The Sun.
London, England, 1860-06-02 00:00:00

PRICE 4D. STAMPED, SD•

, day night proved conclusively his boundless confi-
dence in their sympathy with corruption. It is
unfortunate that Mr. Bright, who denounces with
so much vehemence in the provinces the extra-
vagance of Government, should systematically
absent himself when the votes for the Army
and Navy are being taken ; but perhaps, like
many others, he looks at the audience and despairs
of producing any effect. It would be disingenuous
to suppose that Mr. Sidney Herbert really be-
lieved in the defence he set up for General Grey.
That' that gentleman is now, and has been for
years, an officer in her Majesty's service requires
no demonstration. But the sinecure appointment
of a colonelcy has hitherto been considered, in
theory at least, a;special reward—a special distinc
Lion for military service. The fact is so stated under
Mr, Sidney Herbert's own hand and seal. And
unless every officer in the army is to be rewarded
General Grey's appointment must be considered,
as Sir J. Trelawny phrased it, " an iniquitous job."
True enough, there is nothing very novel in the
theory. Worse things have been done many a
time. Look at the Army Estimates last year, and
you may see amongst the list of what the Horse
Guards call non-effective or distinguished services a
good service pension attached to the name of the
Hon. T, Ashburnham, who never distinguished
himself except by returning home in disobedience
of orders and in getting a regiment for his spirit.
True enough, Sir Richard Airey and his subordi-
nate, the Hon. Arthur Gordon, were installed in
the very best appointments at the Horse Guards in
defiance of public opinion and in spite of proved
incompetency ; and Sir Richard, to his other emo-
luments, has an extra £lOO as a reward for dis-
tinguished, or rather, non effective services. Nor
have the people yet forgot how a most " clubbable"
gentleman was transferred, after some thirty
years' inaction, from the whist table to a great com-
mand, which has taxed the energies of such men as
Sir Charles Napier and Lord Clyde. It is most
true that the Grey job is by no means the worst job
ever perpetrated by the Horse Guards. As there
is a maximum and minimum of nudity, according
to Lord Palmerston, so, according to Mr. Sidney
Herbert, there is a maximum and a minimum of
corruption. " You call this appointment of General
Grey a job," exclaims the War Minister, " I will
show you fifty mere scandalous." " Surely,"
retorts Sir John Trelawny, " you ought to appoint
the most distinguished officers; you have the
power of selection ' • that power ought to be exer-
cised justly." " I have exercised it justly," says
Mr. ;Sidney Herbert, " because many worse men
than General Grey have been appointed to command
regiments." Ask Mr. Disraeli and he will tell you
how well General Grey does his duties about Court.
Besides, the man has noble sentiments and a high
character • even Royal minds have been elevated
and refined by.holding communion with so high-
souled a personage. Hundreds of officers in the
army are unfit to be private secretaries, even to
Princes of the Blood. Before now Princes of the
Blood, themselves unfit to be private secretaries,
have commanded armies and led them to disaster.
But this gallant gentleman, so Mr. Disraeli
says, " Has performed his duties at Court in a
manner which entitles him to the confidence of
the public." What then ? Why of course it is
most unjust to object to a job which might easily
have been exceeded in shamelessness. If all
appointments in the Army are beyond criticism to
which the annals of the Horse Guards can furnish
no more scandalous parallel, it must be candidly
admitted that neither the War Minister nor the
Commander-in-Chief has yet laid himself open to
censure. At the same time it is well that this
startling theory has been avowed in the House of
Commons. On Thursday night the War Minister
declared that his views with respect to purchase
had undergone no change, and that he was at pre-
sent maturing his plans for selecting the lieut.-
colonels from the majors. There is undoubtedly
considerable difficulty in this scheme, for unless the
War Minister and the Commander-in-Chief are
willing not only to profess some rational creed with
respect to military merit, but to bind themselves
by some definite rules which shall prevent any gross
abuse of patronage, it will need more eloquence and
courage than even Mr. Sidney Herbert possesses to
persuade Parliament to confer either upon himself
or the Duke of Cambridge any larger powers. It
is hard enough for gallant old men who have bled
and fought for their country before either Mr. Sid-
ney Herbert or the Hon. C. Grey, or even H.R.H.
the Duke of Cambridge, tortured their first fly,
should be postponed to a courtier at St. James's. It
will never do to increase their power when they
openly profess themselves emancipated from com-
mon sense.

But perhaps the worst feature of Thursday's de-
bate was the seeming determination of the War
Minister to do nothing—to make no improvement.
He could see nothing in the army that needed re-
form, or that could be reformed. Officer after officer
pointed out that since the Crimean war a nobleman
had been appointed to inspect the Guards although
the same duty had been performed for 40 years
without any such extra expense. Still Mr. Sidney
Herbert can do nothing. Again and again it has
been pointed out that the Army Estimates are a
mass of confusion—a curious labyrinth in which no
man can find his way. It is utterly impossible for
a plain reader to ascertain how much any single
thing connected with the army costs, The Com-
mander-in-Chief seems to have only £3,300 a-year,
whereas in point of fact he gets about double that
sum. Officers on the Staff seem to get a miserably
small pittance, but really draw many hundreds a
year from the public treasury. General officers in
India who get their £3,000 or £4,000 a-year seem,
on the face of the public documents, to get nothing
at all; and military governors are in the same po-
sition. For years the authorities at the Treasury
have remonstrated against this elaborately con•
fused system. It was a theory of the Duke of
Wellington that in case of a popular commotion
the soldiers should never be visible. It is the
opinion of the Horse Guards that the money spent
upon the army should be kept out of sight. No-
body ought to be allowed to know how much
money the army really costs the country. If Mr.
Sidney Herbert were sternly bent upon intro-
ducing economy into our army affairs lie would have
no difficulty in reducing this chaos to order.
The danger is that if the public really understood
the enormous sums which are spent upon the
Army, and especially upon the Staff, they would
insist upon a reduction. Of what use are these 150
folio pages of the Army Estimates ? They are
more fitted to darken than to illuminate the in-
quirer. But what is to be done ? The House of
Commons is above caring for these things. And
Mr. Sidney Herbert is inclined to take advantage
of the fatal apathy. He can save himself trouble,
and please the higher powers.