The Sun.
London, England, 1840-04-24 00:00:00

TO TIE EDIT OP OP 11-1 E SUN.

SIR—In consequence of several statements con-
tained in a r.;pliesll ilfili4efeig by Mr. Smith, one
the Anti-Corn-law delegates froth B'tirlingi at a
meeting of the Corn-law Convention, which ap-
peared in a late number* of your valuable and
liberal paper, Eitti rt:s Oft of the same as reported
went to place the Chartist catige. th thk;
in a light thr most unfavourable, I therefore fed it
a duty, at+ it is also in accordance with the anxious
wish of a numerous pottion of the friends of the
Charter liere, to request your insertion of this com-
municatitm, with the following brief report of a
meeting, for the purpose of counteracting the evil
effects which those statements were doubtle;s in-
tended to produce.
By so doing, you will much oblige, Sir,
Your's, respectfully,
JOHN YOUL.
Sti-ling, April 20, 1840.

A public meeting, called at the instance of the
Anti-Corn-law Association, was held in the Jus•
ticiary Court-house here, on
:Friday evening last,
the 17th current ; on which occasion all friendly
to a repeal of the Corn-laws were invited to attend.
Shorly after the hour of meeting (7 o'clock) seve-
ral hundreds had assembled, and the business of
he evening was commenced by the President of
the Association, one of the Delegates to the Corn-
law Convention, giving an account of his steward-
ship. Subsequent on his delivery of a long train
of circumstances connected with that assembly, and
the reading of numerous and copious extracts in re-
lation to the repeal movement, &c., which seemed
not much to, gratify the meeting, a vote of
thanks to the elegates for their conduct, was
moved and seconded, but an objection to the
motion having been taken, on the ground of non-
attendance of one of the Delegates, the Chairman
did not deem it prudent to take the sense of the
meeting on the subject. The reason why is easily
defined. A member of the Association having at
considerable length addressed the meeting on the
evil effects of the Corn-law, a number of Chartists
then severally claimed to be heard, on the nround
of their being also favourable to a repeal ofb that
obnoxious law, who, satisfactorily to the majority of
the meeting, at all events, exposed the true cause
•ilienee those effects originated, namely, in exclu-
sive legislation, and successfully substantiated that
the true, the shortest, and best way to arrive at a
cure of the evils complained of was, by the removal
of the cause, which could only be done by reforming
effectually the Legislature, and which it is extremely
probable will only be attained by the united ex-
ertions of the middle and working classes taking
their stand on the broad principle of Universal
Suffrage. It was ultimately moved that the best
means to obtain a repeal of the Corn-law was by
Universal Suffrage. The motion was carried without
.a This defeat notwithstanding, was noto-
riously apparent. _ _ _

[We Wave omitted one or two passages of Mr.
Yours, letter.]

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

EDITOR,--.4s I consider The Sun to be
one.,of the most impartial of the daily Journals, as
well as that which represents the opinions of the
great bulk of Reformers—l mean of that party
which prefers renovation and improvement to rash
destruction, or, what is nearly as bad, to suffer de-
cay to creep on without any attempt to repair the
constitutional edifice. I would, through this me
ilium, exhort all classes of Reformers to merge
their differences into a general union, and strive
to obtain the following propositions, the necessity
,of which, I believe, all real. Reformers are now
persuaded of :—I. Household Suffrage, with such
a modification of the rate-paying clauses as will en-
able every man to give his vote. 2. Vote by Bal-
lot. 3. Abolition of the Corn-laws. And let full
and equal justice be done to Ireland ; she has as
much right as England to Municipal and Elective
,Reform carried to its fullest extent.
One word to your Correspondent of Saturday.
Let him be assured that no right-minded man will
blame you for your strictures on Church abuses,
but will rather estimate rightly that generosity of
feeling which induces you to merge sectarian feel-
ing. as a Churchman, into a desire to see it
stripped of its corruptions, and to see it deal
honestly with other sects of Christians.
But the hi,h Church party are the last who
ought to be offended by your strictures, for their
Tory organs continually teem with offensive matter
and attacks on those who differ from them. Thus
Fraser, with characteristic insolence, in his last
' number not only caricatures several most able and
Christian Dissenting ministers, but withholds,
what common courtesy ought to have induced him
to prefix to their names, " Reverend." With
quite as much propriety might the Queen's hair-
dresser refuse to call those hairdressers who only
dressed the heads of her Majesty's lieges. This
I display of sectarian bigotry and insolence. is la-
I mentable.

I am persuaded if the Editors of Fraser's,
Quarterly Review, the Times, Standard, and
other High Church and Tory publications, and
those who think with them, had happened to have
lived in the time of our Savicur, they would, with
,the Jews, have cried out " Crucify him, crucify
:hien !" or bawled out with the multitude " Great is
Diana of the Ephesians I" Or would, with the
Athenians, have put Socrates to an unjust death.
Or, with the Bishops and Priests of the Romish
Church, have hurried the first Protestant Martyrs
to the flames. Or, with Parker and Laud, impri-
soned and persecuted, even unto death, the Puri-
tans. For thcy show themselves to partake of the
same spirit of persecution, by molesting, as far as
the law will allow them, those who choose to think
for themselves, in opposition to a State Church
and a State Creed. These High Church and
Tory writers overdo the thing, and convince the
world .‘ that they love their own sect better than
Christianity."—l am, Mr. Editor,
Your's obediently,
A CONSTANT READER.
Bath, April 22, 1840.

PRICE OF SUGAR.

EFFECT OF MONOPOLY.

Table showing the ex-duty price of West India Sugai
in Mincing-lane, and comparing the same against that o
foreign Sugars:— _ _

London, April 24, 1840.
The Gnzette of this evening will quote the
average price of British Plantation Muscovado Per Cwt.
Sugar, exclusive of duty, at ... 41s. lid.
The actual quantity of West India Sugar sold on account
of the importers, in the week ending the 21st instant, ac-
cording to the returns made upon oath, by the West
India Sugar Brokers, in conformity with the Act of Par-
liament, and on which quantity the above price is corn-
putod, consisted of 1,219 hhds. 45'trs. and 221 barrels.
The amount of duty on West India Sugar, received at
the Custom-house of this port, from the Ilth to the 16th of
April, both days inclusive, was 26,553/. 12s.
There has been little or no demand for Foreign Sugars
this week : those which arc quality for quality similar to
West India Sugar, may be bought at about 19s. per cwt.
less than the latter description, that is to say, British con.
sinners have to pay over and above the Foreign Market
value of the Sugar, and the 245. per cwt. imposed as duty
on it, an indirect tax of 193. per cwt., which 19s. the Su-
gar Monopoly abstracts from their pockets to enrich that
highly favoured class, the West India Proprietors.
Refined Sugar equal in every respec to the Standard
Double Leaf, manufactured from Foreign Muscovadoes by
those Sugar 'Houses in London which work for exporta-
tion only, has n
bee sold this week, deducting slipping
charges, at 335. per cwt., being 83 per cwt. less than the
price of dirty moist Sugar, imported from the West In.
dies. With a view to show in what manner moist Sugar
is occasionally contaminated, our readers are requested to
peruse an extract from a.
ond of v
Lincoln
NPaepsetr,lnpdiunblsisohgendr,iinf
The Sun of
y
paidthe2 2tflo irn t
eachant .p
u
outlniCirilem on Foreign Sugar, would, besides the
eptokusenundpal
Sugar, purchaso a-pound of bread. The annual o
lion of Sugar may, on an average of years, be taken
m
450 millions of pounds—the nation, consequently, every
year, through excess of prices, throws away in the
pur-
chase of British Plantation Muscovado Sugar as much
• money as would buj 112 millions of (In.irtc:ii loaves.

GENERAL REFORT OF COMMIS-
SIONERS FOR INQUIItt .INTO NAVAL
AN kfIL/TARY PROMOTION AND
TIREMENT,

(Continued from The gun'of Yesterday.)
THE NAVY.

As we have tetleay,oured to show the present State I
of efficiency of the officers of your Majesty's navy, aed
have described carefully the course of promotion adopted
throughout,. we propose to refer to cads Separate rank
in detail, pointed; out the peculiar disadvantages aneler
which we consider some Of them to labour, and to sug-
gest such remedies as, consistently with a due regard
to econottlYs may present themselves to our minds. We
shall take the classet in their order, beginning with
those through which the natal candidate must pass
before he can take his position on the quarter-deck of
a shipeofewar in the highly responsible office of com-
manding officer.
It does not occur to us to offer any suggestion to
your Majesty with respect to the naval officer while
he is fielding the situation of volunteer or midshipman ;
he may, while in that position, be described as a cadet
for the sea service merely. His connection with the
navy may terminate with a single voyage. His inch-
nation, tar the state of his health, may induce him to
direct himself ta other pursuits ; and even at the ex-
piration of the whole petio4 of his service as such he
will still have before him all the prospects that may be
open to any young man of seventeen or' eighteen
years of age and certainly under the new and
improved system of neeal instruction, he will not
be deprived of those advantages of education, the
loss of which might have resulted from sea service in
periods :remote from the present time.. It is, how-
ever, certain diet a very considerable number of naval
candidates do relinquifilf the sea-service in this their no-
vitiate, as may be in!erred front the number of admis-
sions into the class exceeding the annual average of
those who pass their examination for the rank of lieute-
nant to an extent which the ordinary casualties of the
service Would not account for. It was, indeed, stated
to us in evidence that a considerable number of volun-
teers leave the service in the course of their two years'
probation to .be midshipmen and an inference was
drawn from this circumstance that the chances of pro-
motion for yceng gentlemen now entering the navy are
better than might tie sepposed from the average annual
promotion from the mates to be commission officers.
When the midshipman has passed his examination,
and maintained his qualification to be a lieutenant on an
opportunity offering Itself, his value as a serviceable of-
ficer of the navy becomes more apparent. his abilities
in seamanship and navigation have been tested bya rigid
examination, and hie conduct must have been good, or
his eating as a mate would, according to the evidence
before us, heve been withheld from him. In our opi-
nion it would be highly expedient to attach this valuable
class of officers definitely le the service by the grant of
some warrant or commission from the Board of Admi-
ralty, and to give them a permanent position in the
navy. At present they have neither rank (when paid off),
half pay, nor retirement. It they are paid off from one
ship they mast seek an appointment to another, and
failing that, they Co longer form a part of the service, and
have no tie to it whatever, It is our unanimous opinion
that this state of things requires,oa publicgrounds,amend-
ment, and that both justice and sound policy render it
of importance 'to secure to the service those who have
passed through their probationary course, and slim have
shown that they are qualified to take their position as
commissioned officers. There is no witness examined
by us who has not borne ready testimony to the merits
and value of Chic officers ; and such of us whom your
Majesty has been pleased to assemble for the purpose
of this inquiry as have had the opportunity of observ-
ing the conduct of these. young men in the course of
our service, would desire to add our own testimony in
support of their strong claims to consideration.
As a general question we should have felt some hesi-
tation in entering upon any consideration of the rates
of pay assigned to the officers in the different branches
of the service, unless it had been shown to us that the
efficiency of the service was exposed to detriment from
an insufficient scale of remuneration to those employed
therein. We have, on this account, already suggested
an increase of pay to the adjutants of the army, and
the same reason will induce us to offer a recommenda-
tion that an increase of pay should be given to the
mates of the navy. We certainly do not consider that
the present scale, which fixes their pay at about all.
a year, is sufficiently remunerative to encourage these
gentlemen to continue to afford their valuable services
in a profession where proficiency can only be acquired
by great practical experience ; and, as we propose
to attach this class to the navy by a warrant or commis-
sion, and by half-pay, we should consider it highly ex-
pedient to elevate the rank by the establishment of a
scale of pay more nearly commensurate with their sta-
tion and duties than exists at present.
The recommendations we offer in this respect to
your Majesty are First, that the sea pay of the metes
should he fixed at 3s. 7d. a day, or 51. per lunar
month ; and, second, that after three years' actual sea
service as mate, and when unable to obtain employment
in your Majesty's service, mates should be entitled to
half-pay at the rate of 2s. 6(1. a day.
With regard to retirement we have to observe, that
we should consider it expedient to assign a limit to their
• liability to service, and to fix a period at which it should
be within the power of the Board of Admiralty to allow
a mate to retire altogether with a pension. We con-
sidered and discussed this point very fully, desiring to
guard ourselves, on the one hand, from the possibility
of recommending that serviceable men should be encou-
raged to relinquish employment in the navy, and, on
the other hand, quite disposed to recognise the claims
of such as might be entitled to that indulgence to a
permanent provision from the public, on a scale propor-
tioned to their pay for employment. We propose to re-
commend to your Majesty to invest the Board of Ad-
miralty with a discretion is this respect, merely prescrib-
ing a given period of service as an essential condition
of eligibility for the pension. We see no reason to fix
this retired half-pay at a higher rate than the half-pay
which is held under the liability to service, viz , 2s. 6d.
a day ; and the term of service upon which we would
propose that the Board of Admiralty may be left to de-
cide the title of a mate to retired hall-pay should be
twenty years' actual sea service, during ten of which he
shall have heel rating as a mate. _ _ _

As we desire to examine the conditioa of the several
ranks of officers in the course which they would follow
on promotions, we shall proceed to the lieutenants,
deferring for the present our observations upon some
other classes.

Our examination of the evidence in regard to the
rank of naval lieutenant, has led to the conviction
that a very large number must be considered as having
obtained this commission as a provision from the public
for service in an inferick station. They did not, of
course, obtain lieutenancies exempted from a liabii:ty
to be recalled to employment ; but to many it must
have been apparent that this contingency was remote,
and they must have viewed the position they obtained
as the ultimate station they would hold in the navy.
The promotion of more than one thousand officers to
be lieutenants, in one year, at the close of the last war,
would in itself furnish a sufficient proof of this. Nor
can we overlook the fact exhibited to us in the returns
of services procured from the Admiralty, that a large
number of the class have done very little sea-duty since

their advancement to that rank. We have no doubt,
however, that this deficiency of service, and unwilling-
ness to he employed, as shown in the evidence before
us, has arisen in many cases from the little inducement
to lieutenants to remove from half-pay to full-pay.
One return in the Navy Appendix shows that-
-5:30 have never set ved as lieutenants.
386 less than one year as such.
6.56 from one to three year's as such.

Another return shows that, 1,467, or rather more
than one-half of the whole class of lieutenants, have not
served afloat for more than fifteen years, and that of this
number 375 have never served at sea as lieutenants at
all ; and of the next 354, who have not been afloat for
more than ten years, it is shown that 109 have not served
in that rank at sea. We should, indeed, say that the
rates of half-pay provided for lieutenants have been
framed upon a scale which would place the senior 1,100
of the number almost in the position of receiving retied
full-pay.
Under the Order in Council of the 30th January,
1816, 100 of the lieutenants taken by seniority are
placed on a retired list (if they desire it) with the rank
of commander, and a.pension of Bs. 6d. a day. The re-
mainder of the rank arc allowed half-pay at the following
rates, viz. ;—The first 300, 7s. a day ; the next 700, 6s.
a-day ; the remainder, ss. a day. Any one of the first
800 receiving 7s. a day, may have the rank of retired
commander, on foregoing all claim to further promotion ;
but he obtains no increased pay, and the lieutenants' list
is not affected by his acceptance of that rank, Accord-
ing to the existing scale of sea-pay, the highest rate any
lieutenant could receive would be that allowed to the
first-lieutenant in a flag-I,hip, something less" than 159/.
a year ; and the minimum rate for any other lieutenant
in a sea-going ship would be about 1201. a year. These
being the extreme rates of sea-pay allowed to lieute-
nants, it appears unreasonable to expect that an officer
of that rank amongst the first 300, receiving 7s. a day
(127/. 15s. a year) ; or that many among the next
700, receiving 6s. a day (1091. 10s. a year), would be
candidates for service, when the advantages to be gained
by it would be, under any circumstances, so moderate as
not even to repay the necessary cost of outfit.
A lieutenant taken from the 7s. list could only ob-
tain an increase to that which he receives as half-pay
by appointment to be first lieutenant. If in a flag-ship
he would receive for his service about :301. a year ; if
not employed in a flag-ship, about 201. a year. As
other than first lieutenant, he would receive about 2os.
a year in a flag-ship, and be a positive loser by service
in any other position than first lieutenant in a sea-going

ship.
A lieutenant taken from the Gs. list would of course
receive for employment 181. ss. a year more in any ix,
sition as compared with his half-pay, than one taken
from the 75.. list hut it is impossible to consider this
increase, which, in the toast favourable position, would
net exceed 48/. a year, and as a lieutenant on ordinary

E 147. Nr INT CI P.. ;1 ; (). N.

duty would not exceed 10/. a year, as a sufficient ea-
couragement to any cffieer willingly to incur the ex-
pense of an outfit, which has been stated sons in
denee might be fairly estimated at 1.50/., .-od to take
service fer about three years, as these are te. hiclt
would not reimburse him even for the necessary lhaeges
attending his equipment.
The small number employed of the two senior cla,'se,
of the lieutenants, and tIAC very close approximeti,n
their rates of half-pay to the full-pay they would re-
ceive for sea-service, ate, in our opinion, almost con-
clusive to the establishment of they fact, that the lieute-
nants on the 7s. and 6s. list are to be considered vir-
tually more in the light of retired officers. than as di-
cers generally available for service ; a!though the prin-
ciples of the service do not admit of this construction.
We are here led to the consideration- of the anomaly
peculiar to the naval service, that by me... 0 seniority on
the list, without any the slightest reference to service per-
formed, an officer acquires a right to an into-else fo his halt-
pay. In the army, the ordnance, and ti,e inars.ies, no
regulation exists which would give al.y half-pay officer
an increase of his half-pay without any advance of conk,
or which would aliow standing upon half-pay ani se-
niority to count as equivaicnt to servitor.
It was, indeed, specially provided in the regulatie tos
for the increase of the half-pay of the cfficers of tic
army and marines which it:crease was granted of
1814, in consideratien of iii it services duri, 44: the wa r.
that the benefits of the advanced rates of should
be strictly limited to those officers vvho shoald be ril-
duccd on the formation of a peace establishment, or who)
should have been placed upon half-pay, during tint
course of the war, in consequence of wounds or ;rale,-
mitics contracted cn service.

In the navy, on the other hand, the increased rates'
of half-pay have been invariably given to the acniors of
the rank, without any reference to the length of ser-
vice performed, or the period when that Eervice was
rendered. _ _

This principle of increasing half-pay for seniority,
without reference to service, we should think it expe-
dient to qualify in some degree, as far as regards the
lieutenants. We consider, therefore, that for the future
it would be highly expedient to establish a minimum
rate of half-pay for the lieutenant, front which he
should only be removed after a certain term of sea-
service in that rank, and which shall approach less
nearly to the sea-pay than the present rates, so as to
make service more remunerative than it can be under
the present system. We would beg to suggest to yoar
Majesty that the half-pay of lieutenants hereafter pro-
moted to that rank should be fixed at 4s. a day, to be
increased to ss. a day, after three years' sea-suvies as
lieutenant. We should desire, however, to make an
exception in favour of those lieutenants who, front ill
health contracted on service, might not be able to com-
plete their three years at sea ; and we think this might
be accomplished by reserving- to the Board of Admiralty
a power to place any lieutenant on the ss. list who shall
have been incapacitated for service under circumstances
giving him a claim to such retirement.
This advantage, to be acquired by service, we should
consider calculated to remove some of the embarrass-
ments that at present result from the general disinclina-
tion of the lieutenants to resume service, except, as is
stated in the evidence, on the part of those who itra
deficient in the term of sea-service required to quoin.),
them for the next rank. But it is our duty to submit
to your Majesty our opinion that an increase of half-pay
to be gained by service is not the only change we should
recommend In the condition of the lieutenants of the

navy. 1
The sea-pay of this class of officers we consider too
be insufficient, either as a compensation for the respon-
sibilities of their duty, or as an encouragement to the
exertion of those energies which the character of the
naval service demands, and upon which its efficiency en-
tirely depends.
According to the present scale of sea-pay a lieu":,en•
ant will scarcely be reimbursed those expenses vrhicit
must attend his outfit for service. This is neither just
nor politic, and the conviction that some improvers-tent
of the condition of the serving officer was essential has
been most strongly impressed upon us in the case of
the naval lieutenant. We cannot suppose that an up-
' pointment to full pay will be an object of anxiety to
the lieutenant, when all he would gain by it would be
about 28/. a-year, at a considerable expense for outfit.
Carefully weighing the u:gent reasons that exist for a
rigidly economical administration of the politic revccues
on the one hand, and on the other the no less impera-
tive necessiry of keeping the limited naval establish-
ment employed in time of peace, energetic, and there- !
fore useful—contented, and therefore efficient—we have
DO hesitation in earnestlyaddressing our unanimous re-
commendation to your Majesty that there should be a
considerable increase to the rates of sea-pay allowed to
the navy lieutenants.
The suggestion we have to offer in this respect is, •
that the full-pay of all lieutenants of seven years' stand-
ing in that rank, and being first lieutenants of sea-going
rated shps, or in command of any of your Majeaty'a
ships, other than those employed on the packet or sur-
veying establishment, should be fixed at 11 s. a day, or
131. Bs. per lunar month ; and that the full-pay for ell
other lieutenants should be fixed at 10s. a day, or 141.
per lunar month.
We should, however, recommend to your Majesty
that, if this increased scale of pay should be adopted, the
extra pay of 6d. a day, at present allowed to all lieu-
tenants in flag-ships, should be discontinued.
After two years' service at sea as a lieutenant, an '
officer is eligible for promotion to the rank of C0111111i11:-•
der, the. condition of which class we shall now proceed to
examine.
Tire sec-pay of a commander, which is about 3001. a
year, offers a better inducement to officers of that rank,
who would be taken from the half-pay, to serve, than
can be found for the lieutenants according to the exist-
ing scale -, there is not, therefore, that unwillingners to
resume service which, we have been informed, is mani-
fested by the lieutenants, and no complaint has been
presented to cs of the full-pay being insufficient. Under
these circumstances, we do not consider that we are
called upon to recommend any change in the comman-
ders' rate of sea-pay.
The grievances under which the officers of this rank
consider themselves to labour have reference to
those points we are more particularly instructed to in-
vestigate, viz.--promotion and retirement : their com-
plaint in regard to promotion being directed egainirt the
adoption of the principle of selection in the advancemeat
of commanders to he captains ; and it was suegested to
us that the promotions from the commanders'
list should he made according to seniority. This,
however, is a suggestion which we are not i
.at
all disposed to adopt. It is obvious, that if senonty
promotion is . made to commence in a lower rank
than it does at present, the age at which it may be pos-
sible for any officer, however distinguisncd, to reach his
poi t of flag rank must he much greater, to the infinite
detriment of the public service ; and we do not think
that the preliminary division of the commanders into an
effective and a non-efficient list, which was proposed,
would be sufficient to remedy the evils that must result
' from a system of seniority promotion so extended.
Upon a full consideration of the whoie subject, we are
by no means prepared to recommend any deviation
from the existing rule in respect to the prqpotion of
commanders to captains' rank.
With regard to retirement, the commanders have
some exclusive ground of complaint. They urge that
there is no pi-elision in the establishreent of Greenwich
Hospital for any officers of their rink ; and farther,
that there is no retired list for the 'tetiihr of their ..11ass
similar to the rank of retired resti-idmirel as opened to
the captains, or to that of the retirees commander as
opened to the lieutenants. For both or these grievances
we should consider it expedient that red.-ess should be
afforded. The advantages of Greenwich Hospital
should he opened to commanders as they are to cap-
tains and lieutenants ; and we would, therefore, recorn-
mend that four commanders should be added to the
establishment of that institution.
With respect to a rate of retired :pay for com-
manders, we would suggest to your Majesty that the
principle adopted in regard to the first 100 lieutenants
should be applied to the commanders. These iOO lieu-
tenants have the option of retirement as com-
manders, with the lowest rate of half-pay of
' that rank, viz., Bs. 6d. a-day, we would recommend
that a precisely similar indulgence should be extended
to a limited number of the senior commanders ; and
we should consider that it would be fair to allow 30
of the seniors of that rank the option of receiving the
retired rank of captain, with the lowest rate of lull&
pay allowed to a captain, viz., 10s. 6d. a-day. It i:
not in our view to reduce the numbers entitled to the
half-pay of 10s. a-day as commanders by the proposed
boon. We contemplate the institution of a class of 50
retired captains, with 10s. 6d. a-day, to be followed by
the same number of commanders, viz., 150 at 10s. a-clay 1
-as are at present allowed.
We pass now to the rank of captain, for which the
commander is eligible after one year's service completed
oatsea.
of selecting for this rank is, in
u r
opinion Th epo
t,nrqupry
e
sietitonable. The responsibilities in-
volved in the exercise of a captain's command, viewed
either in relation to the public, or to those placed under
his immediate authority and control, are so great, and
the interests that may be entrusted to his charge arc so
important, that we could not, with satlsfaction to our-
selves, neglect to express our entire conviction that the
promotion to this high office should be made under the
direct authority of the Minister of the Crown, upon a
selection to be governed altogether by his discretion,
under the usual liabilities for the exercise of this power.
One grievance alleged on behalf of this claes, and to
which cur attention was most strongly directed, was the
treat expense to which captains of the navy were sub-
jected on commissioning a ship. The cost of the out-
fit, calculated upon a scale sufficient to enable the cap-
tain to maintain a table, was shown to us to be consi-
derable, and the difference between half and full pay
was, in many cases, scarcely sufficient to reimburse the
captain these expenses, or at all events, was not such
compensation as he was entitled to for the advantages
which we are satisfied must result from the establish-
ment of a separate table.
Our view of the matter, therefore, is, that erticles of
table equipment should, upon application of the captain
,

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