The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-12 00:00:00

HOW TO OBTAIN A COMMISSION.

(Prom the Daily News of this day.)
Lord Methuen, the lieutenant-colonel of the Royal
Wilts Militia, has done good service in the cause of
Army Reform. It appears that on the Bth inst., one
Mr. William Walker, who dates his letter from 2, St.
James's-square, wrote as follows to the adjutant of the
regiment which his lordship commands:-
2, St. James's-square, March 7, 1855..
Sir,—l beg to ask if you have any vacaat ensignoies in
the Wiltshire Regiment, and can introduce a very gen.de
manly young man, aged 23 years, who wishes an appoint-
anent—rery
I am, sir, your very obedient servant,
WILLIAM WALKER.
Now, se far as this letter goes, there can be no harm
in Mr. William Walker making the application he did.
As a matter of course, every colonel of a militia or other
regiment is only too happy to
in the
many " very gan-
tlernanly" young men as possible the corps he com-
mands; and therefore the offer to supply Lord Methuen
with a youth of this description to fill the situation of an
ensign must be regarded as friendly in the extreme on
the pert of Mr. Walker. Unfortunately, however, the
above communication was but the crust of the pie ; and
within the note was the following enclosure :

(Enclosure.)
I can place 401. to your credit in this Instance.
W. W.

As a general rule, adjutants either of militia or regu
lar regiments are not rich men. Whether Lord
Methuen's adjutant has a large balance at the banker's
we know not ; but, unluckily for Mr. Walker, and for
the " very gentlemanly" young man, he appears to be
an officer who is by no means inclined to " make things
pleasant" with persons of his correspondent's stamp. As
a soldier and a gentleman ought to do on such an occa-
sion, he very properly laid the letter he had received,
together with its precious enclosure, before his com-
manding officer, and the latter as properly published the
whole affair in the columns of a morning contemporary.
His lordship's note is as follows :
Sir,—ln the hope that you will expose the jobbery which
appears by the enclosed to be going on in the militia ser-
vice, I send you a letter and slip of paper received by my
adjutant this morning.
I lan, sir, your obedient servant,
METHUEN, Lieutenant-Colonel,
Portsmouth, March 8. Royal Wilts Militia.
So far so good. Lord Methuen has, as we said before,
done good service in exposing this little bit of jobbery,
and is entitled to the thanks of the community, with per-
haps the exception of the William Walkers, who, no
doubt, will lose many nice little jobs by the publicity given
to the foregoing proposition. Ner do we imagine the
<<o^•-v gentlemanly" and "very eligible" young men who
" wish for appointments," and can afford to place 401. "to
the credit" of Militia Adjutants when an appointment is
wanted, will hear Lis lordehip much good will for the
manner in which he has shown up the kin I offer made
by Mr. Walker to his adjutant.
But whilht we join in exposing "jobbery" in the mi-
litia, should we not endeavour to lay bare the equal—if
not greater--jobbery going on in the regular army ?
Putting aside the question of purcha,e and sale of com-
missions, every one connected with the service knows
perfectly well that not an exchange or promotion
takes place without large sums of money over and above
" regulation" being given between the parties. The rich
mean in the British service has no need of serving a day
in a bad climate, or enduring for a single month the bore
of doing duty iu a dull colonial garrison. At his first
start as a soldier, should he unfortunately for himself be
gazetted to a cerps in the East or West Indies, he ha-
merely to wait a few months, then to pay a round sum
to some poorer man who belongs to a corps in some more
favoured climate and the Horse Guards are at once ready
to "make thingspleasant." Nay, more, the wealthy officer
has not even the trouble of looking outfor theexchareee he
wants among the different regiments of the service. Every
moss in the army receives once a week a circular from
certain agents of the 'William Walker class, which
contains a list of the exchanges that are open in the
military market. In this circular, the actual prices are
not named ; the circular is a public one, and even at
" 2, St. .Tapnes's-square," a certain degree of delicacy is
observed ; but the officer who wants a certain exchange
has merely to write to the so-called agent in order to
know the price ho must pay or will receive, as the case
*ay be.
Is this " jobbery," or is it not ? What -difference is
there between the system we have endeavoured to ex-
pose and the manner in which men of business buy, sell,
and exchange Bank or other shares ? To say that these
military exchanges are only matters of private arrange-
raent between officers is the worst kind of falsehood—it
is a suppression of the truth. From first to last, the
whole system is perfectly well known at the Horse

Guards, and has been so for the last twenty-five years.
The near relatives of Commanders-in-Chief, and of other
" dons" in the army, have profited, perhaps more than
any other class, by the manner in which matters are
" made pleasant " in the service. It is true that a cer-
tain troublesome Act of Parliament, the 49th George
111., cap. 126, sec. 7, lays down the law that any or e
who gives more than the regulated difference, even in the
exchange of commissions, is guilty of a misdemeanour.
But acts of Parliament are framed only for weak-minded
men to believe in. If they were observed, how would
the William Walkers of civil life gain their living v or
how would " very gentlemanly" young men, with plenty
of money in their purses, be able to exchange from regi-
ments in India to regiments at home—from infantry to
cavalry—from lights to heavies—from dragoons to the
guards . . . .

There are other committees of inquiry respecting the
state of the army wanted besides the one now sitting in
the House of Commons. For many years past we have
allowed matters to be "made pleasant" in the service ;
and in the mismanagement of the present war:we arc
reaping the fruits of our folly. Day by day does the
public press teem with exposures of abuses in our mili-
tary system which even the veriest stickler far things as
they are does not for a moment dream of defending. An
entire and total change is required throughout the ser-
vice. Personal bravery is no doubt required in every
military man, but the public want something more than
that in their paid servants. Commissions, appointment..,
exchanges, and promotions must no longer be made
matters of barter and traffic, even should the incomes of
the William Walkers suffer by the change ; and unless
Acts of Parliament are intended to be pleasant jokes,
it should not be lett to the discretion of militia adjutants,
or any other class of men, to determine whether a 401.
cheque can " make matters pleasant."

THE NEW CONSUMPTION HOSPITAL IN
VICTORIA PARK.

The visitors to that oasis of the eastern suburb of the
metropolis known as the Victoria-park will not fail
to have remarked a stately edifice at its south-
eastern angle. This is the new Consumption Hospi-
tal, of which the foundation-stone was laid by Prince
Albert in 1851, and which now, after a long delay,
occasioned by a deficiency of funds, is about to lie
opened for the relief of suffering humanity. This
auspicious event was on Wednesday evening, emu
memorated by the Committee of the "City of Lon
don Hospital for Diseases of the Chest" at the London
Tavern, where a very large party sat down at six o'clock
to a sumptuous entertainment provided by Mr. Bathe
and quite worthy of the occasion. The Earl of Carlisle,
Lord-Lieutenant of Ireland, presided, and the company
at the upper table included the Rev. G. P. Lockwood,
rector of South Hackney, and many highly respectable
members of the mercantile community. In proposile;
the toast of the evening, " Prosperity to the New
Consumption Hospital," the noble chairman observed
that he must borrow a figure of speech from the coin -
try whither he was bound,—they had reet to cele-
brate the opening of an hospital which bad not been
opened. (Laughter.) His LorJship went on to ex-
plain that out-patients were already received at the ho:;-
pita], and that in patients would be admitted in the en
suing month of April. The noble earl the❑ enlarged on
the merits of this noble institution and the necessity of
further exertions and increased pecuniary supplies. It
appears that the building has cost about 21,0001., and
that, taking the deficiency in the assets of the last year
together with amount required for the servile of this, at
least 12,0001. must be raised to meet the Immediate exi-
gencies of the case. We believe that the sums contributed
on Wednesday evening amounted to some 3,200/., arising
partly from annual subscriptions, and partly from a
handsome list of 2001. donations, at the head of which
figures the name of his Excellency the President of the In-
stitution (the Earl of Carlisle.) The remaining business of
the evening was of a routine character, with the excep-
tion of an excellent speech from the Rev. Mr. Rowsell,
who gave an affecting description of the sickness and dis-
tress prevalent in Bethnal-green and the districts ad-
jacent to Victoria-park. The evening passed off very
much to the satisfaction of the guests ; a military band
enlivened the repast, and after dinner Misses Birch and
Poole, supported by Messrs. Francis, Allen, Jolly, and
Lawler agreeably relieved the " unaccompanied reci-
tative" of the orators. Mr. if arker ably officiated as
toastmaster.

Ix virEuT w
that in Lauda AY IS COLD FATAL ?—The returns show
which exhibituti:.ts effects are concentrated on the lungs,
in their textore,l various forms of congestion of blood
monary apoplexyr.°9lr pneumonia and bronchitis to put
average deaths from pneumo-
nia, bronchitis, and
deaths from these causes rose in six weeks, are 9.51 ; the
weeks. Influenza, hooiZse to 2,349 in the six cold
ra,,til Cough,c croup, and a few
other diseases of the zy
scrofula, apoplexy, pa,ralygi,,a'r,.mortification, cancer,
slightabooveheart disease,
terminated fatally, in proportioV"'
end
on. The
the average ;
so did consumption, but to a
chronic
cold therefore brings quickly to a fatalipex_ . many.
diseases which it does not in(luce.-
-.tut4E) ar-Generat's

Report.
The Marseilles journals of the Bth inst. announce that
a battalion of the 99th regiment of the line marched
through that city on the 7tb, ea route for Toulon, where
it was to embark for Algiers. A battery of artillery of
the Imperial Guard arrived on the same day at Mar-
seilles. 43 English nurses were waiting there to embark
for Constantinople.
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