The Sun. — London, England, 1821-05-01 00:00:00

fa - at, it would likewise be extravagant. He wished that such a motion as the present were made every day in the week, that the people might see what the House was, and how regard less it was of its duty in the ad:ninistration of :he public revenue. He trusted, therefore, that his lion. Friend would never lose any opportu -zity which might present itself, of making such a :notion. Mt HUME asked, what was the object of his 1 - lonoarable Friend's motion ? Merely that the 1 - Iceasojohould pledge itself, on the bringingup the deport of the Committee, to take into considera stien the large salaries which the motion enume rated.—What would he the re:ollt of refusing to :agree to this proposition ? TLat the people would believe Parliament had no such intention. The :Noble Lord had' already allowed that the con sideration ought to take place. What his Hon. Friend now called upon the House to do was to give the people the satisfaction of pledging itself zo that consideration—a most reasonable propo sition ; and l e was astonished that the Noble - .Marquis and Mi Friends objected to it. Un tloubtedly, if he had been consulted by his [lon. Friend he would have recommended deferring the motion until the Report had been actually brought up ; hut as the motion had been made, and as, if it would be good at. the time he had mentioned, it could not be bad at the present moment, he would certainly vote for it. The Marquess of LONDONDERRY felt it un necessary to press on the House the impropriety aid inutility of the motion, after what had fallen from the Hon. Gentleman who had just spoken, who had made the strongest speech that had been 'made in hostility to the motion, and who, indeed, Toad pushed his reproach of the Hon. Mover to a degree of harshness disproportionate to the of fence which the want of confidence that certainly bad been exhibited towards him was calculated to excite. The Hon. Gentleman had distinctly allowed that the motion was unnecessary at the present moment. Now really if the House were to be called upon to act on the principle of af firming every unnecessary proposition that was made to it, and from the establishment of which not the, slightest public advantage could be de rived, merely lest the country should be misled (and misled too, he begged leave to observe, by those to whose tactics the public were too Much accustomed not clearly to see through them), it would, in his opinion, speedily involve itself in c:reat disgrace and humiliation. But the Hon. * Member for Aberdeen had relieved him from' all difficulty in pressing this point, and he would therefore content himself with saying, that, for the reason which that Hon. Member had stated, he (the Marquis of Londonderry) should cer tainly vote against the motion. 3lr. HUTCHINS3N maintained the expediency of agreeing to the motion, in order that the House might show its disposition to attend to the distresses of the people, by pledging itself at the first convenient opportunity to take into con sideration the salaries specified, in order to de termine whether they might not- be advantage ously reduced. If such motions as these were rejected, he was persuaded that things could not go on as they were ; for the distressed people ) ending that all-their Petitions for Relief were fruitless, would naturally withdraw their confi .dence from those by whom their complaints were disregarded.—The House then divided— For Mr. Creevey's Resolution Against it - - Majority - -33 On our return to the Gallery, we found the Rouse in the Committee of Supply, discussing the Army Estimates. On the Resolution for granting a sum not exceeding 23,2071.35. 2d. for the Recruiting Establishment of the East India Company in Great Britain and Ireland, a short conversation ensued, in which Mr. Hume, Lord Palmerston, and the Chancellor of the Exche quer participated. Eventually, the Resolution was agreed to. On the Resolutioa for granting a sum not exceeding 16,9151. 10s. 4d. for the Royal Military College, a considerable discus took place. Mr. IltimE declared that he had a great objec tion to this grant. The establishment in ques; ticn had been gradually increasing since 1816.- 11e by no means objected to the propereducation •of every officer who entered the army ; but what he objected to was, that many young men were educated at the institution in question who never hail an opportunity of entering the service. In the five years, 1816, 1817, 1818, 1819, and 1820, - the expence of the Royal Military College had been 115,2801. In that period 1,764 cadets had been educated there. Now, as by the regula tions of the College it took four years to com plete the education of a cadet, it followed that a fourth part of the number he had mentioned, or in other words 440 cadets, ought to have been ad rnitted into the service in that time. Instead of that, only 160 had been so admitted. The edu-1 cation, therefore, of those 160 officers had cost the public no less a sum than 7201. 10s. each.— None ought to be educated at the public expence except those who were afterwards sure of being admitted into the service. The fact however was, that, although the establishment in question "-was adequate to the education of all the Military, Officers in his Majesty's service, not one in nine of the young men who obtained Commissions was ,educated in it. Most of those who were educated in the Royal Military College, when their educa tion was finished, instead of receiving commis sions were turned adrift, to the great detriment both of themselves, and of the country. The Hon. Member here read an . extract from the Re port of the Finance Committee of 1817, in sup port of his opinion, that the Institution was per verted from its proper object ; and that if some changes were not made, the sooner it was done away with the better. If, however, it were con tinued, the expence ought to be considerably re duced. Who that knew any-thing of the pro. CCS3 of education would say, that a Military Staff at an annual expence of 6,4571. was ne- cessary to take care of 290 young men ? There was no vote in the whol e o f th e Estimates half so extravagant as this. There were a Go vernor and a Lieutenant Governor (he did not know whether either of them resided or not), .the one at . 1,5001. the other at 1,0951. a year. —Then there were a Major, four Captains, a Quarter-Master, a Paymaster, (who had a salary of 3001. to pay thirteen thousand pounds,) a Li brarian (who, he believed, acted as Chaplain,) a Surgeon, and an Assistant Surgeon. What necessity there could be for two Surgeons for 290 boys, when half a regiment of 1000 men were committed to the care of one, he was ut terly at a loss to conceive. There were four Professors of French, and six of Fortification and Drawing, when it was evident that half the number would he sufficient. Then there were 5 clerks ; and 21 men-servants to attend on young men who ought to be made soldiers of, and ac customed to all the hardships of a military life. On the whole, he had no hesitation in saying, that there was no establishment, the expenditure of which was so profuse. He proposed, therefore, to reduce the estimate by 72401. In the first place, he saw no reason why a Lieutenant-Colo nel would not be an officer of sufficient rank to act as Governor of the College. He would reduce the Captains to 2; the Surgeons to 1 ; the clerks to 3 ; he would dispense with the Paymaster, he would also reduce the French Professors to 2, and the Professors of Drawing and Fortification to 3. With all these reductions, he was per suaded that the establishment would be com pletely efficient for the purpose for which it was intended. The Honourable Gentleman conclud ed by moving an Amendment to substitute the sum of 9,7711. for the sum proposed by the Noble Lord. Lord PALMERSTON observed, that the Hon. Gentleman had saved' him the trouble of argu ing the expediency of having our officers pro perly educated for the service. He was perfect ly ready to concede to the Honourable Gentle man that it was desirable not to educate a larger number of young men than would have a fair chance (consistently with other and una voidable claims), of obtaining Commissions.— Whether or not this had been the case at the Royal Military College, would appear from in quiring into the number of Cadets, who, having passed their examination, had not obtained Com missions. That number was, at present, only 14. The examinations were annual. If all the Cadets who were qualified in one year obtained Com missions in the course of the next, it was as much as could be expepted. The Hon. Member had calculated what had been the expence of the es tablishment. It might be satisfactory to know' What had been the result of that expence. From the first establishment of the institution, 2528 Cadets had been admitted into it ; including, in its earlier periods, a number for the artillery and East India service. Of those 802 had received commissions in his Majesty's service ; 17 had gone into the army as volunteers, and had after wards received commissions ; 142 who had re tired into private life subsequently entered the army ; 683 had been educated for the artillery, 102 had entered the East India service, making a total of 1867. There remained 238 at the College who had passed their examination ; so that of the 2528 who had been admitted, 2105 had been rendered available to the public service. The Hon. Gentleman seemed to think the ex pence of the establishment too great. It was not greater in proportion than that of the Ordnance and Naval Establishments of a similar nature It was strange that an individual of the Honour able Gentleman's ability and research should no know whetherv:or not the Governor and Lieu, tenant GovernoPtesided at the College. Every one who knew any thing of the College knew that they resided, and that they performed their duties in the most exemplary and conscientious manner. But the Honourable Gentleman chose the subjects on which he would employ his in vestigating faculties. Where he thought he could make an impression, he exerted himself, but where he felt that nothing could be done, he came and professed his ignorance. As to the rank of the Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, it was indispensible that the College should he superintended by persons of professional weight and character. The young men there were at a time of life when it was more difficult to manage them than at any other. No longer boys, they could not he subjected to coercion, and on the other hand they had not arrived at the age when the reasoning faculties could be expected to hold them in sufficient restraint. Unless therefore they were under the superintendence of indivi duals of professional weight and character, their discipline Would be relaxed, and the whole insti tution rendered unavailing. The Noble Lord proceeded to shew the necessity 'of maintaining the other officers of the establishment, as well as the professors, the clerks, the servants, &c. He contended that the expence of educating each cadet, being only 581. a year, could not be con sidered as excessive. A considerable diminution of the expence of the establishment would in fu ture arise from the necessary reduction of that class—the orphans of officers—who were edu cated gratuitously. The establishment would then consist, in a gteater degree, of those who contributed towards the charge of their education. Colonel DAVIES, who had himself been edu cated at the College, expressed his persuasion, that while the senior department was eminently serviceable to the country, the junior was wholly useless ; yet the reductions which had taken place had been most injudiciously in that depart ment principally from which alone public benefit was derived. Of the Professors of Fortifications and Drawing, three were Frenchmen, one of whom had been a Lieutenant in the Navy.— Now, he was at a loss to conceive what this per son could know of fortifications. It was urged, that this Establishment had furnished many Of ficers to the Army ; but it should be recollected, that within the last five years no more than 52 officers had been taken into actual service from . _ half-pay. This was, then, a gross injury and injustice to the whole half-pay List. The Ifon. Member, after some • further observations, con cluded by supporting the Ame4dment. Sir 140 WRY COLE observed, that every Gen tleman who knew the Gallant Officer who gb verned the Military College,. must acknowledge the great services which he had rendered t.) the --- country.—(Hear, hear !)—lie (Sir G. Murray) had devoted his mind to that Department, and had introduced great and 'effective improvc:ne.nts into it, • Colonel DaviEs admitted the merits of the Gallant Officer alluded' to. His objection was not to the individual but to the office. Ile felt convinced, that either the Governor or Lieute nant-Governor ought to be reduced, but he did not state which. Sir L. COLE said, that it was not the duty of the Governor, nor would it become his station, to enter into all the minute details of the Esta blishment. It would not become him, for in stance, to inquire on every occasion, whether one boy was to be put into the black hole; or whe ther another boy should receive punishment of a different nature. Mr. HUME remarked, that the observation just made by the Gallant Officer (Sir L. Cole), would go to shew that Sir G. Murray was above his work.—(" No, no!")—It might not be ne cessary for the Governor to inquire what boy was to be sent to the black hole ; but then, where were the major, .the captain, and the 10 or 12 serjeants who were employed in the establish mept ? From what bad been said as to the ne cessity of keeping up so large an establishment, it would appear, either that the boys were the worst disposed boys, or else that the College was the worst managed establishment in exist ence. The Hon. Member entered into calcula tions to shew, that the expence of this establish ment was, in 1799, 14891.; in 1801 (when it first took the name of a Military College), 3859/., that since its establishment it had cost the coun try 300,1891. The proposed reduction was, in his opinion, a very moderate one, and he felt he should desert his duty if he did not take the sense of the House upon it. After a few words from Lord PALMERSTON and Colonel DA VIES, Lord JOHN RUSSELL said, that he could not allow this question to 'go to a division without making a few observations upon it. He, for one, did not think it right in a fre., country like this, to have young men educated from their earliest youth with a view solely to the army. He enter tained an old prejudice against accustoming boys to see nothing around them but military uniforms and military discipline. He did not think it proper that They should be totally separated *rom those friends and those associations of civi life. However necessary such an establishment might have been during the war, he thought it might be reduced in a time of peace. But even if such an establishment were necessary, still he thought that there was no. occasion for sending boys to it at an earlier period than that at which persons studied for the bar or the church, which was never before 15 years of age. The Noble Lord also objected to the employment of four French professors, as he could not see any con nection between the French langVage and the duties of a British officer. Lord PALMERSTON said, that the Noble Lord would, it appeared, have our officers brought up in the happy constitutional ignorance of 1792. Our officers were then, for the most part, igno rant of the Continental languages, and the conse quence was, that when our army went abroad, we were obliged to hire foreigners to perform those duties, without which even the bravery and discipline of. our troops would be of no avail. 'The Noble Lord wished to have persons sent to the military school at the same age that persons commenced the study of law and theology —but he (Lord J. Russell) should recollect, that the sevices of officers are required at a much earlier age than that at which Gentlemen are called to the Bar, or ordained to the Church. Mr. 11. G. BENNET was of opinio❑ that if the College was productive, of good in disseminating knowledge among our officers, it had also pro duced much evil in inculcating notions inconsis tent with the principles of a free Constitution. It was said that our officers were ignorant before the establishment of this College. This he begged leave to deny. lie had himself, twenty years ago, known many officers, as well educated and as well informed as any Gentleman now in the army. It would be better to allow parents and friends to qualify their children for the army, by providing the necessary instruction. If Go vernment should once establish the rule that none but the educated officer should receive a Commis sion, there would be no doubt that those who ap plied would take care to possess themselves of the necessary knowledge. Colonel. Woof) wished to remind the House, that in this establishment there were educated three descriptions of persons. In the first class, were the orphans of brave men who had fallen in the service, and who could not get that educa tion spoken of by the Hon. Member. In the se cond class, were the children of officers now in the army ; and if this particular education were more necessary for any one class, it was for this, because composed of persons the most likely to find their way into the army, and the most likely to be ill educated in consequence of their fathers being abroad. The third class paid for their education, and was no burthen to the coun try. He did think a knowledge of the French language highly necessary for those who might be stationed in countries where this language was spoken ; and if the proposition of the Honourable Member for Shrewsbury were adopted, the result would be, that all the young men destined for the army would be educated on, the continent, as a knowledge of languages must be always among the qualifications. In support of this opinion, he should read a letter from General Wolfe, who was.certainly a consti. tutional officer. The Gallant Member here read a letter from General Wolfe to a friend, stating the necessity of instructing a young man, about to enter the army, in the Latin and French lan guages, and in mathematics; because withbut a knowledge of the latter, it would be impossible to construct fortifications, or have a knowledge of tthe attack and defence of places —an important portion of the duty of an officer. The Gallant Member concluded, by defending the establish ment, because without it, it would be impossible to give the necessary education to the two first classes. ,Ca'Stain O'gRADY observed, that he had the concurrence of every Cavalry Officer of that House, in stating that the [tiding-house. at Pim- lico (as was understood) was totally useless and ought to be suppressed. Ile trusted that that Department would be again brought under the attention of the House. Mr. lILTME remarked, that much stress, had been laid on the circumstance of the orphans of Officers being educated at the Military College. Now, the fact was, that, of 290 boys, there were but 55 orphans of Officers in the Establishment. The object of the Institution was not attended to; it was not the children of Officers that were benefited by it, but the children of persons that were not at all connected with the army. Col. WOOD pressed his former arguments on the House. Sir HENRY HARDING said, as a proof that in fluence was not the only means of obtaining com missions at the Military College, that he was pre sent at a recent examination, where a young man was present e d w ith a comm i ss i on i n an oldregi meat, as a reward for the excellent manner in which he stood the examination. The present question was, whether the expence of the Mili tary College was too high ? Formerly, officers sought instruction abroad, merely because in this country military information was neglected. He had no hesitation in saying, that the system of instruction now pursued at Sandhurst was supe rior to the system pursued at the Military Col leges abroad. Mr. BRIGHT said, that he looked with great jealousy at the Establishment in question ; he was convinced that a better system of education might be promoted at much less expence. He felt it his duty to vote for a reduction of the pro posed grant. Mr. J. SIITYTII said, that the Military College was not, in his opinion, attended with sufficient advantages to justify the expences incident to it. Mr. WILLIAMS complained of the system of Military Education. If the children of deceased officers were to he educated, why not give them a civil education ? He not only complained of the establishment itself, but of the wasteful expendi ture attending it. There were 290 childrep, and for those 290 children, there were no less than' 104 masters and servants. Mr. T. WILSON said, that in the present state of the country, he was not disposed to support the grant, the more particularly as he appre hended that there was a perversion,of the original design of the Establishment. Mr. O'GRADY wished to know, whether the porter of the Military College, and who had a salary of 701. a year, was an old Soldier or a de cayed innkeeper ? After a few words from Mr. GREY BENNET, the House divided : Foi the Motion - Against it Majority 23 - 9 On the Resolution for a sum of 28,2041. for the support of the Garrisons of Great Britain, at home and abroad, Mr. HumE said, that it ap peared that Lord Chatham, as Governor of Gib raltar, had an allowance of 2,8001. a year, and as Governor at home, 6901., and yet he did no duty in either place. He wished to know, whe ther it was the intention of Government to con tinue those useless places The Marquess of LONDONDERRY said, that it was not in the contemplation of Ministers to make any reduction with respect to the govern ment of Gibraltar. It was never in the contem- plation of the Earl of Chatham to accept of the place as a sinecure, and nothing would have pre vented him from attending his duty at the pre sent moment, but a recent and al calamitous cir cumstance, which took place in the Chatham family—as it was, his Lordship was about to sail to Gibraltar. The emoluments of the office, as received by the late Dake of Kent, were consi derably more than those received by the Earl o f Chatham. The Duke of Kent received 6,5001. a year. The Earl of Chatham did not altogether receive more than 4.4001. Mr. linam said, that the services of the late Duke of Kent would, at least, bear comparison with those of Lord Chatham; every one knew the services of his Lordship, and he believed every one was convinced that those services were fully requited wherever they were performed— whether at Walcheren, or at any other place. The late Duke of Kent did not receive,more than two-thirds of what he was entitled to receive; he ought to have received 9,0001. a year; it was not going too far to say that his Royal Highness was defrauded of a great part of his revenue by his Majesty's Government. During the time of his predecessors, a great part of the revenue was received out of wine houses ; the establish ment of those houses led to very disgraceful scenes, and had the very worst effect upon the morals and discipline of the army. His Royal Highness, to his honour, reduced those houses ; he had a pledge from Government that the decrease of his allowance, occasioned by the reduction of the wine houses, should be made up to his Royal Highness, but that pledge was never fulfilled. The Marquess of LONDONDERRY said, that it was curious to see the Hon. Member complaining of the reduced allowanc e to th e E ar l . of Chatham, and at the same time contending that the late Governor, the Duke of Kent, ought to have re ceived full 9,0001. a-year. Col. Davtns said,it had been understood that on the death of the Duke of Kent this office was to have - ceased.; yet, on the death of his Royal High ness, a successor was appointed with the most indecent haste. It was to be recollectiql that the Earl of Chatham already received a large pen sion from the Consolidated Fund on account of the services of his illustrious father, As to the Earl of Chatham's going to Gibraltar, it did not at all alter the case—it would be only wasting his time. But it was not an uncommon trick to appoint an individual to a sinecure, and then lo make him try to give it an appearance of effi ciency to deceive the public. Sir F. 03IMANNEY said a few words, which were quite inaudible in the Gallery. Mr. asked, whether the establishment in the Tower was kept up in the same state as it was when the Military Commissioners inquired into it ? the real purpose of keeping uP these unnecessary establishments were to afford rewards for distinguished services, that was a purpose which might be much better answered by giving pervious. For the garrison of Berwick there was a charge of 94 -IL Now there was not the sha-, dow of an efficient garrison there. When he passed through that place last year he inquired respecting the garrison, and found that the guns had all been taken away, and even the small arms, for fear of the Radicals ! Yet no doubt, in addition to the charge of 9441. in the present vote, there would be, in the Ordnance Depart ment, a charge for Serjeants to look after these guns. He should move a reduction only of 2,449/. on this vote, being the sum charged for the garri son of Berwick, added to that for the Governor of Gibraltar, though he had no doubt, if the facts could be known, there were other charges equally fit for reduction. Lord -A. HAMILTON asked, whether the Mi nisters would say that the office of Governor of Gibraltar 'should continue in perpetuity ? If this was the intention of the Ministers, they should avow it. If not, never was there a more improper appointment than that of Lord Chat ham. It had been the uniform defence of sine cures, that they were bestowed in reward of •-J great public services; but the assertion was fal sified by universal experience. Here was a sum of 28,0001. to be v o t e d f or • sinecures, of which the Ministers refuse to reduce a shilling. Lord PALMtItSTON said it was only the Go vernor's places that were sinecures. The other ekpences arose from offices - which were efficient, and were filled 'generally by old and meritorious Officers. Among the names of Governors were those of the Duke of Wellington, Lord- Hill, Lord Cavan, Lord Combermere, Sir Lowry Cole, Lord nutchinson, and Lord .Beresford, Which sheaved that these: offices were not given by fa vour, but as the reward of brilliant m:litary services. Mr, BENNET asked for what conceivable rea son the form and establishments ofgarrisons were still kept up at Inverness, Hull, and Stirling ? Notwithstanding the flourish of splendid names which the Noble Lord had put at the head of his list, he had no doubt, if all the names were given, there would be found among them some excellent electioneerers. Lord J. RussELL wished to know from his Majesty's Ministers, whether it was intended that Lord Chatbarn should continue to do the duty of the garrison ; and whether, in consequence, it was intended to.reduce the office of Lieutenant. Governor ? Lord LONDONDERRY said, he only knew that Lord Chatham was about to repair to Gibraltar, but he had no further information on the subject. Mr. PHILLIPS said, it was proved beyond .doubt that the place was a sinecure, by the ab sence of the Duke of Kent for years, and of Lord Chatham ever since his appointment. After a few words from Lord PALmEnsToN and. Mr. BENNET, the Committee divided— For the Amendment Against it - - Majority - - -60 The original grant was agreed to.—Oir Ole proposition for a vote of 115,256/. 17 5 . - 6d• for the full pay, or retired and unattached oficers, Mr. IlintE called attention to th e man ner which, this charge had been swo ll en out by the late temporary em b o dyi ng o f V eteran B atta li on s. It was a rule, th a t o ffi cers o f V eteran B a t ta li o ns when disembodi e d, should deceive full pay for life, and the rule had j us ti ce as we ll as lib era lity in it, when, as acc or di ng to usual practice, per sons, who from length o f serv i c e h a d pecu li a r claims on the public, were placed in those regi - : ments. About a year and a h a lf ago t h e Minis ters thought fit to raise new battalions of these corps which had been since disbanded. They had to,officer these battalions, taking officers/ some from full and some from half-pay, and giving them a claim to retire for life on full pay. Th e increase of expellee thus entailed upon the P lib n 4. lic was 13,8701.; of the officers, 68 w ere t 3 : l ' e " from full, and 179 from half p a y, and t-11ej, seemed to have been selected on a n y other Pr',ll7 ciple than length of service. —There were a Br ea - many of these Officers who had served six, f° dr : and two and a half years,—indeed, all Peri 6-A except long ones. As hi s M a j esty ' s Mi n i ter' had taken this step without the sanction of Pa l ' liament, he should move to reduce the vot e " 13,8701. Lord PA LMERSTON sa id, th e o ffi cers whos e. i e placed on ve t eran b a tt a li ons, h a d i n d ee d t he t i l l , r p . ; vilege of full p a y w h en di sem b o di e d, ha , ' - forfeited all c h ance o f promot i on ; an d even after they retired, they were liable to b e calledl on again. Offic er s w h o h a d s o re ti re d, wer e ca led on to serve in the new battali ons a llud ed to, bu t they had been found too w orn ou t and brok en in constitution to perform any military serv i c e.-- The Commander-in-Chi e f h a d selected, not ac cording to length of service, which was an in o f j : proper criterion, but tho se w h o , from severity service or incapacity, w ere disabled for m or :i active duty. S ome . o f th em , though t!wy held commissi o ns f or a s h or t time, had serye.. long as non-commissioned officers. , th d e Noble fi , l r. o u r 3 d t h s a a d i d given at t o h f e te descriptionp did not generally apply. But as a pl edge n , 9 o P s; peared to have been given them, though peti t Ida" improperly, he should not press his awe' to a division. -gee Voc , "` Upon the proposition for a similar a to retired officers in Ireland, c etera" Colonel DAyins observed ; that the t corps alluded to had not oniJ been, mo , s , d , a s the perly raised, but most improperly retitle- so much be e maintenance of them would have numb er o f less expensive than that of an equal persons :sbeilecbc e the regular army. `Tie Resolution was agreed t°• On the Resolution with re, and to the -allow ance o f . h a lf - pay to the officers of the foreign I theirerinrs ' half-pay, country, the 2;1"• JIUME animadverted "upon the advantage which these officers enjoyed in the receipt of agency paid from the public purse, whi the latter, if in any foreign comary, were compelled. fornoleerrhatidi-liengnattlileveexlecne: le tths to pay for such agenty from their own pockets, The expellee of agency for the former, rising from a certain per centage upon the. payment of bills, he stated to amount, within five years, to no less than 17,76-11.; while the duty assi med by gned to the agent (Mr. Disney) might be perfor two clerks in the War Off ice for 5001. a year., Lord PALME',ISTON observed, t hat the , tgent