The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-26 00:00:00

British military officer Lord Palmerston made a Sin-
gular reply. The Prime Minister admitted it, but
he accounted for the difference by the fact that in
the British army the system of purchase prevailed,
whereas in the Navy that system was unknown.
" It must be borne in mind, ' he said, " that the
commissions in the military service are purchased,
and that the officers embark 's considerable capital
to rise to any high rank, whereas in the Navy the
same practice does not prevail." The conclusion he
attempted to draw was that therefore the pay in
the Navy ought to be lower than that of the Army-
But why ? No doubt if the naval officer must
possess some private means, and must therefore
possess a private income derived from private in-
vestments, a lower amount of pay will place him on
an equality with the military officer whose capital
has been invested in purchasing his promotion. But
what is the naval officer to do if he has no private
means? If the pay of the military officer, calculated
upon the principle-that he has bought his promo-
tion, is not too high for his position, in what way
is the naval officer, who hai no private means, and
has a lower rate of pay, to maintain his position ?
The necessary result must be that those naval offi-
cers who have no private means must be excluded
from the service, and that the Navy, like the Army,
must be more or less of a monopoly. Now, this is
precisely the result which every true economist ought
anxiously to avoid. It is said in th, Duke of Somer-
set's memorandum that the applications for nomina-
tions to naval cadetships are far more numerous
than the vacancies, and that therefore the griev-
ances alleged by naval officers must be greatly
exaggerated. It is impossible to deny that there is
much force in the fact that all classes of the com-
munity, including naval officers themselves, are most
anxious to place their sons in the navy. But. on
the other hand, it would be interesting to know
whether the persons from whom their applications
proceed are of tolerable fortune, and especially how
many of the boys who are sent into the navy at 13.
by their patriotic parents have been content to re-
main in that profession. As to the recent altera-
tions, it is somewhat remarkable that, according to
the Duke of Somerset himself, the list of lieutenants
during the last six years has been steadily decreas-
ing. In 1857 the number was 1,138, in 1863 the
number is only 807. In fact, the list of lieutenants
is scarcely large enough to supply the requisite
number of officers. Lord Clarence Paget said" We
have not at this moment sufficient lieutenants. If
we were called upon to man a squadron of 10 line-
of-battle ships I do not know where we should find
the requisite number of lieutenants, although we
have 800." This is no doubt a serious matter. But
if the difficulty arises from the fact that young men
abandon the profession between the time they enter
as cadets and the time they are made lieutenants,
because their pay and their prospects are so unsatis-
factory, the difficulty vanishes. These questions lie
at the very root of the whole subject of the condition
of the British navy. They deserve the most serious
attention, and therefore the appointment of the
committee in question is an act not only of prudence
but of ebsolute necessity. The country cannot afford
that the officers of the navy should suffer under any
proved grievance.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

V-

LYNN—Tu MAY.
White .. 50s to 53s Barley. 3Bs to 398
Rod.. 49s to 51s Grinding ..328 to 338
Beans .34s to 38e Oats .2os to 248
New. —s to —s I Peas —s to --81