The Sun.
London, England, 1833-04-16 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

There are some valuable remarks in a pamphlet
just published, as is said on the title-page, " by
a el- devant Cavalry Officer." The avowed
object of the author is economy, and economy
whole,—o
r
upon a larger scale,—for he proposes to reduce
estimates
tmore,he ar army
we
believe,2-7ths of
charge for its effective strength, staff and officers
tbhyan a
theyear
included. It is no disparagement of the au-
thor's views to say, that he endeavours to effect
this very laudable and important saving by the
roeildiaccumulationuyetion
of of avast number of detailed re-
ductions, for such, in general, seems to be by
far the safest method of proceeding. The
inquiry worth making is, whether the
merit in the quality
lavned economy,tfeelhetee
expense may or may not
riny
of the article ; and may
nia)
substantialdveirth the
iitn:•aa smtene.oovvfainnitdohergbeaes;
liberty to suggest this consideration with regard
to some portions of the present work, because
there are others in which we can conscientiously
agree with the author. Two or three of his
leading propositions we shall refer to as they
meet our eye, and state, briefly, how they strike
us. When it is said that the pay of the army
and navy ought to he reduced, because the civil
departments of the Government have been cut
down already, the author ought to go a little fur-
ther towards making out the assumed analoey,
and establish the necessary fact, that the army
and navy are at this moment in posse,sion of
more pay than they st ind in absolute need of.
With respect to the army, an ensign of infantry
receives, we understand, about 941. or 951. per
annum ; a lieutenant (some of whom have been
subalterns from sixteen to twenty years) has
about 1201. per annum ; a captain, who incur?
occasionally some extra expense, and at all times
a good deal of responsibility, lives on rather less
than 2001. per annum ; a major about 2801. ;
lieutenant-colonel, when with his regiment,
1/. per diem, including all allowances. The
question comes back to us, then,—is that too
much ? It is evident to those who know the
army, that officers below the rank of lieutenant-
colonel can barely exist upon their pay ; a-d as
very few reach that enviable rank under twenty
years' service all over the world, it probably, upon
reflection, will not appear, even to our author,
that a veteran (mostly married) in command of
a regiment could live decently on a smaller sum,
As for those of inferior rank to that of field
officer, they are, almost without exception, com-
pelled to resort to their families for succour in
the shape of allowances, varying from 501. to
1201. per annum. In these junior departments,
therefore, we do not feel that the incomes of
officers can be fairly or wisely diminished. If
the civil branches of the Government have been
curtailed in point of salary, it was not befire the
nation called loudly for such a change. Civil
functionaries had received successive augmen-
tations since the commencement of the revolu,
tionary war, and took care to feather their own
nests liberally, while soldiers and seamen were
fighting the public enemy, as strong in the field
and on the ocean as they were helpless in the
clutches of clerks and secretaries at home. We
state frankly, therefore, that in our opinion it
would be equally unfeeling and improvident to
abridge the pay of regimental officers, so that
none but men of large fortunes, or, on the other
hand, men of extreme poverty and sordid habits,
could afford to enter it. In case of the service
being confined to either of these two classes, or
shared between them, to the exclusion of all gen•
tlemen who were at once of liberaleducation and
of moderate meams, the character and efficiency of
the British army would be sensibly impaired
from that hour. The author, however, takes
stronger ground when he rises to the subject of
general officers, and the mode of providing for
them. This is, in all respects, impolitic, fraudu-
lent, and vicious. Every one knows that the
real command of a regiment, and the whole re-
sponsibility of that command, with the charge
and superintendence of the interior economy,
the discipline, efficiency, and readiness for service
of the corps, vests in the lieutenant-colonel, who
is, properly speaking, always at head-quarters ;
yet, according to the practice of the British
Government for above a century, there has
always been a colonel appointed, with nominal
superiority over the lieutenant-colonel. But as
this military grandee is never with the regithent,
of which he knows as little as the Chain of
Tartary—has no power of appointing to com-
missions in it—has no control over its move-
ments—no authority to direct its economy or dis-
cipline—incurs no responsibility for the miscon-
duct of any one of its members—performs no
duty in it or with it, and never sees its face—a
simple-minded man would be disposed to ask
what the said colonel has to do with the
regiment to which his name is prefixed in
the Army List ; to which we answer, or
rather it is answered for us in the pamphlet,
that the office of "colonel" is by no means a si-
necure, for that the title properly translated is
" master tailor" to the corps—he ordering every
particle of clothing which is furnished for the use
of the men, and cabbaging a large portion of it,
by consent of the Government. The profits at-
tending this amphibious and scarcely creditable
occupation of a regimental colonel, who is al-
ways, we ought to have added, a general offieer,
help to make the colonelcy worth from 7501. to
1,200/. per annum, according as the regiment
may be infantry or cavalry, and stationed at home,
or in some distant and unhealthy climate. Now,
we are far from saying, nor, if we comprehend
him rightly, does the " Cavalry Officer" assert,
that there should be no pay or provision of any
kind attached to the rank of general officer in the
army and proportioned to it. If there were none
such, a general who had served for fifzy years
would have nothing to exist upon in the last
stage of life but the half-pay of a lieutenant-co-
lonel, equal to about 2001. a year. This would
be a barbarous folly. The pay of a general officer
ought, therefore, to correspond with his rank, as
does that of captain ; and the clothing contracts
ought never to be a source of profit to any
military man. A vice-admiral's half-pay is
about 7601. per annum. A lieutenant-general's
rank tallies with that of vice-admiral in the sister
service, and he might fairly be entitled to an
equal income in retreat. The fact is, that the
number of regiments to be given away, added
to that of the petty governments of forts, &c.,
is far inferior to that of the generals in the Army
List, and consequently many of these poor
veterans are left without any provision at all ; and
as the blanks are so many, the prizes have not
always been awarded either to seniority or ser-
vice, or to merit, but to interest with the Coart,
or with some Minister. All the jealousy and
ill-blood, therefore, arising from individual pride
and disappointment, which falls at present upon
the dispensers of patronage, would be saved to
them, and their popularity much enhanced.
Colonel" of a regiment is really but a nick-
name : it implies no connection between the

soi-disant colonel and his corps beyond that of
purveyorhhip of their clothing, and the abolition
of) it is tie' le-ss due' to siMpliCity i4lilfiectness
in the framing of Our-army accounts, than to
equity in apportioning the professional incomes
of men who have fought our battles. We sub-
join a few passages from the work:—
" COLONELS.
"If admirals were the first captains of our men•of--war;
if their pay increased according to the climate where
death thinned their crews, whilst they shared none of
their perils; would it not be considered the grettest
abuse of patronage and emolument tbat sinecurists ever
profited by?
" Our generals form a parallel position to this picture.
Interest has been frequently exerted to get a regiment
quartered in the East or West Indies; and generals of
Parliamentary influence have alw is had these preferences
within their attainment,—a Ministerial sop to ensure
their suffrages.
" The system of clerical and military translations has,
consequently, the same analogy. Though the colonels
have an annual allt,wance, the clothing is oily stnt out to
regiments in India once in two years, the light country
clothing being more adapted to the climate. As the men
purchase the !dame clothing, it prove-. what real tconomy
would re.-u tby raising colonial regiments at less pay, and
by the Government supplying them. It biennial clothing
is sufficient in the east, it is this country, and not the co-
lonels, that should solely reap the benefit.
" Some of the 1% est India regiments, during the war,
were not 100 strong (from the difficulty of getting
black recruits), but the ufficers were always effective. The
economy of draughting one weak regiment into another
would have been then a degradation unworthy of the great

nation.
" Though a black troop was attached to the West India
regiments, no horses ever joined their sable riders; the co-
lonels, however, rode borne, for they pocketed the proceeds
of their appointments, realizing 3,0001. or 4,0001. per
annum Why should they forego their good fortune aris-
ing from the War-office mismanagement? Whether the
remaining West India regiments have their dragoons 'in
buckram,' tacked to their establishment, I cannot decide ;
but that they had them I can prove.
" By draughting the two West India regiments into the
African Corps, and giving so many men per company to
the Colonial regiments, (to relieve the British soldier from
fatiguing barrack duties,) a judicious disbanding would be
effected.
" The pay of a Colonel of Dragoons is £l 12 10
" Ditto in lieu of one hautboy per troop, Is. 6d
per day, multiplied by six, make
" Ditto ditto of one warrant-man per troop
Is. 2s. per day, multiplied by six, make 0 7 0

0 0 0

£2 8 10

" Per annum £B9l 4 '2

"The Life Guards and Ist Dragoon Guards have eight
troop., the Blues nine, which increase by a fourth the
Colonel's profits of these men of straw, the hautboys and
warrant men. The regiments in India have nine troops
this odd troop should share the fate of the odd company to
regiments in India, which has been disbanded. I have only
stated an account of the pay, but to which should be added
more than as much again for the enormous profit realized
by clothing the men and furnishing horse equipage, which
fluctuate with the number of tr- opt..
" The allowance for the household troop: exceeds this cal-
culation. Whether such peculations should cease or flourish
I leave to the guardians of the national expenditure.
" A Colonel of Infantry has per diem XI 2 6
" Ditto in lieu of two warrant.men for each

company

0 10 0

£1 12 6

"'Total per annum £584 15 0
exclusive of the profi's of clothing ten companies, which
are nearly doubled if quartered in the east.
" I have taken my data from authority—from the Army
List. If I have miscalculated, I am confident some Ge-
neral will contradict me; but until I am refuted by facts,
this statement must remain.

" It never could be contemplated that a Colonel was to
realize a profit by the death of his.men ; or, proh pudor !
to share the profits of army tailors. Shall it be said that
Britain's decorated knights and the knights of the thimble
partook of mutual emoluments? ! ! Forbid it, glory; if
not, forbid it, reform !

" The only equitable mode of paying Generals is to
equalize their pay, which should be done by removing all
the Get era's from their sinecure colonelships, and giving
them the Lull pay of fadr respective rank ; these colonel-
gtnerdls would then still have 7501. per annum, and a
lieutenant-general 650/. per annum ; nor should they
come under the reduction of a fourtb,which other generals
ought to submit to, as I at first proposed, and which would
only lessen their incomes proportionably with the civil
officers in every department."