The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-10 00:00:00

COMMISSARIAT PROMOTIONS.

The following circular, regulating the promotions
in the Commissariat, was one of the Duke of New-
castle's latest official acts, and we publish it as no
bad illustration of the honest care for the efficiency
of the public service which characterised his admi-
nistration :

" Secretary of State's Oflice, War Department,
Jan. 15, 1855. •

" Sir,—Upon the occasion of the transfer of the Com-
missariat from the Board of Treasury to the department
of the Secretary of State for War, the Duke of New-
castle had under his special consideration the rules by
which the promotion of Commissariat officers is regu-
lated.-

" These may thus be summed up :
" That promotions be conferred only at the close of
each year.
"That length of service be calculated according to the
period of each officer's actual service on full pay.
"That seniority be allowed its full weight, but that
selections be made dependent upon recorded merits and
services.

" His grace is of opiniori that these general rules, if
carried out in their integrity, are calculated to elevate
the commissariat service, to stimulate exertion, and to
insure a succession of able and zealous officers for the
various important duties to be performed.
"13ut it appears to his grace to lee of the last import
ante that no extraneous influence, either private or poli-
tical, should be allowed to enter into the consideration
of the comparative claims of officers of the department,
which, when viewed in the double light of seniority and
superior merit, are already, in some cases, so difficult to
be decided upon with perfect fairness.
"The Duke of Newcastle is at all times ready to give
his his best attention to representations made in official form'
in favour of officers on the ground of services, but his
grace desires me to express his determination to consider
private applications, on other grounds, either from
officers or from friends on their behalf, as furnishing
evidence that the merits of such officers are not alone
sufficient to justify their being promoted.—l am, sir,
your most obedient servant,

" HENRY ROBBRTS.
"To the Commissariat Officer in charge."

NAVAL AND MILITARY OPERATIONS.

The following letter has been addressed to a contem-
porary :

Sir,—At the time that the honour of England and her
pesition as a great Power are involved in the success or
otherwise of onr military and naval operations against
Russia, and considering 'that much of that success must
mainly and of necessity depend upon an effective adminis-
tration of our naval resources, it may not be inopportune
to call the serious attention of Parliament and the country
to an extract from a speech of the Earl of Malinesbury
in the debate in the House of Lords on Thursday last.
The noble earl, who knows well the responsibility of
office, having himself been a Secretary of State, and who
is a Privy Councillor, and one of our hereditary legisla-
tors, thus announces the inefficiency of our present sys-
tem of the administration of the navy, showing clearly
its injurious consequences upon the honour and material
interests of this great element of England's strength :
" If the administration of the patronage of the army
were assimilated to that of the navy, it would become the
hot-bed of jobbing and trickery, which has been for many
years a reproach to the Admiralty and this country. (Hear,
hear.) I say it has been a reproach, and a just reproach,
to the Admiralty, and I myself can recollect that one of
the earliest steps I took in public life showed me, without
doubt, how far that system of corruption prevailed under
the, peculiar administration of the navy."
I am, sir, yours, &c.,
Feb. 9. A NIvAL REFORMER.

Her Majesty's monster steamer Himalaya is to leave
Southampton on Monday, having undergone a thorough
overhaul.