112 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1809. 



scheme answer? It appeared 

 from experience, that not one 

 man out of ten raised by the bal- 

 lot, served in person. The re- 

 mainder then were substitutes 

 raised by bounty. The bounty of 

 each man raised for the line, ac- 

 cording to the system he describ- 

 ed was equal to 28/. And was 

 it not practicable, by wise regula- 

 tions, to procure men for that 

 bounty by ordinary recruiting 

 without resorting to the circuit- 

 ous, expensive, and oppressive 

 progress of ballot? Notwithstand- 

 ing the many military plans the 

 noble lord brought forward, the 

 several parts never fitted well to- 

 gether. According to a clause in 

 the local militia act, the members 

 of that corps could enlist only as 

 substitutes for ballotled men. 

 What was the cause of this pro- 

 vision ? Why not allow the local 

 militia to enlist into the militia at 

 once, and then the ballot would 

 most probably become unneces- 

 sary ? — On a division of the house, 

 Lord A. Hamilton's amendment 

 was negatived. The bill was read 

 a second time, and ordered to be 

 committed. 



House of Commons, April 18.— 

 The order of the day for going 

 into a committee on the militia 

 completion bill being read, lord 

 A. Hamilton repeated his great 

 objection to the bill, namely, that 

 a pledge had been given to the 

 country in a former' bill, which 

 pledge, the adoption of the pre- 

 sent bill would forfeit Lord Cas- 



tlereagh replied, that no such 

 pledge had been ever given. The 

 house having then resolved itself 

 into a committee on the bill, a 

 long discussion ensued on the first 

 clause. Mr. Giles and Mr. 



Windham contended that it was 

 absurd to provide for supplying a 

 deficiency to the extent stated in 

 the bill, without the possibilitj' of 

 previously knowing whether or not 

 the volunteering into the line 

 would be so complete as to occa- 

 sion that deficiency. Lord Cas- 

 tlereagh could see no difficulty in 

 disposing of the supernumaries in 

 the militia, even if it should turn 

 out, which he did think it would, 

 that the volunteering in the line 

 would not be so extensive as the 

 present bill anticipated. They 

 might be added to the existing 

 companies, or formed into addi- 

 tional companies. The clause was 

 eventually agreed to. The next 

 clause related to the ballot. It 

 was opposed by Mr. Giles, as pro- 

 ductive of great mischiefs. Lord 

 Castlereagh said, that he had 

 been induced to extend the pe- 

 riod, before v/hich, the ballot was 

 not to be resorted to, from six to 

 twelve months. Mr. Windham 

 ridiculed the expectation that the 

 recruiting should proceed success- 

 fully with a small bounty, while 

 the man willing to enlist, had in 

 prospect the period when the 

 operation of the bill would ne- 

 cessarily cause a great augmenta- 

 tion of bounty. The committee 

 divided. — For the original motion, 

 52 — against it, 12. 



Sir J. Montgomery proposed 

 that recruits from militia regiments 

 might be raised in the counties 

 adjoining to those to which such 

 regiments belonged : which was 

 agreed to. On the clause for 

 imposing a fine of 20/. on the 

 counties failing to furnish their 

 quota of men, the committee di- 

 vided.— For it, 3i- — against it, 9. 

 Mr. Biddulph proposed a new 



clause ; 



