The Express.
London, England, 1867-04-23 00:00:00

THE. EXIRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, APRIL 23, 11367.

To the Volunteers themselves the remarkable
success which has attended their efforts in this
direction ought to suggest something further.
They have proved that they can reach a designated
point at short notice and in good order. But
are they ready for a campaign of even a couple of
days when they have gut there? Suppose the re-
turn to London in the evening could not be per-
mitted, and suppose the billeting in the pleasant
hotels of Dover or Brighton were out of the ques-
tion, what are their resources for camp life ? They
have neither blankets, nor great costa, nor knap-
sacks, nor canteens. Men thus unequipped with
the merest necessaries of active service would be
inefficient as an army in forty-eight hours. No
enthusiasm of patriotism can keep rain from wet-
ting, or wind from chilling, nor can any amount of
self-abnegation preserve the vital powers without
the means of cooking food. Of course the Volun-
teers mean to have all these essentials if they are
ever wanted, and they trust to have sufficient notice
of any danger to have time to provide them. But
if they leave these matters to be provided in the
'scurry of alarm, they ensure that they shall be
ill-
provided. The same reason that makes us urge
that troops should be practised in rapid transport
by rail suggests that Volunteers should practise
making themselves efficient for a campaign.
These necessaries in the shape of greit coats,
knapsacks, and canteens ought indeed to be fur-
nished to them by Government. But the oppor-
tunity might very profitably be employed for
testing the best pattern of each article. As every
one knows, ingenious persons are constantly de-
vising improvements in these matters, and there
is no doubt that the present service patterns are
the worst conceivable. There could be no better
way of finding out the best than by issuing diffe-
rent patterns to different Volunteer regiments for
trial. There is so much intercommunion among
Volunteers that their public opinion would very
soon decide which form was the best. Furnished
with these requisites the camp life of different
corps might in summer be greatly extended. We
have had some examples in Cheshire and Berks
'of this pleasant and beneficial variety of training.
But nothing could be more valuable to officers and
men than that it should be organized and made
part of the regular routine. The ambi;ion of
Volunteers is to show themselves perfect soldiers.
To attain this end fully they must show not only
that they can fight, can march, and can profit by
railway transport, but that they can bivouac and
cook.

debenture sad prskiential claito; to meta:. se:
count. As things are the banker "wants his rummy,
or the solicitor his bill, or a heavy "open accouat''
must needs be closed, or a judgment creditor re-
fuses to wait any longer. The directors cannot help them-
selves; the obligations before them are imperative, and so
they discharge them, and then meet the registered claim-
►nts on their revenues with empty tills. If it were once
known with certainty what the liabilities of a railway
company really are, the value of its property could be cal-
culated, but at present the example of one or two lines—
themselves, perhaps, only temporarily embarrassed—
damages all together in public estimation. This distrust
eau only be dispelled by complete knowledge.

LATEST INTELLIGENCE.

THE LUXEMBURG QUESTION.

The North German Gazette says :

Prussia maintains on the Luxemburg question in its
own name and that of Germany the stake quo ante which
has been sanctioned by international treaties. This posi-
tion cannot be altered at the very moment when Prussia's
right might be considered dubious because negotiations are
begun to suppress it.
On this the SUde remarks :

Prussia thus maint►ins the slats quo ante in Luxemburg;
it does not admit its right of keeping the fortress to be
called in question. If this is the view of the Berlin
Cabinet—and we can have but little doubt of it—we must
admit, with regret at the result, that it desires war.

lbenergielative to the execution 4 the Tenure of Office
Bill.
SenaW Sumner declared that he understood the Presi.
dent interided to continue the appointments after the
adjournment of Congress, in violation of the bill
The Senate has resolved to adjourn on Tuesday next.
A military commission for the trial of civilians is now
sitting at Fortress Monroe.
The Secretary of the Treasury has announced that the
tonnage dues of 30 oenta per ton will be collected once
each year on all vessels from foreign ports.
There are indications of a bloody Indian war about to
commence on the North Western frontier.