The Express.
London, England, 1853-07-19 00:00:00

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PUBLIC BUSINESS.
THE STATE OF THE CAMP AT CHOBHAM.

Sir Tit heisarlistrTniaToSTit to
the Secretary at War a question on this subject;
but as the honourable gentleman was not present
ha would address his question to the noble lord
the leader of that house. It had reference especially to the
state of the ground at Chobbam, from which, it appeared,
the health of the canon soldiers, if not of the officers, was
at that sement is post jeopardy. The noble lord had, no
dent% sun is the of that day a notice of the state of
the =ism y. The followieg extract was from
the pipe —" The inconvenience suffered by the
troops haa leadble, and so alarming did the state of
matters appear Isar eavalry quarters on Saturday, that for
seem hew it tenshasseless contemplation to send out all tho
=ltithe sejobing Wyss sad Tillages on billets. The
e hoes inundated with water, and in several caws
theologies have bees, standing up to their hocks in slush
and water. The eintracton are unable to convey the
forage to the reollsosie, and it is squally impossible
to remove the manure selielt lies in large heaps close to the
stables. The fairegrable change in the weather yesterday
has prevented the proposed removal of the cavalry up to the
present time; but if the rain should recommence, it will
be absolutely necessary to act on the proposed suggestion.
The Guardsmen have suffered greatly, and • number of
them have been conveyed to the hospital. Yesterday, two
poor fellows belonging to the Soots Fusiliers were removed
us a helpless state, one of them having lost the use of his
aide. In consequence of the dreadful state of the parades,
the cavalry did net yesterday attend Divine service. The
infantry brigades mustered es usual, but the poor fellows
appeared greatly relieved when the service was over. The
whole afternoon was occupied by the men in cleaning their
accoutrements, and in endeavouring to get rid of the storm-
ous quantity of dirt and fish which had accumulated upon
their clothes during the two preceding days." The gees-
goo which he had to ask the noble lord was, whether he
did not think it was the duty of the government to see that
some ground was selected, where the health of the troops
would not be endangered, as no one could consider it
necessary that the troops should go through a
course of rheumatism (laughter) ; whether he
did aot think that the billeting of the troops
on the neighbourhood would be an act of great injustice,
and whether he did not think that in the present state of
things it was the bounden duty of the government to re-
move the soldiers from what might now be called • swamp ?
Lord J. RUSSELL said it was impossible for him to an-
swer the question without having had notice of it;
but he had co doubt that the Secretary-at-War and the
Commander-in-Chief would attend to the health of the
troops, and to the present state of the ground.

CHATHAM DOCKYARD.
Sir H. DAVIE said in a morning paper of Saturday
last, which had a considerable circulation, appeared •
paragraph which, with the permission of the house, be
would now read. The paragraph was beaded, "Dockyard
appointments—Chatbam and Admiralty Hypocrisy."
These words were in large letters. It went on thus:—
" The following facts will speak for themselves. A vacancy
bas recently occurred in the mast house in the dockyard, by
reason of the superannuation of one Robinson. Two names
were, in due course, sent up to the Admiralty—those of
Pattison and Saints. Pattiton had been preparing himself
for the situation for four years, and is a good draftsman and
accountant. Baines had been in the mast-house • few
weeks. Without any examination, Baines hes been ap.
pointed, and Pattison rejected. Baines and his family
vote fur Sir James Stirling, and Pattison for Sir
Frederick Smith. 8o much for the disinterested
impartiality of a ' Whig-Conservative' Admiralty."
He wished to ask the right hon. baronet, the First Lord t f
the Admiralty, whether the facts here stated were correct;
and, secondly, if the frets were correct, on what grounds
the oue party had been selected and the other rejected ?
Sir J. GRAHAM said his hon. friend having been
obliging enough to give him notice of the questiou, he was
prepared to answer it, and in doing so be skpuld confine
himeelf strictly to the facts of the case. It was true that
on • recent vacancy occurring at the mast-house at Chat-
ham, two persons were recomms ruled by the captain-toper- I
intendent, the one a person named Baines., and the
other • person named Benison, and that Baines was se-
lected. He would now state to the house the circumstances
under which Bairns was select*d. lie held in his hand the
original letter of the eaptain.•nperintendent, which, under
the recent regulations of the Board of Admiralty, was sent
to the Surveyor of the Navy. The number of ream-