IRRESPONSIBLE GOVERNMENT OF THE ARMY.
THE report of Lord HILL'S resignation has not been confirmed. The Tory Lord still rules at the Horse Guards, by the good plea- sure of the KING, nominally with the approbation, really in defi- ance and to the manifest injury and discredit of the King's re- sponsible Ministers. The position of Lord MELBOURNE and his colleagues, as respects the control of the military department of the Government, has not been improved since we last alluded to this subject ; and the following statement of Colonel THOMPSON, in a letter addressed on the 16th instant to his constituents at Hull, is likely, we fear, to hold good for some time to come. In allusion to the support of the flogging system by Ministers in the House of Commons, the Colonel says- " But there is some secret. It is not in the nature of things, that men of good families and decent education, should exhibit themselves hour after hour, pouring out the obsolete commonplaces which their party has risen to power by exploding, risking the attachment of their followers, and running at every moment against the memory of sonic great man among their predecessors who lives in the hearts of the community for having trampled on the very absurdities to which they are now contented to appeal,—without some reason, gross, palpable, and capable of being defined. Shall I attempt the defini- tion ? They have submitted to, a compact, which it would not be difficult to bring within the limits of what in the cases of unprospelous men is denominated treason, for excepting the regulations of the Army front the con- stitutional responsibility and direction which apply to the other branches of the Government. They have consented to undertake a fragment of the admi- nistration, and to allow the remaining fraction to lapse into the state of irre- sponsibility in which it may have existed under the Tudors and the Montage- nets. Instead of a responsible administrator of the Aritny, the Ministers (with my ears I heard them say it) are to be responsible for the selection of the irre- sponsible; and with this kind of responsibility once removed, and next of kin to no responsibility at all, the people are to be cheated of a fraction of the Con- stitutional Monarchy they thought they hail secured. The Army is to be a casus omissus ! it is to be out of the constitution, or to be a constitution of itself. The British Government is to be a party to the Quadruple Treaty ; save always St. James's and the Horse Guards, and they are to be with the camp of Don Carlos. We have not a Government, or we have two Goiern- inents. We have an ostensible Ministry, producing themselves on certain benches of the Houses of Lords and Commons; and we have a Camarillo, sitting God knows where, intending God knows what, and educating the Army in such habits and expectations as may be best suited to their purpose. This is a state of things which cannot last; but it is the state, and it is as well to know it."
We agree with Colonel THOMPSON that this is a state of things which cannot last, though it may endure too long for the public good. The discussion on Sir WILLI sst MOLESWORTH'S motion in regard to Lord BRUDENELL'S appointment may help to put an end to it. The system of governing the Army by the prerogative may lead to consequences which every friend to the Monarchy will grieve for. The fine talk, that party politics should have nothing to do with military appointments and regulations,—and therefore that the House of Commons, and the Ministers, who are the servants of the House, should not meddle with them,—every one knows to be mere pretence. The Army is made an instrument in prop- ping Toryism, and a means of succouring faction. The with- drawal of its management from the responsible Government has trot prevented its becoming an engine of party : out of Parlia- ment the very idea is scouted. But now that the unconstitutional position of Ministers as re- gards the Army is avowed,—now that all mystification on that point is exploded, and it is clear that Lord MELBOURNE has no more power at the Horse Guards than in Westminster Hall,— that his authority over Lord HILL is not greater than over Lord AHINGER,—it has become the duty of the House of Com- mons to interfere with decision and effect. It is probable that, next session, an attempt at least will be made to stop the Mili- tary Supplies, until the establishment at the Horse Guards is put on a more satisfactory footing. The Representatives of the People cannot suffer this mighty engine to be played by hostile hands against the best interests of their constituents. It is be- ginning to be understood that misgovernment in other depart' ments of the State is closely connected with, and fostered by, the irresponsible administration of the Army, and of the enormous sums dedicated to its maintenance. Great changes spring from circumstances comparatively trivial in themselves ; and we should not be surprised if the unjustifiable appointment of Lord BRUDE- NELL were to lead to a remodelling of the whole military system of the country. If such should not be the result of the present working of the public mind on this subject, we may expect re- peated attacks on what has hitherto been deemed the unimpeach- able exercise of the prerogative; and finally, a struggle, which if persevered in must be successful, to wrest the command of the Army from the Crown. Really, if our rulers are prudent as well as loyal, they will check the growth of public dissatisfaction, by subjecting the Commander-in-Chief to Ministerial responsibility.
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