The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-05 00:00:00

KINGDOM OF DUDE.

Mr. COBDEN asked the President of the Beard of Con-
trol whether it was his intention to lay upon the table any
papers relating to the annexation of the Mahornedan
kingdom of Oude to our Eist Indian territory ; or whe-
ther he was prepared to offer any explanation on the
subject to the house ?
Mr. V. SMITH said the business was not completed.
As soon as it was the whole of the papers would be laid
before the house. A despatch on the subject had
been addressed to the Marquis of Dalhousie, to which
no answer had yet been received. Under the circum-
stances, he did not think it would be prudent to make
any expla,.ation.
" THE FALL OF KARS.
Mr. WHITESIDE asked the First Lord. of the Trea-
sury on what day the papers relating to the fail of Kars
would be laid on the table of the house?
Lord PALMERSTON laid the papers on the table.
THE ANGLO-ITALIAN LEGION.

Mr. BOWYER asked the First Lori of the Treasury
what accounts her Majesty's Government had received
respecting the late arrests at, Novara, arising from
apprehended mutiny in the Anglo-Italian Legion ; also,
how long the Legion was to remain in Piedmont, and
what was its future destination in the event of peace
being concluded?
Lord PALMERSTON said it was quite true that a
report prevailed in Piedmont that a plot had taken place
.in the regiments, and that 16 soldiers had been arrested.
The strictest investigation had taken place, and he was
glad to state that nothing could be more exemplary than
the conduct of those regiments. Two of the regiments
had embarked for Malta in the most admirable order,
and a third regiment had also by this time qUitted its
quarters for the same destination.
THE EASTER RECESS.

Mr. SPOONER asked the noble lord if he would in-
form the house when he would move its adjlurnment
for the Easter recess?
Lord PALIVIERSTON said he intended to follow the
course pursued last. year. He should therefore propose
that the house should a:l,onm on Friday the 14d until
the following Monday fortnight.
SALE OF COMMISSIONS IN THE ARMY

Sir DE L. EVANS rose to move for a select committee
to consider, examine evidence, and report to the house, on
the expediency of abolishing the system of sale and pur-
chase of commissions in the army, and on the means that
may be adopted for the accomplishment of that object. He
was fully aware of the great importance of the subject
which he was about to bring under the consideration of the
house, and regretted that ho had been able to give it much
less attention than it deserved. The importance of the mat-
ter, however, induced him not to defer his motion, which
he made in the hope that other hon. members would sup
ply the deficiencies in the statement which he was about to
offer. In the outset it was right that he should call the at-
tention of the house to the returns which had been made
with respect to tho sums expended in the purchase of corn
missions. One of these returns fixed the amount paid by
officers in the service at 5,400,0001., but by the latter re-
turn it was stated to be 8,680,030 E. (Hear.) To this large
sum there must be added 30 or 40 per cent. at the least for
the advance which was always pail—although contrary to
law—upon the regulation price; and this would bring the
total amount up to about 11,000,00 D/. This, it must be
admitted, was a large tax to be drawn from one particular
class; and certainly an urgent necessity should be made
out for its continuance. Different speeches had been from
time to time made by great tnen and high authorities upon
this matter, and many grounds had been urged for its con-
tinuation. But the house would no doubt recollect that
in many other cases abuses had been supported for many
years by the most plausible arguments backed by the
highest authority, but which, nevertheless, the public at,
last required to be abolished. It had been said that the
existing system obviated the necessity of giving retiring
allowances and pensions to officers quitting the army.
But, on the other hand, the immense sums shish had to
be paid by officers obliged the Government to make the
emoluments of the higher reeks of the army larger than
they would otherwise be. Whenever the system of purchase
came to an end, it would be open to the Government to re
consi ler the question of these emoluments. The late illus.
trious Duke of Wellington, it was true, supported the exist-
ing system, which be seemed to consider a species of poli-
tical institution. The great duke thought that it was im-
portant that those who officered the British army should
be men having a stake in the country, as ho believed that
then there would be less danger of the army siding in any
time of tumult with those who opposed the Government.
But let the house look to the case of France; there was
an army officered on a system not of purchase, and yet
there (lid not appear to be any likelihood of its taking its
stand against the recognised powers. But the history of
our own army did rot bear out the views of the duke.
This system of purchase was introduced in the reign of
Charles 11., the most infamous period of our history ;
and yet so soon after the reign of his successor, it
was found that at least one-half of the army
held the opinions—and were ready to act upon them,
too—which sent that monarch across the seas. Anotiror
authority--Lord Fitzroy' Somerset—had also given
his opinion iu favour of the system of purchase, for the sin-
gular, and certainly not very well-grounded, reason, that
it was impossible to tell in a time of peace who were the
most competent men, and that any other system would de-
generate into mere matter of seniority. Thu noble lord also
said that if the selection of particular persons was to be
determined by the report of commanding officers of regi-
ments, it would be subject togreat caprice and incertitude.
Thataeereed to him (Sir De L. Evans) to be assuming a
great deal against those officers, which facts, as far as they
went, certainly did not justify. He (Sir De L. Evans)
would point to the artillery, as an example of the working
of a better system than the one prevailing in the general
body of the army. It might be objected that the artillery
were an educated set of men; but lie saw no reason why
the rest of the army should not also be so. There was an
additional reason why something she ul l be done in this
matter, as the commis3areers who had ,iaquired into
the existing state of things had reported that in future
officers should be selected for particular service, not on
account of their seniority only. He might be asked whet
*ere the abuses to which the motion was directed ? He
would point to the many officers who had been cast aside
through the want of capital or of interest, es an answer
to this question. The honourable and gallant member
proceeded, in an 'exceedingly low and indistinct tone of
voice, to give instances of the unsatisfactory manner in
which the system of purchase had worked, but none of
the details reached the gallery. There were three classes,
he contended, of officers in the army—those who had no
money but the price of their commission, those who had
a reserve for the earlier stops, and those who had plenty to
pay their way all through. All these classes suffered by
the system ; the first, of course, most of all ; the second a
great deal, and often in a great degree their friends ; and
the third, in the ill-will they created by being promoted,
over the heads of the others. There were many in-
stances of good and gallant officers who spent the best
part of their lives in the inferior ranks, until at last
accident brought them under the notice of a com-
mander; but these were rare instances, and the great
majority pined out the end of their lives under the same
disheartening circumstances that had met them at the
commencement. One officer, who distinguished himself
at Kars (ns we understood), was recomthenited to Lord
Paneenre for a position on the staff of Gen. Simpson ; but
the latter declined, on the ground that there were two cap-
tains in the Guards before him. So this officer of 20 years'
service was put aside for two young gentlemen brothers of
noblemen, one of whom had seen only 4 years' service. But
it was said, that to alter the present state of things the
country must be put to very great expense. In answer to
that it might be suggested that the system should be allowed
to die out, no new purchases being made. That, 'however,
would be a slow process, and he thought it would be for
the .public advantage if some mode of accelerating the
process were devised, such as making an addition to the
retiring allowance in the higher ranks. Something of the
kind had been found necessaryin the navy, and why not
try it in the army? He was sorry to see that the leader
of the Opposition had retired from the discussion of this
question ; bet he trusted that the noble lord at the head
of the Government would give it his serious consideration.
He had no doubt himself as to the certainty of the aboli-
tion of the purchase syetem. It was only a que,tien of
time; and it was the stain and reproach of our army. The
sooner the time of abolition arrived the better. Our sys-
tem excited the surprise, but by no means the respect, of
foreign nations, and lee appealed to the noble lord at the
head of the Government to introduce a better state of
things. No man know better than the noble lord the mode
in which the system of purchase had worked. His lord-
shin had been for nineteen years at the head of the War-
ofile:o, and could say whether the system amongst other
eividte be
hail nut involved constant violations of the law.
would cnoonbsleenitortdo objected
pptoointamert of a mixedcoimmittee, perhaps
rh
civilapshe
and military conaisaeston,
War might be a of which the Secretary for
member. The hen. and gallant member
concluded by repeating the terms of his ruction.
Lord GODERICEI, in seconding the motion, bogged tho
attention of the house while ho submitted one or two argu-
ments in its favour to which the gallant general had not
adverted. It seemed to be generally admitted that the sys-
tem of promotion by purchase could not be defended in the
abstract, while, on the other hand, it had been asserted by
the Under-Secretary for War during the past session that
the system, although absurd and unjust in theory, lead
worked exceedingly well in practice. Now, the gallant
general had shown the system to have worked great injus-
tice, and he (Lord Goderich) submitted that a system which
worked great injustice could hardly be defended as working
well in practice. He thought ho should be able to show
that the system did not work well, but, on the contrary, re_
fueled great and frequent injustice. The gallant general had
touched but lightly ou one most important part of the sub-
ject. He said that under this system the officers of the
British army embarked a large portion of their fortunes in