The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1821-03-31 00:00:00

deemed ii
ward the
his gri!tit

fer

i•resord thud- with a isiblvet
relay from Itlmistete,Lexcrpt • rework tart I

not the proper one is which to propueel
lotion). A* to 'he •mrittrce of ibe cu
_

it we. not in his depatttnent ; bat certatti.it we.,
that in May next—(Hen, heai,filasifie Hiwisterial
side) —that was to say. 90 Jays onto &run the time
io which he was speaking, person• would be en- •
shied to go to the Bank sinl get bullion at
3/. 17.. 101 d. Iheoaure. That was no very distant
petioil. At present it could be lied for 31. 19..
'while the currency had not only risen to the uld
standard, but was ac•ually screwed up ab•.ve
He tni,u4ht the Resoluta:Ns very revi.nsablo:
and as a matte► of corninon honetity, he called
.upon flume who voted for the repeal of the
Malt Tee to support it. He could slot eau-
ceive how any Gentlemen could woke up their
minds•to vote against the Wits and Means, who
never, on any ecomoirearAiipossmit the swat extra-

'moot 'from", s.• - -0,4141. assiair,4
CH a NcELLOII ofthe E>< pfafe thought
that the Resolution had uo coniWx sith she
question of the Estimates then about to be inusml,.,
tor. •
,
Mr. G. fissure? said thilf titte:l6takistion re-
quired no distinct pledge from th.. Hone: It was
little more than the •111)stinice of twit (inane
Re-
°p.orts, 1817 and 1819, which recipopiontriled the
situ. thee, although bosh GamMllBlB,o had
been wouninited by the Chancel's, 141181880 Ex.
chequer. He thought that those Ohm tissyMored
the Malt Tax were bound to vote for this Ron-
lobos' Mr. Pitt had, iii 1804, raised the sell-
ries of officers on account of • the depreciation
of sew currency, and had promised a coriespolohl.4
reduction on the arrival of peace. Government
hail been idle awl inattentive to "the necessary
means of reduction, and his Hose. Friend had
brought forward this Resolution to remind thews of
their duty. 'rho.r sound. of the Noble Lord (it
was idle to call them reas.ins) continued no summer
to the statement.. Thome who voted.for thitrosslar
of 1,400,000/. &hilt Tax, weersobellinVowtboXour
and honesty to supparettbie Resolution.
Lord PALMERSTON said. that as a proof of the
idleurss and profusion of Give 1111 l mat as to re 0111)
they had reduced the present rip•lsloilsinents
to about one-half the number of persons employed
in the time of the war.
Mr. G. BENNETT said, that nothing could be
more wild thaii the statement of the Noble Lord.
The country was at peace, and there was nut half
the bunteeoi in the departments that there was
during the war. There could nut be °caution fur
half the tionibt.r of persons.
Mr. Ws Lauri said, that he had not voted for the
repeal of the tax, sort he should do nothing un-
worthy of an honest Will is opposing the Knobs-
tion, which lie could not support, because it con-
tained nothing sufficiently specific. He was nits/d-
-ing to emits the Government.
Sir M. W. RIDLEY urged the necessity if all
those Geatlemen supporting theßesolutiou who bad
voted for the repeal of the Malt 'Fax.
Mr. Giros said a few words.
Mr. flume said, that the Hon. Member for the
City of London could not have heard his motion,
as nothing could he more specific than • proposal to
revise all salaries augmented sauce 1797. with • view
to a corresponding reduction. As a proof of the
Recently fur so doing he would mention a few. The
Secretary at Waits 1796 received 8901.; the Noble
Secretary's salary for the last year was '4,5001. He
stated the pay of the Head Clerk in the War-Office
in 1796, to be 7001., last year. 1,4001. Hi. Re-
solutiou called for no positive reduction. It only
required the Hoene to examine it.
Mr. Hansom) said a few words.

Mr. Motruc raid, that the produce of the land
had punk 50 per ern,. ifs value. It wa. impossible
to bear the *awe public burdens as Wove. He

recommended the example where, as some as the
Government became sensible of the ',abbe distress,
they cast about for any means of reducing the pub-
lic burdens.
Col. Fitaucii observed, that he would submit to
the House • short arithmetical statement, which
seemed to he the kind of argument the Hon. Gem.
(Ir. Hume) was most fond of dealing nt.—(H••r.
frogs Mr. flume.)—Now, if in she year Eng
48,474 ems coat the country 3,494,0001., in the
prevent Jeer 81,000 men should coo 5,896,004)!.
The whole amount then cost hut 6,000600/. which,
cousidensig the ,heat improvements, was a very in-
considerable Increase.

Stiangers were Users ordesed to withdraw for a
d~~USUou. The numbers trete—

For going islet time Committee
♦pipet it

Majority Sil
On our return to the gallery we fintiod,the House
resolved into a Committee. when the A:hairman
read the question—" That a sum not exceeding
105.645/. ss. 10d. he the total amount of the
Staff, exclosive of In it;' upon which—
Mr. Hulls rose to Cali the attention of the House
townie of the 'teams contained in the estimate., sold
the first of these on which he should remark was
the Commander in Chief. As to whether it was
tit to continue this office at ell, was not a point 011
which lie ahould trouble the Hnuw, but they
should look to the eitormous expense ',tending It.
In 179 t there was no •uch office at all ; and is
1804 or 1805, when his Royal ilighnem the Duke
of Youls took the office. his pay was woe guineas
a day,; SIIICC that period it has ine►ea.ed to
16/. 41.. 9,1. a day, exclusive of allowances.
Is nuking them observations, he wished to stale
ttiat he ars pt.-devils aware of the important
services that R..yal, Ouke had residerrd to the
arusv since ha carne isle 'Ace. and inithitig could
be farther from his ihtesitiou than to cast the
*lightest 'stipulation; but what he meant -to napre-oi
suit the Haw., was this. that in the pte•rut state of
oar finances, and in the seventh year of peace, that
eve►y department of the Staff ►hould he reduced,
sod the best way was to begin at the head. The
neat nice its that of the Secretary to the. Coin-
minder-in-Chief, also lad little or nothing to do.:te
1" leo," from Lord Poliwersho/ —Well theta,

,

Ise ►.s
lid •Mt

N

Noble
lry had

VOW- The office of AdjuhulftsGeiteral ' show
reduced oneedurd. He went• mime to Olio Staff
of South Britain ; and he would ask the Noble
Lord whether, in c.iirfour, he could pay the Staff
might not be reduced wit-half, without the
slightest inconvenience or deficiency ? There were
tire perivanent district assistants to
.the Quarter-
master-timers' ; he thought himself that all these
• might be removed; but there could not.he believed.
be a second opiniori, that some at 'rest of them
were unnecessary. There were also two inspectors
of army clothing, at the expense of 693/.104. one et
least of them might be removed, and reduce the
eepeutliture one-half. The nest office in South
Britain of which he had to co.nplaio, saw
the Chaplain-Genaral, and this wee quite a new
.. office ; and isi order to chew the disposition that
exists on the part of the Government to increase
the salaries of the canoes offices. he need mile
mention, that when this office eras first established,
the salary attached 'to it was only 3661. • year,
whereas at present it is 8001. So that if 363/, was
couaidered an !deviate salary,wherk our kpilittiry
etstal3lisliMelikpee,Muots,•horger Amu- -it 4.11. pre.
mate iu rly it is a little too much that the sa-
levy now attached to. the office is more than
doable what it W3S at that period. But there
were besides this four Clieplains to the Forces.
Now lie should be glad to, know from the Noble
Lord, what these four gentlemen have to do,
for he was quite eta loss to discover it. The next point
to which he came, and he entreated the attention
of the House to it, was the Staff of North Britain.
There was one Secretary arid flue Aide-de-Camp to
the Major General, who had both the same duty
to perform. and consequently the prearoce t.f one of
them could be amply dispensed with. There was
also a Baagsge Master, which was a perfectly useless
office. Ile did not make this sos a suggestion of his
but OW looking to some 'rapers before the House,
they would.find it recommended by tile Committee.
But the House should look to the extreoie maims-
Iportion an Ireland botween the present year and 1791.
• —.An • • •

- kt present- tire Staff in-lg.-elk-rat:a TO 40,000/. ;
whereas in 1792 it amounted to only a few thou-
winds. In thus one item he found seven Adjutanis-
Gessersl and deputies, and five Quartermasters and
deputies—one-half of which et lewd might most
conveniently be reduced. There was also the Me-
dical Staff w Ireland—which, in proportion, wail
much larger than that of England. In 1796, when
this Medical Staff stag first appointed, it was rata-
Wished nietely for temporary purpose.; not one of
them had at that time (and he did slut know whe.
thee they had them now) a commiloion from the
King; they were nicely appointed by the Lord
Lieutenant for temporary purposes—and what
was most strange about them was, not one of
them has been abroad on loreigi. service ; they
have been resident in Ireland for the last fifteen
years; so that, evit ad. • ling it were necessary
they should be retained, they should be made to
take the general routine of service.—(Heer.)—
Beat he was convinced that our-half of them was
unnecessary, and shookl therefore be reduced. He
had a few words 'nisi, to say about the foreign
staff, with which he should not detain the Mu.e
massy minuses. He would not of tousse mention
every Wand in which a reduction could he made,
but it was impossible to • mention that our foreign
eatablishmewts in 1792 only coot us 17.0001.
whereas DO. they are au expense of 50.0001.
without seeing that something should be done by
the Government in the way of retrenchment. If
the Noble Lord compared the espenditure of the
Windward arid Leeward Islands of the present year
with that of 1794, he will find a considerable in-
crease. In 1791 the whole amounted to 8,400/.;
now they amount to t9.000/.—(hear, hear.)—lt
was impossible to slate any thing stronger than that
comparison. With regard to Malta and the lonian
Islands, he had already stated hia opinions. He
should not detain the House longer, but would con-
elude by moving, " That the vote be reduced to
85,0001."
-

Lord Pausaltirron then rose. He said the point
at issue between him and the Hooourable
Gentleman (Mr. Hume), was more us to prin-
ciple then details. The question was, whether
1794 was to be taken as a standard to regulate the
establishments of the present day ; and his opioiun
ou that subject was, that, insierd of being a guide
to direct our course, we should regard,' ma beacon
and a warning to avoid.—(Hear, hear.)—lf we
consider our may in 1792 in the aggregate, and
its organisation, we must confess it was the worst
in Europe. Of course he did not mesa to apply
this observation to the valour or personal character
of the officers or soldiers, for the British robber hiss
reaped • rich haryist of glory all over the world—
but certainly no ash who knew any thing of the
state of our army in 1794 would ever wish to revert
to the system that was then pursued, a system that
has been the 10,6 of many valuable lives, and the
cause of many serious political disappiontments to
the country. He should like to know for what pur-
pose.we ate to have • standing army at Ell ? Sure-
ly, if it is to exist at all, it should be in such state
as to command the respect of foreign norioas, and
in the event of our coming in contact with fo-
reign armies, we should be in such a state as
to meet them Ile was really surprised then
to lour the Honostrable Geotleman (fr. Hume)
usk us to retrace our steps, and make us revert
to that vicious inefficient otysteen that existed in
1792.—(1-kor, hear, hear.)--The Noble Lord
then went over the viiiion.offi.,rs alluded to by Air.
Home. He observed that lion. Gentleman pro-
l'o.ed to reduce the *Awry of the Couimander-in-
Chief, and coniplaused very muck of die me
that has been made to it ; but he could inform the
House, it mot by sin means it personal gram, but
°tie that was applicable to any min of the mine
rank, ill the ranee office, either at hose or abroad.
Tina Holt. Gentleman seemed too to confoinid
the wont l of Secretary of IVar slid Comm in-
; but he must si that I lonoisrable
Member has employed talents sod industry
to very Mile lierpuee, if be has yet to learn
the immense difference there is betwreis the two
offices. The Military Secretary had a most la-
loiriout duty to # trforit. Mitch was increased in the
time of peace, iu consequeute of the numerous


.I.V.RCV4II :74)

egrets on helk
he Him. Gently'

re,

; hut did "he visppo.e thle otie
;wrfortn tivt %whole duty. or did he
clothe* t►h/ibld go. to the artily
inroerted ist all ? He nett came
to the oak, of Chaplmu►-General ; forratrir
there was a Chaplain ettachrd to each regi7
'sent. mod as uothiug is more ueees•ary fiar
Mwl ti► order

thi
without

to *elect the proper pentium', this clerical Arrange..
niClll has been mad., and it has bee° cousidervil
moat wsplutary and effectual. With respect to the
Irish Staff it usum of course be considerable, in
consequeoce of their being more scattered through
the country, sod the constant marches which they
make require, of course, more attention. With
respect to the Medical Staff, Gent!emelt must he
very much mistaken if they suppose that th.ir sole
busiuess is to sitteud the hospitals; they have also
to *re if the proper treatment is administered, and
to a.trod to the medical stores ; and iii this country
he lures. a ceataiderable saving had beets effected in
that way by means of these inspectors. IVith re-
spect to the Leeward and Wiadward Islands. and
our foreign Staff, he said they had been conducted
in the most ecimomieul manlier. The greatest ad-
vantages 'were derived front uniting the civil and
military duties iii one individual.
Colonel Milts observed, that he was by so
means satisfied with the esplanatiotsgiven by the
Noble Lord. He seemed to have mistaken alto-
erther the statement of his Hon. Friend (.Ir.
Home). He argued the case, as if his Honour-
able Friend had said, that because in 179 e there
was no Commander-iii-Chief, therefore the office
should be altogether abolished, whereas lie naively
sought and wished for a itdiactiom. It was unne-
(wary for hint to enter into the character of the
Illustrious Personage who fills that office, to whom
the army and the country at large owed so much,.
but he must object to any reduction in his salary..
With regard to the Irish Stiff he would say.
that he thought the office of Commander-iii•Chiel
might be done away with, sod if that were done
it would be a saving to the country of 4,000/. u
year at least. With respect to the Leeward Islands,
hr would say that its any of these foreign posses-
-11191111 where there are Post-masters and Brigsde-
Majors, there could be no ueresaity for • Quer-
_ _ _

or Staff. In St. hlrlrne, •
Brigadier and Lieutenant-General might be dis-
pensed with. After a few übiereatiolir Cu some of
the other branches of the Estionoes„ the Hun. and
Gallant Member cuucluded by elating, that the
reduction he hoped for would amount to 14 or
13,0001. a-year, exclusive of the Medical Staff.
Mr. Benner:. agreed with hia other Honourable
Friends, that the salary of the Commander-in-
Chief was nut too highly rated. The explanation
which had been given as to the d utits of the Secretary
to the Commander-in-Chief being increased dur-
ing pewee, swat most extraordinary. He agreed
with his lion. Friend (Mr. Home) in censuring
the expe..aesuf the Foreign Staff. The Noble Lord
did not wean to be aware that his Honourable
Friend, io speskiog of the Estimates of 1794
was using the language of the Committee ap-
Lointed in 1817. The que.tion between the Noble
ord and the Gentlemen on that side of the
House was tin., they wished the radiant...l;A* .p.
proximate to those of 1794, and the Noble Lord
recommended • departure from them. He agreed
with his Hon. Friend (Colonel Davies) iis the re-
marks he had made on the office of Comman-
der-in-Chief iu Ireland, slid thought his objec-
ti were entitled to attention. He was persuad-
er: that a great revolution would take place in
future estimates, and though the Noble Lord
might succeed in getting them voted this year, he
never would again.
Colonel WOOD said, the duty of the Secretary
to the Commander-in-Chief was increased in this
way : During the war the whole of the regiments
were brigaded, and through the General of Brigade
nil the correspondence with the Commander-in-
Chief was carried on, but now every regiment cor-
responded with the Horne Guards, which must of
course make an addition to the duty in the Se-
cretary's department. The Honourable Member
defended the office of Inspectisig Generals, as
being a valuable medium of cerumumeatiou be-
tween the private soldier and the Coniessauder-io-
Chief, in case it were necessary, for the tonveystioe
of any complaint. He was as anxious as any Hon.
Member for economy, but at the same time he was
desirous that uo saving should be made at the ex-
pense of the comfort of the soldier.
Mr. Howe and Col. Wool: mutually explained.
Mr. J. SMITH mid, although he could not agree
to go the full length of his Hon. Friend (Mr.
Hume), yet he should have been better pleased if
the Noble Lord had proposed a vote for a smaller
sum. All the answers which had been given to his
lion. Friend were not in refutation of the facts he
hied stated, but general observations on the disci
pline of the army. He called upon the Committee
to consider the state in which the easatry now
stood : that it was stated by some to. be no
longer in a situation of fulfilling IN enguge-
went., to the public creditor—and they might
to consider whether it were not our first duty to
pay our debts, whether we were in a aituatiou to he
generous, or even to be just. He was fully doter-
... ed to oppose the grant of one riegle shilling
winch was not necessary to the honour and security
of the country; he dud not consider it would be
inconsistent with that declaraltiasir.'thst he agreed
with his Honourable Friends that it was wit were-
eery to tow+ upon the allowauces to the Com-
mander-in-Chief. He should be glad if Isis Ho-
nourable Frieud would rrilum hia proposition a
little, when he should be happy to give it his sup-
port.
Colonel DAVIS. explained.
Lord PALMS, RATON said he was happy to J9nd,
that although Mr. l'iti's Admiiii-trat was, dur-
ing hie life, branded as the most t:itiray..gatit and
wasteful the country ever taw. )tt now justice
was clone to Inch bosh sides of the House, which
Kaye him hopes that some nine tierice the present
Administrations might be duly appreei died. (tiear.)
Mr. BEN NETT explained.
Mr. Hume said, as he was anxious to meet the
wishes of Isis lion. Friend (Mr. J. Smith), he
would, with the perrnissiors of the Committee, with.
draw his original ptoposittou, and suiratituir, iris