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386 THE LEADEB,, . ' , [Saturdat^
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Soitmw Pnoi»ui..8iON.—A committee lias b...
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IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT . THE'VIENNA CONFERE...
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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"J7 Very Thing Converges To A Political ...
ferent course on this occasion , or o _ ne more friendly to Russia . Respecting the actual position of Austria , therefore , -we must await further information , treating the somewhat desponding spirit which appeals to link under the admonitions of our own official journals . feo » be ^ perhapsr asprmzeh overstrained as their previous confidence in oar ally . This is rendered the meare probable by a new tone said to have come ? over the Austraan Ministers , even sins » : this lasfccKsplay of Etesian arrogance and duplicity .
The French : Empeeok , who was careful to date an ordinance , addressed to his own subj-ects , and signed " Napomson , " from '' Windsor Ga ' stle , " isequally careful to publish int the Mohiieur the a « bdresses which he received from London , Manchester , Southampton , & c . There is every sign that , officially , the union with France and England is considered to be aa close as it could be rendered by the strongest pledges and the utmost cordiality . This also is a fact whichihas a more interesting signification than for the moment
appears . There seems to be no question whether the Emperor intends to proceed to the Crimea . Some day soon after the 1 st of next month is now fixed for his departure . He goes to take the field . against Russia * and war therefore continues ; and from the state of aflaira it must continue on an enlarged scale , with greater bloodshed , more * exertion , and further sacrifices ; for the Empebobi wills it . The alliance between the Tnileries and Downing-street is complete , and we must follow the march of the " brave et beau Dunois . "
It is under these circumstances that we proceed with the War Budget . It is made a boast on behalf of the Chanckixob of the Exchequer , that he 1 has amply provided for the year , and has secured , evenli surplus upon the actual expenditure . The military outlay , we are told , will be 43 , 000 , 000 ? ., while he has taken more than 4 , OQO , 0 OOZ . for contingencies , with power to issue 3 , 000 , OOOZ . of Exchequer Bills—apparently to meet any defalcation iri the Loan , though that is not probable . Thei Exchequer Bills are not to be issued pending the
receipt of instalments for the Loan , so that they will either not be issued at all , or only be used in the interval between the 18 th of December and the subsequent meeting of Parliament . But How "' i 3 ~ a 5 y ' ' ri > 6 rtal '" " man : t 6 ioiowthat the expenditure for the financial year 1855-6 will be limited to the amount set down beforehand by Sir CoRNEWAMi Lewis ? The expenditure of 40 or 5 O , 000 , 000 Z . for war alone out of a Budget
realising 63 , 00 O , OOOZ . aa revenue , leaves us , in fact , a real deficit . The whole extent of the Loan is a deficit . Yet that is an expenditure calculate only for the war in , the Crimea and the Baltic ; but who knows that we shall stop there ? Who knows that the Sardinian loan will be our only advance to allies ? Who knows , in short , upon what fields the contest may be waged during the current year , or the part which , this country may have to take in .. following the Empkror ?
While the finance is in this condition of probable development , our administration seems to be threatened with a break-down . The Sebastopol Committee has pushed its trenches right into the War Ministry , and has , with the assistance of the Duke of Newcastle , who was examined at full longth for several days this woelc , thoroughly inquired into the disorganised state of that Ministry , which divides its authority amongst the
Secretary of State and his subordinates , the Treasury , the Horse Guards , the Ordnnnce , and even the Admiralty , with all kinds of subdivision amongst thoir subordinates . Even Lord Raglan , Commandor-in-Chief in the Crimea , did not fully carry out tho instructions sent to him ; but unable to fulfil tho inquiries which ho was ordered to make before the Crimea expedition ,. he set out unassisted by those inquiries . Lord IIakdingb appointed Lord Lucan and othor Generals
without consulting thaWar Minister—Lord Lucan being one ofithe active-causes of disagreement . The Board of Admiralty and the Board of Ordnance had debates between themselves as to their liabilities aniiLjjprisdiction in matters of transport and the ^ l Ufe : Ike spirit . a £ \ insubordination * seems to havetbeen exhibited % all' departments and all ranfcsj . evert-Up to the © bmmander-in-Chiefi : Lord Pamberstob * has statesiLin tha House of Coaumons this Twefflfc-tfiat a tkeaaaogh-EKferm of thesWar
Department is under consideration ; and it has been announced , not for the first time , that Lord Panmuke has resigned , his broken-health rendering it absolutely impossible for him to continue at the head of the War Ministry . Until we have Lord Pa : lmerston ' s promised new administration , we may be said , to a great extent , to be without a military administration . The war is carried on by the Cabinet , and the departments fulfil so much of the instructions received from the Cabinet as they
think fit ; so that the ultimate result is a matter of chance . Even the small scandals of the army belong to the news that colour the week . We have two cases before us . At Canterbury is stationed a depot of the Enniskillen Dragoons , and in that depot is a Cornet Battmgarten , who has been subjected to treatment of the Perryan order . Though he has none of the incompatibilities o £ a Perry , he is warranted by an old College friend
afe Oxford to be an accomplished sportsman and a pleasant companion . His sword broken , the plume of his helmet broken , buckets of water thrown in his bed , his linen-chest deluged , his window and looking-glass smashed , his charger tailed and cropped , with other indignities that gentlemen cannot even mention . Driven at last to some desperate measures , afraid , perhaps , to " peach , " he challenges his tormentors , and then appears worthy Sergeant Brodie with a strong protest against " murder !" The ^ treatment of this sergeant introduces a new
incident quite unexpected enough for romance . Adjutant Webster comes up with a file of men and seizes , not the duellists , but the sergeant , who is ordered to be knocked down by the men with the butt-ends of the carbines if he resists . The breach of discipline in this last incident is so complicated that we know no parallel to- it except the poaition _ of _ Whiskerandos and the Nieces . It will be curious to see how Sergeant Brodib is treated by the sophists who rule our military discipline .
This case was preceded by another , in the Thirtieth Regiment , where they seem to have brought the practical joking to high perfection . Ensign Falkner was subjected to threats that he should be thrown out of window ; attempts were made to . throw him out ; his mouth was smeared with tallow ; he was kicked out of the room , and otherwise maltreated by " officers and gentlemen . " The Commander-in-Chief resolutely set his face against these practices : one officer who apologised is let off with a reprimand ; v another who repeated the offensive conduct is threatened with expulsion , and subjected to surveillance with periodical reports .
So far , well . But while money is made the test of admission to tho army ; while the hands of officers are prevented from defending their own personal inviolability by puritanical rules against duelling ; and while tho post of officer is a close place , tho property of tho purchaser—there must continue a rottenness in our army calculated to render it inefficient before tho enemy .
386 The Leadeb,, . ' , [Saturdat^
386 THE LEADEB ,, . ' , [ Saturdat ^
Soitmw Pnoi»Ui..8ion.—A Committee Lias B...
Soitmw Pnoi » ui .. 8 iON . —A committee lias boon formed for presenting some . testimonial to Mr . Francis l ' ottit Smith , tho inventor , or at any rate tho groat improver , of tho screw-propeller . Wo understand that Mr . Smith hns received no public acknowledgment or pecuniary roward of hia sorvicos . The committee ; we trust , will moot with the succoas it deserves .
Imperial Parliament . The'vienna Confere...
IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT . THE'VIENNA CONFERENCES . Lv reply tona question from Mr . Bright , on Monday touching ; the termination of tlje Vienna Conferences ' Lord FAiiXEBjaafoir said : — " The question ) which the hon . member has put is oi snch goeafcHnportance that I cannot shrink from giving the House , aad the country some explanation . What naagr Be the . tfiae at which her Majesty ' s government may think fit tb give a mow detailed explanation , I am not at present iar a condition' to state . But it is well known to the House that the English and French Governments , in concert -with the Government of Austria
had . determined that the proper development of the Third Point , which regarded the treaties of 1840 and 1841 in respect to the Straits of the Dardanelles and the Bosphorns , required , amongst other things , that the jjrepon derance of Russia in the Black Sea should henceforth cease . That principle was laid down by England aad France , and was agreed to by Austria , and it was a principle which , in the abstract , was accepted by the Russian plenipotentiary . On Thursday last , the plenipotentiaries of England , France / Austria , Turkey , and Russia , met to consider this point . The pleni potentiaries of England * France , Austria , and Turkey proposed , as the mode of carrying out this principle , -which had been admitted and accepted by Russia , either that the amount of the Russian naval force in the Black Sea should
henceforth be limited by-treaty , or that the Black Sea should be declared neutral ground entirely , -whereby all ships of war would be excluded from that sea , so that it would bo a sea for commerce only in future . The Russian plenipotentiary required forty-eight hours to take that proposition into consideration . These fortyeight hours having elapsed on Saturday , another conference was held on that day , and there the Russian plenipotentiary absolutely refused to accept either of those alternatives thus pressed unanimously by the representatives of the other four powers . Thereupon the conference was adjourned sine die , and my noble friend and M . DrOuyn de Lhuys , the ministers of England and France , were to take their departure from Vienna in the course of the present day . "
Sir H . Wujlqughby — " Was any counter-proposition made by Russia ?" Lord Palmerston— " Bussia made no counterproposition whatever . " In the House of Lords , on Tuesday , the Earl of Mai / mesbuby asked certain questions with regard to the debates in the Congress , and the attitude assumed by Russia . He likewise desired to know whether it is now intended that Prussia shall be one
of tlieprotectihgpowers' over the principalities ; and also what the Government consider to bo the objects of the war , and a fitting equivalent for the expenditure of so much blood and treasure . Lord Malmesbury expressed his opinion that , if Russia had acceded to the proposal for limiting her ships in the Black Sea , she would not have held to the treaty any more than she has held to that for opening the mouths of the Danube . The Earl of Ci * ARiiNi > ON replied : —
" My noble friend is right in his assumption that to the First and Second Points Russia acceded , and that they were finally determined . When tho Third Point came under discussion , the representatives of the allied Powers , in order to prove that they had no with to humiliate Russia , but , on tho contrary , desired to consult her dignity , proposed to the Russian representatives themselves to take the initiative as to the means by which they would give effect to tho principle of that proposition . Tho Russian plenipotentiaries nelmowlegcd the courtesy of tho proceeding , but asked for time to refer to their Government . That time was given ; but in the
meanwhile , and for obvious reasons , wo declined to go on with tho discussion of the Fourth Point . The answer from St . Petersburg arrived , and it was that tho Russian Government had no proposition to make . . . J' <» rd John Russell left Vienna on Monday . With respect to tho position which Prussia has occupied in tho course of thoao negotiations , I can only any that the position which
she has occupied , and which she continues to occupy , e ntirely excluded her from tho Conference , anil therefore from all tho arrangements that might have been mndc . Regarding tho consequences that might bo oxnectc-d from tho limitation of tho n-Mver of Russia in tho Iil «« k Sun , and tho manner in which Russia would be bound ly Btipulations , I think that at this moment it would not W convenient to refer to them till your lordships aw fully
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 28, 1855, page 2, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28041855/page/2/
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