The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-10 00:00:00

G 7 ' . 'P?

C
in the whole of her main deck gu,
_p_l_e_te coaling this day. Captain
joined yeabrday, as did also Mr. S.
engineer.
Her Majesty's screw line-of-battle-:.
d'Acre, 101 guns, has arrived at Portland
from Plymouth.
The following appointment was made Sestet.
day at the Admiralty :
Master H. T. Ellis (1848) to the Hero, 91, screw
steamship, at Sheerness.
FINANCE OF THE GUARDS QUESTION.

" An Old Soldier" writes as follows :—When the
philanthropic man of science suggests to the Horse
Guards a plan for promoting the happiness or se-
curing the health of the soldier, he is too often met
by a al ' c' official shoulders, and the depre-
catory exc.. "‘ Alas, want of means !" So
away goes the. disheartened philanthropist, tho-
roughly imbued with the notion that the military
barnacles are very incarnations of the milk of
human kindness, whose single fault it is to serve
such a skinflint as Mr. John Bull. A dip into the
Army Estimate, 1859-60, might go far towards
ridding the mind of our scientific Samaritan of his
respect for the conscientious economy ruling at
Whitehall, and towards mitigating his scorn for the
vulgar parsimony of much - abused Mr. Bull ;
for instance, we will compare the cost of a re►i-
ment of Household Cavalry with the cost of a regi-
ment of Cavalry of the Line :-
IsT LIFE GUARDS.

Officers
Non-commissioned officers, drummers, &c., 64
Bank and file

All ranks

Horses

Pay and daily allowances £24,005
Annual allowances to field officers, &c., 2,019

Total estimate, 1859-60 £26,024
4TH DRAGOON GUARDS (LINE, AT HOME).
Officers
Non-commissioned officers, drummers, .. 49
Itank and file

All Ranks

Horses

Daily pay, &c.,
Allowauces to field officers, &c.,

Total estimate £24,662
Thus a regiment of Life Guards-438 officers and
mend and 275 horses, costs £1,362 more than a regi-
ment of Line Cavalry, 660 officers and men, and
428 horses ; although the Line Cavalry corps has
222 more dragoons and 153 more troop horses than
the Household regiment. Take it in another way.
The Household Cavalry (three regiments), of 1,314
officers, men, and 825 horses, costs £76,265 ; while
three regiments of Line Cavalry, numbering 1,980
of all ranks, and 1,284 horses, costs £73,986. There-
fore, the greater body of horse costs the nation
£2,279 less than the smaller body of horse. The
dragoons who charged at Balaklava are far cheaper
than the " big men" on horseback -yam accompany
the Queen now and then from Buckingham Palace
to St. James's. In what does the superiority of
these " big men," admired of nursery-maids, con-
sist, that we should pay so exorbitantly for them ?
It is remarkable that while cavalry field officers,
captains, &c., of the Line receive £1,075 as annual
allowances, their more fortunate comrades of the
Household Cavalry pocket £2,019, i. e., £944 more
than falls to the share of Line men of equal rank.
The proportion of officers to rank and file in the
" Palace" horse is also noteworthy. In the Life
Guards there is nearly one officer to every 11
troopers. In the Line cavalry there is about one
officer to every 17 men. What is the meaning of
this plethoric redundance of the officer element
in the cavalry of the Guard ? Can it be for " leave
of absence" purposes ?
Let us now consider the relative cost of the Foot
Guards and the Line Infantry. For the sake of
easy comparison we will take the Coldstream
Guards-2 battalions. The Coldstream Regiment
has :
Officers 75
Non-commissioned officers and drummers 122
Rank and file 1,600

All ranks 1,797

Pay and daily allowances £52,506
Annual allowances to field officers, cap-
tains, &c 6,147

Total estimate....
Nov for the 25th itegment of the Line, equal to
one battalion :
Officers
Non-commissioned officers and drummers
Rank and file

46
81
950

All ranks 1,077

Pay and daily allowances £28,615
Annual allowances to field officers, cap-
tains, &c 396
Total estimate £29,011
Hence, 1,797 Guardsmen cost the public £58,653,
and 1,077 Linesmen cost the public £29,011 ; there-
fore, as the state might obtain the services of 2,154
foot of the Line for £50,022, it pays £631 more for
1,797 Guards than it would for 2,154 " Liners,"
suffering thereby a loss of 357 men, and actually
paying in hard cash for the " privilege" of incur-
ring such a loss, £631.
The enormous amount of " annual allowances"
pocketed by field officers, &c., of the Guards is
worth remarking. The Gredadier Guards are down
for £9,500, the Coldstreams for £6,147, the Fusi-
liers for a similar sum, while the " annual allow-
ances" to field-officers, &c., of a Line corps are set
down at £396, or £792 for two Line battalions ;
consequently, two battalions of Guards receive, in
shape of allowances to field-officers, &c., £5,355
more than a like number of Line battalions.

There is a major-general inspecting Foot Guards,
aide- de-camp,and assistant adjutant-general,charged
in the estimates at £1,125 Bs. 4d.

There is a lieut—general inspecting Infantry of
the Line, aide-de-camp, and assistant-adjutant-
general, charged at £1,990 15s. sd. Therefore, the
head-quarters of the last-named general being in
London, the duty of inspecting the Foot Guards
(five battalions only " in town") might with benefit
to the public service, and at a savivg to the public
purse of £1,225 Ss. 4d. a year, be confided to him.
At p. 40 of the " Estimates," 1859-60,y0u will find
a very peculiar entry—viz., " Three solicitors for
the Foot Guards," at £6B Bs. 9d. per annum each
solicitor. What functions do these gentlemen per-
form? Regiments of the line do not require lawyers;
why, then, do the Foot Guards ask the taxpayers to
furnish them with £205 6s. 3d. worth of law a year ?
At present I will encroach no further on your
valuable space. I trust, however, I have written
enough to show that_real economy is not the order
of the day at the Horse Guards, and that a revision
of our entire military polity, financial and adminis-
trative, is sorely needed.

MR. THACKYRAY, MR. YATES, AND
THE G.A.R.RICK CLUB.

Mr. Edmund Yates has printed a pamphlet
giving the history of his quarrel with Mr.
Thackeray and the Garrick Club. It will be seen
from the following letter that Mr. Charles Dickens
offered his mediatiol
" Tavistock House, Nov. 24, 1858.
44111 y dear Thackeray,—Without a word of pre-
lude, I wish this note to revert to a subject on
which I said six words to you at the Athenaeum
when I last saw you.
" Coming home from my country work, I find
Mr. Edwin James's opinion taken on this painful
question of the Garrick and Mr. Edmund Yates.

I find it strong on the illegality of the Garrick
proceeding. Not to complicate this note, or give it
a formal appearance, I forbear from copying the
opinion ; but I have asked to see it, and I have it,
and I want to make no secret from you of a word
of it.

" I find Mr. Edwin James retained on the one
side ; I hear and read of the Attorney-General
being retained on the other. Let me, in this state
of things, ask you a plain question.
" Can any conference be held between me, as
representing Mr. Yates, and an appointed friend of
yours, as representing you, with the hope and
purpose of some quiet accommodation of this
deplorable matter, which will satisfy the feelings
of all concerned ?
" It is right that, in putting this to you, I should
tell you that Mr. Yates,
when you first wrote to
him, brought your letter to me. He had recently
done me a manly service I can never forget, in some
private distress of mine (generally within your
knowledge) ; he naturally thought of me as his
friend in an emergency. I told him his article was
not to be defended; but I confirmed him in his
opinion that it was not reasonably possible for him
to set right what was amiss, on the receipt of a
letter couched in the very strong terms you had
employed. When you appealed to the Garrick
committee, and they called their general meeting,
I said at that meeting that you and I had been on
many years, and that I was very
myself opposed to you • but that I was
clear
committee
had nothing on earth to
sorryg ood
that tteor find
nms t
co r
do with it, and that in the strength of my convic-
tion I should go against them.
" If this mediation that I have suggested can
take place, I shall be heartily glad to do my best in
it—and God knows in no hostile spirit to any one,
least of all to you. If it cannot take place, the
thing is at least no worse than it was ; and you will
burn this letter, and I will burn your answer.
" Yours faithfully,
" CRABLI DICUrI3.
" W. M. Thackeray, Esq."