The only independent speech in defence of Government made on
Thursday was by Lord Sandhurst, who spoke heartily and even warmly in favour of abolition. Promotion, he said, did depend on money, and he did not believe that the moral influ- ence of a commanding officer could be maintained over a thousand men while they knew that command was being put up to auction, and they sold like a flock of sheep. Purchase arose in the days of the Stuarts, and was part of the corruption of their time. He denied the alleged difficulty of administering selection, asserting that he had tried it in large armies, and was not more bothered by solicitations than the Duke of Cambridge was under the pre- sent scheme. He believed that the social feeling of regiments, which was so valuable, would survive Purchase, and held that the prophecies of enormous outlay on retirements were unfounded. Upon Colonel Auson's own figures, the amount could not exceed £250,000 per annum. He concluded a very powerful speech by declaring that we had now 500,000 men under arms, and needed nothing but the organization which, if Purchase were but abolished, the Government had promised.
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