The Express.
London, England, 1855-06-28 00:00:00

ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM.

MEETING IN DRURY-LANE THEATRE.

t for obtaining • thorough and searching reform in the
The third public meeting in support of the MOVe•
men
management and administration of all our public depart-
ments, was held yesterday evening at Drury-lane Theatre.
when the crowded state of the building, and the earnest and
enthusiastic demonstrations of the meeting indicated the
SA
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h voTI trifle e: Mpp P; .31;
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rapid rate at which the question is gaining on public opinion.
M.P. ; A. J. Otway,
The chair was taken by SAMUEL MORLEY, Esq., and upon.
A.P..H;
.A 1
jpelyareyd,Pmel.lapt.t:
M.P. ; J. P. Monolith, MP. ; J.
the platform we also observed Charles Dickens, Esq. ; W.
Reed, Mowatt,is i. M.P.
J. P. Gatlin, W. J. Hall, Geo. Bishop,
jos. ; J. Ingram Travers, R. Odilby, Wm. Lister, Benj.
Wilson, J. B. Allan, Wm. Cumming, Goo. Moore, Fm.
Smooch, Donald Nicoll, J. P. Foster, Thos. Pollock, Wm.
Eiger. jun. ; Peter Graham, George Stagg, Forster
Graham, Rev. Robert Walpole, J. 0. Datchborn, Fredk.
Ottoman, Clemt. George, J. A. Nicholay, J. Whitmore,
R. Michell, Jacob Bell, Joseph Harvey, J. Fermin', R. L.
Fenniegs, W. S. Berton, J. G. J. Greene, J. W. Marshall,
John Wade, John Vane,: of Harwich ; John Norton, :of
Lincoln ; Henry Railton, of Seittlegarth ; H. R. Hoole, of
Sheffield ; W. Burnley Hume, F. L. Blocs, A. 8. Ayrtoa,
Jobnstoun Neale, Col. Inigo Jones, M. J. Higgins, Travers
Buxton, B. L. Smith, Dr. Bell, Dr. Price, Rev. D. Massie,
W. A. Bethune, A. Gettig Gibson, T. Falvey, of South-
ampton, &e., &c.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, said—
Ladies and gentlemen, I em anxious not to occupy more
than a very few minutes of your time—first, because an op-
portunity was afforded to me on the last occasion of ex-
pressing my deep convictions on this subject; and, so-
' Goodly, because there are other gentlemen entitled to ad-
dress you who will occupy every minute of our allotted
time. (Hear, hear.) lam anxious, before I say a word et
two on the general question, to make a remark on some
matters of a purely personal nature. It will be seen that
some statement, which were made at the former meeting
hove been seriously and hotly controverted by more than
one member of parliament. lam anxious to do justice to
myself with respect to these statements without doing in-
justice to Mr. Lindsay, who you may depend upon it will
set himself right in the proper place—namely, the House
of Commons. (Cheers.) Mr. Lindsay feels as we all feel
that as his statements have been controverted in the House
of Commons, it is in the House of Commons they must be
met, and I merely mention it here, because the charge
forms pert of • general accusation against the accuracy a
our statements. New, we assert of ourselves that we rue
men who are incapable of making a false statement, if we
I know it. (Cheers.) We are quite sure that • bad :cause
cannot be permanently bolstered up by false statement'.
and we feel that a good cause, such es ours, require" no
such support. (Hear, hear.) The term "leaders" he
been applied to certain gentlemen connected with th.s
association, but as far ash refers to any one connected with
this association, the epithet is a misnomer. We are Merely
a committee associated for the furtherance of in which
we all take a deep interest, and in no case looking to
leadership for A, B, or C, or any other person whatever.
(Hear, hear.) Something has been said respecting our
having packed this building by means of tickets. The
fact is that we meet here because we could Sad no
other place large enough to hold us, and so great
has been the desire of the public to hear
what we have to say, and to give force and momentum by
their attendance to our object, that of getting rid of exist-
ing abominations in the public office', that we found it
necessary to issue tickets in order to ensure comfort and
regularity for those who attended. (Hear, hear.) We
know the name of every one present, end I am prepared to
say that never was there a more authentic representation
of thinking men—and I am glad to say of ladies also—as-
' @ambled on any tension, or in furtherance of any public
.object, than that by which I see myself surrounded on the
present occasion. (Cheers.) A good dell has also been
said about the publication of the names of certain mem-
bers of parliament in connexion with our last meeting.
was much startled to see the letters in the Tines on
the subject ; and on inquiry from the secretary I
found that tickets were sent to every member of par-
harm nt, and as they were not marked "not tram-
(treble," and as all came in, the secretary concluded
that the invited parties had come. Seeing that Colonel
Freestun's—who has made so much of this circumstance—
card had come in, it was not wonderful that the secretary
should imagine that be and some of the other colonels might
be skulking about the boxes. (Cheers.) All that can be
said is, that they were put down because their tickets came
in. (Hear.) If I were asked why I em here to-eight I
should say that it is because I love my country, and because
I tremble at the probabi:ity of the recurrence of such •
year as that which has just passed away. (Hear.) I feel
that as Englishmen we have received • great affront at the
hands of those on whom we conferred great responsibility
and power ; but I am told by some that we should not disturb
the question until the war is over. My conviction is that if we
don't get • change in the state of affairs the war will never
be over—(loud cheers)—and that our countrymen will
continue to be murdered in thousands through the sheer,
absolute neglect and incapacity of the men who have utterly
failed us in the hour of our need. (Loud cheering.) Further,
I believe that nothing short of the most unmistakeable
manifestation of public opinion, or perhaps absolute revolu-
tion, will alter the state of things of which we all complain.
(Hear, beer.) I am a firm believer in the doctriae that
there are limits to the endurance of a people ; and no doubt
revolutions have done wonders at times; bat we English-
men know how to manage these things without revolutions.
We shall convey so unmistakeable an opinion to Lord
Palmerston, who now only knows public opinion through
the House of Commons, that if he does not concede our
just demands, his place and power will not be worth a
month's purchase. (Hear, heir.) Let but such an idea get
into his lordship's mind, depend upon it we shall get our
own terms. (Hear, hear.) There has been a debate in the
House of Commons on the motion of Mr. Layard ; en the
first night of which the government mustered up courage to
threaten resignation, but on the next Lord Palmerston,
with wonderful dexterity, which has been the theme of ad-
miration in all official circles ever since, adopted the amend-
ment of Sir B. Lytton, and, at half-past one in the morning
that amendment is carried, almost without a remark. I
must confess that the result of that discussion gave me
ea
imp •n of the insincerity of government, and
convinced me that if we for a moment relax our efforts we
shall get little substantial in the way of administrative re-
form. (Hear, hear.) Let it be understood that I am not
making an attack on the mere ribordinates, the clerks in
the public offices. No doubt there is abundance of evidence
on this score, respecting gentlemen who go to office leading
bull dogs in a string. (Cheers and laughter.) We hear • great
deal of convenation about the state of education among the
working Mews ; these facts show what is the state of educa-
tion among. those who have nothing to do. (Cheers.)
The fact is that these young men sometimes come to
office so miserably deficient, that the bead of the office is
frequently obliged to give them a month's leave to learn
to write. (Cheers and laughter.) The principle upon
which these appointments are made is as bad as can be.
(Hear, hear.) What we want is a true sense of responsibi-
lity in official people. Any one who has read the report
of the Sebastopol Committee must feel that the great ob-
ject with every witness was as muck as possible to shirk
responsibility. (Hear, hear.) Nobody would admit that
everything had been his fault, sad what we want to do is
to get every one into a position In which he shall be
responsible. (Hear.) I should like to see business
managed as it is in our large commercial towns, where
transactions are curled on quite as large as those with which
government have to deal, bat where you will find that the
head of each department is not a man who has been placed
there because he had an influential brother or cousin, or
some private friend, but because he had served
the firm faithfully through • long series of
can, had gone creditably through every grade, and
had made himself thoroughly acquainted, not only
with the principles, but with all the details of the demist-
sent at the head of which he was placed. (Hear, hear.)
Such a man is held responsible for everything that takes
place in his department, and if all the appointments are
not made at his direct recommendation, no one would be
allowed to hold • situation a moment under his displeasure.
Now, I hold that it is a system like this that we ought to
have established in the government departments. (Hear,
hear.) We not only want men who have proved themselves
competent in the three " R's" as they are popularly called,
but who have proved themselves generally capable, and of
whom we have a conviction that they will faithfully
perform their duty. We want to hold out to the faithful
*etymon who have honestly done the public work for
years that they shall not be overtopped in the race for pro-
motion by successful lawyers or soldiers, who now build
their SUCCESS upon making glib speeches in parliament.
(Cheers.) There are thousands of able men in the various
public departments who now have no chance, and who look
with beating hearts to the progress of this movement, and
to them we look as fellow lab ..0 "n the prosecution of
the -good work. (Hear.) Our object in short is to put an
end to ell promotion by favour. We propose to ascertain
the state of the army, navy, diplomatic, and cavil
service, by careful previous investigation, and by
the ensuing session
prepared to place
we trust will lead
and then it will only
country to ds their
favoured with one of
t 3 a member of parliament
which the latter stated I,'
tom for his eon,
votes for the membv.
runts were being made
matter only could be is
am prepared to express
i father, who takes such
time I feel that s
electors, ere embers.
Have an confessedly
(Rawl her.) We want to elm

Mon of parliament we hope .to be
e before the house such a case so
[ to a reform in these various bs ,
4
rely remain for the constituesedes?tr
heir duty. (Hear, hbsr.) . f Ylk il to
of those curiosities of litereitte*
rliament from one of his OMNI,
ated his wish to get i.;plawe• f
, adding that his family had "Aid
iber at the last electiowLeidirtat,
made to secure seven or eight, Ittkish
Ibe settled. (Cheers'' leNgit.e.n.L.
[press great sympatbrjvitle theg,
such care of his orogenyjnMatir
At such practices are dagger g- to
Outlining to members, and I 'm-
issed, a nuisance to government.
Vs want to aloes all these back doors,