Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-08-04
NUMBER 223.
From the London Times.
Why Mr.. Roebuck,s Motion Failed.

lalts and lags, though IL generally runs down its
victim In the end. In the hands Of man, II almost
as often miscarries as not in the hands OF Heaven,
| ITS path Is circuitous, sometimes wholly inscruta
BILE, and all that we have to show are few moral
laws, as we are pleased to call them, and wonder.
ful instances of divine vengeance, wonderful be-
cause they are rare. If justice itself makes such
poor work OF ii in its severest and most tangibl,
form, and In the case Of enormous crimes and pal
pable wrongs, we cannot expect more speed more
certainty and exactness, In the moral retribution
to come upon faults Of temper, errors Judgment,
and the minor vices Of carelessness Incidence, ex.
| cessive confidence, and presumption.
We don't expect the time will ever come when
man can devise nets of exactly the right meshes,
and throw them so clevery over the waters of po-
tical life just to the offenders al the very
nick of time, without damaging anybody else.
They will 60 on escaping, breaking through, leap.
ing over, or slipping under, just as they have
always done. That Is what Mr.. Roebuck has still
to learn He presented himself US Judge In Is.
rae, to detect, to rebuke and to chastise the bad
adm nistration of the war. I'll would il become
US, who supported him throughout, and who CRATE.
fully recognised in him the dauntless and indefati-
gable champion Of our own battles, to say one
word as to Mr.. Roebuck's discharge of his mission.
There Is only this to be added, that, with all
the sail he could press, and all the steam he could
put into his committee he has only illustrated, for
the miionth time, the hardness and imperfection
of all human justice His whole speech comes 10
this: According to his own division of the Cabinet
which undertook the war, the chief has already
fallen, and is therefore removed from the reach of
Parliamentary justice the like fate has overtaken
| the Secretary Of War, aud the First Lord of the
Admiralty, and the Chancellor OF the Exchequer:
in fact all who had hand in the affair." They
have escaped Mr. Roebuck, as criminals OCCASION
ally cheat the hangman, by being their own execu-
TONERS.
On Mr.. Roebuck's own showing, the others are
most of them Insignificant and, as 1t happened,
too, had nothing to do with the war. There was
one exception, and that was Lord John Russell
But justice has overtaken him at last, though all
that Mr. Roebuck can say of him is that he did not
stay In town in August and September, and take
the responsibility of summoning Cabinet meetings
to overhaul the operations of the War Minister
But which Of them does Mr.. Roebuck want to nail
TO the barn door? Lord Aberdeen? His Lordshp,
as Mr. Roebuck himself admits did his best Tho !,
Duke of Newcastlcg Mr.. Roebuck himself volun.
teers an apology. The Duke was plodding, consult.
ing, giyinginteryiews, making calculations and iss
ing orders all autumn. Mr.. Sidney Herberts Here.
again, Mr.. Roebuck snotmerely apoogetic but even
kind He commends not only the diligence Of the
criminal At the bar, but even his humanity. Sir
James Graham? But how could the Admiralty
have failed, when itSdid not even attempt? Mr.
Gladstone? But he was summing up the ''tottle
OF the whole" and expecting to conquer all the
Russias, as well as convert the South Sea stock
out of the years income. For the rest, Mr.. Roc
buck himself says they were insignificant What
more could he say?
There are two offenders left. The first of these
Lord John Russell, has already propitiated Mr.
Roebuck, by upsetting the late Ministry, and
has now propitated fate by his own fall. The sec.
ond is Lord Palmerston himself, and, as he s really
the only one that presents even q primo facie cast
for the summary proceedings, Mr. Roebuck sug.
gests we viii give him separate condition
The question, then,, cleared and sxtraetad by
Mr. Roebuckn,mselfi Is simply this: What has Lord
Palmerston done, on the evidence and in the opin-
ion of the Sebastopol Committee, to demand that
he should be Immediately elected from The govern
mentY
Being Home Secretary last year, he did not
worry Lord Aberdeen TO worry the Duke of New.
castle TO do bis work better. He did not ask for
Cabinet MEETINGS. He was not ut his post con.
stantly In the autumn, ostcnsibly making manufac.
turer~ consume their smoke, really stirring up
the Duke of Newcastle. What else did he fail in
Well, there was something else. He carried out
the Militia Act rather slackly. Bnt we very much
doubt whether the British public will push things
so far as TO quarrel with Lord Palmerston for not
meddng enough with the affairs of his chief and
his colleagues last.
The truth is, that he has long labored under the
reputation Of being rather too meddlesome, and in
this instance IL win be concluded that he would
nave otSh ouig wv uappJ w iucuuic, ~ uc unSut
have been allowed. Nay, on further consideration
il will be remembered that Lord Palmerston was
especially put into quiet office, out Of harms
way, surrounded by crowd of sanitary reformen
undertakers, grave-dggers manfacturers select
vestrymen, and other small metropolitan fry. As
for the operation Of the Militia Act that as IL hap
pens, has not come into question But there,
again, Is another sore point In which the British
public must consent TO share the blame with their
Minister.
At the express wish Of the people, declared in n
most unequivocal manner the Militia Act was made
less stringent measure than that proposed by the
previous government, and the late government
came In by getting rid Of the ballot. But, in sober
truth the Militia Act and its operation are not un.
der review, and Mr.. Roebuck has not mentioned
IL, except by general charge, rejecting on all
the government, parlaments and people we have
had for twenty years, that we had not provided
sufficient for the magnitude Of the Crimean
expedition, and the rapid drain Of such war So
there ends the case as regards the only man whom
Mr.. Roebuck himself would think at the same time
worth punishing, and still unpunished.
But If time has thus defrauded justice at home,
and left Mr. Roebuck looking about indignantly
for the victim TO be immolated In special honor OF
the Sebastopol Committee, that same awful power
has made greater changes at the scat Of WIZ.
There all is change. Mr.. Roebuck himself IL
obliged to pronounce, not indeed an acquittal, but
to plain matter Of fact, II Lord Raglan is TO be
Quilted Of the imperfectly prepared expedition, the
want Of transport, the defective arrangements for
the carriage and care Of the wounded and sicL,
and the want of communication from the hatbor
to the camp, IL Is impossible to lay hold Of any QUO
man in this country, and say that he is more an.
swerable for these things than the commandment.
chief on the spot.
The offenders whom the indignation Of the pub.
lie has successfully arraigned, justly believe,
have fed from our poor earthly tribunals, one
after another to that before which we must all ono
day tremble. We summon them into court and
the answer is, that they are no more. All things
| considered, then, we cannot anticipate any other
result Of the question than that which time tsels,
quicker than Parliamentary process, has already
brought.
Tho report Of the Scbastopol Committee NAV
still afford matter for discussion u viii long con
tinuc to throw light the official system Of tlns
country; and il renders the present Cabinet ine>
cusable f they do not avoid the and neglects
| of their predecessors But it has ceased TO b,
IL r.. a I4t...