The Sun.
London, England, 1855-09-29 00:00:00

SALE OF COMMISSIONS.

(From the Ayr Advertiser.)
In considering the various proposals made from time
to time for tho improvement of our military system, it
has often appeared to us singular that so little attention
has been directed to an anomaly which, for its glaring
injustice and its pernicious tendency, is unsurpassed by
any grievance in any department under State control.
We allude to the simple fact that, after war is declared
—even in the face of the enemy—an officer is entitled to
sell his Commission, pocket the money, and toast his
toes quietly at home : while his brother officer, who
answers to the call of duty, goes into action, and falls
in defence of his country, not only lose, his life, but
loses to his family the price of his Commission !
Take, for instance, a Captain's commission. In the
Life Guards it costs 3,5001. ; in the Foot Guards,
with rank of Lieutenant-Colonel. 4,8001. ; and in the
Line, 1,8001. In many an instance in England, Scot-
land, and Ireand, these Commissions have been slowly
acquired by young men whose parents have impoverished
themselves and their families to help one member of that
family to honourable distinction ; or in other cases they
may be held by married men, with families dependent
upon them, whose whole property is the father's Com-
mission. War is declared. Some men sell out—the
cause is immaterial to the point at issue. We need only
the fact,—they sell out, and retire with the full value of
their Commission in hard cash. How fare the others ?
What says the bugle when it sounds such cherges'as
at Alma, Inkerman, and Balaklava ? Why, the rob-
ber on the highway, in mercy, gives an alternative,
" Your money or your life." But the British bugle
has no note of compassion. It is, " Your money and
your life too." And think you, reflective reader, that on
the eve of battle, when companies are told off for next
morning's assault, brave officers. whose circumstances
are such as we have described, would not contem-
plate the morrow with a lighter heart if they were
not aware that with the life they are ready to offer for
their Queen and country falls the money of near and dear
relatives, or the whole means of subsistence of their wives
and families. Foreshadowing dreams of innocence and
helpless youth cast destitute on a cold world are not the
most likely emotions to nerve even the bravest men in
the hour of imminent peril. Is not this a premium to
cowardice at the expense of courage ? It may be sug-
gested that widows of fallen officers receive pensions ;
but these are not adequate to the loss. They may stand
as an unwelcome solatium for the loss of the life, but the
price of the commission is still due by every law of hon-
our and justice. It does not admit of a question put in
this simplest of all forms—" Why should the officer who
retires from the field while the country is at war get the
full value of his commission, while the family of the
officer who fights and falls for his country loses the value
of his ?"
Those who point out a grievance should suggest a
remedy. In default of a better, we would propose that
on the approach, or during the continuance of war, those
who prefer to retire from the service should leave the
value of their Commissions behind them ; and that this
fund should, if necessary, be supplemented out of the
Exchequer to give to the representatives of officers slain
the full value of their Commissions.