The Sun.
London, England, 1858-06-04 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY, JUNE 4, 1858.

The military administration of the country is
considered beyond the jurisdiction of the House
of Com Mons. Impertinent civilians have no right
to interfere with the management of the army.
That must be left in the hands of military cliques,
or Court intriguers. It is not because men are
the chosen representatives of independent con-
stituencies, that they constitute the real govern-
ing power of the nation, that they should intrude
on a well preserved domain, or aim at game far
beyond what military authorities conceive to be.
just or expedient.
It is impossible, however, to ignore the resile-
tion arrived at on Tuesday evening, certainly by
a narrow majority—but still a majority. The
authority of the popular branch must be recog-
nised, and if there be any disinclination to do so
in any quarter, it is incumbent on its mernbere
to assert their own dignity and independence.
If Ministeis disregard the obvious duty imposed
on them by the.resolution of the House, they must
be stimuleted by further operations. Double Go-
vernment—divided responsibility—in any form or
shape,
.has of late days been generally, if not uni-
versally, condemned. The guardians of the public
parse—:—those who are called on to provide for
the liberal maintenance of the army, have a per-
feet right to exercise full control over that army.
They have made considerable progress in the right
direction by the consolidation of the Ordnance and
Commissariat departments, and that which was
formerly under the management of the Secretary
at. War, and placing all under a single Ali-
nieter. 'But there is still a conflict of juri,i-
dictions. No one seems to understand the-
roughlY where one ends or the other begins,
and it is .
manifestly essential that there
matters should: be clearly defined, and that the
requisite powers should be placed in responsible
hands, unquestionably bound to answer on every
point to these providing the funds.
At, present it seem; impossible to discover
under < which thimble the pea can be
found.
When. ; complaint is fully eetablished, it
one to another —the
is ailed .6ff from
mark is so fleeting and variable, that the
best aimed shaft can seldom, if ever, reach
its destination. It was this flagrant grievauce
that 6.a House of Commons endeavoured to reach
on Tiieeday evening. But still the phantasm
Tauisliei at the moment when it seems within

the legislative grasp ; and there are so many skil-
ful c3njurors 'engaged in the act of legardemain
that it seems to be more than doubtful whether
the great desideratum, can ever be accomplished or
realised.

The House has, as yet, done too much or too
little. Far too much of it is to remain quiescent
under the abrogation of its authority. Too little,
if it is not disposed t') vindicate its authority and
dignity, and to insist on its wishes being carried
into practical execution.

The change ntade in the office of Lord High
Admiral has been one of a very beneficial cha-
racter, and it affords a very suitable precedent.
We have now Commissioners for discharging the
duties of the office, the chief of whom may be a
civilian, and always is a Cabinet Minister. The
entire Government is thus rendered responsible,
and jobs become comparatively rare. We fully
acknowledge the ability, fidelity, and zeal with
which the Royal Duke, now at the head of the
Horse Guards, acts in his important office. But
it is not because he is desirous of acting with the
most perfect impartiality and efficiency that an
objectionable system is to be maintained. The
same arguments would sustain a pure despotism.
But still the country would scarcely assent to
abolish the constitutional government for any
autocracy, however admirably it may be conducted.
The question cannot now be shelved or set aside.
Something must be done. Unity of manage-
ment has become indispensable, and unless the
supreme control be placed in the hands of a
Cabinet Minister, there can be no real
or adequate responsibility. The formidable
evils that created so great a sensation
at the commencement of the Russian war can only
be averted, in other trying emergencies, by fairly
carrying out the spirit of the resolution carried
on Tuesday evening by a majority of the House.
We do not suppose that the matter can be finally
disposed of during the present session. But
means may be adopted to give effect in due sea-
son to the wish of the House, and which will
pave the way for judicious legislation on the
subject.

Should the final issue of the late upstir be to
instal Lord STANLEY as Home Minister for India,
and Sir JoaN LAWRENCE as Governor-General at
Calcutta, it will be all that can be desired. For-
tunate, indeed, will it be for our Eastern Empire
to have, in its present state, a man at its head
worth twenty CANNINGS, or, indeed, for Indii,
worth any twenty Lords that could be named. If
Lord CANNING have the slightest sense of what is
due, both to India and to England, he will at
once throw up the reins, which would have never
' been intrusted to his hands, had it been once sus-
pected by those who appointed him that the steeds
would attempt to run away with the chariot.
And heavy blame, after all, there must be, either
with the Government at the time, or with Lord
DALHOUSIE, or more probably with both, that a
Governor-General and Commander-in-Chief were
not placed in India who should prove equal to any
emergency However, byegones e'en must be
byegones ; let them be so. But, surely, Lord
CANNING must feel that the discussions on the vote
of thanks, the late discussion, and the whole tone
of the press at home, demand his return. The
Government, indeed, with a kindly feeling which
does them honour, sent a telegram after the un-
fortunate published despatch, to assure Lord CAN.
NINE of their support, and to apprise him that
Lord ELLENBOROUGH having resigned, the techni-
cal political necessity for his resignation was re-
moved. We can hardly conceive, however, of a
Peer of England contentedly retaining his posi-
tion after all that has been said of him both in
India and in England. The present Government
will "support" him ; but who, except routinistl
and Canningites by birth or party, have expressed
the confidence in him, without which nothing
can warrant his retention of such a post and such
emoluments. Emoluments, we are compelled to
add—because, here, the universal suspicion will
be, that money chiefly, and a small quantum of
false pride, can be the only inducements to retain
a post in which he is so distrusted. Were
there not indeed, on the spot, an individual, to
whom the common voice of the English in India
and at home has pointed, as desirable to be placed
in the Indian Viceroyalty at once, his lordship
might feel some embarrassment. The acknow•
ledged desirableness, however, of placing Sir JOHN
LAWRENCE at the head of Indian affairs, removes
all this difficulty.
At home, the appointment of Lord STANLEY
will give universal satisfaction. If it may be truly
said of the father, that in debate he touched no
topic which he has not adorned, it may be as truly
said of the son, that he has taken in hand no sub-
ject which he has not mastered. Lord STANLEY
knows something of India by actual observation,
though we must grant that such short visits as his
and still more Mr. LAYARD'S, can teach little but
what relates to the physical, and more patent as-
pects of the country. Still it is something. Give
us the right man for the place, and we should
prefer that he should have known what it is only
to travel through India. But what we much more
rely on, is Lord STANLEY'S well-known habit of
thoroughly mastering both the principles and the
details of whatever he undertakes. India is, to
be sure, a vast subject, yet we have little doubt,
that if political events suffer him to remain at his
post as long as he deserves to be there, he will b
one of the best informed men in England in all
that relates to practical matters in India. He is
certainly, as Lord PAL3fERSTON told Mr. DISR,A.ELI,
not to be overlooked as a speaker ; the weight of
his matter will always command attention ; but
as a man for practical knowledge, and we believe
it will prove for administrative ability, the son
will prove as far superior to the father, as the
father to the son in the graces of oratory. Pr o-
bably not a little of Lord STANLEY'S liberalism •
arises as much from his looking on public affairs
with the eye of a practical statesman, as from innate
Liberal tendencies, though his Lordship evidently
shares far more of the latter than one-half the
host returned last year to the cry of PALMERSTON
and Reform.

For ourselves Nve must confess, that even should
Lord DERRY's Cabinet quit office sooner than is
probable, we could wish that Lord STANLEY ini,,ht,
see it compatible with his party and connections
to remain where he is, and that a really Liberal
Ministry might feel it to be their duty to request
him to do so. Of course no Premier dare insult the
country by again proposing Mr. SMITH as Indian.
Minister. There are hosts of men bearing Via'
honourable name, who could do the work far Lot
ter. Sir CHARLES WOOD is little the better quali-
fied for Indian home service by his year or two's
apprenticeship under a routine system, which has
now shattered itself to pieces ; besides, we Le-
lieve that India much more needs the unusual
maturity of judgment combined with the vigour
and unfetteredness of thirty-two, which we have
in Lord STANLEY, than the traditional leanings of
a thorough red•tapiit bordering on sixty, which
we have in Sir CHARLES WA. As to qualifiea•
tion for a Liberal Cabinet, would that any .of
Lord PALMERSTON'S had been equally qualified !
We believe that even the Manchester School would
prefer Lord STA.rmsir as a Member of a Reform