The Press. — London, England, 1854-12-16 00:00:00

DECEMBER 16, 1854. that cloud of official statistics which the Secretary-at-War has found it convenient to throw into our faces. I find no fault with the Secretary-at-War for taking this his first legitimate opportunity to vindicate the conduct of his office with respect to many accusations which have been made against it, not in this house, but allow me to remind the house that the Secretary-at-War has been most success ful in answering the charges which have not been made in the House of Commons. (Bear, hear.) We are called upon to-night to decide whether we will agree to this Address, which, as far as I can follow its language, is an echo of the speech in my hand—a speech in some circum stances most remarkable, inasmuch as I believe it is the shortest speech that ever yet was delivered from the throne, and is confined almost to one subject. Let me remind the house, however, that this speech commences by an admis sion of great importance—by an announcement which is certainly calculated to excite the attention of the whole country. We have here, in the gracious speech of her Majesty, an announcement that her Majesty is involved in a great war. (Hear, hear.) Now, I want to impress the impor tance of this expression upon the notice of the house. This time last year, when we were virtually, though notformally, in a condition of hostility, no Minister acknowledged that the war, which was soon formally to be announced, was a great war. The most distinguished member of the Cabi net, the Lord President himself, had ids hands so full of business last year that he had hardly any time to think of the war. Far from its being a great war in the opinion of the Lord President when Parliament last met, it was scarcely a war at all; but, even if it did result in such a catastrophe, the noble lord was almost prepared to carry on a little civil war of his own. I do not mention this to taunt her Majesty's Ministers, but these are the only traits by which we can ascertain what were then their feelings and opinions with respect to this immense event. But when it became &formal as well as a virtual war, when it became necessary that a message from her Majesty should be delivered to this house, when the Chancellor of the Ex chequer had, in consequence, to explain to the country and to the house how the war was to be carried on, it is quite clear that the Chancellor of the Exchequer did not con sider it to be a great war, for he brought forward a very meagre estimate, which anticipated the expense of the transport of troops to foreign countries, and also the ex pense of their return, both included in the estimate of the year. (4 laugh.) I believe lam not misrepresenting the hon. gentleman when I say that we have upon our votes of last session a sum of money for the transport of 26,000 men to Malta and back again, a vote proposed by the Minister of Finance, and passed by a subservient and un critical Parliament. (Hear, hear.) It is quite evident, then, that these eminent gentlemen had not the least idea that they were engaged in a great war. The noble lord and the Chancellor of the Exchequer may have thought we were engaged in war, but they cannot have believed it was a great war, when the noble lord was so indifferent to these foreign and external circumstances that he was pre pared to propose a reconstruction of this house ; and when the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when called upon in his official capacity to propose the first vote for the carrying on of the war, anticipated, not merely the expenditure neces sary for the transport of troops, but the expenditure neces sary for the return of those troops to this country all in the course of the year. T think, therefore, sir, it is neces sary for us to consider the great importance of this phrase. Last y ear, according to the noble lord, a war with Russia was a circumstance so insignificant that it ought not to prevent a reform in Parliament. The noble lord now has found out that this is a great and not an insignificant war. The Chan cellor of the Exchequer, when he was of such a sanguine complexion, that on his first proposition of expenditure he anticipated that the troops would return to this country in the course of the year, proved that, in his opinion, the war would not be a war really, but a demonstration. (Cheers.) I am not now imputing it to the Government as matter of blame ; at the same time I reserve to myself the right to impute it to them as matter of blame—(Laughter)—but I say it is quite clear that the Ministers of this country, at the commencement of last session, had no conception whatever of the position in which they were, or of the mag nitude of the circumstances which they had to encounter. (Cheers.) My right lion, friend the member for Droitwich has, I think, indicated, under these circumstances, the course which a Conservative Opposition, rightly distinguished from other Oppositions to which he has referred, is justified in taking. When her Majesty appeals for support—when her Ma jesty announces she is involved in a great war, and asks us for our assistance—it is our duty to express to her Ma jesty that there are no means at our command that we will not place at her disposal ; but surely, if it is so evident, so demonstrative, so transparent that her Majesty's advisers find themselves in a position which they did not antici pate—which they had not the prescience or sagacity to sup pose would occur—it surely is not an unreasonable or factious course that, while we say we are prepared to sup port her Majesty in this great struggle by every means in our power, we reserve to ourselves the right of expressing an opinion on the conduct of the Government in respect to this war in the interval, and to judge from that conduct of the manner in which they may spend the resources which we may place at their disposal. (Cheers.) We have had a speech from the only Minister who has con descended to address the House of Commons thus sud denly summoned. We have had a speech of detail—l may say of statistics—adverting to subjects which never have been introduced into our discussions, and which have really in no sense met the great objection which has been urged by my right hon. friend. The Secretary-at-War has proved to us, according to his view, that the hospitals at Scutari at this moment are admirably attended to and regulated. I hope they are. lam willing to believe, upon the statement of the right hon. gentleman, that they are so. The right hon. gentleman has endeavoured to per suade us that the medical assistance which our army THE PRESS. enjoys is sufficient, or, at least, as great as any Ministerial ability could have supplied. I hope that it is so. All that the right hon. gentleman says I wish to believe. But were it otherwise—if it were true that there had been this cruel suffering and apparent neglect—if it were true that the commissariat (which no one has attacked, but which the right hon. gentleman has so elaborately vindicated) has been so deficient—if there had been too few surgeons, too few nurses, and a meagre commissariat—l am sure that 1 should not have been one who would have attempted, from such circumstances, to bring charges against the Adminis tration of this country. I remember—and I may refer to the words, for I dare say no one else remembers them— that, having last year to touch on this subject, I said my self that at the beginning of war, after a peace so prolonged as that which by the blessing of Providence we had en joyed, the difficulties of inexperience must be so great that it would be most unjust and unbecoming for the House of Commons critically to examine the conduct of individuals who, after all, must be animated by sentiments as humane and influenced by responsibility much greater than ourselves. And to-night, sir, I have not heard any expressions used in this house impugning the arrange ments of the commissariat or arrangements of a similar kind to which I have adverted ; but to aocusations that may have appeared in anonymous quarters the right hon. gentleman has found time to make an elaborate answer, though no member of the Government has found time to make an answer to charges brought in debate against the Administration by a member of this house, expressed with a knowledge of the subject, and conveyed with ability and in a spirit deserving, in my opinion, the thought and attention of this assembly. (Cheers.) 1 will advert in a moment to what was the charge brought forward by my right hon. friend—a charge, let me again impress on the house, not brought forward in the way of ostentatious accu sation as the foundation of motions against the Govern ment—not brought forward with any anxiety to damage the character of the Government—but brought forward ne cessarily from the position which we all occupy at this moment, from the sudden summoning of Parliament, which calls upon us, by the Address moved by the hon. gentleman opposite, to express our opinion on public affairs. Before I advert to what was the distinct and really the only charge, yet so important that no other was necessary, which has been made by my right hon. friend, let me for a moment take this great question out of that cloud of the details of office with which it has been con veniently encumbered by the Secretary-at-War, and place it in its true and rude simplicity before the consideration of the House of Commons and of the country. It is some nine or ten moats ago, after an agitating year of warning, that her Majesty was advised by her Ministers to send a message to Parliament to announce a declaration of war against Russia. I say that no Ministers ever gave such important advice to their Sovereign under such favourable circumstances as my Lord Aberdeen and his-colleagues. Why, look at the facts ! They had a unanimous Parlia ment, and a unanimous people. The war was popular. This house had expressed its willingness to vote any sup plies, without any reference to party confidence whatever, which her Majesty's Ministers might propose. They had an overflowing Exchequer. They had a prosperous people. In addition to all these advantages they had the most powerful ally in the world. (Cheers from both sides of the house.) Let it be understood you entered upon war under these circumstances. These circumstances are forgotten in the petty views and the petty details and the petty consequences which have been permitted to steal into our debates. We hear of the inconvenience of free Government to powerful political action. It is said that, although the public spirit under a despotic Govornment may not be equal to the spirit of a free people—that although the conscript (not too adroitly intro duced by the Secretary-at-War)—(hear)—may not fight as the militiaman who) has been voluntarily enlisted, a despotism has still the advantages of unity of design, of singleness of purpose, and of that decision, vigour, and effect which is the consequence of such antecedents. But her Majesty's Ministers had both the unity of despotism and all the spirit of a free people on their side. What they wanted they might have had as readily as the Emperor of Russia when he signs a ukase. There was no number of men, no amount of treasure, which they might not have com manded, and the money was given freely by a free people, and the men were animated by that immortal spirit which has rendered their achievements the mark for the approbation of an admiring world. (Cheers.) They had, then, an over flowing purse, a prosperous people, and a popular war. They had the most powerful ally in the world. They had this combination of circumstances in their favour, on entering into this war, which no Ministry at any period ever enjoyed before. 1 now ask the house for a moment to tuna round and consider not whether there were sufficient nurses or surgeons at Scutari—not what was the number of pots of marmalade which should be sent out towards the support of our starving troops—but 1 ask the house to con sider what have been the results which this Ministry, with these enormous advantages, have obtaine d (Opposition cheers.) You determined to attack the powerful ruler of a coun try against whom you had declared war in two opposite quarters of the world—the extremities almost of his vast dominions ; you fitted out armadas to attack him in two seas ; you sent out an army which was to encounter him on the most important European river. What have you done ? The Secretaryat-War sneers at the notice which my right hon. friend took of the achievements in the Baltic. If the ideas of the Secretary-at-War, that such success is a sufficient return for the efforts of this country are correct, then I confess I have little hope of the suc cessful conduct of the war by the present Government. Why, sir, let me recal to the house the strength of the united fleet that entered the Baltic. It was greater than any armada that ever figured in the history of our times ; it was greater than the united fleets of France and Spain that met Nelson at Trafalgar. Let me recal to the house 1207 the circumstances under which the sailing of that fleet was inagurated. It occasioned a debate iu the House of Commons, and, therefore, I have no doubt it will be in the recollection of every one present. The head of the Admi ralty of this country, the profound statesman and expe rienced senator who had so long presided, at various periods, over that department himself, was a guest at a public dinner which was given to the commander of that Important enterprise. A veteran statesman, one who had presided long over the foreign affairs of the nation, a de partment which, it is supposed, imparts a peculiar charm ter of discretion to human conduct—that noble lord was also present upon that occasion, and, in the face of Europe, and before an applauding country—these, two of the moo of whom, in this house, we are moat proud, statesmen to whom Europe looks up with respect and awe, were the prin. cipal guests at a public banquet given at a political club, is order to inaugurate the captaincy of this great enterprise. What were the expectations which these speakers per mitted the country to indulge in ? We are at this moment entirely engrossed in the important affairs which have taken pl ace in the Black Sea. For more than two months the feengs of every hearth in this country have been there absorbed ; but at that moment no one thought of the Black Sea, or of Sebastopol. They were of minor im portance and of diminutive proportions as compared with those vast preparations and t h at enormous armament which was draughted from our shores under the blessings and the benison of our most experienced statesmen, and had the advantage, moreover, of being commanded by true Reformer. (Laughter.) Well, the Secretary-at-War pretends that the capture of Boniarsund was all that was intended or thought of at that moment. I will not say that the Secretary-at-War had then never heard of Bomar sund, because he is a well-informed gentleman, and it might be personal ; but this 1 do know, that 1 have reed, in an authoritative document, that it was not only pro jected, but that at one time it was settled, that the half finished fortifications in the Baltic should he destroyed preparatory to the entrance of our fleets into that sea ; and, therefore, under those circumstances, and remembering the policy which was afterwards partially followed, I hardly think it was worth while to send for a Marshal of Franc and 10,000 French troops to destroy that which a company of marines would have finished in a few hours, and which, at all events, was not accomplished by that vast armada which had been sent out. Surely, then, my right hon. friend was not irregular in alluding to the expedition to the Baltic, and saying that, although one of our greatest enters prises, it has not been attended by any results at all com mensurate with the expectations of the country. If my right hon. friend were not justified in this observation, why did not the noble lord the President of the Council pro pose a vote of thanks to those who were concerned in that enterprise? (Cheers from the Opposition.) Had the noble lord proposed such a vote we should have been enabled to make inquiries, and the Ministers might have been able to throw some light on that perplexed and obscure sub ject, and might have afforded some satisfaction to the public mind. Then, sir, I come to the second act of this war, which, let me impress upon you, was entered upon with advan vantages which no Ministry ever yet experienced, and with a combination of circumstances in our favour which never can occur again probably in the history of this country. What did you do with the army which you sent? You explained your conduct, and you explained their course; but your explanations do not affect the result, and you cannot deny that they have accomplished nothing— that the plans which you had devised were barren and fruitless. The Secretary-at-War tells UP that the Govern- ment were watching all that time the course of events, and that such troops as might have been spared by the pest, which was not contemplated, would have acted at the right moment and in the right quarter on the Russian forces; but he has not told ns that if it was necessary to move those troops there were any means to move them. What ever might have been the fate of Silistria—whatever might have been the conduct of the Turkish army on the Danube —you have not answered the question whether you had prepared adequate, or any, means to move our army from Varna to the scene of action ; and I think the member fur Aylesbury has fully demonstrated that you had not. What is your next act? Yon attack with a force of 20,000 or 30,000 men a fortress probably as strong as Gibraltar, and better provisioned. And under what circumstances did you undertake this enterprise? The Secretary-ate War tells you that their object was to strike at the heart of Russia in the south; and therefore they attacked Sebas topol. It was true, he admits, that in so doing our army was prepared with no reserve. Brave words, these ! But why attack the place at the wrong time, and with in effective means. It may be a question whether there should be a campaign in the Crimea; none that there should not be s winter campaign But you have chose& a winter campaign, and what have been your prepa rations for it? In November you gave orders to build huts. You have not yet sent out that winter clothing which is adapted to the climate. My right hon. friend (Sir John I'akington) fell into a slight error (which I am ante he will permit me to correct) in his allusion to the loss of the Prince. He said that the winter clothing had been despatched by the Prince, and that the Government were exonerated because that clothing was lost. The right hon. gentleman (Mr. S. Herbert) speaks the truth, and frankly. lie seems to think there is nothing like a clean breast for a Minister in a scrape, and he takes great credit for this specific clothing for the Crimean climate; hut the fact is, that the cargo of the Prince did not contain any special winter clothing. (Hear, hear.) It was only the common warm clothing for the troops, and not a cargo in any way occasioned by the winter campaign, which your policy has rendered necessary. (" Near, hear," and cheers.) You hare invaded the Crimea; you have attacked Sebastopol; bat you have chosen to do so at the very worst period. (Cheers.) You have commenced a winter campaign in a country which almost of all others should be avoided.