The Press. — London, England, 1853-11-05 00:00:00

THE LATE BOARD OF ADMIRALTY. LAST week Admiral Sir Thomas Herbert, K.C.8., arrived at Dartmouth on a visit to Sir Henry Seale, But., at Mount Boom. On Tuesday the gallant admiral made a round of calls, and on Wednesday night gave a grand ball and supper in the Public Booms, to which about 500 of the principal residents and neighbouring gentry were invited. Next day, the 27th ult., Sir T.llerbert met a large party of his constituents at a public dinner given in the London Inn. In the absence of Governor Holds worth, the chair was taken by It. F. Burroughs, Esq. Among the party were Sir J. Yarde Buller, Bart., M.l'., Sir IL I'. Seale, Bart., Captain Godfrey, It.N., P. Elliott, Esq., Rev. Sloane Evans, J. F. Kelly, Esq., W. Newman, Esq., J. Tracy, Esq., J. Cann, Esq., E. liingston, Esq., George Ilingston, Esq., Lieut. Ford, ILA., J. Brooking, Eaq., J. l'ritleaux, Esq., S. Strung, Eaq., P. Makin, Esq., &e. When dinner was over, and after the usual hayed toasts had been given, that of "The Bishop and Clergy of the Diocese " war acknowledged by the Rev. Mr. EvANS, who, in the course of an able speech, mentioned that being in Barnstaple during the last election he was told by an agent of Lord Ebrington, in the presence of that nobleman, Ihet clergymen ought to abstain from voting at varies 1111 l query elections. lie had beets since informed that on the late parliamentary inquiry It had transpired that many this. s-itting ministers had voted fur his lordship, several of whom had been induced to de, so by the payment of money. (Cheers and laughter The CHAIRMAN next proposed" The health of their gal lant and eistemued npreemitative," alluding to the unjusti• liable attacks made, evidently from party motives, on the late Board of Admiralty, upon which be felt assured their representative could afford the fullest explamati 111 l , and prove himself and friends wholly undeserving of the at: t.tnipte made to misrepresent their actions. (Land and prolonged applause.) His Tuouss lIYnnBItT, in acknowledging the toast, Aar mentioning the pleasure he felt in meeting the electors on the termination of the first session after he become their member, said, in reference to the attacks alluded to by his lon. friend in the chair, that, from the position he held at the Admiralty, his constituents hail it perfect right to expect an explanation from him on the subject, empecially on this the first °mei • yof his lotting enabled tee do so. (In all tpteetiona which affected the navy turd army he hall no politics. (('heers.) He would always aliment what ever party was in power in any measures brought lawman' tending to promote the etheiency of either service and improve the condition elf the sailer and soldier. ( .freluage. When Mr. Keating brought forward the mot on the subject of the late Admiralty, he (Sir Thomas Herbert I had atteudeil in his place to meet the charges, being cane tined he could satisfy the house how bete' diem those accusations were; but the determination pot to allow the motion to be then debated, and the refusal of the learned gentleman to postpone the question for another night, had prevented his entering into spy explanations. The Nei'll• PlititHlN brought against the late Board of Admiralty he felt were unmerited, from the eonscionatirm that, during the whole course of their administration, they were governed by an anxious and sincere' &tare to promote the efficiency of every branch of the noble service over which they had the honour to preside, and that, when they retired fr o m office, the naval forces for the defence of the country, both in men and ships, were in a far more satisfactory stale than they had found them. In proof of this lie had only t t reefer to the return of the naval forces on the honee station in March, I`s.'ll, and the bit of January, Isret. At Plymouth in March, 11451, then' were seven, mounting lea 1 guns, with 1,7;10 men. (In leaving ofilee there were tell ships, 01•2 gum, end ;1,102 men. At Portsmouth. on en tering office, they found nine ships. mounting '271 guns, with 2.9M1 men ; they left it with twentrone elutes, 1013 guns, and 7,013 men. Much was send about some dock yard appointments, alleging that the regulani 111 l s of IMI7, respecting them, hail been deviated trout by the late bowel. As to this charge, be could state that no complaint what• ever was brought before the. hoard during the whole time he was a member. It was the duty of the surveyor-of the navy, and of the euperintendents of the several yards , to report officially to the Board of Admiralty all irregularities that might take place in their departments. Evidence W is given before the dockyard committee, to which he had listened with extreme regret and surprise, that Admiral Hyde Parker, under whose stele anpervisien the &save' rested. haul had private anal confidential corresponaent with the surveyor, RIO with some of the superintendents, who had expressed dissatisfaction with some of the seen.• taw's appointments to the doekyerds. Was it just to the public service ? was it fair to his colleagues? and wets it not the duty of Admiral Parker to hove brought these appointments he objeeteil to before the bean,. where the matter could have been rectified without 'Hey ? 1 Thor. hea l %) And it' that board dm not act to his satisfection, then he hail an alternative and could lime dime ea be (Sir T. IL) certainly should have done, anal, as he believed, most of his brother officers would have done—resign his s ea t at the Lusted. ( Loud AI ) A d m i ra l rarklr cote evaded his c o mplaints—retained his seat, anal the first his late colleagues heard of these eomplaints and of his private and confidential correepontlence and conversatioes was before a committee of the I louse of Commons, see • gig With the object of damaging the late I:over:mem and his then colleagnea. The eines particularly complained o f were those of Ridgeway, Cotsell, and Wells. llidgewsy, it appeared, had been pre tell on a vacancy from second to leading man at the metal-mills at Chatham by the Seen , tary of the Admiralty, early in April. and when thee appoint 'acid was eamipleined of ley :sir It. Walker and the wiper iutclukut at Outtbaut (t:aptain Richards) to the first THE PRESS' Lord of the Admiralty, he sent for the secretary, explicitly told him that the dockyard regulations must not be interfered with, and that the circular of 1517 must be strictly adhered to. Those directions the secretary promised should Le at tended to strictly, and that he would on all occasions consult with the surveyor before he made appointments. ( Heat.) It had been stated that the Duke of Northumberland abandoned the whole of the civil patronage to the secretary. Such was not the fact; all the minor appointments in the dockyards had been always with the First Secretary. The only patronage which the duke really gave up was the appointment of clerks at the Admiralty and Somerset• house, mid enly one such vacancy occurred during his administration. With regard to Ridgeway. an official letter was written to Captain Richards, acquainting him that Ridgeway was may appointed to act un probation, and if found to be incompetent he was to be reported to the • Admiralty, and he should lie immediately reduced to his former rating; but, the appointineut having been made, his grace did not think it would be just to rescind it without giving the man a fair trial, and thought it better that there should be a public judgment of the superintendent on his incompetency than any other mode. (liter, hear.) What could be stronger than the duke's words on his in terview with Captain Richards?—`' If you have any inter ference with your duty, ur if you have any complaint to make, come to me, and you may rely upon it I will sup port you. The regulations of the dockyards must not be usfringed, nor any violation of the circular of 1517 be per mitted." (( %errs). The evidence showed that the duke never heard a complaint from the superintendents of the yards, nor from Sir It. Walker, nor from anybody else, from the date of the circular of the of April, 1842, except with reference to the irregular appointment of blacksmith, named Wells, from the private trade, over the head of an old experienced and meritorious officer, Mr. George Cotsell, of whom the master shipwright at Ports ' mouth, Mr. Abethel, wrote that" for general fitness for the situation, for faithfulness, economy, and appreciation of modern improvements in smithery work, he had the highest opinion of Mr. Outsell." 'f he fatuous Mr. Natemyth also wrote in the same laudatory terms of Cot sell, and Sir B. Walker himself allowed that Cotteell was a very efficient man. This appointment of Wells over Cot sell was not in accordance with the dockyard circular of 1517—(Heur)—but made by Admiral H. Parker, without the consent or knowledge. of any of his colleague's, and was an appointment which he was not entitled to make (Cries " !fear" and " Shame S") Such an irregular appoint. went could not, therefore, be approved of by the First Lord; and Admiral Parker, though strongly urged to bring the case before the board by the duke, declined to adopt the course. 'aptain Richards, on the 2:1r1 of .l uly, oft' Chat. ham, when the Admiralty were returning front an official visit at Sheerness, had an interview with the duke and his colleagues, butt made no compl ll itt t of any kind to any member of the hoard. The Admiralty paid an official visit to Plymouth in October, IS:4 ; passed four days there, during which time they were in continuous commu nication with the superintendent, Commodore Seymour. 'they held a board in his own office, and the first question put to him was, had he anything he wished to submit to the board; but no complaint of any sort was made, which it was his positive duty to bring forward. it' he had any, though he was in private and confidential correspondence with Admiral Parker and Sir R. Walker respecting the dockyards, which six months afterwards wits produced to a committee oft he Timm , of Commune. ( ( 'ries et " Shame!" and cheers.) A vast fuss was made respecting a letter addressed by Sir B. Walker to the Duke of Northumber land in May, lteta. Some personal disputes had mitten between Sir B. Walker and NI r. Stafford : they were made known to the (hike, who, with a kindly feeling for both gentlemen, considered the matter with Admiral Parker, and a comae was adopted which in their opinion had satisfactorily avenged the affair. This letter of Sir B. IValkers of the 10th of May was received a few days after this occurrence, and its contents appearing to the duke to manifest a desire to revive those personal disputes which he considered had been settled for ever, and to con tain only one speeitie charge, that of Ridgeway, which ease had been previously disposed of, his grace treated this letter as a private communicati , considering that it would be exceedingly inconvenient for the public service to revive the stemma! misunderstauding between the secre. tory and the surveyor, and embarrass the daily comes• pondence that ought to exist between them. All letters addressed to the First Lord of the Aelmindty, as Sir James elraham stated to the House of Commons, w e re made private or public, as the First Lord saw tit. end the duke treated all the letters he received from Sir It. Walker in. variably as private; yet Sir 11. Walker produced a copy of this letter without even mentioning his intention to do so to the First Lord, and without remonstrance from the com mittee or the present Board of Admiralty. (1Icor.) The rescinding of the eirettler of Isitl appears to have given mullnege to Sir It. Walker—why. he ( Sir T. H.) could not comprehend ; it did not ieterfere with Lord Aeckland's admirable circular of 1517, nor did it piece Sir Baldwin in a worse position then when lie was under Lord Auckland, who cave him his. appoi tttt nent. stet in whose tulle this ciretther diet not exist. Captain Milne. a Of the present and several boards, stated. that this circular of ISW was merely a question which way the returns nom the dockyards were to reach the surveyor—whether through the secretary or front the dockyard.. told he then to submit them to the secretary : but in either case he con. Metered the sm-veyor reepoesible. Admired 1 limbo. also a member of the present hoard, stated that he did not think it signified whether the ill nrus from the dockyards came direct to the secretaryand then went to the surveyor: butt he thought, as a matter o f o fficial form, they shonld first go to the Secretary of the Admiralty, as it was alwnys in the Power of the board to refer them to the ourveyor. Why Admiral Hyde Parker withheld, apparently so systemizer , eallY , all his grievances from his then colleagues—why he aCertlingly encouraged the district officers to furnish him SATURDAY, • with their complaints privately, and withheld all know ledge of their existence from the board, was a matter which had occasioned him (Sir Thomas Herbert) not only surprise, but was a proceeding he could not unravel, more especially as on uo one occasion did anything occur during their tenure of office to suggest that perfect unanimity and friendly feeling did not animate all. (Cheers.) One circumstance was, however, indisputable —that Admiral Hyde Parker continued a member of the present Adurindty—( Lumeheir,and cries of " shame' )—and it was but just to the excellent permanent servants of all the departments of the Admiralty to state that complaints were ti iade only ofthe surveyor's department, which was undi r the sole control of Admiral Hyde Parker himself ( /fear.) The case of Lieut. Engledue was another of the unjust charm a madefrom party motives—(leed cries qf " Hear .' )—but he would abstain from entering upon it, because the commit tee, in their report, did not impugn the motives of the board for having restored that very efficient officer. Having detained them so long on three painful topics, which he considered it a duty he owed them and him self, as their member, to enter upen, he would com mence upon a more agreeable task, by mentioning a few of the measures that were brought forward by the late Board of Admiralty to improve the condition of our seamen and to strengthen our naval force. (Cheers.) After taking office no time was lost in concentrating squadrons in each of the home ports for their defence. Steamers and other vessels were forwarded in their equip • went, screw line-of-battle ships were hastened in their cor• smiction, and a large addition of seamen and marines, when submitted to Parliament, was voted almost by accla mation. By such prompt measures such ships as the Duke of ll'ellsngion, Agamemnon, st. Jean erA(Te, Doperieuse, de., were now in commission. (Hear.) Owirg to the want of sufficient information on steam marine, a screw squadron was sent to sea under the orders of that ex cellent officer, Captain Robinson, for the purpose of testing the qualities under sail and steam of the several vessels— (a report of the trial will be found in the parliamentary paper)—and a committee of experienced officers and ship wrights was sent to all the principal ports, to ascertain what was doing in the steam navy at those places. Another committee, conjointly with the Ordnance, was appointed to report on the capability of steam-packets and merchant skinners to carry guns, and to be used in war, it having been asserted in the House of Commons that, in the event of hostilities, the channel would swarm with such vessels. The result was, that, out of (X) merchant steamers and packets examined, three only were reported capable of being used for warfare, and these only by expensive alterations. (Hear, hear.) Another measure of vital importance was the committee on manning the navy. The inconvenience attending our system was universally acknowledged, yet no Board of Admiralty attempted a remedy. The late First Lord, himself a sailor, knowing its importance, grappled at once with the subject; and the instructions issued to the committee with their valuable report had been laid before Parliament, and the measures recom mended in that report were nearly all carried out by the present Government—( cheers)—and he trusted that the valuable evidence collected by that committee would be given to the public. On the question of the Bay of Fundy fisheries, too, the late Admiralty acted with promptitude. The American commodore (Perry) expressed himself much gratified at the important assistance afforded by our ships in limiting the fisheries within their proper bounds, and in restoring harmony. While those important titres lions were under consideration by the late Board of Admiralty, the minor points on which much of the com fort of 'seamen depended were not overlooked. Arrange mods were made for the increased comfort of the pen sioners in Greenwich Hospital. (Cheers.) Sailors' homes were considerably aided by the princely liberality of the Duke of Northumberland. (Cheers.) Regulations were made for the more frequent payment of sailers' wages, and for improving the position of warrant officers, de. (Dear.) The important measures alluded to originated with the First Lord of the Admiralty, who was untiring in his exer tions at the board to promote in every way the efficiency and welfare of the service. The instructions for all the committees were dictated by his grace : and no man ever presided over a public department with a more conscien Lions desire to discharge the duties that devolved upon him with impartiality, or exercise it with more seal for the good of hig country. (Cheers.) And, to show how totally uninfluenced his grace was by any political bias in the bestowal of his petrunage, he need name only a few of the gallant officers whom he appointed to ships—Ceptuin Loch, who was unfortunately killed in the Burmese wai Captain Lushington, Captain O'Callaghan, Captain Mitchell, a %arm supporter of Lord Seymour's at Tomes, de. (ll.ar, hear.) 1 acing been nearly fifty years in the navy, and engaged with the enemies of - our country more than thirty times, reported in official Gazelle on fourteen occasions, with the gratifying honour of receiving with other gallant friends the thanks of loth Houses of Par liament. and from his gracious Sovereign the decoration of the Rath, it would be a source of deep mortification if he ( sir T. H.) could suppose that shy act of his Merited the slighteet change in the opinion entertained of bins by his CI AM. owing to the partisan attack ou the late Board of ' Admiralty. [The adninal, who spoke evidently with much feeling, after repeating his thanks for the kind reception and attention he had experienced, resumed his sent amidst general and long-continued cheering: after which three very heel ty cheers were given for the Duke of Northumberland. The Vice-President (Mr. Ilocetx ) gave, " The Members for South Devon. - sir J. VottlE BULLER, Bart., M.P., whose name was welcomed with lunch enthusiasm, said that a period of twenty years had been brought back to his recollection, when he first appeared before the country as a public man. and he must feel that twenty years of public life bed not been thrown away when it Atained for him the ape , plausts of such an assembly. It was a source of regret