The Express.
London, England, 1849-08-03 00:00:00

hts to titer thou!? Absolutely nobody ; rho /mom
put of the individuals composing the diffetentloardi
it, dispersed, some dead, some out of piliteol lire,
few left of so greet a multitude. Had the First Lord
o( the Adteiralty bean a naval officer, the country
woad lave fixed the responsibility on him—he could
Dos ear; bat it would be unjust to throw the blame
Cilleiviiian who does not know whether a butcher's
hay ors washing tab was the best form fur a man of

web
'ball be told the naval officers are there tt in-
street him. I can only reply that expetienee his
rid Mat it doss nut answer. Wny, then, ehould
it be mann
P" • nod
•
(ma quite aware that it is useless to endeavour to
pomade your lordship, aid, indeed, any other prime
minister, that a naval officer ought to be at the head
the asvT, as s military offi,er is at the head of the
amp bitaisterial men will never (rive up the prize
of fret lord wihout a straggle ; it is quite unimport-
at •hether the 7 are tit Mt it or sot.
The present k irst Lord is a very good man, and I
balm a good man of business ; but he has been
;ught up in quite a different line • he has ben
lathe rottenly and Chancellor of the Exchequer,
mad MI be can know alma niival affairs is his
biting represented Portsmouth for a good mony years.
West would be said of a prime minister, were he to
take a slaw, one of the lords of the admiralty, aid
make him Cimocell it of the Exchequer without hav-
isz the least e xper • race of Smite: ? But one is not a
bit mire ridiett mu than the other.
Why should naval officers be held in such low e.ti-
melon by saMiaterial men that it is never thenght
groper to place one at the heed of his own pre treaties?
la. eattstitxl it is a great mit-Like ; but so it ie. And
Ism' just tike things as they err, and endow ur to
improve them, which, after all, I do net o matelot' very
difficult. The first step to improvement would be to
reduce the admiralty to thre.—a first lord and two
ghat, who rhoull, tor 'he time being, be vice and
rear admirals of Great
Tney should eppoint a caved a Ricer Surveyor of the
Navy during pl. aware (but not to be removal u •
tbing of coons by a use ministr)); this °Meer should
have the entire in taagrene of the dockyard., and
soder him should be a depnty-surveyor, wh sa prin.
gpil duty shoo!: l be the et irekoper's department.
The medical victualiing department should be
seder a naval officer alw).
Wee officers should be frequently in the do-A-
ye:de and vteta &big and hospitel doom tmtntp, and
mg pass through th•sn with railroad spied as the
Adisitip.r now do. T e Ac. oint int-General at the
heed of ha own depor mint should be the Caan-
mike of the Exchequer ..t th.• n .vy, aid exercia• a
wholeweine con•rcl over the ezp nth. um. All thme
acme m-nto etioul.f be oriel, the same ro.f ; every
sea r.ould to w thi t hearing of t, e hoard roum led
—es running backwards and !onside to S *merest-
bre*, Imirg tense, and paying messengen aid nu-
merous eddit.o .al el. rks.
may be said, stub Vie • zee p• ion of being undee
deems rod, that is the present atomize meat ; that
the Mmieslty is divided into departments, aid a
krd has char.° of e .ch. Bu ,my lord, they ore not
vveuneible. 'They di not, in • matt, give Vieir un-
divided time to the departneen-. They ell meddle
eith and e.ntrol one auuther. They have no d;rtitet
paver ath to distinct respoteihility. I would gave
the rower to each min in his own de pa bunt, and he
should be rtspouaible to the Admiralty and the

Let al friaries how things are carried on now in
the rwreyer's &pit., meet.
li es six mass. IV, each of whom be is obliged to
easel' individual y. If he is ab or. repairer or
fittmg out a ship he gi el to the first sea lord ; if
Mad balling, to Lord John Hay; if about the
gam to Captain Berkeley ; it eb in: the pockets, to
Mr. Cowie r; if ab .u°. the d• ckysi de generally, to
the first lord at id the secretar ;if ab stores, to
Gop:sin Milne. More than keit of his time is occu-
pied is ruining trom the Admiralty at borne:sel-
fsame to the Admir.lty at Whitehall- If be want+ to
se the first lord, be us y be at a cabinet council ; if
say of the other I weir, or the see•tcaiy (doring the
airiest of rsrliamere), they may be to committee, and
all his city is lea.
Siurtild the Admiralty levity a plan or an euti-
nate—whic by the bye, they do now for every trifle
—they write to Sontererto huu-e, who again write to a
dockyard; tic doekyord rend the Ilan to Semerset-
loam, who put something e n the cov.ir e f the letter,
sad and it to the Admiralty; tho y eu: &scratch spin
I, end 'rend it beak ; it gets masher reistoh, and le-
tups to the Admielty. S enerset House is then
intend to write the letter ; it «Imes back to the
Admiralty to be signed, and is then fi sally despatched.
there br any mi•toke it is retarued, and plr-
futon the suing number of telexes over azaia. I
Vieve this system i uns throuc!li al! the departments,
sod, if I am not mistaken,the urns scretehings on
the le:t.,r are much oftener mule by the clerks than
by train lordoltiew. N iw, my Intl, ennidor all thew
delis s, consider tho numb .1' of cli rks who must be
emit yed to curry on this c orrespondenee ; and, atter
all, who is responoih:e f Alosolerely nub ,dy.
I would abolish all that system. Let every man be
held responsible for his owu department, and let the
Admiralty soperiatend the *hole; they will have
enough to do without going into details— which th, y
cannot do, and which the clerks are obliged to do
for them. Torre is no want rf talent in the country;
a hatter man cannot be found f r the Surveyor's &-
pad:sent than Sir Baldwin Walk r. Give him rope
'rough, and I will answer for it hundreds of thou-
sands of pounds e ill he saved, and there will be no
more bunglir g. Whi n a ship is Ordt red tr be built,
he will send for the burlier and explain to him what
is wanted; if that builder per furnie his leek badly,
pat him oat, and get a better. Do away with all
your planners at Somerset-house ; let your Surveyor
em elt the practical men at the ditforoet ports;
instead of running backwards and forwards t
Whitehall, let him g r to the dockyards, and leisurely
examine what is going on, and not run through them
Sr tte Admiralty now do ; give more power to your
superintendents of dockyards, arid a great deal
less office work ; when ships are commies:cooed, put
a stop to ill changes at the whim of every command r,
and teach them to Iceip their ewe ships in repair, do at
home what they ate obliged to do abroad—viz., take
rare of heir own ships—and where are they in such
gocd order? On the home station, if you fit out a
ship to the eastward, the probability is, if she touch
at Portsincuth, she be a long lilt of defects. Make
them good, and send her to Plymouth, there will be
mother list. Pu: a stop to all that. I know from
experierce it can be dine. Let every captain have
as account of the annual expense of his ship. Show
favour to those who sail their ships with the greatest
economy, and avoid employing these who sail their
Mips expensively. Be emu ed a reform in that
respect will speedily take place.
Whether your lordship will approve of three sug-
gestions or not I cannot tell; but unless things are
tended I :eel quite certain the country will get tired
of giving more) to the navy to be expended without
doing good. Thousands of pounds might be saved
is your dockyards. That is where you ought to
eccnomise, net in paying your semen, whom you
hive enoouraged to come into the service, and whom
you may want when le it expected.
I remain, your lordship's obedient servant,
CHAItLES NAPIER.
Merch'stoun Hall, lily 29.

Tire ItFEOII3I Ansocturtow.—The first eggregate
public mee re of this association will be held on e
cr. tin; of Monday, August 13th, at the Theatre
Royal, Drury-lane. A magnificent sasemhly is anti-
cipated. Sir hellos Walmaley, M.P., will take the
chair at mesa o'clock. Mr. Joseph Hume, M.P.,
Mr. M. Gibson, NI.P., Mr. B. Osborne, M.P., Mr.
G. Thompson, M.P., and other lead ng reformers will
address the meeting. Tickets of adtwesion an to be
obtaited at ths aims of the association, 11, Poultry.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY or Los DoN.—The monthly
general awls" of this se-iety was had yesterday, Dr.
Gamble is the chair. The follow's" war Wales for the fel-
lowship were balloted tee, and detVared duly elected : L. B
Pinter. Bq , David laid', Bog., John Hunt, E.", James
Purity. EN., Jean Tears's*, B-q., 8. C. Baker, Esq., H.
D. Wolff, E-q., sad Mrs. Beim. Toe wows of the °oared
a-a uneed th .t She number nr visitors to the gardens during
th month of July wae 37,789 ,• and that the total increase
401. number of ,Mae
sines the lit of Jsewary, as tour
wed with the sorrespindkg period of 1848, amounted to
14,397. The report c stain( d ea interesting list of donations
In the main riN /nand fine, the low mewing, forluflio"
• erotism el Bus divinlinink. hem 8.. Lneia, presented by
Lieu% Tller, It large louses from Jamie& (Cy-
cler& C..lei). pr. snow% by Dr. Andrew Smith. It .hs sa-
a utwed r • complrties of a wing so the Gifellebetines
wh eh bed heen ret.dered iodispen-ahk by the thereemri
hunter d brie Ktaatalia ?tautly adtle..l moths seilistlis