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JUNE 2S3 1855.J THE LEADER, 591 --^^^—¦*...
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THE REPORT OF THE SEBASTOFOL COMMITTEE. ...
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Transcript
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Imperial Parliament . County Court Pees....
" to his face , " that there was not one word of truth in it ; adding— " I wonder that when the honourable gentleman made that statement a blush of shame did not suffuse his face at making charges which his consc ience ought to have told him—if on points of this sort he have any conscience at all—were utterly and diametrically the reverse of truth . I shall now say no more about the Drury-lane private theatricals , " With regard to Administrative Reform in the abstract , the present Government is in the act of
pursuing the praiseworthy designs of Lord Derby ' s ministry . As a proof of their desire of following out all really necessary reforms , they would adopt with sincerity the amendment of Sir E . B . Ly tton . They would make it their diity to look into all the public departments , and to adopt , which they would do with pride and pleasure , any practical improvements . They accepted the amendment as a pledge that there should be , not only a temporary , but a continued revision of the different offices of the civil service .
After an ineffectual effort on the part of Mr . Lindsay to adjourn tjie debate , in order that he might have an opportunity of proving the charges he had made at the Drury-lane meeting , Mr . Layard made a few remarks in reply to the observations of Mr . Peel , Lord Palmerston , and others , and the House divided , when there appeared—For Mr . Layard's motion , 46 ; against , 359 : majority , 313 . — Sir E . B . Lytton ' s amendment was then put as a substantive motion ; but it was ultimately agreed upon that the debate should be taken on Thursday . Tjie Consolidated Fund ( 10 , 000 , 000 Z . ) Bill , and the Spirit of Wine Bill , were read a third time and passed . THE VIENNA NEGOTIATIONS .
In the House of Lords , on . Tuesday , Lord Lykdhdrst postponed the motion on the Vienna negotiations , of which he had given notice , and stated that he would at some future time mention the day on which he would bring it forward .
THE EARLDOM OF SOTITHESK . The Lord Chancellor said that some years ago Sir J . Carnegie presented a petition to their lordships' House , claiming the Earldom of Southesk , which having been referred to the Committee of Privileges , that Committee pronounced against the claim , on the ground of attainder . He had to inform the House that her Mnjesty had declared her pleasure to reverse that attainder , and a bill for that purpose he now begged to lay on the table . —The bill was then read a first time . tenants' improvements compensation ( irelani >)
BILL . The House of Commons was occupied during the morning sitting "with the details of this bill , which were discussed in committee , after considerable opposition from Lord Galway , Mr . Peacocke , and others , who conceived that the bill would legalise the principle of confiscation . Two motions for adjournment having been defeated , the preamble , and clauses 1 , 2 , and 3 were agreed to . On Thursday , the House again vent into committee on the bill , when considerable discussion ensued on the 4 th clause , the object of which is to give compensation for the improvement of waste lands . The clause was opposed by Mr . French , and by Mr . IIorsman on the part of the Government ; and was negatived by 93 to 47 . Other attempts to effect a similar object were defeated .
CAPTAIN M'CLURE . Mr . Mackinnon , in the evening , moved for a select committee to inquire into the circumstances of the expedition to the Arctic Seas , commanded by Captain M'Clure , with a view to ascertain whether any and what reward may bo due for the services rendered on that occasion . —Lord Palmerston gave his cordial assent to the motion , and it waa agreed to .
THE STATUTE LAAV . Mr . Locke Iu"no moved a series of resolutions referring to the appointment , in 1853 , of a paid commission to proceed without delay in the work of the consolidation of the statute law , and to the fact that no bill for the repeal of expired , obsolete , or unnecessary statutes , as recommended in a report of the Commission , had j'et been prepared , and expressing the opinion of the House that it would greatly conduce to the improvement of the statute
law if the preparation of " u declaratory bill , of which the special und detailed report shall form the groundwork , " were no longer to be delayed , ami that such bill ought to be forthwith prepared , —The Attohnuy-General said , ho concurred in a great deal of what hud been said by Mr . King , and agreed that the statute-book required revision ; but the expurgatory list was not yet in so perfect a Htulo as to admit ol its boing nuulu the groundwork of ; i bill . ' —After a brief discussion , tho motion whs carried by 43 to 20 .
ABMY OOlHMIHHIOKJfl . Mr . Hioa-dlatm moved that , thin house resolve itself into a committee to consider of an humble addrene to her Majesty , praying that sho will bo graciously plowed to direct alterations to bo made in the rules
of the military service to the effect- that the regula tion value of the commissions of officers in the army dying or having died in active service during the present war may be paid to their representatives , and deemed part of their personal estate , and to assure her Majesty that this House will make good the same . —The motion . was opposed by Mr . Frederick Peel , who conceived that , if the principle were a sound one , it should be applied to all cases , and not be confined to the present war . The granting of pensions to officers' families was a kind of compensation to them for not receiving the amount of the commissions ; but these could not be given if the object of the motion were carried out , nor would it
be easy to resist the demand for pensions to the families of common soldiers . He also objected to the motion , as recognizing a property in commissions ; but an officer might at any time be deprived of his commission , and to admit that he has a right of property in it would be to interfere with the discipline of the army . —Colonel Dunne , Lord Alfred Paget , Colonel North , and Mr . Rice , supported-the motion , which was objected to by Lord Pauuebsxon , who , though denying that the family of an officer dying in battle had anvrightto claim from the State
the value of his commission , offered to compromise the matter after this fashion—that an officer might choose beforehand whether his family should receive their pensions and compassionate allowances , as at present , or , in lieu of them , should be entitled to claim from the public the value of his commission in case of his being killed in action . If Mr . Headlam would be satisfied to leave the question in the hands of Government , they would be willing to carry out such an arrangement . —Upon this understanding the motion was withdrawn .
MARRIAGE LAW AMENDMENT BILL . The House of Commons , on Wednesday , having resolved itself into a committee upon the Marriage Law Amendment Bill , Sir Frederick Thesiger moved an amendment of the first clause , with a view to taking away the retrospective operation of the bill . He contended that this was the first time Parliament had sanctioned a wilful violation of the law by securing to the offenders the very fruits of their offence , and rendering lawful that which had been unlawful for twenty years . —Mr . Heywood resisted this amendment , citing precedents which he considered to be exactly in point . —The / amendment was
supported by Lord R . Cecil— Mr . Napier , Mr . Freshfield , Mr . Walpole , and Mr . Henley ; and opposed by Mr . B . Denison , Mr . Collier , Lord Ebrington , Lord Seymour , and the Attorney-General . Upon a division , it was negatived by 130 to 83 . —A further attempt to annul the retrospective operation of the bill was made by Sir I ^ rederick Thesigkr , but with no better success ; and , the first three clauses of the bill being then affirmed by the House , he intimated his intention of withdrawing his other amendments , which had been constructed with the same design as the first two . Finally it was ordered that the committee be resumed on the 10 th of Julv .
THE HANGO MASSACRE . In the House of Lords , on Thursday , the Earl of Malmesbuky inquired whether any , and what , official notice was to be taken of the late outrage committed by the Russians at Hango Head ; and the Earl of Clarendon expressed his persuasion that a crime so horrible in its character , and so utterly repugnant to tho laws of civilised nations , could not have been perpetrated with the cognisance of the Russian Government , but must have been the act of reckless subordinates . The British Minister at Copenhagen had already been instructed to communicate , through the medium of the Danish Government , with the Russian envoys on the subject , with
the view of securing the punishment of the guilty parties . If no notice were taken of these representations , the severest reprisals would become justifiable in expiation of the outrage . —A desultory conversation followed , in the course of which Lord Brougham remarked that ho had no doubt tho Russian Government would disclaim the act , but that they must bo required to punish the guilty parties . If ever the land cried for blood , it is now . — Lord Malmesihtry objected to the principle of reprisals ; but he should like to eee tho Government apply to every civilised sovereign and every civilised nation for a universal protest against tho Court ol St . Petersburg , should it venture to defend bo
atrocious an . The second reading of tlio Measurement of Merchant iSthamkiis Bill having been moved by Lord Hakdwicki :, it was opposed by Lord Stanley of Ai . i ) i ; iti-KY , and was negatived by 28 to 21 . Tho bill was tliereforo lost . The Cinque Pouts Bill vjia read a third time , and passed .
HKTROl'OLIS LOCAL MANAQIflMENT BILL . Further progress was mndo with this bill in the morning silting of tho House of Commons , which resolved itself into a Committee for the purpose .
THE CRIBTEA . In the evening , in reply to Captain Knox , Lord Palmekston stated that the telegraphic communication with the Crimea had been interrupted for two or three days , which was the reason why no intelligence had been received . Information , however , had been received that day that the communication was re-established , and the last accounts "were that there had been a considerable amount of firing between the batteries and the works on the other side , but there was no result of any importance . This dispatch was dated afc eleven o'clock in the evening of the 17 th , and was received at four o ' clock that day . [ Our "War news shows that during the night the Government received intelligence of a very unfortunate nature . ] ADMINISTRATIVE EBFOKM . The order of the day for the adjourned debate having been read , and no member rising to address the House , the Speaker put the question on Sir E . B . Lytton's amendment , which was carried with . - out a division amidst considerable laughter . The Spirits ( Ireland ) Act Amendment Bill was read a third time , and passed .
June 2s3 1855.J The Leader, 591 --^^^—¦*...
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The Report Of The Sebastofol Committee. ...
THE REPORT OF THE SEBASTOFOL COMMITTEE . The result of the protracted investigations of the Sebastopol Committee was on Monday evening presented to the House of Commons in the shape of a lay Report , which occupied close upon an hour and a half in reading . This elaborate document contains a recapitulation of the chief facts in the evidence , and may thus be of service in concentrating and epitomising the main statements and counter-statements elicited during the investigation ; but the Committee have on many points found it impossible to come to any verdict as to the persons who should be held responsible , and we are , therefore , again thrown back upon " the system" as the chief culprit , or , at any rate , as the offenders most easily indictable . The Committee decline passing any opinion as to the policy of the Government in ordering the expedition to the Crimea ; but they point out the fact that the Cabinet , according to the statement of Lord Aberdeen , had an idea " that Sebastopol would fall almost immediately by a coup de main . " The late Government is held to have been blamable in not following up the changes in the War Department which they initiated by the separation of the Secretaryships of War and of the Colonies , and the transference of the Commissariat from the Treasury to the Secretary for War . The Committee also " notice with regret that the Cabinet did not meet in August
or September , " in order to repair omissions which had already been made . " Any evils that may have resulted from delay" in the final arrangements of the War Department , it is added , " are properly laid to the charge of the Cabinet . " Another error is found in the fact that , on the expedition to the Crimea being determined on , " no reserve was provided at home adequate to the undertaking . " " The order to attack Sebastopol was sent to Lord Raglan on the 29 th of June ; the formation of a reserve at Malta was not determined upon until early in November . " The recruits , also , that were sent out at the request of Lord Raglan , were too young , and were soon destroyed by disease and over-fatigue .
" Your Committee must express their regret that the formation of a largo reserve at home , and also in the proximity of the seat of war , was not considered at a much earlier period , and that the Government , well knowing the limited numbers of the British army , tho nature of the climate in the East , as well aa tbe Power we were about to encounter , did not at the commencement of the war take means to augment tho ranks of tho army beyond tho ordinary recruiting , ami also that earlier steps were not taken to render the militia available both for the purpose of obtaining supplies of men , and aleo , in case of necessity , for the relief of regiments of tho line stationed iu garrisons in tho Mediterraneanmeasures which they fouutl llxomaclves compelled to adopt at a later period . "
The Duke of Newcastle , in tho opinion of the Committee , was placed in a disadvantageous position upon assuming the Secretaryship for War , the department * not boiiiff " offlelally informed ol their relative position , or of their now duties . " Hia interference was sought for in mntter . s of detail , wherein bin time ohould not Iwivo been occupied , and he Avas led . unacquainted with transaction * -of which ho should have received official twgniwuico . Feeling- Ins larce re * ponsibMl . i « H , ho took upon himself to remedy innumerable doliclend . 'H which were brought to his notice , and , in the meantime , matters of paramount importance wore postponed . " Tho Duke , moreover , was for n long time left uninformed of the state of afTairs in the Knst ; and , with respect to tho clothing of tho troops , ho had great doubt whether ho had any right to interfere . The soldiers , accordingly , were ill clothed ; ftnd y " upon leaving hospital , men wero exposed to a ro * currenco of sickness from insutlleient clothing ,. i & tiqtf
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 23, 1855, page 3, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_23061855/page/3/
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