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    Untitled Article

    laser ' s Clerk , ' and from those who may "be taken as representing the various classes of society , asking for such arrangements as will enable them to take service . The Horse Guards has received so large a heap of letters from young gentlemen proposing to raise a company of a hundred men as the price of a commission in the army , that a limit has necessarily been put to tha number who have "been authorized to proceed , because it was felt that the young gentlemen might be interfering with the regular recruiting sergeant

    Yet even before this experiment has been worked out— -and in no instance has it yet "been worked out successfully—another is to be tried . Gentlemen * who have already attained to the rank of Field Officers in the army , that is Major at the least , are told that if they can raise a thousand men they shall receive a Ineutenant-Colonel ' s commission , with power to appoint the ten Ensigns in the corps—a valuable piece of patronage . Yet , notwithstanding all these suggestions , there is reason to doubt whether any of the

    official efforts to obtain recruits are successful . The Q-lobe , indeed , declares emphatically that the progress of recruiting has litherto been ¦ ¦ ' satisfactory ; ' but it makes the statement with some remarkable drawbacks . The Artillery is obtaining men at the rate of seven hundred a month . The numbers who are offering as recruits for the Line , whether in Cavalry or Infantry , are also said to be considerable , but by no means adequate to the demand ; and new schemes are announced , as originating with the Horse Guards , or at all events dictated by that department , for expediting the process of

    recruitment . iJet us pause for a moment to compare these two pictures sketched for us by the Times and the Globe . The Tvnies points to the atrocious enemy who is threatening our empire in ;• India ^ iwbo' hns <; inflicted iAid most hideous wrong upon our own bloody who is a gigantic type of tliiit ' blackguard' whom every manly Englishman is perfectly ready to chastise on the spot . The same popular journal also brings before us the

    representatives of very numerous classes who are anxious to enter the army , either under an impulse of patriotism , ' or under the love of adventure , or under an intelligent desire for self-advancementi The persons who ar& anxious to raise volunteer corps for India , to work their way into commission , or to get N up some kind of irregular force in which they may join , are all of them above that grade which would

    consent to serve in the ranks ; they represent , in fact , not' the idregs ; of society , ' but society at large ; 'and they are eager for military employment .. ' ! It would appear' that -if any popular chieftain could raise Ins flag at Charing-cross , in the Grass-market , in Merriob 4 o . uare , ' on Perieriden Heath , or on the once-disastrous field of Peterloo , around him would throng multitudes of Englishmen only too anxious , to' risks life and limb in'tho

    servioet of-then" country for the honour and glory of , the thi ng ;¦•! On-the other hand , the Globe puts before us the authorities at the Horsei Guards . em ploying , at considerable expenseya largo number ¦ iof < practised agents in the business of . recruitiing , and only collecting menabaitate far . too . slow for tlie demand . We ' ean : ada ' 8 oinething ; also to the confessions ot tJbet

    Glole . Besides takiiigimon in numbers inaui&cient . foritho want 6 ft < the day ; wo have onlytoo-. nimoV reason ; to suppose thitt thtt sergeants atrel accepting iiten > decidedly 'below the'tdaual standard , nofcbnly in height , but in Duiidciuadi ieonstitutidnu : Hero 'is * a burloua Jta te , ofi : ihingp—the military' atithoriti ^ , on tnerxmo haflW ^ anxioQB'lto'iobtiain- recrn'ftfc ! oh thosjaieDihartdjiitoiy atriious ioobtain military ' © mpbiy iiaontvtiu % di iwpovfort & the riupreine '

    Government to put the supply and the demand together ! The Globe announces various measures which are to be carried out henceforward , for the purpose of expediting the recruitment . Amongst others two troops of 100 each are to be added to twelve regiments of cavalry , making 24 new troops—in place of the 42 recently sent out to India . But we have not a word as to the manner in which

    these troops are to be-recruited . Then new regiments are to he formed , amongst them the 5 th -Uoyal Irish Dragoons ; and here perhaps the raw material is ready in the shape of the Irish constabulary . But the Globe remarks that the condition of Belfast is in itself enough to show that defence corps at home should not be too greatly tlrinned , and if the Irish constabulary is to lie sent out to India as the 5 th Royal Irish Dragoons , some other corps will be wanted to moderate

    Ireland s opportunity . ' Evidently the Horse Guards has not yet hit upon the best mode of expediting the entrance into the army of those very recruits who are so anxious to enter it . " We turn back to the Times for a little enlightenment : " The plan of Volunteer Corps has been suggested , and we see no strong reasons , for our part , against such an experiment . " So speaks the Times : but

    the Globe speaks coldly of ' a volunteer corps for the middle-class—a kind of higli-caste regiment •/ and describes other suggestions as being in that awful state called ' under consideration . ' The Times , whose function it is most especially to reflect public feeling , writes entirely in the sense of rendering the nation itself more military , and of popularizing : our military establishments . This

    evidently is the spirit of the day . " We need hardly remind our own readers that it is the spirit in which we have written since the Leader was first established . IJet the nation be its own soldier , and the Government of ther ' natlbti ' v < -ill never want for soldiers . We are quite aware that narrow-minded , timid politicians have construed our arguments on this subject to indicate the encouragement of

    turbulence ; but grievously do such persons mistake the actual feeling * and spirit of the English people . Is the Englishman an animal of so much ferocity , so little prudence , so little common sense , that the ' mere fact of having a pistol and a sword in his hand converts him into an incendiary and a rebel ? Of all people on the face of the earth lie appears to us the least inclined to use such

    instruments with ' rashness , the least liable to handle them clumsily or for wr , ong purposes . On the contrary , the greater the amount of strength reposed in the whole bbdy of the nation , the greater is the pressure put upon any violent and extreme sections of it , the greater tho power which will rally round our Government and its councillors on every emergency . It is no small satisfaction to u * s when we see in this Septeihber such writing in the Times as might have appeared in our columns any time since we first existed .

    Bub what is it which hinders the available bodies of oilr young manhood from becoming military and supplying the soldiers' the coun try wants ? It is that peculiar abuse in our military system' ' ch the War Department , it seems , is the last ' to giVo ' ujp—it is the Purchase kystkni /' . It is that system whicli says that only rich men ' shall be" officers ' . ' What

    mail " would enter the . ChurjCih if he knew at . fche Very beglrihi pg Hint nbne could "be tfeans anct BisiVdpa , '' scarcely even Hectors , unleW ' t | iey were the sons' of riiih Win or noMeinen ? Wh'o would en ' ter - tlio ' 'if all % Wr Lord Chancellors , ' * , Tua $ V 0 ueon : * s " Counsel ? Kfebprder ' s , nn'd ' lAMtah ' t ^ BrtrrisierspWere' ; to ' bb nono but & 6 ha of riclf itie't i ^ o ' rpf influential ptorabns , orWo protect * oT ^ hbh f ' Weiliould

    indeed then have none but rich-bom lawyers - and Heaven defend their clients ! STone bub clergy appointed for their wealth , and then Heaven take care of our souls ! Luckily all Englishmen , whether born to the first floor the garret , or the cellar , have a turn for fighting and soldiering , and even the feather-bed cannot entirely smother that national spirit . Thus the sj ^ stem of Purchase does not , we must confess , so completely unmake ' British soldier in the army as it would unmake the English lawyer , but its effect is thiswe use broad , strong language , and beg the indulgence of men who form brilliant exceptions , and whom really our language does not touch , when we say that its effect is to admit into the army none but ' swells' in commission and' blackguards' in the ranks ; and that respectable men , hopeless of reaching the commission , utterly repugnant to entering the ranks , are sweepingly excluded from the service of their country by that system which forbids promotion to any but rich men and rich men ' s proteges . It is , however , a question between the country and the Government . At present the Government is determined not to yield ; and if the country is content to let Lord Patoiure and his partners in Whitehall and Pall-mall quietly maintain "that intention , we must put up with the mortification of seeing our enemies combated alone by Belgravia and St . Giles ' s , England herself being compelled to stand aside . -

    Untitled Article

    PUBLIC MONEYS . POLITICAL ^ EFFJECTS OF THE REFORM . Ie the report of tlie select ; cbthiriitfcee o ' u public moneys were earned into operation , we should have results which , the Englisli people ought to appreciate in the most solid manner . The amount of money-expended

    for public objects would then in most cases secure those objects ; the amount wasted by the way would be minimized , the opportunities for corruption , would he very , materially reduced , the taxes would be dhniqisheci , and the control of the Elected body over the Executive would be incalculably strengthened . These are the economical and political advantages . " : 'V ' - ' ;¦ ' ¦ " ' " ¦ Until a very i , ; ecent period many branches of the public revenue presented no account at all , the gross receipts of tlie several departments never coining under a review . Many complications iii ibhe systeni permit the grossest irregularities . in the distribution and appropriation of the money , ii ' one of these improprieties could ; exist if . the , plan of the committee Avere executed . Every . farthingauthorized by parliament would a . ppear in accounts , showing , the receipt , transfer , and expenditure . Tljo accoujiits of all the

    departments would , be kept : jn a uniform manner , and the entire finance pfs tlie public could bo surveyed ^ as . easily as one level field . But the economical . advantages would by no means be liinitedijo checks- upou uiisappropriation of cash '; , f > ii the contrary , that hind of saving woul , d ^ form a very smal l portion of the economy that , would by

    degrees be introduQed . At present , money is expended , fo , r , | , ' yaripus Qbjecta , Ayithoufc securing the desired reaulta , and many vatua , l ) lo . objects are precluded from , cxecutioi ^ i aiiripVy by the forco . qf . routine ..-..-. I * cJb , us ' tajco a very ^ small , and , simple , . example ,.. . Some years' 8 uic , c , a ., Mr . Pbi ; deajjx ,, aug ^ fe 3 , ted , 41 plan I ' by yvhi ' cljfiie ) ., used ( ^ . fM ; owv vessel

    ^ , ^ tonld ^ e reiydorftd , . mupiii ( mp » rq , ,, eflicapiQU 3 , wit |» a say ^ g ^ . oi ^ ht or' tea pi eij . c . QJijt- 9 n , t ) jQ < juai ^ tit ; y ^ oi ^ ui itt edj B ; a ^ a Afery ai ^ iall outlay ( or t ^ o ] qj-i ^ a ' lM » appara , tus .,,: Ttp anyention has hoq \ i | actutdhV tripii / wij ;! ji s | ucce , sB on board inoro ' than ono steamer in the Queen ' s ser-

    Untitled Article

    K 0 . 392 v : SEPTgBMPEK ^ 6 ^ 185 ^ T KtE ' fc fe A . I ) E JR , J 92 ^

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 26, 1857, page 925, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2211/page/13/