19 MAY 1849, Page 14

PLAN FOR ABOLISHING PURCHASE IN THE ARMY.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SPECTATOR.

Sue—I am induced by your remarks upon the promotion by purchase in the Army, in your number for the 28th April, to address you a few observations upon that subject, which ought to receive more general attention than has yet been given to it. People seem to think that it is a merely military question; as if any- thing that affects the efficiency of so very important an instrument of government as the armed force does not demand the consideration of every individual in- terested in the safety and prosperity of the nation. The present system of promotion by purchase was forced upon the King and the Secretary at War, who were both fully alive to the consequences; but the self- ish desire of individuals to secure to their own class, as much as possible, the su- perior grades of the Army, was accomplished in spite of King and Secretary.

The Secretary at War, Lord Barrington, in the letter which he writes to the Secretary to the Board of General Officers formed in 1766, to fix the price of the commissions, says—" Officers who buy are permitted to sell ; men who find them- selves growing old or infirm dispose of their commissions, which are purchased by the young and healthy ; and thus what has been once bought continues for ever at sale, especially in time of peace, except now and then in a ease of sudden or unex- pected death. The consequence often is, that men who come into the Army with the warmest dispositions to the service, whose business becomes their pleasure, who distinguish themselves on every occasion that offers, are kept all their lives in the lowest ranks, because they are poor. These meritorious officers have often the cruel mortification of seeing themselves commanded by young men of opulent families who come much later into the service, and whose fortunes have enabled them to amuse themselves frequently elsewhere; while the others, continually at quarters, have done the duty of those gentlemen, and have learnt their own." During the last twenty years, promotion by purchase has been very much in- creased; and the advocates for continuing the system say, that, having that honest regard for vested rights" which John Bull (and very properly) has always shown, it would require an enormous sum to compensate these officers for their purchased commissions. You seem to admit this difficulty yourself, when you say, "The fact that the commissions have been purchased constitutes a strong vested interest against reforms of the system." Now this difficulty is not insurmountable if the change be effected gradually; thus—

Let the purchaser of a commission have the right to sell it ; but be cannot complain if by accepting farther promotion without purchase he forfeit that right. Many now are tempted to sell by being offered extravagant prices, illegal prices, beyond the regulated amount. This should be abolished. It is a rule in the Army, that if an officer bepromoted without purchase he does not pass over seniors in his own regiment—he is promoted into another corps if he is not the senior of his grade: let the same rule apply to promotion by purchase, the Commander-in-chief finding the successor to a sold commission. This would have the additional effect of putting a stop to the perpetual intriguing, and bar- gaining and jobbing which obtain in almost every regiment to make up a purse to tempt the seniors to sell.

Permit none to sell who have not purchased. If these changes were made, purchase would be reduced so much that there would be merely in the Army that degree of influence left to wealth which it may fairly have; and in twenty years there would probably not be a saleable commis- sion in the service.

There are two classes of officers in the regular Army—the purchasers and the non-purchasers. The former require no specification; the latter are generally the sons of officers, and of clergymen—the offspring of unprofitable trades, the Church and the Army—and men who through merit rise from the ranks. From these, few as are now left in the service, have sprung some good officers; of late, Sale, Wiashire, Smith, Cureton, &c. Of course the classes blend into each other, some having the means of purchasing one or two steps only; but such may be classed, as far as interest goes, with the non-purchasers.

It is said that the seller is pensioned at the expense of the purchaser: not s0 it is at the expense of those passed over. The purchaser, whatever he may give, gets ample remuneration for his outlay. Present rank, increased pay, and ulti mately a high command—the colonelcy of a regiment, the government of a co- lony. It is also absurdly arkued that purchasing helps the non-purchaser! BY passing him over? by putting younger men above him in room of his seniors? or by ultimately allowing him to sell an inferior commission, instead of retiring on the pension of a superior, with that professional rank which it has ever been his heart's dearest wish to possess? Look at the catalogue of our military publications: what can be more meagre? Why ?—because professional acquirements go for nothing in our Army: money, money alone procures promotion. As has been truly said, many a man dances for promotion; a rich wife king better than professional qualification to secure pre- ferment.

[Oar correspondent enclosed a copy of Lord Barrington's excellent letter: practical, considerate, and clear-headed, it might still be examined with advan- tage by military authorities.]