Page:History of New South Wales from the records, Volume 1.djvu/407

AND HIS OFFICERS. 295 Teiy early period of his career. It was unfortunate that 1788 while ihe Judge-Advocate was revolving the matter in his 22 March, mind, it did not occur to him to point out that nothing could be more subversive of military discipline than the course proposed by the Commandant — ^that of subjecting the members of a Court-martial to trial because they had passed a sentence which did not meet with his approval, and had subsequently refused to alter it at his request. There SaJ^^ ^ were many obvious objections to such a course. In the ^«"*"»^- first place, there was no precedent for it ; in the second, it was contrary to the established course of proceedings in military as well as other tribunals ; in the third, it was calculated to degrade the officers; and in the fourth^ it sought to establish a thoroughly vicious principle — that the Aitemtton deliberate sentence of a Court-martial might be altered at ** "*" ***** the dictation of the commanding officer. In addition to these objections, there was the further one that the settled course to pursue in such cases was, to appeal Appeal. to a General Court-martial in order that the sentence com- plained of might be judicially reviewed. But the practice of mflitary tribunals not being very well known in the settlement at that time. Major Ross's proposal was allowed to pass without challenge, and was ultimately shelved in the manner stated. The position to whibh military discip- Subalterns Hnnuuwltnir line waa brought when it had become possible that sub- apology, altems^ placed under arrest by their commanding officer, could demand a public apology from him, was another matter which might, under different circumstances, have become a matter for consideration. A letter to Nepean, the Under Secretary, dated 5th July, was sent with the despatches to Sydney. After some details with Inspect to the allowance of spirits for th^ soldiers' wives and the rations for the men, it said : — Every possible attention "will be given to the cultivation of the Flax, flax pkuit when circumstances permit, and on our first arrival in this port it was frequently met with ; but when I judged the seed Digitized by Google