The Express.
London, England, 1865-05-24 00:00:00

Mk =PRESS, NyEDNERA7 ET

JOHN BROGDZIkT.

ORIGINAL GOLD CHAIN MAITIIIPAOTORY,
is. EDTRIZITA4TURT, COVINT-GARDIN,

JOHN BROGDENS GOLD CHAINS.

JOHN BROGDEN'S GOLD GUARD CHAINS.

JOHN BROGDENB G OLD ALBERT °HAIN&

JOHN BROGDEN'S GOLD BROOOH C HAIRS.

RWOMB= t you will see your friends at
ZVANW slier Ibe Open. W. *hell *V aim

ght expreols•

TO ODILRISPONDKOITS.
Ivortheitheals Wooled for The ltsprese
be et the OffLoa le. boom
Prtit oath
ea the day of publicettem

" Loudon Zventag
dratreet. b 1 Tv.

WAYMIRE=
THIS EMI= OUR MARY ANNE—BROTHER SAM.
Maws. Sadiasen, Bookslowa and Howntoo ; Roads Snowdon
and Moww—THY SHED
Mr. WARM& awl
Wu ILealay.—And A Xl= IN RE

PIUNCONVA
Tin Vilma, NICANT-STILINGS AND TIDDIZATILINGS.
ARRAN NA MOM Yarn. D. Doaciesult. J.
H. YaselesDoe, D. Fleur, D. Murky, asylon, CharlseßlVß
goookestt and YID Y. Oilver.—AAd AN AIMS APOLOGY.

LYCEUM.
TRW Mame, A DAY AFTER THE WEDDING. DON
CESAR DE BAZAN. Maws. Yachter, Ryder, Fitzpatrick,
Garden. sad Eapeoirt : lira Lae, and Wages LsveDu and Car-
lotta Ledercq.—And THE LOST CHILD. Mr. Viiddicomb.

Tine Znainn, BARNARD DU-VAL.—The Templeton It in-
'Debt—TUN VOLCANO 01P ITALY. Dm 8. Lene.—And
BEAUTY AND THZ =AST. Maim Leslie and &too ; Manes
Sk Caw and Boots—Uummace as WS-pus&

NIGH WATER AT LONDON-BRIDOR.
TRW DAY Mania& lb. Sro Altersoce. 16 200.
TO-KobilOW Kotula& lb. Alse...• Aitllll2ooll6 ffi 17..

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, MAY 24.

As to the fitness or unfitness of Colonel De.w-
KINS to command a battalion of the Guards we do

not presume to give any opinion, there being no
available means of forming any opinion on the sub-
ject. But unless there be 011 e iort of j astioe for soldiers

and another for civilians, it is tolerably dear that the
treatment which Colonel DAWILTNB has experienced
at the hands of the COIMARDZE-111-CRIRP and the
SECRLYARY of WAR is without justification and

almost without precedent. An offioer, whose cha-
racter so far as the public records go is un-
stained, is compelled by the COMMAND/4-111-CHIBP
to go upon half-pay. He demands to know the
ground upon which he is compelled to take this step.

ito iv told that a court of inquiry has sat upon

him, and has pronounced him unfit to command a
battalion. But, replies the Colonel, "this court
"of inquiry is a secret tribunal ; it sits with
" closed doors, the evidence of the witnesses is not

" given upon oath, and, after all, the officers se-
" looted to sit upon it were not unanimous in their
" verdict. I object to have my conduct investi-
" gated in the dark. I protest against my pro-
" fessional character being blasted by evidence
" which shuns the light, and I insist upon my
" right to be tried by a court-martial. Let

"14 delinquencies or infirmities of temper
"be stated in public ; let me be tried by
" my peers not by a clique of officers who may be
" my private enemies, and I will submit willingly
"to their verdict." It is difillult to anticipate

what answer can be made to such a remonstrance
as this. Most certainly no answer has been made
by the USD= SVOILETARY of Was, or indeed by
.. .

tie PRIME hiurtsrra himself.

The House of Commons has been told that the
discipline of the army is not a fit subject to be dis-
_

cussed in Parliament, and that the Commander-
in-Chief must be allowed to determine, without

appeal, when it is fit that an offioer

should be tried by a court of inquiry,
and when he ought to be tried by a
court-martial But this is not the theory
which has been hitherto adopted by the
SECRETAILY of WAR Or by the COMIANDIR-IN-
CHIEF himself. The Secretary of War in the
. .

person of the late Mr. SIDNEY lIEEBERT declared
that he was responsible for the acts of the Com-
mander-in-Chief, nor has it ever been contended

that the Minister of War is not responsible to Par-
liament and the country. If any officer in her
MAJEsry's service thinks himself wronged by the
act of the Commander-in-Chief or of the Secre-

tary of War he is entitled to appeal to the
House of Commons for redress. And, there-
fore, we cordially concur with what was
said by Mr. BRIGHT, that "the House of Commons
" ought to be by all its members, and in all
" times, a court to which the highest and the
"humblest in this country can come for redress of
" grievances." Fortunately, the Duke of Csm-

BRIDGE delivered his opinion some years ago on
this very question, in the year 1857 ; unfor-
tunately, his conduct, in the case of Colonel
DAWKINS, is singularly inconsistent with his own
principles. Upon that occasion he stated that
there were cases of officers who were unfit to
command regiments, and who therefore ought not
to be allowed to occupy such a position. And how
did his ROYAL. HIGHNESS propose to prevent
such officers being promoted? In 1857 the
power of stopping au officer's promotion for un-
fitness existed, but was not exercised. Theoreti-
cally there was such a power, practically there was
not; indeed, the Duke of CAMBRIDGE distinctly
stated that neither in his own time nor in that of
Lord HAEDINGE had any instance of interfering
with an officer's promotion occurred. Thus, in
1857 the Doke of CAMBRIDGE thought that such
a power could not practically be exercised except
upon one condition—that "he should be backed up
"by public opinion." "I am in hopes," said the
Du/LE, "that the Commander-in-Chief will be
" informed by the Inspecting-General, as I
" think it his duty to inform him, when a man is
" from his temperament unsuitable for the com-
" mend of a regiment, and if such a report came
" to me as Commander-in-Chief, I should have no
" hesitation in saying, There is nothing against
your character, but you are unfit from natural
" defects, and therefore you cannot be pro-
" moted.' " Being still further questioned as to
whether " if the Inspectors' returns were satidac-
" torily made there would be no difficulty in
" knowing whether an officer ought to be stopped
" in his promotion or not," he answered, " I see
" no difficulty whatever, but, as I said before, it
" must be backed by public opinion, otherwise no
".man, in my opinion, could exercise this power."
According to the Duke of CAMBRIDGE, therefore,
Colonel Dawarres could not have been treated in
the year 1857 ash° hasbeen treated in the year 1865.
The COMMANDER-IN-CHIEN would not have ven-
tured to compel any officer togoupon half-pay simply
because he was considered unfit to command a bat-
talion. Nor, indeed, would he even now venture
to do so unless he was backed by public opinion.
And how is public opinion to be brought to bear
in the case of Colonel Dewar/es f Officers at the
Horse Guards have singular notions on the subject
of popular rights ; but they must be even more ex-
travagant than we imagined them to be, if they
suppose that "public opinion " will support such a

system as that of courts of inquiry. 244..11.7461
public have their own notions about=itad in-
justice which they will not easily' " If a
citizeu--soldier orcivilian—is to bepunished, or even
deprived of any ordinary privilege, the proceedings
against him must be conducted in the face of day.
If Colonel Dawmors's unfitness for command is
proved by the reports of inspecting officers, let
these reports be published, if the Colonel requires
their publication ; if his unfitness beef
oommand is
proved by the evidence prodnoed before the court
of inquiry, Ist the proceedings
of the court of
inquiry be published also. For let it be observed
that even the Coanunima IN-Onsar does not
claim the right to stop the promotion of Colonel
DAWKINS or any other officer upon his own respon-
sibility. He declares that he is bound to inform
himself by some evidence ; and he adds that be can-
i not be expected to act upon any opinion which he
may have formed without the support of " public
"opinion." According to the CONMANDEZ-TN-
CHIEF, " public opinion " must be consulted in
such a case as that of Colonel Dawkins.
And unless the COMMANDZS •IN CHIN! has
abandoned those principles which be professed
before the Purchase Commission in 1857, he
must grant Colonel DAWKINS the public inquiry
which that officer demands. It may be that
publicity will do she Colonel no sort of good. It
may simply prove that the Colonel was unfit for
command. But this is beside the question.
Colonel DAWKINS demands publicity, and he is
entitled to have it.

THE LORD CHANCELLOR AND THE LEEDS
COURT OF BANKRUPTCY.

Commenting upon the facts revealed in the oor-
respoodence in the Leeds Court of Bankruptcy case alluded
to in yesterday's Express, the Times observes :
" A registrar in bankruptcy receives 1.0001. a year for oz.
wailing that may aupervieion which Mr. Wilde never at-
tempted to exercise. The utmost indulgence that ought to
have been shown in such ow was to allow him to retire in-
stead of being publicly dismissed from his office. Such ap-
pears to have been the opinion of the Lord Chancellor him-
self on the 24th of May, 1864, since he authorised Mr.
Miller to threaten Mr. Wilde with this penalty unless he
should make good his defence. That he did not succeed in
doing so may not only be proved from his own statement and
Mr. Ayrton's second report, but is clearly implied in the letter
of Mr. Miller dated July 26, 1864. That letter, however,
proposes for the first time another alternative—that Mr.
Mae should ' relieve the Laid Chancellor from the
very diaegresable and, indeed, painful duty which Is
thrust upon him' by • timely application for • retiring
paimicet. The fact of this overture proceeding from the
Chief Registrar, on behalf of the Lord Chancellor, aooom-
paid by • suggestion that Mr. Wilds's health was such as
to warrant a medical certificate, is the least satisfactory
feature in these proceedings. We need hardly say that
not a day was lost by Mr. Wilde in taking the hint. On
the 28th he had procured a certificate from Mr. Key, of
Leeds, which reads almost as if it were ironical, to the effect
that Mr. Wilde had been suffering for a year past from •
failure in his sight, which was a serious hindrance to him
in the performance of the duties of his office.' On the
following day he made an affidavit that he was' no longer
able to perform satideetorily the duties of his office,' and
was' eonsequatly ' desirous to retire, and petitioned is
dos form for an annuity equivalent to two-thirds of his
gallery. On the 30th the petition was granted, and Mr.
Wilde was thenceforth pensioned off at the highest rate
permitted by the statute—a privilege to which he was
not entitled by reason of his studio', but which he could
only claim, at the discretion of the Lord Chancellor, as
disabled by a ' permanent infirmity.' 'Whether
Mr. Wikle's oyes would have failed but for the
detection of irregularities in his accounts is a ques-
tion which we can never hope to solve. Whether Mr.
Miller's proposal was dictated by any other motive than
sympathy with a registrar afflicted by partial blindness is a
question which cannot be discussed apart from the sequel,
now to form the subject of inquiry before the committee.
But the pension rests on its own merits, and
we need not resort to any suspicion of intended
jobbery to justify our condemnation of it. There
are schools, we believe, where every boy who has not
been flogged, and some who have, got prices for pod con-
duct, and it really seems as if a similar rule prevailed in
the public service. Mr. Edmunds was told that he deserved
to be prosecuted, and yet be was ungifted ; Mr. Wade is
menaced with summary dismissal, and yet advised in the
same breath to accept what many men would prefer to •
working salary of 1,0001. a year. While such things are
possible, no wonder that Mr. Gladstone meeta with ' con-
siderable jealousies and difficulties in checking the miscel-
laneous branches of the public revenue."
The Herald, referring to the procvediop in the Hones

of Commons last night, remarks :—" Thus we have the un-
precedented circumstance of both houses of parliament in•
quiriog in the course of a single session into distinct
charges against the Lord Chancellor, each of which involves
his fitness for his office aad his fidelity to the traditions of
his own particular branch of the law. The necessity of an
inquiry in such a rase is self-evident, and we are glad to
find that the miscarriage which happened in the Lords
is not likely to be repeated in the Commons.
To render a court of Cabinet Ministers impossible,
Mr. Disraeli suggested that the members of the
committee should be appointed by the committee
of selection, that the inquiry might be judicial in its sprit
and bond fide in its character. To this Sir George Grey at
owe assented. We have only to express our hope that in
the deliberations of the committee the spirit of party will
be as carefully excluded by the government as by the op-
position. It Lord Westbury can succeed in 'bowleg that
be does not deserve the reproaches which have been cast
upon him for his conduct in this affair, sure we are that no
feeling of political animosity will induce the conservative
party to pronounce upon him an undeserved condemnation-
' But if, on the other hand, the evidence adduced is instil&
tient for his exculpation, the sacred interests of truth and
jestiee, of oublio morality and national honour, alike re-
quire that no party spirit or political consideration shall
suffice to secure for him an unmerited acquittal."

Aa•rwrnono GUNS. —This morning were issued
to a parliamentary return reports from the ships &myelin,
Tartar, Conqueror, Borrows, Leopard, Argus, and Perseus,
ow the performance of the Armstrong guns engaged in the
meat operations in the Straits of Simonoraki. Admiral
Kuper, in forwarding these to the Admiralty, observes :
"My late experience of the working of these gone has
served to confirm me in my opinion that the vent-pieces,
as at present fitted, and particularly In the 110-pounder gun,
are too easily put out of order to reader the guns perfectly
efficient as a naval weapon."

Tux Par= Dl:inf.—As it in conceded that foreign
states will sot consent to remit the existieg duties on rags,
Mr. Maguire proposed last sight that they should be paid
by the &relish government, and that the government
should subsequently recoup themselves by imposing such a
tax on the manufactured article es would produce a sum
equivalent to that which they had thus paid away. The
plan was in appearance specious egough, but as in effect
it would amount to the imposition of a protective duty on
paper, the government had so choice but to refold it. Mr.
Milner Gibson pointed out that it was impossible, merely for
the sake of meeting an exceptional cue, to turn oar
backs upon a commercial policy which we had adopted
with so much BUCCAU, cud, on a division, the house
.negn-
tired Mr. Maguire's resolution by a considerable maiority.
It is oertainly not correct to point to the results of the re-
mission of the paper duties as furnishing an argument
against the excellence of a free-trade policy. On the COD-
teary, they furnish the most convincingproofs that such a
policy is the only true one. It is not because there is free
trade in paper and its materiel that the manufacture of
the former in this country is paralysed, but because such
free trade does not in truth exist. If France
and Belgium and other states were to abolish
the protective duties they at present impose on the
exportation of mg', competition would be equal,
and we have no hesitation in saying that the paper trade,
not only in England, but in those countries, would be
, ettrilisrably benefited. At prosiest, foreign manufacturer,
ere enabled to undersell ours, but the benefit which accrues
to them is insignificant compered with that which would
arise if trade on both sides of the Channel was equally free.
As, however, the Continental state' are one by one aban-
doning that protective commercial policy which they have
hitherto pursued, we may not unreasonably hope that the
day is not far distant when they will abolish those duties
whisk we now regard as a obnoxious. For our part we
must observe the engagements into which we have solemnly
entered, however dimetrous is row respects may be their
aronspiewees, and mast trust to the good sense and window'
of feria dates to restore the eqsilibriara which is at pre-
mat titemild•—Pak

' • rim 04.PrIVES 41431101114!
DIVISION ur lruENur OF LOKOIIIIII.W
Motion (Lord Chelmsford) f She prodoolroptiala
sod men. Contents, 43 ; not-oontemta, 42.
OONTEN IS..

VIOL itatttx wise.LOSS&
Richmond. OrSilitlt Blantyre Orinateed
DILIQUISZIS. Hardwick° Blayne, Heytedbury
Inter Mayo IBolton Monson
Tweed&le Nelson CoeDomaine Moore
Westmeath. Polar"' Chelmsford Polwarth
WM'. Shrewsbury. Colchester
Amherst Yisoortrirs. Colville of Cal- blaseda2 le
Bandon Heward's roes (teller) Bello
Bantry (teller) Detainers Strathspey
Mamie Iffutchinses Delman Tredegar
Weems
Derby Beivilae Dummy Walsieginun
fittathellaa Yesenhata Wynford.
--------

'EN court.
•••••-•--
BALMORAL. MO, 11.
! The Queen • Ind royal family went out In the
Ilaighbolubood of the castle.

The Prince of Wales, attended by Major 'Teesdale and
Llentenent-Oolonel Kinpoote, was present yesterday mom
bag at the review of Militia in Hyde-park, held by the Duke
of Cambridge.
The Primer of Wales, amempanisd by Prisms Mary
of Cambridge, and attended by the Hem Mrs. E. Coke, drove
out, and was also present as the review in Hyde-park.
The Priem of *Wales, attended by Earl Spews; Liatio-
sant-General Knollys, and Major Teesdale, went to Padding-
ton is the afternoon, and laid the foundation-stems of the
DOW wing to be added to St. Mary's Hospital.
His Royal Highness efterwards rode out on horseback.
The Prince and Primes' of Wales went to the Italian
Opera, Covent-garden, in the evening.
The Countess of Morton bas moomded the Hoer. lire. E.
Coke as Lady in Waiting to the Penmen of Wales.
A meeting of the Fineries Committee of the Royal Cam-
usision for the Ezhibitica of 1851 was held yesterday at
the Privy Council-office. There were present the Earl of
Derby, Earl Granville, Lord Over-Mom, Lord Taunton, the
Right Hoc. W. E. Gladstone, M.P., the Right lion. B.
Disraeli, M.P., the Bight Hon. B. Lowe, M.P., Sir Abram.
der Spearman, Bart., Sir S. Morton Pato, Bart., M.P., and
Mr. Edgar Bowrieg, C.B. (secretary).
Yesterday a deputation from the emporia on the north.
out of Scotland bad an interview at the Board of Trade
with tie Right Hoo. T. Milner Gibson, rowdier the erec-
tion of a light at Montrose NOM
Despatches were sent yesterday from the Colonial-office
to the Governors of the Settlements on the West Coma of
Africa.