The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-16 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JUNE 16, 1855.

a reference had once been made to the subject, all the par-
ticulars could have been known to the house.
The motion for the adjournment was then agreed to.
On the
were postponedhemotionofLorduntiALarter ERIT. OLNay,
arthde,sormdeortsioonf
the
had been brought forward.
ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM.
Mr. LAYARD then rose and moved the folhiwing reso-
lution:—" That this house views with deep and increasing
concern the state of the nation, and is of opinion that the
manner in which merit and efficiency have been sacrificed,
in public appointments, to party and family influences, and
to a blind adherence to routine, has given rise to great mis-
fortunes, and threatens to bring discredit upon the national
character, and to involve the country in grave disasters!,
The hon. gentleman said :—I am more in need than usual
this evening of the kind indulgence of the house, both
because I am afraid I shall have to trespass upon it for a
considerable time, and because the question is one which,
under any circumstances, might perhaps give rise to feel-
ings of irritation upon the part of some members of the
house. It is, however, my especial wish to treat the ques-
tion in as moderate a manner as possible, and I shall there-
fore prefer reading such documents as I possess to express-
ing any strong opinions of my own upon the subjects I
shall have to bring forward. This question is one of far
too serious a nature for me to make any appeal to the pas-
sions in discussing it, even had I the power and th; elo-
quence necessary for me to do so. I wish merely to make
a plain straightforward statement. (Hear, hear.) It can-
not be denied that a general feeling is abroad that there is
something wrong in the administrative system and the Go-
vernment of this country—that there are great evils in that
administrative system which can only be remedied by
some kind of pressure from without. I will endeavour,
as concisely as possible to state the grounds upon which
the people of this country have come to that conclusion.
It will be for Her Majesty's Government to show
whether these grounds are correct—that conclusion justi-
fiable or not ; and it will rest with these gentlemen who
represent various branches of the public service in this
house to show how far the country is right in believing
that the departments with which they are connected are
not properly administered. I shall endeavour to say nothing
which will hurt the feelings of any of the right hon. or hon.
and gallant members present, and I think that they on their
part will permit me to state what I think without attri-
buting to me any improper motives, for I assure them, with
the deepest feelings of conscientious conviction, that my
only wish is to promote the general good. If the hon. and
gallant member for Weymouth (Colonel Freestun)is in the
house I trust he will justify his statement that things
which I have said are not true, and that he will take a
course in better taste than that which he has lately adopted.
My resolution contains three distinct propositions. First, it
states that the house views with deep concern the state of
the nation; it points out, secondly, the feelings of the
nation; and thirdly, what will be the!consequences if the
present state of things continues to exist. An amendment
has been given notice of by my hon. friend opposite (Sir B.
Lytton)—if the hon. baronet will allow me to call him so—
somewhat of a similar nature to a motion which wasbrought
by a noble lord before another assembly when I gave notice
of my resolution. The noble lord to whom I allude felt it
necessary to place the sentiments he entertained in a some-
what palateable shape before that assembly, and I believe
the hon. baronet has now acted under a similar feeling,
and, followingthe advice of the Italian poet, has anointed
the edge of the jar with honey in order that his friends
may more readily swallow the dose he is about to ad-
minister. I have endeavoured to call things by their right
names, for I think this country has been placed in consider-
able danger from that not having been done. I also think
that danger threatens this country from too great respect
being paid to personal and private feelings. (Laughter.)
Perhaps hon. gentlemen, before they laugh, will allow me
to explain my meaning. Those feelings are very right and
necessary in private affairs, and no one can respect them
more than I do; but those who put aside public duty out
of consideration for them neglect their duty. If private
feelings are 1 o bo put before public duty we ought to debate
questions in this house with closed doors. If we are to be
I rorented from saying what we believe to be true for fear
of I,urtine• some one's feelings, reports of our proceedings
ought not go forth. What should we say if a judge did
not use harsh words in condemning a criminal for fear he
should hurt his feelings? There are cases in which we all
agree that condemnation to some extent is necessary, but it
harsh phrases are used in expressingthat condemnation they
are received with public disapprobation. I trust I shall do
my duty in that respect. I will endeavour to be moderate.
I will state facts ; if I am wrong I hope hon. and gallant
gentlemen will tell me so without any irritating expres-
stuns, and I trust they will not find me unwilling to admit
the errors I may have fallen into. (Cheers.) Ittwas said
that the debate in another place led to nothing because the
speeches made dealt solely in generalities and no instances
were adduced; but, when instances are adduced, then it
is said, these are merely vulgar personal accusations which
do not prove your case. We are thus placed in a double
difficulty. No doubt the noble lord at the head of the
Government will say this evening, as ho has done upon
former occasions, that this is a mere attack upon the aris-
tocracy. The noble lord is welcome to say that I am at-
tacking an oligarchy, but• I utterly deny that I am making
any attack upon the aristocracy. I only wish that every
man should have a fair chance of rising in the public ser-
vice of the country. (Hear.) Although the words of my
hon. friend's resolution are not exactly the same as those
of my motion, yet, if they mean anything, they must mean
precisely the same thing. He asks the house to recom-
mend the Government to institute judicious tests of merit,
and to remove obstructions to its fair promotion and legi-
timate rewards. That must mean that at the present mo-
ment there are no such tests and there are such obstructions.
Then comes the question, what are those obstructions ?
Do not think that by voting for this amendment you are
escaping the difficulty which the amendment is moved to
enable you to escape, because its meaning is exactly the
same as that which I have embodied in my resolution.
Why should wo flinch from naming the things which we
considee as obstructions to merit ? Why should we shrink
from stating that a inanscannot rise in the public service
of the country on account of the obstructions proceeding
from party and family interests ? That is the chief evil
of which we complain. There is no use in denying that
Such, at any rate, is the feeling qut of doors. If that
feeling is not justified, it is surely well worthy of this
house. if possible, to remove that feeling. For myself, I
am willing that this feeling shall be removed. All I say
is that this feeling does exist. (Hear, hear.) Nor is that
feeling confined to a small and insignificant class ; it is
especially characterised by being prevalent among the
most educated class in this country. My avocations and
antecedents throw me a good deal among men connected
with literature, art, and science, and I will ask any man
frequenting that society, whether the feeling I have de-
scribed does not prevail among these men? (gear, hear.)
Now, I do not say that the feeling is altogether war-
ranted, although I believe it is, and as it prevails among
the class I have named it must prevail among the class
below that, and it is, as I have said, so extensive and so
general that it is well worth the time and attention of the
house to endeavour to remove it if it can be proved to be
ill-founded. It must be known to the house that a large
and powerful association lam been formed to investigate
this question, comprising among its members many men
of wealth, of talent, and of enterprise. The opinions of
that association have been re-echoed in the largest towns
of the country, and that association is determined to push
the doctrines and opinions enunciated in its address. Now,
such an agitation may lead to great mischief. Notice has
been given of another amendment by the hon. member for
Cork, but, as it is not on the paper for to-night, I pre-
sume it is the hon. member's intention to bring it for-
ward on some future occasion. The house will permit
me to say one word upon my own resolution, as it has
been misunderstood in some respects. I believe that it
stands, if not in the same shape, yet with the same inten-
tion as when I first placed it upon the books of the house.
I have cut off a phrase which pledged this house to the pro-
secution of the war, because such an allusion was unneces-
sary after the motion of the right hon. gentleman opposite
(Mr. Disraeli). A few words in the way of recital have also
been left out, bat the words and essence of the resolution
have been maintained. There are three propositions in
that resolution, and I shall endeavour to substantiate each
of them. I will first take the state of the nation. I have
heard it said that these words are now uncalled for, be-
cause we have had some success in the East, but I deny
that I ever intended to refer to the war. I look upon the
campaign in the Crimea as an episode, upon our failure as
a witness, and to the blue-books as evidence; but they form
only a part, and but a small part, of the question before
the house. But if the blue-books, that contain so much
that must be painful to the house and to the country, are
to remain dead letters, then our cup of disgrace will be
full indeed, and I hope that something will be done upon
those blue-books irrespective of my motion. (Hear, hear.)
What I mean by the state of the nation is, that I am fully
convinced that this country is becoming very distrustful of
this house, and is losing its confidence in public men ; that
the people begin to believe there are great defects in the
administrative system, and that a remedy must be applied
to those defects ; that the Government of this country has
become a class monopoly, and that the recent changes in
the Government show that that monopoly does not go out
of the hands of a few—(Hear)—and that the Government
do not represent the country at large. (Hear.) They
see a liberal Government voting against every liberal mea-
sure that has been proposed this session, and voting in the
lobby on all these questions with hon. members sitting on
the opposite side of the house, in contradistinction to the
Liberal party on this side of the house. (Hear, hear.)
They have also seen those who have hitherto been the
friends of the people, and who have represented popular
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Now, sir, I ask whether that is not a state of the nation
that is alarming, and whether such a feeling is not danger-
ous? (Hear.) That is what I mean by the state of the
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Sir, to begin with the army. This is, undoubtedly, a very.
difficult and delicate question. I know that hon. and
gallant gentlemen in this house feel very indignant that a
civilian should touch the army, but I ask the house whe-
ther any but a civilian can touch the army '1 Why, a mili-
tary man dare not touch the army. There is no doubt I
may be led into error when I speak of the army. The
rules and regulations that affect the army have been a
matter of some study to me, but I may be pardoned for
some misapprehensions when even very eminent military
men are ignorant of some of the rules and their application
—nay, even of the very existence of some of the regula-
tions affecting the army. I hold in my hand a letter from
a gentleman of some rank in the army, whose name the
house will see I cannot mention, and I cannot, therefore,
give my authority; bat this letter expresses so fully my
o u feelings and the exieting state of things that I will
read it to the house. He says :
" A civilian, undertaking, as you have done, to attack
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mark) placed in a particularly difficult position ; for, unac-
quainted as you perhaps are with all the minor details and
intricacies which sometimes even puzzle professional men, you
are not able to receive open assistance and evidence, which
would probably be the ruin of any military man who might
volunteer to enact such a Curtian part ; and many a man who
might be indifferent to the consequences as regarded himself,
might feel averse to sacrifice the prospects of some near rela-
tion, who might either be, or bo intended to be, in the mili-
tary profession, and whose future prospects might thus be

prematurely blighted in the bud. Then, again, you will have
against you all those military men .of family connection and
great interest who, having profited by a corrupt system, will
strenuously oppose any reform or innovation in the same. All
these circumstances combined render your task one of no ordi-
nary difficulty; still I would not despair for you have not only the
spirit of the times and public opinion in your favour, but als.) all
that hard-working and ill-rewarded portion of the army, who
have not sufficient interest or family connexions to push them
unfairly forwards. All such, if they dare not openly applaud,
will look with secret pleasure on your undertaking, and, lam
sure, back it indirectly by any means which will not bring
them under the influence of that inquisitorial tribunal which
can more or less influence the fortunes of nearly every officer
in the service, whatever may be his merits, in the same man-
ner that it can by its fiat place men, most unfitted, in the
highest and most responsible situations, which has unfortu-
nately of late been so fully and fatally proved."

(Cheers.) Sir, I believe that letter eminently expresses the
whole truth of this question with regard to the army.
(Hear.) But I have another letter from an eminent mili-
tary man, whose name I am permitted to mention—Sir W.
Napier. (Hear.) I have spared no pains to go to the best
military authorities before I ventured to touch upon this
subject. Sir W. Napier's letter is most fair and proper,
and, although it tells against me in some respects, I will
draw the attention of the house to it. He says
The question of promotion from merit and promotion
from favouritism I have never examined carefully, thinking
the latter an inevitable consequence of human selfishness, and
the former impossible to solve, except in a few instances.
With respect to favouritism generally, however, it certainly
pervades the British army to an inordinate degree, seeing that
no officer of high or low rank, no man below the rank of an
officer, no civilian related to or interested for an officer by re-
' lationship or friendship, or seeking himself to enter the army,
but whose first thought and immediate course is, not very
vehemently, to beseech some person privately to use influence
to obtain by favour what is sought for. The universal con-
stant prayer is, Let me have your interest.' Sometimes, in-
deed, some poor forlorn officer merely states his long and ardu-
ous services, his wounds, and the number of his relations who
have died in action ; but this only to sway the influential per-
son addressed, not as grounds for acceding to his claim. Why
is this ? Surely because the absolute necessity of paivate
interests, apart from merit, is universally felt to be domi-
nant. Your purpose is to bring public opinion to bear on this
system so strongly that an amelioration must take place, and
I for one will not shrink from cheering you on in such a pa-
triotic course. But while Ido so on general principles it
would be ungenerous, ungrateful, and unjust not to state
that I have made, I may say, hundreds of applications for
officers and soldiers, who have only their services to recom-
mend them—favour without service I never asked for—and,
while Lordißaglan was Military Secretary, in no instance did
I ever fail of success, nor have I in the very few cases which I
have brought before General Yorke, the present Military
Secretary, found the least backwardness to aid deserving
men."

(Cheers.) If I were not addressing the house I should cheer
that sentiment as much as any man, but, although that
sentiment may tell against me, it is the very thing I am
arguing. Sir William Napier is a great military authority.
He has access to the Horse Guards. He can recommend
persons. Fortunately, his soul abhors a job, and he would
never recommend any one for promotion who is unworthy
of it. (Hear.) If every promotion went in the same was
I should not complain. If I saw promotions made upon
the recommendation of such men as Sir W. Napier, or that
gallant general who so much adorns this house, or any man
equally distinguished and equally pure, I should have no
doubt whatever of the propriety of those appointments.
That is not what we complain of, or are disposed to call in
question. (Hear.) A curious word occurs in the regula-
tion which affects the very commencement of every man's
career in the army. That regulation is, that all recom-
mendations for commissions shall certify the eligibility of
the person in respect to education, character, and "con-
nections." I do not really understand what is the mean-
ing of the word " connections," unless it be in relationship
to persons of a certain position. (" Oh, oh !") I shall be
very happy if hon. gentlemen will explain it. I have no
wish to put a wrong construction upon it ; I merely take
the word as it stands. (Hear, hear.) Before I go into the
several cases to which I shall call the attention of the
house, I must beg their indulgence while I say a few words
upon a personal subjeCt. I do not suppose the house is
forgetful of what occurred some time ago with regard to
myself and Colonel Hardinge. Up to this moment it has
not been in my power to explain this matter fully. When
the question was brought forward I was not prepared to
meet it. I hid received but a very short notice from the
gallant member that he intended to bring it forward, and
other reasons prevented me entering then upon a full ex-
planation. Those reasons no longer exist. Colonel Wilson
has retired from the army ; and the country has lost the
services of an eminent and gallant officer, who distin-
guished himself as much as any one on the fatal day of
Inkerman, who was in the thickset of the fight, who
brought his company into action from the tWo-grin bat-
tery, and was one of the very few that survived. He has
left her Majesty's service. It is a matter of regret to
me, because I nun partly the cause ; but I am not to
blame. I wish merely to state to the house this case
of Colonel Wilson, because it eminently illustrates
my proposition, and I will state it as fairly as I can,
having taken great pains to obtain accuracy by most care-
ful inquiries on all sides. I hope the house will under-
stand that I will never be a party to deceiving it in any'
way whatever, not even if I could appeal to 37 years' expe-
rieece in Parliament. (Hear.) The house will believe me
when I say that if I state anything it is from a conviction
that it is true. I may be wrong, and, if the error is pointed
out in a fair and quiet manner, I shall be the first to retract.
Upon the occasion to which I allude I did not believe that
I had stated that which was not strictly true, though I felt
I was not in a position to prove it. I would not, therefore,
retract, not from any want of respect to the house, but be-
cause I respected the house, and would not give it the
impression that I had stated anything which I knew to be
inaccurate? (Hears) What was the case of Col. Wilson?
Three officers, captains and lieutenant-colonels in the
Guards, were killed in action. The three officers next in
rank were entitled to promotion. Two of those officers were
not for purchase, and they were promoted- The third Wits
for purchase, Col. 51`Kinnon, and he was also promoted.
Colonel Mailmen, whose promotion was purchased, was
killed. He had. not heard of the purchase at the time of
his death, and a regulation operated which was unknown
to Col. Wilson, and was unknown to many officers in the
army. Col. Wilson's triende were called upon to purchase'
the commission. Ha was then ill in the hospital at Scutari.
He thought he had got his commission without purchase.
It proved not to be so. His friends had paid the money,
and he found himself g Izetted by purchase. He thought, ,
considering the circumstances, ho might have had the op-
tion of purchasing or not. Ilowever, that courtesy was
not shown Col. Wilson, and the rule seems to have been
strictly applied. I had what I considered the best possible
proof that I was not understating the case of the Guards.
I am not satisfied, though I quite admit I was wrong.
Col. Crombie was put on half-pay, Lord Burghersh was
promoted without purchase, and Col. Hardinge got his
step. The house will see there were rules, and the rules
were applied, and when I said there wore not rules I was
wrong, and that I retract. (Hear, hear.) Let me call the
attention of the house to Colonel Hardinge's career. I trust
the house will believe that I regard Colonel Hardinge with
no personal feeling whatever. He is a most gallant officer.
He has distinguished himself, and I do not grudge him ad-
vancement. It is not the man I attack • it is the system
which I wish to expose. Let us look at Colonel Hardinge's
career. Colonel Hardinge entered the army as ensign in
1844. His first appearance was in diiect violation of a•
printed regulation—much stronger than this regulation of
which Colonel Wilson was ignorant, and which I presume
is not printed—of a regulation which says that no officer
shall serve on the staff until he has for two years performed
regimental duty. He was put on the staff and served as
aide-de-camp to his father in his Indian campaign. For
good service in that campaign—in which he ought not
to have been, though I am glad to say he was—Colonel
Hardinge was made a lieutenant without purchase. There
were hundreds of poor ensigns who went through that
campaign, but they received no such reward. (Hear,
hear.) That was in 1845. He was low in the list
of lieutenants in his own regiment, yet shortly afterwards
he was allowed to purchase a company. That was not
against rule, but it was done in a manner almost unac-
countable. (Hear, hear.) He is not in this new regiment
many days' before lie exchanges into the Coldstream
Guards, and advances to the position in which we have
lately seen him. Now look at Hart's Army List, and take
the case of an officer who entered the same regiment
shortly after Col. Hardinge—Lieut. Henry Buck. This
poor young man served all through the campaigns in the
Punjab. He got his lieutenancy at Guzerat ; he was at all
the subsequent battles, and obtained several medals and
clasps. Poor Henry Buck is still a lieutenant, and Col.
Hardinge has attained high rank in her Majesty's army.
(Hear.) I am glad to see Col. Hardinge where he is ; but
the case of Lieut. Back is a reflection upon the system.
(Hear.) When Major Hardinge is made an effective major ii
the staff in direct opposition to regulations ; when Colonel
Wood is placed over the head of Colonel Brough ; when
Colonel Cuningham, son-in-law to Lord Hardinge,
is placed over everybody's head; when all these things are
happening together, can the house be surprised that an
officer like Colonel Wilson, who has to pay for his promo-
tion after all he has gone through, should have felt hurt ;
or that, naturally feeling some indignation, I should have
made a somewhat inaccurate statement ? I am s&-ry that
I made it, and I now beg to retract anything which was
not correct. (Hear.) There is arrother question upon
which I must say a word—that of Lord Eustace Cecil.
There the promotion was in direct opposition to all regu-
lations. The hon. member opposite got un and excused
that promotion because Lord Eustace Cecil had shown a
meritorious desire to see service. That was a not very
complimentary speech to the officers of the British army;
but what are the facts of that case ? Lord Eustace Cecil
had exchanged from every regiment which was seeing
service. His regiment is at the seat of war; he is placed
in a battalion which is at this moment at Dublin, and
Lord Eustace Cecil is within a mile of the house, or,
indeed, he was so within a very few days. (Hear.)
On a former occasion I alluded to the case of Captain
Blackett, and I have since been accused of some inaccuracy,
and I was asked by the father of that gentleman to retract
my statement, but which I refused to do ; and certainly I
was surprised and astonished that the father should have
written to the Times a letter in which he denied that his
son was promoted for merit, but that it was by the influence
of Col. Upton, with whom he had gone on some pleasure
excursion. (Laughter.) This reminds nie of Canning's
celebrated story of the knife-grinder, who would not be re-
lieved, although setae sentimental person was ready to
afford it to him. I have a long list of lieutenants in the
army who have served for years and years without having
been promoted, but I will not refer to all of them. I
will, however, call the attention of the house to a few
cases, avoiding, as much as possible the mentioning
of names where it may be considered painful to indivi-
duals to do so. (Hear, hear.) There was a Lieutenant
Edwardes, who went to Spain in 1811, and who was en-
gaged throughout the whole of the Peninsular war.
He was in six medal actions, and he was 30 times under
fire, and had been twice wounded ; and yet, notwithstand-
ing a most earnest appeal to Lord Hardinge by Sir W.
Napier in bin favour, he has been S. lieutenant in actual
service ever since. (Hear.) Let me mention the case of
Lieutenatit D—, That officer made an application for
promotion to the rank of captain without purchase. He
was an ensign in 1839. He is the son of an old officer, and
has served some 12 or 14 years out of the 17 years on fo-
reign service, having been during that time in ludia and
in China. He has a family, and has exchanged into his
present, corps, as it is impossible for hint to support his
family in England. He is now the oldest subaltern in the
service, and he has applied to be appointed to au unet-
teched. company. But, no ; he has no friend at the
Horse Guards, end therefore he still remains a subal-
tern. I will now read to the house a most touching
letter, which has been furnished to use by Sir W. Napier,
who has applied in vain to Lord Hardinge on behalf of
the writer, who is a captain in the 44th Regiment, and
who has been 4 lyeare in actual servioe.sThe letter, although
pri eats, is one so touching, and so fully exemplifying the
working of the whole system, that I make no apology for
reading it :
" This day is the 40th anniversary of the Nivelle, when you
I showed us the way to fight and conquer. How few survive

of those whom you so gallantly led ! Am I not somewhat pri-
vileged, as one of your old followers, to address you : I think
so. Mine really is a singular fate. Here I am, one of the spared
of the old guard, making preparations in Table-bay for the
embarkation of the modern 43d, destined for Madras. . .
During the last three years I have not been one night absent
from my post. Sir George Cathcart has not been backward in
acknowledging my services, and recommended me for a brevet
majority (2 per diem). My Lord Hardinge rejected my claims
to this trifling boon with the inconsistency of admitting that
he entertains a full sense of my merits. lie has promoted a
legion of youngsters over me ; many of whom have been only
in one little skirmish, pendant notre petit guerre. Ono 26
years my jun., writes to me to say, I was surprised to see
my name among the lucky fellows promoted, as I have never
done anything.' The chief of our staff, a very intelligent
officer, wrote to me not long since stating—' I have no hesi-
tation in saying that the zeal and diligence which you have
exhibited in carrying on the various business at our great
entrepot, whence everything comes to this army, have been
of more use than if' you had been in every skirmish and on
every patrol during the war.' My services are considered,
however, unworthy of the smallest consideration. . .
Cependant n'importe ! la vie est si courte, et si triste, qu on
no doit pas s'en chagriner."

I will now refer to a case of a very opposite description-
It is that of an officer, a young man (Captain 8—), whose
name has never been mentioned in any despatch, and
whose services are wholly unnoted. In 1853 he was pro-
moted to a majority, and in 1855, on Lord Panmure's ac-
cession to the• office of Minister for War, he was made a
deputy quartermaster-general and lieutenant-colonel, which,
of course, makes it certain that he will obtain his co-
lonelcy in three years' time, while he still retains hie cap-
taincy in his own regiment. That, I contend, is a case of
most unjust promotion. I say not a word against the in-
dividual, but I do most severely condemn the system. The
first step in his promotion put him over the head of the
senior major in his own regiment, Major A—, who en-
tered the regiment four years before Captain 8— was
known in the service, and who was in the campaign of Aff-
ghanistan, at Ghuznee, Khelat, and in the Caffre war, was
severely wounded, and is well known as a distinguished
officer. The second step in his promotion puts him over
Lieut.-Col. B—, whose name has often been mentioned
in orders and despatches, and who is six years the senior
of Captain S—, twice slightly wounded, once seriously.
It puts him over the head of Brigade-Major Simmons, who
entered the regiment nine years before Captain S— was
appointed, who was known to the House in the Seringa-
patam affair and in the Affghanistan campaign, and was
seriously wounded at Ghuznee and twice at Khelat. I
ask is this a state of things that is to be tolerated ? (Hear.)
I could go into the particulars of an unlimited number
of instances of a similar description, but I think those I
have already mentioned will be sufficient to prove to the
house that there is a system of favouritism pursued in the
British army to a great and lamentable extent, and Which
operates most injuriously to those who have honestly and
patriotically served their country. (Hear.) I will now go
to the staff. I have already stated that the regulations of
the army are infringed whenever it is thought they may be
an obstacle in the way of the promotion of men having
influence at their command. One of those evils which
have given rise to all the anomalies of which we have to
complain is the numerous appointments to the staff. If
you look through the Army List you will perceive this at
once. It will be seen that there are not less than 45 officers
who, in spite of the regulations, are away from their regi-
ments anti serving on the staff. By those regulations it is
positively stated that no officer shall be on the staff while
his regiment is in foreign service. I know that there is a
distinction between the staff of the army and the personal
staff of the general. General Jomini has said that—
" A good staff, is more than all, indispensable to a well-
constituted army. It must be considered as the nursery
whence a general is to dr4w the instruments of which he
makes use—an assemblage of officers whose talents are to
second his own. When the genius which directs, and the
talents of those who are to carry out his conceptions do not
harmonise, success becomes doubtful, for the most skilful
combinations are neutralised through faults in execution. A
good staff has, moreover, the advantage of being more lasting
than the genius.of one man--it can remedy many evils, and
we hesitate not to affirm that it is the best safeguard to au
army. Petty interests, narrow views, misplaced self-love,
may deny this assertion ; it must nevertheless remain an un-
deniable truth to every reflecting soldier and every enlight-
ened st itesman. A well-constituted staff will' be to an army
what an able Ministry is to a monarchy—it will support the
commander even when he is capable of directing all himself.
It will prevent faults by furnishing him with good informa-
tion, it will also prevent them when he is unequal to the
duties of command."

It must, nevertheless, remain an undeniable truth to every 1
reflecting mind that a well-constituted staff is to au army
what an able Minister is to the Monarch; and .I wish we
had both. Those are most remarkable words. This house
and the country know what we have suffered of late.
There is an institution in this country specially devoted to
the education of officers who ought to be on the staff. A
return was called for some time ago by an hon. member of
those officers who had taken honours and were now on
the staff. I matte an error before, and I will correct it now
by reading thq returns :
" Omitting general officers, there are 116 officers serving on
'the staff; of whom 19 belong to the Guards, most of them of.
noble families, and 7 to the Rifle Brigade, of whom 4 are ho-
nourables. There are 6 lieutenant generals on the staff, not
one of whom has taken a certificate in the senior department
of the Royal Military College; 12 major-generals, of whom 1
(General Eyre) has obtained a certificate; 4 colonels, 1 of
whom (Colonel Cameron) has a certificate; 12 assistant adju-
tant-generals, 2 of whom (Lieut.-Colonel Stirling and Major
Ewart) have obtained a certificate • 1 quartermaster-general,
with a certificate; 9 assistant-quartermaster-generals, none of
whom have obtained certificates; 29 deputy-assistant quarter-
master-generals, 5 of whom have certificates ; 1 military secre-
tary, assistant military secretary, 12 staff officers, 30 aides-
de-camp, and 14 brigade-majors, none of whom had obtained
certificates ; so that out of the whole stair, properly so called,
only 7 have obtained certificates of the senior department of
the Royal Military College."
A. return has been also made to the house of the names of
those officers who have been promoted for good service
during the campaign, coming down to the 11th of March.
Out of 93 officers promoted, how many does the house sup
pose c,re on the staff ? No less than 65. This is a most
serious consideration. Remember the brave men in the
Crimea; our officers are becoming disheartened by the pre-
sent state of things. I say so from my own personal know-
ledge; I have mixed with them and heard from their own
lips their opinions of the wholesale promotions of those
whose services are inferior to their own. Let the house
listen to a voice from the Crimea. The following obser-
vations have appeared in a public paper :--
" But, more by far than any injustice or indiscriminating
liberality in distributing honours, is the tardiness with which
the State rewards them (the officers and soldiers). How many
of the soldiers of the Alma are there remaining among us
How many have passed away from the ranks of those who
fought at Balaklava and Inkerman ? Look, for example, at
the case of Colonel Egerton, who fell the other night in a noc-
turnal action in the trenches. That gallant, loved, and ho-
noured.officer had never fora moment left his regiment, from
the time he landed, till he met his death-wound; he led his
regiment up the steeps of Alina ; he commanded them at
Inkerman, where Lord Raglan specially mentioned their ser-
vices and exertions in recapturing three of our guns from the
enemy ; and many a weary night he passed in the dreary
trenches ; but while Gazette after Gazette showered promo-
tion on the peak of every cocked hat, wherever it was, in the
fight, or out of it, Colonel Egerton received nothing— not one
step. He had no reward except the regard of his general,
the respect of the army, and the promise of a medal and
clasps, which he never lived to see. That is the ease of many
a gallant soldier, and the cause of many a great complaint.
" The authorities at home have, no doubt, ascertained pri-
vately, and through communications unknown to the public,
how much disappointment exists among the senior officers in
command of regiments out here at the delay which has taken
place in the distribution of the rewards and honours which
they have reason to expect, and to which they are so justly
entitled, The feeling is expressed in every tent, in every con-
versation in camp. If colonels of regiments are to be made
C.B.'s for past services, why are they kept waiting till they
are heart-sickened ? The case of Colonel Egerton, who
went to his honoured grave followed by the regrets of
the whole army, may be that of every one of the few
remaining officers who led their regiments at Alma, In-
kerman, and have served their country in the equally
perillous, more trying, but less gloriousservice of the trenches
during this protracted siege. There is understood to be some
little difference of opinion been Lord Raglan and the War-
office respecting, the list of officers to be rewarded : but it
matters little to those who are pining for some acknowledg-
ment of their services what the nice point may be which bars
their right. Very recently, Colonel Rumley, who has sren but
little foreign service as commanding officer, and. Colonel
Williams, who has latterly at least been principally employed
in Ireland, have been appointed Brigadiers-General in Malta.
It is felt that these appointments would have been conferred
with much greater propriety and justice on some one of the
colonels of regiments out here—men who, like Col. Garrett
or Col. Macpherson, belong to the Peninsula, and who are
only in temporary command of brigades, from which they
may be superseded at any moment ; whereas Colonels Rum-
ley and Williams have permanent commands. Colonel Shirley
of the 88th Regiment has every day an.opportunity of seeing
his nephew, who never saw any war service, and who is
junior to him by many years, in the uniform of a major-
general, with rank and pay greater than his own ; and there
is no doubt that Major-General Shirley will not only have his
local rank confirmed, but that he will also have a certainty of
higher promotion if the force to which he has been appointed
perform any service of importance, while Colonel Shirley, who
has served with his regiment throughout the campaign, can-
not be promoted, and does not even receive any honorary dis-
tinction for his conduct. He was a brigadier for a few days,
but is so no longer. The case of Colonel Yea of the 7th, than
whom there is no more gallant, devoted, and energetic sol-
dier in the service, is equally hard ; and all the Alma colonels
are aggrieved or slighted in the same way. Col. Cunynghame
is doubtless a deserving, zealous, and hardworking officer; but
he has recently received an appointment which places him far
above the heads of officers as deserving and far senior to him
in the service. (The system we go upqu is in fact unintelli-
gible, it is neither one of seniority or of merit.) What reward
has Brevet-Colonel Dicks Al received for the services he ren-
dered at the Alma, and the incalculable results he produced
at Inkerman by -the fire of two guns, around which'l7 of the
gunners were struck down beside,him ?"

I know Colonel Dickson, and a more gallant or more able►
officer does not exist, nor one who has rendered great,r
services to the country. Does the house remember his
father in the Peninsula, when the Duke of Wellington
ordered a certain military operation, which the artillery
officer in command said it was impossible; upon which the
Duke turned round to the young officer and said, " Will
you do it ?" he replied, " I will ;" and he did it. What did
the Duke of Wellington ? He promoted the young officer
to the head of the artillery on the spot, and morever kept
him there, in spite of favouritism at home, and even of
officers being sent out to supersede him. W ell, what was
the result? Why, his artillery was the best in the British
army. Colonel Dickson, the son's, was exactly the same
case. At Inkerman the colonel commanding the artillery
said it was impossible to bring up the guns to a p?sition which
would decide the fate of the day. Colonel Dickson, how-
ever—who left this country, be it remembered, a brevet
colonel, having been in Spain and seen long service there--
said it was possible to bring up guns, and, like his father,
he did bring them up, and played with such effect as to
break the masses of Russian infantry which were attacking
us. He is still a plain captain of artillery. The statement in
°
the Times was—" It would surprise the Horse Guards,
perhaps, if they could hear the names of officers who have,
I know, expressed their intention of leaving the service as
soon as they can should their claims be disregarded any
longer, or as soon as they complete a term of service to
justify their demanding a retirement." We have had re-
verses, and why? Because we have had no men to command
—no officers. And we shall have none if you continue to
turn a deaf ear to just merit, and still determine to pro-
mote those only 'who have family or political influence to
recommend them. Look at the Staffs of the generals, look
at that of my gallant Mend here (Sir D. L. Evans.) That
staff was not composed of men selected on account of re-
lationship or political influence, but of the best men for
the duties. There was one hon. member of that house
(Lieut.-Colonel P. Herbert) upon that staff, but he was

not elected .on that account, for a more gallant officer could
not be found, and in choosing him the general did honour
to the house, and at the same time placed that officer in
the right place. What are the remedies I suggest for the
evils I have pointed out? They are promotion without
purchase, and an end, if possible, to all favouritism in the
army. That is the first step. As to the promotion with-
out purchase, I believe my gallant friend (Sir De Lacy
Evans) agrees with all those who are well acquainted with
the army, that this system, which disgraces us in the eyes
of foreign nations, must be put an end to. That has been
proposed more than once, and the answer al ways has been
you cannot meddle with vested interests." I do not wish
to do so, but if I can show you how you can remedy the
evils without interfering with vested interests, if you be
sincere in your desire for improvement you will agree with
me. Here is a curious list, which I have made, of the num-
ber of commissions given without purchase up to this time.
Will the house believe that out of 4,367 commissions given
from the rank of captain downwards, more than one-half
(2,413) have been granted without purchase. I will take
two regiments at random. In the let Regiment, out of 23
commissions as captains, 11 are without purchase ; lieute-
nants, 22 out of 33; and ensigns, 10 out of 16 without pur-
chase. Now, I will take the last regiment—the Rifle Bri-
gade. There, out of 43 captains' commissions, 30 were given
without purchase; of lieutenants, 34 out of 35 ; and of en-
signs, 23 out of 129 were without purchase. Now, if you
be sincere, you have an opportunity to put an end one-
half of the purchase system in the army—if you will say
that all these commissions which have been given without
purchase shall remain free commissions, to be given only to
merit, and shall not pass by purchase. Thus, without touch-
ing in anydegree vested interests, or injuring any man in any
way, you can put an end to so much of the system of pur-
chase, and at the same time be doing only an act of justice.
Is it right that a man who has a commission given to him
should go and sell it to a person who has merited it? (Hear.)
I know he cannot do so immediately after he gets it, but
he can very soon after.; and supnosing a man on obtaining
his colonelcy sells out, he sells all his former commissions,
although one or two may have come to him without pur-
chase. If the Government wishes to advance the interests
of those men who are fighting our battles, and wishes to
say one word of consolation to them, let the decision of
this houie go forth, that at least commissions given with-
out purchase shall henceforth.be given only to merit. The
anomalies of the purchase system are greater in war than
in peace. You have officers who have fought in all your
campaigns ; when vacancies occur they cannot, perhaps,
purchase ; and then men who have never left this country
—who have been the whole time with the depot—are ena-
bled to buy over their heads, not only within their own
but in any other regiments. The npxt thing you must do
is to abolish the privileges of the Guards. There is the ',rent
evil. You take one regiment and place it above all others,
which is an injustice ; it is unfair and inconsistent with
the spirit of the age. You must educate your staff—you must
make a rule that no man shall be on the staff unless he
shall have received the education necessary for such an ap-
pointment. You must attend to the recommendations of
the commissions which have been appointed to consider
these questions, and which have reported in favour of
changes in our military system. There was a report made
last year by a commission, signed by several members of
this house, in which I find the following passage :
" It is generally admitted that in a naval command phy-
sical vigour, and the energy which accompanies it, are
necessary to the full discharge of the duties imposed upon
the commander ; but, if this be true in the navy, in which,
though the responsibility and risk to life be increased in
war, yet there is little additional fatigue or privation, com-
paratively, beyond what is encountered in peace, how much
more is it true in the case of land service, where immense
distances have to be traversed over unknown and difficult
ground, where the general must necessarily spend days to-
gether in the saddle, visiting, as he must-do, in all parts of
an extended line of operations, where the most opposite reports
have to be balanced and decided, where the most elaborate
combinations must be rapidly conceived and executed, in
order to move and feed vast bodies of men in an unwilling or
hostile country, to find means of transport for supplies of
provisions and ammunition, to provide for the sick and
wounded ; to create, in short, with such materials as may be
found, an organhation, any failure in which may result in a
terrible sacrifice of human life, and may, in the most critical
moment, baffle the best combinations. That labours such as
these must require not only the exercise of faculties of the
highest order, but physical strength, and powers of endurance
which shall keep those faculties unimpaired by bodily fatigue
and privation, is too obvious to be disputed
The breaking out of a war, of which no one can foresee the
duration or the extent, makes it incumbent upon us to take
immediate and effective measures to remedy evils by which
the efficiency of the service may, at a most critical moment,
be seriously impaired."
But how far have those recommendations been carried
out? The report gives a list of the ages of the general
officers in the Peninsula :

"The Duke of Wellington was a Major-General at 33, the
Marquis of Anglesey 34, the Earl of Dalhousie 38, the Earl of
Strafford 36, Lord Hill 33, Lord Beresford. 39, Sir George
Murray 40, Lord Combermere 31, Lord Londonderry 32."
By way of Contrast, I have here a list of the ages of the
gereral officers in the Crimea, which, I believe, is correct,
and which shows how much attention has been paid to the
recommendations of the commission :
" Lord Raglan 67, Sir J. Burgoyne 73, General Brown 65,
Duke of Cambridge 36, Sir D. L. Evans 68, Sir It. England
62, Sir G. Cathcart 61, Lord Lucan 55, General Tylden, en-
tered service in 1806, 66, General Cator, entered service in
1803, 69, General Strangways, entered service in 1806, 66,
Commissary-General Fi:der 64, Admiral Dundas, entered ser-,
vice in 1792, 67, Lord Rokeby 57."
All these aro gallant officers ; they have' served their coun-
try well, and the country would rejoice to honour them—
and to pension them ; but when the interests and honour
of the country are at stake, we must not allow private con-
siderations to have weight in appointments of this kind.
I want-to know why the recommendation of the commis-
sion which I have just read was not carried out, and I
want to know, further, whether it is now being carried'
out. By your present system you exclucle from the army
all the middle classes— those 'classes which eminently re-
present the intelligence of the country; only those who have
influence and family connexions can get commissions; but
if you were to throw open the armyyou would at once have
a large importation of the middle classes into it, even as
privates, if you were to give them a prospect of rising. But
the Government have done nothing towards improving our
military system, except throwing open the Artillery, and
uniting the Commissariat and Ordnance with the Horse
Guards. I should not quite like to state my own opinion
with regard to this last measure, but I will read to the
house what the hon. member for Middlesex—(laughter)--
who is a member of the Government, and who ought there-
fore to be an authority, said on the subject some little time
ago--

" Will any man tell me that our military system, as exist-
ing at present, has tended to develope or bring forward mili-
tary talent or genius ? 1 deny it. Look, sir, in the first in-
stance, hew the staff of the British army is composed. (Cheers
and counter cheers.) It is all very well for hon. gentlemen to
come down and talk of consolidation of. the Ordnance, the
Horse Guards, and the Commissariat under one head, and the
substitution of one Minister for another. I maintain (what-
ever may be the inherent vigour of that man, whatever may
be his experience); a-mere consolidation will not be sufficient;
you must reconstruct your whole military system. The time
has arrived when 3 ou cannot expect an army, besides winning
battles in the field, to go through the vicissitudes of a cam-
paign under the present state of things. (Renewed Opposi-
tion cheers.) You must lay an unsparing hand on that build-
ing adjacent to these premises—you must see, whether in fact
you can find a modern Hercules to turn the Serpentim through
the Horse Guards, and all the ramifications of the War-office.
(Loud cheers.) . . In England every one knows that it is
not merit and capacity for which an officer is appointed to
the staff, but interest and connexion. . . I say you must
not-be satisfied with the army consolidation—you must reform
the array and the Horse Guards. . . The fact is this,
that you never will have any reform till you commence with
the Horse Guards, and are not satisfied with the mere conso-
lidation of offices. It is very painful for me to make this
statement—(ironical cheers)—l have a superior duty to per-
form ; I represent a constituency.'!

(Laughter.) Really, if I had been speaking myself, I coald
not have used more appropriate language. This being,
then, the opinion of a member of the Government, I trust
something will be done. We must remember that our
words here will travel far; I know that every regimental
officer in the Crimea is watching what passes here with the
deepest anxiety ; they trust in us, and they are hoping
that we shall be able to break up the system which ex-
poses them to so great wrongs. (Hear, hear.) With re-
gard to the navy, I am afraid there is much in its system
which produces the same injustice and the same grievances
as those which I have described with regard to the army.
I am afraid there is the same favouritism at work there
too. I will just give one instance of the perversity
which characterises the wiministration of the navy. If
there is one class of officers more valuable and more de-
serving than another in the navy it is the masters. (Hear.)
They are intrusted with most responsible duties; if a ship-
wreck takes place,the blame is generally thrown on their
shoulders ; but although there is a power to promote
masters, the Government will not do it. Some. time
ago I pressed on an hon. member of this house, who sits at
the Admiralty Board, to do something for the masters arid
he told me that something was being done. It turned out
that that something was a mere increase of pay, but there
was no improvement whatever made as to promoting them
in rank. Now a mere increase of pay Isay is no encourage-
ment at all to such men. I have received letters from mas-
ters telling me that they were so disgusted withthe service
that they were longing to quit it, and enter into the mer-
cantile marine. I come now to the diplomatic service, in
which I am somewhat more at home, as I have had consi-
derable personal experience of it, and have made it, too, a
subject of study; I will divideitinto twoparts—diplomacy
proper, and the consular service. Recent events have shown
us of what importance our. diplomatic service is, and what
i(nportant questions aro committed into its hands, and yet
if there is one service more thananother which is made the
vehicle for favouritism it is our diplomacy. Hereis a little
book published. by the Foreign-office, which gives a list•
of those who are employed in our diplomatic service I
open it at random, and I read :--Hanover—Minister, the
Hon. John Duncan Bligh, C.B. ; Secretary of Legation,
Hon. G. Edgcumb; First 'Attaché, Hon. W. Nassau
Jocelyn. Then I go to Austria. There the Minister is the
Earl of Westmoreland; the. Secretary of Legation, Hon.
Henry G. Elliot ; First paid Attache, Hon. Julian 11. C.
Fane. I turn to Berlin, and there I read—Minister, Lord
Bloomfield ; Secretary of Legation, Lord Augustus Loftus;
First paid Attache, Hon. Lionel S. Sackville West ; Se-
cond Attache, Hon.) William G. C. Elliot ; and.
er e s so on.
throughout, showing what a complete monopoly th
vice is. From this little book I have made the following
ani.lysis of the compositions of the service :
ci Head of Missions-7 lords, 9 lionolul
small m2issbiaornos ; baronets
3 noble families, 7 gentlemen, nearly all
Turkishfitmiltes , 10 1 baronet, 5 noble families, 7 gentlemen ; ,
against 7. Secretaries of Legation-2 lorlcl7s,;,(79aihnosnto7u.rabplaiesa,
include 6 nobleor Persian
gentle-
menAtt a c;
14
againstlord,l
170
,h honourables, rtabbel eis
0,
lords, 5 honourables, 9 noble
Mission. Unpaid Attaches-2
families, 17 gentlemen ; 16 against it
My hon. friend the member for Stafford the other night
mentioned the case of 3Tr. Stanley, ey,who had been a precis-
writer
ed
ee
n i n
gwil:::ffi meacci and who, after six days' service
as e first attache ;and, after three
sthe
attache, Fore
years' service as first attaché, was promoted to the post of
secretary of Legation. Certainly I should have thought
that that family had had enough—two peerages and a
bishopric, besides other things, ought to have sufficed
for them. Then, on the other hand, there is the case
of Mr. —emphatically a man of genius—who has
heenk Alison—emphatically
embassy at Constantinople since 1839.
An abler man does not exist; yet the Government, though
they have made him Oriental Secretary, will not allow
him to rank as a secretary of legation or to claim increase
of pay; he is kept under such men as Mr. Stanley, and
others who have been put over his head. There are a
great many other cases, all of which aro equally as bad ;
and let the house take say word for it—for I have
been engaged in diplomacy and in the Foreign-office—there
is nothing but favouritism in diplomacy. Yet the noble
lord (Lord Palmerston) gets up and says that it is a great
mistaketo suppose that when vacancies occur in the higher
offices the selections are not made with a view to efficiency.

There is the case of Lord Normanby, our present Minister
in Tuscany, whose office a committee of this house ree.2rr:
mended should be abolished, or merged into another.
~.„Coui
tainly it has been well said that the country niaY ~.
to pension incapacity, but cannot afford to employ_it I
am sorry to have to refer to italividual instances, but
cannot flinch flinch from that task when it is necessary tempe__
form it in order to expose a crying evil and abus,
__,7,
years ago it was determined to have gentlemen at ConrT4l
tinople who should take the places of the foreign toter p.7_
ters. Now, I have heard M. Pisani and othersao
.ot.l
foreign interpreters much condemned. It has been
St t 4
that they are mere Russian spies, who are t
11 ."f
bought ; but, in jnstice to this class, I must say
(snag
_speak froas experience) that I belive a more honest
which
men does not exist ; and I never heard of a case inig
they had betrayed their trust. The system, bower, say
bad; and it is no reflection upon those gentlemen if yen
_oll
that you ought not to have foreigners in your serviceolulittsve
can get Englishmen to fill their situations. Why all. ne do
not act as the Austrians, the French, and the Russia ores,
in this respect ? Well, several vacancies having
.occo
Nveure
four gentlemen selected from Oxford and
raC3mbruitghsee of
~
sent out to supply them ; but up to this omenthave DO 4.
been recognised as Attaches. True, tbey are
them are kept there upon miserable salaries
andd they can
told
but hoar
marry and settle there, and take up a profession ;
ei 5',,00
can they do so and keep up the position of gentlems
s'ii.rth_
2501. a-year, less income-tax and Forolgn-caco fee _ jinxD
out any chance of promotion, or even the advantitelseeesu
dragoman's place ? Though one of these ge %Isle step,
been abroad since IEIO he has not risen a are eervise,
Now what is wanted in diplomacy, as in the civilc
is some test on entering When I was at the Fores
eet of
many documents were submitted to me on tbetb DJ 1
r than -
examinations. Some of them went even fur ce,,,,,int-
thought necessary, because I don't know that an s_etiencee
ante with botany, astronomy, and other abstr3use..7,' bow
is of much use to such officers. Some examinw, tie°,,',.ht to
ever, is absolutely requisite ; and, above all, part of our
employ no man without paying him. That Pi/ s usan's
Pt ) ' °
system is rotten from top to bottom. (..--ear. he very 'll,
services are worth anything, pay him from t' not sort"
ment he enters your employment; if they all _
~d once
anything, let him be dismissed. In the nest P2a0:40.' up to
your Attaches by seniority to a certain
secretaryships of legation. You cannot 8
~e in dip.°,.'
them further than that by seniority, beTl.ll'you vv..,
Pnine'f'ely.
.Pronieit°
macy book knowledge is not sufficient ;
uer to secure_
be justifiable, but' that departure
greater qualifications than that, and, in order
greater qualifications than that, and,
ure fro'° rule eal,
superior efficiency, almost any departure front be rotes
for the purpose of perpetrating a it°D'io the 00"b1;
case unfortunately too often at Pr,es,,,,n • ts
n should 0
should
,neve`; is the
petition to which diplomatic aPPI",,,,e-so those an,
subject, a preference should. be ''°l our public an",•
have taken the highest honours in son3e 0 ytwo with resaura
recognised places of education. A word' °r, ervio .11°' ant
to the consular branch—a most importan" ei o,stie sg?- e
one that is as ill-treated as are your
di
ofP °four divisio ~
Your coy galas establishments consist peeerals, coo 'solar
which it is necessary to distinguish--consu your eensinalt
suls, vice-consuls, and consular assistants.
employed
for
service is no profession at all, and men are sonietinies• te•
fog the most extiaordinary reasons, and uld roostsare,
reasons I may almost say, that moraiitY vf° , „cats
to sue° r 1 the
The claims put forward for appointment astonisnec plea
indeed, often so remarkable that I am ---,ljssel-vice top
should be listened to for a moment. But junvbo is at the.„ a
are never promoted. The consul-general, but Dever I'6o,
of the tree, ought to have previously been'," ea of tbe en.
hard-working consul. The noble lord at thes°oenle of our coo
vernment bore testimony to the efficiency of
these outlet the
suls. I have myself been acquainted mediate rang° of
in Europe, Asia and Africa, in therm „nt among is
tht-
Mediterranean at least ; and I must say "`"who frotn,,bees
are many most able men, and men, in fact,' to the isloree
wonderful acquirements would be entitles
refvuoed , or
pasts in any profession. But are they eve and oote self
ing of their long and unrequited servicesL
of them write to me stating their grievan, 'and I 0/0 en
but tbi.vniee thetlooa
kthaaotwthme for 20 °re svoltl
yenmwayithtrlaadregeiffatraheiyliepslewahseo;have be _ they sr,l3ry,
30 years stationed in soke small tovvn• Tru°'ie a iaea are
for how can they trade without capital, of,„, soul` hots
destitute? If they attempted to do so they t other Orenstast
become bankrupt ; they would set all the tjet° o°:thein.
of the place against them ; they would gess(' instil' Oa
quarrels with the pashas, and everyoody sofem deductnon
nct
(~ Hear, hear," and a laugh.) You put afet-, you tb
he does not escape the taxation
300 L, or, it may be,a-year Lansidering bicli
from his salary the income-tax, which' cciuntrY inn otib'
ho is living, is, perhaps, rather hard. ic-",'is sn lerus'
nation—viz., what is called the
ject him to another burden, which, .1 thina-office %icily'
of the c°,,her, yes,ooi.
fees. I will say nothings • t the cterks 1.11 that thatdeP
the short
. 0 re
Foroig_ the for :rt.
office, because, during the short time I Wasleisy the j3ut a
ment, I found men of such power and capatiogs.
.., so
consul and every diplomatic offieer is
I was ashamed to feel myself placed oveLipea to,Pi,el,o-
- the rot with
'much for every 1001. he receives to a cleric 1
ad, eV tool,
office for enabling him to draw his salmi ; sod, °loge
this? and with the extras which the ntifi'r s a seri p. I
with 250/. a-year, has to pay, there is alwaL icer.°o", or
percentage to be deducted from his Iniieraol7o tb!
ustip
say, therefore, that you should do either, `o'siifficicit is
another—either pay your Foreign-offico cler cot 011;..'e out
or, fix_ your consular salaries at the s,lnjwsed, et. thesa
actually paid ; but don't, by a sort of si"c•ration ° eon-
any inadequacy there may be in the remune
the poor
_our
clerks by cheating of his scanty earnings oe
y rTgel)t
sul in the East. (Hear, hear.) Then i'l -a ,5 -c 1.-10,;
vice-consuls, who never rise,—indeed t eeirssoe. ote.
an instance of advancement in the consulaor Beeler ageotaitf
you have got a perfect cloud of " c jbso eati°,oceed'
These persons are mostly Greeks, or nien 0 their Pan' ea-
in the East. I read an amusing account of O.ostlooving
ings in a book written, I understand, hs'' g Tlie loving
gaged in the Foreign-office, and entitled oosnWi(pr°-
Englishmen." I have seen undreds of these c who se buff'
myself over and over again ; they are lioi'ljecooo.,,tie
toction, who go about with two or three P°iog 00; try'
mg. everybody; who make money by praelr-frora in esellit
to individuals from the lock-up house eil7ol w, ferf n3a"
bunals of the country ; men who violate te'o.",,eats!'ils the(
pasha to secure their liberation. Thus,
themselves as British subjects, and paYthes-r3eW Ivaries °f
fee, in consideration of which influencers Oce" athercer
the 1. 00 the cu
the country are insulted ; these men do,ll°,t 7 Vire„,"oula
tows' dues, and the local law is set at denaltl:ocloi; tbo
course which I would take to remove this t", disoilsSo;
be,•if ever I heard of such a case, at once
pus
ola'
person concerned, and have him signally yOU Service
in the diplomatic and the consular sorvlcousalar
...,0
have a career. No man should enter the e coo Euru.svii to
. unless
seiseh ad previously been what ini do not `vti son'
countri called a "pro consul;" but, a' ~ Assisi:, ss i!
use high-sounding names, I will term it 51',3 throurierfea
sal." Let there be a probation to be g°: manliest W place'
the case in the French service, and wheLtthe biithat o'r
a certain period let him rise by merit toil, to bin) got'
in his profession. Then you will holtlsooo'w ,cliollf i poi(
conragement to exert himself which
.efeee f°e''t of Puri
ing. I would also abolish they oreign,. the sulllection,
.s.`t
come to the civil service, a branch ca,,tinai qthe vast,
eminent importance, because it is a Ponadvice of ,
upon i
e,
I hope we shall be favoured with tho Gladstoe/
Nve have
honourable gentleman behind me pir.on beau: interea
Hero .we have safer grounds to g° ur. -00 '''''i the 11.1;
in evidence before us a collection 0, owe 0
engeged.ls,
ing and valuable papers drawn uP 7100 beet' aners gi:
remarkable men in this country sal° I.' The se
and 9 bo'i
all departments of the public servieec:_.woot, m ; s
the grounds, I hope, of future imp teed es 01°exPriliialrf'
on which this house may workouteil Sennice've mad° sso
own opinion upon the state of Glen. _hi) ha n
ee_
the opinions of some of the gentl_rn 0 L''sie use. .see b ~P.
reports which have been laid befor., ,reounsiryt,t pooli,,
been said that the civil service oft t2i:a 10,1 y
aTI )03;
tical influence, but chiefly
entirely confined to those who latter;if and vin,,,er of the
the
„,d If. three P° per °f
that an impression has gone abreet9
the areeaslr_bet ts of
right hon. gentleman who reol4
0. Les us the veniaiotio
Mr. Romilly, and he Will
house in the distribution of tn". e j will cite ta7teorritl'n'f
gentlemen say in their ralrr;arded as an
he has been appointed one ointments in the civil e',,,leci s:
regulations. Re says of aPP° ointments being Pilo's:
" The only motive for such
;oPrPpolitical servicesceoele
political partisans is gr
atitude .
n the HOS°
3°,l_ acligroter
exertions in obtaining votes
elections, a ste aLiee
tiot
large suins of money spent in_o„_wed. by ono an.o;o o 0
~o,
to one political party at last I la'
unsyserving de,v,iefasioabwah
just to indicate that the former
it .
_fai_ar s
1 cott-i-eceivellto•
to be duly appreciated .these . a SdiSPensiug rbips,°.ate3
u'
tile examiners unclis._tVicy,,
tuate the Minister of the day luau,
..bairreans_ eppcs. he,
secretaryships, commissionerships, 'I '
chosen ,To'fiej, Duvtbel
fall vacapt. .. . In all eases thermt
efnorthe sitnf.Tesi fer,iaties,,
not because they are peculiarly 0 tbe prov'' nevi " oro
XlO as r but s 4
taus© as political adherents they raus ~osiug are nie
look upon their appointments,
retirelneamof toolvo
not as an important field for fresh exerti°ns? t' 11eiv`i
for the past, and an agreeable and east the goo A P the
tive life for the future. In other wor•d Pros isea in,'
service is sacrificed to political eons,
__..e
fist he ra. in 00 o' of
party must be kept together. Ropes u
o koa%ss
minds of the rising generation of politic Tors o 1 ttol
oitoast in
proportion as hopes are raised in meinitsoot t, crush
Commons by every fresh political apP0111" a soo
110
in the strictly civil service they are lose° ich° r'
the civil service." sa „aiso '
erotic so 03•0' ‘roify
The words I hasve read are those of a c!,..0_.,0. P
,ben chosen by the Government thensse,b;:oaiele.", .
..
II therefore they will give due weight to„gul'et'at,eg •
is, ptirl.
let us sae what Sir J. Stephen says• -I'. . oleo3l,7,isfitP
" Tho Clerks iu the colonial Offs w_.°.,leooallewthe Olio.
guishable into three classes. The first, a ve'A-Tret, .0 ' , .04,
the second being more numerous than thc:eci
.._ beffond,
.%,
exceeding the number of the other two un',!,igere tfit, batelran
the narrow circle of the first of these classe:bers o'hieli I,ct
not indeed combined in any one of the ''
'l',„flities ef °oil ",,rer
riously- distributed among them au__ qu....
irateo _ f ro,
or
still never think without the highest 30'00 of ,in,
_such as large capacity of mind, literatYuYergy, lit
on to."to,
cellence, sound scholarship, indeinitahl° egf.dev° hoe f' if
perienee in public affairs, and an absolntesho pest d wilh,o,
public service. It comprised some men v'sitioa, °bay, were
to eminence in any field of open ConsPe%oaablY le,
born to more ample fortuues, might rea'which they Joe
pired to hold the seals of the office in . . so, of c.,1
serving as subordinates. . - ' • - • si,s insPriaossess.o-
- of the third class—that is, "."-i, situe--loiostl_i•
members of the Colonial Department in nil, degree° ofd Tor
only in a low degree, and some of there i11.`,.„ of niennir 10
I credibly low, either the talents or the liao,o;dge eelon,,
.0
ness, or the industry, the zeal, or tholoo7ate fuc,v, for t1)°,,,,
the effective performance of their apptoPft be reaTie for
..01.00
many cases ample and valid excuses Tiq..-..i ieiposi% of P. D.
defects ; but of the existence of them it 1! the o°w eg,ti'at
to doubt. Neither have I any doubt as
_f whonlers of eee
extreme disparities between the person!4_ Inerab
cll. ' le
lishment of the office was composed. '.11" 0011, of th co
which I have designated the first-class Wdeno: nooonte'lnelabeer
who had been sought out and apooint see. Thesisaon.ol,
well-ascertained fitness for tho public sere_r were, wo
...00...,
of that which I have named. the third etionsetiff strops
ception, men who had been appointed
o,g;ir Pat,,Ef'l the
le,
the domestic, or the personal feeline.eitnewbeisicoll, tv
111 h not Ocit ill° 010
calledo successiveseeo nd n iatroductiesn ot hers,
dbted to such nepotism for 'their
understoo'..oilo t„, te
Secretaries oefiSfltayt,c.tbo g
department. It will, of course, e'er s, iS
rhea seniority Pre'f as
classification is wholly distinct from . 0
seniority .
3, thevio.o
under the same names, to indicate tn
each'other. .• . • . neratee
• winch ge el 'D
in our public offices a nepotism i Rill
abuses in the conduct of them. A Now -
hen. dir
Such is the evidence of Sir J. Step
t A r,,io
He says :
that of Sir C. Trevelyan. riasportanthe e1"0-
" It would be natural to expect that s
ail" ,t aud t 004
its ks the ° 'seen" sa,
fession would attract into ran that the red it 'eel"
ambitious of the youth of the couutwq; hal entet.o .so ,
•
onelude, therefore! tilvitni,. set °
lation would prevail among those 00
eriorqualiftea ltice;%
0:
that such as were endowed with sup ,
_nee. S
eicoi
1:0:
eito - ° Os
Si'
t IS 'UL'old'l'av
ever, is by no means the case. -Iva bait
it ,- roc,
vice is, indeed, eagerly sought after;aalable that
30 0 0
~
rapidly rise to distinction and pu.b,linicicsn27 . th.._. of
ambitious and the indolent and. in , _ni.rot
rofo 0
a 0 °P°P v
tion that they will succeed I desired. Those whose abilities do. not "