The Sun.
London, England, 1849-09-15 00:00:00

(131 A oning .7..ltit

LONDON, SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 15, 1549.

The letters which Rear-Admiral Sir CHARLES
NAPIER has from time to time addressed through the
columns of the public press to Lord JouN RUSSELL
are, indeed, worthy of calm and attentive considera-
tion. A more trustworthy and in every respect
unexceptionable witness could not be found than the
Hero of Acre with respect to the required reforms in
the naval administration of the country. Who more
competent to speak of the abuses that have prevailed
in the Admiralty than one of the most distinguished
officers of the present or of any age, who
owes his promotion to his own gallant actions, his
indomitable courage, and his thorough knowledge of
his Frofession, aid not to any favour or affection on
the part of the ruling powers ? Who:better qualified to
expose dockyard mismanagement than the person
who has made himself completely acquainted with all
the details of business, and who has furnished the
most successful plans for the construction of steam-
frigates ? The very
,name of Sir CHARLES NAPIER
carriEsiwith it a weight and influence that must com-
pel the attention of Parliament to the subject on
which he writes.

Although justly complaining of the enormous
expenditure under which the country groans, that
distinguishel officer would not in any degree impair
the power or lessen the efficiency of " our wooden
walls." On the contrary, he has not hesitated to
point out clearly and distinctly the existing deficiencies
in that most important branch of the national service.
He has as readily pointed out the matters in which
additional expenditure is required as those in which
great reductions might be made. His sole object
manifestly is the good of the service of which he is
so distinguished a member. For that purpose he
comes forward, disregarding equally the censures of
those who declare " that our weak points should
not be revealed to our adversaries," and of
the Board of Admiralty, who will not relish
the hold attacks on the gross mismanagement
which he has so unsparingly exposed.
The constitution of the Board itself naturally forms
one of the most prominent grounds of complaint. The
anomaly of placing a civilian, utterly unacquainted
with naval affairs, at the head of the Admiralty—of
rendering the place of "First Lord" a mere political
appointment, without reference to the services or the
qualifications of the individual selected, is freely com-
mented on. How could any business, public or pri-
vate, be properly conducted if placed under the
control of a person utterly ignorant of its details, and
unable to form a sound opinion on the matters that
may from time to time be submitted to his considera-
tion ? If any private firm were to pursue a course so
ridiculously absurd they would speedily appear in the
Gazette, however ample their resources, and the pre-
siding Commissioner would justly punish the gross fa
tuity that wasted the creditors' money. But the Board of
Admiralty have the national Exchequer to sport
with, and any blunders will be glossed over while a
prominent member of the party in power presides
over the department. Nor are the subordinate
members of the Board selected on a better principle.
If the naval lords were chosen merely fur their
professional qualifications—if a seat at the Board
were a prize that might be looked to as the reward of
distinguished merit, the blunders and incapacity of
the civilian might possibly be neut-alind by the
efficiency of his a-:sociates But it has lung been noto-
rious that the beat qualified and most competent men
are not selected fur the situation ; that the Admiralty
is in fact a mere political machine, the members of
which are appointed for their party and Parliamen-
tary influence, rather than for their professional
attainments ; that they are chosen (as the Gallant
Admiral states) fur their ability to " make a House,
keep a House, and cheer the Minister," and not for
their capacity to "make a fleet, guide a fleet, and
rule the various branches of that complicated service."
The choice, in fact, according to the present system,
is not merely limited to officers belonging to the
Ministerial party, but to those of that party who
have been so fortunate as to obtain seats in Parliament
and to be tolerably certain of their re-election in the
event of new writs being moved for on their accept-
ance of office. _ _

Under a governing body so constituted it may
easily be imagined that abuses and jobbing will prevail
through all branches of the service. Patronage is
one of the chief, if not the principal object of " My
Lords"—they must be enabled to reward their con-
stituents, and advance the interests of their party.
Hence the enormous list of officers unemployed, whose
services could not possibly be required. Hence it is
that on the lit day of January, 1849, we find in the
"Navy List" the names of no less than 150 fl tg-officers,
exclusive of 45 retired rear-admirals, of 532 post-
captains, besides 182 retired captains ; of 864
commanders, and 351 retired commanders under
the different orders of Council of 30th of January,
1816, Ist November, 1830, and 18th May, 1846, and
of 2,310 lieutenants. The exigencies
.of the
service could never by anyio possibility.e require one-
fourth of these numbersemployment;rhel7h ig or
T obr but
the Minister of the day, whtethet
distribution
burdened
w with
desires to propitiate his friends b
patronage, and the country is theryefore
an enormous and most unnecessary expenditure. The
case is now, however, fairly before the public, and it
remains to be seen whether the oppressed tax payers
will sanction tile perpetua•ion of the system, o
whether they will join with Sir CHARLES NAPIER in
declaring that First Lords, whoever they may bey
must be taut that the pr .m itions in the navy are
intended for the public good, and nut to be exclusively
bestowed on private and political hinds."

Mr. DisuAELI'S speech at Aylesbury, at the recent
meeting of the Royal Bucks Agricultural Association,
is calculated to afford consolation and encouragement to
the agricultural body—consolation under their griev-
ances ,whether real or imaginary, and encouragement in

their endeavours to effect the amelioration of their con-
dition. It is hardly possible for a man of more than
ordinary ability, such as the Hon. Member for Buck-
inghamshire, to deliver a discourse on any saject
whatsoever that shall not contain some reflections
worthy of general attention, and calculated to elicit
the admiration even of those who do not generally
agree with him. So it was in this instance. The
staunchest supporter of the Anti-Corn .law League
could not possibly withhold his approbation from the
sentiments conveyed in the following truly eloquent
observations. Although considering the agriculture
of England to be the most perfect that ever existed,
Mr. DISRAWLI thus admitted the possibility of its
further improvement :—" That it is possible to improve
our present system of cultivation I am not one to
deny. I believe that everything may be made the
source of improvement, and that the more you im-
prove the more room there is for further improve-
ment. I ask you what is improvement but realised
intelligence r And the instant you increase that intel-
ligence you increase the means of exercising it."
Improvement is realised intelligence. This sentence,
as beautifully expressed as it is truthfully conceived,
is a worthy definition of the age in which we live.
The intelligence of the nineteenth century, the de-
velopment of centuries, is becoming realised around
us in improvements of all kinds and cha-
racter. Improvements in laws and triodes of
government, otherwise called reforms; improvements
in science and mechanical art, better known as irr
ventions—improveraents so various that their enume-
ration is impossible, are the realities which attend the
intelligence of the present day. How dissimilar is
our condition, and how superior are our advantages,
mental, social, and political, to those of our forefathers
some centuries back ! What then ?—are we arrived
at the ne plus ultra of progress ? On the contrary.
"Improvement is realised intelligence, and the instant
you increase that intelligence you increase the means
of exercising it." Every improvement leads
the way to others. In ancient times man looked
upon the water as an insuperable barrier, after
a while, however, he hazarded his rude built
craft upon its bosom, and found himself enabled to
traverse some tiny stream. Mahe rest satisfied with
that achievement ? Intelligence realised in that
instance at once suggested new improvements, and
now, in place of one shaky vessel, the ocean is
studded with magnificent ships, and when the branch
of a tree, slowly paddled on the resisting water, now
steam—" unrivalled steam"—annihilates time and
space. So it is in all things, and so it must be. The
leader of the Protectionists displayed no small
amount of tact in thus directing the attention of his
agricultural hearers to the subject of present and
future improvement, instead of encouraging lamenta-
tions for the past. However much we differ with the
Honourable Gentleman on some important points,
our admiration for his undoubted talents make us
regard with satisfaction every expression, like the
sentence above quoted, which exhibits a wish to en-
courage and stimulate individual and social exertion.
Men of genius are or should be the true leaders of
the people. They should animate them to look for-
ward hopefully and struggle on enduringly—
" So to act that each to-morrow
Finds them further than to-day."

We gladly hail Mr. DISRAELI'S speech at Ayles-
bury as an omen of future service in so good a cause
—a cause which the author of " Sybil" has already
so eloquently advocated.