The Press.
London, England, 1858-01-23 00:00:00

THE 'PRESS, JANUARY 23, 1858. •

proportion will appear even of still greater
degree when our readers recollect how, as was
shown in former numbers of this Journal, the
return in property tax and population obtained
by Mr. DISRAELI, proved how great was the
injustice done to the assessed property in the
counties as contrasted with that of the
boroughs.
Was it any wonder, therefore, when such
facts aro closely scanned, that Mr. DISRAELI
should have expressed himself to the effect
that to some extent " factious considerations"
should have interfered with the Reform
arrangements in 1832? Can it be any cause
fn. surprise that even the Coalition Cabinet
should have proposed that forty-six members
should be added to the eounty repro
sentation?
Another conclusion of still greater moment
is to be deduced from the study of the above
electoral figures. The " remedial agencies of
" the common sense and the good feelings of
" Englishmen " might have alleviated the
injustice done to the Conservative interest in
1832; but the working of the Union with
Ireland, and the revolution in our sister
country subsequent to the Emancipation Act
of 1829, have exercised most disturbing in-
fluence upon our whole Parliamentary system.
Sir JAMES STEPHEN, in his essay on the life of
WILBERFORCE, has shown how the influence of
the Irish Members, who had no West Indian
estates, produced a wrong effect on legislation
relating to the slave trade in 1806 ; and Sir
ARCHIBALD ALISON has chronicled the fact that
in the first instance the Reform Bill of Earl
GREY was carried by a majority arising from
the Irish Members, as there was a decisive
majority of English and Scotch Members
against the Bill of 1831. In subsequent
periods the Cabinet of Lord MELBOURNE had a
considerable majority of English Members
opposed to it; but the state of the Irish
representation turned the scale against the
Conservative party. We must recollect that a
large portion of the counties of Ireland present
social and electoral characteristics entirely
different from our counties in England. Even
the vast territorial influences of a great Whig
proprietary like the Duke of DEvoNSHIRE, the
Marquis of LANSDOWNE, and others, count for
little in Irish " counties," where a few priests
assembled in open or private conclave virtually
choose the county members. This disturbing
influence, however, would disappear if the
Roman Catholic clergy gave up interfering in
au organised way upon electioneering. They
interfered for the first time actively in elec-
tions in 1826, at a period when in the Irish
representation the Tory party had a slight
preponderance. Since that time the influence
of the tribunitian clergy at elections has been,
on an average taken from six general elections,
fully equivalent to a subtraction of fifteen
Conservative Members from the representation
of Ireland, making a difference of thirty votes
upon a division in the Parlialnent of the
empire.
Considerations like these are of much impor-
tance, and cannot be too forcibly impressed
on the public mind. Conservatives should
make themselves specially and habitually
familiar with them ; for under the specious
pretext of " regulating the laws of the franchise
an artful and most dangerous aggression on
the Conservative interest may be meditated,
and even attempted. In such possible emer-
gencies to be prepared against a surprise is the
best policy.

THE RECRUITING DIFFICULTY.
THE subject of recruiting the ranks of our
regular forces is becoming of grave impor-
tance. It may be very politic for the Premier
in a hectoring, after-dinner speech, amid the
cheers of his followers, to " let continental
" nations know that England is as well pre-
" pared as ever to despatch an army from her
" shores ;" it may be very patriotic in the
leading journal to wind up a slashing article
on the recent triumphs in the East with the
announcement that " long ago every soldier
" sent to India has been replaced by a suc-
" cessor ;" but after all, the question is not
whether the regular army can be " replaced "

at home by calling out the Militia—it is
rather whether the men who become unfit for
service in India can be " replaced " from
England. In order to answer the question
we will appeal to the last letter of the Bengal
correspondent of the Times, who, perhaps, may
be considered as good an authority on this
point as the writer of the leading article.
From him we learn that our European force in
Bengal represents about 25,000 effectives, while
the casualties amount on an average to 300 a
week, or 1,350 a month, exclusive of losses by
sickness. Five thousand additional troops are
expected at Calcutta, and, assuming their
casualties to bear the same relative propor-
tion, 1,000 men per week will be required to
keep the whole force up to its proper strength,
even if the army is perfectly healthy. It must
also be remembered that the unhealthy season
will shortly begin, and then it may be expected
that the long forced marches, the hard fight-
ing, and the hardships incident to a campaign,
more' especially when transport is inefficient,
will tell with fearful weight on the unseasoned
troops who have hitherto been kept up by
temporary excitement. Nor must we forget
that the European troops in the Presidencies
of Madras and Bombay amount to 18,000 mea ;
and although their casualties are not likely to
be so heavy as those in the Bengal army, we
shall hardly err on the side of exaggeration if
we place them at 500 men a month.
Now, what are our means of replacing these
men? As we stated in our last impression,
there has been a considerable falling off in the
numbers of our recruits ; and although during
the last week this falling off has been some-
what diminished, yet distributed as the men
must be among the newly raised battalions,
the regiments at home and abroad, and the
Indian depots, the total amount is quite inade-
quate to meet the present emergency. The
Militia, also—that national force which has
always been relied upon as the nursery for
the Line, and which came forward so nobly in
our struggle with Russia—has not yet contri-
buted one thousand men in the present crisis,
for reasons which our readers will be at no
loss to understand. On the whole, therefore,
in answer to applications from the East India
Company, the Commander in-Chief has founi
it necessary to state that it will tax his ener-
gies to the utmost to furnish 1,000 men a
month as reinforcements for the whole of
India. Four additional regiments are, indeed,
on their way from Gibraltar, Malta, and the
Cape, but when they have arrived their
strength must also be kept up, and as we can-
not be perpetually sending out fresh regiments
the number of drafts requisite will be increased
rather than diminished.
We wish we could say that the recruits
obtained are of a satisfactory character. Unfor-
tunately no one acquainted with . the subject
will for a moment deny that they are drawn
from the scum of the population ; and the
mere fact that within the last few days it has
been found necessary to reduce the present
low standard of five feet four inches to five
feet three inches is of itself sufficient to prove
that the supply of recruits is insufficient to
meet the demands of the service.
The East India Company has requested that
only seasoned troops may be sent out; but
the Commander-in-Chief has replied that he
has nothing but raw recruits at his disposal.
Most of our readers will probably recollect
Lord Jot's 14188E1.1:s announcement, in
the House of Commons, that "My Lord
" RAGLAN says that the drafts sent out to him
" in the Crimea serve but to encumber his hos-
pitals ," and what fate awaits these miserable,
half-trained, half-disciplined youths in arrack-
drinking Calcutta, before ever encountering
the hardships of a campaign, it hardly requires
the skill of a prophet to divine.
What measures, then, can be taken for
ameliorating this state of affairs? The ques-
tion is, in truth, no easy one to answer.
Having disgusted our Militia and effectually
broken up our old recruiting connection by
the manner in which the reduction of tho
army was carried out at the conclusion of the
late war, any means which may now be put in
practice must of necessity be empirical and
open to the correction of experience. But,
after all, it would seem but common sense to
act on the principle of supply and demand.

75

If the martial ardour of our youth has been
checked, and if men are still wanted, the price
offered for them should be raised. If a man
can obtain 2s 61 or 3s. a day as a labourer, will
he sacrifice his liberty and risk his life for
Is. 21? The difficulty, however, is only re
moved a step further. A high bounty is in
the opinion of the most competent military
authorities but a premium onedesertion, and it
is stated that men so obtained cannot be kept
at their colours, or if kept are not worth keep-
ing. So also the field allowance of 6d. a day
granted to our soldiers in the Crimea, when
they had no means of spending it legitimately,
only served to increase the crime of drunken-
ness to an almost incredible extent.
But our object is to induce men of respect-
able character to enlist. It appears, therefore,
that some scheme bhould be devised which
should possess the advantages without the
drawbacks of a higher rate of pay. No
doubt a system of military savings-banks
might be turned to considerable account.
If 6d. a day, for instance, were placed to the
soldier's credit, and allowe l to accumulate
until he obtained either his discharge or a
commission, some effect upon the class which
it is desirable to influence would at once be
visible The period of service might also be
advantageously reduced. But when • all is
done, we shall still have only mitigated the
evil. The dislike to a soldier's life, only
natural among a population so prosperous as
our own, and the distrust inspired by Govern-
ment will still operate conjointly to the detri-
ment of the English army. The Premier is a
universal genius. Now is the time for him to
show it. Lord PANNIUSE is a great military
Minister; let him now tax his resources.
Here is a practical difficulty, and there is a
popular Government. If the Government
cannot conquer the difficulty, the difficulty ere
long will conquer the Government.

THE COURTS OF BANKRUPTCY.
TT is, perhaps, impossible that men should,
even under ordinary circumstances, have
perused the long list of failures consequent
on the recent monetary crisis without turning
eyes of unwonted apprehension towards that
portion of our legal system on which creditors
are ultimately dependent for the assertion of
their rights. Unhappily, recent events have
not tended to increase the confidence, or
rather to diminish the want of confidence,
with which the public regards the Court of
Bankruptcy. And it may therefore be not
uninteresting to inquire, while this crowd of
visitors is on the road to Basinghall-street,
what sort of reception they are likely to meet
I with—what measure of justice to receive.
But certainly the disfavour with which
these courts are undoubtedly regarded can-
not fairly be attributed to any laxity in the
mode of procedure or in the administration of
the law. For all ordinary cases of commer-
cial imprudence the power of suspending the
certificate, which the Commissioner possesses,
certainly affords a sufficient remedy. In those
more doubtful cases, in which imprudence
passes into crime, whatever other shield the
debtor may have against the consequences of
his own acts, he can obtain no certificate which
will avail him ; while, on the other hand, the
ordeal through which he must pass is of no
ordinary severity. Indeed, the procedure of the
Courts of Bankruptcy is perhaps rather open
to the charge of harshness than of leniency.
Any man, who seeks their protection, or even
who is forced by his creditors within their
pale, must answer (and that truly on pain of
an indictment for perjury) any questions which
may be put to him touching " his trade, deal-
ings, or estate," and these extorted answers
may be used against him in ulterior proceed-
ings. ,This was the decision of the Court of
Criminal Appeal in the recent case of " The
Queen v. Scott." That decision was not
arrived at without an energetic protest from
one of the members of the court. But that
decision is now law ; and the Courts of Bank-
ruptcy are the only places in England where
a man can be compelled to criminate himself.
But however alien to the spirit of our law,
it is a principle too beneficial in its operation

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tbe be abandoned. It is the similar power
which the Scotch courts possess which sent
Mr. STEPHENS again on his travels. It is to
that power that we owe those depositions on
which the Crown must rely in its proceedings
against the Directors of " the thing ironically
" called the Royal British Bank."
Nor must it be forgotten that a debtor who
has obtained his certificate has obtained no
immunity for absolute guilt. Ho is released
by that interesting document from his debts,
indeed, but not his crimes. If Mr. STEPHENS
had succeeded in passing through twenty
Courts of Bankruptcy, he would still be as
amenable as ever to the Courts of Criminal
Jurisdiction. We are far from saying that ho
is within the scope of tbe Criminal Law, but
we do say that no certificate could take him
out of it. If the servant of a mercantile com-
pany (and the manager of a bank is no more)
takes the funds of his masters without their
knowledge, no certificate can save him from
the consequences of theft. If he induces
them to part with their money by false state-
ments, no certificate can bar an indictment for
obtaining money under false pretences. If
directors, who have misappropriated the
money intrusted to them to their own pur-
poses, have hitherto escaped punishment—
they have escaped, not because the Law of
Bankruptcy is too lenient, but because the
Criminal Law was till lately notoriously ani
glaringly defective.
It is a far more important question whether
it he practicable in the present state of the
Criminal Law to inflict punishment on direc-
tors who, by uniting to misrepresent the con-
dition of the property which they have mis-
managed, deceive the public into the same
ruin in which their errors have already in-
volved the shareholders and themselves?
But it is a question which it would be unfair
to discuss while the prosecution against Mr.
ESDAILE and his fellows is still pending. Still
it is not, perhaps, too much to assert that any
difficulty which there may he in bringing
home their guilt to persons charged with such
an offence is a difficulty of evidence and not
of law. In other words the crime is one
known to the law. It is a conspiracy which
the law will punish. Whether it can be shown
to conviction that the Directors of the Royal
British Bank have been guilty of it, is what the
event of the forthcoming trial alone can show.
But whether they can or can not, their escape
will not be due—nay, the very possibility of
preferring such a charge with any hope of
success must be attributed—to the examina-
tion to which they were subjected in the Court
of Bankruptcy.
The truth is that the real reasons why
creditors shrink from the publicity which that
court affords are merely personal. Creditors
are but men, and are not desirous of publish-
ing the extent of their own losses. They feel
pity for misfortunes in which as traders they
may possibly themselves be some day in•
volved. They not unnaturally shrink from
the law's delay, arid from the incurring of
costs which must be defrayed by the bank-
rupt's estate, and will inevitably diminish the
dividend to be received from it. Abstract
justice, the exposure and punishment of the
fraudulent debtor, and the purification of
trade—these are cer.ainly benefits, but they are
benefits which perhaps the laws of human
nature forbid us adequately tovalue. Order and
security are valuable possessions, but no man
ever volunteered to pay a police-rate. Lawyers
are like tax-gatherers. There may be an
equivalent for the payment to the one and the
other, but it is not tangible, and, unlike the
objects for which Sir Balaam ordinarily ex-
changes his cash, confers no superiority over
other men. Houses, furniture, carrriages,
are things which all men desire, but of which
the purchaser has the exclusive enjoyment.
The exposure and punishment of a fraudulent
debtor are things which the creditors pay for,
and the advantages of which all men share.
They are benefits for which the public
clamours, but to the cost of which it does not
contribute. And it needs no conjuror to fore-
see that creditors will always decline to seek
for them so long as they can only be obtained
by taking ten shillings in the pound in lieu
of fifteen, and so long as the community
which garners the benefit declines to pay the
reapers.