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    m«»*» ft- 1856.1

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    ARMY REFORM DEBATES. Gejseuax Evans invi...

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    WOMEN AND LA.W REFOBM. Lord Palmeksto^ a...

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    Fourteen Russian Treaties. Russia Has Co...

    solidated the results of her intrigues m Greece At Unkiar-Skelessi , in 1838 , Turkey almost engaged to become , an the event of war in Eaftera Europe or Western Asia , the tributary of Russia , accepted her protection , excluded her own Mohammedan subjects from the Principalities , 'ceded additional territories m Asia , and paid an immense indemnity . The closing of the Dardanelles , In 1841 , was her last act of submission before the war of 1853 . lhis war if it be now concluded by a treaty at Paris , will have had , in one sense , at least , an unparalleled result . Turkey will have surrendered no territories to Russia ; Russia will

    have gained nothing fromTurkey . . but lurkey will have been dra ^ vn still further down the slope of hex long decline , and will , in future , be a dependent and powerless supplement to the diplomatic organisation of Europe . The relations between Persia and Russia , as modified by successive treaties , have been in the nature of simple concessions on one side , and conquests on the other . By the Convention of 1814 ( confirmed in 1815 ) , Russia acquired all the territory between the Caucasus and the Araxes , with the domination of the Caspian , and by that of Turco-Man-chai the provinces of Erivan and Nakshivan , besides an indemnity of two millions sterling . With China Russia has , during the eentury ,

    concluded one important treaty—that ot l « Dd —• by which the exclusive navigation of the Amoor Avas conceded to her , with an immense tract of country , including the gold-bearing slopes of the Zablo-ani , between that river and the Zablotmi , or Stanivoi ranges . Are we , then , really to witness a receding movement on the part of Russia ? Will she in future direct her energies to the development of her internal resources , and the consolidation of her vast dominion , instead of seeking new conquests across weak frontiers ? It maybe that the policy of the Emperor Alexander II . is inspired by motives dissimilar from those icholasout ussiau

    of the Emperor jn , a . » ^< u must be true to the traditions , and to the national tendencies of the Russian empire , or he creates only an hiatus , his reign is neutral , and the concentrated power of his race will , upon his death or deposition , operate by the same process as before upon the territories of surrounding nations . For ourselves , we do not believe that the -war , which has been interrupted by the general momentum of Europe in favour of peace , has been so decisive in its effects , as to close one gr ^ eat historical period , and to open another with new characteristics and tendencies . The military development of Russia is not yet complete ; her naval

    development has only begun , and mU Have Deen irreparably impaired , if the disarmament of the Euxine fortresses , and of the Aland isles is insisted upon , in perpetuity . Sweden on the side of the Baltic , Turkey on the side of the Mediterranean , China on the side of the Pacific , shut her out from the important ^ seaboards , which have been the historical objects of her aggressions . Persia and the states of central Asia close the military road to India the independent nations of Tartary intervene between her boundaries and the richest

    provinces of China . Has this , political and diplomatic war , with local , limited , transient objects , extinguished that principle of conquest by which Russia has prospered , and which has made her the bugbear of Europe ? It has not ; neither the principle of conquest , nor any other principle , has been kept in view .

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    Army Reform Debates. Gejseuax Evans Invi...

    ARMY REFORM DEBATES . Gejseuax Evans invited the House of Commons , on Tuesday , to debate on the sale and purchase of Commissions in the British Army .

    He moved for an inquiry by a Select Committee of the House ; there was a pretty Keneral conviction that in ^ jpy , at least , can no longer be evaded , and We gallant mover consented to adopt the suggestion of the Government , that a Royal Commission should be appointed to pursue the investigation instead of a Committee . We quite concur in that decision . Committees of the House of Commons are very good for some things , but a fairly appointed Commission will do the work in hand much better than a Committee . The maintainers of the existing system cannot congratulate themselves on the issue of the i -i' i . _ C 5 i >«< - + u « - < 7- -will fli p » . Tvnointment

    of a Commission is a popular concession forced from the Government by public opinion . On the side of rational views of promotion were to be found , not only the veteran Genekal who led the debate , but the aristocratic representatives of liberalism and young Toryism—Lord Goderich and Lord Stanley . That is , oi itself , a sign which the powers that be will do well not to disregard . On the other hand , the defenders of the system as it is , were Mr . Frederick Peel , from whom we might Jiave desired better things ; Colonel Lindsay , the champion of the exclusive privileges of the Guards , and the author of the famous Peter Chnevous Guards' Memorial , and Colonel North , _„!_ _ . i _ _ ~ . 11 ^ forvVi / vnorl nribodv . TllCH ¦ — " —

    > vjio is a . v » caa , « . »* v ^'" . v . » again , although he advanced some considerations in opposition to arguments tised by the reformers , Mr . Sidney Herbert did not , like Mr Peel , go the whole hog for " the system , ' neither did Mr . Peel ' s chief , the noble Premier . Both admitted that inquiry would be useful ; both admitted that abstractedly the system is indefensible ; both contended that it has its advantages a 3 well as disadvantages ; and both pointed to the expense of abolition—treating the expense , however , as a matter that should not deter the House one moment in abolishing the system , if that measure were wise and exnmiiont . T . pfc xis have inquiry by all means ;

    of public trust , and adopted a system ofc" combined selection and seniority , no Government would escape the charge of favouritism . But the champion of the right to buy and sell public offices forgets that we have favouritism now in full blossom , combined with a disgraceful traffic . He forgets that the reformers propose to take precautions against favotiritism , stiff and rigid precautions—severe tests and practical examinations . It is alleged by the reformers that the sale and purchase of Commissions prevents a high standard of education in the army . And what is the reply ? That it need not prevent the application of the most rigorous system . Need not ! But it has . Not oi tratnc

    one supporter of the existing system iu Commissions dares to say that one of the main obstacles to the improvement of army education has not been the sale and purchase of Commissions . And the reason is plain . The ruling powers require that the army should be officered by men from certain classes . Those men , in a great degree , enter the army as " birds of passage "—we owe the phrase to Mr . Herbert—they do not intend to make the army a life profession , and it would not answer their purpose to submit to severe study in order to fit them for commanding her Majesty ' s troops for a few years . This class , for whom the system is maintained , desire an easy mode of admission , and an easy mode of

    exit . They find it m the purchase system . Their whole game woxdd be spoilt if the service were made what it should be—a severe and honourable labour—a profession for life . ^ The fact is , the whole system will not bear the light of day . We want admission by merit , and promotion by merit . We want a solid basis for our army—adequate military instruction for every officer who accepts a Commission . But so long as the sale andpurchase system exists , so long we shall not have that security for a good army which is so imperatively required . } $ .. ,

    and let us hope , with Lord Stanley , that the result of the inquiry will be to extinguish the system of purchase in the army in five years . Some points in the debate offer matter for comment . Mr . Peel , with that agreeable facility which characterises his discourses , challenged his opponents to point out the abuses of the system . Why , the very existence of such a system is a gigantic abuse . Is it no abuse that persons can "buy a vested right in the public-service ? Is it no abuse that wealth can command what efficiency , long service , unusual talents cannot commandpromotion ? A wise Government would so :- ~ ;?„ n ^ nir e » a tr » rvflfW ftvftrv inducement

    % JXLiiXJUAOt : JLliO c * X * A * J' M-w uv w — -T- — j to able men ; would seek out and seize upon them in every class and every corner of the empire . A wise Government would say— - " Come unto me , all you that are able and willing , whether you have money or have none , and I will take the best of you ; " not " Come unto me all you , that have a passing caprice and wealth to satisfy that caprice , and I wiU permit you to buy what I deny to merit , " That some men a-re admitted who cannot furnish cash is only the forced homage wl «*< itv > a ^ oprrupt ^ sysa . l . _—_ - « . 4 . ^ . A » j-vj-tr 1 onnca OT \ fl QA 1 ITlfl TYP 1 TinlT ^ Ifl T . aovi £ ^

    Will li < lYM " ^ K j WV * pViJi *» . ** . ^* . ww —• . »•¦—• j-o- --j--- j it affords no valid pleaftfer-, $ * € * f iystem . The damning fact is , that public places are legally bought and s 6 ld , and the " dishonour to England , " as General Evans called it , is that men in ofEoe not only practice but defend the system xtnder which such acts can be perpetrated . Again , Mr . Peel tells us that—it shows the reduced state of the opponents of army reform , when Mr . Peel is the great champion of the status quo—the . son of KobertJ Peel tells us that if we abolished the system of buying places ?

    Women And La.W Refobm. Lord Palmeksto^ A...

    WOMEN AND LA . W REFOBM . Lord Palmeksto ^ and Sir George Grey have , in the most distinct manner , given their adhesion to the principle which we stated last week as the only means for the settlement of the Sunday question , and they have applied the principle to a cognate measure . The purpose of the proposed amendment in Sir William Clay ' s bill for the Abolition of Church Rates , is to transfer the settlement of the question from the Ecclesiastical Courts , the Courts of Common Pleas , the House of Lords and Parlia- , ment , to the parishes . The parishes are told that they shall themselves determine whether or ,

    not they will have clvurch-rates levied amongst them ; and in each parish the adverse decision , if it be sustained with sufficient pertinacity , is to be final . It will be perceived how completely this enactment establishes the position which we laid down last week , that the laws of this country are the embodiment of customs already adopted by the will of the people , —that the liberties of the English people have in all cases been taken first , and registered afterwards in what we arc pleased to call Charters . "

    The very same principle applies to the opservance of the Sabbath , and we may refer to Lord Palmerston and Sir George Guey as inferentially and morally confirming the advice that we gave last week . Lot the people arrange such modes of observing the Sabbath as they please for themselves , and a disoreet House of Commons will , at the proper day , declare it to be law that the people shall observe the Sabbath in the mode that the people have dictated . . The aame principle applies to all the social

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 8, 1856, page 13, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_08031856/page/13/