The Express.
London, England, 1846-12-17 00:00:00

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a disedvastaga that in spite of an increased
desnand. tbe,preprietors dare not venture to enlarge
then, and there is little doubt that thaw who have

andeitalum to supply mile, &c., to the great Northern
Railway, will be unable to fulfil their contract, unless
the restrictions on importation be relaxed, and when
these are relaxed, it is morally certain that many of
'the least prodactive furnaces must go out of blast.
'Under monopoly men have speculated wildly, and
they require monopoly to be retained, that others
should be compelled bo pay the cost.
In the French struggle the interest of class on one
aide and the interest of the nation on the other is
more 'direct and obvious than it was in England.
Beyond the channel there can be no mistake about
the proportion between producers and consumers, a
matter which so grievously perplexed our Heralds
and our Poets. There is, therefore a novelty in the'
free-trade agitation of France, which renders it
interesting, and even exciting, to thew whose atte)ition
was jaded l the interminable debates of last session,
and we shall, therefbre, watch its phases, and record
its progress.

PUBLIC attention has recently been very much
attracted to the Military Academy at Woolwich.
It is, as our residers know, an institution, on which
very much depends the efficiency or inefficiency of
those important arms of service, the engineers and
artillery; for it is from it that their officers are
drawn. Some persons not incompetent to form an
opinion on such a subject have, indeed, doubted the
wisdom of allowing the British army to be dependent
upon any pablic institution for engineer and artillery'
officers, and have advocated the substitution of a sys-
tem of examination as to the competency of the can-
didates for commissions, leaving the youths, who are
selected by the Ordnance dezirtment to obtain their
edasekliion where and haw their parents choose. But
the current of professional opinion runs strongly in
favour of government schools; and this latter opinion
is certainly supported by the past efficiency of the
officers educated at Woolwich, as well as by the con-
current practice of other countries. Be this however
as it may, there can be no doubt as to the great impor-
tance of the Military Academy so long as it has its
existing monopoly.
At present a cadetship at this academy is an object
difficult of attainment, both as to patronage and quali-
fication. The number of applicants far exceeds the
demands of the service. A previous course of study
is indispensable to the admission of the boys, whose
friends are fortunate enough to be successful in their
applications to the Master-General of the Ordnance;
and of the number who do, when so favoured by
opportunities, gain admittance, not a few fail to
qualify themselves in the academy to pass through
that severe examination preliminary to entrance into
the service. Parents are thus, in any. case, put to very
considerable expense in the previous education of
their children, and this expense may be altogether
thrown away by the incompetency or the misconduct
of their children. It is no secret that the late Master-
General of the Ordnance perpetrated most cruel
injustice on many parents and families, by placing ou
the lists of candidates youths who, from the numbers
having precedence thereon, had no chance of being
admitted to the academy within the prescribed age. I
Unconscious of this inability, fathers were, at great
cost, misdirecting the education of their sons ; and
on the accession of the Marquis of Astetesee to the
Ordnance-office, it became at once an act of duty and
of kindness on his part to strike off the list, which his
predecessor left him, the names of boys thus situated.
And this very proper reduction has produced any-
thing but friendly feelings towards the academy in
many quarters.
We are, however, far from attributing the atten-
tion that has been fixed on the academy to this cause ;
it is, on the contrary, owing to the state into which
the institution has fallen, as indicated by a series
of expulsions that have been resorted to for
the preservation of the discipline and the efficiency
of the service ; expulsions, which recently became too
numerous not to draw notice beyond the circle imme-
diately interested in the academy. Without relying
on the statements of disappointed parents or on the
letters of unknown correspondents, which a newspa-
per has only to encourage to be flooded with, we have
made inquiries into the subject where really authentic
, information could be obtained, and we find that,
, whilst, so far as regards professional education, the
academy stands higher than ever it did, there has
been a very serious declension in the morals and
habits of its pupils. The system of fagging is, we
learn, carried to a most unjustifiable and even tyran-
nical excess ; the liberty which it is usual to grant
the elder youths beyond the academy has been abused
and' disgraced by intoxication and its attendant
vices ; and disease of a loathsome character has been
introduced into the hospital. These are lamentable
facts ; but for them neither the professional nor
educations:l authorities at the academy are pri-
marily answerable, so far as we can learn.
The explanation which we have received states,
that in order to place some check on the in-
creasing number of applications for cadetships,
the standard of preliminary qualification for admis-
sion into the academy has of late years been very
much raised ; that to enable boys to pass these initia-
tory examinations, they are obliged to be sent to what
arc called " preparatory . schools," of which there are
several around liroolsvich ; that the sole object
of the masters of these schools is, to fit their pupils
for such examinations in the shortest possible time;
that at these schools there is no attention to dis-
cipline, morals, or conduct paid ; and that, in point of
fact, it is from them that the evils which have grown
so rank at the academy have been imported. Of the
accuracy of this statement we have no doubt • and
its fidelity tends very much to relieve the authorities
of the academy of the imputations which a reckless
and ill-informed contemporary has levelled against
them ; for in the number of expulsions tkat have
recently taken place, there is irresistible evidence
that most vigorous efforts are being made by them to
purge the academy from the vices contracted at the
" preparatory schools."
Of the strict and rigid impartiality of the authori-
ties at the academy, not even malice can raise a
doubt ; and we may mention that it has recently been
exercised, at the expense of a nephew of Sir Bestirs
PEEL, and of* near relative of Lord HARDINGE.
Of the sufficiency of the education given there, the
high professional reputation of the distinguished corps
of engineers and artillery is the best proof.
Still vices, such as those we have mentioned, must
be checked in an institution of this sort. It is there-
fore with pleasure that we hear a commission has
been appointed to inquire into the state of the Mili-
tary. Academy at Woolwich. And, that such com-
mission will adequately fulfil the object which Lord
ANGLESEY had in appointing it, we have a guarantee in
the fact, that amongst its members is the Lieutenant-
, Governor of the Academy—an officer whose abilitiee,
honour, and integrity, are beyond all assault.
of - -
in the

Mr. ROWLAND HILL'S appointment
Post-office is a great triumph of right and common
sense, and the ministry deserve all praise for
doing, ',zero molu, so just and wise a thing. The
Postmaster-General, Lord CLANRICARDE in accept-
ing Mr. HILL'S services as his Secretary, has
shown a prudent sagacity. We are disposed to hope
that Col. MABERLY'S congratulations to Mr. Row-
LAND HILL, on his taking office, were signs of re-
pentance, better late than never. Thus, with a
willing administration, a chief who will hear reason,
a smiling colleague, and a strong public at his
back, Mr. HILL has the ball at his foot. It will be
his own fault if he do not win the game. He is sent
to St. Martin's-le-Grand expressly to do so, and win
he must, or resign, and tell all of us the causes which
obstruct him. Let us hope that there will be none.
Of Mr. ROWLAND HILL'S abilities as an inventor, it
is needless to speak, but we may notice his success
as an administrator, in another field, of which the
public have recently had ample evidence. Under his
chairmanship of the Brighton Railway, that line
became one of the cheapest and most accommodating
of metropolitan railways, whilst, at the same
time, the value of the property was increased more
than fifty per cent. Public and private benefit were
made to reciprocate on each other, just as ought to be
the case with the public accommodation and the Post-
office revenue. And we believe that especially in the
case of the transmission of mails by the Brighton rail-
road the arrangement was unusually satisfactory and
beneficial to the public.
Assuming that Mr. HILL enters the Post-
office armed with ample powers to effect what
he has again and again pledged himself to, as being
essential to carrying out his plan of Post-office
Reform, it will be well to remind our readers of the
good things in store for their correspondence. We
will, however, on this occasion, confine our remarks
chiefly to the probable forthcoming improvements,
which apply to London correspondence.
Mr. Hui, will now only have to perfect the con-