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2M: THE mDEK. [No. 310, Saturday,
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&1' 1 "^^AW. AND. BORNEO, nuraaa^etileme...
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LUf THIS DEPA.BTMBNI, AS AM. OPINIOITP, ...
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There is no learned man but will confess...
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SiR)—I have no wish, to detract in the s...
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Funeral of tub Late Duke ot Norfolk.—Tho...
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Transcript
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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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Education Foe Officers. One Fact Made Ap...
sottte connexion / with , " society , or some influence \ vitn' ai JMfinisteiS- ^ -it may be- sometimes a claim for real services rendered to the State— - that ^ was all" that Goverrinietit demanded of the candidate for a responsible post in her-Majesty ' s Army . Coulct anytBing be more preposterous ? Nothing . All experience , all 1 autnority , all actual existing practice , in free ^ in despotic , in constitutional' Stiates , all the axioms of * genius , all tlie examples derived from renowned commanders ; all this was
clean againsfc the British , system— -against making the army a tool for low purposes , a plaything for pedatits- an-d ; martinets ; Since the Biike ' s army -was- sen * to the four -winds in 1814 s , we hare not had an army , or any military institutions- ; and we need' not be surprised that we have had no great military
men . But are matters changed- now ? Have the possessors of power since 1853 done anything to sixpplythe defective foundations of our militajry system ? Where are the sclxools and cdileges 0 n ¦ whicliijne militaryhierarchy snouM regbse ^ like a corttmxi on Ws pedestal ? In ncf' other civilised : coxintry is tBere anytlnng analbgdiis t & oW modes of" getting officers . We > are pifce ] qrijgiuiali KepuBlican 1 Jttnerica ai ^ despofcic Ktissiar " botbb f ^ trafe an elaborate training for the ^ prjpfessiboti of a * ms from the cptdMa ^ es ; ibr ^ toaf career . Erance has a
d 6 S : en scncjbls opei ^ to aO compet ; it 6 rs ^ --the lists p ] P n' ^ 3 & tir » as they mighf fcer c ^ Iiedi -where- the beStvinan ^ isstire to win the prize . These n ^ fioiSs reqjiire ^ frOinr tie persons who propose tb ^ cfe ^ ma ^ 'i ^ i ^ jpi . formation * but soifte * Imbmfed ^ e df matters relating to -war . We are ^ ser \ than they and knowledge : fi ^ i ^ attf ers ^ relafing' t ; o or that may teeriis ^ al ? in tfcltr , ^ neseare ^ the liast things we tfe wfe
r ^ fbire / from yotftfcsr have put d & vvn tSfeir rtames sit the Hbf ^ e Gruards . They may B ^ a ^ tual gow & Si or ¦ tiSey may be possible g ^ c ^ al ^; ' bu : e the & e ' are nx > t what we require ^^ o ^ - - ; We--o ^ ' ^ qe & fc ? - tJ & iat they shall be Ktfown to somebody who is known to the au-^ ot itie % and possessed of money to a certain Bfafepbttoi What a'dmfrj-ible provision for vic-• iM 4 , ¦ ¦ ¦ . -
Certainly , foremost among the reforms to K & effected in the army , is this—the estabushinent of Military Colleges , in which all 1 officers , ¦ without any kind of exception , gentle and siiirple , noble and commoner , must graduate , always excepting those who are , for soldierly ( jcbalrtfies and good conduct , raised from the ranks . Above ail we want a regtuarly-orgatiised school for an efficient staff . This is a
want of the greatest -urgency . War , no doubt , educates' a staff , but wliat a clumsy and costly m ' o'd ' e of learning tlixo siniplest elements of the military profession ! A good staff supplies , in some degree , the want of all-commanding genius ; and what a bad staff can do—the operations iti the Crimea attest . There is no lack of information on this important branch of military organisation ; no lack of tried and approved systems xxpon -which to model our own . What is wanted is a Premier or a Cbmmanderfn ^ cMef , with insight enough to see its
necessity ; capacity enough to devise , and will sufficient to execute the founding of a solid « W ^ "of « J * litary education . We do not think wte (^ ttestion can much longer be shirked by any ¦ Q ^ Yemment ; and looking to the general asjgct ofour foreign relations , looking beyond We ^ R « ffso-T : ttrki 8 h quarrel , we do not see an y ttx ^ wcBofthe public service that so imporat ^ dy ; calls for Administrative Keforra .
2m: The Mdek. [No. 310, Saturday,
2 M : THE mDEK . [ No . 310 , Saturday ,
&1' 1 "^^Aw. And. Borneo, Nuraaa^Etileme...
& 1 ' 1 " ^^ AW . AND . BORNEO , nuraaa ^ etilement . wiU never prosper untU it is K & against , piracy , and until the coal oirttam : property worked ! " Such are the
words of a ' private letter from Labuan . Lord PalmerSton has appointed a new Lieutenant-Goverrior of that island , " and its dependencies ; " btitf what is required is not a pompous official stafi ^ but a war-steamer , to patrolthe adjacent coasts , and blockade the pirate rivers .- At intervals of two or three months , the little colony at Labuan is fluttered by intelligence that a great buccaneering
squadron is at sea , " picking up " the Chinese and Malay traders , and reconnoitring the naval station ft ^ om which , a few years ago , they were terrified by the apparition of the British flag ; It ifr only the idea , sedulously promoted by the English residents' and the friendly chiefs on the Bomean coast , tliat a war-steamer hides in a creek of Labuan , which has- prevented an attack . Should this wholesome fiction be
dissipated , what would be the chances of the little town of Victoria , with its unbuilt streets and deserted jetty ? It commands , indeed , the services of a six-pounder or two , and it has a standing army sufficiently large to fire a salute or set the flag-flying on the staff ; but , in the event of a regularly-organise'd descent tipon Labuan , what would the heads of the
inhabitants be worth ? There are some in England whohave a ^ deep and direct interest in tie question There are many who have been disappointed by the stow progress of the settlement , which' was established to carry out the bold and liberal- views of Sir James Brooke , the successor , in influence and geniusy of Sir Sta & ifokd Raffles . But when Raffees founded
the British settlement of Singapore , the English fleet was not idle in the Indian seas ; theislasidj l y ing : in one of the crowded routes of Eastern conwnerce , was effectually protected against the roving squadrons continually in ambush among the neighbouring groups . Wherever there wa & trade there was piracy , and several enterprises against Singapore were foiled . The town prospered ; the population multiplied . In a few years the wretched resort of a scanty tribe of fishers was changed into a
wealthy emporium ; and why should Labtcany seven hundred miles nearer BGong Kong , in the route of the steam navigation , close to the populous city of Brune , and to the thriving- community of Sarawak , remain , with its landssurvey ed , but not sold—its streets staked out , but not built—its wharves prepared , but laden with little merchandise ? Those persons in England and in the East , who , from a desire to stitnulate the growth of the new
settlement , purchased the Victoria allotments * have , in man y instances , abandoned them . They will not clear and drain the ground * , and erect even the light and cheap edifices suitable as Chinese shops , when there is no possibility of attracting settlers . Labuan owes its equivocal " safety to its poverty . Were it to be accidentally enriched , the Malays might venture , in spite of the mythical war-steamei ' , to do with Victoria as they have done with a hundred settlements on the Bornean coast .
When his- Excellency Edwakds arrives at Labuan , we -trust he will listen to the complaints of the British residents , and make strong representations to the Colonial Office . On the neighbouring coast of Sarawak he will observe proofs of the prosperity that arises in the Indian islands , wherever the interests of the people are secured . Sir James Brooke has not seen his capital swelled by a population of
eighty thousand souls , where there had previouely been onl y fourteen hundred , without proportionate exertions , entail ing enormous private sacrifices . He ie , at this moment , engaged in organising a system of marine defence ; he A ® 8 to a * ^ * large , faithful , and efficient militia ; in the interior , as well as on the coast , the regulations of tho State are respected ; the civilised and Christian law , estublfehed in the
Courts of Sarawak , is known , and obeyed in the forest-villages far up the river , wiere nothing else of European origin has penetrated . We must rely , we suppose ,, on tie course of the law , to relieve Labuan from the incubus of the Eastern Archipelago Company—a stagnant monopoly , without the usual energy of avarice . We invite our commercial readers to study the last annual report of this company
which has forfeited , its charter , under two decisions of the highest courts of law , bufe still pretends to supply with coal the steam traffic of the Indian Ocean . No Railway Board ever forced a dividend with more desperate adroitness than this company forced a profit . It was an incantation in' figures , capital and receipts , being so juggled and jumbled that failure under one head became success under another .
It is scarcely to be believed that Lord Pal-MEKSiONjWho founded the settlement of Labuan , will sanction the grant of a new Charter to the Eastern Archipelago Company . The Settlement languishes under its influence . Meanwhile , the latest Dutch acquisitions floxuish ; Sarawak is an example of sudden and sustained prosperity ; the Americans push into the
Oriental Sea *; everything thrives , except that whicla was auspiciously established , with pomp and glitter , by the Imperial Government of Great Britain . Labuan is , no doubt , a small interest ; " but millions of islanders might be supplied with British exports from that depot , if its trade were efficiently protected , and if its mines were worked with vigour , by private or associated enterpr ise .
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< tmm Cararah
Luf This Depa.Btmbni, As Am. Opinioitp, ...
LUf THIS DEPA . BTMBNI , AS AM . OPINIOITP , HOWEVER IXTKEME , A . HE AUOWED Alf EXPKBSSION " , THE EBITOB OTSCESSAltir . Y HOLDS HIMSELF BESPOWSIBIJS TOR NOSH . 2
There Is No Learned Man But Will Confess...
There is no learned man but will confess he hath much , profited by ; reading controversies , his senses awakenecL and his judgment sharpened . If , then , it t oe profitable for him to read , -why should it not , at Least , be tolerable for his adversary to write ?—Milton .
Sir)—I Have No Wish, To Detract In The S...
SiR )—I have no wish , to detract in the slightest de " gree from the merits of Mr . Leslie , Belfast , iu his plans for tlie future of our standing avmy ; but I beg distinctly to state that the very same proposals were published by me a"botit a year ago in the Morning JJerald . I have long studied the question of the improvement o our soldiers , during a very lengthened service in the army , and I consider of nil the means of obtaining soldiers that of giving large bounties is the most vicious . It makes a drunken j-abble of soldiers , and wastes the public money in brutal dissipation . X am , Six' , yotu 1 obedient Servant An Old Soldier . 17 th February , 1856 .
Funeral Of Tub Late Duke Ot Norfolk.—Tho...
Funeral of tub Late Duke ot Norfolk . —Tho l'eraains of this nobleman were on Tuesday buried in state in tho private chupel attached to tho parish church of Arundel . The Gbeat Norti-ibrn Railway . —Tho chairman of this lino announced at the half-yearly meeting hint Saturday that the disagroemont between tho Grout Northern Company and tho various competing oojipqnies had , been Bettled . It had been agreed botwoon the disputants that tho questions at isauo shnll again be referred to Mr , Gladstone , who is to bo requested to undertake the re-distribution of the traffic comprised . in Ins former award , and of tho towns added tlioroto , and such other places as can bo reaohod by the parties conoernod ; tho award to dafco from tho 1 st of January in tho present year . Tho oomjietition an regards fores is to ceaao .
Piiojeothd Removal ov Nhwoatm Pwson to Holloway . —Alderman Cubttt , in tho Court of Aidermen on Tuesday , brought up tho report of tho committee appointed to inquiro into tho onndit ' on of Newgate , ana also into the oxpodionoy of abolishing the prison altogether , and making provision for tho prisoners at Id ! olio way and olHowhoro . It « ppo < u'H that tho prison is oxbromoly jnoonvoniont , and olfbrw fncllitioa for © floap . 0 . Finally , in was agrood " that tho report bo received , and that it bo referred back to tlio oomiHlttoe to aot therein aa they rahall think fit . "
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 1, 1856, page 14, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01031856/page/14/
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