The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-22 00:00:00

THE ARMY.

Her Majesty and the Prince Consort' leave Os-
borne at an early hour this morning for the camp at
Aldershott, when the whole of the troops in camp
will be reviewed by the Queen.

His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge,
accompanied by Major-General Forster and other
members of the Staff, leaves town by an early train
this morning for the camp at Aldersbott.
A detachment of the 10th Hussars arrived in the
metropolis on Saturday from the camp at Alder-
shott for duty.
The first division of the 15th (the King's Hus-
sars) disembarked at the North Wall, Dublin, on
Friday, and marched into the Royal Barracks to
replace the 13th Light Dragoons, ordered to Scot-
land. The horses of the 15th seemed terribly cut
up, the result, probably, of service at Aldershott,
a march of 250 miles, and the voyage across the
Channel.

Since the men of the 27th company of Royal
Engineers, under the command of Captain A. W.
Durnford, together with the detachments of Sappers
and Miners who were forwarded from Chatham,
have been employed on the Armstrong gun factory
at Woolwich, the most rapid progress has been
made with the erection of that building, the con-
tractors expressing their great satisfaction with the
Royal Engineers, who actually do mere work, with
the same number of men, than was done in a given
time by the ordinary workmen before the strike.
As an encouragement to the men for the energy
they have displayed during the emergency that has
arisen the military authorities have increased their
pay, and each man is now receiving from ls. 6d. to
2s. per day working money in addition to his re-

gular daily pay, together with many -other advan-
tages. It is expected that the Royal Engineers
will complete their portion of the factory in , about
14 days from the present time.
The following vessels have been chartered by the
Hon. Council for India for the conveyance of the
reinforcements to Calcutta, Bombay, and Madras—
viz., Octavia, Minden, Weimer Castle, Alfred,
Aliquis, Hanover, Surrey, Barham, Gosforth, and '
Tiptree. The reinforcements are to -embark at
Gravesend between the 6th and 7th September, the
following being the number proceeding to each pre-
sidency :—Calcutta, 2,300 men ; Bombay, 460 men;
Madras, 370 men ; and Kurrachee, 260 men.
The Himalaya, screw 'troopship, Commander. J.
Seccombe, arrived at Spithead early 'on Saturday
morning from Gravesend with the following offi-
cers and men of the 86th (Royal County Down)
Regiment, on board, who have recently returned
from service in India :—Lieut.-Col. R. IL Louth,
C.B. Major W. K. Stuart, Capts. J. J. Gordowand
G. H. Adams, Lieuts. W. Knip, A. R. Ord, and
C. Keane, Ensign W. Saunders, Assistant-Surgeon.
T. S. Barry, 30 sergeants, 13 drummers, .30 cor-
porals, 440 privates, 21 women, . and 31 children.
The Himalaya steamed into Portsinouth harbour
from Spithead yesterday at high water, when the
troops were disembarked and marched into the new
barracks at Gosport.

_ .
About 300 or the Donegal Militia are now lying
at Great Yarinouth, having succeeded the Louth
Rifles, removed to Carlisle and Bury. Another divi-
sion of the Donegal regiment is now lying at Dept-
ford. The companies at Great Yarmouth are under
the command of Lieut.-Col;Lord Claude IlaniiltOn.

STAFF COLLEG.E .EXAMINATION.

GENERAL ORDER.

Horse Guards, S.W., Aug. 19, 1859.
The following regulations regarding the exami-
nation of candidates for admission to the junior
division of the Staff College, for one year only, under
paragraph 13 of the memorandum from this de-
partment, dated 17th December, 1857, are published
for the information of the army.
The application of any officers desiring to com-
pete at that examination will be forwarded to this
office with the necessary certificates, in conformity
with paragraphs 3 and 4of the memorandum above
referred to, not later than the 31st October.

On their application being sanctioned, candidates
will pre lent themselves at the Coll* on the 24th
November next, at 10 o'clock, a.m., with the view
to their being tested in field sketching, previous to
attending the annual examination of the junior
division of students on the lst December.
There will be five vacancies in that division, for
which officers of the cavalry, guards, or line will
be eligible; and one vacancy for which officers of
the Royal Artillery and. Royal Engineers may
compete.

SUBJECTS OF EXAMINATION.
OBLIGATORY. Arithmetic, Algebra, Euclid,
Plane Trigonometty, and Mensuration—According
to the Syllabus of Mathematical Studies at the
College' which will be forwarded by •the
Council of Military Education to any candidate
on application. Fortification.—The principles,
construction, and application of Field Works. The
principles and construction of Permanent Works,
as exemplified in the first system of Vauban,
and the modern French system. The defence
and attack of field and permanent works. Military
Topography—A sketch done on the ground with
pocket sextant or compass will be required from
each candidate, with one or more finished
plans (should he have them in his pos-
session), certified to be his own work.
Military Law.—Military Art and History--The
principles of tactics and strategy, with a critical
abstract of one or more campaigns, and of one or
more battles, as evidence of the candidate's know-
ledge of those subjects.—French.
VOLUNTARY.—German, Hindustani,- Chemistry,
Geology.
The following will be the marks allotted to each
subject, viz.
Mathematics 6OO French
Fortification
Military Art, History, Hindustani
and Geography 6OO Chemistry l5O
Military Law 3OO Geology l5O
Militar D-
3

ary Drawing am_
Surveying
In the obligatory subjects a candidate will be
expected to gain one-third of the marks allotted to
each subject as a proof that he is qualified to enter
upon the course of the senior class of the college.
By command of His Royal Highness the General
Commanding-in- Chief,
W. F. FORSTER,
Deputy Adjutant General.

THE DEPOTS AT WEEDON, WOOL-
WICH, AND THE TO WEB. •

The report of the commission appointed to inquire
into the state of the store and clothing depots at
Weedon, Woolwich, and the Tower, together with
the minutes of evidence, was issued on Saturday.
The commissioners first treat of the depot at Wee-
don, giving a narrative of tha circumstances attend-
ing the formation of that establishment, and sketth-
lug the state of affairs as revealed by their inquiry.
They coincide with their accountants when they
say :—" We have great satisfaction in expressing to
your Majesty our belief that, whatever suspicions
may have been naturally excited, there has been,
as regards the stores at Weedon, no dishonest deal-
ing whatever. Everything which has been paid for
has been received, and no defalcation has taken
place. To have arrived at this conclusion makes us
regret, less than we should otherwise regret, the
time, labour, and money spent in this inquiry.
Nothing, indeed, can be a greater proof of the con-
fusion and arrears into which the store accounts had
fallen than the fact that it has taken Messrs. Quil-
ter, Ball, and Jay eight months at least to complete
the ledgers, and to arrive at the judgment on them
above expressed."
The actual loss in cash occasioned by Mr. El
liot's deficiencies is reduced to £4B 10s. 6d., a
guarantee association having paid £2,000. Upon a
review of the whole evidence, the commissioners find
it impossible to express any other opinion than that
the general mode in which the business of the Wee-
don establishment was conducted was far from sa-
tisfactory. In their opinion the main defects in the
establishment are chargeable to the War Depart.
ment. The following extract will show the cha-
racter of the defects as viewed by the commis-
sioners :

" 1. It was a mistake to fix the clothing depot so
far from London, beyond the opportunity of imme-
diate and frequent personal surveillance by the
director and assistant director of clothing, and
separated from the important branch establishment
in Mark-lane. This mistake is now remedied by
the abandonment of Weedon as a depot for clothing,
and the removal of the establishment to Pimlico.

" 2. It was a mistake to appoint the first head of
the establishment without specific instructions as to
ith organisation.
" 3. It was a great mistake to supply him at the
outset of the undertaking with a smill and inexpe-
rienced staff. The inspection staff in particular
ought to have been organised from the commence-
ment upon the plan adopted at the Tower, and
better salaries should have been given to the various
inspectors.
" 4. It was a continuing mistake not to increase
the staff in proportion to the increase of the work,
in accordance with Mr. Elliott's frequently re-
peated requests.
" 5. It was a mistake, notwithstanding the dis-
tance of Weedon from London, that more frequent
visits were not paid there by the directors of
clothing, and a more rigid supervision exercised
over the books and the stores.
" 6. It was a mistake not to have had a more
considerable store in hand before commencing the
issues, so as to have been prepared for the emer-
gencies which arose.
" 7. It was, we think, a most serious mistake to
have separate contracts for the cloth required, and
for the making that cloth into garments ; a course
involving double contracts, double correspondence,
double inspection, double carriage, double keeping
of accounts. This defect has been cured, the con-
tracts being now in the first instance entered into
for the clothing completely made up."
The system pursued at Woolwich and the Tower
is substantially the same, and the commissioners
thus sum up together;their remarks upon the points
on which her Majesty required their opinion. "
1. Upon a review of the system upon which
the books have been kept, we find it to be in ac-
cordance with that prescribed by the ordinance re-
gulations. If that system be rigidly adhered to in
practice, as it appears to have been at Woolwich,
we think it a good and efficient system for the pur-
pose of ascertaining the amount of stores received,
expended, issued, and remaining in hand. If it bs
departed from, and arrears permitted, such as in
the case of the Tower we have animadverted on,
the system seems to us to furnish no materials by
which the irregularities and confusion resulting
from such neglect can be remedied.
" 2. As regards the system upon which the

stores .at Woolwich and the Tower hare. been kept,
it appears to us that at the last-named depot, pre-
vious to 1856, when Mr. Godley's regulations came
into force, -no regular system of classifying the stores
was adopted, partly in consequence of the defective
organisation of the establishment, and partly in con-
sequence of the -insufficient space available for
stores, which latter defect was aggravated by
the enormous amount of stores received at this
depot •during the war. At Woolwich, from -the
larger space .at conimand, this inconvenience has
been avoided.

" The general mode in which the business of
these establishments has been conducted has been
in the main satisfactory as regards the system upon
which supplies have been obtained. We have no
reason to suppose that favouritism has been exer-
cised, or that the contracts entered into have been
aribtrary, or (as was the case at Weedon) contra-
dictory in their conditions.. Neither do we think
that thoSe conditions have been unfairly enforced
on the one hand, or evaded with impunity on the
other. But, as already stated, we are .of, opinion
that until 'the staff was reorganised in: 1856,: the
inspection at the Tower was loose and unsatisfac-
tory, having been up to that period not unfrequently
conducted by examiners not duly qualified for their
task. We consider the arrears in. the Tower ac-
counts to which we have drawn attention to be
quite inexcusable, and indeed disgraceful to, those
who ,were then) intrusted with -the control and su-
pervision of .the department. Since Mr. Eaton
became storekeeper in July, 1855, and the staff of
inspectors has been, organised, the mode of conduct-
ing business has greatly improved, both, as regards
the inspection. and classification
.of stores, and the
keeping of the accounts relating to them.
As the business is at present conducted, we
believe it excludes—as far as any system that
could be, devised can exclude—the opportunity
of improperly influencing the officials employed.
No system can bxtirpate corrupt • motives,
nor can we imagine any so perfectly ad-
ministered as absolutely to prevent' the possibility
of a bribe being occasionally offered . and received.
Neither can any system, however uprightly ad-
ministered, shield honest men from' imputations' of
venality--imputations too often' made in the first
instance .maliciously, hinted at obscurely, magnified
and multiplied by careless repptition, - and too
readily believed by many whO would shrink from
an act of more deliberate but not of greater injus-
tice. We feel bound to declare our conviction that
the vague general charges of corruption and venality
which have, as we are aware, been freely circulated
against the present inspectors and. viewers at Wool-
wich and the rower are without substantial foun-
dation.

"We have already intimated our opinion that
the result of the mode of conducting the business
at Woolwich is satisfactory. We think the public
interests have been well served by the vigour, in-
telligence, and accuracy of the officers at that sta-
tion. And we are inclined to believe that the result
of the arrears and discrepancies in the Tower ac-
counts- prior to 1856, however discreditable, has
been less detrimental to the public service than
might have been feared. Although complete cer-
tainty on the point is unattainable, we think there
has been no dishonesty, no defalcation in the stores,
no substantial loss to the public, and that the errors
in question are errors of account only, which we
have every reason to believe will not again
occur if the more frequent and rigid super-
vision we have recommended be adopted,
and the storekeeper be at all times provided with
a sufficient staff of competent clerks.
"5. Finally, we have the satisfaction of certify-
ing to your Majesty our opinion that the present
state of the books and stock of stores at both these
depots appears to us unexceptionable, and that the
mode in which they have been kept since 1856 is
creditable to those who have been charged with the
responsibility of organising and superintending
these important establishments." -