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    that cannot establish its own freedom , resist Cuban insurrection or the advance of Columbia ? Apart from foreign politics there is no event at home that needs detain us very long . Parliament has been going through the details of business without any very striking * debates . Thes new Ministry has ventured upon no * coup d'etat , and has left the lead chiefly to the subordinates of ifoe departments , who have been carrying on the ES * timates—Mr . PEEi ^ Mr . Mowell , and . mam of that class . The Array Estimates and the Ordtmnce Estimates have had to run through the fire of

    questions and sarcasms drawn from the experience of . the campaign * . Boats , too large * great coats too flimsy , transports inefficient , commissaries out- of the way -when they were wanted , clothing for soldiers unenlisted , a want of clothing for soldiers on the field , —these have been traits of the administration of'the departments : that now come to Parliament asking for tens of millions of money each- The money was not withheld , —nor the sarcasms ; and Hamsters -were * content tor take the cash , with assurances that they would behave better for the future .

    In the meanwhile the inquiry into the state of the army before Sebastopol has begun , and witnesses have been examined who speak from personal-knowledge on the spot—such as Mr . George Dustdas ; General Sir De Lacy Evans ; General Bentincb ; Dr . Vaux , a surgeon ; Captain " Wbiothesxet ; and Mr . Stephen Owen , the only surviving officer of the Resolute . The evidence thus far has given us nothing , that is new ; but it confirms many of the strongest statements made on the spot as to the incapac ity of

    the-commissariat , the total inadequacy of the transport machinery , and the excessive amount of labour thrown upon the men . The most experienced witnesses do not seem to consider the bad supply of provisions to have been so fatal as the continued over-exertion ^ 3 ? he military officerslwere not astonished at the deaths of horses ; nor , indeed , should they be so , for there have been Russian campaigns in which the . Russians suffered a far greater mortality amongst their beasts than has been observed in the Crimea . But

    the over-exertion is something fearful , and we are thrown back by this result , of the actual position at Sebastopol to the council of war at which the Crimean expcditionT was detefminedr "It is " evil dent that the Generals commanding did not know what they had to encounter—had not the knowledge which would have directed their movements —and had not the means which they would have demanded if they had known what they were going to do . It is not . in fighting that the men have been killed , but in the impracticable endeavour to

    dig and defend , a vast extent of difficult ground . On Monday , Mr . Maxins moved for tho correspondence between the First Lord of the Admiralty and . Sir Ghabxbs Napieb , doing , what he could to compel submission to bis motion , by reading extracts from , the correspondence ; as the chimney-sweeper , who wanted a penny bun for a halfpenny enforced his proposal of the bargain by clapping the * dainty between hia hands while he bargained . Sir . CHABLEa Naeib » . complained , through his lawyer Mr . Malins ,. that whereas Sir James Graham had sent him . the most flattering private notes , the First Lord of the Admiralty

    had called upon him to smash the British fleet against Svcaborg , and had dismissed him for declining to do so . In brief , that is tho sum of Mr . Malins ' s statements . Sir James Gbaiiaw ' s reply is , that as a private friend he had . written unguarded notes to Sir Charles ; that after surveying Sveaborg Sir Charles placed tho practicability of attacking that fortress in a new light , * nd the Board of Admiralty rather expected to hoar of achievements on his part ; the nonperform-¦™» of which apparently irritated Sir Charges , caused hia language . to become " turbulent and

    insubordinate ; " . that . tone compelled the Admiralty to make . him shake his flag , but without censure . Tfie present ; First Lord , Sir Chabxes Wood , reiftsed the correspondence ; and on the whole Sife Charles Napier gained nothing by theaaatipnuif his legal friend . Nob did S » Henry Haxford take anything by his motion foe the second' reading of his . " Wages Bill jihe objfet of whiS * was to prevent emgjiyers from * 8 * o p ™ 6 gTnoiieyr o » t o £ wages fox aaoounts

    set dowtrtb the credit of workmen . Tfie bill is intended to grapple with * an abuse that is a violation of . the Truck . Act ; -and- it would _ s w erve the purposes of honesty and justice . It is undoubtedly , open , however , to the objection . that there is too much legislation on these things ; and perhaps it would be better , instead of increasing the number of statutes forr the protection of workmen , to pull down some of those that are used for their coercion and oppression .

    We are promised , however , an abrupt close to all these debatings , and discussions more exciting ; for it is expected that as soon as Ministers have got their money they will dissolve Parliament . So we are to open the spring with a new Czar , an extended war , JSafoleon in the Crimea , and the United Kingdom in all the excitements of a general election 1

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    CIVIL SERVICE OF INDIA . In the House of'Lords , on Monday , Lord Monteagee moved for some correspondence touching the examination of candidates for the office of Assistant-Surgeon in the East India Company ' s Service . By the Charter Act of 1833 , all distinction of caste , colour , or birth in appointment to office was abolished ; but in practice , and by the regulations , that clause was never faithfully carried- out . Under the Act of last session , however , regulations were passed which dealt satisfactorily with the whole subject of education in India , and to illustrate the working of it Lord Monteagle brought forward the instance of-Dr . Chuckerbutty . At . the early age of six or seven he

    had made great progress at the local school of his district in the Persian , Sanscrit , and Arabic languages , but , being anxious to learn the English language ( accidentally heard in the mouth of a collector visiting the place ) , he set off to a distant European school , carrying with him a few articles of clothing in a handkerchief and some parched rice . Here he made still greater progress , and advanced from one school to another , till at length he came to England to complete his medical studies , at the hazard of losing the favour-of < his friends and his prospects of promotion . He entered University ; jDollege , and there carried off threei gold medals and certificates of honour , with the degree of Doctor of Medicine , and

    then applied for an appointment , and was refused . He was- not daunted , however . After spending some time on the continent of Europe , he returned to India , where he was appointed a professor and lecturer in some of the many useful colleges which were to be found there . On learning that the Bill of last year had removed obstacles to his appointment as a surgeon , he came over to this country , competed in the public examination for an assistantsurgency , and attained the- second place in the list of successful candidates . By the aid of the President of the Board of Control , he would not . lose those

    appointments the possession of which he had risked by leaving India . Several' exclusively British-born subjects in Calcutta' had assisted him to come to this country and enter into competition with English subjects . Lord Monteagle expressed a hope that the generous measure of last session would not be defeated by a side-wind . After some remarks from Lord Ashburtok—on' the great capacity of Native Indians for classic studies—from the Earl of Albbmarle , Lord Wynford , and Earl GRANviLLB * -who intimated that even the improved regulations are not . unalterable : against further / improvement—tho returns , were agreed to .

    ARMV EDUCATION . On Monday , in the House of Commons , Mr . Rich , on the motion for going into committee of supply , moved an amendment , declaring it expedient that we should enhance the efficiency of our military academies , and take other measures to render the coming generation of officers more At for regimental and staff appointments ' . Tho Navy and tho East India Company ' s Service give * good opportunities to young officers of acquiring a perfect knowledge of their duties ; but in the regular army staff appointments are the . result : of favouritism , and' he thought himself justified in i saying that one-half' of our military officers had not ; received' an . education ! to qualify them > for-the ordinary duties of life .. The oansequance of this is .. that I

    they have to learn their profession after a war has bro&enront . Mr . F . ~ JBFHgrurged that , as the whole question of military education arid promotion is now being considered byrthe- Government , any present discussi on on the subject would be premature . He also thought that too h % hj a-standard of education might load to the exclwioasof a large , number of ¦ well-qualified persons .. GolopeKDuNNE said we have no means in England of instructing stafE-officers in their duty ; and that acconlingrttnthe opinibr » , of some French officers , our &tfffbfficQ 3 nrare ? t , he worst in the world , though they admit that ova regimentattsystem . is perfect .

    After some desultory remarks from various members , in the course of which Lord Palmerston observed that it was very important that officers should make progress in their profession , and that they should not be advanced unless they did so , Mr . Rich consented to withdraw the-motion , as he thought the declarations made by Government were in many respects satisfactory .

    THE ORDNANCE ESTIMATES . Mr ; Monsell said that the votes he was going to propose were unusually large ; but for this there w ere very obvious reasons . He then specified the different amounts ; among which were 267 , 0007 . for barrack bedding , 54 , 375 / . for boots and shoes , 142 , 906 / . for warm clothing at the hospitals , 54 , 800 / . for huts and stable-huts in the Crimea , which had been finish ed in * eighteen days ; and 382 , 5007 . for waterproof clothing . With respect to this lost item , he contended that great : expedition had been evinced by the Government in sending out the clothes , whi ch were of excellent quality . Other items

    were—25 , 0007 . for the erection of a foundry for the manufacture of Lancaster-shells , and 15 j 000 / . for the erection of a gun-faetory at Enfleld , of the origin of which Mr . Monsell gave several particulars . The item for great coats was very large : it amounted to 215 , 0007 ., owing to the Irish militia and the foreign legion . Finally , he mentioned votes of 800 , 000 / . for the supply and repair of small arms ; 60 , 000 / . for barracks at Dover ; 61 , 000 / . for the same object at Gdsport ; and 250 , 0007 . for a permanent barrack at Alderehot , to contain lO , 00 Q men . He concluded by moving the firstjrote , 1 , 402 ^ 9617 ., for the exigencies of the several Ordnance military corps .

    Colonel DuNNE-complained of the boots which had been sent out , and which were useless from being too small- of the want of warm clothing in several of the regiments , which had . in consequence suffered great mortality ; and of the defective . nature of the shells used against Sebastopol , many of which would not burst . —Mr . Muntz said the conduct of the Government rwith respect to . the manufacture of small arms . was the old story over again . Mr . Monsell had said that they had but a small supply of arms , but he had not told them the reason , whichwas , that the patterns had not been delivered till August , nor the materials till November ^ Government had also endeavoured to beat down the fair price for bayonets ,

    though they failed in that attempt ; but the delay had . preventedJialfjhe ^ g ^ na being ' . finished for want of bayonets . The establishmentatiEnfield would be all that could , bo desired if it were properly managed ; but the manufacture for casting shells was one of the grossest jobs ever perpetrated . — Sir J . Paxton , who approved of the ground for the new camp at Aldershot , said , that the Government proposed to erect huts for 20 , 000 men in the course of six weeks , which was utterly impossible . —Lord Sevbiour enlarged upon the injustice : of the Government requiring guns to be made at an insufficient price . It was out of the question to suppose that by establishing a manufactory at

    Enfield they could get a supply of arms morerapidly : the most rapid way was by dealing fairly with the trade .. He > objected to the votes for new barracks , and he would propose to reduce the vote by 40 , 000 / ., the sum asked for tho new works at Enfield . —Mr . La yard criticised tho defective shells sent out to Sebastopol ) warned tho Government against establishing au hospital at Smyrna , the climate of which was fatal to Europeans ; and anticipated that ; unless active measures were taken at Bfah&lava , the hot weather , would bring a plague which would sweep away ovory man in tho army . —Mr . NiiWDEGATB supported the proposal of Lord Seymour . The gunmakors could produce any fair in

    amount required of them if they had only py . Mr . G . Dondas supported tho vote ; and Mr . Monsell explained , with reference to the email arms factory , that scientific gentlemen , who had been to America to investigate tho gun-trado there , liaa showed that Government could mako their muskets as perfect a « the Minie" rifles could be made , at a cost not more than half what was now being paid , me gunmakers of Birmingham need not bo afraut oi their trade boing taken away from them , as Government was still disposed to receive all they coma manufacturo . —Lord Palmerston said it had become well known that there was a deficiency of the small arms necessary for the supply of qur army ., It was therefore proposed to establish a manufactory w . " would . not enable the . Govermont to furnish aU tua

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    IMEERIAL PARLIAfflJNOL

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    . O- - THE LEADER . , [ Saturday ,

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), March 10, 1855, page 218, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2081/page/2/