The Express.
London, England, 1867-04-24 00:00:00

LYCIUM.

Tlll4 Kerma. BAMBOOZLING. Mr. Price and Miss
Kate Bistam.—TllK DUKE'S MOTTO. Mr. Yachter, Messrs.
Emery. WM.tleonth. Re. Mimes Itaworthy, Grattan, end Car-
lotta leclereq.—A Grand Ballet. M. Espinosa * Mdlle. Sophie.

WTftAND.

TIN itromet SWEETIIKAiTWAND WIV64, Mr. Bel-
ford. —PYGMALION: OR., THE STATUE PAIR, Meson Thome,
James. tto. Mesdames A. Swanboraurh, Raysluten. Harland,
Johns one, Holt,t Newt.n.—And THE FRENCH EXIIIBITION.

HOLBORN.

THIS Emma°, MY TURN NEXT. Mr. Delmore; Shines
Soot* and Lermoz.—And FLYING SCUD. Messrs. Neville, Bel..
moss, Blake, Voltaire, Re. ; Madames F. Josephs, C. denaders,
Nene Foote. Fiddes, Lassos, Raymond, to

BILITANNLIL

Tars Erse-fin. THE LIFE SIGNAL. Messrs. Rayonlds,
Drummond, Howe. : Miss Jane Covenev.—CH EERY AND
FAIR STAR. Messrs. Blgwood, Leslie, Elton, Re.: Min R.
Edwin sad Mrs. S. Lane.—And THE DREAM OF AILEEN.

NUM WATIIIt AT LONDON BEIDOZ.
TIM DAT —Morning, sh. Bas Afternoon, sh. NS.
704101.10 W—Morning, sh. 441 e..— —Afternoon. 60. 4E4

LONDON, WEDNESDAY, APRIL 24.

THE meagre character of the recommendations
of the Recruiting Commission has probably not yet
fallen out of public recollection. But their memory
is not uselessly revived by a document just issued,
in which they are presented in a tabular form,
with a note appended to each, stating whether it
has been adopted and carried out by the Horse
Guards or not. What was originally paltry in
suggestion becomes by this comparison with per-
formance almost striking for fecundity of idea and
breadth of scope. There are just thirty-nine
articles in this new creed of Army Reform, and of
these seventeen have appended to them the words
" Nut carried out." What is more unfortunate is
that the fatal phrase is applied to the few pro-
posals which have anything in them of value.
Minute details of alteration in the arrangements
of the Recruiting Service are approved and
adopted. Thus we are told that the recommenda-
tion that recruiting by means of the adjutants and
staff of the Militia should cease, and that pen-
sioners employed on that duty should be sub-
jected to the Mutiny Act, has been " car-
" ried out." So also is the next recom-
mendation—if, indeed, it deserve that name—
which is to the effect " that inspecting field
" officers should be employed as at present, but
" that the number of such officers should be re-
" wised from time to time as recruiting increases
" or diminishes." Then a number of details re-
specting the apportionment of the enlistment re-
wards and of the smart money to recruiting par-
ties are declared to he adopted, and some altera-
tions are made respecting the marking of de-
serters. The few changes accepted that rise at
all above this level consist in the relief of the sol-
dier from the charge for browning his arms and
altering his clothing, in furnishing him with one
extra pair of serge trousers biennially, and one
extra pair of boots annually, in rendering in some
way (we are not told how) the Royal Military
Asylum and the Hibernian Military School more
available for the supply of recruits, and in direct-
ing that pensioners discharged with good characters
should be employed as clerks in Government
offices. And we must, of course, remember the
grand panacea of General PEEL, of twopence a day
extra all round, though, as it happened, this was
not recommended by the Commission at all. But
among the list of rejected proposals we find in-
cluded the recommendation, that the period for
computing length of service should runfrom the date
of attestation, without reference to the attainment
of the age of 18 ; that which draws " the atten-
" Lion of the military authorities to the allegation
" that the desertion of recruits is sometimes occa-
" sioned by the fatigue and irksomeness of the
" drill, and to the desirableness of limiting as
" much as practicable the duration of each drill,
" and of every care being taken that the strength
" and energy of the recruit be not overtaaked ;"
that a complete supply of clothing necessaries be
issued to the soldier at more frequent intervals
without stoppages ; that the distinction between
pay and beer money should be abolished ; that the
number of commissions granted to non-commis-
sioned officers should be made generally known ;
and that a statement of the conditions and advan-
tages of the service should be drawn up and
circulated in the recruiting districts. The
failure to comply with the two last re-
commendations is, indeed, not matter for
which we are disposed to blame the Horse Guards.
If they were to tell the full truth in these re-
spects it is very certain that recruiting would be
brought to a dead stand at once. It goes on at
present chiefly because men don't know what they
are subjecting themselves to when they take the
the shilling.
This catalogue of changes in trifles and of ob-
stinate resistance to change in all that is important,
shows clearly enough the temper that animates the
military authorities. But, fortunately, meantime
the public is gaining every day a fuller informa-
tion from the best sources respecting the real
nature of the case. The books, magazine
articles, and letters written by private soldiers,
have of late years made a very dis-
tinct show in our literature, and the
public reads them all with nearly the same avidity
as the stories of bigamy and poisoning which are
its favourite mental food at present. From these
quarters it is beginning to form a pretty accurate
idea of the real nature of the soldier's trade. It
sees how the service, tolerable in a good regiment,
becomes a hell upon earth in a bad one. It un-
derstands how the dead, dull uniformity of mean-
ingless routine crushes out all love for the trade
of arms from the most enthusiastic natures. It
begins to know something of the petty tyranny of
subalterns and sergeants, against which there is
no redress ; of the want of encouragement or op-
portunity for self-improvement ; of the hope-
leafless of rising by any persistence in

good conduct ; of the fatia c.onaerilienties
of even the rare reward of exceptionat•gallantry
by promotion to • commission, when it brings
with it the necessity of companionship with extra-
vagant officers who gain their rank by purchase.
By and bye this spreading acquaintance with the
true merits of the case will enforce a change.
When the time comes, whether brought about by
the total collapse of the existing recruiting system
or by some great necessity for augmenting our
army, that the chiefs at the Horse Guards are at
their wit's end, the nation will be able to set them
and their ancient routine aside, and to dictate a
remodelling of our army organization which will
horrify them, but will giveto England the strength
of all her sons to defend her in her need.

Ar the present crisis in foreign affairs, the tele-
grams from the Paris Bourse are looked for with
the utmost eagerness, and each day very little
general business takes place in the Stock Exchange
until the first prices are received from Paris, it
being assumed that the movements on the Bourse
furnish the truest possible index to the chances of
peace or war, owing to the notorious speculative
tendencies of many persons forming the entourage
of the court. It would really seem, however,
that our financial and mercantile community
suffer themselves to be swayed too vio-
lently by these indications. Let us assume
that war is imminent, and look our position in
the face. This country will then be, more than
ever, a place of refuge for foreign capital, of which
we shall enjoy the use for the time upon our own
terms. None of the powers that may go to war
can dream for a moment of raising money for such
purposes here. Our present opinion of foreign
loans is shown in the fact that the last Chilian
Loan, though raised by a State in good credit, and
yielding a high rate of interest, is scarcely saleable
above 6 discount. It is, indeed, the prospect
of a large and immediate loan for the French
government that contributes to the violence
of the fluctuations lately witnessed in the
Rentes, but this merely supplies another reason
why we should not suffer our home and Indian
securities to be depreciated in response to such
movements. The difference between our securities
and those of foreign States is only now beginning
to be properly understood, but it is satisfactory to
remark that, in spite of the alarms which for some
months have been ceaselessly sounded from the
Continent, the investments in the English funds
have been steadily continued, and, owing to the
consequent scarcity of stock, Consols now can be
bought almost at a lower price for money
than for delivery several weeks hence. In
like manner, Indian government and railway
stocks continue to be absorbed, and show great
firmness. Our home railway stocks--another great
branch of the national investments—have, it is true,

had many difficulties to contend with of late, in-
cluding improvident administration, financial un-
soundness, and dulness of trade, yet, though a
large amount of stock hitherto held on borrowed
money has been forced for sale, all the recent set-
tlements in the Stock Exchange have shown a pre-
ponderance of small investments, the consequence
being that the stock thus sold has been nearly all
absorbed. The state of our trading prospects
ought equally to deter us from falling into
blind alarm. Non-intervention, except in mat-
ters touching the national honour, being the
recognised principle of our foreign policy, it is very
improbable that we shall be involved in war on the
Continent, and we may therefore reckon upon being
the chief carriers and purveyors of commodities to
the contending nations. Moreover, our command
of capital is already excessive, and, instead of
suffering from a speculative mania, we have allowed
a speculative reaction to be carried so far that we
are actually beginning to experience some of the
evils attendant upon hoarding. Our position alto-
gether, political and financial, is almost unpre-
cedentedly strong, and very different from that of
some of the communities whence these notes of
alarm are transmitted.

OTTR CONTEMPORARIES.
(THIS DAY.)

lIR. BRIGHT% SPEICH.

The Times describes Mr. Bright and Mr. Sohole-
field as giving their bearers of their worst. The state-
ments of the latter, who is usually a man of moderate
language, were as one-sided, and his criticism as partial,
as anything Mr. Bright has ever uttered. Intentionally
or not Mr. Bright managed to leave the final impression
that the settlement of reform must be obtained by
forte and not argument. According to the Times it
is the opposition, and not the government, which has
dragged its anchor and is teasing wildly about. Mr.
Bright's whole method of analysing the government
scheme is essentially vicious, and the comparison he insti•
Lutes between it and Mr. Gladstone's rival plan is accord.
ingly quite untrustworthy. Taking the bill as it stands
as incapable of modification, exaggerating its consequences
in one direction, suppressing its proposals in another, he
produces a picture which would be impressive were it true,
but is only fantastic as imaginative. Unless the opposi-
tion adopt a different policy from this, and ant with pru-
dence and sobriety, the government will be left unchecked,
and, before another false step is taken, the Times implores
each and all to weigh the responsibility of the hour.
The Daily News treats of the renewal of the reform agi-
tation due to the course pursued by the tory government
and its allies, and refers to Mr. Bright's speech only Mei.
dentally. The government scheme has been unanimously
condemned at every meeting held during the recess,
and the liberal members whose secession gave the
ministry its majority, have been sharply and promptly
called to account by their constituents. The divergence
of sentiment which has gradually grown between the
House of Commons and the nation is shown by the fact
that to please the one is to discontent the other.
The Birmingham demonstration is but a beginning. The
responsibility of the state of affairs mainly rests with the
46 Marplots who have made it impossible to improve the
government bill, and very few of whom are able to point
to peat services and to evident proofs of earnestness in the
cause for which they have deserted their principles and
party. One good result that may be expected from their
conduct is the reforming of the liberal party, which is the
first condition of its reorganisation ; and another is that it
will ensure on the next opportunity that the leader
whom the people at large trust and admire shall not lack
supporters on whose fidelity to their principles and their
party he can rely.
The Post think. Mr. Bright has never spoken more effeo.
ti rely, and that he has taken what is on the whole an semi-
rate measure of the government bill.

The Herald's comments amount to simply asking, who
cares what Mr. Bright says ? HU speech means nothing
more than that the radical conspiracy by which the
Reform Bill was threatened has utterly broken down, and
that its two principal managers can neither control their
rage nor preserve their self-respect under the mortification
of detection and defeat.

The Standard calls for a well•organised conservative
Working Men'. Association for the metropolis.
The Star looks to the Birmingham meeting as inevitably
convincing Mr. Disraeli of the propriety of recognising for
the future Mr. Gladstone's rank as the leader of the
liberals. If by any effort the liberal party now in the
house can force upon the government such an amendment
of the borough franchise as would bring it practically to
household suffrage, then, of course, it may be possible to
settle satisfactorily this session the great question which
has so long remained in debate. But if the government
will not accept any such amendment, then let them by all
means be forced to reeign.or to dissolve.