The Sun.
London, England, 1840-04-20 00:00:00

1:111_4, SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, APRIL 20, 1840.

422 between 30 and 35.
185 between 35 and 40.
205 between 40 and 45.
231 between 45 and 65.
1,354.

More than two-thir,ls of the serving captains may
therefore be considered as young and efficient men.
But there must, nevertheless, be some even of the 205
ranging from 40 to 45 years, who, from long and varied
service in suba!tcrn ranks, may be scarcely equal to the
duties of a campaign, and perhaps, even under present
circumstances, not prepared to encounter, without re-
pining, the irksomness of a prolonged tour of colonial
service ; but still their age is not so advanced as to
lead to a belief that there is much positive inefficiency
in this class.

Of the 231, whose ages range horn 45 to 65 years,
it may be admitted that many are not efficient even for
colonial duty; and their condition is far from satisfactory,
but it is in no part of the evidenc., shown to us, that
this inefficiency is of such an extent as to be in any way
detrimental to the usefulness of their regiments.
In the same series of returns from the War-office, it
will be found that there were, in June 1838, 1,952
lieutenants-upon lull pay, and their ages were shown to
be at that time as follow :-
1,294 were below 30 years of age.
317 between 30 and 35.
137 between 35 and 40.
118 between 40 and 45,
86 between 45 and 65.
--1,952.

By far the larger portion of this class (twc-thirds of
the whole number being below 30 years of age), are,
therefore, completely efficient for every duty ; but there
are to be found lieutenants whose ago and prolonged
service must incapacitate them, for any continued dis-
charge of subaltern's duty.
Sir Edward Blakeney alluded to such officers as ex-
isting in many regiments, and described them as being
deficient in the energy requisite to carry on the duties
of active service ; and he attributed this deficiency of
spirit and energy to the circumstance of men remain-
' in.- so long a period in the same rank.
This observation of Sir Edward Blakeney's induced
us to examine into the length of full-pay service which
had been rendered by the officers of the different ranks
now upon full-pay, and the result will be seen in the
following table ;

Full.pay Lieut.-Major.' Cornet
, Cal. Capt. Lieut.
or Ens.
Service. Total,
---- —
45 years ... ...... , 1 1
Betweeen
40 and 45 ...' 18 1 19 ..
35 40 ...: 42 11 6 2 61
30 35 ...1 63 57 68 193
25 30 .J 47 55 147 8 257
20 25 .., 38 63 196 ' iii 7 354
15 20 .. 35 46 182 124 387
10 15 ... 5 27 583 1500 4 1119
7 10 ... 145 435 2 I 582
5 7 ... 27 428 41 496
3 5 ... I 317 270 1557
One to 3 ...... ... I Sl 431 512
Below 1
254 260 i 1,354 11,952 1,046 4,866

We find, in fact, from these statements of ages and
services, that of 4,866 officers, serving upon full-pay,
3,411 are below thirty-five years of agc ; and that with
regard to full-pay service, 3,594 have been less then
fifteen years upon full pay, the latter number including
more than half of the captains, eight-ninths of the
lieutenants, and the whole of the ensigns.
If, therefore, the question were to be one merely of
physical efficiency, we consider ourselves fully justified
in stating that there is no force more exempt from that
incapacity, which might be expected to result from
protracted service, than the British army ; and this re-
sult we must attribute to the system of sale and pur-
chase of commissions.

The exceptions to this general efficiency aro more
numerous among the Field-Officers, but there is nothing
in the evidence placed before us which would lead us to
believe that these exceptions are of such an amount as
in any way to affect the general capabilities for service.
Having thus briefly placed before your Majesty the
result of our inquiries into the fitness of the officers of
the army to discharge their duties, we propose, to
sketch the history of the several arrangements in ope-
ration for the advancement of the officers, or for effect- •
ing their retirement.
By a memorandum from the Horse Guards, we were
informed that promotion might be obtained regimentally
by purchase and without purchase, and army promotion
generally,lin a third mode, by brevet.
With reference to the system of purchase, it 4; stated
in that memorandum that, from tho earliest period of
which any military records are preserved, the practice
has existed in the British army of allowing an inferior
officer to purchase of a superior, upon the latter retiring
from duty and relinquishing the military service.
As this mosto of advaucemeat, by purchaia is,the
striking peculiarity of the British- r.my, and .Auks often
,ci formed a subject for public cOmine'nt, o 'pia Po te iiittace
the system throughout; by a brief. yeference to the regu-
lations under which it was first recognised, and has been
subsequently carried on.
The first recognition of the practice of advancement
by purchase is found in a warrant of Charles 11., dated
7th March, IGB3-4, directing that when any commission
officer of the land forces should obtain leave to surrender
his commission, and that at his request it should be
granted to any other, the person so surrendering the
commission, and the person obtaining :t, should each pay
one shilling in the pound of the sum received and paid,
to the paymiktes-general for the benefit of the hospital at
Chelsea, then just established.
This, it is to he observed, is a mere recognition of a
pre-existing practice, and the sole object of the war-
rant was to subject the buyer and the seller each to a
deduction for the benefit of Chelsea Hospital ; but it is
the first recorded sanction that was given to a system
which has been maintained from that time to the pre-
sent, with the exception of a short period of eight years,
during the reign of Wiliiam 111.

By" war dated Ist July, 1693, the Commissary-
General of Musters was directed not to muster any
commissioned officer who would not take an oath that
he had not bought his commission. This affidavit was
subsequently imposed by the Mutiny Act of 1694; the
fifth section of which commences with these words :
" And to prevent the great mischief of buying and selling
military employment in his Majesty's armies, be it en-
acted, that every commissioned officer should take the
affidavit which had been directed by the warrant of
1693 ;" and so stringent was the obligation, that the
Commissary-General of Musters in entering the com-
mission was desired to insert a memorandum that he
had administered the required oath.

The same obliq;ltion was renewed in two subsequent
Mutiny Acts, but in that of 1701 (13 and 14 Wm. 111.
c. 2) it was omitted ; and the permission to sell and to
purchase continued, it is presumed, as it had existed
before 1693.

Still there ►were no precise regnlation3 on the subject,
there was no system laid down, and in tha absence of
such authorities it would appear that great irregula-
rities and abuses were introduced into .the army ; and,
in consequence, Queen Anne, by warrant of Ist May,
171 I, directed that no commissions should be sold with-
ouithelloyal approbation under the sign manual. The
Queen moreover declared that no c.iiicer should have
leave to sell his commission who had not served 20
years, or been disabled in the service, unless upon some
extraordinary occasion when it might be thought tor
the good of the service to allow thereof.

This last very ieTortant regulation of limiting the
right to sell to eflicc:s of a certain period of service,
witnout any ref,rence to the circumstance whether they
had purchased their commissions, appears to have been
subsequently abandoned, as no trice of a renewal of it
can be found:in any later regulations, except as forming
a basis upon which the claims of officers who have not
purchased, to sell their commissions, are admitted, after
certain periods of service.
By warrant of 7th September, 1711, the Queen
somewhat relaxed this rule, and limited the necessity
of obtaining the Royal approbation in the case of sale,
to commissions above the dograe of captain, the pre-
amble of tie warrant showing that this exemption was
granted to lieutenants who had not served 20 years,
but who " by misfortunes in recruiting had mis-spent
the levy money, and outrun themselves so as not to be
able to continue in the service." In the succeeding
reign of George 1., the propriety of exempting the
lieutenants from the conditions of service was not re-
cognised, and accordingly the regulations of Ist May,
1711, which limited the right to sell to officers of 20
years' service, were restored to their full force. In
1719-20 a definite price was, for the first time, put on
each commission, and regulations were issued, with-
drawing altogether from the seller all power of inter-
fering in regard to the recommendation of a successor.
These prices were revised in 1766, partially in 1772
and 1773, entirely in 1753, and finally in 1821, by
boards of geocral officers, and the rates established by
the last-mentioned beard aro those at which commis-
sions are sold at the present time.
Upon the occasion of the revision of 1776, Lord Bar-
fly directed
which
ec
rineton, who was then Secretary-at- War, wrote a very
remarkable letter to the Judge Advocate-Generali cer-
tainly indicator), of a strong opinion against the system
• t the reeulat.on o
aogtaplunsrebase in the array afltiosgtel\thiearv,,
1 bu7tllchie ,
under
spvasvaiocqusuipreudrehese.
by a certain term of ser-
vtice, rs iwg
thehi
ttb
arguments
tobt saeil nyre in this letter showing
are general, as
tlearmy, disadvantageousan as position
aovef tlitielenowne-ipgubrteohfasiiniiggobffiocilier
of i
the .
cial authority, we think it right to quote the letter at
length :

" War-office, Bth Feb. 1766.
" Sir,—l have laid before the King your letter of
the 31st day of January, containing a report of the
Board of General Officers on a matter referred to them
by his Majesty in my letter of the 3d day of October
last, touching the different prices to be given for com-
missions in the army, in cases where he shall please to
allow them to be sold. The King entirely approves
the said report, and every particular therein contained.
His Majesty commands me to express his perfect satis-
faction to the officers who have signed it, and to acquaint I

them that he will order what they recomuw d to be in-
variably observed for the future, uu. ,rain of his
highest displeasure.

" Having now finished what I a:c. -orninanded by.
' the King to communicate to the Board, I take this op-
portunity of conveying through you, Sir, to the gene-
rals who compose it, some thoughts on a matter of
great importance to the regiments they command, and,
indeed, to the whole army.
" Colonels frequently recommend that officers in
their respective corps should sell commissions which
they did not buy. Long and faithful service has worn
them out ; they have families ; the eldest in each rank
are able and willing to purchase ; they all deserve pre-
ferment, which in time of peace can scarcely be obtained
any other way ; in short, the good of the corps, merit,
and humanity, all strongly plead for the indulgence
which is recommended. It is no wonder that these
arguments have so frequently succeeded, when any one
of them would be sufficient inducement, if there wera
not another side of the question.
" Officers who buy are permitted to sell ; men who
find themselves growing old or infirm dispose of their
commissions, which are purchased by the young and
the healthy ; and thus what has been once bought con-
tinues for ever at sale, especially in time of peace, ex-
cept now and then in a case of sudden or unexpected
death. The consequence often is, that men who come
into the army with the warmest dispositions to the ser-
vice, whose business becomes their pleasure, who dis-
tinguish themselves on every occasion that offers, are
kept all their lives in the lowest ranks because they are
poor. These meritorious officers have often the cruel
mortification of seeing themselves commanded by young
men of opulent families, who came much later into the
service, and whose fortunes have enabled them to amuse
themselves frequently elsewhere ; while the others, con-
tinually at quarters, have done the duty of those gen-
tlemen, and have learnt their own.
" Flagrant abuses seldom grow up at once, but arise
from circumstances whose consequences were not fore-
seen. The first time a commission is sold, it is almost
always bought by a good officer, the next in succes-
sion ; he afterwards asks to sell, the corps is changed,
the senior officers have merit and long service, but they
have no money ; this circumstance does not prevent
the transaction, and the commission is purchased, per-
haps by the youngest, least steady, and least experienced
of that corps or of some other, to the infinite distress
of many deserving men, and to the great scandal and
detriment of the service. Like circumstances happen,
more or less, every change, and bring with them the
same distress and mischief. Each fresh commission
brought to market multiplies both, and therefore, in-
stead of increasing purchasers, they cannot be too much
lessened, so far as is consistent with the invariable prac-
tice of the army.
" That colonels of regiments should not attend to
these consequences is not matter either of wonder or
blame their care is extended no further than to their
own corps, and while they command it ; but the offi-
cer of the Crown, who is entrustod with the impor-
tant charge of the whole army, a body whose pro-
bable duration infinitely exceeds the short space alot-
ted to individuals, cannot be too vigilant, lest confined
temporary convenience or compassion should produce
general permanent mischief or distress. To be firm
in preventing future evil by immediate refusal is not
the least difficult part of his duty. He must withstand
the feelings of humanity and the desire to please ; he
must expect the uncandid interpretation of the preju-
diced, the hasty judgment of the ignorant, and the ma-
lignant conclusion of the disappointed ; arrows shot in
the dark, against which a good conscience is an insuffi-
cient defence. He must often contradict the passions
and interests of the powerful, and even disappoint the
wishes and expectations of the deserving; he must
acquire a great many enemies, and lose a great many
friends ; and yet he had better suffer all this than
do wrong.
" It is of consequence that the army should know
the rules of the service, and see the reason of them.
That officers should sell what they bought, and no
more, has long been a rule, and, perhaps, this letter will
tend to explain the ground on which it was established.
If that rule be good, can it be too invariably observed ?
Specious distinctions will be made ; they should never
be admitted, for every deviation tends to disuse. No-
thing can be more fatal for the army in general, than
occasional exceptions from good regulations, or give
more advantage to the unjust attempts of the importu-
nate and of the great. It is frequently asked, what
can be done with an officer who is become useless to his
corps, through age, wounds, or infirmities ?
" It must be owned that there are too few comfort-
able retreats from active service in this country ; how-
ever, our establishment affords some. The commissions
in the invalids, small Government and other garrison
employments, always properly bestowed, would go a
great,way, till there can be a more ample provision—
the young and healthy must do the duty of the old and
and they can sufficiently do it in time of peace ;
hereafter, in their turn, they may receive the like benefit
themselves, and in the mean time escape • a thousand
inortifiCations to which indigent merit is too often ex-
posed. It frequently happens in the army, as else-
where, that want of money is also accompanied by a
want of assisting friends ; but the poor though deserving
officer should always find at the War-office a constant
assertor of his rights, and faithful guardian of his in-
terests.—l am, &c. " BARRINGTON.

" Charles Gould, Esq,"
Before we offer any comments upon the argument con-
tained in Lord Barrington's letter, we desire to note the
change in the system, as laid down in the reign of Queen
Anne, which it announces.

It is obvious that the regulations of Ist May, 1711,
limited the right to sell to those officers only who had
served twenty years, without reference to the fact of
whether they had previously purchased or not, while
Lord Barrington's letter seems to admit it as a recog-
nised right of long standing that those who had pur-
chased should be allowed to sell what they had bought ;
and he in no way alludes to a conditional term of ser-
vice as essential to the existence of that right. His
objections are taken to the acquiring of that right by a
term of service without previous purchase—a principle
which we consider the most valuable part of the sys-
tem, and which, under the sanction of Queen's Anne's
regulation of May 1, 1711, has continued uninter•
ruptedly to the present time, affording, as we believe,
the obvious means by which the efficiency of the army
has been maintained,

As we have placed this letter thus upon our records,
and as it is the only authority of any weight which
exists against this one part of the system of sale and pur-
chase, it appears incumbent upon us to offer some obser-
vations to your Majesty upon the argument contained
in it. The whole sympathy with indigent merit, which
Lord Barrington expresses, we fully share ; but we
cannot, as he has done, limit that sympathy to the
claims of the seniors of the ranks unable to purchase.
To us, the condition of the officer who has been worn
out by long and faithful service appears more deserving
of consideration than his who has yet health and
strength before him to perform his duties, and to take
his chance of the promotion that the casualties of the
service may afford. To deprive the worn-out office r of
the power of selling out, because he has not purchased,
appears to us to be likely to lead to more hardship and
injustice than would result from the promotion of an in-
ferior by purchase over a senior ; and from the care
that is taken that the purchaser shall be duly qualified,
both by conduct and knowledge of his duty, to be pro-
moted, we cannot see any grounds whatever for antici-
pating that scandal and detriment to the service which
he so forcibly condemns.
Lord Barrington appears to have been fully alive to
the difficulty of removing the worn-out officer from the
service, from the paucity of the rewards which were
then open to that class of persons (an evil which we
believe to be considerably alleviated at the present time)
if the permission to sell were withdrawn ; but we must
express our satisfaction that the course he recommend-
ed as a substitute for sale was not pursued, as we can
conceive nothing more calculated to destroy the possi-
bility of an efficient service, if the doctrine that the effi•
cient must do the duty of the inefficient, with the ulti-
mate hope of securing the same indulgence for them-
selves, were once admitted as a rule upon which the
duties of the public service might be conducted.
We do not desire to enlarge upon the palpable error
which pervades this remarkable document ; but, as its
existence was notorious, and the official position of the
writer invested it with an authority which its own merits
do not deserve, we thought it expedient to bring it under
your Majesty's notice, with the observations that oc-
curred to our minds on its perusal. •
With regard to the system of purchase generally, we
have the strongest testimony as to its practical success
in having, during a long peace, and notwithstanding the
severity of the colonial service, afforded the means of
maintaining the efficiency of the army, in so far as it de-
pends upon having a body of officers in the vigour of
their age and health. The following are the results of
the evidence before us upon this point :
Sir Willoughby Gordon has stated that he does not
think he ever heard a reasonable objection against the
practice. He observes, that if he is to assume, as an
objection, that which he has heard as such, that, by
means of purchase, persons are brought forward who
are not deserving, the answer is, that no officer is al-
lowed to purchase who would not be equally eligible for
promotion, if he could get it, without purchase. A cer-
tain number of years is named AS a qualification for ad-
vancement, and no officer is allowed to purchase who has
not that qualification. Sir W. Gordon also says that it
considers
opinion is beneficial to the army in bringing forward young meth
Pidineri°sn thatii supported
the ir
yste by
ofSir Edward Blakeney,
in keeping it more active and efficient, and in giving
greater encouragement to the officers.
This
purchase introduces a
better class of officers into the service in point of edu-
cation, than would otherwise be the case ; and it is also
supported by Lord Fitzroy Somerset.
The general efficiency of the army, as shown in the
returns previously quoted, fully justifies these opinions.
It is manifest in those returns, that by far the largest
portion of officers are perfectly qualified for their duties ;
and it is equally apparent that this efficiency is main- 1
tained by the system of purchase. In fact, it should
be remembered by those disposed to cavil at the sys-

tem, that the British army, except for the very short
interval in William lll.'s time, has never kown any
other ; and whatever may have been the triumphs or
glories that army has achieved during the last 150 years,
they have been secured by an army commanded by offi-
cers, a large proportion of whom have obtained some
advancement by the system.
The proportion of officers of the higher ranks who
have not, in the course of their service, paid some money
for advancement, is small, as will appear from a return
of the existing Major-Genarals which has been kid be-
fore the Commission. The Major-Generals have all
obtained that rank in the last three brevets. There
have been 123 made in the army. The sums paid by
the several officers for promotion range from 6,2001. to
1001. Ten have not paid any money for advancement,
and three, by exchanging from cavalry to infantry in
the course of their service, receiving from those who
exchanged with them the difference between the prices
of cavalry and infantry commissions, have actually re-
ceived more than they paid.
It is, however, remarkable, that the longest full-pay
service has not been performed by a non-purchaser, as
might naturally be inferred. One officer, who paid
1101. in the course of his service, had rendered 47
years' f'ull•pay service when he was made a Major-
General ; and there are nine in that list, all of whom
bad served more than 40 years upon full-pay when they
were promoted to be General Officers, who have paid
for promotion a gross sum of 20,364/. ; whereas there
is not one of the ten who have not purchased, or of the
three who received more than they paid, who had com-
pleted 40 years' full-pay service when he was made a
Major-General.
It appears to us that the evidence we have quoted,
supported as it is by the present state of efficiency in
which the army is found, after a war of unexampled
severity and duration, and a colonial service of a
quarter of a century superadded, is at once an answer
to all the objections that can be urged against the
system of purchase. To theory we oppose practice,
and prefer to adopt as a system that which has borne
the test of such service as that to which the British
Army has been exposed, to any other which has no bet-
ter commendation than a specious appearance of regard
for the claims of merit, combined with an actual
neglect of those who are past service, but who
are not the less deserving of protection because
they can no longer urge their own claims. If these
last are debarred from the right of sale, they could only
be provided for by an enormous retired list ; or to
avoid a large charge upon the public, by an unjust and
delusive transfer of the duties from the inefficient
superior to the efficient junior, whose content must be
secured by a promise of the same ultimate indulgence
for himself, in the manner suggested by Lord Bar-
rington.

At the same time, we should by no means desire to
see the system so exclusively established as to operate
us a bar to all advancement without it, or to leave the
commands of the army in the hands of the wealthy
only. We remarked, therefore, with some degree of
satisfaction, that, in the statement of the services of
the major-generals of the army. to which we have re-
cently alluded, it is shown that those who have not
purchased a single step of army advancement are not
the officers of longest service. This fact is valuable, as
showing that pecuniary means are not always essen-
tial :to army advancement, but that it is possible,
amid the chances of service, for an officer to attain high
army rank, without any infringement upon his private
resources ; and there is encouragement for indigent
merit in the fact that general officers are now serving
upon the staff who have never paid any sum for a step of
army promotion.

We were, however, so much impressed with the im-
portance of the subject that we endeavoured to ascer-
tain from Lord Fitzroy Somerset what had been the
general effect produced on the efficiency of the service
by the sale of unattached half-pay in 1825, and what
proportion the promotions without purchase bore to
those by purchase.

We found, with regard to the arrangement for the
sale of commissions by half-pay officers in 1825, that,
in the opinion of the military authorities, the sales per-
mitted under that system were too extensive, that too
many officers were brought forward at the same time,
and that the facility of purchase unsettled a number of
others, particularly in the lower ranks, and it had,
therefore, a mischievous tendency. We do not consider
that it would be at all expedient, under any circum-
stances, to repeat an experiment of this kind. A gene-
rid facility of purchase might produce an entire change
in the officers of a regiment, or in their respective posi-
tions, and it is not to be doubted that in so much it
would temporarily damage the efficiency of that regi-
ment. But it is fair to admit that much of the present
capability of the service, not as a natural consequence,
but from the effect of circumstances in regard to ex-
changes, may be attributed to that arrangement. As
a financial measure, the merits of this arrangement
were fully discussed before a Committee of the House
of Commons in 1883, and it is entirely unnecessary for
us to enter• upon 'the consideration of that part of the
subject.
We pass, therefore, to the system of the regimental
promotion without purchase.
Lord Fitzroy Somerset informed us that this was cal-
culated as producing about 110 original vacancies in a
year ; that a vacancy by casualty on the regimental
establishment is filled by selection, but it is generally
the case that the senior of the next rank has, from the
length of his service, acquired a title to advancement.

With regard to the question as to the proportion
which the promotions without purchase bore to those
by purchase, and whether the promotions by purchase
increased or decreased, Lord Fitzroy Somerset gave it
as his opinion that there was a decrease in the lower
ranks, while in the upper ranks the proportion of pur-
chased promotion to that obtained without purchase,
was about the same as it had been for many years. He
stated that in four years, from April, 1834, to March,
1838, there had been 39 lieutenant-colonelcies filled
by purchase, and 28 without purchase ; 108 majorities
by purchase, and 28 without purchase ; 485 captain-
cies by purchase, and 131 without purchase ; 784 lieu-
tenancies by purchase, and 247 without purchase. The
date of April, 1834, was chosen as the commencement
of the period for which the calculation should be made,
because from that date an additional measure of pro-
motion was introduced into the army.
By warrant of 27th October, 1834, his late Majesty
was pleased to direct that further means should be taken
for facilitating the promotion of old and deserving of.
ficers of the army. The arrangement that warrant
sanctioned was, that for every three vacancies on the re-
tired list or half-pay in the ranks of field-officer and cap-
tain, one major, one captain, or one lieutenant, accord-
ing to the class in which the vacancies might have oc-
curred, should be promoted from the lull-pay to *a half-
pay lieutenant-colonelcy, a majority, or a company, their
places on full-pay being filled from the hall-pay list of
their respective ranks.
As regarded the public, the effect of this arrangement
was to give them the full benefit in numbers of alt the
casualties on the retired establishment, a half-pay officer
of his own rank taking the place of the full-pay officer
promoted ; and, in a pecuniary point of view, it
merely withheld from the public a saving to the extent
of the difference between the half-pay of the officer so
taken from the half-pay list to replace the promoted of-
ficer, and the half-pay of that promoted officer, which
would be ls. 6d. a day in the case of each lieutenant-
colonel, and 2s. 6d. a day in the case of each major or
captain so promoted.

We are happy to find that this warrant has fully
realised the expectations that were entertained from it,
and that it is operating with the very best effect in faci-
litating the promotion of old and deserving officers. The
progress of this system is gradual, as it depends, upon
the number of casualties in certain ranks only ; but it
must be remembered that it is in addition to the regi-
mental promotion by and without purchase. It has
now been in operation for nearly six years, and we hare
ascertained that up to this period (March, 1840) the
following promotions have been granted to the serving
officers of the army under the the provisions of this
warrant—viz., eleven majors have been promoted to be
lieutenant-colonels, of whom two have returned to
full-pay, and three have sold out of the army in their
new ranks ; sixteen captains have been promoted to be
majors, of whom four have returned to full-pay, and
four have sold out of the army in their new ranks ;
and eighty-nine lieutenants have been promoted to be
captains, of whom forty-four have returned to full-pay,
either in their new ranks, or in some other military ca-
pacity, and three have sold out in their new commission.
The warrant also holds out certain contingent advan-
tages to those who retire permanently under its pro-
visions, which it is proper to record. All classes re-
maining on the half-pay to which they may be promoted
under this arrangement preserve the title of their
families to provision from the public, at the rates as-
signed to their new ranks.
We consider the advantages which this regulation
confers to be calculated to produce the most beneficial
effects upon the service, and the numerous restorations
to full-pay employment which have been male of those
who have previously received their promotion under its
provisions, sufficiently manifest that, in its administra-
tion, regard is had to the claims of the deserving and
well-conducted officer. The beneficial effects of the
arrangement are most apparent in the case of the lieu-
tenant. His full-pay as such is 7s. Gd. a-day ; and he
may retire under this warrant on the half-pay of a cap-
tain, 7s. a-day. This is nearly equivalent to full-pay,
and the small diminution his pay will sustain, by removal
from the effective service as a lieutenant, to the half-
pay as a contain, is fully compensated by the increase
of pension for his widow from 40/. to 501.

It was chiefly for the benefit of officers of this class,
that the warrant Has designed. There were many
serving upon full-pay, for whom, after a prolonged ser-
vice as subaltern, some special provision seemed to be
requisite. The want of means to purchase advance-
ment was their misfortune, and, if driven by disappoint-
ment to retire from the service, the only provision open
for them was sale of commission, which in the infantry
would produce 7001., or the half-pay of their rank,
which would not exceed 4s. 6d. a day. Under this
warrant they may obtain a commission for which, on
subsequent restoration to the set vice, they would re- i

ceive on sale 1,8001., or, if they prefer to remain in
retirement, they have an advanced rank, and a rate
of half-pay very nearly of the amount of their former
full-pay..

Sir Edward Blakeney, alluding to the lieutenants yet
remaining upon full-pay, of long service as subalterns,
proposed a compulsory removal of all who had served
twenty-one years. He recommended that they should
receive a step of rank with a rate of retired pay inter-
mediate between the full-pay of a lieutenant, 7s. 6d, and
the full-pay of a captain, 1 ls. 7d. a day. The rate he
contemplated was, perhaps, about 9s. or 9s. 6d. a-day,
equal, in fact, to a major's half-pay.
It appears to us that it would be impossible to limit
this system of promotion, as proposed by Sir Edward
Blakeney to the subalterns, but that it must be extended
to the captains and field-officers ; and, unless it were
proposed to increase the half-pay and full-pay of the
army throughout, which we are not prepared to recom-
mend, it is obvious that the effect of his recommenda-
tion would be to give in all cases a higher pay to the
officer whom he would remove, than is given as half-
pay to the very rank which the officer had been un-
successful in obtaining. In fact, the compensation for
not being promoted in due course might exceed the
benefit which the promotion itself would confer.
We look to the operation of the warrant of 27th Oc-
tober, 1834, as offering the best means of providing
for officers of the description alluded to by Sir Ed-
ward Blakeney, and as assisting generally the promo-
tion of those who are not prepved to purchase. But
we shall venture, in a subsequentpart of our Report,
to suggest the adoption of further arrangements,
which, in our opinion, are calculated to facilitate the
promotion of meritorious officers, without exacting
any pecuniary sacrifice.

(TO BE CONTINUED.)

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

BOW-STREET.
John Pate, keeper of the Olympic Coffee-house, in
Wych-street, was charged with allowing women of impro-
per character to take refreshments in his house.
The policeman who laid the information, stated that he
saw the women there, and told the defendant that be was
infringing the law by permitting them to remain.
The defendant said t hat he did not know he was trans-
gressing by serving such persons as were stated with re-
freshments, if they behaved properly.
The MAGISTRATE fined the defendant forty shillings, and,
in the event of its not being paid, sentenced him to seven
days' imprisonment.

MARYLEBONE.
Mr. Hardwick, the Lambeth-street police Magistrate,
took his seat on the bench for the first time, as one of the
Magistrates of this office.

William King, a notorious begging-letter impostor, was
charged with attempting to defraud Lord Nugent, by false
representations of distress.

An officer of the Mendicity Society seeing the fellow
throw a letter and a small red book down the area of his
Lordship's house, in Chandos-street, Cavendish-square,
knocked at the door just as the servant was about to give
the prisoner half a sovereign, and spoke to Lord Nugent,
to whom he related the fellow's fraud.
In answer to the Magistrate, the officer said that the
prisoner had within a year or two laid the benevolent mem-
bers of the nobility and gentry under contributions to the
amount of 8001. or 1,0001. by false tales and forged testi-
monials. He bad been in almost every prison in the
adjoining counties on similar charges to the present.
The prisoner, who made no defence, was committed to
the House of Correction for three months' hard labour, and
his watch and other property was ordered to be sold to
pay for his keep whilst there.
Two soldiers, of the First Grenadier Guards, named
Gould and Phipps, were charged with knocking down
and stamping upon the body of a man named Cole, and
with desperately assaulting and injuring the policemen
who took them into custody.
Cole stated that he did nothing to provoke the men.
The policemen said that when they had with difficulty
taken the prisoners to the station-house, they seized the
officers, and attempted to jump upon them ; their conduct
was most outrageous.
The men made no defence, and were fined 51. each, or
two months' imprisonment. They were locked up.

HATTON-GARDEN.
John Ausier was charged with robbing the house of
Charles Montague Martindale, Esq., of Montague-street,
Russell-square, of a large quantity of silver plate.
Elizabeth Jarvis, the cook, heard somebody at the plate
closet in the pantry, adjoining the kitchen, and went to see
who was there, when the prisoner darted up the area steps
with a heavy weight in a blue bag. She followed, calling
out " Stop thief," when a policeman seized him with the
property in his possession.
The articles were produced, which consisted of a tea
and coffee service of silver, a large quantity of large and
small forks and spoons, and other articles for the table, of
the same metal, all of which were identified by Mr. Mar-
tindale.

The prisoner made no defence, and was fully committed
for trial.

LAMBETH- S TREE
Francis Ratiford, a foreman in the St. Katharine's
Dock Company, and George Baker, the son of a wealthy
ropemaker in Bermondsey, were charged with stealing
3 cwt. of hemp from the warehouse of the docks.
Sir John Hall, the Secretary, appeared to prosecute
for the Company, and both prisoners were defended by
Counsel.
The prisoner Radford had to weigh out 39 cwt. of hemp
for Baker's father, and whilst the other prisoner was stand-
ing by the side of him, he weighed and carted 42 cwt. It
was argued that it wus not possible for Baker to he stand-
ing by the other prisoner without being aware of the theft.
The prisoners were both fully committed for trial, but
Baker, who bad been out on bail, was again permitted to
put in sureties for his appearance.

WORSHIP- S TREE T.
Ann Downen, a woman of respectable appearance, was
charged with receiving a large quantity of brass and copper
articles belonging to Messrs. Pontifex, of Shoe-lane, and
also with having in her possession an immense quantity of
stolen property of all sorts.
Messrs. Pontifex, who had been robbed of nearly one
ton weight of brass taps, and having a suspicion of the
prisoner, who was a dealer in marine stores at Hoxton,
having them in her possession, he procured a search-war-
rant, and on searching the house they found nearly three
tons of brass-work, hams, tongues, bacon, cheese, fine linen
shirts and shifts, and variously marked coats, cloaks, and
other gentlemen's apparel of a superior description, and
some very handsome jewellery.
The foreman of Mr. Pontifex having identified some of
the brass articles as being those stolen from his master, the
prisoner was remanded for a week, that the thieves might
be taken into custody.