Canada; its Defences, Condition, and Resources / Being a third and concluding volume of "My Diary, North and South"

by Sir William Howard Russell

“If I urge upon you the importance of speedily resuming measures for some better military organisation of the inhabitants of Canada than that which now exists, it must not be supposed that Her Majesty’s Government is influenced by any particular apprehension of an attack on the Colony at the present moment, but undoubtedly the necessity for preparation which has from time to time been urged by successive Secretaries of State is greatly increased by the presence, for the first time on the American Continent, of a large standing army, and the unsettled condition of the neighbouring States. Moreover, the growing importance of the Colony, and its attachment to free institutions, make it every day more essential that it should possess in itself that without which no free institutions can be secure—adequate means of self-defence. The adequacy of those means is materially influenced by the peculiar position of the country. Its extent of frontier is such that it can be safe only when its population capable of bearing arms is ready and competent to fight. That the population is ready, no one will venture to doubt; that it cannot be competent, is no less certain, until it has received that organisation, and acquired that habit of discipline which constitute the difference between a trained force and an armed mob. The drill required in the regular army, or even in the best volunteer battalion, is not necessary, nor would it be possible, in a country like Canada, for so large a body of men as ought to be prepared for any emergency; but the Government should be able to avail itself of the services of the strong and healthy portion of the male adult population at short notice, if the dangers of invasion by an already organised army are to be provided against.

“We have the opinions of the best military authorities, that no body of troops which England could send would be able to make Canada safe without the efficient aid of the Canadian people. Not only is it impossible to send sufficient troops, but if there were four times the numbers which we are now maintaining in British North America, they could not secure the whole of the frontier. The main dependence of such a country must be upon its own people. The irregular forces which can be formed from the population, know the passes of the woods, are well acquainted with the country, its roads, its rivers, its defiles: and for defensive warfare (for aggression they will never be wanted), would be far more available than regular soldiers.

“It is not therefore the unwillingness, or the inability of Her Majesty’s Government to furnish sufficient troops, but the uselessness of such troops without an adequate militia force, that I wish to impress upon you.

“In your despatch of the 17th May last, you informed me that there were then 14,760 volunteers enrolled, besides others who had been more or less drilled. It is far, indeed, from my intention to discredit either the zeal or the efficiency of these volunteers, who have, I hope, greatly increased in number since the date of your despatch; but they constitute a force which cannot suffice for Canada in the event of war. They might form an admirable small contingent; but what would be required, would be a large army. They might form a force stronger than is necessary in time of peace to secure internal tranquillity, but would be inadequate to repel external attack in time of war. Past experience shows that no reasonable amount of encouragement can raise the number of volunteers to the required extent.

“It appears to me that the smallest number of men partially drilled which it would be essential to provide within a given time, is 50,000. The remainder of the militia would of course be liable to be called upon in an emergency. Perhaps the best course would be, to drill every year one or more companies of each battalion of the sedentary militia. In this manner the training of a large number of men might be effected, and all companies so drilled should, once at least in two years, if not in each year, be exercised in battalion drill, so as to keep up their training.

“I put forward these suggestions for the consideration of the Canadian Government and Parliament, but Her Majesty’s Government have no desire to dictate as to details, or to interfere with the internal government of the Colony. Their only object is so to assist and guide its action in the matter of the militia as to make that force efficient at the least possible cost to the Province and to the mother country.

“The Canadian Government will doubtless be fully alive to the important fact that a well-organised system of militia will contribute much towards sustaining the high position with reference to pecuniary credit, which, in spite of its large debt, and its deficient revenue for the past few years, the Colony has hitherto held in the money markets of Europe. A country which, however unjustly, is suspected of inability or indisposition to provide for its own defence, does not, in the present circumstances of America, offer a tempting field for investment in public funds or the outlay of private capital. Men question the stable condition of affairs in a land which is not competent to protect itself.

“It may, no doubt, be argued on the other hand, that the increased charge of a militia would diminish rather than enlarge the credit of the Colony. I am convinced that such would not be the case, if steps were taken for securing a basis of taxation sounder in itself than the almost exclusive reliance on Customs duties. It is my belief that a step in this direction would not only supply funds for the militia, but would remove all apprehension which exists as to the resources of the Colony.

“Whatever other steps may be taken for the improved organisation of the militia, it appears to Her Majesty’s Government to be of essential importance that its administration, and the supply of funds for its support, should be exempt from the disturbing action of ordinary politics. Unless this be done there can be no confidence that, in the appointment of officers, and in other matters of a purely military character, no other object than the efficiency of the force is kept in view. Were it not that it might fairly be considered too great an interference with the privileges of the representatives of the people, I should be inclined to suggest that the charge for the militia, or a certain fixed portion of it, should be defrayed from the consolidated fund of Canada, or voted for a period of three or five years.

“It has further occurred to me, that the whole of the British Provinces on the continent of North America have, in this matter of defence, common interests and common duties. Is it impossible that, with the free consent of each of these Colonies, one uniform system of militia training and organisation should be introduced into all of them? The numbers of men to be raised and trained in each would have to be fixed, and the expenses of the whole would be defrayed from a common fund, contributed in fair proportion by each of the Colonies. If the Governor-General of Canada were Commander-in-Chief of the whole, the Lieutenant-Governors of the other Colonies would act as Generals of Division under him; but it would be essential that an Adjutant-General of the whole force, approved by Her Majesty’s Government, should move to and fro, as occasion might require, so as to give uniformity to the training of the whole, and cohesion to the force itself.