Verona and Brescia, who were acting as partisans of Garibaldi, managed to upset an Austrian military train near Dezenzano, by which a great number of lives were lost, and the passage of troops retarded at a most critical moment.

The Ministry, as well as we can recollect, by the mouth of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, rather declined for the present than actually refused to entertain this proposition, and one of the difficulties put forward, indeed the only one that seemed to have much weight, was that too much patronage would be thereby thrown into the hands of the Ministry of which an improper and unconstitutional use might be made. Now what we venture to propose here would completely obviate this objection, there could be no question of interest or of electioneering in the whole affair; the selection of rank and file, non-commissioned and commissioned officers-for it is the great advantage of the system, that for almost every class and rank in the army corresponding ones exist on all railway establishments would be regulated on the principle of reward for past services conferred in the shape of permanent employment, instead of pension or half-pay The mechanism we would venture to suggest would be as follows:

The Adjutant-General's Department to furnish periodically to the War Office, qualification list of all privates, Non-Commissioned Officers, and officers, desirous of accepting railroad employment, these would specify previous education, trade or profession, capacity, speciality if any, age, health, married or single, &c. &c., and from time to time rectifications, as further promotion, continued good-conduct, degradation by Court-Martial which should disqualify absolutely, total or partial invalidity, death, or the individual in question renouncing his claim.

The War Office should have a special office for registering these candidates, who would be divided into classes corresponding to the civil employments they were entitled to pretend to by their military rank, the names being entered according to seniority in each rank and class. The department of the Public Ministry charged with the administration of the Railways would then have to apply to the War Office for individuals as they might be required, these would serve a certain probationary term at the end of which the definitive appointment would take place, no civilian to be eligible for appointment so long as qualified military candidates were on the list; in fact we have already a prototype very nearly in the corps of Commissionaires.

It is not easy to see how the patronage thus vested in the Ministry could be abused for electioneering purposes; in order to prevent all possibility of abuse in this direction, it should be laid down as a rule that no franchise is derived from any dwelling &c., belonging to a railway, and that although employés might register votes in respect of other property they possessed, their votes should remain in abeyance, for which precedents already exist.

We cannot venture to do more than touch upon one item of the

financial question connected with this proposition. Everything in the shape of good conduct allowances should continue to be enjoyed by the railway official in the same measure as they would be if he simply took his discharge; but we think that the military pension, if any, might remain in abeyance, so long as the individual received a railway salary of a certain amount, to revive however in case the employment ceased without a railway pension of adequate amount having been conferred. In the case of officers accepting employment, it would be a question to be determined how far purchase money should be returned, probably not a greater amount than that actually paid, by which a certain saving might be effected without injustice.

We have now completed the sketch of what we consider would be an improvement in the present position of the Non-Commissioned officer, and an inducement to respectable young men to enter the army, because employment and a position for life would be thereby secured.

In the first instance, we propose, for the sake of giving the NonCommissioned Officer a higher position in the eyes of the privates, that the same system of saluting that exists in all other European Armies should be introduced into the British. Secondly, we would confine the promotion to the rank of officer as nearly as possible to cases of distinguished conduct in the field for the reasons already adduced, and finally we have.put forward the claim of all others to permanent civil employment under the government, and hope to have succeeded in showing how this may be effected.

Although Europe is at this moment apparently tranquil and no casus belli appears imminent, those who look carefully beneath the varnished and painted surface cannot fail to detect symptoms of great, general and unmistakeable uneasiness in all countries, and amidst all classes; and although we cannot but applaud the endeavours of the peacemakers, it is impossible to conceal from ourselves the fact that we are in the midst of a great period of transition. Human power and human wisdom will both prove unavailing to stem the torrent if once the flood gates are opened, but it is of great importance and the safety of the nation may depend on it, that when the moment of peril does come, our army should stand as it has always done, like a "city that is at unity within itself" and that every man may have the conviction that the country for which he is ready to shed his heart's blood is no niggard stepmother.

MILITARY PRISONS.

We, last year, gave the substance of the report of LieutenantColonel Henderson on the discipline and management of Military Prisons in 1863; we have now received the report for 1864, from which we gather the information which follows.

The total number of prisoners during the year was 5,470, and the proportion which these bore to the force under arms at home was 697; the daily average number of prisoners in confinement throughout the year was 996; the average length of their sentences was sixtysix days; which if we may draw an inference from the Reports for 1856 and the five following years, shows that the offences committed by the men in 1864 were of a graver character or were punished with greater severity. The punishments inflicted by visitors for serious offences were as follows. Eight men were sentenced to receive among them three hundred and fifty lashes; nineteen were sentenced to solitary confinement; five to separate confinement, and four to be put in irons.

The number of soldiers committed who were under twenty years of age was 628; above twenty years and under thirty, 4,001; and thirty and under forty, 816; above forty, twenty-five.

Twelve hundred and nine of the prisoners had served less than two years; 2,727 had served more than two years and less than seven; 1,325 had served between seven and fourteen years; 190 between fourteen and twenty-one; and nineteen had actually completed twenty-one years service.

Of the offenders, 3,302 were English, 517 were Scotch, and the remaining 1,651 were Irish. As regards their religion it might almost be said that the Englishmen were all Protestant-the Scotchmen, Presbyterian-and the Irishmen, Roman Catholics; at least one would be disposed to draw this conclusion from the similarity of numbers, there being 3,210 Protestants, 498 Presbyterians, and 1,762 Roman Catholics. The characters borne by them in confinement were mostly good, or to be more precise, 4,196 behaved well, 612 indifferently, and 662 were decidedly bad.

The number of punishments inflicted by Governors of Prisons for minor offences was 1,447, which shows a considerable diminution within the last three years as compared with the three preceding, but the average length of sentences has been greater. As to the nature of the offences, 1,418 were desertions; 1,415 absence without leave; 1,132 drunkenness; 165 disgraceful conduct; and 1,305 were guilty of crimes of other kinds.

Corporal punishment was inflicted in 466 cases, 1,438 of which were desertions. The proportion which deserters bore to the effectives of the army was 0.704

There were among the prisoners 2,577 who had been in prison previously; and of these 130 were under twenty years of age, 1,945 were between that age and thirty; 400 between the latter age and forty, and twelve were over forty years of age. As regards their term of service 214 had served two years or less; 1,516 had served more than two, but less than seven years; 713 had served more than seven, but less than fourteen years; 121 had served more than fourteen but less than twenty-one, and finally, thirteen had completed twenty-one years service. Of these re-committed pri

soners, 1,544 were English, 200 Scotch, and 824 were Irish. The offences of which they were guilty were chiefly desertion, absence without leave, and drunkenness; the latter offence having been more common during the year, and being undoubtedly the cause of a large proportion of the other offences. It will not be without interest to state that 592 could not read, and 688 could not write. The greatest number in prison at any one time was 1,283, the smallest, 652, the daily average number, 996.

The total number treated for sickness was 683, the average daily number under treatment was eighteen. There were only two deaths among them at the Home Stations during the whole year. This number shows a constant decrease for several years past; a result which is attributed to the improved system of diet, of which we shall now speak; first mentioning that in comparison with the rest of the army the prisoners enjoyed better health, which we are disposed to attribute to other causes beside those assigned, which are the superior healthiness of the stations where the prisons are situated to the localities occupied by the troops, and the superior salubrity of the prisons themselves to the stations in which they are situated.

The diet given to prisoners at home stations when not engaged at hard labour is for breakfast, eight ounces of oatmeal and half-apint of milk; for dinner, nine ounces of oatmeal and half-a-pint of milk; for supper, half a pound of bread and half-a-pint of milk. If the period of confinement extends beyond fifty-six days they are under the same circumstances, that is to say not engaged at hard labour, allowed ten ounces of oatmeal for breakfast, twelve ounces of Indian meal for dinner, and eight ounces of bread for supper, with half-a-pint of milk for each meal. On becoming prisoners of the first class, they are allowed a meat dinner on Sundays, which consists of eight ounces of beef without bone before cooking, two pounds of potatoes or half-a-pound of bread, a pint of soup thickened with oatmeal, and two ounces of vegetables.

The diet of prisoners in the second and third classes on Tuesdays and Thursdays when engaged at hard labour, is eight ounces of oatmeal and half-a-pint of milk for breakfast, a meat dinner similar to that described above, and for supper, half-a-pound of bread, and half-a-pint of milk. On other days of the week it is the same as that given to the prisoners not engaged at hard labour. When by good conduct they have become prisoners of the first class, they get a meat dinner on Sundays. If the medical officer considers it necessary for the health of a prisoner, he can order the substitution of ten ounces of bread in lieu of eight ounces of oatmeal, twelve ounces of bread for the nine ounces of Indian meal, and eight ounces of bread for the six ounces of Indian meal. Solitary or close confinement for a prison offence is attended with a change of diet which one would think barely sufficient to maintain existence, consisting merely of one pound of bread daily with an unlimited supply of water. This, however, is only for the first three days, unless the

Visitor sees fit to decree otherwise, in which case he may extend the period to seven days, after which the offender receives the same allowance as those not engaged at hard labour. No difference is made in the case of prisoners at Foreign stations without the sanction of the Secretary of State for War.

Great care is taken to ascertain the effect on the weight and health of the men produced by the diet to which they are confined; information which is of the greater value that we know the precise conditions under which changes were produced, inasmuch as the men were debarred from altering them by indulging in liquors or debauchery of any kind.

Out of the total number of prisoners discharged from the different military prisons of the kingdom in 1864, 1,110 gained a gross amount of 3,862 pounds, which gives an average of three pounds seven ounces to each man; 3,972 lost weight, the aggregate sum lost by them being 21,133 pounds, or five pounds five ounces on the average; a result which compared with previous years is favourable to the present system of dieting.

To go more particularly into the Reports of the Governors and Medical officers respecting the different prisons, we will take them in succession.

Of Aldershot, the Governor remarks that the discipline has been maintained under the same disadvantages as heretofore. The conduct of the prisoners has been generally good, better than might have been expected in such a large establishment, which has not the means of ensuring adequate punishment for prison offences, and is conducted upon the associated system imperfectly carried out. The health of the prisoners was, however, good, though at this prison they decreased considerably in weight in the aggregate.

The

Captain Barnham, in reporting on the subject of the Cork Prison, has little to say except that re-committals have increased for several years past; a circumstance he attributes to the fact that fully threefourths of the prisoners are from depot battalions which have been stationary in the district for several years past. medical officer's report states that notwithstanding the prevalence of epidemic diseases in his vicinity, the health of the prisoners has been remarkably good. On the subject of diet, he says, that although the loss of weight has been greater than in any previous year it has not diminished their strength, and they have not only been able to perform all the hard labour required of them, but have been in a fit condition to resume their regimental duties immediately on their liberation from prison. The greatest loss of weight was among the growing lads and men committed for habitual drunken

Dess.

The chief warder of Devonport prison reports, that from the division of what was formerly the associated ward into six cells, and the employment of the prisoners on useful works, there have been fewer offences committed in prison than in previous years. He