The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-31 00:00:00

MARCH 31, 1855. Vrott6ings inVarliamtnt. APPOINTMENTS IN THE ARMY. Major REED moved on Tuesday for a committee to inquire into this vexed question. He dealt first with promotion by purchase, and read one or two cases of injustice caused by that system. He then attacked the favoritism shown, especially in staff appointments, and contrasted the practice in the French army with our own. Lastly, he found fault with our medical organisation and the commissariat, both of which were imperfect, injudicious, and in effective. Captain Scoeux seconded the motion, beginning with an attack upon purchase, and proceeding to a far more vehement attack upon patronage, of which the Government, he said, were but the trustees for the country, and should act as such. Colonel HARCOURT said that those who found fault with our present system proposed nothing in its place. lie ennmerated the great deeds performed under its influence; proved the unfitness of the non-commissioned officer, both in purse and educa tion, for the rank of a commissioned officer; in stanced several cases of great misfortune which had followed promotion from the ranks, and thought that a far better mode of rewarding merit would be the gift of some of the minor offices under the Crown. Mr. ALcocK attacked the navy ►ystem of pro motion. Colonel LINDSAY defended the army system at length, as advantageous both to the country and to the army. It saved large sums to the country. The army it furnished with young officers ; and he coni• pared the number of officers in activity in the regular army with those in the artillery and engineers, to prove the much larger proportion in the former. He entered into details to show that the purchase system was not in the long run prejudicial even to the poor officer. As to promotion by merit, how was merit to be discovered ? Certainly nit by examinations ; it was, besides, not incompatiule with promotion by purchase. A desultory discussion followed, the arguments on the one side being founded on the necessity for in quiry, and reference to the continental system, and on the other on the brilliant achievements of our army, and on the impossibility of discovering merit in all cases, and the certainty that such a system would end in favoritism. The speakers were Mr. Williams, Colonel Knox, and Mr. Laing, who said that our system produced amateur officers, on the one side; and Colonel North, Lord Lovaine, and Lord Seymour, on the other. At last, Mr. Lowe enlivened the debate by actually proposing a system to be substituted for the actual one. There were three principles in presence—promotion by seniority, by purchase, and by merit. At present they were all three employed precisely where they ought not to be. He would have promotion by seniority up to the rank of captain, compelling the officer at each step to undergo a strict examination. After this rank the appointments should be considered staff appointments in the patronage of the commander in -chief, but given only for distinguished gallantry, or after satisfactory examination, by a board of examiners, who should be sitting all the year round. After some observations from Colonel DUNNE, Lord I'ALMERSTON observed that, to judge from the tone of the debate, it might he thought that we had sustained some great disaster, and that we were on the point of being conquered by some formidable opponent. We had been victorious in the field. The popularity of the army was such that recruiting was going on throughout the country with unprece dented success. Our soldiers were full of confi dence in their officers ; the one had endured their sufferings with a glorious fortitude, while the other bore their full share of every privation. He showed, as had so often been done before, the difficulties of promotion by merit : it was the system of the navy, which was never mentioned except to meet with abuse from all quarters. It was quite a mistake to suppose that no fault was found by the continental officers with their system. On the contrary, complaints were loud and constant. As to any argument founded on the Crimean mismanagement, it would be but fair to wait for the report of the committee now sitting on the subject. There was a further objection to the appointment of the proposed com mittee, as it assumed the command of the army to be vested in the House of Commons instead of the Crown. The discussion might be useful in giving hints to the Government, by which it would not fail to profit, but he could not consent to the motion. Major REED then proposed a modification of it, which failed to satisfy the house. It was rejected by 104 to 70. BLOCKADE OF THE BALTIC AND WHITE SEAS. Sir C. WOOD, in reply to a question, stated on Mon day that, as soon as the season permitted, it was in ended to establish a rigorous blockade of these seas ; which should be from the first effective. THE PRESS. POLAND. Mr. Priori, on Tuesday, moved an address to the Queen, setting forth that in the event of negotiations for peace, her Majesty's envoys should use their best exertions for the reconstruction of Poland, as just in itself, in accordance with our policy, and necessary for the balance of power. The hon. member admitted that the notion might appear Quixotic, but contended that neither foreign states men, nor our own Premier, to judge by his declara tions, appear to consider it as such. If Sebastopol was a standing menace to Turkey, Warsaw was not less a standing menace to Germany. He entered at some length into the historical documents bearing on the subject, and which set forth the repugnance of Austria to the partition, her repentance atter it was effected, and the confession of Prince Metternich, as late as 1814, that the partition was in great part the cause of the commotions of Eurooe. He referred to the opinions of British statesmen at the time, the testimony of Lord Castlereagh, and the invariable policy of France throughout all her negotiations. He appealed to Lord Palmerston, as a great king maker, the successor of Burleigh, to whom England looked for a peace which would secure for years the tran quillity of Europe, to treat this question as one of European law, involving the best interests of this country and of the world. Mr. M. MILNES said that Poland in former times had been regarded with jealousy by the German powers; how much more reason had they to be jealous now that it was a Russian dependency? It was one enormous fortification, which could not be wrested from Russia unless this country was pre pared to conduct the war with military and official aptitude. Lord R. Cecrt. thought that Austria, who had been so largely connected with the partition of Poland, was not likely now to consent to its reconstruction, and argued that England had acquired territories in every quarter of the globe by similar means—the op. pression of nationalities, and severities almost equal to those practised by Russia. This latter statement Lord PALMERSTON denied; colonies conquered from France or Holland were certainly not oppressed nationalities; and as for India, instead of oppressing the country, we relieved it from the oppression and tyranny of the native princes. For the Polish question, he expressed, in the usual formula, his opinion of the injustice of the course which bad been pursued towards her; but if it was to be treated practically, every one would see the consequence of such a motion. The house would dictate to the executive on a matter respectiug which it was not in possession of the nicely balanced considerations upon which the negotiations . . depended. Even were this right on principle, was the house prepared, after sanctioning such an address, to take the farther steps which would be necessary ? In the points now debated as necessary to peace Poland did not enter ; the present war had been undertaken for different objects. The question of Poland was not a new one, and there was nothing in it which would justify a present appeal to arms. Re trusted that the house would not, by being pressed to a division, be compelled to negative the proposition, as the negative might he miscon strued into a negative of the abstract principle of justice. Mr. PHINN, upon this appeal, withdrew his motion. THE SARDINIAN CONVENTION. Both houses had agreed on Monday to take into consideration her Majesty's message, and to vote the address in reply to it. In the Lords the Earl of CLARENDON, after adverting to the cheers with which the first announcement of the Sardinian treaty was received in the house, gave a brief history of its pro gress. At the breaking out of the war the Sardinian Government abstained for the time from using the permission given to foreign powers to join the allies, hut now that the war has agitated the world, and every one is convinced that the question is a Euro pean one, it hesitates no longer. No solicitation was necessary, her adhesion was spontaneous, and she has willingly joined in the pledge given by France and England to derive no territorial advantage from the contest. After a eulogy on the conduct and constitutional position of Sardinia, Lord Clarendon added that her finances required assistance for the maintenance of the proposed contingent, and that such assistance would be less expensive to this coun try than if she were to send forth the same number of her own troops. After the Earls of SRAFTESIWRY and HARDMI( KE had added their meed of praise to the patriotic con stitutionalism of Sardinia, the address was agreed to. The Commons were much less compliant, and the ominous word " subsidy" was heard from more than one quarter. Lord PALMERSTON, of course, proposed the address. He said that this country, beginning a great war on a peace establishment, had to consider by what means they could obtain that rapid develop ment of forces necessary for the crisis. With that view the treaty with Sardinia was formed. After ex plaining its terms, he eulogised the Sardinian army and its commanders, and said that the transaction 297 would prelude one of the brightest pages in the Sar dinian annals. Sardinia had judged rightly in think ing that her national honour forbade her from sliming aloof from the contest. He trusted that the alliance would obliterate the feelings of animosity which had existed between Sardinia and Austria, and the example of the position of Sardinia, her justice and her liberality, might lead to a more fortu nate state of things In the Italian peninsula. He summed up as followe the ground on which he pro posed to the house to sanction the engagement : That we want all the military assistance which we can obtain for the purpose of the war—that, by this means we shall be enabled to procure the co-operation of a most va luable and gallant body of men—that the alliance is one honourable to all the parties concerned, and that there is every rational hope for thinking that this alliance— coupled with the good understanding now happily prevailing between France and Austria, and which is a seenrity for the peace) of the northern part of the continent of Europe—that this union of cause, and this agreement of opinion between Austria and Sardinia, will have the same beneficial influence upon the southern part of that empire iu the peninsula of Italy. I trust that, for these reasons, the house will concur in the resolution. Mr. DISRAELI, concurring in the praise given to Sardinia, said that in the present address other cir cumstances were involved which ought not to be pasted unnoticed. We were asked to grant a loan to Sardinia. Ho could not see, from what ho heard, that the loan was one which would be very soon re paid. He could not help feeling that this was a sub sidy in disguise; the house should pause before it sanctioned such a step. If Sardinia, from higt prin. ciples of policy, feels it her duty to embark in the contest, she should not, prised fade, require foreign aid to assist her in the fulfilment of her highest duty. It was placing herself almost in the position of a mercenary. No doubt there might he extreme cases which would warrant the recurrence to the system of subsidies, but such an extreme case certainly did not exist now. If, embarking in a struggle with a great military power, we found ourselves unprepared, it was the fault of those who entered into the mix under such circumstances and at such a disadvantage. He blamed with great energy the negligence of the Go vernment with respect to the militia, of which we were now reaping the bitter fruits. He would not oppose the address, but felt sure that, if the war was to be carried on, it must be by the spirit and the re sources of England. Lord PALMERSTON replied by denying the identity of subsidies with loans bearing interest, and carrying with them a sinking fund. Even should Sardinia not repay the loan, it should be remembered that it cost the country on a peace establishment 20,0001. for 1010 men. He defended the Government ftom the charge of negligence. What would have been said if they had placed all the establishment on a war footing while negotiations were yet pending! The militia bill had been first introduced by the Govern ment to which the nght hon. gentleman belonged, but it was one which was utterly unfit for a war like that in the Crimea, and could never have superseded the necessity of the assistance of a regular army like that of Sardinia. He defended the general policy of his own Administration with regard to the militia. ' Mr. E. DENISON thought thtt it VIM in no way dis creditable to Sardinia to ask for a loan under the cir cumstances. Mr. BRIONT said that the payment of loans of this kind was generally shuffled off. He regretted that Sardinia, amid her progress in civil and religions liberty, should have thought it necessary to take part in a war in which she had less interest even than ourselves. Mr. BOWYER had lately visited Sardinia, and knew it to be a matter of notoriety that her finances were in disorder, and that her annual deficit amounted to several millions of francs. Vv Mr. GLADSTONE, after tracing a brilliant sketch of the progress of Sardinia, said that she had never broken a pecuniary engagement, and that, while other Italian paper was at a discount in the market, hers had always maintained its value. The Government of Sardinia itself had repudiated the idea of a subsidy, and the character of a loan was stamped upon the whole transaction. It was asked why Sardinia did not apply to the market in the regular form ? If she had she must have given higher terms, and she natu rally wished to get it on the easiest terms she could. We were told that in the first year of a war we were granting a subsidy, but in the second year of the re volutionary war we granted a regular subsidy to this same power. The transaction was bona fide, and of its necessity there could be little doubt, when the Crimea demanded reinforcements at so short a notice and in the midst of such vital operations. Mr. ADDERLET did not think that the mere lha racter of Sardinia justified the loan. The sum pro. pooed would more than pay for 15,000 of our own troops ; 1,000 Canadian riflemen would be of more use than these 15,000 Sardinian troops. Mr. KINNAIRD, speaking in favour of the motion, said that the language of the Opposition had pre vented the enlistment of soldiers under the Foreign Enlistment Act, and that this language would hare