The Express.
London, England, 1849-01-09 00:00:00

THE FINANCIAL REFORM ASSOCIATION

AND SIR WILLIAM NAPIER.

The Asesciation has just published the 13th section
et that, trade.

lon the loathe last published, the TNT 10011141.
of this allant 'Meer, who assails the Financial
which must
wk
as given;.
ok
but the subject has its ramifications,
b overloed.
It is only neameary to look hack into recent political his-
tory as tar se the alga of the reform question, 1831-2, to dis-
cover that reform writer* had few stronger arguments to
urge against the abuse of military patronage than this, that
the Napier., because they were wedge, had been for many
years unrewarded by promotion. And if a cone-
spondee' (who is quoted hereafter) be not in
error, no tonnes or psi. were more frequeally—
at least more effeetaally--maployed in exposing the
abases in the clothing department of regiments (the head
taikirships) than those of the Napier*. Incessant grumbling.
however, and a belief on the part of the public that they bad
net had their fair share of promotion, gained Ice them both
promotioa and emolument*. Orlegot• command in ladia,and
besides his Scindlan pries-money, that metable of the Napier
family had his pay as • general tfilcer ; his pay as a com-
mander; his flea pay ; and his " allowances," more then
eau be enumerated here. Also he ha;, and hes, the heed
taihrship of the 22d Regiment, which was worth, in 1843
(since which there have been no morns), 1,4421. 9s. ld.,
that is, allowing him the usual rate of 6001. ss pay in his
capacity of clotting colonel, the shop profi:s oa the clothing
amounted to 9421.95. Id.
The dates of this officer's (Sir Charles James Napier's)
promote; m were—ensign, January, 1794 ; lieutenant, May,
1794 ; captain, 1803 ; major, 1806; lientenantimlonel, 1811;
from which p rind there was ne step until 1826, fourteen
years; nor was there • step from 1825 until 1837, when he
became mejor-general. In 1843 he got the head tailoring of
the 22nd Regimen; the profits worth in that year
9421. 9e. 16., uMmady stated ; and, in 1846, he was mad* •
lieutenant-general.
In the returns of public salaries, 1844, quoted in the last
section, we find anotoer Napier, presumed to be the one at
that time in Shade, of whom income " no return " had been
received ; and next to him is

Sir George f:Napier, unat;el;l pay •s • mjoagesi••L £4OO
Pension lar wounds 340
Governor of the Caps of Owl Hoye

1.5.700
This officer bosun* a lie ntenant colonel in 1812, and like
the rest, was under the " told shade," until 1825, when he
was made a colonel. He succeeded to be major-general in
1837, lieutenanLgenersl in 1846, and head tailor to the Ist
West India Regiment in 1844. The shop profits as this re-
giment have not been aacsrtained. The pay for being
clothing colonel was returned, in 1844, at 3141. 13e. Id. ;
but that:pincer who then clothed the regiment drew, in addi-
Lon, pay as a major-general, unattached; and 6.0001. per
manna as • governor of Malta," t►e profits in taikriag being
allotted, in his absence, to a substitute.
Anointr of the. Napier family is Major-Gencrel Thomas
Ersk,ne N‘pier, cumm aiding the Limerick district in Ire-
land. Besides which there is a young growth, out of vari.us
old stocks, coming up to major-generalships and head tailor-
ships, some of w►om have alrea4 rtached the dangerous
eminence (dangerous to the tame) of "colonels on the
staff,".

Of the Napier, in the Navy List nothing shall be said at
present. They alas have for their motto. " Ready, aye
ready." One of them was • member of parliament for •
"popular constituency ;" but is now more profitably em•
ployed in assisting to spend the seven millions nine hundred
and fifty-one thousand eight hundred and lorty-two pounds
voted tot the nstry. He is making experiments in sailing,
with ships which were built upon exptrinssot. but to re•
turn to Sir William Napier.
The constitution of the board of ofßeers, which Sir W.
Napier proudly points at as bring • check upon improper
nroceedings in the clothing department, was fully explained
in the last section, and a remarkable figure it makes. It
was shown, am; that private soldiers are not the msn to
make appeals or amen legal rights *pilot the pleasure of
their superior,, seeing that they may thus be distinguished
by unfavourable marks, as " lawyer.," ..0., in their book of
character. _

but it is the indiscretion of the an.ry msjorgeneral
that leads to the question of whether that board offers a
sufficient guarantee. The question was not mooted in the
Tract No. 4, from which he votes. The assertion therein
was not, as he says, that general officers deliberately sup.
ply bed clothing to obtain greater prof n." The assertion
was, that the office of clothing colonel i. conferred on general
officers because it affords a profit from t;.e clothes, and that
in cases where the clothing niust be of such a good quality
as net to afford profit, or much profit, en allowance in money
is made to make up for the deficiency. As, for instance, in
the cavalry regiments, the pay of el.ithitig colonel (see Aar
Edward Kerri‘on, No. 7 of the foregoing list) is 1,0001,
while it is generally about WO/. ice the infantry, where
the clothing is:inferior, and where deaths are more frequent,
and the proflis, consequently, greater. The military cone-
spondent already quoted, relative t. the custom of making
dianges in regimental necesiaries, by which the soldiers
have their pay stopped, say s—
hed Sir W. Napier been a soldier In the same regiment with me,
he would have bed to leave of wearing stable shoes, be reghr.eittal
orders, though the, wore not half worn. Hs would have been obliged
to accept • parr of high-lows to wear In the stebka, bawd from the
guartartnaltet's store, at ils. lid., to be paid by stoppages; and in
three months (before e high-lows were half worn, or before the
mond pair of cries were bolt worn', he would have been obliged to
throw the higiolows aside, by regsental order, not allowed to wear
or retain them In his possession ; and he must have sub-
mitted to take • pair of shoal (thus time with buckles)
from the quartermaster's store, and again piy fur them by
stoppages. In any 'meal regiment he must eubmlt to
take a pair of cloth overalls and a new 'noble Jacket, and
par fur them by stoppage*. In any regiment the soldier who Is
easing, rarebit, and so economic d as to go to the hsberdashere to
buy his own linen, heeler", flannels, or otto r wares, may look out fur
the frowns of the troop eel geantsma)or In cavalry, the colour sergeant
and pay sergeant In itifentry, tool the qulrternoster in any of them.
If the soldier takes the profit which they look for to any other shop,
be will soon have a handle to his name, and a sunk upon his charms
ter; he will be "Lowry Brown." If by choice, there be • bpd
upoa his belts, or dullness on bin brass s, or rust upon his rararid.
after that —ah : it had been bettor far him not to have gone past the
barrack store with his :usual.

Major General Napier proceeds to argue about the cap-
tains of the army not having a pecuniary barren in the
necessaries served out to the Bolding. It was not alleged th tt
they had. The captains were not spoken of nor hit ted at.
Ile proceeds into other matters wnich have no connexion
with the sobj ets in question, into which nothing but
ranee could hive led him.

The question at issue 11 this:—There being an average of
profits pocketed by the clothing colonels of ab nit 7.5,0001.,
and pay to the amount of 86,8-501 74. 6d., making
161,8501. 7. 6d., and those clothing colonels, even by Sir
William Nopier's own showing, doing nothing, good
or bed, with the clothing, " never seeing their
regiments," ae be admits ; being powerless undi r
the board of generals and the Queen's regulations ;
seeing this to be the case, might no the whole of that sum
be saved to the taxpayers ? The objection of the association
to the system, as expressed in Tract No. 4, is, that a fiction
is continued by those general Officers to take money from the
public none while they blindfold the public • yea. Major-
General Napier rushes into print to defend the " honour" of
this fiction, and the " honour" of those who blindfold the
pubic eye. Against pay earned by services actually per-
formed the association make no complaint; nor do they ques•
tion the amount of such pay and declare it to be too high ; on
the contrary, it has always surprised merchants, manufac-
turers, and others ens aged actively in commerce, that gentle-
men boasting of their high birth, of their family, and their
personal honour,should use family influence to scramble, and
political influence to intrigue, for appointments, the legiti-
mate pay of which is about the same as the salaries of junior
clerks, or head porters in the establishing-Its of merchants;
whose ultimate advancement, if some more powerful scram•
bleu do not force them aside, is to be major-generals, lieut.-
nant-geeerals, possibly generals, or (twenty thousand chances
to one against them) held-marehals, and whose legitimate,
honestly avowed pay is but equal to the salaries of mercantile
clrrks of the first clue, or the profits of second or
third-rate tradesmen. It is their other emoluments
which alore make their military rank • doable, without
which they are discontented grumblers. To obtain
these they scramble into parliament, or, if they
cannot obtain seats there themselves, they rack their family
influence to the uttermost to place relatives in parliament
(nearly three hundred such being there now), through
whose venal votes they may be placed elsewhere, to receive
those other emolument, in andition to their legitimate pay,
namely, the head tailoring of regiments, the horse dealing of
cavalry and artillery, the sinecure commands of garrisons,
the staff commands of districts, the commands of ships or
dockyards, the governorships of colooies, the " table allow-
ances," and official pickings of such governorehipr--emolu-
meats which are alike oppreseive to the distressed taxpayers
who bear the burthen, and discreditable to these tax-eaters.

PROPOSED COUNTY SCHOOL-FARM
FOR HEREFORDSHIRE.

A report of the committee on a Hereford county
and city school-farm, for if icing young people of the labour-
ing classes in agricultural industry, on the se:f supporting
system, was read at a meeting in Hereford last week. It was
carried unanimously.
Leaving aside children of earlier years than nine to the ar•
ranomments made for them in their respective parishes, under
the supervision of the clergy, he coramitG e apply themselves
to the question—What sort of establishment and what course
of education will be most suitable and advisable for the cor-
rection of prevailing evils, and for the discharge of those
Cbrietiac obligations which the opulent owe to the indigent ?
Statistics show that in: England end Wales there was an
inerea-e in committels to prison of 4,530 in the last two years.
It is understood that the number of crimes perpetrated is six
times as many as the number of committals. The total costs
for the detection and punishment of crime for the year ending
at E tater, 1818, far the county of Hereford, were, in round
numbers, beneath the true once, 6.0601. ; for the city, 2,3001.,
exclusive of the orate borne by Fovernment
In England and Wales, the increase, in 1847, of the num-
ber of paupers relieved was 389,271 —The total number
of paupers now exceeds one tenth of the whole population,
and it is understood that the returns for 1849 will show a
considerable increase. The cot ter paupers in the county of
Hereford for 1837 was 39,2181.; for 1847, 45,3631. The
chairman of the Board of Guardians has already announced
that the number of children in the workhouse has increased
in seven years from 50 to 150, the number now in the house,
and that the premises will soon I equire enlargement to ac-
commodate the ennually.increming number of applications.
The committe, in view of thee. facer, are convinced that an in-
stitution for training the children of thelabouring classai,as we 11
as the chiViren of the minty and city, in agricultural industry,
if efficiently directed, would conduce mate rielly to the beet in-
terests of the communit y. And further, that such an institution,
formed on a somas of magnitude and munificenc craneneu•
rate with its importance, deserves and demon .e the cordial
co- 3peration of every one for its establishment. Much ince-

vetting and inetesetlve natter lee been brought before the r
attention 01 the ataunittee, which shows the almost bound-
less reeourees of the soil under diciest systems of spade
husbandry and economical maanagemeat of manures. Tuese
extraordinary results, however, have only hitherto lamed
boo limited qualities of lead. They neverthelees exhibit,
ea s amtua sae* a mast enisorssfing prospect of the great
—sued ef deed which had ensulany cultivaUld on a large
seals rim he expected to produce.
Tim cesamittee, with deference, submitted the fellewies
so
fiat wed Indastrld /keel. he the einestien et
deism ells* mama et as Montag dress Is the eseney
Mr;sientikleeL That the eine be senheeleil es • esirespeort-
tag epitlein. Trot a ions bele= en keen Thst the yew( prople
he seeded Is the eiteeLheut, talll lbe are et *Men was. That
priliki Farris. is pines • toy In lbe edeoWerm,sed le ger his
Adele (sperm belimety, be In
to do eo, end to meow him
dm issamber being linked. That Maimed* be gives in
theeilmenressi ler these hams dilly. That a Wit a metros, a
slesilaister, • sobool-ralstress, esreant-maids, sad these selected
ishemeees be the Waken cabers or the school-fare. That a helm,
telee,_.....L.sbeemsker, and carpenter, be occeelorially 'employed on the
not the lfol Bmipteres be lead daily In the 'shoot ; that
FieabYsn le thereon, and the seoeeary Explanations be
elm% mil that be Moine*, of every day bey,in and end with prayer
L emoil=iea That the church be taught to the children of
of the church of England ; but not to those whose parents,
sanaters of ether religions bodges, object to it. That the young
people to taught and trained in the principles and practice of Chris-
timaty, In elementary knowledge, in etude huxbundry, In the usual
beeinee Of • hum, and in other useful occupations, with • view to at
tom, by obristl.in condos end habits of industry, to earn • reputable
Mdegoodeat livelihood. That the young people attend divine
eerie. every Sunday in the parish church, with the bailiff or school.
raggeter.

The committee basing failed to find any practical example
of the system of spade husbandry they »commend large
enough to warrant them in arriving at any definite oonclo-
nen as to the amount of produce which can by due shill and
labour be realised, or in ascertaining the proper proportion
between the sup,ily of labour and the quantity of land re-
quisite for the attainment of the greatest benefit to the pupils,
and the largest return from the so-I. The produce must be
greatly determined by the skill and cue with which the sys.
tam is administered, and the number required for its cultiva-
tion, by the results of practical experience. As there must,
under any circumstances, intervene a considerable period
before the lanl is brought to its full bearing, the committee
recommend that, for the purpose of maintaining the young
people and supplying the interest of the necessary outlay for
the first few years, a sum be raised by subscription, and that
the amount of such subscription shall determine the scale on
which the enterprise is first founded. The east of 300 pupils
will be less in proportion than that for 100, because the same
establishment of officers nearly wi.l suffice. A capital of
some amount for the purchase of stock, manure, implements,
die , will be also requisite ; and the committee recommend
that this sum be raised= ken, and bear interest. The pre.
bable expenses may be stated thus : Rent, rates, and taxes
for the farm 50s. per acre. Salaries—BAK 601. per annum;
matron, SOL ; tech elm eater, 501. ; mistress, 301. • servant-
maids, each 101 ; selected labourers. each 1.51. Maintenance
—Rations, clothes, and all other costs fir the pupils, each
per week 3a. 6d. ; rations for efficers, 201. each per annum ;
keep of two horses, each 201. rm annum. The commi•tee
understand that the self-supporting principle shall he carried
into every department of the institution, not simply with a
view to economise the funds, hut with the far more impor-
tant object of exhibiting to the young people a aye em cf
domestic management and economy in its minutest detaile,
which to the cottager may be essential to the comfort or sub-
sistence • f the family. On the other hand, it is tar from
their purpose that the school-farm shall be wholly dep. ndsnt
for its continuance upon the labour of the poor children who
are admitted its inmates. During the first few years, the
poverty of the soil and the inaptitude of the young labourers
may present innumerable obstacles to the full attainmect of
the end aimed at. The committee, however, are persuaded
that»e interest which has been so generally expressed by the
county families, and by many in the city, in the proposed
scheme, may be taken as an instalment of their teadinetu to
contribute towards the support of the school-farm, at least
mat.' its merits shall be cevelopcd. Nor will they jutLe
those merits by the naked balance-sheet of pounds, shillings,
and pence. Tt.ty will give to that department which is its
chief object, viz , training the children practically in chris ian
conduct, and habituating them to the details of agricultural
industry, its due proportion. Every sovereign invested in
this purpme may, if the schaol•larm prosper. b 3 set down by
the capitalist as a sum that shall in a few years return an
amt le per centage.
The more sanguine members of the committee, however,
feel th. =selves fully just•tiol in expressing their conviction
that with a sufficient evict', to commence with. and a due
number of willing young labourers, after the first few years,
this cradle of etithtianity, industry, on I agriculture will need
no external support. Oa the contrary, that it will be pre-
pared to offer a hospitable hem* to many friendless and most
hopeless young wanderers.
By accepting orphans and the children of indigent parents
as the children of the county, or th, children of the city—as
individuals whom, by the laws of the realm, the. are bound
to keen in order—hitherto through the terror of the gaol,
end bonne, to provide a maintenance for—hitherto through
the medium of workhouses and the form of poor-laws—the
opulent do in fact only extend to them the same principle
which the soundest policy prompts them to pursue in the
management of their own children.
To prevent is in every case wiser then to cure. To bend
twigs -a infinitely more easy than to mould timber. To win
the respect, the regard, and the obedience of young people
by wtoleanme discipline, and by initiating them in the duty
and love they owe to God and to their neighbours, an Basis r
task than to force conformity from the hoary head and
heardened heart.

But the pent mid weight of the argurnet.t in favour of the
establishment of schools of agricultural industry does not be
in holdinu them forth as defensive measures against the pro-
gress of vice and the inroads of pauperism. Much higher
and nobler prospective ends crown this work. To qualify
the labauring climes by intelligence, by discipline, and by
habits to identify their individual interests with the best
interests of mankind generally ; and to give them an interest
in preserving the peace and happiness of all around them, will
be to build the safest bulwarks against the ravages and cals.
mities which now desolate Europe. The willing h,arts and
ready if rvices of an intelligent, industrious, grateful, and
efsristian people, will be the best national defences, and the
best c overvatives of the national resources. While as
patriots they will share and rejoice in their country's pros
perity, as christians they will receive with thankfulness the
bounties with which a gracious Providence shall bless the
work of their hands for their sustenance in this life, and they
may look forw.ird with hope and cheerfulness to that hour
when their Redeemer shall intro.uce them to
.another lire,
happy and everlasting.