The Express.
London, England, 1855-03-06 00:00:00

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY

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jaabW.4artTrasi rsg l_itlis•itst7iieltu. 9-7-iller hsal
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repel soot he was unable to move for tth appointment of a
emthitheem thissubjest. He (Mr. Peel) admitted that seek
Sewthellithrithfild hailed VS- thf M ileßection of a 'uhl,
WO efeefiesee, bee be the sit Own that it had not hem
fel he believed that, so far from causing this
to alike say . it would have bad an
emit, tendemy, essmash as the government
were maw (ivied their attention to this "lia
suldeet, bat if a committee were appol=thi :
gernemthat Meld have been boxed to suspend their
aides watil the eemaittee had made their report open it.
He nensidered it inconvenient both to himself (Mr. Pi.eo
awl te the department, that, seeing the little time obi&
the eat had yet had to mature their views apes
Ws
portant.qaestion, he should now be called ape. te
=prey an opinion upon matters of great magnitude, es
vitally affecting the organisation of the army. Only two or
three nights ago the house was treated to a discussion
which involved the question of admitting privates and non-
thearaissioned others of the army—men advanced in age,
sad, however well acquainted with the duties of a soldier,
Mt pmessing an education siperior to that Riven in common
elementary schools—into the class of commissioned °Meer.;
and now there was a question brought forward founded
men an opposite avaumption, for it•was recommended
that a higher education should be given to the Akers, and
that superior qualifications should be exacted of them.
New, with regard to the general value of education for
our officer., there could be no difference of opinion. As
the late t3.2cretary for the Colonies said the other evening,
every officer ought to understand his duty, bat ne oases was
the less capable of doing his duty bemuse ha indenting
the theory and science of the military prehnsim. He (Mr.
Peel) believed that the better our ofileers bad their minds
disciplined and their intelligence cultivated, the more would
their practical resources be multiplied, enabling 'them to
adapt themselves with the mere facility to the varying
exigencies of the military service. He did not speak merely
a a professional education, but of general literature.
• bill which passed that house the other day, for
a foreign legion, might illustrate the importuner
shah studies to an officer. Under that act, we dealt
have an assemblage of diverse nationalities, to plan whisk
under the command of en English officer would require that
he should be acquainted with the different languages of
Barope, German, French, and others; and so en officer
familiar with foreign languages would enjoy multiplied op-
portunities of getting employment and of advancing bins-
' well. But although be (Mr. Peel) was favourable to edam-
des, be maid not have it of too high a character. He be-
lieved that if too high an educational standard were
meellibli for the army, we should lose the services of
luny sempetent and valuable persons. It was a commas
remark that men who at the school and the college were
beatenby their competitors, would afterwards, in the real'
business of life, Leave those competitors behind, not because
in all cases they possessed greater social advantages of
wealth or station, but from their having an instinctive
knowledge of the way in which to turn what they
did know to amount for the public benefit. This
I should be kept in view in the education of our army.
The hon. gentleman referred to the present means which
this country had of furnishing education to our officers. It
did not require more than a cursory glance at those means
Ito feel satisfied that they were extremely scanty, and that
the institutions which were established in this country did
not, and did not intend to supply the want which was re-
ferred to by the hon. gentlemen. Excepting the institution
to which the ban. gentleman bad referred, there was nothing
but the military college at Sandhurst which the boa. gentle-
tan said bad been diminished because the Commander-in-

Chief was unwi;ling to lose his patronage. But there he
thought the hon. gentleman was mistaken, because it was
not the government that reduced the college at Sandhurst,
but that house. It was a self-supporting institution
at the present time, but not exactly in the way stated
by the hon. member. The host. member said there
were 10 who paid nothing at all, and 40 who paid a moderate
sum. There wen 25 orphan children and other sons of
officers who paid a sum of VOL a year, and the college was
able to take them at that low rate in consequence of the
high charge which was levied on • third class containing
some 110 pupils, and the advantages of the education of the
officers were so great that there was no difficulty on the
part of the college to procure boys who paid a sum which
was not only sufficient for their education, but also to sup-
port those who were received at • lower rate. He
thought the result of an education which was confined
merely to military matters would be that the minds
of the pupils would become contracted. He believed that
the beat records of our officers were found among those moo
who had pawed through our public schools and our univer-
sities, who possessed a competent knowledge of the general
literature of the day. lie thought the first thing for an
officer to do was to become acquainted with the practical
part of his profession. The hon. gentleman referred to a
remark made by the late Secretary for the Colonies, that
the examination before the board was • ridiculous one. He
(Mr. Peel) was not aware of what was required by the ex-
aminer', but at least the examination secured that the
officers acre notilliterate. He thought that the plan recom-
mended by his right hon. friend (Mr. 8. Herbert) secured
that which the hon. gentleman proposed, that when an
officer required a commission he should be prepared to pus a
preliminary examination, and that he should receive not
merely a military education but a g lone. The plan of
his right hon. friend went on to provide and be thought
properly, that when an officer bad received & first commWern
he should be required to pass subsequeet examinations ber
fore he obtained • further grade, or before he obtained his
company, and the only reason why the scheme had not been
brought to maturity was the difficulty of appointing instruc-
tors in consequence of the persons who would have been
selected bring required for the more pressing service of the
army in the east. He thought, however, the circumstance
of there being a war was no reason why they should not sue-
' ceed in carrying out the plan. Whether the war was or was
not to be continued, it was for the government to see that
measures were taken to provide officers with the means
of acquiring a full knowledge both of the theory and of
the practice of their profession, and the plan of his right
hon. friend that there should be appointed at every
head-qua:ten; in this country and the colonies certain
instructors before whom the officers of the regiments serving
in that command should be required to attend a entree of
lectures, and to peas an examination with success before
they received • further promotion, would, he thought, be
attended with advantageous results. With regard to the
staff appointments, considering that those who were on the
staff had certainly vary great advantages over the regi-
mental officers, be thought dose staff appointments should
be considered as the prises of the profession. (Hear, hear.)
Under the pretest system it not unfrequently happened that
unknown officers were appointed by g 1 officers, and
these officers. not from any fault of their own, but from the
fault of the system, were familiar only with one branch of
their duty. It would be possible to select officers who had
most distinguished themselves, and to giro them the oppor-
tunity of further advancement in the service, and the
officers being thus brought together would give the mean'
of acquiring a knowledge of the different branches of the
service. With regard to the Etat-major of the French
army, as he understood, there was a staff corps distinct from
the other divisions of the army. Whether it was desirable
or not for us to adopt that system was of count) • matter for
serious consideration. He trusted that the hon. gentlemen
would be satisfied with this cursory review of his °bum.
Lions, and that he would not press his motion.
Colanel DUNNE said there was an easy way of improv-
ing the information of the army, without costing the
country anything, and that was by ensuring employment to
those officers who understood their duty. the reason why
they had not good staff officers was that, whatever an offfeer
might know, his knowledge was no passport to employment.
It was a singular thin, but in the English laogusge they
had not a book that described the duty of a staff.offieer.
Except the smell book of instructions by Sir George Murray
they might search in vain for any book of instructions for •
staff.offiar. If an officer wished to know those duties, he
must refer to the King of Prussia's book*, and there were
numerous books published on the continent. There were
many officers who bad attained high rank in our service
without knowing those duties. It was obvious at Chebham
to all the French officers, who said, "Your regimental
system is perfect, but your staff officers are the worst we
ever saw. He did not think it necessary to multiply
military academies. Any man who entered the profession
might teach himself. He could go abroad and see what
was done on the continent. He believed then were young
men who were put beck at Sandhurst for not answering
dales in history, and other questions of that kind, which
some stupid professors there thought necessary should be
answered rather than that the youths should be acquainted
with the general outline of history. He believed it would
he perfectly impossible for us to copy the 'tat-major of the
Preach.
Mr. W. O. STANLEY thought it was a valuable thing
'hat they should promote men from the ranks, but they
should not do that indiscriminately. He was glad to find
that the government were taking the whole system of the
army into consideration.
Mr. Or WAY said when they considered the enormous
cost that had been oocasioaed by the anal-administration and
ignorance of the staff officers in the Crimean expedition, he
could not conceive how the hon. gentleman could any longer
treat this as a question of money. The hon. member said
it was not the government, but that house that had dimi-
oiled Sandhurst. But why ? It wee because Hitter* were
lest a attain number of the higher classes of pupils, the lower
ease amid net go. In France there were two or three col-
lege., where pupils were educated to the amount of some
hundreds, their expenses Lasing entirely defrayed by the
state. In England only ten were educated without charge
to themselves, and that was a degrading position for this
country tribe in. He thought there should be • separate
education for the staff, and that an aide-de-camp should be
able to comprehend the; meaning of 'the general when he
had tai convey orders. It was evideni that the unfortunate
charge at Baleklava was owing to a misunderstanding.
Mr. BELLEW was of opinion an aide-de-camp ought to
restrict himself merely to earryiog the order, and if he had
done so In the Instance referred to parhape that chew would
not have been made.
Mr. J. G. PHILLIMORE thought they ought not to
go from one extreme to another. There had been many
great generals who were not well educated men It was
notovious that Marlborough was an illiterate man, and that
I Marshal Base weld hardly write his name ; and that not
et the imeehels of Nepalese, with the exaasics of
was an educated sae.
• Lard EILLIIIIIIITON said ao doubt what the letes go?