The Sun.
London, England, 1858-02-06 00:00:00

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Ipersons suspected of mutiny or desertion resorting
to their estates.
" 19. Lastly, by Act No. XXV. of 1857, the
property and effects of all persons amenable to the
Articles of War for the native army, guilty of
mutiny, were declared forfeit, and stringent means
were provided for the seizure of such property or
effects, and for the adjudication of forfeiture in all
cases, whether the, guilty person be caivicled or
whether he die or escape before trial.
" 20. Not only therefore is it not the case tba+
martial law was not prod,aimed in districts in
which there was a necessity for it, but the
measures taken for the arrest, summary trial, and
punishment of heinous offenders of every class,
civil as well as military, were far more widely spread
and certainly not less stringent than any that could
have resulted from martial law.
"21. To an application of certain inhabitants of
Calcutta for the proclamation of martial law in that
city and in the rest of Bengal, where, notwith-
standing the mutinous spirit of the native troops,
not the smallest indication of disaffection on the
part of the people had or has been manifested, an
answer was given setting forth at length the reasons_
which made the adoption of such a measure in-
expedient. _ _ _

It may be affirmed with confidence that n) one
useful objqct would have been attained by the
proclamation of martial law throughout India or in
any part of India wherein it was not proclaimed,
which has not been attained in a far more t ffectual
way by special legislation adapted to the vonditio-
of a country throughout vast trac-ts of 'which
military authority was altogeth• r unreptesented,
and by"the executive measures consequent there-
, upon ; while the mere proclamation. of Mittiabisili'-
- wlthout such speeial legislation, though = it-Might
have sounded more imposingly, ire uld-haveeransped
the action of govcrnment-,• by debarring the govern-
ment from the assistance of its civil officers in the
suppression of mutiny and of the crimes which have
accompanied it. • -
" We now advert to the resolution of the 31st
July containing directions to civil officers respect- •
ing the punishment of mutineers, deserters, and
rebels, and the burning of village;.
" 24. It has been shown that before this resolu-

tion was passed civilians had been . authorised to
try for mutiny and desertion (offences previously
cognizable only by courts-martial), and that enor-
mous powers had been given by the Legislature for
the punishment of the crimes of rebellion, mutiny,
and desertion, and others of less degree, to such
individual civil officers as might be ap-
pointed special commissioners by Government,
or to such other officers as the Government should
invest with the power of issuing commissions ; and
gentlemen both in and out of the regular service of
Government had been appointed special commis-
sioners under the Acts. The appointment of special
commissioners might have been restricted to the
Governor-General in Council, or to the Executive
GovKrnment„ had there not beeii any interruption
to the free communication between the Govern-
ments and their principal civil officers in the dis-
tricts; but when communication was out off the
working of the Acts would have been very much
impeded if a special commissioner could not b
appointed exoapt by Government. It was there-
fore considers 1 necessary in many cases, while the
power of communicating existed and before the
telegraph wires were cut, tp invest the principal
officer', such as the Chief Commissioners, the Com-
mis.tioner of Nagpore, Commissioners of districts,
&c., with the power of appointing special commis-
sioners under the Acts.

"25. It afterwards came to the knowledge of
th• Government, both officially and through private
channels, that in some instances the powers given
to special commissioners were being abused, or at
least used without proper discretion, and that capi-
tal punishment was inflicted for trivial offenus
committed during a period of anarchy, and on evi-
dence which, under ordinary circumstances, would
not haveabeen received, and that in some quarters
the fact of a man being a Sepoy was enough, in the
state of excited feeling which then prevailed, to
insure his apprehension and immediate execution
as a deserter.

" 26. There were then many native (aura aryl
soldiers of the Bengal army who, though absent
from their regiment?, were wholly innocent of the
crime of de ,ertion, and some who, so far from being
guilty of mutiny, had used their best endeavours
to prevent it, saving; the lives of their European
offic!ra at the risk of their own.

"To punish these men indiscriminately with
death as deserters or mutineers would have been a
crime. To pruvent their punishment was an im-
perative duty of the Government.

" 28. The ins truotions in question were issued for
the guidance of civa not military officers, and were c f
necessity in force only where civil power was exer-
cised. They prescribed discrimination between the
guilty and those who might reasonably be supposed
to be innocent. They sanction no lenity to the
guilty. They give to the civil authorities no power
of finally releasing even the innocent. They do not
exempt mutineer or deserter, or in fact any officer
or soldier, from trial by courts-martial ; but as re-
gards military offenders they lay do a n rules for
the guidance of civilians in the exercise of the
poweis newly vested in them by Act XVII. of 1857,
by which cognizance was the first tittle given to
them of offences of a purely military character.
" First, in regard to men belonging to regiments
which have not mutinied, the civil authorities were
directed to punish as deserters those only who were
found with arms in their hands. If guilty of rebel-
lion they child be punished as rebels apart from
their military character ; but if charged with or
suspected of desertion alone, and not found with
arms in their possession, they were to be °cut back
to their regiments, or detained in prison pending
the orders of the Governtn,nt. If sent bask to their
regiments they would of course be dealt with by the
'Mihaly authorities according to their guilt or in-
nocence.

" Second, in regard to men belonging to regi
ments which have mutinied but which have not
killed their officers or committed any other san
guinary crime, or whose regiments cannot be as-
certained, the civil officers were directed to punish
as mutineers only those who were found with areas
in their possession, or who were charged with a
specific act of rebellion, or whom for special reasons
it might be necessary to punish forthwith. All
others were to be sent to Allahabad, or to such
other place as the Government might order, to b 3
dealt with by the military authorities.
" Third, in regard to men belonging to regiments
which have mutinied and killed any European, or
committed any other sanguinary outrage, the civil
authorities were directed to try and settence as
mutineers all such persons, and to punish forthwith
all who could not show either that they were not
present at the murder or other outrage, or that if
present they did their utmost to prevei,t it. Th se
exceptional cases were to be reported to the Go-
vernment.
"29. It hasnot been found that these orders ara
difficult of execution, or that they have tended in
the least degree to weaken the hands of the civil
power in dealing with those who have bean really
guilty of mutiny or desertion, to say nothing of
graver crimes. If they have saved innocent men
from unjust punishment their object has been so
far attained. Upon the action of courts-martial, or
upon the proceedings of any military authority
whatsoever, they neither were intended to have,
nor have they bad, any restrictive effect. Their
tendency, on the contrary, so far as military tri-
bunals are concerned, is to extend the jurisdiction
of those tribunals and to transfer to them cases
which.in ordinary course would hey° been dealt
with by civil officers. They impose no labour upon
the European troops, the transport of the arrested
men to Allahabad er other miliiary stations being
assigned to the police or locel guards.
"30. In regard to the treatment of rebels not
being mutineers, we warned
unquestionably
thecivilautlio
ee
authorities to
whom the power of lif)etatondiediteoartehorhdaedr beenin a
dis-
trict starurystieldi litiehafitrtsthoautgtleiniiti is ,
in which the civil authority had been. entirely
overthrown to adiniuister the law with such promp-
titude and severity as will strike terror into the
minds of the evil-disposed among the people, and
will induce them by the fear of death to abstain
from plunder,
to restore
stolen property, at ,d
return. to reaceful occupations ;'yet, thist)(
object was once in a great degree attained, that
the punishment of ciiines should be regulated
with discrimination and in the I.oth paragraph,
after pointing out the difficulties that would pro-
b tbly be caused by the administration of the law
ire its extreme severity after the requ'isito imprei-
sion had bcen made upon the rebelliou and dis-
orderly, and after order had been partially restore',
we desired the civil authorities to encourage all
persons to return to their occupations, postponing
all minute inquiry into past political offences, to
punishing the principal offenders, and making
examples of those who aler the partial restoration
of order might be guilty of serious outrages, or ce
promoting the designs of the rebels.
"31. We cannot bel.eve that these instruotions
need defence. They are addiessed only to civil
authorities ; to men who, scattered far and wide