The Sun.
London, England, 1855-07-18 00:00:00

"i -
I 'AFL, RI A L PAR LIA

OF C02.12,10N5—( ESTERDAt.)
THE TURKISH LOAN.
Lord PAI WtIERSTON- brought up papers relating to
the convect° ¢ for a ,uarautoed loan to Turkey.
Upon the m c ton of the noble lord, it was ordered
that the house on Thursday nest should resolve itself
into committee upon that subject.
Lord PALM ERSTON.---Her Majesty has been in-
formed cf the subject-znatt9r of these papers, and has
been graciously pi'eased to re:ton-mead the consideraticst
of it to this house.
SUPPLENIENT•LRY AR MY ESTIMATES.
Sir D. L. EVANS asked the :Cinder-Seeretary of the
War Department at what time he expected to bring in
the supplementary military estimatcs:•
Mr. PEEL did not know that it w .ould he necessary
to submit any additional army estimateNt at all, but was
not quite sure upon the point.

MANAGEMENT OF THE `4-AF.
THE SEBASTOPOL COMMIT TEEs
Mr. ROEBUCK rose to move the resoluta) n of which he
had given notice--" That this house, deeply it, -menting the
sufferings of our army during the winter camps, sign in the
Crimea, and coinciding with the resolution of ~ heir com-
mittee, that the conduct of the Administration was the
first and chief cause of the calamities which be, 'ell that
army, do hereby visit with severe reprehension ever T mem-
ber of that Cabinet whose counsels led to such disa serous
results." Sir, said. the hon. member, it is with the in 'most
sincerity I say I view with alarm my own position. A
great question is now. to be submitted to the house, : end
he who has to submit it is totally inadequate to the pi sr-
formai-ice of the task. But, sir, feeling strongly as to tL '0
truth of -the proposition which I have to submit, I evil.'
shortlyaddress myself to the subject now before the house.
First, I wiN call to the recollection of the house the cir-
cumstances =der which the committee was appointed,
which has 1e..3• to the report which, in fact, is the
foundation of my proposition. A great army was
sent from this country on an expedition about which
the country was in profound darkness. Th et army was
composed of as gal_hint spirits as ever left the shores of this
country. (Hear, hoar.) They displayed a valour which
did honour to Englishmen, and, in saying that, I think I
say all that can be said in praise of them. (Hear, hear.)
That army reached its ,destination, and then there grew up
and pervaded the public mind rumours of disaster, distress,
and suffering which harrowed the feelings of the . cation.
These rumours came not in consequence of official docu-
ments, but from private sources. From day to day the p Thlic
mind was harassed by dreadful disclosures of distress and
suffering borne by our gallant countrymen whom we hi et
sent to fight the battle of England ; great was the alarm ial
this country, great was the disappointment.- Fortified by
the public anxiety, and a sing myself deeply impressed wi th
the feeling of my country men—strongly commiserating th e
misery of which wo beard from day to day most harrowineL
descriptions—l gave notice', although most unequal to the
task, of a motion for an in quiry into the truth of these
reports. How that motion was met must be in the recol-
lection of the house. The committee which I asked for
was appointed. I hope the house will permit me to say,
and not think me presuming -,when I do say, I ail deeply
sensible of the kindness of that committee towards myself.
In prosecuting this inquiry see ouly twice came to a divi-
sion in that committee--once ou the proposition of the
right hon. baronet the member for Droitwich (sir J.
Pakington) to make the committee a secret committee,
and the second time, on a proposition I made on the con-
clusion of our labours. The committee conducted its pro-
ceedings in the most frank and, I think, too, in the most
generous manner. Their object was the ttuth,sand, how-
ever humble and unfitted I may have .Seen to conduct
that inquiry, I must say, no body of men could hay e
manifested a more candid desire than they' did to elicit
the truth, which it was their sole object to obtain,
without the slightest intention of creating individual
pain, or casting unjust reflections on any one. That
committee came to a conclusion, and that cone fusion was
to substantiate to the letter every report that had been
circulated concerning the sufferings of our army, (Hear.)
I proposed at the close of a committee a resolutis ws, which
was supported by the majority, I giving the casti sh.: vote.;
but, Sir, I do not think I am disclosing anything which
ought not to be told, when I say that the noble I, o. d the
member for Totnes (Lord Seymour), to whom the a evntry
and the committee are deeply indebted, and none more
deeply than myself for the kindness and consideration 1 vbich
he manifested throughout— that noblelord, when I pro/ eased
the resolution, said, in the resolutions passed by the ( 'orris
mittee he concurred, but as the resolutions, with that wi sick
I proposed, were submitted as a whole, and as my resolu-
tion contained a condemnation of the conduct of Lord IL %g-
-len, he could not vote for any part thereof, although he coha-
cided in a great measure with the propositions made at
that time. Thus, in reality, the report of the commit-
tee was not carried solely by my casting vote, but
must be considered as the opinions of the committee as
a body. In mentioning Lord Raglan, I hope the house
will allow me to express my sincere ,pinion, seeing
that the world believes that I have done that gallant
spirit some wrong. Sir, were he alive I would
not venture to address this house upon this subject, but,
as he is no more, I think if am bound, as an Englishman
and an honest man, to express my sentiments regarding
that gallant nobleman. That he was a great soldier —that
he was endowed with great qualities—that he did good
service to his country, and that he has died Cu he eery-ice,
are the recollections which hallow his name in the minds
of his countrymen, and which compel mu not unwillingly
to offer this humble tribute to his memory. Having said
thus much, sir, I hope the house will now allow me to pure
sue the thread of my discourse. The committee came to a
definite conclusion, and that conclusion was one which di-
rectly inculpated the members of Lord Aberdeen's Govern,.
meut. Perhaps the house will allow me to read the reso-
lution of the committee upon that matter, and, as it would ,
seem to depend upon my casting vote, I beg that attention
which the report of a committee always receives at the
hands of the house itself :
" It appears that the sufferings of the army resulted
mainly from the circumstances iu which the expedition to
the Crimea was undertaken and executed. The Adminis-
tration which ordered that expedition had no adequate infor-
mation as to the amount of force in the Crimea or Sebastopol.
They were not acquainted with the strength of the fortresses
to be attacked, or with the resources of the country to be in-
vaded. They hoped and expected that the expedition would
be immediately successful, and, as they did not foresee the
probability of a protracted struggle, they made no provision
IA for a winter campaign. What was planned and undertaken
without sufficient information was conducted without suffi-
cient care or forethought. This conduct on the part of the
Administration was the first and chief cause of the calamities
which befel our army."
Now, sir, when a committee of the House of Commons
thus solemnly appointed, appointed too by an overwhelm-
ing majority of the house, comes to so definite and so
pointed a conclusion respecting the members of the Admi-
nistration which determined upon sending forththat expe-
dition, I think that, as chairman of that committee,
it is incumbent upon me to submit that resolution to
the house--(hear,hear)—and that to leave it there as a mere
brutunt fulmen, to be satisfied with the retirement of Lord
Aberdeen and the Duke of Newcastle—for that was the
result—is, I think, totally inadequate to the occasion.
The committee, solemnly inquiring, came to the conclu-
sion that the whole Cabinet were included in that condem-
nation, and I am now about to call upon the house to vin'
dicate their committee, and to say that the whole Cabinet
were guilty. (Hear. hear.) Sir, I shall divide the Cabi-
net of Lord Aberdeen into three separate parts. In the
first division I class those who were excluded by the reso-
lution of this house appointing the committee—namely,
Lord Aberdeen and the Duke of Newcastle ; in the seemed
division I include those who may be considered the impel,'
taut members of that Cabinet ; the members I mean are
the noble lord at the head of the present Administration,
then Home Secretary, the noble lord the member for the
city of London, the right hon. gentleman the member for
Carlisle, the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, and the
right hon. gentleman the member for South Wiltshire. All.
the rest o the Cabinet I consider as the mere herd.
(Laughter.) They followed where others led ; they
like sheep, they went in the track of the one who went ;40-
fore them ; but their insig ea
ought not to shelt,;!
them. That they were insignificant I admit. (" Oh, oh .'
a
cheers, and laughter.) But that insignificance is no
pl
against the condemnation of this house. They lent such au-
thority as they had to the determination of the Adminis-
tration, and they gave their voice, if t hey did nothing more.(Hear.) That was the support which the Governmenl saypected from them, and they received it. But, r
Siefollow
that those who follow Ministers in the wrong
them in the condemnation with which the h
their superiors, and partake of their shame. (gear.)
e
;led that tlie
this being my case, it has been, or may be objected
is of tose
resolution which I shall propose to this house
ostracism
sweeping a character--that it would behaeghee will
of every man of mark on this side of
my fault? Did I put them in t
the wrong?
ask the house to
mit the errors for which I
"wthe wrong ; and if
administer the punishment ? I did notti
of every mart
house.
Did lls
etehr
us t_
there be anybody to blame for the os risves
alone. (Hoar.)
of mark, it is themselves, and t_ n.
dhlmamse sorry to say that the
Sir, I acknowledge the fact, an
• true,
strikealmost every
arrow which I direct will, if it o
g- t is because almost every
man of mark among them ; but laud
not because I direct
man of mark has been in erortor4 to
which I ought not to
the attention of the house t 0 hg
and I ask the house to
direct it. They did he
wr ..
Iton De blamed for the errors
punish that wrong.
et?
I leave the house to determine.
which they. tom the the propositions which I have to
Now, sir, I will readse .
my memory is not a very strong
maintain to the 131 ,
h will e
fore t e ouse . p rhaps, pardon meths
one, and there
orandum. My pr •t* oposi ions are
I refer to my mem_
h war was imminent th
al. That when the the made no prepare-
e contingency which they mu et have known was
tions to meet ,
2 That after war `was declared, and before the
certain. •
expedition to the Crimea was undertaken, they took no
'de a reserve of •
steps to preen force for the army they were
about to employ on that expedition, that army being originally
in numbers inadequate to the task which was imposed on it.
, 3. That they intrusted the management of the war to persons
whom many members of the Cabinet believed utterly incapable-
e. of performing the tesk assigned them. 4.
to That they
,
ordered the expedition to the Crimea without having taken
sufficient steps to obtain information as to the forces by which
the Crimea was defended, as to the resources of the country
they were about to invade, and as to the conduct to be pur-
sued when the army reached the Crimea. 5. That no ade-
quate preparation of means was made by them for the use of the
army, so that the object of the invasion could be attained ; the
preparation of sea and land transport was insufficient for the
wants of that army ; the consequence
eleof whit
ships, and
was
all
, that the army bad to encounter unparalld
\
comparatively of no avail,as the army
: itsprowess was rendered
' was unable to move as the exigencies of the war demanded ; ride
6, that as no proper provision was made for the army w li3to
actively employed, so the proper means were not
taken u
provide due medical attendance and comfort forthe sic a d
wounded of the army. The medical provisionr the wants
sick
of the army on the field, the hospitals provided
.for the.ut,
and wounded were alike incomplete and hisufficient, the
mu
of provision on this head being a disgrace. to every wants
whose duty it was to watch over and provide for the
of the army.'
(Hear, hear.) That, sir, is the in • dictment which I have to
bring against the Administration ; that indictm
ent is, I
h s been
' think, supported by every tittle of evidence that a
rte.
given before the Sebastopol Committee, and it is suppo st
rt,
by the report of that committee. I appeal to thatrepoeur
\
because I want the support of the members of the
c
naittee. y first proposition is—
" That, M
when war was imminent , the
made no
prepare-
tions to meet a contingency
was certain." which they must have known
I beg leave to emark that this rort wsi
s drawn up by
what opt 1
the noble lord the member for Totep nee, and
4