The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-07-23 00:00:00

MILITARY ORGANISATION.

The report of the Select Committee on military
organisation, which has been looked for so long
with much interest, was issued on Saturday
morning. It occupies twenty-three foolscap
pages. The report is comprehensive enough,
although, possibly, in some respects, it will not
be found to sustain the high anticipation of the
public. Its declarations are scarcely so explicit
as may have been called for, and its practical
suggestions, however valuable, have the appear-
ance, to some extent, of having been given with
hesitation. As might have been expected, how-
ever, from the character of witnesses examined,
the evidence now published contains matter of
the utmost value as bearing upon the important
question submitted to the attention arid investi-
gation of the committee.
The principal grounds updn which this inquiry
was urged was the supposed incompatibility of
the position of the Secretary of State for War and
the Commander-in-Chief relatively to each other.
It may tend to explain the state of the question
to observe that in 1855 the Ordnance department
was abolished, and the Secretary for War was
invested with the administration and government
of the two previously distinct administrations of
the Army and of the Ordnance. The Secretary-
at-War, however, according to the present
arrangement, does not interfere with the military

command and discipline of the army, or with
appointments to and promotions in the same.
Practically, however, it has been found that even
in these respects the control of the War Minister
is predominant. The committee conclude that it
must be so, because, in the event of any conflict of
opinion between the Commander-in-Chief and the
Minister, her Majesty would, in a constitutional
sense, be bound to take the opinion of the former
in preference to that of the latter.
The case stands much in the same condition
with reference to appointments to first commis-
sions, which constitute the great proportion of
the Commander-in-Chief's patronage. He alone
nominates to first commissions ; but the list of
candidates to be appointed must first be placed
before the Secretary of State, and cannot be
given effect to until countersigned by him. The
power thus put into the hands of the minister, it
seems, has been frequently exercised. There have
thus arisen considerable encroachments upon the
nominally exclusive rights of the Commander-in-
Chief in matters of discipline and patronage—all
of which the committee approve of, and accord-
ingly they "recommend a limitation of the reser-
vations in the Secretary of State's patent, in
conformity with existing usage,"—i. e. the Com-
mander-in-Chief ought to be avowedly, as he is
already practically, subordinate, to the War
Minister.

The most important question submitted for the
consideration of the committee was—How is the
army to be governed ? The report says :—" Earl
GREY recommends a board, with a Cabinet
Minister at its- head, but not the Secretary of
State. He seeks to restore the supreme power to
the Secretary of State for War and Colonies. This
board would be a new experiment. It undoes all
that has been done. It throws aside all the ad-
vantages of growing experience' and improved
practice, which the last five years have not failed
to afford. Instead of concentrating responsibility,
it re-distributes it. The machinery of boards is
known to be cumbrous and uncertain in its opera-
tion. It only works well when the head of the
board acts as if he,alone were responsible. A board,
therefore, would be a retrograde measure which
your committee cannot recommend. A council
is a board in a modified form, and the same objec-
tions apply, though in a less degree. Mr. HERBERT
has given a scheme for re-organising the War
Department. He proposes that there shall be
one Commander-in-Chief, as at present, a Parlia-
mentary Undei-Secretary, two permanent Under-
Secretaries, one of whom shall be a military
officer, and also an Assistant Under-Secretary.
A director of materiel, an officer of artillery,
to superintend 'the manufacture of all war-
like stores. An inspector-general of fortifications,
an officer of engineers, as at present. , A military
officer to overlook the commisSariat, the clothing,
and all stores not called warlike stores,' to be
called director of supplieS. A" director-general of
the medical department, as at present. A store-
keeper-4eneral, as at present. A commissary-in-
chief, as at present. An inspector of militia and
volunteers, reporting_to the Parliamentary under-
.
secretary. An accountant-general, having
charge of the finance. The scheme thus proposed
would secure an infusion of new military blood
into the War Department, which would give vigour.
to the system aad confidence to the army. The
Secretary of State would have round him pro-
fessional advisers, whose opinions he might con-
sult, either separately or collectively, according
to his view of the exigencies of each case. On
the whole, your committee are of opinion th.t

this Schenie ptdriosecl by-11,1r: HERBERT has tlO
merit of reducing change to the niinim4m, while
it promises an increase of real, efficiency: Mr.
HERBERT :has also declared: it to be his opi-
nion, if one or more of. these military heads
of departments had seats in the House of
Commons, the public advantage would be
great. When the Secretary of State is a civilian,
unaided and unsupported by military colleagues
in th 3 House of Commons, he is exposed to serious
difficulties, and his administration of the army is
inadequately defended. When he speaks on
military subject's, his authority is questioned;
when he answers professional questions, it is
known that he retails the opinions of others rather
than that he is pronouncing his own. His position
in the House of Commons would be far different,
if he had by his side a colleague, a soldier of
distinction, at all times ready to sustain his
answers, and to uphold his authority." Of course
we do not profess ourselves competent to enter
into the merits of this scheme, but it certainly
looks as if it had common sense and efficiency to
recommend. it.

With reference to any difference that might
arise as to the relations between the Secretary of
State for War and the Commander-in-Chief, the
Committee say they "cannot do better than refer to
the memorable observation of the Duke of WEL-
LINGTON. He thus sums up his evidence before the
commission of military inquiry in 1837 :—"f here
can be no doubt that the officer at the head of the
army, if he wants to incur any expense, would
naturally go to the Secretary-at-War, and know
from him whether he has any objection to incur-
ring the expense proposed. He must know
that if it be not approved by the civil authori-
ties of the army, such expense will not be
voted in Parliament, and will not be allowed.
On the other hand, if the Secretary-at-War
should think that any expense which was in-
curred ought to be discontinued, he would natu-
rally inquire from the Commander-in-Chief
whether he thought such expense might be dis-
continued without inconvenience to the service.
That is the way in which business is generally
transacted. There may be such a rule as that
referred to; but I have never myself thought
much of such rules ; they must be departed from
when the service renders a departure from them
necessary. These can be but general rules, as
landmarks by which the official arrangement of
the service ought to be conducted. The best
rule is the mutual good temper and forbearance
of the parties.' "

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE

(FROM OUR OWN CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, Saturday, July 21, 1860.
Some very interesting details have just reached
me respecting certain movements, of which Hun-
gary last month was to have been the theatre—
movements which hare been postponed, and which
were to have had their counterpart in Poland.
The Hungarian .agitation has some ramifica-
tions in London and in Switzerland; and it is in
this latter country that the bases of the revolu-
tion have been prepared. Three months ago, the
leaders of the movement held a meeting on the
borders of Lake Constance, and the general plan
of procedure was there adopted. It was not by
any means part of their plan to overturn the
Austrian monarchy; the end agreed upon was the
autonomy of Hungary. Hopes were entertained
of coming to an understanding with the Croats.
One document, couched in the Sclavonic language,
has produced in these countries an enormous sen-
sation. " You," says this manifesto, " saved
Austria in 1848: what have you received in
return P You have been promised the development
of your nationality representative institutions
which would have assured you of your autonomy.
Instead of these promises having been kept, it
has_ been desired to extinguish your nationality,
and to go on with the design of Germanisation."
In consequence of the treason of one of the con-
spirators, the Austrian Government was apprised
of the plot. It took its precautions, concentrated
troops on the points which had been indicated,
and ordered .such measures as to prevent the
movement from taking place. But this is not all.
From the result of the enquiry which was insti-
tuted, Austria acquired proofs that Poland and
Gallicia was vigorously worked by secret societies;
a system of surveillance was accordingly estab-
lished, and it was ascertained that several German
refugees, who had been living in London for some
time past, were about to repair to Warsaw, under
the guidance of a well-known intriguant, and that
they would land at Hamburg, on a given day.
These persons were not arrested ; but they were
watched, and it was thus discovered what friends
they had in Poland. After a time some arrests
were made, and, by degrees, the entire plot was
brought to light. It was ascertained that several
agricultural or benevolent societies, some of which
were in receipt of pecuniary grants from the
Government, served as a pretext for these poli-
tical meetings. The Emperor of Russia saw
the danger, and from that day there has
been a complete revival of friendly relations
between Russia and Austria. It is stated that as
little noise as possible was purposely made by the
two governments in taking their measures for the
repression of the contemplated outbreak, and pro-
bably the fact of any such movement having been
hatched will be contradicted. But lam assured
that one of its consequences has been the sending
off to Siberia, already, of not less than two hun-

dred persons; and further, that it was to enquire
into the actual state of things in Austria that
Colonel 'Purr was invalided and sent to Switzer-
land, Garibaldi having taken this movement into
his calculations. It is quite possible that some of
the foregoing particulars may be somewhat exag-
gerated, as so often happens in similar cases ; but
that the, main facts of the story are well founded,
I believe there is no doubt whatever. But you
will doubtless see the affair alluded to ere long in
other quarters.
In a letter from Palermo, dated the 13th inst.,

which has been put into ray hand, I find a full
explanation, of the circumstances under which the
Veloce came into the possession of the Sicilians.
She has taken the name of Benvenuto (welcome),
and has been entrusted to the command of
the Capitano Rossi, who received orders on the
11th to give chase to a NQapolitan ship of war,
which had been seen from time to time standing
off and on Palermo. Three companies of troops
for boarding were embarked in the Benvenuto
and she put to sea at nine o'clock in the evening.
On the following day she returned to port, having
in tow two small steamers, • which she had cap-
tured instead of the man-of-war of which she had
ventured in pursuit. These two steamers are the
Elbe and the Duke of Calabria, freighted by the
Neapolitan Government for the postal service
between Naples and Messina. They endeavoured
to escape by flight, but the Veloce, true to her
name, had speedily overtaken them both. The
Duke of Calabria, which was on its way to Mes-
sina, had on board a body of troops, and. nearly
100,000 ducats. The population of Palermo has
feted the captors. As for the Neapolitan soldiers
taken, they have been left free to return or to
remain at Palermo. The same account repre-
sents the Dictator as still convinced that a revo-
lution at Naples will not be long of bursting out,
and is resolved, when it does, never to stop till he
has traversed Italy from one end to the other.
Of Garibaldi himself, the writer says, " Garibaldi
displays, at all times, surprising activity. He is
on horseback at five o'clock in the morning,
and visits the different posts. From ten o'clock
to six o'clock in the evening he labours in
his study, (whichis a small apartment, situ-
ated in the turret of the palace, and in which
he likewise receives his foreign visitors,) ho
fares like a common soldier, and as if he had done
nothing all the day, he goes abroad in the evening,
alter which he sets to work again, and does' not
retire to his small camp bed till two o'clock in the

morning."
I would .recommend very little reliance being
placed on any statements having for their object
the putting a good face on things at Naples.
From all I hear from trustworthy sources, matters
still look as bad as possible for the existing
dynasty. The population is totally indifferent to
the fate of' the young king, the army is divided,
and whilst certain privileged' corps hope for
the return of absolutism, and are prepared to join
in any rash enterprise destined to bring it about,
the mass of the corps, worked upon by the par.