The Press. — London, England, 1854-12-02 00:00:00

1130 - A WAR CABINET WITHOUT A MILI TARY MIND. APART from the incapacity of the Duke of NEW CASTLE, there are cett4lin special ill conse quences resulting froth tllli present 61 4 4anisatli of the War Departmentivhi4 revite lit be in - cated. In few ways its the C 8 i lliiiin given m ore cause for aniftlildversion i ap by the Ali paltry jealousy which ltejit Lof ilitintrios out of the Cabinet at the very time when the whole plan of operations against Russia had to be considered with especial reference to military details. The jealousy shows towards Lord HAEDINOE is more remarkable for two reasons, firstly, because the Peelites have engrossed for them selves the whole control of the campaign ; and, secondly, because there is not a single Minister in the present Cabinet with personal experi ence of military life. Thus the Duke of NEW CASTLE is Secretary for War, and Mr. Sins EY HERBERT Secretary at War. The navy of the country is under the control of Sir JAMES GRAHAM, as First Lord of the Admiralty, and the office of raising finances for carrying on the contest is entrusted to Mr. GLADSTONE . Nor is this a merely fortuitous distribution. The Premiership, which gives the tone to a Cabinet, and the Viceroyalty of Ireland (with its serious responsibilities), are also held by Peelites. Not one of the contemned Whigs is permitted to raise a finger in directing opera tions against the Czar. There was deliberate intention in this extraordinary arrangement. M. KOSSUTH talked on Wednesday of the policy " which facilitates the plans of •`• Russia, insults the allies, and counteracts " the combinations of England," and for carry ing out such a scheme the allotment of our Ministerial offices is only too appropriate. Lord ABERDEEN knew well what he was doing when he committed the whole management of the war to his own clique. A weak foreign policy required feeble heads for the War of We can easily understand, as the Cabinet offices were distributed with special regard for the vanity of the Peelites, that Lord Hail- DINOE should have been deliberately excluded fr mi. a seat in the Coalition. If Lord HAR DINGE had been in the Cabinet the whole public would have looked to him as the real War Minister, and the vainglorious ambition of the Duke of NEWCASTLE would have been stripped of all its gilding_ The long services of the Noble and Gallant Viscount, his promp titude in emergencies, his extensive official experience, would (with a seat in the Ca binet) have clothed him with an authority that must have reduced to subaltern rank the vaunting pretensions of those pompous Peel ites who have loudly boasted of the admi nistrative abilities in which they have proved so lamentably deficient. The exclusion of Lord HARDINGE is necessary forarticular euhancing on the o the - cial pretensions of a p secti of Ministry. But the exclusion of Lord HARDINOE is more injurious, as not one of the Ministers in office was educated to the profession of arms. Hitherto, as we shall show, the custom has least one Cabinet Minister should special military experience. Thus ''ERPOOL'S Cabinet, the late Earl of highly distinguished military as one of the Cabinet ; and when his pest in 1820, his place as (era of the Ordnance was imme- I by the Duke of WELLINGTON, seat in the Cabinet, which he held to that Cabinet in 1827. Again, in the when the Goderich Cabinet the late Marquis,of ANGLESEA was to a seat in it. In the ensuing Cabinet, along with its illustrious ' GEORGE MURRAY also had a seat for War and Colonies. In the utry, even during the Reform excite rule was not violated, as the Duke ID had considerable military expe held high rank in the army. In Cabinet of 1834-35, the Duke of N, Sir GEORGE MURRAY, and Sir Lamson, were sworn as Cabinet and subsequently, in 1641-46, Sir THE PRESS. - HENRY HARDINGE (always with the Duke of WELLINGTON) was a Cabinet Minister. But now let it call particular attention to 1 a most important. fo.q. There was a 641rtaid iiiistry which violated 1 th 4. * . tsomii ule t .$ having at least Atit Miliia an iti the inet. It was the bourne inistry,(lB3s!:tander, which the Galati disaeterairl thp .4 • Istan reverses took place. Is it 141 sot Ail inqst remarkable t4al co ohr great ra dian no , a kiould have occurred when there was no hi ta t man in the Cabi net competent to cHtieise the secret policy then inaugurated for our Eastern empire? terd MELBOURNE s Cabinet had its Cabtil, and Lord ABERDEEN'S Ministry has its Sebastopol. The cases resemble each other in the absence of a military mind from the councils of the Sovereign. They differ from each other in the fact that, while there was grievous error in the Indian generalship, our expedition to the Crimea has been led by the gallant and ac complished Lord RAGLAN, with a staff of gene ral officers whose praise is pronounced by a whole army. But brilliant strategy and match less bravery have been defrauded of their due results because the Cabinet of England has at present no military mind. Had Lord Haanisoz been in the Cabinet it is most unlikely that the expedition to the Crimea would have been undertaken without the organisation of au army of reserve. All our own personal information from the Crimea is conclusive as to the grievous conse quences resulting from want of such a re serve. It was that most vital deficiency which prevented Lord RAGLAN from acting after the battle of the Alma with the rapidity urged upon him by Marshal ST. ARNAUD, Sir .DE LACY EVANS, and the lamented Sir GEORGE CATHCART. Authorities equally distinguished and experienced, concurred with Lord RAGLAN in thinking that an attack on Sebastopol, without a reserve to fall back upon, would be precipitately hazardous. Our Ministers had timely notice of what would be required, and yet they failed in their most obvious duties. We can add on this point some new parti culars to those which have already appeared in print. For example, there has been some most improper remarks on the alleged neglect of not fortifying the right of our position at Inkermann ; but what are the facts of the case ? Not only Sir Ds LACY EVANS, but every one else, was perfectly aware of the weakness of our position. Lord RAGLAN saw it himself, but he was unable to spare the men which were re quired to throw up the necessary works. We have it, further, on distinguished authority, that we owe our comparative safety to the want of strategic ability displayed by the Russian generals. We have read the private statements of a most eminent officer, present at all the operations, who gives it as his opinion, that with the few troops at the dis posal of Lord RAGLAN our brave general could not have held his position against the French, and our gallant allies have confessed that none but English troops could have held a position defended by so few men. And shall this state of things be allowed to continue? In order to prevent the Duke of NEWCASTLE. being overshadowed in office shall Lord HARDINGE be still kept out of the Cabi net? The Noble Viscount, during times of peace, repeatedly sat in the Cabinet, and is he to he kept out at the very time when military foresight and strategical experience are es pecially required in Downing-street? In a question between the jealouis ambition of the Peelite military amateurs and the pressing exi gencies of the Crimea expedition we trust that the voice of the nation will make itself em phatically heard. was THE MINISTRY OF CLERKS. Tar last Ministerial avowal, formally assigned by the leading Government organ as a reason for the instant meeting of Parliament, sur passes in shamelessness all the previous con fessions of the Administration. Prepared though the country was for the amplest evi dence of ignorance on the part of the Coalition, this last admission will have an astounding i effect. We forget all party differences in the SATURDAY, humiliation to which England is now exposed in the eyes of the world. The war, states the Gov( has hitherto been mis manar 04,0 Odiertiment were afraid to sr ie, than they had said they thou vioild cost. There is no strei ) fattaal elite which is thus mad the ikdrdihistration. There is a t,riget *hill Cannot, and, if it soul 'it, to Nil always restrained. And Btlialt effort to discuss this subj ,ely, when it is plainly avowed that the Coalitionists have been purchasing temporary impunity at the price of the life blood of odr best and bra:reit countrymen. Let us be thankful that, in the indecent ab jectness of terror, the Coalition have called Parliament together, even at the cost of stulti fying' the orders they had previously advised their Royal Mistress to issue. That the Houses were required to assemble on a particu lar day, and the urgency of the case was found to be so great that even that day could not be waited for, and that the assembling must be forestalled by some hours, is a matter of no moment at a crisis like this. But can anything more utterly self-damna tory than this plea be conceived ? Does it not make out the most perfect possible title to the name by which the nation has learned to know the Administration—a Ministry of clerks. Smart, with a ludicrous exception or two, they could, by dint of assurance and evasion, manage, in ordinary times, to get through the day until the hour of shutting up. But a crisis comes, the credit of their em ployers is at stake, and money is wanted. " We couldn't, really, without orders ; so much "is loft out for petty cash,' and we couldn't " take it upon ourselves to go further." And a catastrophe is the result, thanks to the wisdom of those who leave important atlitirs in the hands of clerks. Lord ABERDEEN himself, with characteristic cunning, is evidently preparing to make his escape. Zoologists know the class of creature that is said to abandon the doomed ship or the tottering house ; and those who have studied the Premier's antecedents know whether, and how often, he has manifested the like instinct. In this ruinous confession, made for self and colleagues, there is inserted a saving clause. The other Ministers were incapable of recog nising the dangers and duties of the situation, but " their chief was well aware of them." Lord ABERDEEN appears to see some sort of exculpation—perhaps a Scotch verdict of " not proven "—in this. If, as he would have us understand, his colleagues went ignorantly into war with wretchedly insufficient re sources, what is to be said of " their chief," who joined in their counsels and acts, him self fully aware that the British army was to be imperilled and the British name to be dis graced ? Already are the Coalitionists trembling at the impending trial. They are crying out lustily, but they are not to be asked any ques tions of an important character. The Peelite organ proclaims that it is " too soon to " announce the grounds on which the expedi " tion to the Crimea was undertaken," and that " reserve as to the past, and silence as to " the future," will be the course of the Govern ment. All that Parliament has to do, in fact, is to pass the requisite Militia Acts, hear from Mr. GLADSTONE that his resources are utterly inadequate, and then disperse for the festi al v of the Nativity. For we a re one da y apprised that a loan is to be demanded, and the next that it is not, and the third day that the CHAN CELLOR of the EXCHEQUER will not forestal his usual statement. These intimations, and espe cially the latter, mean that Mr. GLADSTONE has not made up his own mind as to the best mode of raising money ; and, therefore, it would be unreasonable to expect him to tell the House of Commons more than he knows. To pass the Militia Acts, and then separate for the Christmas. recess. That is the whole duty of Parliament, according to the Coalition. It is possible that Parliament may deem that, cons tit u tionally, it is itself the best judge of its duties. It is possible that the House • Commons may require somewhat more respect ful treatment at the hands of the Ministers of the Crown, and may not submit to be put to certain taakwork, and then dismissed. In been that at le, have had ape( in Lord LivEl 11 0 trL ee ci i itk .) v sa E (a t as he vacated h Master-Generi diately filled also with a sea the fall of that latter year, w constituted, tl nominated to W e llington G Premier, Sir as Secretary Grey Ministr went, the ru of RiouraoriD rience, and b the Peel Ca WaLLINOTON, MORT HAT Ministers ; a !rnment orgai 3.ged because ! )end i ore row gio 13 war ittheirg thi but gainst tightepus iii ought not ktequires u. lect temperate r I