The Sun.
London, England, 1855-03-02 00:00:00

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been promoted. If they were to confide io ,the Covent- -
ment the task of promoting men according to their merit,
and of ascertaining the relative degrees of merit; the house - -
would be placing upon— tha—sholilders -of the -Ooverotnent •
an invidious duty, which it would be impossible for them
to discharge. (Hear, hear.) One effect of such a etep
also would be, to confer upon the regiments at home a
great and undue advantage over those in the colonies,
where the respective merits could not be so easily ascer-
tained. Promotion by merit would, in effect, become
promotion by favouritism. (Hear, hear.) The noble lord
vslAo drought forward the motion had stated that the
sale of commissions was not legalised. In this respect*e
noble lord was in error, for the 49 Gee. 111., cap. 126, ex-
pressly refers to the safe or purchase of commissions, upon
such terms as may be fixed by the Queen's regulations.
But there were in connection with the system of promo-
tion many serious difficulties, not to be remedied without
very deliberate consideration of the whole bearing of the
question. The present value of the commissions held by
officers in the army, supposing they were to buy up all the
rights of those only who are now serving in the Crimea,
would exceed the sum of two millions. In addition to this,
the impracticability of effectually abolishing the sale and
purchase of commissions must also be borne in mind: Sup-
pose the house were to decide that no ensign should be ap-
pointed by purchase, yet when those officers came to rise
from rank to rank, it would be found that money would
always be brought to bear in order to displace those who
stood in the way of the desired promotion. In India, al-
though no commissions were allowed to be sold, it fre-
quently occurred that, in order to induce an old officer to
retire, those below him in rank raised a zm of money
among them, and presented it to him in order to get biro
away. As a further evidence of the little value to be
placed upon regulations of this kind, it was a well-known
fact that, although it was prohibited to give for a commis-
sion any larger sum than that stated in the Queen's regu-
lations, sums considerably higher were frequently given by
persons of wealth. (Hear, hear.) So far as he had been
able to look into the question, he saw many advantages
connected with the present system which he should be
most sorry to see abolished. Upon the other hand, he saw
considerable inconveniences in the plan proposed by the
noble lord, nut the least of which was that complete stag-
nation in the current of promotion which would ensue. ,For
these reasons he called upon the house not to give its sanc-
tion to the motion of the noble lord. (Hear, hear.)

Lord LOVAINE admitted that the present system was
not perfect—he did not know any system that was-abut
he denied that it was chargeable with all the evils
ascribed to it. The noble lord referred to the officers
in the continental armies, but he ought to remeniber
that there the conscription forced all classes into the ar my,
from among whoth; of course, there was an ample selection
for commissioned officers; but he.denied that in any army
in the world sach.care was taken for the comfort and wel-
fare of the private soldiers-as by. the English gentlemen..
who officered the British army. It was remarkable that a
system of purchase had been voluntarily adopted is the
Indian army ; that was to say, the officers in a regiment
clubbed their subscriptions together to induce the senior
officers to retire, that they might not stop the promotion
of those below them. -
Mr. OTWAY supported the motion ; and, in answer to
the objection that it would encumber the army with aged
officers, he suggested the adoption of the French system,
that no man should remain in any given rank beyond a
certain age.

Colonel SIBTHORP had heard with pleasure the speech
of the hon. gentleman the Under-Secretary of War, and
that of the noble lord (Lord Lovaine.) Our system had
gone on for many years, and under it our army had ob-
tained a high character, and therefore he was opposed to
change. It was better to let well enough alone, and he
was prepared to vote against the motion of the noble lord.
Mr. WARNER agreed with the noble lord who sub-
mitted the motion to the house, that the only second rule
to adopt was that of a combination of seniority and merit.
But there was a question, which had not been touched, of
very great importance—where were we to get our soldiers
from at all ? We could not resort to the conscription, and
men were unwilling to enlist. He feared we had syste-
matically endeavoured to degrade the men in our army.
Hon. members spoke disparagingly of the foreign legion last
year, and the consequence of the unjustifiable and most
offensive character given the men likely to compose such a
force was, that the Government failed to raise it. (bear,
hear.) Much the same course was pursued towards our
own soldiers. We treated them as if they belonged to an
inferior class, and we subjected them to degrading punish-
ments, and the consequence was that soldiers would not
come forward willingly when wanted. He hoped that the
system of promotion by purchase would be done away
with. There were two things wanted—military talent at
the head of an army, and a number of men sufficient to
maintain the force ; and to secure these two things a
change of system was necessary.
Captain SCOBELL regarded the reply made by the hon.
Secretary of War as a routine speech. (Hear, bear.) In
the presence of the Prime Minister he should say that un-
less this question was taken up seriously by him, it would
run away with his Government. Matters could not remain
as they were, and this was a topic that would not go to
sleep until it was put to rest. (A. laugh.) Looked at as
an affair of buying and selling, was it, he asked, proper or
rational that the Queen's commissions should be bought
and sold? No other army in the world did such a thing.
How would it be if the principle of purchase was applied
to the non-commissioned grades? Supposing privates were
allowed to purchase sergeantcies, how would that work ?
What sort of sergeants would we have? Why, our ser-
geants would become worthless instead of being, as now,
most excellent—for, as a class, the sergeants and corporals
were the most perfect in the British army. They learn
their duties by degrees, and they win their promotion by
merii; alone. With regard to the buying and selling sys-
tem, it was so rooted in the British army that it would be
difficult to eradicate it ; but some beginning might be
made. No more purchases should be allowed after a given
date, and those who had previously purchased should be
held harmless ; .and then, should it require two or three
millions-to get rid of the whole vicious system, let us pay
it, and assume a right position. He held that the pur-
chasing of commissions did an injury to the aristocracy,
for dull men by it got over the heads of active and ener-
getic men, and the character of the whole suffered in
public estimation. Let the system be changed, and let
merit be the cause of promotion, and the aristocracy would
then bear comparison with any class in the community.
The army was at present made a sort of plaything, and
men who had no taste or talent for military life en-
tered it and left it without ever thinking of making it a
serious study. But the term aristocracy was a very loose
one, for who could say where aristocracy began and where
it ended ? There was an intermediate class, and this class
formed a considerable portion of those who were interested
in the purchase of commissions. Hon. members had all
the same object in view—to secure the honour and safety
of the country, and to maintain the credit of thearmy. If
they could get an able soldier who was a marquis,.
they
should glory in him. Nothing was so satisfactory as to
see rank united with talent ; but then it was doubly un-
satisfactory to see rank without talent getting on at a double
pace, while merit was left behind. (Hear.) It had been
said that Parliament had been niggard in voting the sums
necessary for the maintenance of our army; but that was
not so. The army estimates were never refused by the
House of Commons, and they were not chargeable with the
inefficiency of our military establishments. Nothing with
an officer was so high a certificate in the eye of the public
as that he was a Waterloo man ; but nothing could be
more wrong than to assume that all Waterloo men were
heroes, and fit, in strength and talent, for the arduous ser-
vice of the present day. These men were worn out and
past their prime, and it was not wise to put forward age
when they could get youth and stamina and talent com-
bined. The gallant officer the Secretary of the Admiralty
Board had given the House his opinion of the Horse Guards.
He had said that every one knew it was not merit or capa-
city, but interest and connection, which ruled promotion
there. That was pretty strong coming from the Ministe-
rial bench, and showed that the question had made con-
siderable way in the country. He said that they should
not be satisfied with a mere consolidation of departments,
but that they must reform the Horse Guards and the army
—and he asked how they could have generals when the first
thing they did was to compel men to lodge a slim of money
and then to purchase every step ? (Hear.) The whole
question rested on this point—Wu merit to be superior
to money in the army, or money to merit ? In the profes-
sion to which he belonged it was true that commissions
could not be purchased, but gentlemen could obtain them in
the Admiralty by other means which he need not particula-
rise. Many able and gallant officers were passed over aria
neglected in his profession, and he was himself one of the
neglected. A noble lord in another place who had held
office in the administration before the last, said that if the
administration of the army were assimilated to that of the
navy, the army would be a hotbed of jobbery andtrickery.
The fact was that both wanted setting to rights. In one a
man might job his way if he had plenty of money; in the
other a man might job his way if he had plenty of interest.
(Hear.) He did not deny that war gave a man some. chance
of promotion, but he was speaking of the ordinary state of
things. When they could find sergeants and corporal's suffi-
ciently educated to advance them, it was wise to give therm
promotion; but many sergeants and corporalshad net edema-
tidn enough to-be advanced to commissions. In such a c.sse
they should reward them otherwise, and he was a great a -
eocate for the establishment of the order of merit, whici'
would descend to the lowest man ire the army. (Rear,
hear.) He would heartily supportltho motion, and refer
to a few instances, taken at random from the Army List,
to show the consequences of the present system. He found
in one regiment an o fficer of eight years' standing; the next
to him was also of eight years' standing; but then followed
officers of sixteen, fourteen, and twelve years' 'Landing. In
another regiment the first man was of eight yearn' stand-
ing ; the next man of thirty years' standing ; the next of
eight, and the next of sixteen. How could things go on
satisfactorily according to that system? Olean) MMus'
the grey-headed man placed behind the youth; and thatwaa
enough to damp the ardour of any but an English army,
which it would take a great deal to damp. (Hear.) He
believed that in the' ragoons things were in the same way.
He found that an officer of nine years standing was above
officers of fourteen and eighteen years' standing. This was
the first motion of a series that was coming before the
house, and he trusted the house would deal with it in a suffi-
ciently encouraging way, that was the proper place tornake
regulations to change the laws, and he trusted the noble
lord at the head of the Government would come forward
and make the changes that were called for by the times.
Let them do it slowly if they would, but let them not stand
still. (Hear.) The system could not stand, and. if any
further disasters should occur the Government would be
tripped up_on this, if on no other question. (Hear.)
Sir J. WAISII always thought that one of the conse-
quences of the disastrous and ill-conceived expedition to
Sebastopol would be that it would throw discredit upon
the whole military system. (Hear.) Their regimental
system had worked well, and might bear comparison with
that of any other nation in Europe. The whole of their
military annals demonstrated its superiority, whicht was
substantiated and confirmed* by the recent and great
ex-
ploits of their army. (Hear, hear.)
Jie
must
give his
vote against the motion of the noble viscount.
Lord SEYMOUR, sai 1 the noble lord who brought for•
ward.
this motion pleaded that deathwould vacancies
be
the should
effectb
given to private soldiers.-Now
of this? The country was calling for younger officers ; the
certain effect of this system would be the introduction of
older officers. The country was calling for educated offi-
cers ; under this system education must be given asp alto-
gether. Then, in time of peace, this system would of ne-
cessity degenerate into a combined system of seniority nod
favouritism. The two systems, in fact, were now in ope-
ration in our own army, In the artillery there was no
purchase— in the line there was. The consequence w!%s
that in the artillery there was the greatest difficulty in
getting rid of old officers. If the same systchwteorna
nc
adopted in the line, the pension list would be swelled
frightful extent, or the army would be eumhboeediebiyutoielda
and incapable officers. He denied that pure ase
qualification, which, on the contrary,
.might be carried as
high as in any of the Continental armies.He complainedresent
that the motion before the house condemned the r
,
system without offering any other plan in its place .
Mr. J. BALL supported the motion as a mean; of in
creasing the number of recruits, and he eontendeil that,