The Sun.
London, England, 1871-02-22 00:00:00

member for Greenwich (Sir David Salomons) intended to
take action on the subject.
ARMY ORGANISATION.

Lord ELcHo gave notice that he sl'ould move that the
various regulations proposed by the Government imposed
fresh burdens on the country, without establishing the
forces on a sound, economical, and durable basis.

FINANCIAL ADMINISTRATION OF INDIA.
Mr. GLADSTONE gave notice that on Thursday next he
would move the appointment of a select committee to
inquire into the finance and financial administration of
India. (Hear.)
THE REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY.
Mr. TREVELYAN moved the following resolutions with
reference to army administration :—" That in the
opinion .of this House no scheme for military re-
organization can be regarded as complete which does not
alter the tenure of the Command-in-Chief in such a
manner as to enable the Secretary of State for War to
avail himself freely of the best administrative talent and
the most recent military experience from time to time
existing in the British army. That the consideration of
the cost involved in the abolition of the purchase system
urgently calls for the immediate removal of obsolete and
antiquated sources of military expenditure." He re-
marked that perhaps the House would not be at a loss to
understand why the first of his original reso-
lutions was withdrawn the fact was that
that part of the announcement of the Secretary
of State for War relating to the purchase system
was received with great and unalloyed satisfaction
by army reformers. (Cries of " No," and cheers.) He
was pleased that the Government acknowledged the prin-
ciple that an officer should not only be compensated, but
should receive back everything he would be liable to get
in case the purchase system continued, except some fancy
prices. The Government scheme of instant abolition and
gradual compensation was evidently the right one, be-
cause it put the Government in the position towards an
officer that his brother officer held to him at the present
moment. A change of that sort must necessarily raise
some discontent certain interests were injured, and
various cherished beliefs rudely shaken; but army re-
formers would regard with pleasure tlr3 fact that they had
relieved the Government of some share of their unpopu-
larity. It had been urged upon him that, having obtained
the most valuable part of what he wanted, he ought to
withdraw his resolution—(hear)—but although he accepted
the concession with unfeigned gratitude, he felt bound to
submit what had not been conceded to Parliament. (Hear.)
Four years ago he pressed the question of the purchase sys-
tem, and three years ago almost a similar scheme to the one
proposed by the Government was brought forward. • He
intended to press the question to-night, in order to lay it
before the country, and then he had no doubt it would
not require many more annual Tuesdays before this most
inadvisable tenure of office system would be done away
with. (Hear, hear.) The Secretary of State had
proposed many excellcnt changes, but he did not think
that merely having the Horse Guards under the same
roof as the War Office would effect much good. First, it
had been proposed to alter the words in the patent by
which the Commander-in-Chief was appointed, but that
was not sufficient ; now he proposed to amalgamate the
two departments, but the mere change of locality was
not enough. He did not hesitate to say that if the Secre-
tary of State sat at one desk, and the Commander-in-
Chief at another, those relations which existed a
week ago would still continue to exist. If it was
not usual to remove the Commander-in-Chief at the end
of five years, or at stated periods, the consequence would
be that it would be found the Commander-in-Chief could
not be removed without inflicting on him a stigma which
no Government would like to inflict, especially on an
officer who had done his duty like the
present Commander-in-Chief. (Hear, hear.) It was very
desirable that the proposed change should take place,
for war was every day becoming more and
more an art. Besides the necessity *hich
existed of having fresh blood, one great advantage
was that the office of Commander-in-Chief should be looked
11P to as the reward of the best soldiers. (Hear, hear.)
The Duke of Wellington retained the office for an un-
usually long period, and Lord Grey had stated that the
:viike Wellington was not favourable to change, and that
737 Btep taken towards the improvement of the army
been--- carried in opposition to the military authorities.
Ile
believed that the Duke of Wellington had, as Corn-
4uander-in-Chief, done the country more harm than
good—(oh, oh)—for he left it in an undefended
condition, but he was a great economist, and
he kept it undefended at very little cost. (Laughter.)
Lord Hardinge had the office for four years; this period of
command was the one bright spot in the history of the
Horse Guards, for nature did for Lord Hardinge what he
was endeavouring to do by the five years scheme.
(Laughter, and hear hear.) If the five years
system had been adopted, he did not believe
that the army would be in the state it was
at present. A noble lord opposite had suggested that
colonels and majors should retire every five years, in order
to prevent their becoming rusty, but how much more im-
portant was it that this rule should be applied to
the head of the army. He referred them to various offices
in India, where the appointments were held for five years,
and why could not one general system be similarly carried
nut? If they lodked at the example of Prussia
they would see how important it was that the Com-
mander-in-Chief should be relieved of all paper work
and that his duties should be supplemented
by going about from one district to another seeing that
the generals did their duty, and that the Arsenals were
Well supplied, for he hoped shortly to see local arsenals.
wear.) He had the high authority of Lord Grey on the
enhject, who strongly recommended that we should have
the Secretary of State with a board at the War-office with
°ltitary advisers not having great power or overpowering
rank, and that their officers would be entirely separated from
the duties of the Commander-in-Chief. In fact just as
the Board of Admiralty had the advice of sailors, so
Should the Secretary of State have the advice
of a Military Board. He did not venture
to point out to the House the remedy
,t_° apply, but he asked them to affirm by their vote that
if the Commander-in-Chief was only removeable at
Pleasure, he was practically, and to all intents and pur-
Poses, a permanent officr ; and if he was a permanent officer
Lt was not an advantage to the army or to the
country. The Secretary of State for War dealt almost

•,
entirely with the subject of promotion. With reference
to the duties of the Commander-in-Chief, he asked in
whose hands those large powers were to be
invested. He further said that they ought to
be vested with an officer chosen by the Sove-
reign, subject to the approval of the Secretary of
tate. Now he found that in 1869, out of the 571 pro
kotions, only-116, or one-fifth went without purchase,
Therefore four-fifths of the promotidn in the whole
8413aY restecL with the Horse Guards. This was
a' great responsibility, and he asked, how could the Horse
Guards meet it? The Secretary of State said that the
40111 g away with the purchase system would remove
youritism ; but as long as they had permanent offices
they would never accomplish this. It was singular
Wrw those appointments, which were intended only to be
eld for five years, were carried out in practice. There
a„
a Case where an officer was ten years Quartermaster-
e tieral at the Horse Guards, then Governor of
fibraltar then he came back as Adjutant-General,
hd when his time in that office had expired
(I,4BoPposed he would be Quartermaster-General again.
nghter.) He knew he was touching on delicate ground,
;It What he said on the platform in the country he was
tePared to say there. The Secretary of State
- the Commander -in - Chief must be looked
t 114,, differently to other staff officers, and
tpt his tenure of office must not be looked
11 as a matter of time, but must depend on the
a-0,,_ b
4 'oderations of public service, If so there was no place
Tl4„,tting to discuss the question as in that House.
member maintained that the Indian service was
take on a proper basis. A little favouritism might
The Place, but no able man in the long run was kept back.
e in ra an der-in-Chief thought that if the purchase
eitt was abolished, an underhand system would at once
t eR„,-13,g1-IP, but he (the speaker) was sure this would not be
bail if they had a Commander-in-Chief who was deter-
-1,404ed to make his selections so that a man would not
ketri beforehand that he was going to get his pro-
to 1"- He complained that though they were about
4. the purchase system they were doing so in the
expensive manner. He violently attacked the policy
all„slied at the Horse Guards, and contended that the
tieZorities there should be called upon to give an explana
pa,,_ 4,8 to the cause of our defenceless condition. He com-
out7,lethe cost of our army with that of France, pointed
jee,ll! absurdity of the duties of army agents, and ob-
<rad to the exceptional pay given to the officers of the
high ,s*, WhY they should have such a comparatively
Was4ate of —__
PiAy and take precedence of other officers,
a loss to vocated
conceivee also ad a e re-
tbetioliat .
of the household •
trooHps, anti said manylarg could