The Press. — London, England, 1858-02-13 00:00:00

147 'mg,Mir ARM WE are glad to Royal Commissi the sanitary cod sidered to be o intrusted even management of for War. In ref Mr. LAURIE to eve ning, 110 les Minister assured " the matter m " country to rer " tion from the that the Govern by surprise as t Report, without Considering tin post of Secrets and that Lord office for some at the head of previously serve it would hardly need to be told I ventilated, that • the mortality an frightful. It is s upon the three Foot Guards, 111 corps, or upon as Sir RICHARI matter, it is o repeatedly advc cooking the s met with (Ned the score of e new cooking-ste War Departmen stewing, and bo so providing ti meals ; but the invariably been alter the existin he, an old soldie to Parliament ft of the Army, aft most expedient subsist on boils without variatio that Mr. HER Inspector• Gene: cides ; and if Times, that the of singular valu, not but considd should be assigi K.T., G.C.8., het of State for War In the same that the bad and its cons chargeable to I command of tl presented to tht of a barrack-roo. ing is perfectly most deleteriou. To all these w turned, or the w that "no expend merit, actuaries their own sillier Hors that it it efficient soldie breathing a viti, a recruit in his than expend l( secure the heals It may not al hayracks should total a disregard the blame is in instead of hay of repute to d trusted them ex of the Royal Er breathe one wo but ventilation glad to know ht the theory of a how a course of year in the art 'ling a sap, and held sufficient I purely civil el select Mr. GLEE THE PRESS, FEBRUARY 13, 1858. ARMY MORTALITY. WI; are glad to learn that the Report of the Royal Commission appointed to inquire into the sanitary condition of the Army is con sidered to be of too great importance to be intrusted even in the slightest degree to the management of the Under-Secretary of State for War•. In reply to a question addressed by Mr. LAURIE to that functionary on Thursday evening, no less a person than the Prime Minister assured the House of Commons that " the matter was far too important to the " country to remain long without due atten " tion from the Government." It thus appears that the Government has been as much taken by surprise as the public by the tenor of the Report, without, however, the same excuse Considering that Lord PALMERSTON held the post of Secretary-at. War for twenty years, and that Lord PANMURE occupied the same office for some years before he was placed at the head of the War. Department, having previously served for twelve years in the army, it would hardly seem possible that they should need to be told that barracks were imperfectly ventilated, that the soldier was ill-fed, and that the mortality among the troops in general was frightful. It is simply absurd to lay the blame upon the three colonels of the Regiments of Foot Guards, upon the lieut.-colonels of those corps, or upon Sir RICHARD AIREIr. So far as Sir RICHARD AIREY is concerned in the matter, it is only t 2 the extent of having repeatedly advocated an im) roved mode of cooking the soldiers' rations, to be ever met with objections from Government, on the score of expense. Plan after plan for new cooking-stoves has been submitted to the War Department, containing means for baking, stewing, and boiling the soldiers' dinners, and so providing the requisite change in their meals ; but the answer of Lord PANMORE has invariably been that he was not disposed to alter the existing system—in other words, that he, an old soldier• and the Minister responsible to Parliament for tha efficiency and well-being of the Army, after due deliberation, deemed it most expedient that the British soldier should subsist on boiled beef for twenty-one years without variation ! In this opinion it appears that Mr. HERBERT TAYLOR, C. 8., Deputy Inspector• General of Hospitals, entirely coin cides ; and if It be true, as is stated in the Times, that the services of this gentleman ar•e of singular value to the British Army, we can not but consider that at least equal credit should be assigned to those of Lard PANMCRE, K.T., G.C.8., her Majesty's principal Secretary of State for *War. In the same manner we venture to assert that the bad ventilation of the barracks and its consequent evils arc entirely chargeable to the Government. Officers in command of the troops have repeatedly re presented to the authorities that the stench of a barrack-room at night and in early morn ing is perfectly overpowering, and must be most deleterious to the health of the troops. To all these warnings a deaf ear has been turned, or the usual answer given, to the effect that "no expense can be incurred ; " Govern ment actuaries having probably computed to their own satisfaction and that of their supe riors that it is true economy to allow an effieient soldier to die from constantly breathing a vitiated atmosphere, and to train a recruit in his place at a cost of 30/. rather than expend 101. in measures which nould secure the health of his predecessor. It may not appear evident at first sight why barracks should have been constructed with so total a disregard to health ; but here as before the blame is imputable to Government, who, instead of having employed civil architects of repute to execute their works, have in trusted them exclusively to the care of officers of the Royal Engineers. We do nat desire to breathe one word against this gallant corps, but ventilation is a science, and we should be glad to know how the study for three years of the theory of artillery and fortification, and how a course of practical instruction for one year in the art of marking out parallels, run ning a sap, and constructing a bastion, can be held sufficient to qualify a man for duties of a purely civil character. We should hardly select Mr. GILBERT SCOTT to fortify Woolwich if we wore in fear of an invasion; why then should we choose a colonel of engineers to con struct buildings which above all others demand the highest application of a particular science to provide for the health of their numerous occupants? But the engineer officer is not even permitted to exercise his own discretion; for, after having prepared his plan with the utmost care, he is compelled to forward it to head-quarters, and then, with a view to save expense, it is probably altered in every pos sible way by men who have never seen the proposed site, and have no means of being aware of the reasons which induced the officer to make the different arrangements. Finally, the mutilated design is returned, and must be carried out to the letter, the engineer being allowed no latitude whatever, and not daring, however urgent the necessity, to exceed his estimates a single shilling. If civil architects were so hampered, we may safely assert that not an edifice worthy of the name would be erected in the kingdom. We have as yet enumerated but two of the causes of the fearful mortality among our troops —space forbids us to enter upon a further di vision of the subject ; but enough has been stated to remove any surprise at the statement that the soldiers of the British army die off twice as fast as the men of any other class of the population. We trust, however, that if the evil is now apparmt the remedy is also evi dent ; and we are confident that if the House of Commons will follow out the course indi cated by Mr. LAURIE, and insist upon the Minister for War encouraging some of the many schemes for new cooking-stoves, and for improved ventilation in barracks, the com paratively small expense which at first must be incurred will be • saved over and over again in the increased health and efficiency of the men, putting aside all considera tion of their comfort and moral improvement, and resting the question solely upon econo mical grounds. tion as closely as he might, and it might bo invidious to do so ; but his testimony as to the non-success of large constituencies in introducing young statesmen to the Senate is deeply important and worthy of particular note. It cannot be denied that the word " Reform" has a great amount of illusive influence over some classes of the public, and it must he ad mitted that Mr. DISRAELI was fully justified five years ago, when the Right Honourable Gentleman pointed out the necessity for "Ad mini,itratire Reform." The idea was happy and the principle then enunciated was a sound one ; but the Liberals did not wish that public opinion should be directed to practical objects, because by doing so they would have lost their " platform." and their alliance with that portion of the populace which they so adroitly employ to counterfeit " the people." The view then urged by Mr DISRAELI is now indirectly assented to by Earl GREY. The Noble Lord thinks that one of the defects of the Bill of 1832 " was that it failed to provide adequately " against the danger that the removal of abuses " might incidentally weaken too much the " power of the Government in Parliament." The Noble Lord then proceeds to argue that a Government, such as administration has apparently been since the Bill of 18:32, has " a natural tendency to become corrupt." Its want of inherent power, and its feeble grasp of the Executive, must place " Government," according to Earl GREY, under constant temptation to become corrupt. It would, indeed, appear that the abuses of patronage against which the public have so loudly ro monstrated were to a considerable extent produced by the weakness of the Executive ; and for those abuses, which cannot be denied, "Administrative Reform," so powerfully urged by Mr. DISRAELI, could be the only true cure. Enlarging constituencies, deteriorating the suffrage, destroying the constitutional rela tionship of hereditary parties, and annihilating prescriptive territorial influences, supply the means for making the evils eloquently de scribed by Earl GREY become still worse and worse. The pamphlet of Mr. RICH, the Member for Richmond, the author of " What will the Lords do ?" is entitled "Parliamentary Reform; What and Where?" and, according to its writer, we should have Reform in everything and everywhere. It has been said of this production that the reputation as a pamphleteer gained by Mr. RICH in the crisis of the old Reform Bill has been lost by his recent literary venture. On this occasion the Member for Richmond has not achieved a success. His essay is like the synopsis of the contents of a book ; his observations strike right and left. He goes round and round his subject, but he never goes through it with the trenchant logic and incisive style that one expects in a pamphleteer of repute. Mr. Ricii admits that since the Reform Bill " Public expenditure has not been reduced ; " peace has not been preserved ; official responsi " bility has become a dead letter" (pp. 8,9). These are strong admissions from a candid Liberal, and they show that in the present state of things " Administrative" Reform would be the fit remedy, and that the reckless scheme of disfranchisement, as contemplated by the Cabinet, ►will not meet the evils described by Mr. Rico with such a fatal frankness. The whole truth about " Reform" is that the country does not want Parliamentary changes which would only force on the necessity for further movements, until the whole Constitu tion would be placed on a sliding scale. Social improvement, judicious official alterations, and practical ameliorations, are certainly most desirable ; but these are not to be looked for from the Liberals, who substitute claptraps in their stead. The " Reformers" may, now-a days, be divided into three classes. First, there is the old " Radical Menagerie," which has exhausted leaders for its chiefs, mere de claimers out of doors, and not administrators inside Parliament ; secondly, there is an ano malous class of pamphleteering system mongers, whose views end where they begin — in a profuse expenditure of printer's ink ; and thirdly, there is the " Palmerston Tail," which will use the foregoing classes as convenience dictates, and for the sake of acquiring politi- DIFFICULTIES OF REFORMERS. As the time draws near when the Liberal party must commit itself one way or the other to some plan of " Reform," it throws out in front its scattered pickets to aid its leaders in reconnoitring the public mind. Earl GREY, Mr. RICH, the Member for Richmond, and several others have appeared before the public in the character of political essayists and pamphleteers; but Earl GREY is the only one of them who has had success in attracting the attention of readers. If the Noble Lord's work were anonymous it would be difficult to say on what side it was written, so remarkable is its impartiality; but, taken as a whole, its publication is damaging to " Reform." Earl GREY is an extremely clever man ; he has much political knowledge, and he has a shrewd, independent mind. His intellect is acute in details, and is frequently far-sighted in prin• ciples The name he inherits, and his exten sive Whig connection, give additional weight to his observations on public affairs, and many portions of his recent work merit the perusal of those who take a strong interest in the subject of Reform. A critical estimate of his Lordship's important volume will be found elsewhere in our impression of to-day. On many points of the Reform question, especially with reference to the results of experience, Lord GREY must be accepted as a most trustworthy witness. Prior to the Par liamentary Revolution (for such it was) of IS3I-2, there was a vague but strong feeling abroad that the best men and the fittest representatives would be chosen by popular constituencies. On this important question Earl GREY is satisfied to bow to experience. When discussing the serious subject of the difficulty, now experienced by the Crown in finding scats for an Attorney or Solicitor General, Lord GREY frankly admits that " experience has shown that the qualifications " requited for their situations are not those " which most recommend men to the favour of " electors ;" and his Loriship dwells on the injurious effect upon the legal profession of constantly selecting the law officers from the barristers who by chance or improper influ ence have forced their way into Parliament. Lord GREY does not illustrate this considera• ".