The Sun.
London, England, 1857-07-29 00:00:00

METROPOLITAN DRAINAGE.

Mr. RIDLEY asked the First Commissioner of
Works whether he could inform the house if there was
any probability of steps being taken for carrying out the
provisions of the Metropolis Act, by which it was deter-
mined the river Thames should be freed from the swage
of the m( tropolis. The hon. gentleman said he under-
sto ,d that the health of several officers of the house,
and of persons required to attend their proceedings, had
been affecte t by the nox'ons effluvium arising from the
River Thames.
Mr. BUTLER asked the First Commissioner of
Works when the question of the main drainage of the
metropolis was referred to the professional gentlemen
appointed by him to consider the subject ; whether the
referees were likely to make their report before the close
of the present session ; and what course the First Com-
missioner proposed to take after he received such report,
so that no delay might occur in the commencement of
the works. _ _ _

Sir B. HALL replied that by the Metroplitan Act of

1855 it was provided that large intercepting sewers
should be made for the purpose of diverting the sewage
from the Thames. It was also provided that those
works should be carried out by the Metropolitan Board
of Works, but that before any works were commenced
the plans should be submitted to the First Commissioner
of Works for his approval. He was anxious to show
that, so far as the Government were concerned, not a
day hsd been lost in dealing with this important sub-
jec,. Plans were sent to him by the Metropolitan
Board of Works on the 22 lof December, and on the
29th of December he referred them to the engineers. In
reply to the second question of the hon. member for the
Tower Hamlets (Mr. Butler), he was happy to state
that he had today seen one of the referees, who in-
formed him that their report would be delivered before
the end of this week ; and in answer to the hon. gen-
tleman's third question, be could only say that as soon
as he received that report he would forward a copy to
the Metropolitan Board of Works, and would lay another
copy upon the table of the house. With regard to the
question of the hon. member for Neweastle-upon-Tyne
(Mr. Ridley), he could only state that the matter to
which he referred rested entirely with the Metropolitan
Board of Works. No delay had taken place in his de-
partment. He would forward the report of the referees
to the Metropolitan Board of Works without any delay,
and no doubt they would give that report their itnme-
diate consideration.
NEW SOUTH WALES.

In reply to a question from Sir J. ELPHINSTONE,

Mr. LABOUCHERE said that some misconception

existed with respect to a reply he had given to a ques-
tion put to him a few days ago as to the proposed
boundary line of separation between the colonies of
Moreton Bay and New South Wales. He was r,pre-
sented to have said that that boundai y line would be
between 25 and 26 degrees of south latitude. If he had
said sl he had made an incorrect statement. The
boundary lino would lie between the degrees of 28 and
29 south latitude.
CONVEYANCE OF MAILS BY RAIL.

Mr. WILSON, in reply to Mr. BULLER, said, con-
sidering the etate of the public business and the advanced
period of the session, it was impossible that the bid
slating to the conveyance of mails by rail nay could be
properly discussed before the session terminated with
any hope of its bring passed into a law, and, under these
circurnstance.7, it was not his intention to proceed further
with the second reading of the bill, but he would take
an early opportunity of re-introducing it next session.
He should therefore move that the order for its second
reading be discharged.
The motion was agreed to.
THE COMING INDIAN MAIL.
Mr. EWART said, seeing the noble lord at the head
of the Government in his place, he asked him whether
any intelligence had been received by Her Majesty's
Government from India in the course of the day.
Lord PALMERSTON—The only intelligence which
has been received efficially by
her Majesty's government
is from Trieste, and the intelligence is that the packet is
in sight, and is expected in the course of an hour.
That was at 10 o'clock this morning. I have seen a
telegraphic message which bas b een received by a private
individual, and which is supposed to have come from
Turin, but I don't know whether that is authentic or not.
The Government, however, have received no information
except that which I have mentioned. The probability
is, that as the packet was off Trieste at 10 o'c'ock this
morning, we shall in a very short time have some official
intelligence from that place.
REVISION OF THE LITURGY.

Lord R• GROSVENOR postponed for this session,
on the ground of indisposition, his motion for a com-
mission for the purpose of considering whether the
Liturgy of the Church of England is capable of modifi-
cation.

MILITARY EDUCATION.
Sir DE LACY EVANS, pursuant to notice pro-
ceeded to bring forward his resolution suggesting a higher
standard of professional instruction and a more complete
provision for it than has heretofore obtained for officers
in the army, and especially the staff. He said the subject
was one to which public attention bad been directed
within the last few years by a remarkable concurrence
of circumstances, among which were the reports of
committees of that House, a very important one espe-
cially drawn up by the commissioners appointed by the
Secretary for War, and the very able speech made in
that House last session by the right bon. gentleman the
member for South Wilts
other name were
ventured to think, however, that lone(Mr. Sidney Herbert). He

necessary for securing the object which that right hen,.
gentleman and himself had in view, And it was to that
end that he bad to submit to the House a resolutiiies,
which he trusted would meet with the sanction of the
Government. He hoped, indeed, that it wool' be re-
ceived by the Government in the same spirit as the
somewhat kindred proposal made recently by the noble
lord the member for the West Riding (Lord Godtrich)
with respect to the civil service had been entertained
by them, believing, as he di.l, that its adoption, liire
that of the motion of the noble lord, would ttrengtb.n
the hands of the Government. Ho might ri mind. the
Howe that in 1799 a staff c 'liege was first formed in
this country, and that it rendered itnorirtant services to
the army of that day ; but after the termination of the
Peninsular war the institution was reduced from year
to year until it ceased to possess the means of imparting
instruction to anything like the extent which it had
originally done. In 1832 all Parliamentary aid ries
withdiawn from the college, and he believed the TJadcre
Secretary for War recently stated in the hense that
during the last two or three years scarcely a single offi-
cmeirgh t had
perhapspresented
hvhei mbseeelnf faciorn:lied ihriai
fe.i3o
gnz
einn two
hiot.
haThere
.
ceived instruction in the institutions in that time ; hut
he was not sure about that. At a.l events, he thought
that was a state of things which ought not to exist.
There was evidence in reports which had been laid be-
fore both Houses of Parham, nt that Austria, France,
Prussia, and other military nations applied money
to the purpose. The United States, finding ,in
1814 that their officers were singularly wantieg
in knowledge, and they had probably suffered
some defeats in consequer ce, established a mili-
tary school at West Point on a very extensive scale,
and he believed that West Point College was adopted tee
the plan, as near as possible, of the Ecole Polvteeheique
of France, though perhaps ric t so exclusively military
in its object. He would quote, as an authority upon
the necessity of military education of a high etandard.
Frederick the Great, in whose memoirs, after the seven
year:' war, he found this passage
• - •

" The army has made nurueroul campaigns, but the quar-
termaster-general was often in want of good officers for his
department. The King wished to form a corps of such
officers, and selected 12 individuals, who already possessed
some slight acquaintance with engineer duties, for the pur-
pose of instructing them himself. With this view they ware
made to sketch country, mark off camps, fortify villages, in-
trench heights. construct stockades, regulate columns of
march, and, above all, to try the nature of marshes and the
depth of stvoams themsives, that they might not be deceived
by the negligence of others, and cause au army to depend
upon the defensive support of a fordable river, or of a marsh
which infantry could cross witho t being made deep."

Sir Howard Dougla9, one of the most competent, ex-
perienced, and scientific of our officers, gave most im-
portant evidence before the c 3inmittee of the house
appointed to inquire into the subject, and Sir H. Dou-
glas, Colonel Portleck, Colonel Adams, Colonel Addi-
son, and Colonel Prosser, who were particularly engaged
in military instruction, gave it as their opinion that the
senior and junior departments of the college at Sand-
hurst were in a most unsatisfactory state, and required
revision and reform. The pressure of undue influence,
however well-intentioned the authorities might be; re-
quired that some preventive, such as had been adopted
by continental Governments, should be established, and
he ventured to think that none would be so efficient as
the introduction of the competitive system of examina-
tion. The committee stated in their report—
" The government of the college is vested in the Board of
Commissioners. The official members, in addition to the
Governor and Deputy-Governor of the college, are the COM.
minder-in-Chief, the Secretary at War, the Master-General
of the Ordnance, the Quartermaster-General, and Adjut-
ant-General. It is obvious that the pressing and import-
ant duties which fall on these officers can leave them but
little time to devote to the military college."

There should be an independent board to conduct the
examinations. The report mentioned that during the
Peninsular war, when the general staff was very efficient,
a great part of the Quartermaster-General's staff was
composed of officers who bad been educated at the senior
department. The report expressed an opinion that the
present state of things in the senior department was un-
satisfactory, and required revision and reform. The
committee were of opinion that the transferring from
the junior to the senior department a military staff offi-
cer was not sufficient. They saw no means of placing
the senior department on an efficient footing unless
Parliament was prepared to grant aid to that important
object. They did not see the justice by which the
cadet was called on to pay for the education of the staff
officers. The cadets, or rather the families of the cadets.
were called on to pay for the education of the.staff
officers of the army, and that system continued for many
years, if not to some extent to the present time. The
house should recollect that during the last half century
this country had been making great progress, and in no
respect greater progress than hi education. The grants
of public money had gone on increasing year by year,
and for national schools, factory schools, union work-
house schools, prison schools, &c., they now amounted
to 500,0001. sterling. There was a very handsome ex-
penditure, amounting to 18,5001. this year, for the edu.
cation of non-commissioned officers and privates, and
the total sum, if the children of soldiers were included,
was 46,0001. But for officers, and especially officers
of the army, the sum was at the outside 1,3001.
It was an ;extraordinary contrast, and he believed
had been remarked upon 'by the Secretary of State
for War in another place. The right honour-
able gentleman the member for South Wilt-
shire estimated the expense of putting the education
of the officers upon a reliable footing, by the ap-
'allotment of boards of examination, at 5,0001., and a
vote for that amount appeared in the estimates, but un-
fortunately the right hon. gentleman left office, and the
vote dropped out of the estimates. Tho right hon. gen-
tleman, in a statement upon the subjact, last year, ex-
pressed some disappointment that the Government bad
come to no decision upon the sill jest, and that there was
no item of the sort in the estiniates. Another yea:
brought only the same result, and it was a good reason
for wishing, at all events, if not to express distrust of the
intentions of the Government, to stimulate the Govern-
ment to use more promptitude and exertion. (Hear.)
The first resolution which he should submit was—
" That in the opinion of this house a higher standard of
professional instruction and more complete provision for it
than hitherto deemed requisite ought to be established for
the commissioned ranks of the army, but especially for the
st aff ."

He ventured to think that that was a proposition which
was already concurred in not only by the house, but by
the country. His resolution t en went on to state that
the object which he had in view " will be best promoted
by recourse to competitive examination of officers desir-
ing to qualify themselves for the staff, and by adopting
the same principle, with such qualification as may be
necessary, in examination of candidates nominated by
the Commander-in-Chief for commissions in the cavalry
and infantry." No fair objection, he thought, could be
taken to a certain degree of competitive examination in
the case of candidates for staff appointments. Such an
examination prevailed in our universities, where the first
men of the land—those who occupied leading positions
in the two Houses of Parliament—willingly exposed
themselves to an ordeal similar to that which be proposed
for officers seeking appointments on the staff. Even those
who did not seek for honours were otliged to pass an
examination, and in many instauces they were what
university men called " plucked." He saw no reason
why officers of the army should not run the risk of being
.6 plucked" also. The officers of the navy were compelled
to pass an examination not only for their first, but like.
wi-e for their second and third commissions, In 1849, as
stated by the right hon. gentleman the member for South
Wilts, in his admirable letter to Lord Hardinge ti
December, 1854, the Duke of Wellington issued an
or•ler declaring that for the future there should be an ex-
amination of officers for lieutenancies as well as for first
commissions. Notwithstanding the authority of that
great man, his proposition with respect to lieutenancies
was never carried into effect ; but, as there was a similar
examination in foreign armies and in our own navy, it
was to be hoped that it might be renewed. The officers
of the navy were undoubtedly more professional than the
officers of the army, and therefore the latter need not be
ashamed to imitate some of their proceedings. His reso-
lution next proceeded to urge the expediency of " pre-
serving the present system of admission of cadets for the
Ordnance Corps." He weal not presume t pass any
censure upon the officers of the army, and would even
avoid quoting the statements of the Duke of Wellington,
although they were well known to be very strong, both
against the character of our private soldiers and the
wouitrhotffiheceGrso.verTnh:enbt
aale
which ladyldnuoot twi
th
providethe
the officers with due opportui ites for acquiring that ' officers,efficiency
bu otf
in-
formation which it was desirable they should possess in
order to the satisfactory discharge of their duties. Some
of the greatest authorities who bad written upon the
Peninsular sieges had declared that the principal draw-
back experienced in carrying on those operations arose
from an entire want of even rudimentary knowledge on
the part of our officers, particularly referring to this
ignorance of the officers and men of the line of the
elementary instruction necessary for assisting as work-
ing parties. That was not the fault of the officers, but
was o wing to the combined neglect and favouritism which
had so long prevailed in the army. The present system
o
ona
cid btc eebweCena Corps
frraopenuss
cet eaviseOttdlsrandh.
dpw
eufilet. admissionvd be
Hysystem,uca
akanndexdei
oto
hfsuexs for
believed
hewtlahi
neowrdpva was
ond
work
--
trusted that there was no truth in the report which had
reached him that there were some inclination in certain
quarters to alter it. The young persons who had come
forward from the various colleges and schools through-
out the country had been everything that could be de-
sired. The subjects of examination are advertised by
the Secretary for War, and it was open to any one,
from any public school or c ;liege, or any profession in
civil life, to compete. The number of candidates was
considerable—between 100 and 200—and those who
showed most proficiency were selected for the .
commis-
sions. With respect to their social position._ be might
state 1
Oxfords gh
state that they came from the truivereities of•
Cambridge, Dublin, and Edinburgh ;
from
the
Colleges
of Aberdeen, London, Brighton, Belfast,
Eton ;
Cork, Geiscay,
and Chester ; from Rugby, Barrow,
ed schools throu h.
and
from various proprietary and end asked
g
out the country. What right, he had , any one te
young gentlemen were not equal in
assume that these
every respect to those who, if the former system had
been continued, would have been nominated by the Mas-
ter-Genera • I of the Ordnance ? Mr. Peel, the late Under-
Secretary for War—a gentleman with whom he bad not
always had
the happiness of agreeing—stated on the sth
June last year that the existing plan had been found to
answer well ; that the successfu candidates bad proved
to be man of superior education ; that they were gentle -
men and officers in every sen es of the term, and worthy
to hold the commissions they had won for themselves.
Some of the authorities at Woolwich were rather die.
posed to discredit and depreciate those officers, and if
was, perhaps, natural that they should be so, because
the new system interfered with that patronage which
they might otilerwiee hga tx3rcit* but halting had all