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-who ^ rdFffiat jnece T work , ^ o Far so ; commissions were made legally s aleable , and , by-and-by , towards the close of the reign of George III ., Government undertook to regulate the tariff of prices for commissions , instead of allowing their value to-be , determined by " the higgling of the market . " You would say , -that . was a reasonable and good regulation . But reasonable ' regulations for bad things . never-seem ; to thrive . Q ? he reasonable regulation in rthis case was a decided violation ¦
-of the , principles of free trade , for when a , public commission became a marketable com-. modity ,-and the honour of serving the Queen one of the public " stocks , " its price was subject to the laws of supply and demand . What has been the result of attempting to withdraw it from the operation of those laws ? Notwithstanding the fact , that to give or take a a . higher than the regulation price renders the buyer liable to be cashiered , and the seller to conviction for a misdemeanour , it is a regular -thing to exact and receive a much higher price than the regulation price . If an officer
is poor or conscientious , and insists on paying only the regulation price , his life is made intolerable to him in his regiment—and naturally , for he has sought to diminish the value of the property common to all his comrades . of the mess . So that even this boasted regimental system of our so-called army is good only for the ^ privates and non-commissioned officers . And why ? Because they are neither promoted by seniority nor purchase , but by merit . And if good sergeants can be - 'got under this -system , why not good captains , good majors , good lieutenant-colonels ?
The whole question is begged by those who oppose the abolition of -the system of purchase , when they say that the sergeants are not fit for promotion , that good officers cannot be got from the ranks , that labourers are destined to be privates , and gentlemen destined to be officers . One would think there was really some broad line of demarcation between Brown , the ploughman , and the Honourable Browtc , of Brown "Hall . One would think that all the
Honourable Browns in the army are well-educated men , having decidedly military talents , and that the other Browns only have talents for fighting and the goose step . The real question is , would not tilei ranks furnish a fair proportion of military talent if promotion went by merit instead of by gold ? "Would not the army , as a profession , be swept clear of the
ephemera that now don its gay garniture for a few . years , and be filled with men who make soldiering a business ? We are told that the army would be made " mercenary" if men were promoted by merit j and this by the very men who make a traffic of her Majesty ' s commission , and who invest in sabres and epaulettes , as other men invest in shares and trade .
We are told that this system of purchase saves the country a heap of money . It does nothing- of the kind . Under the delusion , that the pay of an officor is only interest on capital invested , and that other delusion , that it is cheaper to let a man realise an annuity by selling his commission , what do we get ? Why , wo got an inefficient , ill-instructed army , "which totally breaks down when put to the ocough test of continuous war . Efficiency is the true measure of cost . That is expensive which does not do its work when . wanted ; that
is cheap which easily and completely accomplishes the purpose for which it is designed . The millions spent on the British army are the price we pay for the continuance of that system of which promotion by purchase is a glaring illustration . The truth is that this practice , legal but Corrupt , is one of the things that prevent the British army from being- a trujy national force . It 4 a the most Tory of . all our institutions *
except , iperhaps , ithe Church * < wliere ia -similar principle prevatfs- ^ admiawoitfbyipurdhase . ¦ ¦ Q ? he . commission * preserTeiis''bne > of ^ the lastafeltcs of 'those privileges , ; fco-aodious and so 'Unjust , { hat revolutions almost * aTe required to sweep away . The iDuke of Wel , ei « gt 6 n never minced tha miatter : ——t " Ifcis the prombtion'bypurchase , '' said the Diike , " -which-brings into * the service men of Yortune and education ( 2 ) , men who ihave -some connexion-with . the interests and fortunes of the country , besides . the commissions which they hold from , her Majesty . It is this circumstance which exempts the British army 'from the character df" being a ' mercenary ; ^ . rmy , ' and has Tendered its employment for nearly a century , and a half , not > only not : inconsistent -with the constitutional privileges of-the . country , but . safe and beneficial . "
On this we need not say one word , of . comment . The Duke of Wellington did not always escape from the influence -of . party political prejudices . Had he-been less of a tFory it . is possible that the British . army in the Crimea * would have been more -efficient , < and the campaign of 1854 less an opprobiumonour military fame . mr
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LOUIS KOSSUTH IN DEFENCE OF HUNGARIAN HEF 0 RM . We have received the following letter , and give it all the prominence we can : — ( To the Editor of the Leader ^) 8 , South Bank , Eegent ' s Paric , March 29 , 1855 . Sib , —I have been taken aghast , by seeing in the last ¦ week ' s number of the Leader , the astounding statement that " it is Austria who abolished the class distinctions and odious privileges of the nobles in Hungary—Austria who has rendered all equal before the law , has introduced railways , and placed Hunr gary in apposition to develop her material andpplitical resources . " ~ ¦ . - .
I cannot think—judging from the general character of your estimable paper—that you could have had the intention deliberately to insult the honour of my natioa . I must _ -therefore __ attribute that misstatenient to an utter ¦ unacquaintance with the past and contemporary history of Hungary . But I beg leave to express my supreme astonishment at this unacquaintance , after having seen the cause of my native country stand for years so prominently before the eyes of the civilised world , that so much knowledge of its history has become a household tale almost in every cottage on both sidesj of the Atlantic , as should have protected the honour of the Hungarian nation from such an insulting outrage .
.. . . . That statement , Sir , is so astoundingly false , as if the writer of that article would undertake -to-advance that it is Satan who died for the redemption of mankind upon the Cross on Golgotha . The honour of my nation , which has a right to be held sacred in her great misfortune , commands me to declare , that before God , before the world , and history , I give a ^ denial to that statement the most flat , the most peremptory , and the most unconditional , of which the human tongue is capable . I declare the statement to be the reverse of truth
and of history . I invite you to look to the declaration of the Independence of Hungary , to our laws of 1848 , and to the history of my nation's long and consistent first strife and exertion ; their sacrifices , and at lost struggle for freedom to all , without distinction of race or creed , and equality of duties and of rights . I claim from you to respect her national honour , if you do not pity her unmerited misfortune . I beg from your equanimity that this tribute to truth , and this reparation of a mistake so strango , that it baffles imagination , be placed conspicuously before your readers in the next number of your paper ; and have the honour to be , with particular consideration ,
Sir , your obedient and humble servant , JJ . KossuTit . It is not for us to enter into any controversy with the Governor of Hungary ; a man who has occupied so conspicuous a position in advancing its reforms , in making a stand against the unconstitutional proceedings of the Government at Vienna in 1848 , and in expounding the claims of Hungary , during- her worst days , throughout the world . As a journalist , as a conductor of affairs , as a statesman , M . Kos-SUTH has an acquaintance with Hungary which would' preclude us 'from entering iutOj any statement counter to his . We should notj
ffight wHh * eqt * il * we&poito , i « ttd ^ % e haffe * no desire to be on opposite sides . It ^' quite true < that the reforms of 'Hungary' ' ^ egten ' a' ^ arter -of a seeritufy before"the revolution , 'Sna'tfiatffhe ' Hungarians themselves ? h * d < t ^ enthe ' te ^ i ^ nd made-verygreat progress'iu # te directionHiiti-• mated by our distinguished 'Correspondent . We should » be quite unable Ho refer to the bills proposed bythe temporary 1 'Governtnenfc'of 1848 ; 0 butwe 'believe'the'fact that the particular measures 'towhich we alluded 'were passed under the authority of 'the Austrian 'Government after * that of * the revolution had ceased
to exist . ^ There is no denial in the'foregoing letter of the statement that the Austrian Government "has passed measures extremely useful < to 'the body of the ' Hungarian people , or that it has carried out Imperial improvements x > f 'the most'important kind , political' as well as economical . ' Indeed , we have : to regret 'that in the contradiction which M . Kx > ssuth'has thought it necessary-to-make , there are not stated any of those facts which would have supplied the deficiency that he observes An our own reference to the subject .
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THE SAFETY -OF NEWSPAPERS > U : N ! E > 3 ER THENEWBILL . The debate on Monday night' « an hardly fa"il to elevate the Commons of England in "the eyes of the nation . For ' More * tban a month past the power of the press , in very influential quarters , 'h as been put forward to induce honourable members to view with distrust the Government Stamp and Postal Bill . Yet , nevertheless and notwithstanding , an independent and powerful majority voted for the wider freedom of the press of England — time when the . nations around are dreading ihe public criticism , which English . politicians are willing to dare . The result will ^ do no Jess honour to their spirit than to their Judgment . A hundred years have elapsed since Waipole imposed Parliamentary fetters on -the periodical press of this country . The eminence to which British Journalism has attained under these disabilities , foreshadows , we . believe , the progress it will make in moderation , puri * yy and strength , under the reign of freedom—that universal condition of growth and development . Practically , _ Sir <* kQRGe . Coknbwakl Lewis ' s bill bids fair to work well . It will
¦ secure the right of posting and re-posting 'to all existing newspapers , and to all that may be registered as such . Whoever , therefore , requires the postal privileges will enjoy it as now ; and whoever does not want it needndt pay for it . All who wish to post and re-post papers to their friends , can still do so ; and all who require papers posted to them can have them posted at the same cost as now ; and all who can get papers at their own doors without the intervention of the Post-office , will no
longer be taxed for the convenience of those who cannot . This arrangement will greatly benefit the existing newspapers . Where one remote resident is now content to receive ^ a journal by the charitable forethoug ht of * ° ™ metropolitan relative or friend , ten will be inclined , and five will be able , to buy copvCB
for themselves . Human nature everywhere shows that a penny comp ulsorytax acts as a greater impediment to expenditure than-twopence which is optional . Since the newspaper stamp was reduced from fourpenco to one penny , thousands . oi newspapers have been added to the publfe ch-culation . So it will be again . The thirst for knowled ge—democratic at the commencement—always ends by being aristocratic , m becoming the thirst for the best . Cheap an £ common journals will arise , but only to pavO the way for dcaror and better . It waff so when Sir Edward Bulwer LrTTOi ^ s fiiUwaypaased ;
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March £ t , 1855 . ] J £ mM E&A ^ aBm . J * W > 3
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), March 31, 1855, page 303, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2084/page/15/
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