The Sun.
London, England, 1858-04-27 00:00:00

gentlemen, he was of opinion that an inquiry would effect
great good.
Mr. BUXTON thought it was bad for boys themselves
to begin their professional education at a very early age,
or that they should mix only with boys such as at Sand-
hurst, who were intended exclusively f, r the military pro-
fession.
Mr. DEASY believed the course adopted by the Covern•
merit was a retrograde movement, and he hoped the house
would not consent to the proposed alteration.
Mr. SIDNEY HERBERT thought the house had now
arrived at a clear apprehension of what the changes were
which were contemplated with respect to the mode of
admission to the army. He thought nothing could be
more absurd than to say they were to return from cow-
petition to nomination, and nothing could be more credit-
able to the Commander-in-Chief than to give up the
patronage which he possessed. Under the new systeln
introduced by Lord Panmure, candidates were to be ad-
mitted to the theoretical class at Woolwich, but not to the
practical class. What he (Mr S. Herbert) proposed was,
that Sandhurst should be enlarged, and that the age of the
c ludidates should be imcreased from 16 to 17 years, so as to
admit the young men who had passed their first examina-
tion at Sandhurst, to be eligible to enter into the competi'
tion at Woolwich. By that course, they would keep the
young men up to the mark so long as there was compete'
tion ; but they would never have the efficiency under coin'
petition so long as competition was not kept up to the
mark, and that would be the cwe with the examination*
at Woolwich if competition was not kept up to the mark.
Another question had been raised, whether Sandhurst
should not be kept up as a monopoly, regulated by a scale
of payments, in which general officers were to pay less for
the education of their sons than other ranks and classes of
society were to pay. When he was Secretary for War, be
did his best to'resist any scheme cf that kind; but be
. thought it was not the duty of the State to give gratuitous
military education to any class on the ground of destitu:
tion of the party seeking it. He believed all the costs of
e Incation had bee reduced, and the question now resolved
itself into a question of costs. The original plan, which be
hoped to see followed out, was, that young • men might be
admitted by competitive examination to the practical class
at Woolwich. The system of nomination was gone, not,
he hoped; to be pushed back. . The gallant general said it
was, in his opinion, desirable to have a commission of in,'
quiry ; tiny had had commissions of inquiry before ; end
he would suggest to the gallant general, instead of waiting
for inquiry, to bring his own common sense, of which be
possessed a good stock, to bear upon the question, and to
go on by competitive examination, by which they would
I obtain an able and well-educated class of men for the eel"
vice.

Mr. P. O'BRIEN hoped the system of competitioa
would not be abolished.
Lord V A.NE TEMPEST said he had served with foreign
armies, and he was enabled to say, from observation, an
experience, that the education of foreign officers was net,
in his opinion, superior to that of English officers. !'
Mr. ROEBUCK wished to say a few words to the right
hon. gentleman the member for Limerick about he '
motion. The (motion was that they should vote •
dress to the Queen not to allow any change to take place
in the existing system at the present time. Now, he
v
wanted to know what the present time' meant, and will'
the existing system was. As he understood, Lord rag;
aure, at the beginning of the altered the system,bll.
t the cad he changed it again.Now, whether was it W.
last or the first system that was to be in existence ! Tbe
house ought to know what the present state of things Wsh
and not to proceed to pass a resolution without knoWillg
what it was they were doing.
Mr. MONSELL, after a few words by Mr. PA
which, owing to the noise that prevailed by cries
" Divide," were inaudible, begged to suggest a slight alts'
ration in his motion, and to propose, instead of the word!
" existing arrangements," to insert " the principle of 0.
isting arrangements."
Mr. WALPOLE said that Lord Panmure had establish
these open examinations during the war, with the untr%
standing that at the, peace they should terminate. inIL
gallant friend (General Peel) had continued them for tr 6
examinations longer. The right hon. member for WL
shire thought it very desirable that these examinatO
should continue, but still was of opinion that the matter
should be left in the hands of his gallant friend, who Inv
derstood all its bearings so well.
' Captain VIVIAN thought it necessary that the questO
should be settled one way or the other, and that the
public should know if Sandhurst was to have a monopnl
of the cadetships. It would have a most injurious effe°
if the matter were hung up for two years. •
General PEEL said there had been no alteration in th
system, and wished to know whether it was meant to L's'
dude Sandhurst.
The house divided—
For the motion
For the amendment 217
Majority - —4 o —4o
The announcement of the division was received. /11
loud cheers by the Opposition.
The address was then agreed to.
EXCISE DUTIES BILL.

On the motion that this bill be read a second time,
sit
Mr. P. O'BRIEN said he had a petition to pri
a(minst the bli from the traders of Dublin. nsl
'Sergeant DEA.SY wished to enter his protest ag31,1,.
selecting Ireland alone for the purpose of making up 5 "f
ffeiency of the revenue. He would not, however, offer A't
opposition to the passing of the bill, but he thought tlOl,l
among other taxes of local burthen, that for the genet
valuation should be placed on the national exchequer.* d
Mr. P. O'BRIEN could not assent to the suggeeti°nief
compromise made by the hon. and learned memberoi,
Cork. The measure was not only an injustice to 1re2600
because it saddled one portion of the kingdom witu bj
whole of the deficit in the revenue for the year, Mired
contended that it would not realise the amount anticiptito
by the Chancellor of the Exchequer. He moved OW
bill be read a second time that day six months.
Mr. ESMONDE Bacon, led tbe amen _ e
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said the hon.dment.
membelloctwbl
had opposed this bill had not shown any sufficient e°4o4
for its rejection. On former occasions it had been conteft
that the increase of duty would lead to a large amenYabco
illicit distillation, and that the employment of the consythoo
lary in excise cases would make them unpopular. Both The
predictions had been falsified by subsequent experience• ofl
additions to the duty had not increased illicit distillation, n'iot
so far as he was aware, the constabulary were still as Plose
and as efficient a body as before the duty was increased' obi
two grounds were those mainly relied upon in former S'''ate,
opponents of any addition to the duty upon Irish trot
and as they bad proved fallacies in practice, they couulor
now be urged with the weight which attached to theramtio4
vious to experience. (Hear, hear) Looking at the 9.ll,es't
in the abstract, he could not see why such a duty as tudool.
spirit' should not be equalised in all parts of the kingl,o
He believed that if it was so in Ireland the effect weal(' -00
benefit the large distiller and manufacturer of spirit'B,'otcli
enable them to compete more successfully with the vonclo
and English distillers than they were now able to dO ;0
indeed, if the bill passed, he believed that it would be 301
to the dealers of this particular article is Ireland. had
Mr. GROGAN said the hon. and learned gentleteo tfd
forgotton one class of dealers whom the bill would 34'04
most injuriously—he meant the retail dealers. The 'l'd
might be beneficial to the large distillers, but to the
body of publicans, who had invested a great amount of." ? to
in their businesses, and who supplied the wants 0001
general body of the public, the effect must be- injurletici, he
ia many cases ruinous. If this measure was passe_ 000,
thought that home-made spirits should be placed on 07,
footing as colonial and foreign spirits in this respect: iv Ad
right tha ; the ievenue should be protected, but hijitef.•
like this ought not to be committed. He did not heels
that a particular trade could not bear such an increase ItS,dr
2s. Bd. a gal on to 7s. 10d. in four years, and should, I.'"
fore, support the motion.
el
Mr. MAGAN supported the amendment. elPr
Mr. M'EVOY disputed tho calculation of the Mune of tY.,
the Exchequer with respect to the probable amount ,otir
tax. He believed that no increase in the revenue "
accrue from the impo ition of an increased duty. 64.* ‘
After a few remarks from Lord NAAS and Mr. 01
THY, the house divided, and the numbers—
For the second reading
For the amendment
Majority
The bill was then read a second time.
CHELSEA WATERWORXB BILL.
The bill was read a third time. •
EXCHEQUER .
The Exchequer Bills, 20,911,5001.,81LLS
Bill was read thi
time.

227
319$