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

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' sent conjuncture other parties strongly engaged in
exciting distrust—namely, the Greek sympathisers
with Russia, who constitute a large and actlve class
both in London and Liverpool ; and the section of
English politicians with Austrian views who hope
to see their predictions fulfilled, that the war would
ultimately become so unpopular as to cause peace
to be accepted on any terms. It is not enough that
the alarming features of the present drain have now
been removed by the discovery of one of its prin-
cipal causes. At every future opportunity the
attempt to create a panic will be repeated. It was
tried in March, 1864, when Consols went down to
85,i, and, although it has twice failed, the result
may some day be different.
The question whether the war expenditure is be-
yond the means of the country must, therefore, be
boldly met. If it be upon a scale to involve a per-
manent drain of gold there is no alternative but to
lower it, or to prepare ourselves for that mitigated
form of national bankruptcy which consists in a
suspension of specie payments. Happily, the cap-
ture of Sebastopol puts it into our power to limit
or eirtend our operations at pleasure. While that
remained to be Wrested there was no choice but to
go on, even if the yearly sacrifice were measured
by hundreds of millions. But,. apart from all con-
siderations of this sort, the necessity for its diminu-
tion will prove upon inquiry to he at present with-
out proof. The view orignally taken against the
alarmists has not yet been set aside. It was that
the stop which would be given by war to the wild
expenditure in foreign enterprises or loans which
always takes place in times of prosperity might
probably more than counteract all the loss to be
encountered in our new form of outlay—an im-
pression
so far strengthened by the way in which
money was about to be drawn from us under the
new system of guarantees by foreign Governments
or corporations as to render it actually a point for
consideration whether we should not be indebted
to Russia for saving us from a new commercial
crisis. These modes of absorbing our surplus means
being for the most part arrested, the question
simply is whether the annual profits of the country
from its trade, which the enemy cannot disturb,
are sufficient to meet the sum to be sunk in mate-
rials of destruction, and iu the pay of those who,
diverted from reproductive labour, are employed
in connection with them ? Although the outlay
of 60 or 80 millions has a serious sound, even
when compared with our enormous commercial
trains, it must be born© in mind that there isa very
large portion of this which is not lost to the nation
in any shave. Thus, one of the heaviest items has
been the chartering of steamers, the profits of which
have gone to private individuals or public compa-
nies, while the immediate commercial loss has been
small, owing to the nation contenting itself mean-
while with an economical system of mail service.
In like manner all the heavy profits of contractors,
together with the additional wages earned by men
who but for Government employ might be out of
work, the extra transport on railways, and a mul-
titude of other things, must be deducted until we
arrive at the mere net cost of the produce imported
for the manufacture of war materials, the cost of
working them up, and the direct pay and sustenance
of the forces ; and even these are liable to a set-off,
since the producing countries become better custo-
mers to us in consequence, and much of the pay of
the forces finds its way back to their families. We
must also estimate that the expenditure of our
enemy is heavy ; that it takes place in gold ; and
that we share to a very considerable extent,
although indirectly, the advantages of the pur-
chases lie is compelled to make from western
Europe.
Hence there is inherent reason to avoid any hasty
assumption that the war is too much for our mer-
cantile strength, and experience has thus far sup-
ported theory. Through nearly two years we have
been unusually free from monetary disturbance,
and, although our expenses were as heavy six
months back as now, they did not prevent the bul-
lion in the Bank from increasing from 12,162,4951.
on the 20th of January to 18,018,575/. on the 30th
of June last, while at present it not only stands
above the January limit, but is fully equal to the
total held just after the war began. To adopt the
conclusion that the drain of 3,000,000/. during the
past six weeks must lie the result of the war was,
therefore, obviously premature. It was unsup-
ported by any casual circumstances, since the pre-
vious gold supply had. apparently not been in-
creased by any accidental occurrences, the Austra-
lian remittances having shown no fluctuations
while from California they had been below the
amount upon which there is reason to calculate
for the future. The expenditure of the population,
moreover, has been equally uniform, and their im-
portations, in fact, of late have been rather under
than over their requirements.
It may consequently be repeated that, although
the effects of the Turkish loan and of the recent
grain purchases, together with those of the un-
broken demand for silver for India and China, the
perplexities consequent upon the strange proceed-
ings of the Bank of France, and the certainty of a
new loan being required by the English Govern-
ment in the spring, are all causes which must exer-
cise for some time an adverse influence, our pros-
pects are not only as sound as they were lately de-
scribed to be, but that the convictions then enter-
tained have received additional weight from the
fact of the unparalleled movements of the Bank
having failed to produce a single sign of commer-
cial uneasiness. That the ultimate effects of the
war expenditure on the currency is a problem
which time alone can solve, and that it calls for
the utmost watchfulness on the part of the Govern-
ment, is not to be denied. If ever it should pre-
sent danger, the only remedy must be a reduction,
since it cannot be touched by the constant advance
in the rate of discount, which, in fact, would
merely check the commerce that forms our best
dependence. The premonitory indications, how-
ever, would be likely to be sTadual, and although
at Vienna, Berlin, and St. Petersburg 6 the highest
congratulations have doubtless been current upon
the disturbances of the past few weeks and the
causes assigned for them, there is full reason to
hope that the financial vigour of the country under
our system of free trade and a convertible currency
is equal to much greater trials than any to which
it has been exposed.

THE BUYING-00T SYSTEIf OF THE
INDIAN ARMY.

(Prom the Indian News, Oct. 2, 1855.)

The decision of the Chief Justice in Wroughton's case,
together with sundry ministerial remarks on the pur-
chasing-out system, having reached India, officers of the
Indian army are not a little puzzled to account either
for the decision or the Ministerial comments thereon;
and the more so as the home authorities appear to have
arrived at the conclusion without being fully conversant
with the premises.
The system is very simple. The officers of the Indian
army—in which the seniority system prevails—subscribe
out of their own pockets towards a fund for purchasing
out old or obstinately healthy officers who, when they
arrive at a certain age, are practically in everybody's way,
and who, feeling that their day is gone by, are usually
as glad to I.e bought out as their juniors are to buy them
out. The East India Company, finding the plan work
admirably in securing efficiency in place of non•efficiency,
adopts it by making the subscriptions compulsory, and
so far sanctions it, though the subscriptions come out o
the pockets of the officers themselves. This the Chief_t
Justice pronounces to be illegal ; though if we were tod
tach the Company from the system, or thesystem
would of
from e.
the Company, as might be done, the
plaen
officers of
course become legal, as, without doubt, h
the Indian army have a perfect right to subscribet their
money to bestow itr
money for any purpose they please,
upon any one they please, whether for their own benefit
or otherwise. The illegality, it seems, consists in the
Company having sanctioned the plan.
We know nothing of law, and therefore will not stop
to discuss the quibble. We, however, well recollect
that in a case in which Sir C. Napier was concerned,
Lord Denman said that the decisions of the present
Chief Justice were not the law of England," and we
have therefore room to infer that the present decision
may be another case in point. however, let that pass.
Whether the present system be legal or illegal, it would
be extremely difficult to substitute another which should
do its work as well. A. strict seniority system, which
should supply none but the oldest men for work demand-
ing the vigour of manhood, would paralyse an army.
We have lately had pretty good proof of this in the war
with Russia, where thousands of our brave troops have
been sacrificed to men who would have been more in their
place at their own firesides. But we need not come
to the Queen's army for an example : we have it in the
late Military Board of India. That board was composed
of men who went to it by seniority, regardless of fitness
or capacity. The consequence has been a paralysation
of the physique of the army which required all the ener-
gies of an able commander-in-chief to combat. The
Seniority Board became at length such an intolerable
nuisance that it had to be swept away as such. All strict
seniority systems must, mere or less, eventually lead to
similar results. The question therefore is, how is a
seniority system to be maintained, and yet avoid its
ultimate evils ? Both the Company and its officers unani-
mous reply, "By our system of buying out those who
who are worn out." The officers, at any rate, ought to be
competent judges on the subject to provide the funds ;and
before the system is destroyed, or even sapped, it be-
hoves the destroyer to provide a better system, which
may be a matter of difficulty. How the chief Justice

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could arrive at the eoncluslon, that for Indian
make a common purse, in order to enable
brethren to retire, and when retired to live
fortably than they could otherwise bare dote o.
their rank, snould be illegal, may be known
'better versed is law mysteries than we pretend eee N.‘ -
Let us pass from the lawyer to the statesman. Sses'alL-
Vernon Smith said in Parliament that he considered tslie
buying-out system to be injurious to the service, though
he gave no reasons for such an opinion, whence eh( es
best acquainted with the subject very reasonably infi r
that, in common with many other presidents of tl e
Board of Control who pronounce dogmatically on Indian'
subjects, he knew little about it. Supposing our vii W
of a strict seniority system to be correct, what wotli
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 young 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
iortunate 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
officers cf her Majesty's service who had received their
commissions free fro n 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 E st 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 offic, r 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 ire
the Company's army both are provided. The Queen's
man pays for a commission—the Company's man for an
education which will fit him for his work. We have
said the regulation price of Queen's commissions, for we
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'soo 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
Fond, Military Fund—the fund in question —to pay,
his taut 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 it he do, has he riot 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 to 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-
tiona; cause of indebtedness. A writer whose lightest
word is a taw 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. lstly. 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. 4thly.
Extravagaaces 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 arm
meration 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 tlee 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 wero 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 1 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 arc made with the lender
as insure the repayment by regular monthly instalments,
to which each individual ,fficer of course contributes his
portion, one officer of the regiment taking the manage-
ment of the affair.

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
o most young men entering the service. The pay of the
company is NO liberal that there is no doubt that an en-
sign, even when settled with his own regiment, could,
witiout undue parsimony, save 16 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 compel him to go in debt at first,
he is not without the ability of easily liquidating it if
possessed 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 the
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 Providence, 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 those not inclined to exceed their
income do not think it worth 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
superfluities, the maintenance of which renders the con-
tribution to the Military Fund insignificant in compari-
son. And these are what are 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, nor is it worth s hile to apply any.
They would not do well any where nor under any cir-
cutnstance, and the interests of an army are of too grave
a nature to permit their welfare to distnrbits calculations.
In the opinion of those officer's most competent to
at
its the
effoe un.
tt•
judge, the buying-out system supplies just such an occa-
sion as is wanted to make young m
n f
set, and this is to a great extent
There are few officers who have become deeply involved
oeuud careful
to be
who might not pay every farthing when it comes to their
share 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
England pr
If then the law of onounees the system to
pass their whole career in violating them.
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. system, or at any rate
give his reasons for his opinion, if he wou: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.