The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-16 00:00:00

( From the Daily News of this day.)

Is Mr. Roebuck to have his committee ? Is the in-
quiry into the management of the war, voted by a ma-
jority of more than 2 to 1 of the Howe of Commons, to
go on ? These as-a among the first questions that the
country will expect to have answered by the Parliament
which reacserablas this day. Either such inquiry is
necessary and proper, or it is not. If it is necessary and
proper. the House of Commons, by allot-fing it to drop,
betray their constituents. If it is not necessary and
proper now, it cannot have been so two weeks age, and
the vote which dissolved a Cabinet and has kept public
business in abeyance, must have . been a recklessly fac-
tious demonstration. Honourable members have placed
themselves on the horns of this dilemma—ho w they are
to get off is their concern, _ _

The objection to the prosecution of inquiry which is
most insisted upon is, that it will be—inconvenient I
Inconvenient to whom ? All culprits and delinquents,
who are in danger of having their misdeeds exposed to
the light of day, feel inquiry a very inconvenient thing;
but is their convenience to be consulted, to the detri-
ment of the common weal ? Some inconvenience to the
public there may be ; but nothing in comparison to the
benefit that is to be derived from a searching investiga-
tion. It is clear that our Administrative Government,
civil and military, has got into a lamentably inefficient
condition. Reform is necessary, and the only legitimate
instrument Gf reform is the great Council of the Nation
—Pat-Han-writ. But how can Parliament reform our ad-
ministrative Government, if it does not begin by ascer-
taining where the defects lie ? To set to work to amend
the machinery of executive government without previous
inquiry, would be to run the risk of altering the sound
parts, and leaving the rotten untouched.
Mr. Sidney Herbert spoke very sensibly yesterday, at
the nomination for South Wilts. He congratulated the
country on the accession of Lord Palmerston to the
Premiership. He congratulated it upon the appointment
of Lead John Russell to conduct the negotiations at
Vieana. Upon another blessing for which the country
is at least equally thankful Mr. Sidney Herbert forgot
to congratulate it—the removal of the Duke of New•
castle and himself from the 'War-office. Mr. Sidney
Herbert went on to remark that the only way to obtain
an honourable and satisfactory peace was to carry on
the war with vigour ; and that order to do this it
would be necessary to make considerable improvements
in our system of military administration. There is no-
thing, it is true, very novel or striking in such remarks,
but they are an agreeable corrective to the puling tone
in which Mr. Sampson Ricardo—who, like his great
namesake, appears to hare an eye to the gates of the
Treasure House—addressed the electors of Winds:T.
The peace-at-any-price language of Mr. Ricardo was in-
deed rather ominous in the mouth of the chosen of
the electors of Windsor--a borough in which the
Court is all-powerful; and tha more resolute tone of
Mr. Sidney Herbert was no more than was required to
do away with its bad effect. The language of Mr. Sid-
ney Herbert is an apt illustration of the advantage to be
gamed by bringing Ministers occasionally into contact
with large constituencies. '