The Press.
London, England, 1855-06-02 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

In thinking of " Who are "responsible? "
the first fact is that the vaunted reputa-
tion of the Peelites has melted away like
mist. The Whigs gave them the conduct of
the war. It was not until after the ruin had
been worked that Lord JOHN RUSSELL cams
out as Queen's evidence against his former
colleague. The Duke of NEWCASTLE had made
himself the head of a rival connection in
politics bound together by ties of a not
dissimilar kind from those preserved by the
Whigs. He vaulted at once into the War
Ministry, and to his latest time he will have
reason to curse his infatuation. He has been
dreadfully humbled, and we have no desire to
add further pangs to a politician who has
forfeited his reputation for ability. Even in
the current week, in an organ which long
adhered to him, we read severe strictures on
his Grace's "vacillation" and "habits of pro-
crastination." It is a pity that these faults
were not confessed at an earlier period by
the leading champion of the Coalition. Our
readers must recollect that at the time we
urgently remonstrated against the appoint-
ment of the Duke of NEWCASTLE.

Well his Grace has deservedly been held
responsible. His character has been exposed :
even the Peelites acquiesced in his removal
befoie the Coalition broke up. He is deci-
dedly the most fallen public man of the day.
But we say again, for having put him in the
War-office both Lord PALMERSTON and the
Whig clique must also be held responsible.
Evils, mischief's, blunders, shortcomings were
inevitable at the beginning of the war ; and
that they were so was the very reason why
the best man who could be had should have
been selected. The Ministers—Whigs and
Peelites—aggravated intensely evils that were
certain to occur. Mischances were likely to
take place. They managed to make them
worse. The Duke of NEWCASTLE never before
held a first-rate secretarial place, and to his
inexperience was consigned the conduct of
the war. He broke down in it, and he has
been punished. " I do not like to strike a
" man who is down," said one of the speakers
of the Administrative Reform Association,
passing on from his Grace to other public
men.

But though the Duke of NEWCASTLE 15 down,
the Whigs are still up in office. They cannot
be absolved from their responsibility. It is of
no use for them to plead that the " cry " of the
newspapers forced on the Government to a
struggle for which the country was not pre-
pared. What is a Government for, but to
control and to direct? Had it no authority
to restrain, and no duty to guide the people ?
What confession can be more degrading than
that with all their pride, and pomp, and power,
the great families who made the Coalition
were driven onwards by the newspapers ?
If precipitate ink flowed from a few vehement
pens, was that a reason why the blood of
armies should be prematurely shed? Such a
line of defence would lead people to suppose
that our Ministers had been like so many
demagogues crouching before the cry of the
platform, and quailing before the censure of
the invisible "we " of journalism. We shall
not be charged with underrating our own
vocation if we say that British journalists do
not claim to exercise such a directing power
as the Whig apologist would assign to them.
Pity, however, that as the newspapers were so
powerful as to cause the war the Cabinet
which listened with such obedience to the
public press did not also follow the significant
hints repeatedly given in so many journals
about the non-efficiency of the authorities in
the War-office.
It is responsibility of the primary kind that
must be attached to the Cabinet that sent out
the expedition. There is also a secondary
responsibility attached to certain officials
attached to the army, but we have not space
to-day for discussing their faults.

511

the coming campaign. At Sebastopol itself
the siege makes progress. Largo and impor-
tant outworks have been carried by storm with
a very heavy loss on the side of the defenders ;
while outside the town the enemy has fallen
back from the fortified lines of the Tschernaya ;
so that hopes are entertained that we may be
able to move round towards the north and
complete the investment of the place. But
great as these advantages may appear they are
surpassed in ulterior importance by the ex-
pedition to the easterncorner of the peninsula,
and the capture of Kertch. Stores to an enor-
mous amount have been taken or destroyed,
and the communication across the Straits of
Yenikale and the Sea of Azoff entirely cut off.
By these two routes, up to the present time,
the Russians have conveyed more than one-
half of the provisions and munitions of war
which were required for the support of their
forces in the Crimea. A large part were brought
from Anapa and provinces of the Caucasus,
but the most considerable portion were derived
from Taganrog and the navigation of the Don
and Volga, which form the main artery of the
trade of South-Eastern Russia, and are con-
tinued so as to afford an un interrupted water
communication with St. Petersburg itself.
The stores will still reach Taganrog in security,
but the greatest difficulty will be experienced
in their transport into the Crimea. Two ways
remain open. The first is across the Putrid
Sea to Arabat, and thence to ,Simferopol. But
the next step of the allies will probably be to
advance from Kertch to Kaffir, to occupy Arabat,
and to close this route. The only remaining
road is by a very long circuit through Perekop.
It is scarcely probable that the Russian Go-
vernment are adequately provided with means
of transport by land between Taganrog and
Perekop, and great interruption will take place
in the supplies of their armies in the field, but
we cannot suppose that the difficulty will be
of long continuance. We may rest assured
that the energy of the Russian Commissariat
will soon furnish the means of conveyance
along the new route,and that the traffic through
Perekop will be immensely increased. Every •
thing points at the necessity of an attack upon
that place.
The facility with which Kertch was occupied
makes it more unaccountable why this obvious
operation should have been so long delayed.

If Kertch is of such vital importance, why
was it not perceived before? Why was Lord
RAGLAN'S army left so weak? Why were so
many troops left in Mediterranean garrisons,
or cantoned at Maslak, when they might have
been so much more usefully employed? It is
idle to say that we could not have sent on re-
giments from Gibraltar or Corfu; it was only
a question of reliefs, and the very regiments
which are now taking their place might, with
common energy and promptitude, have gone
out months ago. Who can tell the effect
which might have been produced upon the
garrison of Sebastopol, and on public opinion
throughout Europe, by a vigorous and early
blow against the fortress which has now fallen
unresistingly into our hands?
These omissions may be passed over in the
moment of success, but the public mind has
undergone a great change, which it will be
dangerous for Ministers to overlook. There
is no longer any hesitation about the course to
be pursued—any hope that negotiation may
relieve us from an unpleasant dilemma—any
inclination to welcome a doubtful peace. The
nation cries out for an earnest prosecution of
the war, and for the full accomplishment of
all the ends for which it was undertaken. A
Vienna Conference which should prevent this
would be looked upon as treachery. The
country will tolerate no longer the ambiguous
conduct which speaks peace or war according
the exigencies of party—which carries on
sid,