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

PURCHASE IN THE ARMY.

Jr is characteristic of the " army reformers" that
they content themselves with simply condemning the
present system of purchase in the army without of-
fering any positive suggestions as to the better
method to be adopted. It is much easier to detect
a defect than to discover a remedy, for error ordi-
narily rests upon the surface ; but mere abuse of the
existing system, and general praise of the principle
of merit versus money as the rule of promotion, do
not exactly explain the means by which the one is
to be abolished and the other carried into operation.
That the custom in our army of purchasing pro-
motion, and thus, to a certain extent, making a man's
fitness for command equivalent to his means, is open
to objection we do not deny; but the abolition of a
system which has grown to such an extent that
by tar the greater part of the officers of the army
have purchased one or more of their steps, and thus
obtained a vested interest in their commissions, is
only to be approached with the greatest deliberation.
No one who has duly considered the subject can
deny its importance, and the question is, can the
present method be abolished without our recurring
to the obsolete system of seniority, which will render
promotion so tardy that a man's physical powers will
be greatly impaired before he attains his majority,
broken by the time he is a colonel, and totally worn
out before he can hope to become a general of divi-
sion
-upon the active-list?

SATURDAY,

With regard to " merit," no one will deny the ad-
vantages of the principle; but when it is sought to
be made the exclusive test of promotion, merit, as
far as experience proves, degenerates into favoritism,
and if such a system of promotion alone prevailed in
our army, it would throw an immense power into the
hands of the executive, which, under a parliamentary
form of government, must be more or less open to
abuse and jobbery.
The graver argument against the system of pur
chase is, that it is a bar to promotion from the
ranks ; but such promotion, under recent regula-
tions, is quite as frequent as the state of our rank
and file renders practicable. In a country like ours,
where skilled labour of all kinds is highly remune-
rated, it is almost vain to expect that the army can
be recruited from any but the lowest class of the
population. And does not the fact of our giving a
bounty of a few pounds fora man prove that we must
rely on this class alone? Under such as) item, can it
be supposed that the men who fill the ranks of the army
are in general eligible for commissions ? Mere gallant
actions in the field do not prove a man fit for com-
mand. Bravery in the British army is but a common
quality ; and we must have merit of a higher caste
before a man from the ranks can be qualified for a
commission. . . .

vv
As to the comparison which is so frequently drawn
between the promotions from the ranks in the
French army and those in ours, the cases are not
parallel. The French army is supplied by the con-
scription ; all classes of men, in their turn, serve in
the ranks ; and one consequence is, that men of edu-
cation and knowledge are much more frequently
found there than in the ranks of our army. Yet in
the French systcm the commissions allowed to the
ranks are limited to one third of the whole number.
Apart from all this, promotion from the ranks is,
as we have said, now frequent in our army ; while in
the navy, where the system of "merit " reigns su-
preme, and purchase is never heard of, what fore-
mast-man ever becomes an officer?
Coming at length to statistical facts, from what has
been said against the system of purchase, it would
be imagined that no commission could be obtained
in the army except by that mode; but what
are the facts of the case with regard, for in-
instance, to the promotions of 1853-4? Of 88
lieutenant-colonels promoted, 31 obtained their pro-
motion by purchase, while 57 obtained it without; of
176 majors promoted, 57 were promoted by purchase,
and 119 without ; of 828 captaincies, 314 were ob-
tained by purchase, and 514 bestowed without ; and
of 895 first commissions, 358 were obtained by pur-
chase, against 437 bestowed without ; so that in the
two last years out of 1,867 commissions granted,
1,127 were obtained without purchase ! Now, as
regards promotion from the ranks, all experience
proves that it does not necessarily follow that a
non-commissioned officer will accept a commission
even when offered to him, and for this reason—that
the pay of a commission is not sufficient for him to
maintain his wife and family, and his social comfort
is certainly not enhanced by his obtaining a position
for which his previous habits, education, and tastes,
entirely unfitted him.
But it is with the fact that commissions are given
to men from the ranks under the existing system
that we have to do; and in the returns for the last
five years, excluding the late promotions in the
Crimea, we find that 219 non-commissioned officers
have been promoted to commissions in the army.
In the year 1854, 88 non-commissioned officers
were promoted to commissions, and up to the pre-
sent dates of this year upwards of 90 commissions
have been granted to men in the ranks! These
are facts which cannot be denied ; and if the
system of purchase allows so many vacancies to be
bestowed upon deserving merit, what real fault can
be found with a system that permits a combination
of two principles, beneficial alike to rich and poor?

Lord Dalhousie had gone to the Neilgherries.
The condition of Oude was becoming daily more
deplorable.
Tim Newspaper Stamp Bill stands for committal
on Monday, 18th April. Last year the revenue
derived from newspaper stamps, at the penny duty,
was 484,0091. Is. 7d. The number issued was
111,882,179.
THE Clacutta, with the Ist Royal Lancashire
Militia, arrived at Corfu on the 16th inst.
LORD PANMIIRE paid a visit to Portsmouth on
Thursday, and a distinguished party of visitors ac-
companied him. They were shown over every es-
tablishment of interest, and conducted to Weevil',
Hasler and on board the Victory.

-- -
AT WILTON, MR. ANTROBUS WAS RETURNED OR
Tuesday without opposition, in the room of Mr.
A'Court, who had retired on accepting office.
THE anniversary dinner of the Literary Fund is
announced for May 22, with the Bishop of Oxford in
the chair.

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.