The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-28 00:00:00

ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM:

MEETING IN DRUFtY-LANE THEATRE.

The third public meeting in support'of the movement
for obtaining a thorough and searching reform in the
management and administration of all our public depart.
ments was held yesterday evening at Drury-laneTheatre,
when the crowded state of the building, and the earnest
and enthusiastic demonstrations of the meeting indicated
the rapid rate at which the question is gaining on public
opinion. The chair was taken by Samuel Morley, Esq.,
and uponthe platform we also observed Charles Dickens,
Esq.; W. Scholefield, M.P.; F. Mowatt, M.P.; Apsley
Pellatt, M.P.; A. J. Otway, MT.; J. P. Murrough,
M.P.; J. A. Wise, M.P.; Major -Reed, M.P.; .A: H.
Layard, M.P.; W. Tite, M.P.; J. P. Gassiot, W. J.
Hall, G. Bishop, jun.; J. I. Travers, R. Ogilby, Wm.
Lister, B. Wilson, J. B. Allan, Wm. Cumming, Geo.
Moore, F. Bennoch, D. Nicoll, J. P. Foster, T. Pollock,
W. Edgar, jun. ; Peter Graham, George Stagg, Forster
Graham, Rev, Robert Walpole, J. C. Datchburn, Fred.
Oetzmann, Cleint. George, J. A. Nicholay, J. Whit-
more, R. Michell, Jacob Bell, Joseph Harvey, J. Fen-
nings, R. L: Fennings, %V. S. Burton, J. G. J. Greene,
J. W. Marshall, John Wade, John Vaux, of Harwich ;

John Norton, of Lincoln ; Henry Railton, of Sniffle.
garth ; H. E. Hoole, of Sheffield ; W. Burnley Hume,
F. L. Slous, A. S. Ayrton, Johnstoun Neale, Col. Inigo
Jones, M. J. Higgins, Travers Buxton, B. L. Smith,
Dr. Bell, Dr. Price, Rev. D. Massie, W. A. Bethune,
A. Craig Gibson, T. Falvey, of Southampton, &c., &e.
The CHAIRMAN, in opening the proceedings, said—
Ladies and gentlemen, I am anxious not to occupy more
than a very few minutes of your time—first, because
an opportunity was afforded to me on the last occasion
of expressing my deep convictions on this subject ;
and, secondly, because there are other gentlemen
entitled to address you who will occupy every minute of
our allotted time. (Hear, hear.) lam anxious,. before
I say a word or two on the general question, to zna)ee
--remark on some matters of a purely personal nature. It
will be seen that some statements which were made at
the former meeting have been seriously and hotly con-
troverted by more than one member of Parliament. I
am anxious to do justice to myself with respect to these
statements without doing injustice to Mr. Lindsay, who
you may depend upon it will set himself right in the pro
per place—viz., the House of Commons. (Cheers.) Mr.
Lindsay feels as we all feel that as his statements have
been controverted in the House of Commons, it is in the
House of Commons they must be met, and I merely
mention it here, because the charge forms part of a gene-
ral accusation against the accuracy of our statements.
Now, we assert of ourselves that we are men who
are incapable of making a false statement, if we know
it. (Cheers.) We are quite sure that a bad cause
cannot be permanently bolstered up by false statements,
and we feel that a good cause, such as ours, requires no
such support. (Hear, hear.) The term "leaders" has
been applied to certain gentlemen connected with this
association, but as far as it refers to any one connected
with this association, the epithet is a misnomer. We
are merely a committee associated for the furtherance of
a cause in which we all take a deep interest, and in no
case looking to leadership for A, B, or C, or any other
person whatever. (Hear, hear.) Something has been
said respecting our having packed this building by
means of tickets. The fact is that we meet here because
we could find no other plane large enough to hold us, and
so great has been-the desire of the public to hear what
we have to say, and to give force and momentum by theii
attendance to our object, that of getting rid of exiskiog
abominations in the public offices, that we found it ne-
cessary to issue tickets in order to insure comfort and
regularity for those who attended. (Hear.) We know
the name of every one present, and I am prepared to say
that never was there a more authentic representation of
thinking men—and I am glad to say of ladies also—as-
sembled on any occasion, or in furtherance of any public
object, than that by which I see myself surrounded en
the present occasion. (Cheers.) A goof deal has also
been said about the publication of the names of certain
members of Parliament in connection with our last meet-
ing. I was much startled to see the letters in the Times
on the subject; and on inquiry from the secretary I
found that tickets were sent to every member of Par-
liament, and as they were marked "not transferable,"
aid as all came in, the secretary concluded that the in-
vited parties had come. Seeing that Col. Freestun's
who has made so much of this circumstance—card had
come in, it was not wonderful that the secretary should
imagine that he and some of the other colonels might be
skulking about the boxes. (Cheers.) All that can be
said is, that they were put down because their tickets
came in. (Hear.) If I were asked why I am here to-
night I should say that it is because I love my country,
and because t tremble at the probability of the recur-
rence of' such a.year as that which has just passed away.
Gear.) I feel that as Englishmen we have received a
great affront at the hands of those on whom vve conferred
great responsibility and power ; but I am told by some
that we should not disturb the question until the war is
over. My conviction is that if we don't get a change in
the state of affairs the war will never be over---(cheers)—
and that our countrymen will continue to be murdered in
thousands through the sheer, absolute neglect and incapa-
city of the men who have utterly failed us in the hour of
our need. (Loud cheering.) Further, I believe that no-
thing short of the most unmistakeable manifestation of
public opinion, or perhaps absolute revolution, will alter
the state of things of which we all complain. (Hear,
hear.) lam a firm believer in the doctrine that there
are limits to the endurance of a people ; and no doubt
revolutions have done wonders at times ; but we Eng-
lishmen know how to manage these things without revo-
lutions. We shall convey so unmistakeable an opinion to
Lord Palmerston, who now only knows public opinion
through the House of Commons, that if he does not con.
cede our just demands, his plaee and power will not be
worth a month's purchase. Let but such an idea get
into his lordship's mind, depend upon it we shall get our
own terms. There has been a debate in the House of
Commons on the motion of MaLayard ; on the first night
of which the Governinent mustered up courage to threaten
resignation, but on the next Lord Palmerston, with won-
derful dexterity, which has been the theme of admirationr
in all official circles ever since, adopted the amendment
of Sir B. Lytton, and at half-past one in the morning that
amendment Wa9 carried, almost without a remark. I must
confess that the result of that discussion gave me an im-
pression of the insincerity of Government, and con-
vinced me that if we for a moment relax our efforts we
shall get little substantial in the way of administrative
reform. (Hear.) Let it be understood that lam not
making an attack on the mere subordinates, the clerks
in the public offices. No doubt there is abundance of
evidence on this score, respecting gentlemen who go to
office leading bull dogs in a string. (Cheers and laughter.)
We hear a great deal of conversation about the state of
education among the working classes; these facts show
what is the state of education among those who have no-
thing to do. (Cheers.) The fact is that these young
men sometimes come to office so miserably deficient that
the head of the office is frequently obliged to give them
a month's leave to learn to write. (Laughter.) The prin•
ciple upon which these appointments are made is as bad
as can be. What we want is a true sense of responsibility
in official people. Any one who has read the report of
the Sebastopol Committee must feel that the great ob-
ject with every witness was as much as possible to shirk
responsibility. (Hear, hear.) Nobody would admit that
everything had been his fault, and what we want to do
is to get every one into a position in which he shall be
responsible. (Hear.) I should like to see business ma-
naged as it is in our large commercial towns, where
transactions are carried on quite as large as those with
which Government have to deal, but where you will find
that the head of each department is not a man who has
been placed there because he had an influential brother
or cousin, ea• some private friend, but because he had
served. the firm faithfully through a long series of years,
la ad gone creditably through every grade, and had made
himself thoroughly acquainted, hot ably with the prin-
ciples, but with all the details of the department at the
head of which he was placed: (Sear.) Such a man is
held responsible for everything that takes place in his de-
partment, and if all the appointments are not made at
his direct recommendation) no, one would be allowed to
hold a situation a moment raider his displeasure. Now,
I hold that it is a system like this that we ought to
have established in the Government departments, We
not only want men who have proved themselves compe-
tent in the three " as they are popularly calledi but
who have proved themselves generally capable, and of
whom we have a convictioti that they will faithfully per-
form their duty. We want to hold out to the ihithful
servants who have honestly debt, the public work for
years that they shall hot be overtopped in the race for
promotion 1:',9 successful lawyers or soldiers, who now
buil!! their success upon making glib speeches in Parlia.
I went. There are thousands of able men in the various
public departments who now have no chance, and who
look with beating hearts to the progress of this move-
ment, and to them we look as fellow-labourers in the
prosecution of the good work. Our object in short is to
put an end to all promotion by favour. We propose to as-
certain the state of the army, navy, diplomatic, and
civil service, by careful previous investigation, and by
the ensuing session of Parliament we hope to be
prepared to place before the house such a case as we trust
will lead to a reform in these various branches, and then
it will only remain for the constituencies of the country
to do their duty. (Hear.) I was lately favoured with one
of those curiosities of literature, a letter to a member of
Parliament, to one of his constituents, in which the latter
stated his wish to get a place in the Customs for his son,
adding that his family had polled five votes for the mem-
ber at the last election, and that arrangements were being
made to secure seven or eight, if this little matter only
)could be settled. (Cheers and laughter.) lam prepared
to express great sympathy with this anxious father, who
takes such care of his progeny, but at the same time I
feel that such practices are degrading to electors, are em-
barrassing to members, and I believe are confessedly a
nuisance to Government. (Hear.) We want to close all
these back doors, and to open a broad and wide gate in the
front at which all who have the proper requisites may come
in without favour oraffection. We want tohavethepublic
service of England open to the whole world of England,
and that no one who aspires to it should fail solely be-
cause he has not powerful aristocratic connexions to back
his pretensions, (Hear.) Then we want to get a new