ENGLISH EXTRACTS. PENSIONERS—COLONIAL DEFENCES. {From the Times, January 20,)

New Zealander, Volume 5, Issue 327, 12 July 1849, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS. PENSIONERS— COLONIAL DEFEN CES. {From the Times, January 20,)

The scheme that was suggebted by Lord Hardinge, and carried into effect a few years ago, whs not unimportant in all its immediate, and may be I ig ily advantageous in its remot' consequent es. It gave to the country the services of 13,001) diicip i icd and expepe ienced loldiern, who^e average age wui not more

than 4 (i, at an cxpentc that doei not exceed the cost of one permanent battalion. Tea or twclre days' exercise in the course of the year has been found quite sufficient to enable these old pensioners to mamtuvre with sufficient precision for all military purposes. The activity and energy which they hare displayed when called upon to act in defence of order and in aid of the civil power, demonstrate the sagacity of the policy to which they owe their organization, while the power which the Government possess of stopping or reducing their pensions has been found to be a sufficient check upon insubordination or cn'ane. They constitute n force which, Ln scions of excitement and alarm, afford* the m >st vuluable assistance lo the civil magistrates, and the most vigorous resistance to turbulence. It is, therefore, a matter of no slight regret that an organisation at once so econo nical unrt so complete cannot be extended beyond that narrow circle within which its numerical iniign'ficance at pre«ent restricts it. The condition of the military pensioner is, In the majority of cases, far from an enviable one. After a service of 21 years, during which he has been exposed to every vici situ le of climate, to every casualty of accident and to some dinars, he returns with his constitution somewhat impaired to live as best he can upon 6d. a-dty. He hns learned no trade ; or he has forgotten whatever craft he may havo once known. He is theieforc thrown back into the competing stream of unemployed industry to leek for wages and find none. There ore s'ngle exceptions to this hard rule. Men of good character and some übility, who h-ive, been brought by their merits under the special notice of their officen, seldom leave the service without a powerful recommendation to some poit of tru<t and value, liut the majority fare as we have described. Now, this is a great hardship. It is a hardship on the pi ivate soldier, but a greater hardship on the country which he served. It exposes the discba-ged veteran to the slights, privation*, and obloquy of a pre* carious subsistaucc and an ill-rewarded profession ; and it estranges from the ranks of the army many who would otherwise reflect the greatest credit on it by their respectability, integrity, and intelligence. Much as the condition of the pnvate soldiers bus been im« proved within late years, they are not as a body— in the i cements of the line at lea»t— what they should be, aor what they would yeiy soon become if the Government of the country opened to them the prospect of advancement during the period, and of competence after (he conclusion, of their teiviee. We have already indicated the means by which this very desirable end might be brought about. We have an immense colonial empire. To its re sources, capabilities, and exigencies we now seem for tlie fust time to awaken. Hitherto we have been content to regard it as a magnificent it cumbrance, that testified to our greatness, but had nothing to do with our interests or the welfare of our population. This indolent indiflfVience, fostered by successive Secretaries for the Colonies, has at last begun to thaw under the joint influence of national distress, national energy, anrl financial reformers. We are Btrttching our limbi and rubbing our ejes, and asking ourselves what ev>r h,is postered us to let our colonies rust so long in useleisncss and sterility ? Had it not been for this most tardy and unaccountable recognition of unparalidled resources, the fate of the colonies would by this time have been decided. " L't them go and welcome ; no mater who takes them, or to what me they are turned; they never have done, and never could do, any good to England They are a burden, a nuisance, and an imposition." Such might at least have hem the cry o! one class. Now thai the attention of the Government and the energies of individuals, have demonstrated that there is a double good in the p sscssion of vast dependencies, which not only absorb the redundant, but also provide fieth labour foi the rem lining population of the mother country, thcrs is]a certain tane made out for those who would not give up at oiue evey possession which docs nit return a direct ml im mediate per centage on its outlay. Still, it must always ne an important object to piovide the cheapest possible defence and administration for our remote territories. It will not do to be extravagant in thi, maintenancd of establishments, the value of which i» not appreciated by the majority of the people. Out of 28,000,000 that nrake up the whole population of Great Brita'n ard Ireland, how few care for Australia and New Zealand ? Out of the same nun ber, how ' much fewer feel any intetcst about Ceylon, Jamaica, or Trinidad? Though it is peifeclly true that the interest* of the few are, in a national communi y, the interests of the many, and that the remote possessions of one or two hundred proprietors indirectly afford employment and profit to the hands of the working multitude; still, it the many do not pcrdive thii, it is, at Tar as grumbling goes, the same as if it were not the case. Not perceiving how much good they derive from colonies, and, indeed, deriving much less thin they ought to do, the tax-paying classes are seen incited to murmur at what they deem an unnecessary and unaccountable disposal of tbeir money. Every farthing is giudged which goes to the disant outpost*, of the empire. Every regiment, every fort, every gun sent to Ne.iv Zealand or Australia is counted with a •igh and a groan. The advantages which accrue from our expenditure are disparaged ; the disadvantages which a niggard parsimony would entail upon us arc | disparaged no less ; and many who would boil with indignation were New Ztalmd to be occupied by a French force or Sydney to surrender to an American fleet, now denouiu c every item which secures our possession of either co ony. This is as it always has been, and perhaps ns it should be. We can't prevent it, or cure it ; so let us turn it to account. Let us reduce our military expenditure in the colonies ; but let us do it in such a way ai not to leave the colonies defenceless. Let tho»c colonies which arc unhealthy for Englishmen, or at least for men with the habits and constitutions of English soldiers, be entrusted to the military protection of native troops. Let their officers, all the coministi ned and some of the non commissioned ones, be Englishmen. You will thus avoid that two-fold expense which at present preys with such rapacity upon the estimates, viz., that of transporting, and that of invaliding troops. You will avoid the cosily necessity of recruiting regiments, cut down and maimed by the deadly heat, the pestilential disease, and the intoxicating excitements of a tropical climate. You will avoid the expense of perpetually lending out fresh and heathy boyi to supply the place of the dead, the diseased, and the crippled. You will avoid the shame of sending th> prematurely discharged and enieebled victims of India and Africa to starve, beg, or to lin the streets. You will avoid a great expense f, r hospitals, barracks, and medical attendance. You will get rid of an irritation and a grievance. You will alto do something more than this. You will offer a pr.ze of high estimation in the eyes of the ambitious and respectable private soldier. Let him be told that at the end of five or six years he may become a non commissioned officer of a colonial corps, and that his proper discharge of these duties will qualify him to hold a commission in the service, and you will have done more to reconcile him to the piofcision which he, perhaps, embraced in the thoughtlessness of or the capriciousoess ef pique, than any privileges of

limited seivice, or strippi, or medali would have done. In those other and distant colonies which are not adverse to the health of English men a system somewhat similar might be adopled with bucccsi. Tho colonial force might be officered entirely by officers promoted from other regiments. The men might be selected from soldiers who had served five, or six, or ten years in the army. A certain grant of land might be g'ven them, and their tenure made to depend upon their appearing in arms for a certain nu nber of weeks every year. The schrme would combine the triple character of militia, feudal, and the pensioner's nervier* While they were on duty the men might receive n pay sufficient to compensate them for the intermission of their usual avocations. And to pt event or punish insubordination, they should be made amenable to the provisions of iho Mutiny AcN To carry this plan into effect, it would be necessary to obtain the consent of the Colonial Legislatures to some alteration in the mrthed of land Bales. At present, we believe ih.it Nova Scotia is the only colony in which free grouts of land are still imde to offi ers who have held commit ions in the Queen's service ; und we believe that in none ar« n rants now made to any below the rank of commissioned offi 'era. This would have to be altered ; but the change is one of s> much importance to the co'onies themselves, th.it we can hardly imagine them so prejudiced or 10 blind as to reject its adoption. It would put them in possession of such a militia as the woild has never yet seen— brave, hardy, disciplinrd Suldieri, who to the courage and experience of soldiers, added Ihe dignity and independence of propi ietors. Trained to the use of arms, they would know how to employ them against a foreign fo<> ; accustomed to the enjoyments of property, they would respect them in the persona of thfir fellow-citizens ; and placed by the Government of Great Biiluin in a position at once of trust and emolument, they would identify their own nnd their children's happiness with that loyalty which ii, indeed, the cheap defence of nation*. Themselves loyal aid pntriotie, they would transmit the same qualities to posterity, along with those material advantages which the Ministers of the English Crown first taught them to c< joy.

fFiom the Daily News, Feb. 21 .) The p-vsent ministers are certainly unriv lied misters in the art of first raising and then disappointing expectations. Their navy estimates, issued yesterday, are a notable instance. Glancing first at the turn total, the financial reformer seei it stated, that th» net estimate for the navy for the financial year 1848-9 was j£7,726,G10, that the sum required to be voted for the service of 1849-50 is £6,260,740. This looks like a reduction of JE1,4G5,870 — \ery nearly a million and a half. "Come," hr. frays, »ih a sense of something very like remorse, as he recalls all the pretty compliments the trimmings and vacll iting policy of the whigS has extorted from him in the course of the last twenty years, " these fellows are not so bad as we call them." But a very cursory glance at the items of the account, shows him how short and illusory were his hopes. In the first place, the net en ti mate for the navy ii , 18 1)8, as originally brought for waul, was indeed j ,-£7,726 t f)10 ; but at a late period of the casion, intiI initiated by the expression of public opiiron» ministers made reductions under votes 8, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 19, to the amount of £208,000. This sum must therefore be deduced from one million and a half by which the estimate for 1819-50 appears to be less than that of the preceding y t -ar. Next, part of the sreming reduction is owing to the transference of votes formerly included in the navy eetimates, but now included in other estimntp*. In the totil of 1848-9 is included a vote of .£01 1,622 for contract packet service, which is this year stated in a separate estimate for the Post-office p epared by the n .val department. The sum lequired for this purpose in 184.9 is ,£098,296, being an increase on la->t year of £86,671. This sum of i, J(i98.29!iJ (i98.29!i must also he allowed in abatement of the seeming retrenchment of a million and a ha'f. In like manne-, the vote of £53,950 for the convict service, included in the navy estimate of 1848-9 ii tranhferrcl to the estimates for civil services in 1849 50. How much is to he asked for this purpose is yet unknown ; but as there ii no reason to expect a reduction in it, we may be allowed to subtiact a further sum of £53,950 from the seeming saving of a million and a half. On turning to the detailed statement of the second vote we learn that £'21,000, the eitimab d value of issues on account of other departments of government in 1843-9, is no longer provided fur in the navy est - mates, " being considered as a matter of account with the several departments and repaid accoidingly." This sum must also bj deducted from the alleged amount of retrenchment. Thud, then, the account stands between minister! and the nation : Alleged reduction in the navy estimate for 1849-50, as, compared with that of 1848-0 £t,4G5,870 Deduct execssin the statement of estimate for 1818-9 205.000 Deduct expenditure for packet hirvicc G!)S,2y(J DedueteKpenditurtifoiconwct service 53,'JAO Deduct expenditure lor other derailments. . . . 21,000 Total to be deducted £981,216 Actual reduction in the navy estimate for 1348-9, as complied with that cii IJI9-50 £181,624 The reduction actually contemplated is, in point of fact, rather less than one-third of what it ut first light appears to be. We reseive cnticsm of the votes pioposcd for another occasion. But we may remind our readers that there can he no sensible retrenchment effected in the naval department S3 10115 as tue same, or nearly the same, number of seamen continue to be voted. The number of ships in commission dc ermines the number of mariners required ; and the number of men voted fixes uot only the amount of their nagct, but of a 1 the other votes included in the estimate. The number voted in 1848 9 was 27,500 men, and 2,000 hoys; the number asked 1819-50 is 2b,000 men, and 2,00J boys. Tho number of mariners voted in 1848-9 was 11,000 for the first six months, and an additional 1,000 for the second ; the number asked in 1849-50 is 13,500. The number of sailors is only to be reduced by 1,500, while the number of marines is to be increased by 1,500 The reduction in the number of sailon is perfectly illusory ; the increase in the number of marines is n clandci ieniuigmentation of the army. The turn voted for wages of seamen and ma. ines in 1848-9 was i?1,3!)3,506— the sum asked in 1849-50 is ,£1,255 420. Verily, the whigs are resolved to persist in their old piactice of raising expectations only to disappoint them. It is for the nation to decide whether it will longer submit to be played with in this manner. If the \ c iple are true to themselves, they will tell the government, in language not to be mibundciitood, that they are in earner upon the subject of retrenchment, and will nut be diverted fiom their put pose by invitations to work sums in arithmetic, as Vdlueleii in regard to then prnctical regird to their practical reiulti a* any " examples" in an elementary manuol of the science. And the only way in which the people cun do ibis is by petitions to the House of Commons. If a judgment may be formed from thp three reports ( f the committee on petitions which havejbecn published, piople have £Ut tired of petitioning. Tiii-,cjubiduiiiig

what hai of late yean been guined by petitioning, ia perhaps scarcely to be wondered at. But we are disposed to attribute the relaxed activity in this mode of expressing the public wishes and opinions in a great measure to systematic efforts made in certain quarters to throw discredit on petitions to parliament. If pc« tilions ai'e numerously signed, the authenticity of tho signatures is called in question ; if many petitions are signed each by a moderate number, they are iepre» sen led as the result of an organized agitation. The anxiety evinced to discredit the piuctine of petitioning ought, instead of deterring the people from resorting lei it, tn encourage them to pertievi're. It showi that mn« in offi'e and their parliamentary partisan feel uneasy undur the pressure- It 6hows their conviction that though they muy stand out for a while they must yield ti it at last. Were the House of Commons really elected by the people, and were general elections o£ sufficiently frequent recurren o to keep representatives in mind of tlu;ir responsibility to constituents, petitions would be superfluous ; but 10 long as that housi continues to b n . what it is at present, petitions arc the on'y mean i of bringing public opinion to bear upon it. Financial reformers mny rest assured that thy cannot send too many pctitl us to par iument, and that they cunaot petition too so n.