The Press.
London, England, 1854-12-16 00:00:00

that cloud of official statistics which the Secretary-at-War
has found it convenient to throw into our faces. I find no
fault with the Secretary-at-War for taking this his first
legitimate opportunity to vindicate the conduct of his office
with respect to many accusations which have been made
against it, not in this house, but allow me to remind the
house that the Secretary-at-War has been most success-
ful in answering the charges which have not been made in
the House of Commons. (Bear, hear.) We are called
upon to-night to decide whether we will agree to this
Address, which, as far as I can follow its language, is an
echo of the speech in my hand—a speech in some circum-
stances most remarkable, inasmuch as I believe it is the
shortest speech that ever yet was delivered from the throne,
and is confined almost to one subject. Let me remind the
house, however, that this speech commences by an admis-
sion of great importance—by an announcement which is
certainly calculated to excite the attention of the whole
country. We have here, in the gracious speech of her
Majesty, an announcement that her Majesty is involved in
a great war. (Hear, hear.) Now, I want to impress the impor-
tance of this expression upon the notice of the house. This
time last year, when we were virtually, though notformally,
in a condition of hostility, no Minister acknowledged that
the war, which was soon formally to be announced, was a
great war. The most distinguished member of the Cabi-
net, the Lord President himself, had ids hands so full of
business last year that he had hardly any time to think of
the war. Far from its being a great war in the opinion of
the Lord President when Parliament last met, it was
scarcely a war at all; but, even if it did result in such a
catastrophe, the noble lord was almost prepared to carry
on a little civil war of his own. I do not mention this to
taunt her Majesty's Ministers, but these are the only traits
by which we can ascertain what were then their feelings
and opinions with respect to this immense event. But
when it became &formal as well as a virtual war, when it
became necessary that a message from her Majesty should
be delivered to this house, when the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer had, in consequence, to explain to the country and
to the house how the war was to be carried on, it is quite
clear that the Chancellor of the Exchequer did not con-
sider it to be a great war, for he brought forward a very
meagre estimate, which anticipated the expense of the
transport of troops to foreign countries, and also the ex-
pense of their return, both included in the estimate of the
year. (4 laugh.) I believe lam not misrepresenting the
hon. gentleman when I say that we have upon our votes
of last session a sum of money for the transport of 26,000
men to Malta and back again, a vote proposed by the
Minister of Finance, and passed by a subservient and un-
critical Parliament. (Hear, hear.) It is quite evident,
then, that these eminent gentlemen had not the least idea
that they were engaged in a great war. The noble lord
and the Chancellor of the Exchequer may have thought
we were engaged in war, but they cannot have believed it
was a great war, when the noble lord was so indifferent to
these foreign and external circumstances that he was pre-
pared to propose a reconstruction of this house ; and when
the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when called upon in his
official capacity to propose the first vote for the carrying on
of the war, anticipated, not merely the expenditure neces-
sary for the transport of troops, but the expenditure neces-
sary for the return of those troops to this country all in
the course of the year. T think, therefore, sir, it is neces-
sary for us to consider the great importance of this phrase.
Last year, according to the noble lord, a war with Russia was
a circumstance so insignificant that it ought not to prevent a
reform in Parliament. The noble lord now has found out that
this is a great and not an insignificant war. The Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, when he was of such a sanguine
complexion, that on his first proposition of expenditure he
anticipated that the troops would return to this country in
the course of the year, proved that, in his opinion, the war
would not be a war really, but a demonstration. (Cheers.)
I am not now imputing it to the Government as matter of
blame ; at the same time I reserve to myself the right to
impute it to them as matter of blame—(Laughter)—but I
say it is quite clear that the Ministers of this country, at
the commencement of last session, had no conception
whatever of the position in which they were, or of the mag-
nitude of the circumstances which they had to encounter.
(Cheers.)
My right lion, friend the member for Droitwich has, I
think, indicated, under these circumstances, the course
which a Conservative Opposition, rightly distinguished
from other Oppositions to which he has referred, is justified
in taking.
When her Majesty appeals for support—when her Ma-
jesty announces she is involved in a great war, and asks
us for our assistance—it is our duty to express to her Ma-
jesty that there are no means at our command that we will
not place at her disposal ; but surely, if it is so evident, so
demonstrative, so transparent that her Majesty's advisers
find themselves in a position which they did not antici-
pate—which they had not the prescience or sagacity to sup-
pose would occur—it surely is not an unreasonable or
factious course that, while we say we are prepared to sup-
port her Majesty in this great struggle by every means in
our power, we reserve to ourselves the right of expressing
an opinion on the conduct of the Government in respect
to this war in the interval, and to judge from that conduct
of the manner in which they may spend the resources
which we may place at their disposal. (Cheers.) We
have had a speech from the only Minister who has con-
descended to address the House of Commons thus sud-
denly summoned. We have had a speech of detail—l may
say of statistics—adverting to subjects which never have
been introduced into our discussions, and which have
really in no sense met the great objection which has been
urged by my right hon. friend. The Secretary-at-War has
proved to us, according to his view, that the hospitals at
Scutari at this moment are admirably attended to and
regulated. I hope they are. lam willing to believe, upon
the statement of the right hon. gentleman, that they are
so. The right hon. gentleman has endeavoured to per-
suade us that the medical assistance which our army