The Sun.
London, England, 1855-10-05 00:00:00

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could arrive at the conclusion, that for Indian'officers 7,\T): ;L44,..).-
make a common purse, in order to enable their o ye, ee:-; *:-_,..,- T
brethren to retire, and when retired to live more —. e-', ~-.t:,'.eseeA I:7i:eel ...j
Portably than they could otherwise have done on the ;1;-‘•'"`,, „`....';) / ~-:"---. --":1'
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of their rank, should be illegal, may be known to t 0 \S• - --..--; ' •,/zr,
better versed in law mysteries than we pretend to eA,..n;f-I'll .Z .
Let us pass from the lawyer to the statesman. Ma, Lja--,'":-..):
Vernon Smith said in Parliament that he considered tI.A ,i\\ • * i •
i\ g-out system to be injurious to the service, thongll
he gave no reasons for such an opinion, whence these
best acquainted with the subject very reasonably infer
that, in common with many other presidents of the
Board of Control who pronounce dogmatically on Indian
subjects, he knew little about it. Supposing our view
of a strict seniority system to be correct, what would
have been the present condition of the Indian army with-
out the buying-out system ? Had we been lucky enough
to retain India the higher grades of the army must have
been swept off, together with the Military Board, and
for the self-same reason. The cry of our day—and a
very proper one—is for youeg and efficient officers in
command, and the President of the Board of Control
says that one of the very best means of supplying these
that could be devised is injurious to the service ! What
the public is clamouring for, and Government is contriv-
ing to introduce, the officers of the Indian army have
been all along supplying at their own personal expense.
The Chief Justice says this is illegal, and the chief ruler
of India says that it is injurious to the service ! It is
iortnnate that the zeal of the Indian army exceeds the
knowledge of its rulers.
But Mr. F. Peel, with that honest aptitude for contra
dieting his chief when in error which distinguished him
in the Colonial-office, upset Mr. Vernon Smith's asser-
tion without ceremony, by declaring that " to prevent
offers of her Majesty's service who had received their
commissions free from selling them when they retired
from the service would be interfering with vested in-
terests," and yet the Chief Justice rules that an officer
of the East India Company is guilty of an illegal act if
he receives a bonus for retiring, even though that bonus
is given to him by his brother officers. This may be
good law, but it is bad logic.
But does the Indian officer receive his appointment
free I Let us inquire in the case of a cavalry officer.
The expense of his curriculum at Addiscombe, including
everything, falls by no means greatly short of the regu-
lation price of commissions in her Majesty's army. The
difference is that commissions in the Queen's army are
obtained without knowledge or preparation, whilst in
the Company's army both are provided. he Queen's
man pays for a commission—the Company! man for-14 ~
education which will fit him for -11*-wolk.-- -vta.hiy,o,;,,.,_
~..iil the regulation price of Queen's 'comniSsiene; forwer
have nothing to do with the system which makes Queen's
commissions read thousands in their purchase where
hundreds are marked in the regulations ; a system
which, in some of its results, approximates closely to
that of the illegal Company's system, though in other
and equally important results it is positively vicious, and
destructive of the best interests of an army.
Let us follow our young cornet to India. His two
chargers will cost him 1,500 rupees. A full-dress kit
from a good outfitter will, by the time it reaches him in
India, cost 2,000 rupees. He has his Mess Fund, Band
Fund, Military Fund—the fund in question —to pay,
his tent to purchase, his quarters to fit up, &c., all
which can scarcely be done under 4,000 rupees, which
he must either pay or go in debt for under still more
unfavourable circumstances. Does he then pay nothing
for his commission ? Or if he do, has he not a vested
interest in his profession as much as the Queen's officer
who gets his commission free, or even as much as a
Queen's officer who pays for his commission ? Apply
Mr. Peel's reasoning t) the Indian army, to which it is
just as applicable as to the Queen's army, and what is
Mr. Vernon Smith's opinion without reason worth ?
Following in the same strain, a portion of the Indian
press pronounces the Military Fund to be the cause of
the indebtedness of the Indian army. In one sense it is
a cause, and for this reason, that when men owe more
than they can pay, every additional demand is an addi-
tional cause of indebtedness. A writer whose lightest
word is a law to military men does not include the Mili-
tary Fund amongst the causes of indebtedness of the
Indian army. He knew better, regarding the Military
Fund as one of the best institutions of that army. It
will do no harm to recapitulate the causes of indebted-
ness as laid down by Sir C. Napier. istly. Defective
education in some officers, and vulgar propensities in
others. 2dly. Youth and inexperience, which ought to
be better looked aft r by the commanding officers. 3dly.
Constant marching of regiments in time of peace. 4tlaly.
Extravagances of messes in which poor and prudent officers
are frequently crushed by a majority. sthly. The facilities
offered by the banks of borrowing money. To this enu
mera,tion by Sir Charles Napier we may add the cause we
have just cited, of making a young cornet without money
run several thousand rupees in debt, at the outset of his
career, more than is really necessary. To mention, then,
so excellent an institution as the Military Fund as a
cause of indebtedness is simply ridiculous in comparison
with the worthless expenditure which is forced upon
young men in such a way that none but the most pru-
dent can rise superior to it.
Besides, even were the Military Fund a cause of in-
debtedness, it is not the kind of indebtedness that is in-
jurious in its effects. The debt is incurred for a great
an .l tangible profit to a portion of the officers on each
occasion of a step being purchased, and of prospective
profit to all. The largest share of the purchase-money
falls, of course, to those who are immediately promoted
by the step, and who at once come into the receipt of
increased pay and allowance. And when the money is
borrowed such arrangements are made with the lender
as insure the repayment by regular monthly instalments,
to which each individual efficer of course contributes his
portion, one officer of the regiment taking the manage.
ment of the affair.

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That those who by their own extravagance and want
of self-control would be in debt under any circumstances
are rendered more deeply so by this system is not be de-
nied. But, on the other hand, the system acts benefi-
cially in the majority of cases, by creating that necessity
for economy and self-denial which is wanting in the case
0' most young men entering the service. The pay of the
company is so liberal that there is no doubt that an en-
sign, even when settled with hla own regiment, could,
without undue parsimony, save 15 or 20 rupees monthly,
whilst in the case of a cornet, as we have just
given it, he may save more. His pay is 310 rupees
a month (311.), and it is computed by those well able to
judge that, if careful and free from losses, he may save
out of this no less than 100 rupees (101.). So that even
if family circumstances cenapel him to go in debt at first,
he is not without the ability of easily liquidating it if
pos.ce3sed of the principle and determination so to do.
And we are happy to say that many are possessed of that
principle. We know of two cases at this moment, in
which a young Artillery officer and an officer of tho
Fusiliers—both young men thoroughly grounded in
good principles—have not only paid their debts which
were at first unavoidable, but contribute to the neces-
sities of those at home who, under Jr widence, implanted
those principles within them, and who now reap the re-
ward of their instruction in common with the objects of
parental solicitude.
But ordinarily, even these not inclined to exceed their
income do not think it wcrth while to be careful about
what appears such a trifle, and the consequence is that
they indulge in unnecessary extravagance. For instance,
most young subalterns indulge in the luxury of a couple
of horses, accompanied by a brace of greyhounds, when
one of the former and both the latter might certainly
be dispensed with. It would be easy to enumerate other
superfluitie, the maintenance of which renders the con-
tribution to the Military Fund insignificant in compari-
son. And these are what ate called steady men ;as a
matter of course, the imprudent and the vicious launch
into all manner of extravagant absurdities, but no rule
can be applied to such, tier is it worth w bile to apply any.
They would not do well any where nor under any cir-
cutustance-, and the interests of an army are of too grave
a, nature to permit their welfare to disturb its calculations.
In the opinion of those officers most competent to
judge, the buying-out system supplies just such an occa-
sion as is wanted to make young men careful at the out-
set, and this is to a great extent found to be its effect.
There are few officers who have become deeply involved
who might not pay every farthing when it comes to their
shale for the purchase of promotion had they chosen to
exercise ordinary economy and self-denial, and the proof
of this lies in those who do pay their share. It would
be absurd to fit the institutions of an army to those who
pass their whole career in violating them.
If then the law of England pronounces the system to
be illegal, the sooner it is made legal the better. And
if the Indian Minister thinks the system injurious to the
service, let him provide a better
if he
or at any rate
give his reasons for his opinion, he wolf.d not himself
be classed amongst incapable grumblers. The comments
of the Indian press we pass over, as that follows its
leaders, who for the most part follow their own motives,
whether of interest or passion.