The Sun.
London, England, 1866-09-14 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLICS JOURNALS.

TRIES.—It is to be hoped that the military history
of our colony of New Zealand may be carefully
studied, and not soon forgotten. That settlement
has cost the British taxpayer many a million, but
the outlay will produce a substantial return if the
lessons of recent experience be honestly applied, not
only to the system of colonial defences, but to our
military system altogether. The reader will please
to remember that that native population of New
Zealand is, and has been for years, under 50,000.
It barely exceeded that number in 1858, and it has
been uninterruptedly on the decline. Of this popu-
lation 30,000 at the outside were males, and, if we
assume that one in three of these was able to bear
arms, we shall get a force of 10,000 men as the
aggregate fighting strength of all the savage tribes.
But of these tribes some are always friendly, others
neutral ; and it is believed that of late years, at
any rate, no rebel army in the field against us has
exceeded 2,000 combatants. On the side of the
Government was a population of Europeans, com-
prising in 1861 no fewer than 64,000 males, and
increasing rapidly. No further remark, we
think, should be needed to show that New
Zealand was perfectly able to defend itself,
and that the colonists were fully competent by
strength of numbers alone, apart from all other
resources, to deal with any insurrection or outbreak
of the native tribes. But there is a good deal more
to be added. These colonists could at any time have
availed themselves of native allies against native
enemies, and they were supported by a little squad-
ron of corvettes and gunboats on the coast, to say
nothing of Enfield rifles and Armstrong guns.
Nevertheless, things had got somehow into such a
groove that whenever the savages chose to take to
fighting, as they did about every two years, the
affair was actually regarded in the light of an Impe-
rial war, and Her Majesty's troops were despatched
from this country to the antipodes, at au enormous
cost, to conduct operations against a swarm of na-
tives in the bush. The proceedings, protracted for
a year or two with exceedingly little success, and
then settled by a transaction called a treaty, came
under the description of "the war in New Zealand"
and generally added a million or two to the Esti-
mates before the account was cleared. The state-
ment will appear hardly credible, but it is neverthe-
less a fact that two years ago, when the relative
numbers of settlers and natives were such as we
have specified, a British army of 10,000 regular
troops—infantry, artillery, and engineers—was
maintained in the colony for'the prosecution of " the
war," although at that moment the colonial forces
actually in arms for the protection of the colony
were at least three times as numerous as the whole
body of natives in the field. The mischief, too, of
the system, was that, with all this prodigious waste
of power, we never did any good. No New Zealand
war, even if reputed successful, ever left the natives
with a conviction that they had better not go to war
again. They rather enjoyed their campaign then
not, and only made overtures for peace when fight-
ing had become tedious, or the harvest demanded
their attention. Six months afterwards the news
came that " war" had broken out again, and that a
body of natives, perhaps 300 in number, had kept
the Queen's troops at bay for a month, and then
decamped without leaving wounded or prisoners
behind them. At last, however, and after humi-
liating experience, the secret of all this mischief
was discovered, or, it would be better to say,
recognized. What kept up the New Zealand war
was the army which we sent to New Zealand to put
it down. Our regular troops, regularly manoeuvred
under regular commanders according to the theories
' of European campaigning, were not the troops for
this kind of service. Turned into Volunteere, and
relieved of stocks, pipeclay, knapsacks, drill, and
science, they would have disposed of the enemy
quickly enough, but their natural powers and
courage were utterly destroyed by the application of
professional tactics to rough bush-fighting. At
length the truth was seen. The war was handed
over to colonial levies, with a few regulars, under a
really active commander, and in six months the de-
lusion was dispelled fur ever. Not only need we
never again send an army to New Zealand, but we
shall probably never again hear of a New Zealand
war. The lesson, however, thus taught us is of
wide and general application. The system which
disabled our army in New Zealand cannot well be
expected to improve it anywhere else. There is no
reason, of course, for jumping to the conclusion that
the discipline and tactics which so visibly sufficed for
New Zealand Volunteers would suffice under all
circumstances for the whole British Army ; but we
believe it is really true that our system of drill, while
it harasses the men and renders the service unpopu-
lar, is actually more damaging than advantageous
to the general efficiency of the troops. Au elaborate
and complicated system of parade movements, half of
which would be utterly useless in the work of a cam-
paign, worries the soldier, puzzles the officer, and
forms the staple of military instruction, to the ex-
clusion of far more important training. it would
surely be better to give the soldier more liberty,
and to cultivate his intelligence and enlarge his re-
sources while relieving him from the irksomeness
of purely mechanical exercise. When fine, brave,
and well-equipped troops are systematically put at
a disadvantage by half-armed savages, it is clear
there must be some impediment to success in the
system adopted and the tactics employed. In fact,
the colonial volunteers actually took the native re-
doubts, which our regular soldiers could not, or
rather did not, take. The soldiers could have done
the work fast enough in volunteer fashion, but found
it impracticable after the fashion prescribed to them.
It is evident, not only from this example, but from
the enlarged experience of European warfare, that a
soldier need not be such a machine as we make of
him, and that under a more intelligent system he
could not only be produced with far greater ease,
but be a far better specimen into the bargain. High
drill is by no means identical with perfect efficiency.
The knowledge of a few simple movements, com-
bined with expertness in the use of arms, and,
above all, with that muscular training which Oes.
the greatest atnountof activity and endurance, would
form a very good qualification for a modern soldier.
We have seen in the last few months that troops
and
should be strong and hardy, able to march well
6
march long, that they should be so clothed as to re-
tain the freest possible play of limb, and that they
should be armed with the most destructive weapon
known to science. We have seen that beyond this
very little proficiency 's required, and that the rest
depends upon the perfection of subsidiary depart-
ments, and such general organisation as will place
troops in the field at the shortest possible notice, and
maintain them there in the greatest possible efficiency
by good food, good transport, good medical service,
good supports, and good reliefs. We should like to see
this lesson seriously applied. New Zealand wars are
past and gone; othercolouial garrisons may be mea-
sured by the experience acquired in New Zealand,

and while we thank our countrymen at the antipodes
for their service and their example we should wish
to see them liberally rewarded with the hone urs for
which they are anxious, and which they have gal-
lantly earned. But, besides all this, we should im-
prove the lesson at home. We seem to be taking
such excessive pains in the manufacture of soldiers
that the product itself actually suffers in the process.
A simpler system, with more useful practice and less
drill, more freedom of mind and muscle, and less
complexity of exercise and routine, would probably
give us at once a better army and make that army
a more popular profession.
POST.—The Ministerial schemefor the annexation
of Hanover, Electoral-llesse, Nassau, and the city
of Frankfort has been accepted in its entirety by the
Prussian Chambers, and very little time will now
elapse before the law sanctioning this arrangement is
carried into practical operation. Regarding the in-
corporation of these several States with Prussia as a
political necessity, we cannot help thinking that the
means suggested by the advisers of King William
for the accomplishment of this object were the best
that could have been adopted. And this will appear
even more manifest from a consideration of the ob-
jections raised by some of the members of the Cham-
ber of Deputies in the course of the debate on the
passing of the bill. The task of conquering a-State
is, in the majority of cases, much easier than that of
retaining it in possession, and, notwithstanding the
almost incredible facility with which Prussia made
herself mistress of Hanover, Hesse, Nassau, and
Frankfort, the difficulty...of devisinga mode hywini,..
they would be united to Prussia and at the same
time contribute to her strength was one which so
sagacious a statesman as Count Bismarck was not
likely to overlook. In one respect circumstances may
be said to have contributed to render the task com-
paratively easy. Germany has- always longed for
unity. The inhabitants of the various states of the
Confederation, if we except Austria, speak the same
language, and regard their respective territories
as constituting portions of the same fatherland.
Again, to Prussia the majority have always looked
upon as their recognised leader ; and if their alle-
giance has been in part divided with Austria, the
fact has been due not to an affection for that Power,
but to that instinct of self-preservation which told
them that the rivalry of the two great Powers fur-
nished the only possible guarantee for their own
safety. Now, however, that the rivalry has termi-
nated, and that, bon gre vial gre, nothing remains
but to link their fortunes with Prussia, the popula-
tions of the minor States, at least of those north of
the Maine, will naturally incline to a fusion of in-
terests which cannot but operate to their own ad-
vantage. In dealing therefore with those four in-
dependent States which we have enumerated, the
Prussian Government were placed in a position far
superior to that in which conquerors generally find
themselves, and notably to that which Prussia occu-
pied when dealing with her share of the kingdom of
Poland, or Austria when she incorporated Venetia
with her heterogeneous empire. The difficulties
which, on the other hand, beset her path, and the
obstacles which she found it essential to surmount,
may perhaps be best understood from a considera-
tion of amendments to the Ministerial scheme of
incorporation which were offered in the Chamber
of Deputies by some of the members of the Liberal
party. The bill for the annexation of the conquered
States consisted of three sections—the first provid-
ing that those States should be united to Prussia in
conformity with a provision of the constitution
establishing Prussian laws and Prussian institutions
throughout Prussian territory, the second postpon-
ing the operation of the Prussian constitution
in the annexed States for a period of twelve months,
and the third entrusting to the Ministry the execu-
tion of the act. To this measure two amendments
were proposed, one by Herr Loewe to the effect that
existing institutions should be preserved as much as
possible, and the other by Herr Michelis making the
incorporation depend on the assent of the represen-
tative bodies of the respective States. The latter,
it is needless to say, went to the very root of the
measure, and in effect denied any right on the part,
of Prussia to avail herself of the advantages con-
ferred on her as a conqueror. The right of con-
quest, it was said, depended on the law of nations,
but as the various States of the Confederation
constituted a league, such law could not possibly
apply in determining the relations subsisting be-
tween them. This argument was very ingenious, and
precisely of that kind which one would expect to hear
adduced in an assembly of Germans, but in the pre-
sence of the practical manner in which it is ignored
by Prussia and Austria, it sounds a little strange
when advanced in the Chamber of Deputies at Berlin.
Besides, as was well observed in the course of the de-
bate, the result of the adoption of this amendment
would be that the Hanoverians would demand there-
establishment of the Royal House of Guelph, and
thus the obstacle which now stands in the way of a
united Germany, namely, the existence of small
States, would be perpetuated. The amendment of
Herr Michells was ultimately withdrawn, for not even
the most extreme members of the Opposition could
be brought to concur with that gentleman in thinking
that the project in which Prussia is now engaged,
and for the accomplishment of which she has incurred
such immense risks, should be made dependent on
the sanction of the inhabitants of a few minor States.
The amendment of Herr Loewe stood on a very diffe-
rent footing. A people may be brought to abandon
its allegiance to a particular dynasty, but it is with
difficulty and only after a long lapse of time that it
can reconcile itself to a change in its institutions.
Whateverjustification might be offered for the course
adopted by Prussia in extinguishing petty courts
which, even if preserved, would onlybe ruled by royal
puppets, there was none, it was urged, for depriving
different sections of the German people of the insti-
tutions which they possessed, the laws which they
respected, and the usages with which they were sa-
tisfied. Prussia, it was contended, was not making
war upon kindred peoples, but only on the anoma-
lous system by which those peoples were kept apart
and their energies wasted in idle and foolish
rivalry. If it was necessary or expedient that Ha-
nover and Nassau, Electoral-Hesse and the free city
of Frankfort should become parcels of the Prussian
kingdom, it was not indispensable for effecting this
object that the existing institutions should be sum-
marily extinguished. These arguments, it must be
confessed, had much to recommend them ; the
counter-objection, however, that if the territories
are to become Prussian the institutions must also be
assimilated, was held by the large majority of the
Chamber to be unanswerable. The suggestion
which Herr Gniest, one of the leaders of the Liberal
party, offered, to the effect that the Prussian consti-
tution should forthwith be introduced into the an-
nexed States, and that all existing institutions not
incompatible with it should be permitted to subsist,
is well worthy of the attention of the Prussian Go-
vernment. As was well observed in the course of
the debate, the inhabitants of the conquered States
will have very little to be grateful for in receiving a
constitution such as that which Prussians have pos-
sessed during the past four or five years. How-
ever, it is the best which it is in the power of the
conquerors to give, and, as one of the speakers
pointed out, the recipients will be in as good a posi-
tion as the donors to effect an improvement in it,
in the event of any future conflict of opinion be-
tween the people and the Crown.

A Fiench View of English Electoral

Corruption

' M. Provost Paradol contributes to the Nbats
few remarks on the " Electoral Mannerhs and
Customs " of the boroughs of Yarmouth
Totnes ; and, after a short sketch
aorfmtluet modusan
operandi of the free and independent who attach such
a high value to the suffrage, he proceeds to say :
"The English public does not practise the pre-
cept of washing its dirty linen en fanzille, and does
not consider that the honour of the country makes
it desirable carefUlly to hush up any disgrace-
ful facts whiCh its enemies could misuse to
depreciate its institutions. Therefore, without
the least mystery, it places under the eyes of
the whole world the sad picture of elections such as
those of Totnes and Yarmouth. For these small
boroughs it seems that a contested election is a.sort
of vivifying dew, a kind of manna fallen from Hea-
ven. The only problem is to discover two candidates
resolved to carry the seat, for if there be not a severe
Struggle, the elector can make nothing by the elec-
tion. "The friends of the • town—good patriots in a
local point of view—therefore set to work to find out
rich and determined candidates. They find them
without much difficftlty amongst those manufacturers
and tradesmen, who, having.macle., their.forCune, de-
sire to acquire a parliamentary status. Candidates of
such excellent disposition prepare for an election as
for a commercial venture ; they collect their funds
and hold .themselves ready to carry the day by the
sheer weight of their purse. But either side hesitates
to begin, for the ordinary argument adduced to ex-

" What is the use (he says) of invoking reason
when experience has pronounced ? In this very
inquiry the electoral agent was asked how he would
manage municipal elections where he had to treat
with some 4,000 electors instead of a few hundreds.
Fie replied ingeniously that those elections must be
paid for like the others, but that in municipal elec-
tions the price of votes never rose above 2s. Gd.
(3 francs.) To lower the price of votes from 125 f.
to an average of 3f. or if. at the outside, and to
consolidate by increasing their number, the pre-
ponderance of venal voices would therefore be the
certain, the - mathematical, result of universal suf-
frage at Totnes or Yarmouth. In this calculation,
and above all in that striking example of the mu-
nicipal elections, there is nothing encouraging
for the Reformers. In the meantime, Parliament
will doubtless exercise its sovereign power in
the can of these venal boroughs and deprive
them of the franchise for a time. It is a kind of
indirect fine inflicted on the electors, since some-
thing is taken away from them which they too well
understand bow to sell. But it is easier thus to
punish the abuse than to destroy its cause."

The Queen of the Bees.

(From Once a Week.)

In every hive there are a queen, male bees or
drones, and workers, which are of no gender, or
rather undeveloped females. The queen is con-
siderably larger than the" drone, and the drone is
about as much larger than the working bee. There
is never more than one queen in a hive, and if a
stranger queen should happen by accident, or in the
indulgence of her curiosity, to enter a hive in which
her authority is not recognized, the bees who act as
guards at the entrance instantly seize her, and
though their respect for royalty is too great to allow
of their ill-treating her, they crowd upon her so
closely that she cannot escape, and they do not re-
lease until their own queen arrives to do battle in
defence of her lawful rights. The conduct of the
commonalty under such circumstances is exceedingly
reinarkable ; they could put the intruder to death if
they choose, without suffering their own queen to
run the risk of being killed, but they do not do so ;
they act strictly on the principle of fair play ; at
the same time they will not allow the combatants to
separate until the victory is achieved by one of them.
The instant their queen makes its appearance, at-
tended by a number of her subjects, those who hold
the stranger iu custody draw back, and leave a clear
space for the encounter. If, as rarely happens, the
two sovereigns have no desire to fight, or if they try
to run away, the workers seize them, and will on
no account allow them to indulge their cowardice ;
they are never allowed to quit the arena, nor to
cease fighting until one ais killed. Huber relates
several experiments made by him with the view of
ascertaining if this conduct of the bees were inva-
riable, and he- found that it was; whether the com-
batants were two queens, both engaged in laying
eggs, or a fertile queen and a virgin queen, or two
virgin queens. A very singular circumstance in con-
nexion with these encounters is, that both manifest
the greatest horror of using their stings whenever in
the course of the fight they find themselvesin a posi-
tion to kill each other. In such cases they separate,
and show no desire to renew the fight, but the
spectators lay hold of them, and draw them back
into the cleared space, and compel them to face each
other again. It is not often, however, that the queen
of the hive requires any compulsion to fight. Her
jealousy of a rival is of the most intense character ;
and if two emerge from their cells at the same mo-
ment, their first act is to rush at, each other and
nseottmleobrey
cao
n singlesent to combatfatwhdeoi wuveiloddmbe
permit
;Jr
tu i
mirts to
iiotsr
sa rule
it.
te: oijurisdiction
the
tthht
htaehinysr wotr,nhielee-1
swpoe rekt etr sh e telxi eammspellev eos
might be imitated with advantage to humanity by
human competitors—they do not suffer or incite
their future subjects to engage in a civil war in sup-
port of their respective claims, but decide the ques-
tion by the simple process of fighting it out in their
own persons. There are occasions, however, when
the jealousy of the queen has to be restrained in the
interest of the community ; this is especially the
case when a portion of the hive is about to quit for
a separate habitation, in consequence of the in-
crease of their numbers. The emigrants on these
occasions are led by the old queen, and a new
queen is liberated to take her place in the hive as
soon as the departs. But if at the moment the
colony is about to emerge the weather becomes
overcast, and rain either falls or threatens to fall,
the emigration will be delayed, and the constant
is
r necessary; a
al tonb
drporforedov,me na
nttaehairiinnimo.
no mot
watchfulness of the guard appointed to protect the
youmncegpll
thefro uscittui en
egil
containingher
goptehne
occupants. The guards do not treat her •
with dis-
respect or unkindness, but they are firm. It is said
that she sometimes paralyses their
movements by
emitting a low humming sound,
were addressing them, and th precisely as if she
entries to take advan-
tage of the effect sheproduces to renew her attempt;
but the instant she beco
the sense of their dut if im es silent they awake to
it in listen' y, ndeed they have ever for-
gottenmg to her.

THE CUSTODY OF
INFANTS.—Yesterday a ques-
tion as to the custody of infants, under the charge
chief clerk attached' ritcoe
'of the Court of Cli 1..‘37.-;Lcactnie on before Mr. Peake, tho
theb Rev. Air. Reyes was npnointedey
namea';
Bradley had
court. ..1q
officer of the army (,)
uardian. Two of
Croy
were residing' with their mother Mrs. Mrs. Bradley, at
roydon, and in this same house lived a Mr. Fox Ail
parties, :with Mr. Eden, solicitor for Mrs. Bradley, had at-
tended a few days since before Vice-Chancellor Stuart, and
he directed that the children should return to tho Rev. Mr.
Boyer. They had not returned, and hence the present
application, and it was said that an application would be
made to commit Mrs. Bradley and Mr. and Mrs. Eden,
unless the.boys, at once returned. Mr. Eden's clerk said
he had nothing to do With the boys, and thought the Vice-
Chancellor had shown "a good deal of feeling" in the mat-
ter. The chief clerk said it was a most indecent remark to
make. What feeling could the Vice-Chancellor have but
to do justice? A peremptory order was made for the re-
turn of the boy