Star. — London, England, 1808-04-01 00:00:00

!Pr cifr ~ PtH RIPOAto IF THE COMMISSIONERS APPOINTED TO ENQUIRE. AND EXAMINE INTO THE PUBLIC EXPENDITURE: Aar a Court e of Common Council was held You r— Th m i nu tes being read, the Lord uadital l • po rted that he ha d, attended by the deptsta re min e l by that Co urt, p resented the Address a fon aPe - • t an d he had to lay before them his his Mjesty ; s Answer : which being read, was ordered ter ed upon the Journals. be en ddressed t mod , Lord Mayor, from the A l own etter er s,' a was also and referred to the Na 'l• Cornmid ee • fp°ne ernembrancer laid before the Court a Bill for tThe-age.o.ver the River to Vauxhall, when it was irees h to petition the House of Commons against the and the Sheriffs were ordered to present it. etne; tAr Witirtim or then called the attention of the the fate of the Reversion Bill, which had tesniar- d i t hrown out in the House of Lords, as a ce that astonished the minds of every honest circuit' s° at a time when they were called upon to make Ins ' a 'Res, to surport their existence as a nation. C t thert - ° had been a time when that Court g ave an the country, which he hope d would be errni'l e to . 2 .a, f o llowed in the present instance : he meant the Pri of that Body in the year 1779, complain- Ad r t he obnoxious influence of the Crown, which ehirege il y g ave rise to Mr. BURKE'S Bill for retrench 6,the Cavil List, and other acts of reformation in Z apen diture of the country. He then entered into o l et e , e w• f those Addresses , which brou g ht about cry reforms, and strongly urged the reading tithe Mi nu tes of the Court on the 16th of Dec. 1779; s i s o the answer of t he 32 Peers who entered their Pro. tee aga inst the scandalous abuses of the Public RHe roue, to a Vote of Thanks from that Court. e t hen quoted several passages from Blackstone's Com raies, m o ntesquieu's Spirit of Laws, Lord Cam les, and other writers, on the evil tendency of corrupt parliaments, and asserted that the country would ine. i i ta bll be ruined, when the people were excluded from as ..essederance In the State. When the country sus r—r- D i e d s uch heavy burthens, it was lamentable for the ie ,. v deto turn their attention to the different sinecures eloj ed by s everal noble families ; for instanc e . Lord f GoG o at's, 80,0001. per annum ; Duke of Portland's, geol.; Lord Arden's, 35,0001. ; Lord Melville's, 15,0001 ; togetherwith others, amounting to morethan 400,000 L; but there was another Nobleman, whose come was more than 30,0001. a year, who had ac cepted a pension for his daughter, of 3001. per ann. (Yeesesse! front several tart: othe Court.) In stating dev facts he would ask the ourt, if such men as allowed in places and pensions were proper to con fact, with purity and patriotic zeal, the affairs of the Nation? The times were certainly trying, the people ogling for existence ; and their hard.earnings 'pandered away by placemen and pensioners in pmbling and expensive routes. Surely there must to something fascinating in being a Member of Par lament, when a man would give 6 or 70001. for a ass to sit up every night, to the great injury of his etestitution and without saying a single word , vote cc-sandy for the Minister of the day. No man would dap such privations unless with the hope of re 'mention, to the injury of his constituents. Mr. Waithman requested the Minotes of the Court of thi IE4 of December, 1779, together with the Duke of Arguld's Answer to the Thanks voted by the City of London on that important occasion, be read, which was complied with. Mr. Waithman resumed, and said, the Noble Duke had been in power several sub sequent years, and yet nothing of his former pledges lad been evinced to the Public. He concluded by moving— Thu petitions be presented to both Houses of Parliament, 'Fusing out regret that the Bill for preventing the granting of !lees in Reversion (which we regarded as the first step towards reformation of existing abuses) should have been frustrated, and ring that measures may be adopted for carrying so necessary sibeitficial a Bill into effect ; and also for causing enquiries to t nude into the receipt, management, and expenditure of the 'llk money, and adopting such measures as may effectually lutti against such abuses in future, as well for abolishing all un sensuT places and pensions, as a means of consolidating the mph of the empire, and calling forth the united energies and actions of the people." Mr. Deputy GOODBEHERE seconded the motion. Mr. Sheriff SMITH said, that, as an independent rani he owed it as a duty to himself, to declare that the Motion had his full approbation. He thought these Members of the House of Peers who had voted against the passing of the Reversion Bill, had done Ink credit to themselves, and he had no doubt the day was fast approaching, when the country would have ample justice done it, in spite of placemen and Innioners.—(Hear, hear!) Sir R. C. GLYNN supported the motion. Mr. QeIN enforced the strong necessity for eco, norny in the public expenditure, towards which no thing could so much contribute as the abolition of Grants in Reversion. If the City was in the habits nF granting Offices in Reversion, they might see a roan succeed to the place of City Marshal, who was /imp-hacked, or blind of both eyes. He then ad verte,_ dth the enormous pensions granted to M inisters w "had been only a few months in office, and whose wives were also pensioned, as if they, by their beauty ar in trigues , had contributed to the service of the conlarb—Hear I Hear! Mn S. DIXON supported the motion. He had one remark to make, however, as to the manner in which It. Waithman had opened the business. The worthy Gentleman had painted, in extravagant terms, the pensions and places enjoyed by Noble Lords who were of opposite politics to himself, such as Lords Eldon and Arden, but why did he omit to state the enormous pensions and places held by Lord Auck land, Lord Grenville, and a few more of the late im maculate Administration? Mr. Deputy KrAvitz wa.s glad to find such a spi rit of unanimity in . the Meeting, and he hoped their sentiments would resound throughout the country. —For his own part, he was determined to support "ery motion that was made against Ministers, be titeY what they might, until the people had been relieved from some of the burdens under which !hey groaned in consequence of the disgraceful traffic in places, pensions, And offices in reversion. The motion was then put and carried unanimously, and a Committee retired to draw up the petition in question. ARMY MEDICAL DEPARTMENT; (Continued from yesterday's Paper.) 3. The Regimental part of the Medical Establish ment of the Army, is the last subdivision of this branch of our subject. Previous to December, 1796, the Regimental Me dical Staff consisted of one Surgeon. and one Mate to each regiment or battalion ; add the Surgeon had an allowance, proportioned to the strength of die corps, for medicines, the hire of hospitals, and the me dical expences attending detachments and recruiting parties. But by a regulation of the above date, it was directed, that medicines should be supplied to the respective corps by the Apothecary General • and the hire of hospitals, and the medical expenses alluded to, were to be charged to the public. The Surgeon's pay was at the same time increased • and the Mates re ceived a King's Commission, with increased pay, and were styled Assistant Surgeons. It was further di rected by the same regulation, that the medical and hospital expences of regiments should be inserted in the annual public accounts of the respective corps.--. By a regulation of June, 1798, the Regimental Hos pitals were declared to be under the immediate direc tion of their respective Surgeons, subject, nevertheless, to the general directions and superintendance of the Inspector of Regimental Hospitals. By the same regulation, nine pence per diem was directed to be stopped from the subsistence of the sick in hospitals, which was to be retained by the Paymaster, and to be applied, under the direction of the Surgeon, in support of the sick, and in providing them " reason able comforts and indulgencies." The Surgeon w‘a to keep an exact account of the weekly consumption, which was to be examined and signed every week by the Commanding Officer and Paymaster • it being stated to be of the utmost importance that ;hose offi cers should superintend the expenditure. And the Surgeon was further directed to make a half-yearly return to the Inspector of Regimental Hospitals, of the medicines used by him during the preceding six months, and of what remained. Previous to this, we understand that the sick of regiments were maintain ed by stoppages, the rate of which was regulated by the Commanding Officer : these were usually paid to the Hospital Serjeant, and the expenditure was ac counted for to the Commanding Officer. By a re gulation of September, 1799, the stoppage was re duced to four shillings per week, for each man ; and now, for the first time, the Surgeon was required to transmit half-yearly to the Inspector of Regimental Hospitals, an account (approved by the Commanding Officer) of the Regimental Hospital contingent ex pences, together with the vouchers for the same, signed and certified by the Paymaster. The next regulation is dated the 31st August, 1802, when the stoppage was directed to be raised to ten pence per diem for each man, which was to be paid over to the Regimen tal Surgeon, to be applied by him, under the superin tendance of the Commanding Officer, to the mainte nance of the sick, and the gen,eral expences of the Hospital ; and accounts of the expenditure for both services (being previously certified by the Comman ding Officer) were to be furnished to the Inspector General of Army Hospitals in such forms, and at such times, as he should prescribe, in order that if there was a deficiency, it might be made good ; and if a surplus, that the same might be applied to the ge neral medical expences of the corps. In September, 1803, an additional Assistant Surgeon was appointed to regiments consisting of 500 men and upwards ; and oiler regulations were at the same time issued, bringing the Regimental Hospital expenditure more directly under the controul of the Inspector General. The forms in which the accounts were to be made up, and the periods of delivering them, were prescribed : the weekly returns of the expenditure were to be cer tified, and transmitted by the Surgeon to the Inspec tor General : He was also to transmit a half-yearly account of all the expences charged in the weekly re turns : and he was to send monthly a return of the sick belonging to his corps. It was a part o f these regulations also, that the Surgeon was to deposit in the hands of the Paymaster, monthly, any growing surplus of the Hospital Fund : and it is stated in this regulation, that by a late Order of the War Office, the Paymaster was allowed, when deficiencies called for an advance of money for hospital purposes, to issue it on account, under the authority of the Com manding Officer. The last regulation for the ma nagement of Regimental Hospitals, is of the Ist Ja nuary, 1806. This makes little alteration material to be noticed in this place, except that the sick were to be furnished with provisions according to the actual market price, which was to be ascertained and veri fied by the Commanding Officer, whose approving signature was required to be attached to the weekly returns transmitted by,the Surgeon Inspector General. The result to be collected from the statement of these regulations (which, because they are officially published, we have not inserted in the Appendix) is, that the stoppage from the pay of the sick was first applied to their maintenance only, and that it was not till August, 1802, when it was raised from four shil lings per week to ten pence per diem ; that it was also applied to the general medical expences of the Regi mental Hospitals : That these stoppages were first retained by the Paymaster, and applied, under the di rection of the Surgeon, to the maintenance of the sick; I and that it was by the same regulation of August,l 1802, they were directed to be paid to the Surgeon for the same purpose , and for that of the general ex pences Ana, lastly, it appears from the above state ment, that, although the Surgeons were required, by the regulations of 1799, to transmit half-yearly ac counts of Regimental Hospital contingent expences to the Inspector of Regimental Hospitals, it was, by the regulations of 1802, they were further required to send the accounts of the maintenance of the of the sick to the Inspector General. Subsequent, therefore, to August, 1902, the Regi mental Surgeons must be considered as a kind of Purveyors of the Hospitals under their care, and as accou ntants, also, for the stoppages issued to them by the Paymasters of Regiments. In these characters they are to make weekly returns of expenditure to the Inspector. Geueral of Army Hospitals in London, and to -account to him, half-yearly, for their receipts or dis bursements. It is obvious that these duties are very distinct from those which are professionally required al bf the Surgeons ; and that tile first are ' which may seem to interfere With the last: • The experience, or anticipation of stinie thence trim this circumstance, produced, probably, the regulation of. September, 1803, by which an ad dition was made of another Assistant Surgeon to re giments consisting of five hundred men and upwards. For we have satisfactory grounds of belief, that on home service at feast, the former esablishment of a Surgeon and an Assistant to each regiment of infan try, would be fully equal to the care of its sick, if these officers were Solely occupied in such duties ;- -. and even on expeditions, whilst they are accompanied with such large estab lishments for General Hospitals, it would probably be 'found, that the further Regimen- . tad Medical Staff was generally sufficient for the ser vice. But if the addition of a second assistant was made With the object alluded to,we are of opinion, that the cause was temporary. Two Members of our Board. have had Opportunities of visiting several Re gimental Hospitals of Cavalry, Infantry, and Militia, and of obtaining Minute information from the Sur geons in each. It appeared, that the duty which they performed as Purveyors, though doubtless out of the strict line of their profession, was not troublesome, and did not interfere with their professional, duties ; in aid of which it in some measure operated, by placing the quality of the patients provisions imme diately under their controul. From the information thus acquired from several Regimental Surgeons, and from a Deputy laspector of much experience, we feel justified in giving it as our opinion, that one Surgeon is competent to the management of the sick of his re giment in ordinary, cases, if together ; and, that the necessity ofassi stance is occasionedonlyby detachments.. In this view of the subject, one Surgeon would probably be found sufficient for a militia regiment ; but to infantry regiments of the line, there should always be one, Surgeon and one Assistant ; and to regiments of cjalry, on their present large establish ment, one Surgeon and two Assistants, because muds more liable to be detached. But, though we admit the necessity of increased Assistants to regiments liable to be detached, it must not be .inferred,. that the regimental system of ma- , naging hospitals precludes the idea of assistance to detachments of other regiments in the same quarters: on the contrary, this reciprocity of assistance is cem mon ; and, from what we are about to state, it ap pears, may be conveniently continued, •even if the appointment of the second Assistant. Surgeon were to cease. In September last, the Surgeon of the second battalion of 'the 43d Regiment had under his charge in Hythe Barracks, besides his own sick, those of the Ist battalion, sent on service, and th , :se of detach ments of the Royal Artillery, 53d, and 95th Regi ments, amounting together to about fifty patients ; in the management of which he felt no difficulty, though the situation of A ssistant,which became vacant in October preceding, had not then been filled. The Surgeon of the 16th Light Dragoons, at Shorricliff, had more patients under his immediate care, to the management of which he was fully competent, al though he was under the necessity of visiting Out quarters, and his Assistant was detached at Romney. An increase of numbers allotted to a particular duty does not always produce a correspondent benefit. — This was witnessed with regard to the Medical Staff, as we have before observed, by Dr. Jackson in Flan ders, during the last war. And it appears from a printed order of his Royal Highness the Commander in Chief, of 3d February 1803, that the consequence of this addition of an Assistant Surgeon to the Regi mental Staff was not, as had been expected from the former regulations, a diminution of the expence of the extra attendance of country practitioners, but a greater indulgence in the Commanding Officers in granting leaves of absence to the Medical Staff of regiments: and it was distinctly stated to those of our Members who had opportunities of visiting those Re gimental Hospitals, that the appointment of Assistants in the Militia Regiments, and of Second Assistants in the Regiments of the Line, has been productive of very injurious effects to the service, and even to the, young men themselves who had been so appointed. Subject to the observations we have made upon the appointment of Second Assistant Surgeons, we are disposed to give much credit to that uniform sys tem of account and controul which has been introdu ced into the Regimental Hospitals at home by the present Inspector General ; and to admit that it has been productive of much benefit and (economy. But against the surplus of the Regimental Hospi tal Fund, arising from the stoppages which, from the statement in the Appendix, appears to have amount ed from the 25th September 1802 to the 24th June 1806, to the sum of eight thousand five hundred and twenty-eight pounds nine shillings and sixpence three farthings, there shOuld be set off, perhaps, the addi tional expence of the appointment of Second Assistant Surgeons, together' with the increased expence of that part of the Army Medical Office which has the su perintendence of the Regimental Medical cor.cerns. These stoppages, it appears from the statement in the Appendix, although applied not only in the Last night, between six and seven o'clock, as Mr. maintenance of the sick, but in the discharge of the May, builder, of George-street, Grosvenor-square, was contingencies of rent and servants wages, the pay- I returning in his gig from West End, Hampstead, the ment of country practitioners bills, the transport of horse took fright and ran off with him betweenKilburn. medical supplies and stores to regiments from parti- Wells and the Hill House, passed Mr. Wow, of cular depots, the purchase of many occasional arti- i Oxford-street, and another Gentleman on horseback, des Gf medicine and utensils, and, since 24th Febru- . extremely frightened, and complained of his inability ary 1806, to the payment of the full price of bread .to stop the animal. On coming up opposite Mr. Mar and meat supplied to the sick also, yet gives a ba- j vin's farm, he made a spring . from the back part of lance in favour of the Public, as we have before stated, the chaise, but unfortunately pitched on his head, and of eight thousand five hundred and twenty-eight ' was killed on the spot. He lies at the Portman Arms, pounds nine shillings and sixpence three farthings. It on the Edgeware-road, for the inspection of the Co-.... may be thought, consequently, that the deduction of roner. tenpence per diem from the pay of the sick, which I About fortnight since a fire happened at the bottom was directed by the regulation of 1802, is higher of Gravel-lane, Wapping, which consumed three or than is wanted for the purposes to which it has been I four old houses. Since that time some large piles of applied. But in the first place, it may be remarked, l ruins have been left standing in a very tottering state. that in the increase of the stoppage, leaving so much Yesterday morning, between ten and eleven o'clock, less of reserved pay for the soldiers on quitting the l as several children, most of them sons and daughters hospitals, has probably che cked that fraudulent dis- I of coal-heavers, were playing on the rubbish, the end position, which we understand is sometimes found in I of a house which had been left standing gave way, the soldiers, of procuring themselves to be placed on I and buried nine of them under it. All the assistancb the sick list, and of continuing on it longer than is I which could be had was brought in aid of the sufferers. necessary, and has consequently had a tendency to! It was a considerable time before they were all found; keep up the effective strength of the army. And two of whom,.a fine girl about ten years of age, of the next, it may be observed, that by the regulation of name of Evans, and a boy, named Axelby, aged 11 1802, the stoppages were to be applied not only to years, were both dead. The other seven were all the maintenance of the sick soldiers, and to the foci- much bruised ; one of them a boy, who was carried dental expences of the hospital, but also to the general ,to the London Hospital, died during the afternoon : medical expences of each corps; which seem to include, end another boy, of the name of Allen, has received and, in our opinion would properly include, the cost a fracture in the skull, which allows little hope of his of -medicines as well as the expences to which the recovery. The others are likely to recover. - '• • iambus isitliata ionkijaikt di 4Pli - a z p nten ele ll , ll ,4te cost Ot isediehies to the ' is at home Awing 18 66. 1 eyed Odder the zi ' t atten tive ma: nagemenf of the inipplk; moult ,on an average; to about forty-six pounds *battalion of 000 men ; and consequently, from 190 i; front which time the savings from the stoppeges ha itd been accumulating; would' ilave greatly magi:kat such surplus. Wei thinly, therefore, that it isnot consistent with the dis • . rections of the ttgialgtibti of 180 1 4 tb amide thil -sum ,which has exceecier th e maintenance and incis dental expenses of ihiloldier s in Reginteiral Hospi tals as a surplus unappropriated, but that it ought to have been paid to the Agent of the Amy. , Medical Depaftmettt, and have been applicable to the gene purposes of the monies which ate front time to time issued to hint: For it would have been inconvenient, perhaps, according , to the mode in which the billsfor medicines and hospital stores have been discharged, to have applied this surplus directly in payment of these articles. In our 'slew, therefore, of the subject, the surplus now in the hands of the Paymaster or others, and that which shall hereafter accrue, should be paid or remit ted every six months to the Agent or Cashier of the Department, and be applicable to general purposes. There will do inconvenience arise from this proceed ing if the recommendation be adopted, which we shall hereafter suggest, of placing the whole of the Army . Medical Department under one connected manage ment, and of paying all the expences of it out of one fund. The appropriation of the surplus of the stoppages had been under the consideration of the Secretary at War in 1806, and the Inspector General's .opinion was asked on the subject. It appears that his view of it does not much differ from that which we have given ; but he recommends that a sum, not exceeding thirty or forty pounds, should be left in the hands of the Paymaster of each regiment, oat of the balance of his hospital stoppage account for each half-year.— We think there may be a convenience in this, as a. provision against the circumstance of the stoppages not equalling the expences in a subsequent half-year, which may occasionally happen, it is said, without any default in the Surgeon. The remaining consideration respects the controul over the expenditure of these stoppages. Whatever expediency might have existed at the time for with drawing this part of the regimental expenditure from the examination and responsibility, in a great mea sure, of the Commanding Officer, we believe that when the present good system shall have been fully• established, there wouldbe a convenience, and even tually a saving, in placing this matter on its former' footing. The Commanding Officer could as effectu ally check the expenditure on the spot, as is done at present in London ; the Surgeon would be relieved from some of the returns, and part of the correspon dence, which may at times interfere with his profes sional duties ; and the establislunene of the office in town might probably be reduced, or its occupation applied to other services. We do not, however, recommend the immediate adoption of a change, lest it should more materially affect the efficiency of a system which we see great reason to approve, than at present occurs to us. But should our suggestion at any future time be adopted, our idea is, that the Regimental Paymaster, who re tains the stoppages, might issue money for the weekly expenditure to the Hospital Serjeant acting under the general directions of the Surgeon : the accounts of the expenditure in such case, vouched by the Diet Table and the usual receipts, having been examined and approved by the Commanding Officer, Paymaster, and Surgeon, need not, any more than under the pre sent system, form an item in the regimental pay-lists. But, that the state of the Hospital Fund in the Pay master's hands may be known by the Secretary at War, he should be required to transmit half-yearly to the War Office, an abstract of the weekly stoppages and expenditure, certified by the Commanding Offi cer and Surgeon, when the Secretary at War would be enabled to direct the appropriation of the balance, if any, in the way 1; e have before recommended ; and deficiences, if any occurred, might be charged against the public in the Paymaster's monthly accounts. We do not mean by what we have proposed to withdraw the Regimental Surgeons from some gene ral medical controul ; but to recommend, that they should still make the monthly returns of the state of the sick, because from these their skill and assiduity may be udged of, and the expenditure of medicines furnished to them may be checked. We have broken in a little on the next division of our subject, relating to the Medical Expenditure cf the Army, by some of our last observations ; but it was difficult to separate the consideration of this from that of the establishment, which we are disposed to think is the greater, both in the regiments and in the Office in Town, in consequence of the mode in which the Regimental Hospital expenditure is managed. (To be cornered.) I