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After the Restoration in 1660, considerable changes took place in the military system of this country, and the foundations for the present standing Army were laid. Amongst the various Acts which were then passed I need only mention the Statute of 13 Charles II., chapter 6, containing the following recital which still stands un- repealed upon our Statute book: "For as much as within all His Majesty's realms and dominions the sole supream government command and disposition of the militia and of all forces by sea and land and of all forts and places of strength, is and by the laws of England ever was the undoubted right of his Majesty and his royal predecessors Kings and Queens of England; and that both or either of the Houses of Parliament cannot nor ought to pretend to the same.
One of the causes which led to the revolution in 1688 no doubt was the increase in the number of troops raised and maintained by James II and to prevent trouble arising from such a cause in the future the Convention Farliament, when calling the Prince and Princess of Orange to the Throne, inserted in the Declaration of Rights a declaration that "the raising and keeping a standing Army within the Kingdom in time of peace unless it be with consent of Parliament is against law." This declaration was embodied in the Bill of Rights and in the first Muting Act. It has since been repeated in the subsequent Mutiny Acts and in the Annual Army Acts down to the present time, and the Army has since the year 1689 only continued to exist by virtue of the annual re- newal of the sanction given by Parliament. In addition to the control which Parliament then assumed over the raising and payment of the Army it also secured to itself full control over the discipline requisite for the government of the Army.
The various statutory provisions relating to matters of discipline were finally consolidated in the Army Act 1881 which of itself has no force but requires (see Section 2, to be brought into operation every year by the Annual Army Acts; each of these Annual Army Acts con- tains a preamble reciting (inter alia) the illegality of raising or keeping a standing army in time of peace without the consent of Parliament, the necessity of con- tinuing a body of forces for the safety of the United Kingdom and the defence of the possessions of the Crown, the number of such forces required and the necessity of the observance of an exact discipline, and then enacts that the Army Act 1881 shall be and remain in force for a period of twelve months.
As regards the payment of the Army, Farliament grants the necessary money on Estimates submitted by the Crown, but the expenditure of the money granted is left to the discretion of the Crown, subject only to audit on the part of Parliament. Under the legislation referred to, a standing Army has been maintained in England without intermission since the passing of the Bill of Rights. As the raising, government and payment of the Army has always been expressly sanctioned by Parliament for a period of 12 months at a time, the Army may prop- erly be said to be a statutory and not a prerogative Force, and the Crown is under the necessity of asking annually for the consent of Parliament to its maintenance.
Except in so far as Parliament has by statute regu- lated matters relating to the raising, keeping and discipline of the Army, however, the Crown has retained and exercises many wide and important powers in relation to the Army.
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