The Sun.
London, England, 1865-03-30 00:00:00

/11ARCH 30, 1865.
LONDON, THURSDAY,

It is satisfactory to find that affairs in India are
sufficiently tranquil to enable the authorities to
turn their attention to internal improvements. Some
, of these reforms have been long much needed, and
it is only wonderful that they have been so long
neglected under English rule. One of the most
important questions to -be settled in India is the
( provision to be made for the health and well-being
of the English soldier. It is certainly not too much
to expect that when the troops are despatched to a

climate which is under ordinary circumstances pre-
judicial to the European constitution the Go-
vernment under whose orders they go thither
should take all possible precautions for their
safety. Instead of our having done this,
it is notorious that the arrangements of
the Indian Barracks- were for a long period most
defective. The drainage was bad, the water sup-
ply scanty and impure, the ventilation most defec-
tive, and there were no means of disposing of the
rubbish and refuse, so that heaps of mouldering
vegetable and animal matter encouraged every form
of pestilence. Added to this, no attempt was made
to care for the mental and moral welfare of the
soldier. He was kept in enforced idleness during
great part of the day, and positively encouraged by
the lack of employment and the heat of the climate
to take to drink and vicious courses. The result,
as we know, was that the official report proved the
mortality among our soldiers to be at the rate of
sixty per thousand 'annually, so that in ten years
a regiment required to be virtually renewed.
It was not likely, with all our negligence and in-
difference about Indian affairs, that such a state
of things could remain unnoticed, and accordingly
a better system has gradually been introduced.
The sites of all new barracks are carefully selected,
and the old ones are improved as much as pos-
sible. The orders just issued by the Indian Go-
vernment show the fortunate change that has
come over the spirit of our legislation in this re-
pect. No more than 66 men are to be under one
roof, and no more than 20 men to sleep in one
room, which is always to be on the upper floor,
unless the barracks be situated on the hills.
In the plains every man is to have 90
superficial feet of space, and 1,408 cubic
feet of air. The laboratories are to be in
detached buildings, and separate blocks will be ar-
ranged for the quarters of the married men. Such
arrangements are no more than just, and we are
sure that the necessary expenditure will not be be-
grudged by Anglo-Indians. Miss NIGHTDIGALE,
always the soldier's friend, did good service in this
cause by her remarks on the sanitary condition of
our Indian barracks, and after the publication of
the report of Lord HERBERT'S Sanitary Commission
some change was imperative. Other changes are to
be made in the military arrangements, owing to the
extension of the railway system, which will enable
the authorities to alter the disposition of the troops.
Some stations will be given up altogether, others of
importance, such as -Delhi, will be considerably
strengthened.
We are glad to find that some consideration is to be
shown to the old historical relics of Indian great-
ness, such as the ancient buildings in Delhi and
other cities. A Public Works Loan is said to be
likely, and it is to be hoped that the Government
will not fail to devote some part of it to the de-
velopment of the canal and irrigation works
throughout the country.

All war is suggestive more or less, but the annals
of the American contest contain much that is alike
deplorable in itself and disgraceful to human nature.
This is the worst feature in the affair ; losses of life
and property may be sustained, and the consequences
averted; but so long as history records the actions
that have distinguished the Federal Generals, so
long will a lasting stain be affixed to their memo-
ries and to the country to which they belong. All
that barbarity can suggest, all that hardness and
harshness can devise, seem to actuate the course
pursued by these unworthy soldiers throughout the
whole of the war. The correspondence between
Generals SHERMAN and WADE HAMPTON is very
characteristic of the manner in which the war has
been waged by the agents and emissaries of the
North from the outset. It is quite revolting to
dwell upon the theme, but it is necessary to do so,
in order rightly to understannhe case. A more
unseemly tirade than the communication of General
SHERMAN cannot be imagined, and if it were possible
to form a worse opinion of him thanwe have already,
this document would make us do so. He is, or else
pretends to be, excessively indignant respecting the
hostility displayed to " foragers," as if it was not
enough to arouse the ire of any one to behold the
havoc committed, and the devastation that is spread
around upon our smiling plains and fertile spots.
Retaliation, however, seems to console General
SHERMAN, and to make great amends to him for any
losses that may occur in the ranks of his foragers.
He threatens that he will revenge himself, and
boasts that as he holds about one thousand pri-
soners he can stand it as long as his opponent. He
then boasts of the right he possesses to exercise
forage, which he says is a " war-right as old as his-
tory," but even he is compelled to admit that there
are different ways of using the privilege. Certainly
he and his friends chose the most vindictive and un-
scrupulous way of doing so. General SHERMAN
goes so far as to admit that he has no doubt the
habit of collecting directly from the people is the
occasion of much misbehaviour on the part of his
men, but yet he says he cannot permit an enemy to
" judge and punish with wholesale murder." Who
so fit to judge as those who suffer from the conse-
quences of the depredations. The general defies
criticism, and, though he says he regrets the " bit-
terness" of the war, the eagerness with which he
defends it makes us doubt his veracity. He tries
the to quoque style of argument, which is the worst
form that can be employed. lie says it might have
been expected, and that those who struck the first
blow ought not to complain for such " natural
1-consequences." It would be difficult to say what
could surprise us in the conduct of the Federals
after what they have done. One of the worst
episodes in their actions has been the treatment of
Capt.
long be
The sad fate of this gallant officer
ill
be remembered as "an instance of what
cruel men can do without provocation. Such
policy is alike unworthy of Christianity and
civilisation, and furnishes a solemn warning of
of the sin and danger of boasting. The Americans
have been for a long time vaunting their great
and now they are giving
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oGo fesn
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he fully
charges of
enters upon the subject, and answers the
his adversary with spirit and candour.
It is some sort of satisfaction to find anything
like a proper retort given to the self-sufficiency of
the Northerners, even if it can be productive of no
actual benefit. In Gen. HAMPTON'S remarks we
may trace much that is true and telling relative to
the course pursued by the Federals ; and we gather
from his expressions what are the sentiments enter-
tained by the Confederates relative to the conduct
of their fierce and relentless persecutors. The
General truly states that " murder" is the right term
to apply to the order which has caused the death of
so many prisoners. He further says that he has
ordered his men to shoot all those whom they catch
burning houses. This inhuman mode of prosecuting
the war cannot be too strongly reprehended, and
any severity of proceeding adopted in consequence
cannot be designated harsh or extreme. Genpral
HAMPTON is very effective in his remarks concern-
ing the course pursued by the ruthless invaders.
He asks, with proper retort, whether General
SHERMAN includes in his " rights of war" the pri-
vilege to fire upon a defenceless city without warn-
ing, and. to burn the houses of th;, citiiens after