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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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1222 THE . LEADE B . [ No . 300 , Saturday ,
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THE WAR IN ASIA . Tile fall of Kara has greatly altered the aspect of the Avar in Asia . So long as the brave garrison of that fortified position held out the Russians were grievously checked , and every movement in Armenia and Kurdistan was necessarily suspended . But it has long been foreseen that unless a powerful diversion were operated , or a determined effort made to relieve the place , or the winter compelled General Mouravieff to retire to Gumri , Kars must fall . At first it is obvious Mouravieff placed too high a value on the operations of Omar Pacha and Selim Pacha , and that led him to attempt the capture of Kafs by storm . By steadfastly keeping his ground , even after the terrible defeat of the 29 th September , and the setting in of the winter , Mouravieff showed that he estimated the diversion of ' Omar Pacha at its true value , that he rightly counted on the tardiness or weakness of Seliai Pacha , and that he probably knew to an ounce the amount of stores there were in Kars . How was Kars lost to Turkey ? It is not enough to say that CbfAR Pacha did not undertake sufficiently soon his diversion ; that JSeom Pacha did not move from Erzeroum ; that the Anglo-Turkish contingent did not hasten to the relief of Kars . "Why did they not do so ? Surely it is too much to reply—Turkish apathy ; because the Anglo-Turkish Contingent is not under the orders of the Sublime Porte . A relieving army might have marched , either from Trebizond or Batoum , directly on Kars , or a strong army might , early in the summer , have operated an effective diversion on the Rhion . These things were not done . Not a private soldier , French or English , has shown himself in Armenia , only three or four officers were sent there early in the struggle . The apathy of the Porte does not account for the absence of the Allies . Kars was a town of great importance - —the flanking watchtower on the road to Persia , the outer gate of Erzeroum , the feeble counterpoise to Gumri . Surely , the French and English Governments alike see the importance of Asia to both their interests . _ If Russia succeed in Asia , she will deal serious blows at England and France . The sovereignty of the Levant is more a French than an English question , just as a settlement in the Persian gulf would be more an English than a French question . Russia aims at Syria as well as the Persian gulf . Would France like to see Russia a Mcditercrancan Power ? Something more is needed to account for tho abstinence from action in Asia on the part of the Western PoAvers than tho statements in the leading journal and other quarters . Something , we are persuaded , has been kept back , or is discreetly withheld by those who have it in their possession , which would fully account lor the disasters of the Asian campaign . Shall we ever know ?—if we did , would it avail us ( Tho present state of tho campaign is very perplexing . Omau Pacha is said to bo in or near Kutaia . Hae ho then heard of tho full of
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There is nothing so revolutionary , because tnere is nothing so unnatural an-d . conVulsive as the strain to keep things fixed when all the -world is by the very aw of its creation , in eternal progress . —He . Arnold .
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THE GUARDS' MEMORIAL . Upwards of a year ago Her Majesty ' s Government , adopting the recommendation of a commission , made many improvements in the promotion of officers . Among others ifc was ordered that all Lieutenant-Colonels actually in command of regiments or battalions for three years , should become Colonels . Up to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel promotion may be purchased ; beyond that rank , except for distinguished service , promotion goes by rule and -routine . But before the warrant of October , 1854 , there was virtually one rule of promotion for her Majestv ' s Guards , another for the officers in her Majesty ' s regiments'of the Line . A few words will explain this . The Brigade of Guards is composed of seven fcattalions , each battalion being practically , a regiment . The officers of each battalion held higher rank than the corresponding officers of the Line . As long ago as 1687 , King James conferred the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in the army on the Captains of the Guards ; in . 1691 , WrLLiAM the Third conferred the rank of Captain in the army on the Lieutenants ; in 1815 , King George the Third conferred the rank of Lieutenant on the Ensigns . Thus , in the race for promotion , the Guards were always one step ahead of the Line . A Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel in the Guards could exchange into a Line regiment , and take the command—a thing not unfrequently done . The consequence of this state of things was , that the officers of the Guards rose more rapidly to the rank of Colonel and Major-General than their brethren of tho Line . Of course , besides being exempt from harassing foreign service , the y had higher pay than the officers of the Line , and were in every way a petted and privileged corps . They did not , nay , they do not , even take their orders from . the Cominander-in-Chief , but from the Crown , t > eing in fact the most monarchical of our institutions . These privileges havo long been held , and justly , to be grievances by the Linesmen ; . and it has frequently been in debate , both as a mutter of politics and military polity , , whether it is wise or just to maintain such a privileged corps . We looked upon tho war-, rant of October , 1854 , as a stop in the right direction ; and it is undeniable that its effect , JWtiS to take away one of tho privileges of the t&uaxds . Had the warrant simply ordered that all Lieutenant-Colonels should become ¦ . Colonela after three years' service , of course . iHw privilege of tho Guards would have been
untouched , and all their Captain Lieutenant-Colonels ^ although only commanding companies , would have been eligible for promotion . Btit the warrant wisely excluded all the Captains in the Guards who were not serving as acting Majors or mounted officers ; that is , all who were not in command of battalions . This was only just to the line ; for it would have been a mockery to confer the same rights on those who were only Captains of companies , as were conferred on those who actually commanded regiments . But this decision greatly enraged the Guardsmen . They consulted together , and determined to petition the Queen for redress . What course did they adopt ? Secretly they drew up an able but tedious memorial of their grievances ; put forward the antiquity of their privileges ; urged their " vested interests . " Yet they interlarded their statements with protestations that did not grudge the Linesmen their chances of promotionthat they did object to be more on an equality with the Line . They insisted that they were hardly treated ; that juniors had jumped over their heads ; and they did not hesitate to charge the authorities with a breach of faith . This memorial was signed—by whom ? Remember that it was to be presented to the Queen ; that it prayed Her Majesty to put her loyal Guards on a " footing of equality" with the rest of the army . The first name in the list of signatures is—the Queen ' s husband" Albert , F . M ., Colonel of the Grenadier Guards ; " the third is the Queen ' s cousin—¦ " George , Lieutenant-General , Colonel of the Scots Fusilier Guards . " The others were Field-Marshal Lord Strafford , Colonel Wood , Colonel Uptok , and Colonel Moncrieffe . It is hardly possible to conceive a more painful , a more improper position than that in which the Prince Consort has placed himself . He , a Field - Marshal , a Colonel of Guards , ranks unearned by military serviceranks without corresponding duties , lends his name to a prayer for invidious privileges on behalf of the Brigade in which he nominally commands—three battalions . For , be it remembered , that these Colonelcies are barely realities in anything but pay . The real Colonel of the Grenadier Guards is " Thomas Wood . " The titular Colonelcies are professedly intended to be rewards for distinguished or meritorious services , and it was understood that these very Colonelcies of the Guards should be reserved for distinguished men . What a farce it is . The other officers may be forgiven for their share in this memorial ; btit the public , whether they forgive or not , will surely never forget that the Queen ' s husband , at a moment when the Line is shedding its blood as freely as the Guards , petitioned his wife for a restoration of military privileges in favour of the latter that justice and policy alike had abolished . It may be a question whether there should be any privileged corps in an army . Even under a limited monarchy tho distinction seems to imply that one section is a royal , the other a national , body of troops . It is rather too late in the day to maintain a distinction which is a relic of despotism . The Guards are not a picked but a privileged corps . Their officers , for the men do not enter into this controversy , are remarkable for their wealth and connections ; they are not chosen because they are the best officers in tho service , which they would bo were they a picked body . They fight well ; but soldiering is , with rare exceptions , not a profession with them—it is a mode of life . It is an open question whether picked corps , to belong to which is a real military distinction , and which forms a model to the army , is a good military institution ;
but there are few who will not condemn , as unjust and impolitic , at least in England , a privileged corps like the Guards . It is not likely , that however willing her Majesty may be to give Albert's comrades what she is told is their due , she Avill be able to prevail on Ministers to accord her wish . This , of course , only makes the position of the Prince Consort and of the Queen , the more painful ; but it may be a lesson to the Prince to eschew military matters , and confine his energies to the Department of Practical Art , and to the Society of Arts , and other similarly innocuous and inoffensive subjects .
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NOTICES TO CORRESPONDENTS . NT * -nntx ^ o ean be taken of anonymous communications Whatever ^ tended for insertion roust be authenticated by the name and address of the writer ; not necessarily for nnblfcatton , but as a guarantee of bis good faith . Communications should always be legibly written , and on ^ one side of the paper on ly . If long , it increases the difficulty of finding space for them . "We cannot undertake to return rejected communications . It is impossible to acknowledge the mass of letters we receive . Their insertion is often delayed , owing to a press of matter ; and when omitted , it is frequently from reasons quite independent of the merits of the communication . "The Law of Partnership" ( continued ) , and several other articles , arc unavoidably omitted this week .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 22, 1855, page 1222, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2120/page/10/
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