SIR FREDERICK SMITHsaid, he would beg to ask the Secretary of State for War, Whether the Government have any objection to lay upon the Table of the House Copies of any Correspondence on the project referred to in the Report of the Council of Military Education for the extension of the Royal Military College, Sandhurst, so as to admit of all candidates for the Cavalry, Guards, and Line, who have passed the usual examinations for Commissions, receiving at that institution a course of professional instruction and training previous to joining the Army?
COLONEL KNOXsaid, that he wished to ask if the Government have taken into consideration the question of the competitive examination with respect to the Staff appointments? It seemed to him that the double examination which those Officers had to undergo was altogether unnecessary,
§ MR. SIDNEY HERBERTsaid, that in the regulations issued a short time back by the Commander-in-Chief an exception was made respecting staff examinations, and it was provided that officers should be appointed to the staff without examination when they had proved themselves qualified for that post by previous service. As to the papers which were asked for by the hon. 737 Member for Chatham (Sir F. Smith), it was true that the subject of first admissions into the army was one the importance of which could not well be over-estimated, and that plans had been proposed by which all officers entering the army would be compelled to pass through the school at Sandhurst. In their published Report all these plans had been given, for the Military Council did not stint the House in information. Whether, however, the correspondence which had passed between the heads of Departments in the discussion of this question should be published was another matter. He believed that the compulsory entrance at Sandhurst was brought forward at a Cabinet meeting held in November, 1858; and it was clear that if the House wanted to know the grounds of the decision then arrived at by the Government, they ought equally to know the arguments which influenced that decision, which would be nothing more nor less than making the discussions of a Cabinet Council public. In the same way he did not think that the correspondence between the Secretary of State, the Council of Military Education, and the Commander-in-Chief ought to become Parliamentary documents. If the first impressions which were formed and expressed by the heads of Departments on any subject, and which were often afterwards modified or changed altogether, were to be given to the world, the consequence would be that no man would offer an opinion, or that, if he did offer one, it would be in the form of a private letter which could not be published. A full power of consultation must be given in all such cases without the restriction which would be imposed by the chance of future publicity. A new proposal had recently been made by the Council of Education, which obviated many of the objections taken to their former proposals; but the adoption of the plan would be very expensive, as new buildings must then be provided at Sandhurst for the accommodation of officers. He was willing to admit that the present system, by which some officers were admitted direct, and others through Sandhurst, was open to many objections, for at present a positive advantage was enjoyed by the former, whose examination was much less severe than that undergone by officers at Sandhurst. For the reasons he had stated, he thought it would be seen that there would be a great objection to grant the correspondence which had been asked for.
738 Before sitting down, the House would perhaps allow him to reply to a question which had been recently put to him respecting the Turkish medals. On a former occasion he had stated that these medals had arrived and would be distributed immediately. That, however, was a mistake. The medals had not arrived; and news had been received that the Pomona, the vessel in which they were deposited, had foundered and all the medals had gone to the bottom. The Government had telegraphed for information, and had inquired whether it would be possible to recover the cargo; but the answer was that it was quite impossible. Great disappointment would no doubt be felt on this point, but he felt bound to let the House know how the matter stood.