The Press.
London, England, 1855-06-16 00:00:00

THE PRESS•

to belong to them, and they bid fair to engross
the greater portion of the glory of the siege
Have not we acted unwisely ?

THE BALTIC CAMPAIGN.

OUR Baltic Fleet has at length arrived off
Cronstadt, and at the last date was lying
within a few miles of this famous fortress.
After all the explanations which ensued last
winter upon the causes of the non-success of
the fleet in 1854, it seems highly reprehensible
that the short summer season in those seas
should be allowed to slip away day by day
without any result accruing to our arms. We
are now in the middle of June, the fleet has
been up the Baltic for some six weeks, and
not one single floating battery has yet joined.
We were told last year that it was the want of
mortar vessels, of gun-boats of light draught,
and heavy armament, and of floating batteries,
that gave us so little to boast of beyond
Bomarsund ; and now, after " eight months' "
experience, time, and promise on the part of
the Government, we find our fleet with ten
small gun-boats, it is true, but with not a
single mortar vessel or floating battery ready
for service. The first campaign up the Baltic
was acknowledged to be a blunder, but the
second was to rectify any error, and do some-
thing more than merely blockade.
We fear, however, that the large fleet now
up the Baltic will do less than the large fleet
that was there last year; but it will be no
fault of officers or men. The discipline and
efficiency of the fleet are admirable, but the
ships of which the fleet is composed are pre-
cisely those which are unfitted for the peculiar
service which is required of them. Line-of
battle ships, and leviathans like the Duke, are
very well as a covering force to the smaller
flotilla which is required; they may be useful
as a reserve to keep the Russian fleet in
check, but they are utterly useless, with all
their steam power, for shoal water or narrow
passages. What we want, what Sir CHARLES
NAPIER demanded in 18:54, and what the com-
monest sense would have provided, are gun.
boats, and floating batteries, and mortar
vessels. Precisely the things we have not
got, and apparently shall not have until the
war is over.

In November last the Government, through
their organ, stated that orders had been
issued for the construction of 120 new gun-
boats of two guns each, and 40 floating
batteries of from 20 to 70 guns each. The
Duke of NEWCASTLE accepted Mr. NASMYTH'S
offer to make wrought iron guns upon a
gigantic scale, and so far everything seemed
prosperous, and the public mind was set at
rest by paragraphs in the " Naval Intelli-
gence' continually appearing with accounts
of the diligence of the iron manufac-
turers, the energy of the ship-builders, and
the activity of the royal dockyards; but soon
a rumour got abroad that the Ordnance
and the Treasury had " fallen out " as to
which office should bear the expense of Mr.
NAsmrrn's guns. The works were stopped,
orders and counter-orders were given, and now,
after eight months, instead of having a park of
this heavy artillery ready to combat the
Russian batteries, we find that on Monday
last, " a beautiful nine-pounder wrought-iron
" gun was carefully inspected by Lord PAN-
" MUSE and the army authorities in front of
" Whitehall, and ordered to be sent to Wool.
" wich for trial !" so the result of eight months'
devotion, of the energies and resources of this
country towards the construction of a fleet of
vessels of heavy armament and light draught,
and of a park of artillery of colossal range and
calibre, is comprised in one beautiful nine-
pounder and ts o or three unfitted, leaky floating
batteries, with an additional score of gun-
boats, built or armed on such correct princi-
ples as to be able to fight their guns only in
smooth water. Surely as a nation we might
not be above taking a lesson from our
enemies ; at least let us emulate them in
energy and decision, and learn from the vast
fortifications which hourly rise upon all sides
of their territory, their immense bodies of
trained soldiers, their unceasing activity, their
stupendous efforts against every mischance,

SATURDAY,

and their rapid and marvellous appreciation
and adaptation of any modern invention in U..
art of war, that something more than flippant
phrases befits a great nation engaged in war.
The Government appear to be incapable of
any comprehensive scheme of operations. If
the war is to be carried on successfully in 010
Black Sea, it must be neglected in the Baltic.
Until we have an efficient and numerous
fleet of floating batteries, and gun and mortar •
vessels in the Baltic, we may expect nothing
but barren results. Cronstadt and Sweaborg
are pronounced impregnable, simply because
they are unapproachable to such ships as the
Government in their wisdom have alone pro-
vided ; and Revel, although equally secure in
that point, is not worth attacking. For several
years past it has ceased to serve as a station
for the Russian navy, and its destruction by
us could only be attained by the co-operation
of a powerful land force. Our trophies this
year will not even include a helmet; a few
logs of timber and blocks of granite must be
all we may reasonably hope for.

AGRICULTURE AND MANUFACTURES.
A BILL has been prepared by the Government to
allow the use of spirits of wine in manufactures free
of duty, provision being made against any abuse of
the privilege. The bill is a proper one, but why
should not the principle be extended to agriculture?
It is alleged, we do not pretend to say with what
justice, that malted grain might advantageously be
used for the fattening of cattle if the Excise reguh..
hone permitted its employment for that purpose.
Certainly the revenue would lose nothing were the
farmer allowed to feed his animals in the way he
judged best, and there would be no difficulty in
guarding the privilege from abuse. The cases are
nearly parallel, and it seems but fair that the favour
granted to one great interest of the country should
be accorded to the other.