The Press.
London, England, 1857-05-02 00:00:00

ADMIRALTY SUBORDINATES.

WHAT is the reason of Mr. PHINN'S retirement
from the Second Secretaryship of the Admi-
ralty ? The Daily News will have it that he
objected to do " clerks' work ;" the Times that
he would not submit to the drudgery of office.
It is possible that neither one nor the other of
these causes have led to this gentleman's
retirement.

The Board of Admiralty is oddly con-
stituted, and is a remnant, like the Exchequer-
office, of the well-intentioned but incomplete
reforms undertaken about a quarter of a con.
tury since.

The permanent secretary of any department
should be a man thoroughly versed in the
whole of its business, able to control success-
fully those placed under his orders, and pre-
serve discipline, while, by his complete know-
ledge of his work and devotion to it, he should
command the respect and confidence of his
superiors, without having recourse to syco•
phoney or any other means than those which
become an honourable and upright man.
In the short time while Mr. PHINN has been
Secretary of the Admiralty, no doubt he may
have gathered to himself much of the practice
of the naval service ; hut the subdivision of
the Board under individual Lords, some
closely attending to their duties, others not
so, owing to their Parliamentary or other
pursuits, necessarily destroys that unity of
action, as well as system, by means of which
a permanent secretary could alone be informed
of the wants of the service and, what is
actually passing, and what ought to pass,
before the Minister charged with the depart-
ment. It is believed to have been the object
of Sir JAMES GRAHAM in 1832, when he broke
up the navy and victualling boards, to insti-
tute such machinery as would keep the
Minister of Marine informed upon any sub-
ject connected with the Admiralty, a proposal
which involved an alteration of principle.
For this reason he appointed certain principal
officers of the navy who should be responsible
to him as First Lord ; but he still retained the
routine of political lords, nominally to superin-
tend the principal officers,- as weil as to sit in
conclave upon the discipline of the naval
service. It is quite possible that an intelligent
and ambitious man like Mr. PH!NN might be
weary of a place that called forth no powers of
mil id, but which really placed him daily in a
position subject to rebuke, or unpleasant
remark, if he dared to exercise his judgineo
upon any topic under discussion relating to
the duties of his office. Many have though
that the office of Admiralty would be better

MAY 2, 1857.

conducted if one or more naval officers could
be permanently appointed to look after the disci-
pline of the service, and advise the Minister
upon all matters connected with the manning of
the fleet. And in like manner the five principal
officers might be in direct communication
with the Minister upon all questions concern-
ing their departments. It is contended that
it such a scheme were adopted the Minister
would be more completely and directly in-
formed upon the real working of the navy,
than by receiving intelligence at second hand,
and unconnectedly, as he must now do. This,
also, would test the real usefulness of a per-
manent secretary ; the whole of the strings
would be collected together by him, and he
would feel a pride as well as interest in being
the instrument of assistance to the Minister,
without any fear of jealousy or from
others who may now fancy that they should
be equally consulted with the First Lord.
The wheat would be thus separated from
the chaff, all questions of detail would be dis•
posed of in the departments, but all great
questions involving a principle or expenditure
would be submitted to the Minister. Are
such considerations at the bottom of Mr.
PHINN'S retirement? But another question
arises, whether, when we have had such au
outcry for promotion by merit and reform of
the Civil Service, is it absolutely necessary to
go to the Inner Temple for men to till such
offices as that in question? Is there not in
the whole range of the Civil Service a man to
be found possessing the requisite qualifica-
tions and tic to fill this office, and even sub-
' mit to the drudgery complained of, to which
he has been throughout his life trained?

We surmise thiii there must be many such
men to be found in the public departments.
There may he reasons in the minds of some
men for not awarding such a prize as the
Second Secretaryship of the Admiralty to a
person bred in the Civil Service, but is it not
purely a bureaucratic post ? Then why give
it out of that class who naturally view it as a
post of honour as well as emolument? Mr.
DISRAELI was right when he said that the
Civil Service wanted the stimulus of more
" spirited rewards." We may recur to this
particular topic.