The Sun.
London, England, 1840-04-17 00:00:00

KT-ENING' EDITION.

GELVER ILL REPORT OF COMMIS-
SIONERS FOR INQUIRY 'INTO NAVAL
AND MILITARY PROMOTION AND RE-
TIRF.gENT.

(Continued from The Sun of April 6.)
ORDNANCE TAEPORT-
iFrom the Marines, the. Tourse of our examination
1, guttural I y led us to the iar vestigation of the position of
htbe officers in the Ordnau cc corps which are of a Simi-
lar constitution, and wli ,re the promotion is regulated
i entirely by seniority.
.1
We had established. the fact that in the Marine ser-
x ice the Field- Officer v /as rarely required for other than
( home service, that thy; course of his duty was rather to
prepare others of his, corps for active foreign duty, than
to pegs any considerable portion of his own service as
), a Field-Officer in a distant colony, and that his situa-
tion might be vi :wed more as an honourable reward
fse or importantrvice rendered in an inferior rank, than
i
:43 one erseotia ily entailing upon him an arduous and
extended Lour ,se of duty to be discharged abroad, ashore '
or afloat .
l'ull'i recognising, as we did, the valuable character
1 of tir c Marine service, and the title which the officers
I pl.,s, ,ssed to have a due share of promotion awarded to
1 th e• n for that service, we have ventured to advise your
,) i 4jesty to extend the means of promotion to the Ma-
) ;;Incs, but did not feel ourselves called upon to suggest
that it would be necessary to add any Field-Officers to
1. the effective establishment of that force to afford those

In the Ordnance corps, on the other hand, we
have ascertained that a very considerable portion
of eeery Fie.ld-Officer's Service must, if he is effi-
sient, he passed in the colonies, and the corn-
P'lists whelk we received from the Ordnance Of-
''' "rse 'Awn we examined, are more particu-
Hy directed to the present inefficiency of a large nutn-.
here of the superior efficers to undertake their proper
s'nere of those foreign duties, a circumstance which, in
she opinion of all the witnesses, was not only prejudicial
tO the interests of the corps, but seriously detrimental
eo the public service.
Upon these representations it appeared to us essen-
tially necessary to ascertain what the duties of the
Field-Oficers of the Ord once corps were, and what
might be their presumed efficiency to discharge those
duties, as she,can in the opinions of the witnesses, or in
the etaterne ets we bad obtained from the Ordnance de-
partment of their ages and services.
We commenced with the corps of Royal Artillery.
The, regimental duties on foreign stations are per-
lorueed by rollster of companies, and the Regitnental
IY.teers go abroad in charge of the men they have been
acenstomed to drill and to superintend.
In addeion to the regimental duties, there are those
I of deteched command both at home and abroad, which
appointments are tilled almost univereally by Field-
Officers ; argil the p: active in peace tine is to nominate
an officer for deteclistl command, also by rollster from
the general nute'ecr of Feld-Officers.
It is shoWn that on the establishment of the Royal
Artir,cry, exclusive of ten Colonels-Commandant, there
are sixty-two Colonels and Field-Officers, viz , twenty
es'imeels and forty-two Lieutenant-Colonels ; and it is
:noted that the detached commands for which the Lieu-
ienant-Colonels are eligible are thirteen on foreign sta-
tions, on which fifteen Field-Officers are at present
employed, and thirteen at home, on which eleven Field-
Officers are employed, two, viz. Jers.ey and Guernsey,
being filled by Captains.
There is a fixed period of service for these commands,
viz., in Jamaica, the West Indies, and Bermuda, the
efficers only retain their commands for three years ; at
all other stations for five years.
It appeared from the examination of Sir Alexander
Dickson, that the duties of these officers on detached
command are extremely responsible. They have the
charge of all stores that are Issued from the depot for
' immediate defence. While in store, the Ordnance
storekeeper is the accountable person ; but when the
materials are issued, tl-ey peas from the charge of the
storekeeper to that of the Commanding Officer of Ar-
tillery. These Commanding Officers have also the
charge of the whole of the ordnance mounted, on the
works, which involves a very extensive responsibility in
your Majesty's different fortifications, and where the
whole of the guns, stores, and amunition issued for their
Oefence, are under the charge of the officer of Ar-
tillery filling the post of Commanding Officer.
The extent of the responsibility of the officers on
•:e!ached command cannot, therefore, be at all mea-
L ai.ad by the number of men of the corps there may be
r,n the station, as was Shown to us by instances both
abroad and at home.
At the Cape, with one company of Artillery, the
Lieutenant-Colonel commanding has the charge of the
tli:ole of the ordnance mounted for the defence of Cape
lewn, and also for the works on a long line of frontier.
A', Dover, the Commanding, Officer, a Colonel, has a
considerable line of coast defence, a certain charge, and
responsibility of stores, but no more than one company
of Artillery.
Exclusively of these military duties, the officer on
detached command is a member of the Board of respec-
;lee officers of the station, the two others being the
erineipal engineer and the storekeeper. They meet
as citen as is required, which is probably weekly, to re-
gulate the entire administration of the ordnance, with
reference to the works of the department, the money
required, and various other details of that description.
It is evident that the charge of ordnance and stores
may involve a pecuniary liability ; and instances are
stated to have occurred of officers being placed in great
difficulties to extricate themselves from embarrassments
growing out of the trust reposed in them.
We are decidedly of opinion that duties and respon-
sibilities of this description not only imperatively require
that the officer appointed to discharge or to incur them,
should be one possessed of rank and authority, and on
that account they properly devolve upon a Field-
Officer, but that, in addition to the experience which
that position implies, he should be both bodily and mec.-
tally qualified for an active service, and for a trust of
no ordinary character.
The evidence which was placed before us, both erbal
and documentary, would, however, show that the con-
I dition of the Field-Officers to discharge this service,
land to assume this trust, is not such as would justify
I any expectation of general efficiency.
Sir Alexander Dickson stated that there are many
inefficient officers in the higher ranks, and that it
was essentially necessary to keep the corps effective, to
meet the colonial duties now devolving upon it, and to
maintain such a body of substantially-efficient officers
as would form a basis for any augmentation of the
- corps requisite in the event of a war.
Lieut.-Colonel Russell, after detailing the ages and
services of the officers who have been promoted to be
Field-Officers of late years, described them as being,
on account of advanced age, generally disqualified for
the mental and bodily exertions necessary to perform
the duties of their situation.
Lieut.-Colonel Mitchell admitted that there were
Officers of superior rank in the corps, who were gene-
rally considered as disqualified for their duties from age
or infirmity, but who, nevertheless, occueied their places
in the list, not only retarding the advancement of
young and active officers, but perpetuating and aug-
menting the evil under which the corps is suffering ;
and he further represented that beyond all former times
some corrective had become necessary to give vigour
and efficiency to the higher ranks.
This verbal testimony, as to a great degree of ineffi-
ciency existing in the body of Field-Officers, was in our
opinion fully confirmed by the returns we obtained from
the Ordnance department. We found that the ages of
the 20 Colonels ranged from 58 to 66 years, and their
service from 42 to 44 years : that the ages of the 10
senior Lieutenant-Colonels averaged 58 years, and of the
i 11 juniors, 51 years, while their service ranged from 35
to 41. 'years.
It is obvious that in a class consisting of 62 officers
cetween the ages of 51 and 66 years, the youngest of
whom has been 35 years, and the senior 44 years in
the service, that there must be a considerable degree
of inefficiency ; and the necessary consequence would
e
e, if the rottster were scrupulously observed, that the '
;eihl:c service must occasionally suffer disadvanna e
-om the transfer of a particular duty from efficienti'ne-
'4 inefficient bands ; or that the 26 detached employ-
ments, which ought to be held in succession by all
I
y a
Field-Officers, must constantly be filled by the comps-te
y
retively small number that are really efficient, to the
manifest prejudice of the corps as depriving it of pro-
motion to the commissions which would be vacate] by li
the inefficient, but which will still remain in their hands
if any escape from the rollster of service is permitted,
• The position of the effective Field-Officers themselves
must not be disregarded. Their zeal for the service
• may induce them-to undertake a succession of arduous
and responsible duties, under every disadvantage of
! circumstance and climate, and to obey the call for
i service, however frequently repeated, without murmur
t or remonstrance. But we, nevertheless, must consider
that an improvement is required in the present ar-
rangements, which occasion such a distribution of duty
as that a portion of the Field-Officers because they are
efficient have to undergo all the liabilities of a varied
) service, from which other officers of the same rank, and
upon whom the service has therefore the same demands,
escape on a plea of inefficiency, though they are still
permitted to retain their commissions.
This is a consideration to which it is peculiarly ne-
cesslry to attend in regard to these detached coin-
mantis, in which only the ordinary routine of duty of
l Field-Officers has to he performed in hurtful climates, or
\ in distant colonies, so that thoset ub y whom such situations
the
. are held are exposed to ,
tvi
by which they are attended :iitgheor and inconvenience
e ment in the hoe of securi honour and n
nci reputation
ng the a
I which might result from field service.
ilt certainly appears to us, that the distinction be. 1 tween the efficient and the inefficient should, on grounds
of public expediency, be carefully preserved, T
at' a
small corps like the present Artillery force, which must
1 he considered as a nucleus upon which a larger caw,
' ii•ihment might on an emergency be framed, it is essen-
t'al th it all O.:rise who compose the service portion ~f
1
the corps sh . uld be sufficiently effective to perform all
t e duties that could devolve upon them in a fair

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