The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-10 00:00:00

situation to had held with respect to the mis- I
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the Colonial Department, and the deatiutes of tne I
inhabitants of our fifty colonies confided to his
charge !

This was certainly by no means complimentary
to our fellow-subjects in other countries. But it
was by no means the worst part of the transac-
tion. Mr. HERBERT resigned, after holding office
some ten days or a fortnight, and then a noble
lord was appointed, to whom, if ready to assume
the duties, no possible objection could be made.
But Lord Jourt RUSSELL had just started on a
mission of vast importance, from which it was
considered by the Government that it would be
most injurious to the public service to recall him
before the completion of his arduous and delicate
duties. Nor was this all. Mr. FREDERICK
PEEL, actuated by what we suppose will likewise
be termed " conmendable ambition," demanded
to be transferred to the Under Secretaryship of
the War Department. The request was
conceded, although the Colonies were practically
left without any Minister, and the War Depart-
ment had actually been previously tendered to,
and accepted by, one generally supposed to be far
more competent to its duties than the highly-
favoured Mr. PEEL. The Chief Secretary was
negotiating at Vienna ; the Under-Secretaryship
was vacant, nor has a suitable candidate been yet
discovered for the office. It is true that the Home
Secretary has promised to attend to the impera-
tive duties of the office, but it is utterly impossi-
ble that he can spare time from his own depart-
ment, which will, of course, demand his earliest
attention, to do mere than the merely formal
business. He cannot receive the numerous de-
putations, or, at all events, afford the
prolonged audiences which, after tedious,
expensive journeys they have a right to expect.
It is notorious, too, that the health of the Right
Hon. Baronet is not so strong as his friends could
desire, and that he had on that account hesitated
as to the acceptance of office. It is therefore not
fair, either to him or to our colonists, to impose
additional labours on one having already much to
do. If they are so light that they can easily be
disposed of, then there could be no necessity for
the appointment of a fourth Secretary of State
and the expenses of the new department. Minis-
sters aro thus involved in a very unpleasant di-
lemma, on either horn whereof they must be im-
paled.
Lord DERBY is entitled to much credit for
the temperate manner in which he urged the pre-
sent untoward state of affairs, and pressed for a
speedy remedy. Ho was manifestly not influ-
enced by any factious or party motives, or by any
desire to acquire political capital at the expense cf
the present Cabinet. He placed the matter simply
before the public, but in such a manner that it was
impossible to resist the conclusions at which Le
arrived. We cannot say that we were satisfied
with the answer of Lord GRANVILLE, or that
matters can rest for an indefinite period in
their present position. We do not wonder that
Lord PALMERSTON should, on the secession
of the Peelites, have been very desirous of ob-
taining the co-operation of Lord Join' Rus-
SELL. Even his name might be important.
But surely it would have been quite sufficient if
ho accepted a seat in the Cabinet without office,
or if he returned to his former office as President
of the Council, while Lord GRANVILLE assumed
the charge of the colonies. The object might
have been attained by many ways without giving
offence to the colonists, or enabling them to put
forward a complaint so well founded respecting
the ill-treatment of the authorities at home.

Every successive revelation respecting the mis-
management of the War by the late Ministry in-
creases our surprise, and must deepen the public
disgust. Had it been the set purpose of these
men to level the aristocracy in popular estima-
tion, and drag it through the mire, they could not
have taken more effectual measures than they ap-
pear to have done to accomplish it.
With ready access to the best business talent in
the world—knowing that no merchant of repute
in the three kingdoms but would be happy to
afford them every information in his power to
enable them to provide in a suitable manner for
the requirements of the public service—the his-
tory of their Administration in connection with
the War is an unparalleled series of blunders,
many of them such as an ignorant shopman would
be ashamed of.

Perhaps in nothing is their wretched imbecility
more apparent than where a good intention, in
the first instance, may with least audacity be
attributed to them. Take the ease of the tools
employed in the siege of Sebastopol. That in an
operation of such moment tools of the best de-
scription should ba supplied was alike due to the
recognised superiority of Great Britain in the man-
ufacture of those instruments, and to the brave
men who were to use them. The worse the
quality of the tools, and the greater must be the
labour of the men, and their exposure to the in-
clemency of the weather and the varied assaults
of the enemy. The meanest understanding must
at once perceive this. Turn to the Crimea, and
what do we behold ? Scenes that would move us
to laughter, were it not for indignation. Com-
panies disabled, a couple or so only, we have
heard, of men in them, with good tools to flout
their comrades with bad ones, and this the re-
sult, in the first instance, of good intentions.
No wonder if a place " unmentionable to ears
polite" is paved with them.
Red-tapisra wished to be economical ; so it
bought a bad article-at a high price, believing it
bought a good article at a low one. That is the
history of the affair, but not all. Government
was warned that a good article could not be had
at the price—knew that the article was not good
before it was shipped for the Crimea. Can the
reader learn without emotion that the tools which
failed before Sebastopol belonged to the same batch
which were tried and found wanting at Chobliarn.?
These is something revolting in the fact. In a like
spirit rotten tents, first used in the Peninsular
War, were sent out instead of new ones, and with
even a worse result.

On the other hand, there has been the most
reckless expenditure. Which of the two is worst
—the economy or the profligate expenditure—
may, with some, be a matter of doubt. For our
part we prefer the latter. That costs no lives.
But our preference is only a choice of evils. The
expenditure is very bad—bad enough to merit
serious reprehension. When we learn that,
according to the computation of Mr. LINDSAY, the
naval operations, for which the nation has had to
pay seven millions of money, ought have been
more efficiently performed for two ! why, we hold
our breath, and hope for better things—for the
speedy advent of the period when common sense
will find its way into all the offices in Downing-
ejected.
streot—Red-tapism having first been summarily

Letters have been received from Messina, stating that
Sir John M'Neill, G.C.8., and Colonel Tulloch bad
arrived at that Waco on the Ist instant, by the Thames
steamer, on their mission to the Crimea. It was ex-
pected that they would reach Constantinople by the sth
inst.