The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-01 00:00:00

mander-in-Chief prefer in recommending for governments ?
—I should say that the general officer whose service has
been shorter, but who had the greater opportunity of dis-
tinguishing himself in the field, has been repeatedly exposed
to danger, and has been wounded—one, in fact, who has
been in a situation ef higher responsibility, would be the
first class of officers to be considered."
His lordship went on to say, that—
" The next officer to be considered would be one who had
accompanied his regiment to the colonies and had acquitted
himself well in command ef it.".
Then the general officers, he added, who had performed
very respectable service, chiefly at home, would certainly
come in the last of the three classes. Again, in the report
of the Royal Commission of 1854, of which the present Sec-
retary of State for War was chairman, there is the follow-
ing recommendation to her Majesty, via.:—
" That the command of battalions in the Ordnance corps
be given without reference to seniority, in the same manner
as the colonelcies of regiments, to the officers whose services
appear the best to entitle them to such a distinction."
In mentioning the name of General Sir C. Grey I have not
the remotest intention or wish to undervalue the services
of that officer. On the contrary, I have no doubt that the
gallant officer has rendered very important services as pri-
vate secretary to his Royal Highness the Prince Consort
but the impression on my mind is that they were not im-
portant military services. I have heard that General Sir C.
Grey has commanded with great propriety a regiment on
home service, and far be it from me to diminish the gallant
officer's claim on that account; but to that description of
claim Lord F. Somerset has given the last place. Attention
has been attracted to the recent appointment of General Sir
C. Grey by the public press, and it appears that there are
14 officers senior to him who have seen nerentdeal 'of ser-
vice in the field and in the colonies, some having been
wounded. On the other hand, there are -several generals
who have commanded brigades, or even divisions, during
the Indian mutiny or in the Crimea, who are without regi-
ments. Then there is a great number of other officers less
fortunate in arriving at the rank of general, but who have
served longer than Sir C. Grey, and have performed distin-
guished services, yet the general officer selected for the re
appointment has never, if I am rightly informed, served
out of the United Kingdom. This is rather extraordinary.
I have no doubt that Gen. Grey commanded a regiment per-
fectly well on home service. Perhaps he may also have gone
to the colonies. If so, the Secretary of War will not fail to
state it. But according to Hart's Army List Gen. Grey
virtually quitted the army 18 years ago to take a high and
confidential appointment in the palace. lam far from wish-
ing to undervalue or depreciate the important services
which he may have rendered, and no doubt has rendered, in
that capacity. But again I say they were not military ser-
vices. I believe only two or three officers have been pro-
moted above him : but on this question of seniority I wish
to draw the right hon. gentleman's attention to a report of
a commission which sat in 1854, and of which he himself
was the chairman. That commission recommended " that
the command of battalions in the Ordnance corps be given
without reference to seniority, in the same manner as the
colonelcies of regiments, to the officer whose services appear
the best to entitle them to such a distinction." It will be
seenfrom this that the right hon. gentleman totallydiselsims
the principle of seniority, unless in addition to seniority
there is distinguished service. In the public prints eight or
ten names of really distinguished officers have been men-
tioned who have been set aside on this occasion, some of
them having held high commands. In short, I can hardly
help believing that the whole of the matters connected with
this case have not been brought under the notice of the
right hon. gentleman as they ought to have been, because
I am satisfied, with his high sense of justice and his strong
desire for the good of the service, that he would have hesi-
tated before giving his assent to or accepting the responsi-
bility of this appointment. The right hon. gentleman dee
Glared on the occasion to which I have referred that he was
expressly responsible for this appointment. Probably there
is some little omission here, for the Commander-in-Chief
must surely have recommended the appointment to him,
and he would not make it witho t such a recommendation.
On speaking of this matter to some persons they said that
the readiness of the right hon. gentleman to meet the glum •
tion in the House of Commons probably arose from his be-
ing aware of General. Grey's offer to serve in the Crimea.
Well, I believe that all the general officers in the army of-
fered to serve there. (A laugh.) But with regard to offers
of service in the Crimean or ther wars let me draw attention
to a passage in the letters of the Duke of Wellington, just
now published, which is very decisive on this point. He
was Secretary for Ireland in 1809. It was reported that an
expedition would sail to the Peninsula. His appointment
produced large emoluments—I believe some £6,000 or
£7,000 a year; but he wrote directly to Lord Castlereagh,
somewhat to this effect :
" I hear it reported that an expedition to the Peninsula
is being prepared. lam determined not to abandon my
profession. I hold a very lucrative post. Whether you
have the opportunity of appointing me to this expedition I
cannot say but this I have to say—you must be so good as
to provide a substitute for me in the office of Secretary for
Ireland, for I will not stay in that office, whether I go to
the Peninsula or not. I should risk my character with the
army if they could say that I had preferred a lucrative posi-
tion at home to serving in the field."
i And on another occasion he said :
" There shall be no mistake about it. I won't continue
to hold this office, whether you give me military command
or not. Provide another Irish Secretary, for I won't stop
here."
That was the military feeling of the Duke of Wellington ;
and therefore I think that the mere offer of service in the
Crimea, unless it was followed up with the vigour which
Sir Arthur Wellesley evinced on that occasion, hardly fur-
nishes an adequate ground for the present appointment.
These preferments are 135 in number, and really, unless it
is found that they are dispensed in such a manner as to give
satisfaction to military men, I doubt whether the country
will acquiesce in the continuance of this defin'te number of
them. (Hear.) I have never seen this house unwilling to
reward active and approved services, and, in my humble
opinion, several of the officers who have recently distin-
guished themselves in India are entitled not only to this
kind of preferment, but to a great deal more. But the fact
is, I believe, that several officers have succeeded in obtain-
ing these appointments whohave not seen any very arduous
services. I said before there were not less than 14 General
officers senior to General Grey who were not considered
upon this occasion. Several of them went through almost
the whole of the Peninsular War. Then, again, there is a
list of other officers, not, indeed, senior to General Grey, but
far superior to him as soldiers, who performed signal ser •
vices in the Crimea and in India, but who were also passed
over. A few days since an old General officer called upon
me while this notice was on the paper. He is one of the
officers named in a recently-established military publica-
tion, the Ar».y and Navy Gazette—General George Bell.
I knew that he was a very old officer and had served most
honestly and gallantly, and I asked him how his services had
been rewarded, and whether he had received the command of
a regiment. He replied that his services had not received the
slightest word of encouragement, and that he despaired of
any requital for them. " Have you any objection to my
referring to them in the house ?" I asked. " Not the
slightest," he said. He is a gallant old officer, and does not
care one straw for anything which may be said,seeing that he
speaks nothing but the truth. He has served for about
fifty years, which is much longer than General Grey's mili-
tary career. Of these fifty years forty were passed upon
active service in the Peninsula (where he was present at a
great number of battles), in the East and West Indies, the
Mediterranean, Gibraltar, Nova Scotia, the Canada rebel-
lion, the Burmese war, and in the Crimea. General Bell
says that undoubtedly there were others who, perhaps, ser-
ved longer than he did in the Peninsula, but who afterwards
retired, but he has served up to the present time, and asks
to serve again. During eleven years he commanded his regi-
ment (the Royals), and he was wounded more than once at
the head of it. He was wounded also while commanding the
troops (3,000 men) in the trenches before Sebastopol, and.
he also commanded a brigade in the Crimea. Surely such an
officer as this, who has seen forty years of active service, is
unfairly neglected when a general officer, twelve years
younger in the army than he is, receives the command of a
regiment, while he gots no encouragement. (Hear.) I pre-
same that the right hon. gentleman will be able to make
out a good case. He appeared to have not the slightest
doubt of doing so. At the same time, when the question of
purchase was mooted, the great obstacle in the way of re-
moving that dishonour and disgrace to the British army was
said to be the difficulty of making a selection. It was then
given out by Lord Panmure and by the Comm'''e:oe in-
Chief that it would be most unpleasant to make such a selec-
tion. Now, there is no doubt that in making these ap-
pointments the principle of selection has to be resorted to,
and when an improper selection is made it causes more dis-
satisfaction among the officers than any selection for lieu-
tenant-colonelcies. Many other subjects have been ad-
verted to this evening, and a very important statement
has been made by the late Secretary for_ war
).but
to
t( fromhGi enniceort thahlactrPst ehelel couldert'lna ias
bier mastneoo ff u rht ihas iesr°s Pee icni Otin.GllB3omc iene °t
seemed
Ir
present
establishment. If he means that RO economy can be effected
as regards the numerical strength of our forces I agree
with him. But if he means that there is no possie
bility of effecting any saving in the administration of the
army, I can assent to no such proposition. I believe that
the estimates which are presented to us from year to year
are in a state of great confusion. They do not, satisfactorily
explain the state of the administration. The object of them
must be to make clear what is the expense of each officer in
the se:. vice and in every department ; but I will venture to
s y that few men, whether civilians or military men, are
able to discover that distinctly. Almost every staff officer
has three or four different items of pay, and unless they are
sought out with great care in different parts of the estimates
it is impossible to find them out. I must do my hon. friend
and also the hon. baronet opposite (Sir S. Northcote), the
justice to say that the Treasury has several times remon-
strated with the 'War Department upon the confusion of the
accounts, and the expediency of simplifying them. I will
just state one instance of the delusive character of these ac-
counts. Take the first item in these accounts. The salary
of the Commander-in-Chief is stated broadly at £3,300 a-
yeare but if we look through the estimates we shall find
there are three or four other items, which increase his
emoluments to upwards of £6,000 a-year. Ido not mention
this in any invidious spirit, but simply
item which presents itself. Then, again, in my the
staff ought to be paid in accordance wit the, importance of
I the duties which the officers have to perform and the pay
because i opinion e fit