The Express.
London, England, 1867-01-26 00:00:00

HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.

DAY —Morning, oft em..— Afternoon. 61t. 96zn.
To-lioanow—Yarning, eat 4 Afternoon. ^dlam

LONDON, SATURDAY, JANUARY 26.

MR. SEELY, who has just been addressing his
constituents, at Lincoln, has earned for himself
a title to speak on Reform which the stoutest
Conservative cannot impeach. To Mr. Lowe's
demand to be shown the failings of the House of
Commons, the member for Lincoln has given during
the last two sessions a very definite and
practical answer. Ho has proved that every
administration, unchecked by the House, has
been squandering public money in our dockyards,
and has been neglectful of the public security in
our Navy. Even the House itself, unwilling to
confess its own shortcomings, has been compelled to
admit the main truth of Mr. SEELY'S statements,
and two successive Governments, which the House
failed to bring to account, have been forced to
acknowledge that much of the accusation is incon-
trovertible. This remarkable result is due to the
ability and energy with which Mr. SEELY, for-
saking the easier but profitless part of general de-
nunciation, set himself to acquire an accurate
knowledge of the errors and mis-statemerta made
by the special department he selected for
examination. For he soon found, he tells us,
that the House, as to any such inquiry, might be
divided into two sections. On the one side were
ranged Whigs and Tories together ; all who had
ever been, or who hoped to be, connected with
the departments of Government ; all the county
members ; and all the representatives of pocket or
nomination boroughs. All these were directly
or indirectly opposed to any investigation tending
to greater efficiency and economy. On the other
aide were the members for large towns, all in
favour of judicious economy, but none willing to
undertake the drudgery needful to hunt up, in
defiance of official misstatements, the real sources
of waste. Mr. SEELY undertook the task unaided.
He engaged a competent accountant, and soon
ascertained that there were serious errors. But
the Departmental Secretaries would not look at
his figures, nor even deign to point out what the;
called his blunders. Then he laid his results
be.;;;; ;le House and the public, and the authori-
ties were compelled to meet him, and
to confess the truth of his statements.
He asked for more documents, and was
refused them, but was told he might look
over the original books. But just when he was
beginning to understand these they were taken
from him, and further opportunity of examina-
tion was flatly denied. So stands the matter, and
the House will again be called on when it meets to
procure for ono of its members the opportunity of
examining the public accounts which it is the
peculiar province of the whole body to scrutinize.
Shame willthen enforce it to Mishit on a disclosure
of the whole truth, when charges so specific are
made ; though shame was not strong enough to
induce it to give that attention and labour which
would long ago have prevented the abuses that
Mr. Seetv is now dragging to light.
The points on which the indictment is framed
are both largo and small. In the first place, there
is a sum of 2,000,0001. in four years which Mr.
SEELY declares to have been wholly un-
accounted fur at all. Then there is
the fact that, till he began his research,
the net cost of vessels built in Government yards
was understated by 35 to 40 per cent.,through the
omission of the itemsof foremen's wages, rent, rates,
and other expenses. These in last year's accounts
have been included, but the value of the pensions
given to the men on superannuation, which cf
course are a burden on the public, is still left out,
thus making the apparent amount of wages less by
so much. Then, though the officials now admit
that interest ought to charged, they have set it
down at only 46,000/. ; while Mr. SEELY calcu-
lates that the real value of the stores, buildings,
&c., in hand is not less than 10,000,0001., on
which the interest ought of course to be charged at
500,0001. Then it seems that boats, which, ac-
cording to their published lists of prices, ought to
have cost only 71. or 81., are charged at 90/. orl
1001., and that the explanation on inquiry is
given that these were fitted as admirals' barges,
though such a destination is quite undiscoverable
an the face of the accounts. Again, pursuing the
investigation which brought some startling results