The Sun.
London, England, 1854-06-02 00:00:00

A MINISTER OF WAR.

(From the Times.)

We rejoice to be able to announce that the conduct of
war against the greatest military power in the world is no
longer to be left to the leisure hours, if any, of the 'Minis-
ter who is charged with the superintendence of fifty colo-
nial Governments. It is finally resolved to separate the
Ministry of War from that of the Colonies, and the Duke
of Newcastle is now to decide, if he has not already de-
cided, which of these two he will retain. Such is his
Grace's appetite for work, and so elastic the spirit with
which he has met the accession of an Europan war to an
amount of business already beyond his time and his
strength, that we can readily believe he will feel it pain-
ful to give up to anybody else a function which has once
devolved upon him. As we have intimated before, there
is virtue in giving up as well as in retaining ; and, heroic
as excessive industry may be, it is still more heroic to
take care that the public weal shall not be jeopard-
ised. His Grace has now to choose whether ho will
retain the duties which he was commonly believed
to undertake on his acceptance of office, or those others
which have suddenly and unexpectedly fallen on his already
over-taxed energies. Should ho retain the colonies we
shall then have to look for a Minister of War. Probably,
the first name that will occur for this purpose is that of
the man who, with an almost unequalled experience of
European atlairs, is now in a position which gives no scope
for his peculiar powers. Lord Palmerston would certainly
seem more in his place as Minister of War, directing the
forces of this country against what we may call his old
enemy, Russia, then engaged in a series of squabbles, from
which he reaps no glory, witk parochial vestries and sewers
commissions. There is little doubt that he would gladly
emerge to the larger and loftier sphere, and, if his powers
of annoyance should prove as formidable to the Czar as
they have usually been to his Parliamentary oppo-
nents, we shall have all reason to congratulate our-
selves on the change. The Home-office will then remain
to be filled, and, among other names that may be
mentioned, it is possible that Mr. Sidney Herbert
might.be glad to take it in place of his present office,which,
then under a separate Minister of War, would probably
become even more a matterof routine than it now is. There
are, however, others, perhaps, more qualified. Either Sir
G. Grey or Mr. Baines would discharge the office well, and
be a valuable accession to the Cabinet. Should the Duke
of Newcastle elect to retain the Ministry of War, we shall
then have to find a successor for the Colonies. The import-
ance of this office is beyond all ordinary estimate, for the
work to be done, and the distinction to be acquired in it,
depend entirely on the energy and talents of the Minister.
It is possible, of course, to undertake the government, or
rather the supervision of fifty States, and really do nothing
but—return well written extinguishers to popular demands
and indignant remonstrances. But we have entered on an-
other phase of colonial administration. We have lately
given several of the colonies self-government; we have
laid down the outlines of an Australian empire ; and we
have actually resigned into independent hands a con-
siderable territory in South Africa which we had learnt
to call our own. A Colonial Secretary may no longer do
nothing, but he may, if he pleases, do a great deal. There
is one member of the Cabinet in the anomalous position of
leading the House of Commons without any office. Lord
John Russell might possibly undertake a department which
gives more scope for inventive statesmanship and consti-
tutional science than any other, and might find in it that
employment for his peculiar powers which he was expected
to find in Parliamentary Reform. Should his lordship
prefer his present comparatively inactive position —one the
very inactivity of which tempts him to political adven-
tures of a lesf necessary character—there are others who
have been thought of for the colonies, such as Lord Pan-
mure and Sir George Grey. But the Cabinet already pos-
sesses a man who has made colonies the study of his life,
who recoils from no labour, and who, besides the work of
his own office, has assisted at some of the most important
changes in our colonial system. In the eye of the British
public, nobody would seem so much at home in the
colonies as Sir W. Molesworth, The colonies them-
selves would possess in his numerous publications and
speeches the best guarantee for his doing as much for
them as Minister can do ; and Sir William himself would
do*btless be glad of the opportunity to carry out his
views. It is to be hoped that all the necessary
changes will be made before the recess is over, and
that when Parliament meets next Thursday we shall
have a Cabinet the work of which is somewhat

more e7enly distributed to its members and more
adapted to their pecular powers. Notwithstanding the
praiseworthy endeavours of a Parliamentary section that
nothing shall be done, and notwithstanding its triumphant
tone when that object has been partially :fleeted, there is
much to be done. The first thing to be done, in existing
circumstances, is to provide for the honour end safety of
the empire, at stake as they undoubtedly are in the pending
struggle. As to those other measures, that are expected
from every Ministry in proof of its power and in illustra-
tion of its principles, the best and safest are those that
come in the most regular form from the several depart-
ments of the Administration. There is always a degree
of risk in those speculative measures to which Cabinets
aro often forced by the pressure of the Opposition, by
the violence of controversy, or by the undisciplined zeal
of political enthusiasts. Of such measures it often hap-
pens that, while they are less urgent, less wise, and loss
elaborated than those which any ono Minister may
have to propose for the better administration of his
own department, they nevertheless assume the serious
character of Government measures, involving more
or less the existence of the Cabinet. Of course we do not
deny that every Government must do something, and that
a session without some remarkable achievement of legisla-
tion will be considered a blank. A Roman Consul was
thought small honour to his family or the State if he did
not achieve some conquest or procure some law, or other-
wise mark his year. There is much the same necessity to
be discharged every session of our Parliament. But it is
not every year that we are called on to attack a formid-
able enemy along seine thousand miles of frontier or of
coast. We have this year to do it after forty years' peace.
We have to find out and repair innumerable deficiencies in
the material and conduct of war. We have to change
almost everything, and the first change is the most serious,
for it is in the very head and front of the whole affair, in
the Administration itself that is charged with this tre-
mendous responsibility. If that is done well, and if before
the end of the session the progress of the war indicates
greater concentration of personal energies at home than is
possible under the present system, that will be about as
much in the way of success as the most exigent. and un-
scrupulous Opposition can have the decency to require.

(Prow. the Daily .I'cros.)
If the war does nothing else, it seems likely at all events
to give us an additional member of the Cabinet. It is now
understood that we are to have a Minister of War, who
shall be specially charged with the control of the whole
military forces of the country, in order that when it be-
comes necessary for that force to be used, it may bo put
into active operation without the crippling delays that
have hitherto so often marred our military success. At
present it is not that showy servant of the Crown, the
Commander-in-Chief, nor that notable parliamentary per-
sonage, the Secretary of War, who has power to move our
forces. Both those high officials are in fact mere subordi-
nates to a third person whose style and title would never
lead any one to suppose that he was the real and original
Mars of England. Yet so it is ; for the Secretary of the
Colonies is the man heretofore and at present possess.
ing the power of sending our armies into the field. We
need not go into any long historical explanation of the
way in which this strange result has come about. It
is enough for present purposes to state the simple fact,
that the Minister who has charge of the interminable busi-
ness of our vast colonial dependencies is also in possession
of the duties properly belonging to a totally distinct de-
partment. Whilst we were in comparative peace—for we
seem never wholly at peace—it was with difficulty this
anomalous system dragged its involved and cumbrous
weight along. It was found to work so badly on all occa-
sions that even a conflict like that with the Kafirs went
far towards upsetting it. The demands of the finan?ial
reformers also put the system from time to time in peril.
The separation of the different military departments—
Ordnance and Horse Guards, for instance—leads to a
double staff of public servants, with (of course) double
burthens of pay and pension, and these facts have more
than once been powerfully urged as good reasons for a
change. But so strong aro official abuses—so catlike in
their vitality—that not until we had positively declared
war against the Czar did any sign of active reformation
show itself. Those signs, however, have really come at
last, and, as we have just stated, it is now understood that
the actual establishment of a Minister of War is a mere
question of weeks—and of personal arrangement.
The chief remaining difficulty is said to be the onowhieh
ever has, and ever will, perhaps present itself under simi-
lar circumstances—Who shall fill the new place? Who is
to be the man ? At present the twin ministry of Colonies-
and-War is held by a Peelite, who may not be quite will-
ing for any change at all, but who, if constrained to give
way, might prefer the portfolio of "War to that for the
Colonies. But then he has been rather a good Colonial
Secretary, and is not at all likely to be a good War Minister.
And here may come a hitch. To bring the present war to
a rapid and honourable close, we want an acute, clear-
sighted, prompt, and practicallstatesman—like Lord Pal-
merston, for instance—not a well-meaning, mediocre,
even-tempered, and decidedly prosy Peelite Duke.
In
speaking thus to the point, we are impelled by no wish
isli
to say anything personally distasteful to his •race of
Newcastle. But truth must in such urgent cases be
told. The Duke of Newcastle is not the man for
the new place, and it would be more patriotic on his
part to go on with the duties of the highly
y onourahle
and important Secretariat of the Colonies, than to desire
to retain that control over our forces which he now exer-
cises. The despatch of our troops toTurkey hament
s not
brought any great honour
ton those by whose manag
the process was carried e
The military stoppage at the
Malta half-way house and the ill-figure we cut in compa-
rison the French on landing at Gallipoli gave a sig-
nificantrnse foretaste of the probabilities which attach them-
selves to any appointter. ment of his Grace the Duke of New-
castle as War Minis
Hitherto the Horse Guards and
the Cabinet at large have borne all the blame of any de-
fects in our military arrangements for the war, but fair
play requires that a due share of the odium should now
fall upon the shoulders really responsible for it. Those
shoulders belong to his Grace of Newcastle. Under the
contemplated new arrangement, too, the duties of the
War Minister would be more onerous than ever. Of
course, when anticipating the appointment of that official,
we assume that the reforms we long since contended for
will be effected—that the Horse Guards and Ordnance, for
instance, would be united, and the whole mass of emploj
now ranged in our different warlike establishments be com-
bined as one whole. Such combination would involve the
need for a chief not only of eminent but of more extended
experience than the present Secretary for the Colonies can
boast ; and for these and various other reasons his best
friends must hope that the Duke of Newcastle will not stand
iu the way of the expected reform by making an unwise
claim to the new post. If for the War•oftice he is unfit, and
if, as simple Colonial Minister, he is unwilling to serve—
might he not find a still more ambitious and far more lucra-
tive appointment by becoming the successor of Lord Dal-
housie in Hindostau? In that part of the world there
is scope enough for the talents and the industry of the
most ardent official. Honour and profit may both be won.
British India is in itself an empire literally more noble
than even that of the Czar. A hundred millions of sub-
jects must surely satisfy the desire for rule of any Viceroy.
Unbounded opportunities for reforms and improvements
of all kinds may be found there, and to that field for the
exercise of his abilities let us commend the attention of
our present Colonies-and-War Secretary.
If our view of this Ministerial arrangement should be
realised, we may before the end of the Session see . one new
Cabinet office established, and two Cabinet vacancies occur
—the Duke of Newcastle becoming Governor-General, and
Lord Palmerston Dlinistor-at-War. The Horne-oface and

the Colonial-office would thus become vacant. Let us
hope we may to, that time have a good reforming Premier
to settle who shall fill them.

( From the Morning Chronicle.)
The institution of a Ministerial Department for the ad-
ministration of War probably continues to occupy the
attention of the Cabinet. When the newsy stem is intro-
duced, it will be reasonable to assume that it has been
suggested by practical experience; and it may readily be
believed that the Colonial-office, athough it ham recently
been strengthened by the addition of a, Military Assistant-
Secretary, finds itself unequal to the permanent discharge
of the double duties with which it is at present burdened.
It certainly seems desirable that a Minister of the highest
rank should concentrate his energies on that branch of the
public service which is at this moment the most im-
portant; and it may be left for subsequent con-
sideration to decide whether the proposed arrange-
ment shall be continued after the termination of
the war. As regards this point, it may be well to bear in
mind that the post which, of all others, offers the most
attractions, under existing circumstances, to an active and
ambitious public servant, would sink into comparative in-
significance with the conclusion of military operations. If
a Secretary for War had been included in the Cabinet for
the last forty years, his office—relating exclusively, as it
must, to matters of mere routine—would have fallen to
the share of those secondary administrators who have
hitherto been relegated to the Duchy of Lancaster or the
Privy Seal ; and the consequence would have been that, at
the outbreak of war, no confidence would have been felt in
the functionary responsible for its conduct. The combi-
nation of the War Department with the Colonial-office
has at least insured the services of a leading Cabinet
Minister.
Until it is known whether the impending vacancy will
occur in the Colonial-office or in some other department,
all speculations as to the new Cabinet Minister who must
be appointed will be necessarily vague and uncertain.
General report has named an experienced and popular
statesman, whose accession to the Government would be
agreeable both to its members and to the House of Com-
mons ; but there is reason to believe that all rumours on
the subject are at present premature.
It is undoubtedly true that a Secretary for the Colonies
cannot usually be expected to possess, on his entrance into
office, any special knowledge of military organisation.
Once only within the memory of this generation have the
seals of the department been held by a
general officer ; and.
it is not probable that such a coincidence willspeedily recur.
AiftPreciselythheetraditions
offices
t end he
of sahaoaml
fdo same
nbgdeci
pieffieennac
difficulty
separated
oamnrpal would,ytaeiadgflcampaigns
e;fore t however,he haverese beennt cr
andisis.
eter an
acpi soldiers
vilian craent retain
theat
the utmost, only have mastered the details of depots, of
reliefs, and of the due rotation of home and colonial ser-
vice. Yet it is practically necessary that all the great de-
partments of State should be administered by Parliamen-
tary leaders, to the exclusion, or rather to tho subordina-
tion, of those who possess merely professional knowledge.
Two systems have been devised for the combination of
technical skill with observance of constitutional precedent.
The Board of Admiralty consists of a Parliamentary chief
—generally a civilian—with a body of officers representing
more or less fully the administrative ability of the navy.
All substantial power and patronage are vested in the First
Lord, but his colleagues regulate the technical details of the
service. Many objections have been made to the practical
supremacy of a mere political functionary, and admirals
have more than once been placed at the head of the
Board ; but it has not been found that any real advantage
is derived from such an arrangement. In a free consti•
tution, political and Parliamentary position must ne-
cessarily supersede all other qualifications for high office.
The dominance of the House of Commons is really se-
cured, not by the power of withholding supplies, or of re-
fusing mutiny bills, but by the necessary presence of
some of its leading members in every successive Cabinet ;
and it is found by experience that administrative ability
generally accompanies the force of character which is im-
plied by success in the competition for high official rank.
An admiral or general may possibly possess equal capacity
with a Cabinet _Minister; but his professional rank alone
cannot carry with it the confidence of Parliament.
A different mode of meeting a similar constitutional
necessity has been devised, or has grown up, in the
administration of the army. A member of the Govern-
ment—otten holding, as at present, a seat in the Cabi-
net—is charged with the entire financial business of
the department. A Minister of still higher rank ex-
ercises, in addition to his ordinary functions, all the
powers necessary for arranging the distribution and
employment of the troops of every arm ; and during
peace, the Secretary for War is guided by an easy routine,
although his department rises into primary importance
as soon as war commences. The professional administra-
tion of the army is committed to the Commander-
in-Chief and the Master of the Ordnance. The civil au-
thorities in these departments possess no direct patronage,
though important commands are only distributed after con-
sultation with the Minister of the day. In the lower
grades of the service, the questionable system of purchase
almost entirely supersedes any exercise of discretion. The
rewards of professional merit are, it is thought, more
equitably distributed by the Ordnance Officeand the Horse
Guards, than would be the cage if they were placed at the
disposal of a Minister subject to Parliamentary pressure.

ABDUCTION.—Mr. Atkinson, musician and organist,
of Appleby, was brought before the Carlisle magistrates
on Friday, charged with the abduction of a young lady,
about 13 or 14 years of age, the daughter of F. Ward,
Esq., from a school at Appleby. The parties had been
married in the Gretna Green fashion, at Sark, the day
before, and the prisoner was arrested by the Carlisle
police on his return from the nuptial ceremony, the tak-
ing of an unmarried girl, under sixteen, out of the pos-
session of a parent or guardian being a misdemeanour,
punishable by fine and imprisonment. Prisoner, who is
thirty years of age, was remanded till the girl's age can
be satisfactorily deposed to.
THE LATE OUTRAGE IN DEVONSHIRE.—The prisoner
Llewellyn Garrett Talmidge Harvey, charged with the
violation and attempted murder of Mary Richards, a
young woman 22 years of age, residing at Langtree,
North Devon, was brought up at Torrington for final
examination on Monday last before Sir Trevor Wheeler
(chairman) and a full bench of magistrates. Upwards of
a dozen witnesses were examined, and their evidence
fully bore out the particulars of this brutal outrage,
which have so recently appeared in The Suit. The ac-
cused, who exhibited the most daring effrontery through-
out the proceedings, cross-examined the witnesses with
considerable shrewdness and at great length, but without
eliciting any material contradiction of their testimony.
On being cautioned in the usual way, he made a long,
rambling statement as to his whereabouts on the day
and time in question, and accounted for the possession
of the hammer found in his house by saying that he found
it in a field, but that he did not know to whom it be-
longed. The magistrates fully committed the prisoner
for trial at the next Devon assizes on a charge of high-
way robbery, and wounding with intent to murder, and
he was taken back to the lock-up amid shouts of execra-
tion from the crowds who thronged the streets of Tor.
rington. On Tuesday morning, at an early hour, Har-
vey was removed to the county gaol at Exeter, where he
arrived about an early hour. The unfortunate girl, who
had been gradually sinking under her numerous injuries
for the last four or five days, expired the same day. The
coroner (Mr. H. A. Vallack) has formally opened an in-
quest, which has been adjourned in order that a writ of
habeas corpus may be applied for to bring up the pri-
soner. The poor woman Richards bore an excellent
character in the neighbourhood, and was an active mem-
ber of the Christian Bible Society.
ANNIVERSARY GATHERING OF THE METROPOLITAN
CHARITY CHILDREN.—The anniversary meeting of tb*
charity children of the different parochial schools of the
metropolis, in St. Paul's Cathedral, took place yesterday.
The details of the present anniversary must of necessity
present a great degree of similarity to those of the pre-
vious occasions. It was, however, evident that the at-
traction of this very interesting ceremonial has not
num-
bers all
diminished, but, on the contrary, increased, for the in-
bers that flocked to the metropolitan cathedral yesterday
were beyond the precedents of former anniversaries.fh
cathedral
dbefore
rtee n
opened,o'cl oe ,a atg rNevahti which
ohwodu rhtande
adsosoorms e
dt
in
commencement
ee nn tt l.yo
fu ntdhie-
mthien
icshhue
drchuynatri churchyard,
thel an dtutuhee
for t numberthe c owmams
the sermon was preached by ,D •
service. There was, as usual, the full
Prince
oLreaul,stehrveießei,shanudp
t
the
necxhter se tme re.. The eeffheaertityof
ethhiel
dsrceenn, e
mwaansymoafgtnhiehmc e ni
ionfl‘thi
fully occupied every
place
very
their quaint costumes, were present to the number of
about 4,000, and the congregation
place set apart for their aeconnnodation. Upon such an
occasion as this, the solemn but simple ceremonial of
the Church of England, with a full choral service, most
efficiently given by the gentlemen of the choir, assisted
at times by the children, could be seen, heard, and felt
in a most impressive manner. The amount of the col-
lection at the doors has not yet been stated.
THE LUXBOROUGII MURDER.—The following is the
substance of the confession recently made by the mur-
derer
in reference to the above barbarous mut..
On the morning of the murder I went to the
bdae
rrnwh'ere the deed was committed, to search for a
piece of chain. Eliza Coles shortly afterwards came
into the barn, began calling me names, and made fun at
me. I took my belt out of my pocket and pulled it over
her head quite tight, but it broke. I then held her
w fo
ud
i•.
round the neck with my left arm, and cut her throat
beirthtae a
knicfeorwnhericho
of the
htheeldhianrzy righthere hand.se was I then tookn
This is all I have to say."—Sherborne Journal.
larCßgEalirdOeßnNsE
wGiAIIRDoEpN.—
open
nSOn
for
t Mondayh
e sease nextn. h
Many
taneys ea
rpeo pope-'
the
alterations and improvements which have taken place
during the recess. This is particularly observable in the
floricultural portion, nearly the whole of which has been
altered and re-laid, and every available space has been
made subservient to one general and uniform plan, which
presents novelties in landscape gardening of a remark-
ably pleasing character. The decorations of the znanf
curious refreshment bowers, stalls, and boxes are in reri:
ina.rkably good taste, the arrangement of the col
vieing and contrasting with the grand Chinese orchestraet.ce
in true artistic taste. Nor would we omit toszl
visitor—we
alteration which cannot fail to strike every t
which,v seen'
allude to the newly-opened supper-roo
illuminated
by several;
from the dancine, arena, splendidiy
gated lamps, and reflected and multiplied
may
M'lted by variei,,
be sup-
mirrors, gives an idea of vi hat a
characters, and
posed to be. The new ballet,
to Le superior, in scenic effects,
comicanything which has
thefair3yridal Morn, is said
choreographic representation, to
hitherto been produced.
East India Company the
on
Treasury has been published. The this subject between the
nv had a total
CHINA EXPEDITION.---A lengthened correspondenced
for SO6 5051. The Govern.
claim on the Government
company
h
ment postponed the payment of this sum until t e Re-
counts were audited, and then disputed the payment of
the Company's troos employed in China, on the ground
that the "ordinary" expenses of the expedition were to
have been borne by the company. The company rely on
a letter from the secret committee--the Treasury on de-
clarations made in the house by the Chancellor of the
Exchequer. The controversy is not yet settled.
THE SUPPOSED MURDER IN MARYLEBONE.—Yester-
day an inquest was held before Mr. Brent, touching the
death of Mrs. Preston, the aged woman supposed to have
been injured by her daughter, who was arraigned on her
account last Monday at the Marylebone Police-court.
The jury found that death had resulted from natural,
causes.