Page:Statesman's Year-Book 1871.djvu/262

 226 GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND.

From that time to the present, the number of troops which the security of the kingdom and its possessions rendered it necessary to maintain, as well as the cost of the different branches of the service in detail, have been sanctioned by an annual vote of the House of Commons. The amount of the military force to be maintained for the year is always a matter for the decision of the government. The qitestion is annually brought under consideration, shortly before the commencement of the parliamentary session, at a meeting of the Cabinet, when, on the basis of communications made by the Com- mander-in-Chief, or the Field Marshal commanding-in-chief,* a deci- sion is arrived at as to the number of officers and men, of each arm of the service, to be maintained for the coming year. Upon this decision, the Secretary of State for War frames the ' Army Esti- mates,' or detailed accounts of the strength and cost of the army, which are submitted in chapters, or ' votes ' — 27 in the estimates of 1870-71 — to the approval of the House of Commons.

Parliament exercises another important means of control over the army. In time of war, or rebellion, troops are subject to martial law, and might be punished for mutiny or desertion. But as soon as armies began to be maintained in time of peace, questions of discipline arose. The common law, which then alone prevailed, knew of no distinction between a citizen and a soldier ; so that, if the soldier deserted, he could not be punished for breach of contract ; if he struck his officer, he was only liable to an indictment for the assault Such questions soon came before the tribunals, and Chief Justice Holt, when Eecorder of, London, decided that, although the King may by his prerogative, enlist soldiers, even in time of peace, still, if there was no statute passed to punish mutiny and to subject them to a particular discipline, they could not be punished for any military offence, and they were only amenable to the same laws as the rest of the King's subjects. Hence the authority of Parliament became necessary for the maintenance of military discipline. Parliament granted this in an Act, limited in its duration to one year, which Act was subsequently passed at the commencement of every session under the name of the ' Mutiny Act,' investing the Crown with large powers to make regulations for the good government of the army, and to frame the Articles of War, which form the military code. Subject to such restrictions, the army has now become a recognised part of the constitution. Parliament nevertheless retains the power

nianding-in-Chief is that the Commander-in-Chief is appointed by patent for life, while the Field-Marshal Commanding-in-Chief is nominated by a letter of service, and holds his appointment during Her Majesty's pleasure. The Duke of Cambridge, actual head of the British Army, is the Field-Marshal com- nmnding-in-chief, and not, as sometimes called, Commander-in-Chief.
 * The difference between Commander-in-Chief and Field-Marshal Com-