The Press. — London, England, 1855-02-24 00:00:00

'EBRIJARY 24, 1855. rat6ings in attiantent. PUBLIC AFFAIRS. Mr. LAILARD, on Monday, on the motion for a committee of supply, took occasion to criticise at great length the present conduct of the Government. lie took that opportunity because he had understood that Mr. Roebuck might make terms with the Go vernment as to the appointment of his committee, and he might not then be able to make his state ment. After referring to the circumstances which followed the adverse vote to the late Administration, Mr. Layard said the Admiralty had taken credit for meeting with universal approbation—this was not true; and he instanced against it our inefficient blockade, and the mismanagement of the transport service. He then attacked our diplomacy, to the follies of which he attributed the present war, and quoted a case of arrangement between diplomatic officers, which he characterised as a gross job. What the country wanted, he affirmed, was truth ; he could no where get at the truth. At one moment we were assured that an effectual blockade had been established in the Black Sea—a few months after wards it came out that no blockade had been estab lished at all. Then, at a time when our available forces in the Crimea were estimated at 12,000 men, a Minister assures us we have 30,000, and when pressed for his authority, refuses to produce it. We were told our army were in possession of every comfort, while they were wearing French clothing and eating French bread. The house had been summoned before Christmas to pass the Militia and the Foreign En listment Bills, and, with regard to the latter, the Go vernment had not even yet made up their minds : The result was that France had been beforehand with us in forming a foreign legion; and as Germany was, as it was called, " mobilising " her federal army—that is, pro viding men and horses, and placing them in such a state of preparation that in fourteen days the army would be ready to take the field—we were now unable to obtain any men, or, if any, only the scum of the population. It was very important that we should obtain a force of German cavalry. Now, a foreign gentleman had told him the other day that he had been prepared to point out where the best horses were to be had, and the best means of raising a cavalry force, but as no step had been yet taken, all the best horses had been taken up, and there would be great difficulty now in raising such a force. Our contracts in Asia Minor bad been equally mis managed. The services of an efficient person had been refused, who was now buying up for the French, and it would now he most difficult to obtain anything for the English Government. It was, again, proposed to take Turks into our service under English officers, but the Turks had been so insulted by the British, both officers and men, that it was to be feared the scheme carne too late. After referring to the working of the committee, if appointed, the hon. member came to the measures proposed by the Government for the remedy of the present state of things. What did the noble lord propose? He neither would re form a single evil, nor sweep away a single abuse. Instead of this he sent out a series of commissions What need of a commission when we now saw at the head of the commissariat an eminent officer of the Penin sular war, who was somewhere about seventy years old, and when we saw that commissariat in suoh a state that our men were actually starving fur want of food? Were not these two facts, put together, enough ground for his recal, without sending out a commission of inquiry, by which his mismanagement might go on with impunity for two or three months longer? What did we see in the me dical staff? Nearly three months ago a commission was sent to inquire into it, but the same state of things con tinued; Dr. Hall was still at the head of the medical com mission, and Mr. Lawson, who was reprimanded for conduct which the commander-in-ohief characterised as disgraceful, had been sent to Scutari and placed at the head of the hospital, and thence removed to Rhodes. What did we gain by the commission there? And whom had the Go vernment appointed? Sir John M`Neill was a man of the highest ability, who had told him (Mr. Layard) that he went out because lie considered it a great act of duty which he could not refuse; but he was no longer a young man, and his health was so bad that hitherto he had been obliged to refuse those offices to which his eminent abilities en titled him, and accept a secondary appointment in Scot and. How could that gentleman go into the inquiry ? Could he examine all the foul nooks and corners of the camp, in the cold, and damp, and wet? It was physically impossible for him; and what would be the result? Why, like every man employed 11 the present Government, or the late Government—which was the same thing—Sir John M'Neill would lose a well-earned reputation, and the fault would be attributed to him. Again, as to the thins loft system, Government were going to send a commission blot* into that. We had evidence enough already about it. At its head was Captain Christie, against whom he would say nothing, but that he could not go on board his ship an hour after dark without getting a catarrh by which he was confined for some time. It was a fact that Captain Christie was very often five or six days without being able, from indisposition, to land at Italaklava. Was a commis sion to be sent, then, to ask Captain Christie the state of his health? What we wanted was not commissions but men. After a reference to the conduct of the French under similar circumstances, Mr. Layard said that-7 THE PRESS. If our test of a man was that he should be one above seventy, who was a member of Brookes's, and who always voted for Government, perhaps we might not find such a one who would carry out this great business. But let him not be told there were not men in this country, where, on all sides, he saw suocesaful works of unequalled"' magnitude, and vast wealth accumulated, and men who had nosed themselves by their own energy—let him not be told there were no men to be found who oould put in order Balak lava harbour, and bring our army into a better condition. If wo wanted a vigorous man in authority we should not send him insulting despatches which implied censure to make him come home, and then when asked if he had been recalled to say he had not been recalled. Then there was General Simpson sent out as chief of the staff. How were we to send a new officer to look after a stuff appointed by Lord Raglan himself? If the staff were incompetent, let it. be sent home. If we must have a commission it must be one to mix, not with the staff, but the army, to mix with the soldiers, and it would in a very short time find out where the real evil was. He then attacked the War-oftce, as a sink of iniquity, yet no reform was proposed. Money enough had been voted to support almost the army of France, but every thing was ruined by the system of favoritism. The mischief lay in the general plea of responsibility. In illustration, he mentioned that— In going up to the lines one day, he meta large number of carts in which were men suffering from every variety of wound and of disease. With that convoy—would the house believe it!—there were not more than two or three guards, privates of the line. He and a gallant officer with him, finding there was no medical man, and no officer in charge of several hundred men on their passage down, went to Lord Raglan, and brought him to see that convoy. Lord Raglan expressed the indignation which every manly and honourable nature must feel; he instituted an inquiry ; found that the medical men and officers had neglected their duty ; and what did he do ? He published an order condemning their conduct as disgraceful ; but he said " will spare their feelings, and will mention their names." Such feelings were to be revered in Lord Raglan as a man, but not as a general. What was the result ? Two days afterwards, the marines having been put under the com• mand of the colonel who had charge at Balaklava, and be ing under his charge to do duty, as the soldiers of the line had been taken to the Katsoha river, a long way off, at night a few marines were left to guard the houses at Bala klava. One was taken with the cholera, and brought to the hospital, but the medical man said, " I have nothing to do with him ; he is a marine." He was taken to another hospital and refused admittance. The rest of the guard could not leave their post, and tffat man was left on the shore to die. (Sensation.) This was told Lord Raglan, and he said, " 1 yesterday issued a general order, reflecting on the medical officers, and if I now issued another, it would weaken the confidence of the army in them, and tend to bad results." He respected such feelings in Lord Rag lan, who was an amiable, good man. lint it was not amia ble, good men, who were a anted to command an army, but men with an iron will—men who would sacrifice their own feelings and their own friends or relatives, and all that was dear to them, to perform an imperative duty. We had been told that the evil arose from the want of experience of our army. It was not so. The campaigns in Algeria were not to be compared to those in India. We had omitted those who had the experience of those campaigns to make room for men who had family interest or parliamentary con nections. He then commented on the absurdity of charging the Times as the author of the outcry. If the Ministers, he said, wanted to have the same position as the Times, let them say what the people thought, not what they wished them to think. He concluded by urging the present state of public feel ing—which might appear plain, but was not to be trifled with. The nation was not satisfied—it de manded a complete reform. And he urged the Pre mier to adopt a course which would enhance his own reputation and save the nation. Lord PALMERSTON would not find fault with any man who criticised our military system, but he pro tested against the assertion that we were the laugh ing stock of Europe, and against declamation against our aristocracy. Our army had suffered, but so bad that of our allies, and the Russians had 35,000 men in hospital. Much had arisen from physical causes which no man could control. He then quoted the conduct of our aristocracy in the war as an answer to all objections against them. Mr. Layard had declaimed against commissions, and yet was prepared to vote for a committee of inquiry. Did he suppose that such a committee, with its blue books, would answer the purpose better than a commission ? Mr. Layard had said that between Friday night and Monday morning he (Lord Palmers ton) had forfeited the confidence of the country. He criticised the formation of the Cabinet, but did not say how he would have it formed. Perhaps he would have included the members of the proposed committee. Lord Palmerston replied t 3 the asser tion that the Government were not doing their duty by arguing that it was constituted after two failures, and undertaken by those who felt that the country must have a Government- He concluded by the following expression of confidence in the country : I feel confident that the country will give its support to a Government which stands forward to do its duty in an emergency—a Government which has not foxed itself on 177 the country by any efforts in this house—a Government which has arisen in consequence of the failure of others who might, if they had chosen, have undertaken the teak, but who shrank from doing it when the offer was made to them. 1 throw myself with confidence on the generosity of the public and of Parliament. 1 feel confident that as long as we do our duty, and we will do our duty as long as we have the support of the country to enable us to do it--I feel satisfied, as long as we are able by the support of the country to do that which we think is our duty to the country, I am satisfied that, in spite of temporary reverses, in spite of a gloomy aspect of affairs, we shall succeed in bringing matters to a successful issue. Mr.J. G. PIIILLIRORE thought that the country had a right to know the causes of the failures in supply ing our army. He could not place implicit confi dence in the Government when the late Secretary-at.. War was a member of it. Mr. WARNER did not think the committee would work, and thought it better that the noble lord should himself inquire into the grievance. Whether he should vote for the committee depended on the noble lord's promise. Colonel REID declaimed against the system at the Horse Guards, which he said was rotten from top to bottom. _ _ _ _ . Mr. Muitßonou complained that the business of the country, as well as of the army, was carried on by old men. The other day three men were applied to for the purpose of forming a Uovernmeut, all of them lords. A better Government might have been found below the gangway. ARMY ESTIMATES. These were moved on Monday by Mr. Pear.. Many of the details have already appeared in the columns of this paper. The resolution moved by Mr. Peel was That the number of odicers, non•aommissloned officers, and rank and tile to be maintained for the tiervice of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (exclusive of the troops In the East Indies), for the year from the let of April, 1865, to the 31st of March, 1t466, be—Dritirli, 173,931; fwetyn, 14.1169; total, 193,696. He explained that the increase in the number of men over that of last year would be made by an addition to the Foot Guards of 1,950 men ; to the ten cavalry regi ments sent to the Crimea 3,171; the remainder to the infantry of the line. Two thousand men were added to the 00th Rifles, and a third battalion to the rifle corps. Ten cavalry regiments, and forty infantry, were destined to the Crimea, the remainder were 'distributed over the colonies. Mr. l'eel then detailed 'titareduction that had been made in the colonial army, amounting in the whole to 3,OtX) men, repre senting a saving of 90,000/. He then entered into seve ral items of increase consequent on the present state of things, the additional recruiting service, the increased pay to the colonels, owing to the clothing alterations; the purchase of horses, which must now be bought ready for immediate service, instead of beiug trained for two years as heretofore; and the hospitals, of which the expenses were necessarily greatly aug mented by the establishments at Scutari, lialaklava, and the camp. A fleet of transports for the sick was likewise to be established. There was likewise items of increase in the expenses of the chaplains, school masters, allowance for losses in the field, and field allowance. He then detailed an important arrange• ment, by which the transport service, hitherto depen dent on the Commissariat, was now formed into a separate department. It would be placed under the orders of an experienced man, Colonel M'Murdo, with a corps of 8,000 men, including native drivers. There was the foreign corps, for which the estimated charge was -100,0001. more. The total charge of the land forces amounted to 7,353,001. After a few de tails relative to the colonial staff, Mr. l'eel detailed further additions iu other departments. At the head of these stood the new organisation of the Secretary for War, involving new offices and a large staff of clerks, a few additions to the cost of the military schools and asylum, and the militia. The charge for embodying the 150 regiments in the United Kingdom was 3,813,383/. This year the militia had been placed on a permanent footing; the services of these regiments had already been accepted for the Medi terranean, and further regiments would be sent to other colonies. After a slight increase in rewards came an important one in the army pay of general officers ; and the full pay for retired officers, a mode rate increase for pensioners, and a slight one for the military hospitals at home, consequent, simply, on the increased price of provisions, concluded the list.. Colonel Boer:into complained of the neglect shown to wounded officers, who from small pay had often large sums to pay for the cure of wounds received in the service of the country. He attacked the whole medical department, and commented on the confu sion which had reigned in all our proceedings before Sebastopol. Mr. WILLIAMS objected to several details--the expense of the different officers ; the pay and brevet rank of officers in the Guards; and the military profits of Prince Albert. Mr BENTINCK remarked on the enormous sttms which it had cost us to starve our army. Colonel KNOX defended the Guards. It was the paltry economy of financial reformers which was the ft