The force to be provided by each county—known as its " quota "—is fixed by govern ment in proportion to the population, etc. The numbers must be provided in some way. In practice they are raised by voluntary recruitment; but should volunteering fail, a levy by ballot would be made upon all the inhabitants of the locality between the ages of 18 and 35. The power of making this ballot always exists, and would have by law to be enforced but for the militia ballot suspension act, which, when the measure is unnecessary, is passed from year to year. Many classes are exempt from the ballot, as peers, soldiers, volunteers, yeomanry, resident members of universities, clergymen, parish schoolmasters, articled clerics, apprentices, seafaring men, crown employees, free watermen of the Thames; in England any poor man with more than one child born in wedlock; in Scotland any man with more than two lawful children, and not possessed of property to the value of £50; in Ireland any poor man not worth £10, or who doe,s not pay £5 per annum for rent, and has more than three lawful children under the age of 14.
The militia are bound, when called upon by the crown, to assemble annually for any period not exceeding three months, for training purposes; and the government can embody the whole or part of the force at any national crisis. The regiments were embodied almost without exception during the Russian war of 1854-56, and to a con siderable extent at the time of the Indian mutiny, 1857-59. The quota of the United Kingdom is 200,000 men, but not above two-thirds of that number can be considered as effective. They may not be sent out of the kingdom, except they volunteer, and then only by specia4 permission of parliament. As a defensive or garrison force, setting free the regular army for aggressive operations, the militia is a most valuable institution; and in times of war it has ever been found an admirable training-school -whence soldiers volunteer into the permanent forces.
A militia volunteer receives bounty, payable partly on joining and partly in install ments after each training period. When out for training, or embodied for permanent duty, the officers and men receive the same pay as regular troops of corresponding arms of the service, and are under the mutiny act and articles of war, except that no punish ment can extend to life or limb. The officers rank with, but junior to, their brethren of the regular army; the great distinction in appearance between regular and militia troops being that in the former the appointments are all of gold-lace, and in the latter of silver; the buttons being similarly distinguished. The force is divided into heavy, light, rifles, and Highland infantry, and into artillery, the latter being generally limited to coast counties, and being very highly esteemed by the authorities.
, The celebrated local militia was instituted in England and Scotland in 1808, and sus pended in 1816. It consisted of a force for each county six times as numerous as the proper militia quota, comprising, of course, many classes, which, from age or other cir cumstances, were ineligible for the militia. These troops could only be marched beyond their respective counties in the event of actual invasion. Their numbers reached, in 1811, to 213,000 men.
The cost of the militia for the year 1879-80 amounted to £1,239,650, the number of officers and men provided for being 137,556 (including permanent staff and militia reserve). As a constitutional precaution, the estimates were formerly prepared—at least nominally—by a committee of the house of commons; but as the check was of no real advantage, it was abolished by a resolution of the house in 1863, and thenceforward the minister of war includes the charge among the many services provided for in his depart ment.