The Sun. — 1863-05-08 (London, England)

HERALD.—The objections urged against the present s) stein of distributing army prize money are questions which once more assume additional signific ince in the midst of those grave complications which may possibly involve us in hostilities with a rich and powerful nation. The whole subject will shortly be brought under the consideration of Parliamen', pursuant to the notice given last week by Col. North ; and we have no doubt that a motion of this nature, which promises to place the system of distribution on a better footing, will be strongly supported on both sides of the house. It is plain, from the tone in which the First Lord of the Treasury treated this matter a few nights ago, that Parliamentary interference for the protection of the soldier has now become an absolute necessity. The Prime Minister's reply, on the 20th April, to Mr. Angerstein's question on a subject of this kind, was obviously, even in the inaccurate shape in which it was reported elsc where, a complete evasion of the inquiry propounded by a member for Green with. Lord Palmerston did not think proper to inform the House of Commons whether the law officers of the Crown has been consulted on the subject of the Banda and Kirwee booty. He did not state what their opinion was, nor whether it was his intention to be guided by it. He only to:d the house that this was not a question of law, but a matter which simply depended en the absolute discretion of the Crown, or, in other words, on Ministerial patronage, and that the decision in this particular case was postponed for the purpose of giving due consideration to a statement which had very recently been rece.ved from p rties concerned, or, in other words, from the actual captors of the prize. I would have been fair to have added that this state ment had only been recently received from the Mad. t as officers, because the counter-statements to which it was their right to reply had been kept secret for more than 12 months, and were not brought to light until April, 1863. It is, however, of more importance to consider how far the country will endure the sic volo ate jubeo import of the firman in which L rd Palmerston on Monday week announced his intention to deal with army prize according to his own good pleasure. This is not, he tells us, a question of law. No doubt there is no special statute which regulates the distribution of army prize But we greatly doubt whether any of the great lawyers of the day would go so far as to say with Lord Palmerston that a question of this nature is not to be governed by precedent, a. e., by common law, which after all is the sole foundation on which the Royal prerogative itself rests If the distribution of prize money is not. in any way to be regulated by law, there is, of course, nothing to prevent the Lords Commissirners of the Treasury or their President from recommending a grant of all capture or captures whatsoever to hie Excellency the Commander-in-Chief or the Seretar3 of State for War, and the sooner this novel position is announced to the army the better. A 1 ranks will then be properly prepared to provide for themselves, and the good men as well as the rogues will be duly warned to take care of their own interests. Under this view of the subject we have no doubt that tl.e distribution of prize will be vastly expedited, and the delays which are now the subject of just complaint will cease to exist. We shall hear of no more instanced of men entitled to a large share of booty dying in a workhouse, and such suicides as those which attended the delays and jobbery in the Deccan case are not likely to occur. On the other hand, however, military economists must decide whether the universal invitation to plunder, which the Prime Minister's expo sition of prize law ho ds out, is likely to conduce to the efficiaecy or discipline of the troops. It must naturally be asked, moreover, if there is no law for the distribution of prize, how it came to pass that special jurisdiction in disputed eases of military booty has been given by Lord Cottenham's set to the High Ccurt of Admiralty. If the matter under dispute is not to be determined by precedtnt or common law, we cannot exactly understand in what way Sir S. Lushington would proceed to take cognisance of the case. We might further ask, if this is not in any sense a question of law, how it came to pass that the matter was referred for the opinion of the law officers of the Crown ? According to the bold and unqualified statement of the Premier, the opinion of any other individuals, of the archbishops, for instance, or the Royal Academicians, would have been of equal value. When Colonel North's motion comes before the house we shall know how far the representatives of the .nation are disposed to ignore the legal or quasi legal claim of the soldier to his prize money, and to endorse the absolute and despotic) theory of Lord Palmerston.  Sixty miles an hour by the Great Western Express has been arrived at by the careful and constant improvement of the locomotive. The same means have made Herring's magnate brushes and combs equally perfeot. They ate now the accepted and certain remedy for the agonies of tic doloreux, nervous he tdache, &c., and estore the colour to grey ha.r in a few weeks. A.B.—Counterfeits are being made. ()faces, 32, ilasiughali•street, London.