Daily American organ. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1856, 1855-04-03
Condition 81 the British Army.

Commons, appointed TO investigate the condi-
ton Of the British army in the Crimea:
The testimony of the witnesses reveals a condi-
ton Of things yet more deplorable than that which
previous reports from the Crimea had exposed. In
this case, the tongues OF rumor strangely failed TO
exaggerate the facts, or even to tell them all Car
lyle, in his most desperate and atrabilious' mood,
never imagined such impotent potentially OF red
tapesr3" The witnesses examined thus far have
been of all ranks, from His Royal Highness, the
Duke Of Cambridge, TO a sergeant of the guards,
and the difference In the testimony Is only enough
TO give the additional interest of variety TO the
story, which alternately excies pity, indignation
and laughter--pity for the poor fellows who 60
through such needless and depressing trials in
dignaton at the hide-bound officials who shrink
from feathers weight of responsibility; and
laughter at the absurd plumbers which are COM
mitted--bhnders which, if We had not unmpeach-
ed evidence that they had taken place, would be
pronounced impossible.
The remorselessness with which the Juggernaut-
ish idol of the English, routine, crushed out the
lives of its worshippers, is shown in the evidence
of the Duke of Cambridge and that Of General
Bentinck. The former, being anxious to see that
his men were properly supplied with food, desired
an officer to get rations for them from the head
quarter Commissariat. The first day he sent,
although the me, were IN a0qat of their daily ra-
tions, instead Of sending these raons at once, the
Commissariat sent printed form to the oficer for
him to fill up. Hence, there was considerable de-
lay, and then, not satisfied with that, the officer
was supposed to have put down one or two more
horses than he was entitled to. Instead OF send
ing the rations for the men, and pointing out the
inaccuracy In the return of horses, they icoid send
no rations at ALL because the form iods aorong."
Upon that the Duke desired the officer to go with
his animals to get the rations and to put matters
to rights, and he did then get them that day,
although very late. Az it turned out, the Commits
sariat officer was wrong, and there mas mistake
in the return al all. The letter says: On one
occasion, voucher was sent back to me ii. e.,
from the Commissariat) because IL was signed halt
an inch too lo,c then took the liberty of saying
that if this ever occurred again would have that
commissary turned out of the service. The diff
Guilty never did occur afterwards"
Upon this the London Times well remarks that
these difficulties were attributable almost wholly
/" to the system of traditions OF the department"
and that the system was too strong, and the prac
tice so deliberately methodized as to be found use-
less for the realities of service.
OF the helpless condition to which the army was
reduced for the want of implements of ordinary
use, and by the utter worthlessness of those
which were supplied, the following extract from
the Times summary Of the evidence gives de-
plorable picture
"One witness declared that he found whole
regiment incapable of supplying itself with fuel
because it possessed only three tools-that is
two old spades and broken pick. 1t was much
the same with the rest ofthe army The trenches
the works of defence and Of course the road, were
all hindered by the fragile or yielding quality Of
the tools. Captain Shakespeare, of the Royal
Horse Artillery, was President, he said, of com
mittee who sat to report upon tools, and all
were condemned except the pickaxes.' The bill
hooks we're especially bad
In reply 10 another question he said, fresh
tools were issued before he left but they were as
bad as the first" And in answer TO further in
ouiry all the TOOLS stores harness. and all things
for the artillery were sent out direct from Woowich
to Mr. Young, at Balaklava." So much for the
Captain of the Royal Horse Artillery. Let us hear
Sergeant Dawson of the Grenadier Guards, on
the same point "The tools we had were very bad
indeed. The bills would not cut piece of wood |;
pieces Clipped out Of the edges an inch long. Tho
pickaxes were generally bad; they were always
coming off at the handle, if they did not break.
The shovels were worse than the picks" Now,
can we wonder at anything in the history of this
sege--at the tedious work of the trenches, at the
want of fuel, at the impossbihty Of sparing men
for TIE flank defences or the road, when these no.
bic fellows had TO work for their lives with tools
that broke, flew, bent, twisted Clipped as fast as
they were used, and which, on the complaint of
the whole army, and formal report sent to Eng
land, were replaced from Woolwich with other
tools not whit better?
The companion picture 70 this suffering on &C.
count OF the miserable quality Of the things pro-
vided is furnished by the pitiable misuse of one of
the most superb and costly products of the skill
and science Of the nineteenth century-the great
steamer Himalaya of $500 tons aid $50 horse
power. She had in the year previous to the
siege astonishcd and delighted Englishlnen by her
great capacities and rapid movements, carrying
thousands Of men and hundreds OF horses, and de-
liyering them with the celebrity and promptness Of
railway train. This great ship, every revolution
Of whose paddles shook guineas out Of England's
Treasury, went to the Crmea with troops, and
while there was used az a collier. She actually
was sent from Constantinople to Balaklava with
$50 sacks of charcoal but when she arrived there,
though the coal was much needed II was not landed,
because Of some inforinality although the comman-
der Of the Hmalaya offered TO land il with his own
boats and crew. SO it was actually steamed back
in the Himalaya, TO Constantinops, while hundreds
of men we're freezing and eating salt pork raw, be-
cause Of an irregularity In the consignment, which
forbade an official to receive, save at some techn
cal abatement Of dignity
But even when rank and routine did not stand
in the way helpless imbecility fatality Of mis-
hap did, as appears with regard TO foW cargoes Of
porter only three Of which reached the yearning
stomachs Of the brave fellows who until sorely
tried did not believe that they could be brave with
out il; and this one cargo was so hauled about and
delayed ere reached It's destination that the British
Government were obliged to pay nearly two thou
sand pounds sterling dcmurragc upon it. We do
not wonder that the Times exclaims Could any
thing In the world be more dscredtable TO busi-
nessike people than such management rs this 2"
The commercial nation Of the world, Britannia
who rules the waves undertakes 70 send a few
thousand gallons Of porter to her own people in
the Black Sea and can't do il the money is ready,
the porter Is brewed and ships swarm the ports !
but the thing can't be done. Truly il would seem
as IL England, Disguised at the loss Of her military
prestige, had resolved to throw her commercial
reputation after it. "a nation Of shop-kecpers !"
should do business better than this and Il is now
boldly said that the shop-keepers would have done
better.
Column after column Of the Times is filed with
the damning evidence Of the utter inefHcency and
impractcability OF the present organization of the
British army in all its departments some Of which,
relating chiefly TO the Commissariat and Medical
departments and TO the supine indifference of the
commander-in-clief and other officers Of high rank
Is condensed in the following crushing paragraph ;
q IL was proved that in the middle of last month