Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-06-26 00:00:00

THE NORTHERN TIMES.-LIVERPOOL, FRIDAY,

them on the scale fixed for officers. of various ranks in the
army who may be sent to the East on duty. His Lordship
has accordingly directed that, in fixing these corresponding
ranks, the utmost consideration should be given to the import-
ance of the duties performed by the Commission, and has
sanctioned the following classification or rating for the hotel
expenses or field allowance :—Theengineer,asdeputy-inspector-
general of the medical staff, receiving nine shillings per diem.
As regards travelling expenses, his lordship is pleased to allow to
each member the sum granted to officers of the highest rank—viz.,
Twenty-five pounds from London to Constantinople, with five
pounds extra from Constantinople to the Crimea. As regards
the cost of a special outfit, his lordship is pleased to allow
according to the following rates :—To the engneer the outfit
of a field officer on the stiff—viz., Six months allowanoe at
five shillings per diem. It is to be observed that in the
case of army officers, this outfit would not be allowed con-
currently with the first allowance of hotel or field allowance ;
but in the special circumstances of this commission, Lord Pan-
more is pleased to sanction the double issue. The charges
that will be adm:t',ed fur each member of the commission will,
therefore, be as follows :—To the engineer : Daily pay at
three pounds six shillings, less income tax ; daily allowance,
nine shillings ; outfit on appointment, forty-five pounds five
shillings; travelling expenses to and from the Crimea, sixty
pounds. lam accordingly to request that you will communi-
cate this decision of Lord Panmu e'e so the various members
of the commission, staticg to them that, while his lordship is
most ready and anxious to bear testimony to the very great
good they have effected, both at Scrutari and the Crimea, he is
of opinion that, in justice to the public, the rates of charges
admiesoble should be defined and paid, at the same time that
they arc libeial. towards the members of the commission.—l
am, sir, your obedient servant, Faso. J. PRESCOTT.
To Baylis, Esq., 34, Parliament-street, Westminster.

The effect of the proposal contained in the letter of Mr.
Prescott, so far as your officers are concerned, was to reduce
the amount of their accounts by the following sums :—Mr.
Newlands, £3OB 14e 9d ; Mr. Aynesly's, £29 19s 9,1; Mr.
Freeny's, £2O is 8d; Mr. Wilson's, £l4 93 Oct. Lord

Panmure. does not charge your officers with extravagance, but
yet he refuses to pay the amount claimed, ignores altogether
the bargain made, and proposes a scale of payment which your
officers could not have accepted if it had been offered before
the cl,parture of the commission. No objection is made to
the accuracy of the accounts. All the vouchers were for-
warded to, and are now in p)ssession of the War-office. On
receipt of the above letter, the officers, with the sanction of
the Health Committee, proceeded to London, to remonstrate
on the injustiee of seeking to alter the terms of engagement
after the duty was executed and completed to the satisfaction of
the government. Application was made to the members
representing the borough in Parliament for their assistance,
and they kindly undertook to wait upon Lord Panmure
and Lord Shaftesbury on the subject. No result was
arrived at during .1856. In 1857, with the sanction
of the Health Committee, tho Borough Engineer preceeded
again to London, for the purpose of getting the claims of the
officers Fettl e d. The members promised to render their aid and
Mr. Horsfall, in company with the borough engineer, had an
interview with Lord Panmure. Mr. Horsfall explained the
circumstance?, which were patiently listened to by his lordship,
but, at the conclusion, he observed that there was a certain
standard of payment in such cases which ho could not depart
from. Mr. Horsfall pointed out the hardship of making the
officers, whose case he represented, bear any loss for expenses
actually incurred by them on the faith of a positive bargain and
instructions. This his lordship did not gainsay, and eventually
referred the parties to Sir B. Hawes, the Under-Secretary.
Mr. Horsfall and the borough engineer attended on this gentle-
man. The case was again fully discussed ; he, at first, consi-
dered himself bound by the army regulations, but, with the
desire to reduce the loss to the officers as much as possible,
referred the whole matter to Mr. Millar, of the War-office.
The borough engineer waited upon this gentleman, and the
whole of the charges were carefully investigated. He promised
to report to the proper authorities the result of his inquiry,
and on the 7th of March he transmitted to the engineer a
statement of account showing the basis npon which a settlement
would be allowed. This acconut is appended-marked A,
and the loss to the officers, if adopted, would be as fol-
lows :—Borough engineer, £279 7s. Bd. ; Mr. Avneslev,
£29 12s. 91.: Mr. Freeny, £24 Is. 2d. ; Mr. Wilson, £l4 19s.
Since the last-named date nothing further has taken place, and
your officers consider that bearing in mind the hazards they
incurred by them, the readiness with which they undertook
such serious duties, the loss of health they have sustained,
the labours they discharged, and the important results
accomplished by their exertions, they ought not to be
asked to lose money by the transaction. They beg further
to observe that the accounts so rendered do not comprise all
the items of their expenditure; many of the articles of outfit
comprised in the list furnished to them were found to be useless,
and are not charged for duty; they have abstained from making
any charge in respect of medical attendance, received by them
since their return to England, or of expenses incurred in
journeys to the metropolis, in the endeavour to obtain their
due, although Mr. Nowlands has, under this head, expended
£75 ; neither do the officers wish to say one word as to the
anxieties or inconvenience suffered by their families during
their absence, feeling sufficiently recompensed on these points
by the belief that they were instrumental in assuaging the
sufferings of the army. The accounts already referred to show
the position of the matters between your officers and the
government; the accounts herewith marked V. show how
matters stand with reference to the Health Committee.

Mr. GLADSTONE said, that he had no idea that the case
was so strong in favour of Mr. Newlands. An impression
was abroad that Mr. Newlands rather forced himself upon
the government, than that government invited him to
proceed to the East. From the particular details gven
in the report, it was clear that the government
did invite Mr. Newlands ; and he (Mr. Gladstone)
thought it was the duty of the committee to stand
by him, and call upon the Government to pay the money.
He moved that the report as read be received, approved,
and recorded on the minutes of the committee, so that when
the subject came before the conned, it might be open to
any member to move on it.
Mr. Hoo,oN seconded the motion.

Mr. 'HECL observed that the argument was of a most
specific character, and that the Government ought to be
compelled to carry it out. Under any circumstances, he
thought the committee should not allow their officers to
suffer any loss.
The motion was unanimously adopted.
A letter from Mr. A. C Stewart, in reference to a nui-
sance which ha I been brought under his notice, was
referred to the Borough Engineer.
The committee then adjourned.

DEATH OF LORD ALVANALICY.—This event took place
yesterday (Wednesday). The peerage becomes extinct.
MURDER AND SUICIDE AT WALLINGFORD.—A respectable
and industrious woman named Corner has drowned her
three children, eldest eight years, and afterwards killed
herself.

HER MAJESTY'S STATE BALL.—The Queen held a state
ball on Wednesday evening, to which were united the
diplomatic and official world, at d a very numerous party
of the nobility and gentry. The total invitations amount-
ing to above 1,900.

Tux ROYAL BRITISH BANK.—Of the ten defendants to
the indictments preferred by the Attorney-General, nine
have either given bail for their appearance to take their
trials or are in custody. These are—Esdale, McLeods,
Brown, Cameron, L. M. Valiant, Mr. F. Valiant, Stapleton,
Owen, and Alderman Kennedy ; Mr. Cochrane is the one
not in custody.
MonAmmEaku, May 9.—We are now all bustle preparing
to evacuate this place. Her Majesty's 78th Highlanders,
with one troop and two companies of European Artillery,
are already embarking. Her Majesty's 64th will be sent to
Belgium- General Jacob will be in command at Bushire,
which will remain in our safe keeping till the Persians
have evacuated Herat. In the course of a month, or six
weeks at furthest, there will be, at Bombay, a disposable
farce of 5,000 men.

THE SARDINIAN PERSECUTION CASES.—The newspaper,
the Unione, has been con-ternned for having excited
people against the religion of the state; a small paper
printed in Turin, has been suppressed for the same
offence ; a priest, Don Antonio Appresio, has been con-
demnel and the sentence confirmed by the tribunal of
appeal at ..Nizza, to five day's imprisonment and 500
'rant fine, for having publicly expressed opinions con-
trary to the Rman Catholic religion ; B. 111,zzare114.
adviica'e, La2,..eriarzino, and L. Mine'te, mechanics,
have been condemned by the tribunal of Aleseandria to
five days' imprisonment and 100 francs fine, baying b?en
found g Intl of pimpaganda against the religion of the
same. All these persons have been condemned at. the
instance of the prosecutor-general, who, as everyone
knows, acts by order and under the control of the minis-
ters. All of them have appealed to the Sopreme Curt,
and we sincerely hope that that court will quash sentences
based upon an article of the penal code which is in mani-
fest opposition to the g• Statute" or fundamental law that
governs Piedmont, and which no organic law can infringe.
In fact, if ace n• ling to the Statuto every citizen has the
r:ght freely t manifest his own opinion, how can a mill
be cond tuned for asseriing that, in his own opinion, many
errors have crept into the Roman Catholic religion, and
that the reform rs are right in disbelieving such and such
an interpolated dogma or absurd and ridiculous practice
what does the religon of the state mean ? Is it the part
of the government, because it pays the Romig!: clergy, t,
make use of their religion to persecute in its name, and
declare that, whosoever does not implicitly believe all
that that particular church teaches, is a dangerous person,
unfit for the society of his neighbiurs? Why, the Bin-
p-ror Napoleon, who has done so much to ingratiate him-
self with the prie-sts, and who has lafished on them so
many favours, does not go the same I.ngth with the Sar-
dinian government.—An Italian Patriot, in the Leeds
Mercury.