The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-23 00:00:00

THE SICK AND WOUNDED FROM THE
CRIMEA.

Mr. STAFFORD rose to call the attention of the
house to the arrangements made for payment of the
arrears due to those sick or wounded soldiers who had
returned from the Crimea. It was said that the reason
why these unfortunate men had not been paid was that
certain documents necessary before-hand were not forth-
coming. Surely, this was not the fault of the men ; and
be hoped that some member of the Government would
give him some assurance that this state of things should
not again occur ; for nothing could he a better stimulus
to recruiting than the certainty by men that they would
be properly looked after by the Government on their
return to this country. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. F. PEEL said he was sorry that any soldier
should be kept out of his pay, but the reply to the ques-
tion of the honourable gentleman opposite was the
same that he (Mr. Peel) had given several times
before to similar inquiries. The only answer was
that Government did not know what the amount
payable to these men really was until they had obtained
proper returns ; and it would not do, in the absence of
these returns, to trust to the word of mouth of the men
themselves. (Haar.)

PERSONAL EXPLANATIONS.—MR. LINDSAY.
Mr. LINDSAY—I rise to address the house on this oc-
casion with considerable reluctance. No man is more de-
sirous than I am tosee the business of this house carried
on with greater rapidity than it now is ; and I must apolo-
gise for engaging its attention for a short time in reference
to a matter wholly personal to myself. But it is a question
which I have been forced to bring under the notice of the
house, affecting, as it does, my personal honour. My veracity
has been called in question in reference to a statement made
by me, not in this house, but elsewhere. That statement
has been noticed in a particular manner in this house, and
I was prepared to be called to account for that statement.
I am certainly somewhat ignorant of the forms of this
house, but during the short time I have been a member of
it I have noticed that hon. members have been called to
account for statements which they have made elsewhere.
The noble lord at the head of the Government only the
other day called the hon. member for Aylesbury to ac-
count for a statement made by him out of this house;
therefore, I thought that some member of the Government
would take the opportunity of calling me to an account for
what I had stated, and which would have enabled me to
rise in my place and give proof of the truth of the state-
ment I had made. I believe, according to the rules cf the
house, Lam not at liberty to refer to what may have oc-
curred in any previous debate, but must' confine myself
strictly to the question of which I have given notice. But
the house will, I trust, allow me in passing just to advert to
those personal remarks which were made by an hon. mem-
ber in the course of the recent debate. I allude to the re-
marks which fell from the hon. member for West Surrey
(Mr. Drummond). It is not my intention, in adverting to
those remarks, or to any other personal observations that
may have been made in reference to myself, to indulge in
any harsh language. I merely wish to put myself right
with the house and the country. (Hear, hear.) I
have not the honour and pleasure of the personal ac-
quaintance of the honourable member for West Surrey,
but I respect him too much, as an old member of this
house, as a scholar, and as a gentleman, to say anything
harsh in reply to the remarks he thought proper to make
in regard to myself. He, on the occasion in question, said—
" Among those gentlemen was the hon. member for Tyne-
mouth (Mr. W. S. Lindsay), a very good man, no doubt, who
desired to be First Lord of the Admiralty or some small mat-
ter of that kind. He (Mr. Drummond) remembered about two
years ago that hon. gentleman was what was called at Bow-
street ' had up' by some unfortunate people who had trusted
him to take them out to Australia, but whom he did not send
out, and they, being in great distress, applied to the magis-
trate for protection. He did not say the hon. gentleman had
defrauded those people, but he wished to adduce it as a not
very prodigious proof of administrative capacity."
Perhaps the house will allow me to state the actual facts
of this case? Now, considering the extensive transactions
in which I have for years been engaged, having had to send
out from 6,000 to 7,000 ships and many thousand passengers
to various parts of the world, I do not think it very strange
or surprising that I should have had once to go before a
court of law or been summoned to appear before a magi-
strate. But in this instance the ship was one which bora
- my naree ; and the hon. member somewhat sneered at that
circumstance. Now, there are ships of other flags, which
I never saw, and of the owners of which I know nothing,
which bear my name ; and this honour was conferred on
me in regard to this particular vessel—not, certainly, at
my own request, but at the wish of the builder. She was
a ship of a particular description—she was, I conceive, a
stride in advance of the ships that were previously used.
Up to the date of her construction, such ships had usually
been built above five times their beam to their length ;
and I thought ships of the customary build were much too
small. I accordingly gave orders for this vessel to be made
74 times her beam to her length, which I took to be an
improvement. Now, when a man takes a step in advance in
such matters, a great number of people naturally say, "Oh,
your ship will not answer; she will capsize, and incur all
kinds of risks." However, she came to London, and was
- engaged to convey about 300 passengers to Australia. She
sailed, and had got as far as the Downs, when I received
a telegraphic message, informing me that something was
wrong with her compasses, the weather at the time being
stormy and boisterous. This communication reached me at
midnight, but I immediately started for the Downs, and
when I got on board Ifound that the ship's compasses were
not properly adjusted. Combined with this circumstance,
there was the cry still going on that something serious
must happen to this vessel. Well, I felt persuaded in my,
own mind that all would go right, and the captldn, toge-
ther with the crew, had no apprehension, and were all
prepared to continue the voyage, believing there was no
danger whatever in such a course. However, I said, "If
anything occurs to this ship, such as might occur to any
other vessel, the public will consider that I am the cause
of it, and will blame me for the loss of life that may ensue;
the responsibility of 350 lives therefore rests upon my
shoulders, and I will not take upon myself anything so
serious." Under these circumstances, although against the
wishes of her commander, I ordered the vessel back to Lon-
don, and sustained thereby a loss of between 2,0001. and
3,000/. There were on board of her a great number of pas-
sengers who were very badly off; but I did not deal with
them as the law directs, and give them ls. per day for their
detention until another ship was prepared. I made them
allowances according to their several wants, paying to some
ca to some 45., and to others Ss. a-day. The act did not
on me to provide in this manner for the cabin passen-
tgers •
re'in but, Unfortunately, a great portion of their number
some of them consisting of
than the second class passengers,
of families who had seen brighter
days, and who had lately sold off their all in order to
go to Australia. I therefore made them compensation
likewise;
and in this shape, to passengers of all classes, I
gave
away another sum of 3,000/. ;
thus making my total
loss by this ship, by my own free act, about 6,0001. I say
by my own free act, because the Government officer had
passed the vessel and had declared her to be perfectly sea-
worthy. (Hear.) Wellamon
, g such a body of passengers,
you might naturally expect that there would be one or two
malcontents ; and accordingly I found four men who were
determined to impose upon my good nature. These persons
summoned me to Guildhall police-court; and I said that,
howeVer liberal I might feel disposed to be, I should con-
siderate it a duty to resist what I regarded as extortion. te
detiands. I am sorry to occupy the time of the house with
there details ; but stake remarks of the hon. member for
West Surrey affected my personal honour, thest that I
shall not be considered guilty of egotism in replying
to them. I will briefly quote the Times account of what
Occurred on the hearing of the case at Guildhall. The
newspaper report states that—
" Sir C. Marshall then retired with Mr. Alderman Copeland
and the chief clerk to consider the preliminary objection, and
on returning into court, Sir C. Marshall said, they were of
opinion that the 44th section did not apply to the matter,
Ite. nd as the summons was founded upon it, they must dismiss
(*), • • Mr. Lindsay'fconduct under the circumstances
was a nature highly honourable to him:"
(Hear, hear.) Perhaps the house willit me to
m e
read a very few words from the com
also rin
comments mad peeby the press
on the case at the time. The Economist observes :-
1: We sce with surprise that the conduct of Mr. Lindsay;