there would be a positive increase of 173,000 men between 1792 and 1826. He appealed to the committee, whether such a state of things was in accordance with the recommendation of the finance committee of 1817? Before he read an extract from that document, he entreated gentlemen to attend to the distinguished men by whom it was prepared; they were, the late lord Londonderry, Mr. Bankes, Mr. Tierney, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Baring, Mr. Wilbraham, sir J. Newport, Mr. Peel, Mr. H. Davies, sir G. Clerk, Mr. Huskisson, Mr. Tremaine, Mr. N. Calvert, Mr. D. Gilbert, Mr. Holford, Mr. Gooch, and sir T. Acland. If it were necessary to re-appoint a finance committee, more proper individuals could not be named; they merited the utmost confidence, and they sat for nearly two years, and made seven reports, regarding the army, navy, ordnance, pensions, sinecures, and the general income and expenditure of the empire. Three or four of the committee were now distinguished members of the councils of his majesty; and thus having power to enforce the recommendations of the committee, he called upon them to look back to the work of their own hands, and to act in consistency with it. The words of the report were these :"Your Committee, in making reference to the year 1792, desire to call the notice of the House to the low establishments of the latter part of that year, which were deemed sufficient for all national purposes at that time, in the contemplation of a long continuance of peace; and, although many circumstances are materially changed by events which have subsequently taken place, so as to prevent any exact parallel from being drawn between the two cases, especially in the amount of pecuniary charge, yet they submit, that as near an approximation to that low scale of establishment and expense as may be found consistent with our more extended possessions, and with the augmented rates of various fixed disbursements, would be highly advantageous in relieving the bur take, for instance, the assessed taxes, not one-third of which were paid by the higher classes; and what they did pay they received back in the shape of pay, pensions, and allowances of various descriptions. This grinding system served only to demoralize the people; and he would ask, were they prepared to say, that such a system ought to go on? Having said thus much, by way of apology for what he was going to say, he begged to call the attention of the committee to the subject more immediately before them. He maintained that, before they proceeded further, it was their duty to appoint a committee, to inquire into every department of our revenue expenditure. In 1822, a finance committee was appointed; and what did they do? They did not confine themselves to 1822, or to any particular year, but went back to 1792, and clearly demonstrated that that period and 1816 were perfectly parallel. The noble lord said, it was perfectly ridiculous to go back to 1792. He dared to say, that the noble lord, and those who supported him, were of that opinion; but did those who paid the noble lord and his colleagues and supporters think so? The number of petitions presented to the House shewed that they did not. Those petitions, numerous as they were, would, ere long, be increased, so strong was the feeling of the country on the subject. It was impossible, without a breach of faith, to touch the 28 millions interest of the national debt; but the other 27 millions of expenditure, might be greatly reduced. For instance, the noble lord's salary of 4,000l. a-year might be reduced one-half, the salaries of all the other public officers might be reduced in proportion, and yet the parties would be sufficiently provided for. If that were done, he was quite satisfied, that, in the course of eighteen months, taxes might be reduced to the extent of twelve millions, affording to the country a most acceptable and just relief. Following the labours of that committee, he would examine what steps it took; and first of all, it would be found that they drew a comparison between the years 1792 and 1821. The comparative situation of the country at those periods, was as follows:-In 1792, the whole expense of the army in Great Britain and Ireland, was only 2,330,000l. The charge for the Ordnance, for which alone 1,200,000l. were now required, was then only lions; so that the whole expense of the various establishments was 4,700,000l. while the country, in the present year, was loaded with four times that charge. He saw nothing in the state of the kingdom to warrant such an extraordinary augmentation; and if five millions more than was necessary could be exacted from the people, it only shewed, if reductions were duly made, how easy it would be, at any future period, by making appeals to the nation when they were unavoidable, to place it in the commanding station which it ought to hold among the powers of Europe. He really believed that the committee was not aware of what it was called upon to vote. The finance committee took a view of the condition of the country from 1785 to 1792; and he begged the House to observe, that during that whole period of peace, the average number of troops never exceeded 36,000 men; and in 1785, 1786, 1787, and 1788, they were only 30,000. The average of the five years previous to 1792, was 33,000 men, and no more. The disembodied militia was also 33,000; yet the noble lord had not scrupled that night to call upon the committee to pass a vote for a regular army of not less than 86,764 men. noble lord, indeed, had called it 76,000, but he had taken only rank and file, without adding the officers, who, as they were employed, must also be paid. The whole military establishment of the country in 1792, including 53,000 regular troops, and 33,000 disembodied militia, did not, in fact, exceed the number of troops now required for the standing army of the kingdom. To the 86,764 were, besides, to be added 8,446 men for the royal artillery, including engineers, 9,000 marines, three-fourths of whom were available for land service, making a total of 104,210 regular troops; which, in the eleventh year of peace, the people, in their present distress, were called upon to maintain, and when the king, in his Speech at the opening of the session, assured the parliament that, among all his neighbours, there was every disposition to preserve peace and amity ! The But this was not all, for he had hitherto only spoken of the regular army, and the militia for Great Britain was 55,000, and for Ireland 22,000 men, making together 77,000, towards which the country was called upon to pay 500,000l. The yeomanry, by the last return, in Great Bri thens, and in supporting the public credit of the country." The Now he wished to know whether the price of stores, and of various articles connected with our military establishment, had not been very much reduced? It could not be denied, that the price had fallen greatly; and therefore it was clear, that if the scale of our military establishment was placed on its proper footing, a great saving might be effected for the country. What had taken place since 1817, to prevent such a reduction from being made? Those who were members of the House at that period, must recollect the speech of the noble lord (Castlereagh) which held out the most flattering hopes of a reduction of the national expenditure. The noble lord then observed, that the reduced establishment at which they had arrived, was not near so low as might be expected in the course of a few years, but, after the changes that had taken place-after the long war in which the country had been engaged-it was impossible to arrive at them at once. After a few years of peace, they would, of course, be brought forward. House, at that time, went with the noble lord; but the committee went further; calculating that, in the course of a few years, the country would be relieved from a large portion of expense. He would shew, before he sat down, how, under the present system, the people had been completely deceived in the reasonable expectations held out by the committee. He should prove how all the pensions, all the fixed establishments, in short, every item of charge, instead of decreasing, had been annually increased, since the date when the delusive promise was held out. He did not blame the noble lord opposite on account of these estimates. He was the only organ employed to lay them before the House; and the censure ought to fall, not on him, but on his majesty's ministers, who agreed that so immense a force should be kept up. By subjecting the country now to such enormous expenses, they would be placed in this situation-that should war arrive, they would be unable to make those great exertions which they had done on other occasions. It had been stated, with very great truth, that it was only by the force of her financial exertions, that this country had been able to struggle through the war, and to overcome the manifold difficulties which were opposed to her. It was therefore the duty of the House to watch over those finances with | estimate for this year was 6,602,1331.; extreme jealousy; for it must be obvious to all, that if the government went on crippling the resources of the empire as they were doing at present, England must cease to have that commanding influence as a nation, which she had so long and so justly possessed. The committee of 1817 stated, in their second report, that it was only by adhering to a rigid system of retrenchment and economy during peace, that this country would be enabled successfully to encounter a period of warfare, should circumstances render it necessary that recourse should be had to hostilities; and therefore they recommendedtheutmost economy in all disbursements of the public money, as essentially necessary to the substantial benefit of the country. Indeed, every part of the different reports of the committee was directed to the same object. In every sentence they pressed on the House as powerfully as they could do, the necessity of bringing down the military establishment as nearly as possible to the standard of 1792. The noble lord had drawn the attention of the House to the estimate of last year; and his gallant friend (col. Davies) had very properly observed, that it was not fair in the noble lord to confine his view to the last year's estimate, instead of going back to that period when the House peremptorily called on ministers to cut down the expenses of the country. This was done in 1821, when distress bore heavy on distre country, as it did at present; though it did not weigh quite so heavy at this moment on the landed proprietors as he thought it would do in the course of a few the for 1821, it was 6,643,000l. But what, notwithstanding the opposition of the country gentlemen, did the House do that session? On the 27th of June they unanimously voted an address to his majesty, praying "That his majesty will be graciously pleased to direct, that every possible saving which can be made without detriment to the public interest, shall be effected in those more extended establishments which the country is obliged to maintain for the safety and defence of the United Kingdom and its dependencies; and more especially in the military expenditure, by a reduction in the numbers of the army, and by a constant and vigilant superintendance over that and all the other departments connected with the application of the ample supplies granted by this House." This was an amendment to a motion of his own, in substance the same, moved by Mr. Bankes. Ministers had, to the last moment, resisted every attempt at retrenchment, until, at the close of the session, the pressure of distress was so great, that the country gentlemen turned round and said, that something should be done. Ministers then yielded, but with a bad grace, merely to relieve themselves from the disagreeable situation in which they would have been placed, had his motion been carried, as it certainly would in spite of them, if the sense of the House had been taken on it. They got the hon. member whom he had just mentioned, to move an amendment in effect the same as the original motion, which was unanimously carried. What was the result of that unanimous address? months. At that period the noble mem- | -an immediate reduction in the army, ber for Yorkshire gave the landed proprietors a little good advice, but they would not take it; and they pursued the most absurd course that any set of men ever adopted. When attempts were made at that time, to bring down those establishments to their proper scale, the country gentlemen refused to give their assistance in effecting that desirable object. They voted for the continuance of those extravagant establishments; and then, with the most extraordinary inconsistency, they turned round, and called for the reduction of those very establishments in favour of which they had previously raised their voices. The estimate which the noble lord now presented amounted exactly to within 41,000%. of that which he submitted to the House in 1821. The and that, notwithstanding the noble lord, then the ministerial leader in that House, having said, a few months before, that they could not carry on the service of the country, if the wheels of government were clogged by any reduction. A reduction, however, in every department soon took place, and the following year, in the army, navy, and ordnance, there was a reduction of a million and a half. In 1821, the army amounted to 81,100 men -the expense of which was 6,643,9681. The next year it was 61,820 men, making a reduction, in one year, of nearly 20,000 men. This number was then sufficient for all the services of the country, and why not to-day? The expense in 1822 was 6,103,069l. making a difference of expenditure for the army alone, between i the two years, of more than 500,000l. be- | awed by a military power, dai sides the commissariat, building of barracks, and all theother incidental expenses which attend the maintenance of an army. In 1823, the army was 59,100, the estimates for which were 6,087,3981. Unfortunately, about this period, the price of corn advanced, affairs wore a more cheerful aspect, the poor were better employed, and ministers did not lose the opportunity of augmenting the military establishments. Year after year, since then, the numbers had been swelled, and the expense increased; in 1824, the number of men was 73,000, and in 1825, 86,438. He entreated the committee to attend to the reasons assigned for this enormous addition. The principal reason which had induced hon. gentlemen to vote for the estimates was the then condition of Ireland, and the state of some of our colonies; but, he believed, that, of the troops destined to proceed thither, not one-fifth had been actually sent out. The effect, therefore, was, that the standing force in the country was considerably enlarged, and with a militia, to the amount he had already stated. As to Ireland, it was no longer pretended that any additional troops were rendered necessary by her condition. The precise state of the present establishment, then, was as follows: -32,670 men were to remain in Great Britain, and 32,194 men in the colonies, being an increase of nearly 4,000 men. The force in Ireland was to consist of 21,900 men. If, however, in 1792, an army of 17,000 men was deemed adequate to the service of Great Britain, what possible reason could be urged for now raising the force to nearly double that amount? Besides, it ought to be recollected, that at the present moment the militia and the yeomanry corps were much larger than in 1792. in proportion as the public g were aggravated. The existing amount of taxation was a great evil; and, in order to remedy only necessary to lessen the e the public establishments. Aft cursorily the sinking fund, asit v but which added only to th weight which the nation had the hon. member asserted, tha the extent of four or five mill be abolished, without detrimen venience. The relief thus gi be felt by high and low, rich and those only would be inju emoluments depended upon the existing system upon its p travagant scale. He could co nothing more grateful to the a great and free country, than dispensing such important be present, the government was r its operations by being, as it we up between income and exper cause the account was so nice by their anxiety to spend, and parliament to control. To rem berally would set ministers fre the people happy. He was press upon the committee t for economy, because the est now were as large as they w when the House had voted thatthey ought to be reduced not be pretended that there w change in the external or inte stances of the country, as to what had been condemned. H now enter into any details re items, which could be discussed ceeded. In the speeches from attention to economy had b almost ridiculously; for he co it no other epithet, when, yea the House was told that would be attempted, and th was, that year after year t were increased. It was fit th of Commons, disregarding should, by its actions, was in earnest, and compel give relief to a patient and l people. He could not em subject more forcible or mor It had been stated three years ago, by quired because government was resolved S mittee of 1817, and he h adopted them in the amen he now offered to the resol noble lord. It was in the by a military power, bi portion as the pahir ggravated. The exis t of taxation was agen and, in order to rem mecessary to lessen the in blicestablishments-in -ily the sinking fund, wit which added only t which the nation lat On. member asserted, xtent of four or fre olished, without den nce. The relief the t by high and low, those only would uments depended xisting system upon gant scale. He c ing more grateful eat and free country ensing such impors ent, the government perations by beings etween income and e the account w heir anxiety a ament to control. Tr ly would set mise people happy. He w s upon the commit economy, because the were as large as the "That in the opinion of this committee, just and sound-then it follo it is expedient, in the present circum- ministers had acquiesced in t stances of the country, to make a large mendation contained in the re reduction in the amount of the expendi- the hon. member. The hon. m ture for the military establishment, and to made the report of the committ approximate, as soon and as nearly as a very convenient instrument possible, to the establishment of the year He had used it, on all occasion 1792, as recommended by the Finance suited his purpose; and he had committee of 1817, and in their second treated that committee with t report, in the following words:-" Your and deference which he had dis committee, in making a reference to the the present occasion. If the ho year 1792, desire to call the notice of the would take the trouble of looki House to the low establishments of the lat- that committee had estimated a ter part of that year, which were deemed bable prospective expense of th sufficient for all national purposes at that department, he would find, that time, in the contemplation of a long con- now called for fell considerab tinuance of peace; and, although many that estimate. In the report, 8 circumstances are materially changed by was set forth as the prospective events which have subsequently taken including 300,000/. for the exp place, so as to prevent any exact parallel militia. The hon. gentleman from being drawn between the two cases, peatedly stated, that, if his rec especially in the amount of pecuniary tions had been attended to, g charge, yet they submit, that as near an would by this time have reduce approximation to that low scale of estab-penses of all the estab lishment and expense as may be found half. Now, if the House wou consistent with our more extended posses- the whole of these estimates, th varie and with the augmented rates of see that are various fixed disbursements, would be were highly advantageous in relieving the bur- the establishable to the effecti thens and in supporting the public credit Lord Palmerston said, that if the com- the House be entleman would not be at all nearer they ought to be pretended be redu that ther liquidation of half-pay, pensions charges, which were of a natu any way liable to reduction, ev plan of the hon. gentleman. If, the hon. Rentgentleman. the attainment of his object, because it of one-half were seriously enter went only to the adoption of the recom- would cut off the whole of th Tee of the country estimates approximate as nearly to the would se the establishment. T in the tention of the commitee of Finance of parald cut enter into any detai ms, which could be disc speeches from ded. In ention dressing the dres with our more extended possessions, and course, he was aware in how the augmented rates of the various fixed situation the hon. member sto therersements, In the spony therefore was, whether there hauestion such an approximation, and he was pretridicated to contend, that the resolutions the headers were framed with every uld be attempted, and the existing circumstances at his ready service th topics of declamation, -the exp dung the taxation of the adapted to the dangers of a standing army of the country. ment-and the burthen of larg s, that year after yes In considering this point the fair criter- necessary establishments. "Commons, disegu and candy the hon. member; namely, that the tions of taxation, shown an ear its actions, ould, by as in earnest, we relief to a patient bject more forcible or mo pressions than those of country was now, as in 1792, in a state to relieve the country from its They must, in coming and to put the establishments cumstances of the ople. He could nt to a decision, look to the present cir-sonable and effective footing ittee of 1817, and be contended, that, considering those cir- a charge which had been repeat opted them in the needs cumstances, the existing military establish-against the government-for h ble lord. It were of any force-if his reasoning were disclaimed it. He was sensible now offered to the hent was not too great. If that argument for those with whom he acted, country; and he had displaying too much of a milita |