The Press. — London, England, 1855-01-27 00:00:00

JANUARY 27, 1855. Vrotubings iir Varliamtnt. Both houses reassembled on Tuesday. CLASPS FOR BALAKLAVA. In the House of Lords, the Duke of RICHMOND, moving for returns respecting the distribution of the Crimean medal, complained of the omission of the troops at Balaklava. After eulogising the heroism of the forces engaged, he asserted that but for their devotion the flank of the British army would have been turned, and the siege of Sebastopol must have been raised. He contended that none had a stronger claim to distinction than both the officers and soldiers engaged in what he considered an undoubted victory. Now that honours were distributed to the soldier as well as the commander, he begged to ask the reason why the Government had refused to grant &clasp for Balaklava, as well as to inquire if it was their inten tion to grant a medal to the sailors who landed the troops. He urged, likewise, that the representatives of those who had fallen were entitled to a medal. The value attached to a medal by the private soldier was very great. A vote of thanks from Parliament might be gratifying to him, but he could wear the medal on his breast, and exhibit it when sick or wounded, as a proof of his devotion to his country. The Duke of NEWCASTLE said that it was often difficult to draw the proper distinction in the distri bution of honorary rewards. In the case of an un doubted victory there could be no hesitation, but there might be a doubt as to the Battle of Balaklava, though there oould be none as to the heroism of the forces engaged. Taking, however, that heroism into account, her Majesty, resolving that the soldiers engaged in that battle should have the benefit of the doubt, and feeling that they had greatly distin guished themselves, bad given directions fur a clasp for the action of Balaklava. With regard to the Crimean medal, the Government thought the navy entitled to it, not because the navy fought the battles, but on account of the valuable assistance they af forded the troops ; and under these circumstances it was intended from the first that the medal for the Crimea should be given,not only to the army officers and soldiers, but to all the officers and sailors engaged in that quarter of the world. With regard to the third point, that if the families of those who have fallen in these engagements can derive consolation—and no doubt they - do derive consolation—from the pos session of a medal, the country should confer it. His noble friend had rightly pointed out the difficulty heretofore experienced in getting at the representa tives of soldiers who have fallen in past wars, but the same difficulty did nut start up in the present case. It was propused that the medal for these great services should be given to the survivors of the officers and soldiers, officers and sailors, who fell in the various actions in the Crimea. To render the boon of any value or of practical effect, it would be necessary that the name of the individual should be en • graved on the rim of the medal ; and if two or three months should elapse before this can be done and the medals can be sent out, he trusted, after the explana tion he had given, that the country would not think him neglectful in the matter. the Earl of ELLENBOROUGH, after saying that he himself had had the distribution of 60,000 medals, explained the principle upon which he conceived such distribution ought to be founded. He held it to be wrong to give any medal unless for distin guished services actually performed under the fire of the enemy. He knew that principle has not always been acted upon; that men had received medals because they happened to belong to a corps which contributed to the general success by the posi tion which they have occupied; but he thought that principle most erroneous and deceptive. When we see a man wearing a medal, the meaning conveyed to our minds is that that man has done good service under the fire of the enemy. Pecuniary advantages— indeed, any other advantage might be given to soldiers for successfully holding a position, or gene ral services, but not the medal. He rejoiced to hear that the gallant men at Balaklava were to have their clasp, but he strongly doubted the expediency of giving the Grimean medal to every seaman who hap- pened at the time to be employed in the Black Sea. He would require very particular information first as to the conduct of every seaman. He greatly re gretted the hesitation in granting the clasp for Bala klava, knowing how sensitive were the soldiers' feelings to all points of honour. It did not look well that the announcement of the concession of the medal should have been deferred till an independent pen had drawn attention to the subject. He could find a parallel to the deeds of Alma, great as those deeds were ; he could find a parallel to the deeds of Inkermann, though they were still more re markable than the deeds enacted on the heights of Alma ; but he did not know where to find a parallel to the deeds of Balaklava. Cavalry has charged artillery before, cavalry has charged infantry on many occa sions, and cavalry has charged cavalry, but he knew not the instance, although it may exist, in which THE PRESS. cavalry has before charged the cavalry, infantry, and artillery bolunging to a powerful army in position. How is it, then, that it did not at once leap into the noble duke's mind that it was due to the feelings of our army that they should be rewarded at once as they ought to be rewarded ? The medals for Bala klava should have been instantly struck, not a moment's delay ought to have taken place. When Curtius threw himself armed into the gulf in order by the sacrifice of himself to promote the future wel fare of his country, he did not do a deed of more desperate fidelity, he did not do an act of more abso lute self-devotion, than that done by our cavalry in that memorable charge. (Cheers.) He concluded by trusting that the 93rd, which shared with the cavalry the glories of the day, would not be omitted from the distribution of the medal. VOTE OF THANKS TO THE ARMY AND FLEET. On Wednesday, in the Commons, the following letter from Lord Raglan was read by the Speaker: Before Sebastopol, Jan. 7,185 S. Sir,—l have had the honour to receive your letter of the 18th December, transmitting the resolutions of the House of Commons, and requesting me to communicate them to the officers and men of the British army, and Gen. Canrobert, and I beg to acquaint you that I have fulfilled your instructions, and am proud of having been charged with so agreeable a commission. The officers and men of the British army derived the highest gratification from the knowledge that their gallant exertions in the cause in which they are engaged have been honoured by the ap• proval of the representatives of the British nation, and they accept with feelings of the deepest gratitude the unanimous thanks of the House of Commons, I shall best make known to the house the sentiments entertained by Gen. Canrobert of the public recognition of the brilliant achievements of the French army in cordial co-operation with the troops of her Majesty, by transmit ting to you a copy of his Excellency's letter in reply to my communication, and the General Order, in which he announced to the army under his command the resolutions of the house, and expressed his due appreciation of the thanks they conveyed. I trust you will be so good as to acquaint the house that I am deeply sensible of the great distinction it has con ferred upon me in noticing my services, and that you will yourself accept my warmest acknowledgments for the manner in which you have performed the duty of com municating to me the resolutions.—l have the honour to be, with the highest respect, your most obedient servant, RAGLAN. A similar letter of acknowledgment for the vote of the Peers was read by the Lord Chancellor in the Upper House on Thursday. The Loßn CHANCELLOR on Tuesday read the fol lowing letter from Admiral Dundas in acknowledgment of the vote of thanks to the fleet : Britannia, at Malta, Jan. 8. My Lord,—l have had the honour this day to receive your letter, dated the 18th tilt, transmitting the resolutions of the House of Lords expressive of the high sense it en tertains of the valuable services rendered by myself, and by the officers, seamen, and marines of the fleet lately under my command. Having, on the 31st tilt., transferred my command to Rear-Admiral Sir Edmund Lyons, I have transmitted a copy of your letter to him, and the resolutions of the House of Lords have been made known to the several officers who were serving under me. I have, also, in obedience to the order of the house, forwarded to Admiral Hamelin the resolutions, thanking that officer and the French navy for their cordial co-opera tion in the various services in which the combined fleet have been engaged ; and as Admiral Hamelin has also transferred his command, I have sent copies to Vice- Admiral Bruat for communication to the French navy. The high honour and distinction the House of Lords has thus been pleased to confer on myself, the officers. sea men, and marines of the fleet lately under my command, will be received by all with deep gratitude and respect, and I have to beg your lordship will be pleased to accept my sincere thanks for the generous terms in which you have conveyed to me the resolutions of the house. I have the honour to be, my lord, Your lordship's most obedient humble servant, J. W. I). DUNDAS, Vice-Admiral. On the motion of the noble and learned lord, the above letter was entered on the minutes. THE AUSTRIAN TREATY AND THE FOUR POINTS. Mr. LAYARD asked the President of the Council if he would consent to lay on the table of the house the correspondence on the subject of the treaty of the 2nd of December, more especially with respect to the interpretation put upon it by the Russian Govern ment. Lord J. RussErs. said : I cannot at present say whether it is possible to lay upon the table any of the correspondence to which my,hon. friend refers. With respect to the correspondence generally, it would be unusual as well as inconvenient to the public service to lay it upon the table. Still there may be some papers relating to a question of great importance which can be produced, and that is a point which I will consider before I give a final answer. Perhaps, however, as my hon. friend has asked a question, I may state generally what has occurred with regard to the four points, and in what situa• tion the question stands at present. At the end of No vember the Russian Government, through their minister at Vienna, declared their acceptance of what are called the four points. On the 2nd of December a treaty was signed between the charges d'Affaires of England, France and Aus tria, and on the 28th of December a meeting was held between those ministers of England, France, and Aus tria, at Vienna, with Prince Gortschakoff, the minister of Russia. At that meeting the French minister, Baron Bourqueney, on the part of England and Austria, declared the interpretation which they put on the four points as the basis of negotiation. I will mention only, with respect to the third point, that it proposed to put an end to the preponderance in the Black Sea ; and with reference to that article Prince Gortachakoff declared that he would not adhere to the interpretation which had been put upon it, but that he must request further instructions from his Go veniment. Accordingly he afterwards informed Count Buol that he had received those instructions; and on the 7th or Bth of January another meeting was held at the office of the Minister fur Foreign Affairs at Vienna. At that meeting Prince Gortschakoff read a memorandum, which he said he had received, and contained the views of his Government. To that it was replied by Count lino!, Lord Westmoreland, and Baron Bourqueney,that they had no authority to receive such a memoratidum,but that they must require the consent of the Russian plenipotentiary to the terms of which they had already given him notice. The Russian plenipotentiary—so Lord Westmoreland state iu his despatch—then withdrew his memorandum, and declared his acceptance, on the part of his Government, of the interpretation already given as the basis of negutia tion. My hon. friend, however, will understand that in accepting that interpretation the Russian Government of course reserves to itself the power of making explanations with regard to the details of the terms. I hit‘e to state, then, that the Government of her Majesty have declared that they are ready to enter into negotiations upon these bases, although up to the present time no full power has been given to any minister to negotiate. VOTE OF CENSURE ON THE GOVERNMENT. On Thursday Lord LvNnwritsx gave notice he would move the following resolution on next : That the expedition to the Crimea was undertaken by her Majesty's Ministers with very inadequate means, and without due caution or sufficient inquiry as to the nature and extent of the resistance to be expected from the enemy; and that their neglect and mismanagement in the conduct of the enterprise have led to the moot disastrous results. LORD JOHN RUSSELL'S RESIGNATION. This event brought the sittings in both houses to an early close on Thursday evening. In the Com mons the announcement was made by Mr. Hayter ; and Lord PALMERSTON, oberving that the gravity of the occasion justified him, moved adjournment the of the house to the next day (yesterday). Mr. ROEBUCK, who had already postponed to that day hir motion for a committee to inquire into the state of the army in the Crimea, demanded precedence of all public business, which was agreed to. The same announcement was made in the House of Lords by the Duke of Newcastle, accompanied by a similar motion for adjournment. Earl FrrzwirtuAN com plained of the absence of information respecting so important an event, but the Marquis of LAissnovnix explained that Lord John Russell would make his own statement on the next day. PUBLIC HEALTH. Sir B. HALL moved for leave to introduce two bills to amend the Public Health and the Nuisances Removal Acts, referring the matter in the first instance to a select committee. By one of the pro. visions of the first bill, local boards desirous of acquiring property for water or drainage works, could acquire it without the necessity of coming before Parliament. Local boards were to make annual reports, which were to be distributed to all the rate payers. The General Board of Health was to exer cise a strict supervision over the expenditure of the money. The second bill enlarged the power of the local authorities, who were to be established in every district for its sanitary inspection. Some arrange ments were made with respect to lodging-houses and offensive trades, and the non-performance by the local authorities of their duties. After a few words from Mr. Wilkinson, Mr. Williams, Sir H. Willoughby, and other members, leave was given to bring in the bills. AT Wooi,wtcw have now under trial a vehicle constructed to meet the great difficulty at Balaklava—the transport of cannon over mud. The cannon is slung under a pole resting between two high wheels, which, as they revolve, lay down a block or .paddle, surmounted by an iron rail, and dovetailing at its extremity with a succeeding block, continuing the line. Thus the carriage lays down its own railway as it progresses, while the sleeper from which it recedes acts as a lever, and lifts up the wheels from the bed of mud. It is found that the carriage will transport the heaviest guns in this way through a perfect slough. There are doubts, how ever, whether it will answer so well on rocky ground, as, upon being tried during frost, the resistance of the hardened earth drew out some of the bolts from the wheels; but it is thought that some modification of the paddles will overcome this impediment. THE Indus to day, with the India and China mails, hes brought 27,000/. in specie.