THE NEW CHIEF COMMAND IN INDIA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume V, Issue 568, 14 April 1858, Page 3

THE NEW CHIEF COMMAND IN INDIA.

•(From the 'Spectator.') -The reorganization of the Indian army has begun; whatever may be its particular mode of embodiment 6r classification; the course taken by the new Commander-in-chief, Sir Colin Campbell, marks the change from a regime of laxity to'one of rigid discipline. The punishment of a young officer is the most trifling incident of this renovated action ; the severest part of Sir Colin's censure is not directed to the individual, but to his brother officers and to the whole system. Lieutenant Ouseley was convicted by courtmartial of having been drunk on duty in She outlying pickets at Dinapore; but he was recommended to mercy, "on account of' the recent exposure, hardships, and excessive anxiety of mind he had undergone, without food for days, and in, hourly expectation of being murdered; and also on account of his youth and inexperience." Sir Colin Campbell sum-; marily and totally disallowed this l-econimenda-tion, censured those who had made it, and dismissed the accused from the service. It is possible that the young man may have real excuses for his misconduct. It happens sometimes that, from the effect of excessive fatigue, [ a cordial which would in most easels only restore strength takes effect on the brain and occasions intoxication. In the case of a very young man, such an accident, coupled with a general system of laxity, would certainly not be without moral excuse : and he will be visited in his enforced retirement with sympathy. But that which is excusable in an individual is inexcusable in a system, and a reform may necessarily begin at some moment with pi'actical examples. Perhaps it is a'less offence to be inadvertently surprised by intoxication, even at a post of such danger, than to regard intoxication with tolerance. There were other offences committed. The Field-officer of the day shrunk from the duty of placing the offender under arrest, and removing him at once from his picket, 'in thus deliberately leaving a drunken man in command of an important post, tho Field-officer was influenced apparently by habits of laxity, and by a spirit of courtesy to tho individual. If our empire has not been placed in danger by these two causes combined, wo have at all events witnessed a tremendous loss of treasure, and the most frightful calamities to which human nature can be subjected, through

those causes of lax discipline and personal indulgence. The practice of visiting such offences with "mercy"—that is,-tolerating them—has ended in those disasters and horrors. If we put the two extremes of the case together, we at once see what an ahuse of terms it is to use the word "mercy." Ifc was mercy or indulgence for theOuseleys of the army that made the opportunity for Lucknow, Delhi, and Cawnpore. This not the only occasion on which Sir Colin Campbell has censured the findings of courts-martial. JFonr privates of the Queen's lOfch Regiment were tried on a charge of murdering a soubadar major of the 10th Native Infantry at Dinapore, and were acquitted; but Sir Colin animadverts on the haste and carelessness with which the finding of the court had been drawn up. Two privates of the same regiment were tried for having made prisoner of Major Hallibarton of the 78th Kegiment while going his rounds with his field officer: their defence was, that they were ordered by their sergeant; and Sir Colin bestows great pains in discriminatingbetween the mechanical obedience of the men and grossly mutinous conduct of their sergeant,—remarking, that the court-mar-tial by which he was tried had not exercised its full powers in sentencing him. In his remarks on thep'useley case and its irregularities, while chastising the discipline amongst regimental and field-officers, Sir Colin calls upon all officers in command to suport him "in vindicating the discharge of military duty." "Much of the calamity from which the State is now suffering," he says, "results from general slackness in the performance of painful duty." The staff officers are warned that " they will not be retained at their posts when luke-warm-ness can be proved against them." Sir Colin Campbell expects rigid discipline, precise discrimination in the execution of orders and of punishments, exactness in forms of procedure, and zeal,- in short, he is extorting from all officers who hope to be promoted, or to retain their posts^ the actual display of military virtue. This is a species of command which will make itself felt. It is following out the spirit of Sir Charles' Napier's administration, but in a precise and more applicate manner. It is calculated to convert the whole of the Indian forces from a loose and inefficient machine into an effective instrument. It is tantamount to a large but costless recruitment of the army. It is anticipating one of the most important reforms that any re-construction of the Indian Government could secure.