The Sun.
London, England, 1855-06-19 00:00:00

vice are secure 1 to those who have been trained iu it. With
these conditions, I say you must leave the exercise of the
patronage, as it is called—that is, the choice of the fitting
instruments cr the choice of the right 111,i/1 —sort intact leave
it, I say, to the men in eallitent,positions, who only occupy
those positions for the purpose (if selectimir the •umst fit-
ting persona, anti of eakiug care that the best ehalithel
shOulei be secured to the service of the State. I have vett-
' Sured to-eight, in no spirit of boastfulness, but. with some
desire to de justice to those who acted with me ie 1852, to
vindicate the course we would have taken in that matter.
I think I have a right to exact from the Government some
assurance and some security that we should at least obtain
as much, and that if they do shield themselves feom the
injurioue and inconvenient consequences of motions from
administrative reformers, ley adopting the wise and judi-
cious amendment of my honourable friend, they wilt act
on that recommendation, that they will not treat it as the
convenient motion of the hour, but that they will take it are
a recommendation of the House of Commons, definite and
precise, on a subject of the highest impel tance, and that
we shall feel that that recommendation will bear speedy
fruits for the acceptance of the country. lam bound to
express my opinion; that so far as I can form one fruits the
conduct of the Govern-rent upon this matter, my expec-
tations until this debate toter place were nut or a very san-
guine character. I do uot'see in the Government, from the
manner with which they have conducted themselves with
regard to this matter, any evidence that they are preoared
to act in the spirit of the policy which this aniendineut
that they are about to adopt would recommend them im-
mediately and amply to follow. We have had one motion
huniedly and hastily brought forward.with regard to the
consolidation of the military offices. I think my honour-
able friend the member for Hertfordshire acted with great
discretion iu not mixing up. that vast subject with that of
the civil service of the country ; but, this is the only mea-
sure of administrative alteration which the Government
have thought tit to recomMend to us; and, so far as I can
form an opinion upon the.subject of this pLsn, it appears
to Ills to be crudely and hastily adopted. (Hear.) They
are the recornmendetione of bygone days with little refer-
ence to the dearly-bought experience of the present ; and
I have yet to learn that the Government will be able to
prove to the country that the alterations which they re-
those who have carefully lse n:s:liiti thoughtumi'€lleellthev esu plAiloi
seu°cuhnuaesnwdiltir arc such
exigencies, or
isaps,rtottbeert.ionßuotf
if I look to the civil service of the country, I see less to
approve of in the conduct of the Government. A few days
upon this
back there were thews places in the civil service of the
country disposed of, of the highest class; and I find
that the three gentlemen appointed to those places, who
lacy Lo men most competent for the discharge of the
duties of their respective offices, were none of them
trained in the civil service of the country—(hear, hear)—
amid-I venture to say that I should have no difficulty in
writing down on a piece of paper a dozen gentlemen fully
competent to fill those or any other offices in the civil
service. Nome of these gentlemen have been 25 and 3.lyears,
amid some even more, toiling in the public offices of this
country, the mainstay of Ministers, the columns upon
whom we lean in our distress, whose devotion, whose as-
siduity, whose intelligence, lose acqu Temente, and whose
unwearied industry no language of mine can attempt to
paint or describe. (Hoer.) Why, what must be the feel.
jugs of those mete when they find that when an opportu-
nity,occurs to place them in an eminent position in the pro.
fession which they have embraced, and so sedulously and
so zealously pursued, and to mit% them into the light of
day, her Majesty's Government passed them over in silence,
and that three infividuels, whose fitness I will not con-
test, for that has nothing to do with the question, but
whose fitness di.i not exceed their own, are preferred to
them, adopted by the Government, and that their names
are circulated throughoud time country, not only depriving
the faithful servants of the civil admini,tration from their
due reward; but intimating that that service cannot sup-
ply the public wits men eomp stout to fill places in it which
become vacant. (bear) Ihwe no doubt Mr. Howell is
quite comp, tent to discharge the functions of his office ;
but what is s ippert to Ministers is death to the civil ser-
vice of the country, and I say that is an appointment of
which this house ought to express its disapprobation. I
shall not speak of the middle cle.ses as the hoe, member
for Surrey has done. I shall leave him a 'mouopoly of the
caustic vagaries ite which he shale— (a laugh) —but if he
had taken this case of Mr. }foetal', and if he had come for-
ward and vindicated a ine:ul class in the country he would
have done more service than by indulging iu the airy corn-
Monts with which he has favoured us. 1 see a gentleman
win; appointed the other day, as accountant7general to the
Secretary of State for War, who has been 4i years in the
public service, and who is admirably qualified for his of-
fice. Well, a gentleman, after forty years of service, and
who posse ureas qualities which cenout.probably be rivalled
in this country, is appointed accountant-general to the ,
Minister of War, at a less _salary than one of those
strangers to whom I have referred, who have been
recently introduced to the public service. A stranger
receives 1,50 J/, a-year, ant M . Smith receives 1,2001 I say
if the Goveinment were situ:ere in the opinion they were
about to take shelter under, that the civil service of this
country ought to be recognised as a great profession, these
aepoiutinents, which have boon nestle within the last few
days or weeks, could not have taken place. (Cheers.) What
are the intentions of the Government? The Chancellor of
the Exchequer has spoken in this debate ; au I I was
unable precisely to ascertain what he intends to announce
as the policy of the Government. He treated this as a
motion of want of confidence. Now, I say this in a friendly
spirit--(a la ughl —he is a gentleman highly respected in this
house ; he is a scholar and a man of.amiable character ; but
he is not experienced iu P.erliameut, and in the present
state of ti) Government I think it nowise to make those
declaratious. If the noble lord (Lord Pahl-101.8We) had
known the excitement which prevailed on those beaches
after that declaration he would have beenalartned. (Laugh-
ter.) I must confess that her Majesty's Government are in
a very peculiar position. The other day I brought for-
ward a motion of very mill censure, preliminary to the
holidays. (Laughter.) They immediately declared it, was
a vote of want ilcouffilence, and a greet number of gentle.
men who agreed with the motion voted against it. (A
Laugh.) And new we are authoritatively informed that
tins is al o a wait of confidence ; but even if this be de-
feated by our eid, still 3 o.t are iu this unworthy posit on,
that if you put the to o minorities together, there is a
great majority of want of coufidence in the Goveruin nt.
(Laughter and Opposition cheers.) I think the Gevern-
ruent ought to coo-ider the
areGruerivrkrauteepriot condemnedsit.io by
in which
tthheeylaarrgeesP.tb‘ucleajdo.ritl;u:iyine ev,)r was heard in the House of
Commons, and by the longest report that was ever pro-
duced in the same assembly. lam bound to acknowle
the favourable position in which the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer and the President of the Board of Control hold in
this respect. They are tam only two of the Ministers in
whom the country leas not expressed 3 want of couridence
(Alaugh.) I thirds it is a great thing for the noble lord at
the head of the Government to come forward and say,
`• There are two members of the Cabinet whom the House
of Commons has not condemned." (Laughter.) What did
the Chancellor of the Exchequer say with regard to the
amendment of my hon, frienit the member for Hertford-
shire ? I understood him to say there was no harm in the
motion,, but it depended upon its interpretation and that
if the interpretation of the motion was one unfavourable
to the Government then the Government would not-take
it. Now, any Government that ren lens it necessary for
the House of Commons to tell them what to do, or what
course they ought to pursue, can satrcely consider such a
part in the Opposition as a compliment. (A. laugh.) On
the contrary, if it be the sincere opinion of the Goverpinent
that the policy recommended by the hon. gentleman ought
to be pursued, they ought long age to have taken a course
which mould have shown that they had discounted, as it
were, the demands of the people —(hear)--and they ought
to have been able to rise in their places, and, to have said,
"We have had a great deal to do; we have conducted la-
borious negotiations, which have not succeeded; we have
not had time to master the large and comprehensive mea-
sures fcr the remedial administration of the great offices,
which are necessary; but we have given evidence to the
House of Commons of our disposition in this respect.
Look at the last appointments we made a few weeks ago
(A laugh)—see how we selectee! from the permanent civil
service of_the country, that we are always paying with
very fulsome praise, three men who ite the lung course
of our administrative life we have found the mast ca-
pable and ill rewarded persons in the public service."
But the Chancellor of the Exchequer, said more than
that. He referred to the Orders in Council, and said—
" All that has beau recommended of a practical nature
has been anticipated by the Orders in Council." Now,
I do not quarrel with the Orders in Council. They are not
equal to whet I could with them to be, but I take them
for what they are worth, though they are only a email part
of that which the must moderate of those who fuel the great
intere-ts of our civil service would repire. The orders in
council give no security for the purely professional charac-
ter of the civil service, nor do they secure to the permanent
civil servants of her Majesty the enjoyment of the great
prizes of the profession in waich they toil ; and, therefore,
when the right hon. gentleman wants tie rile off on the
orders in council, and consider them as a practical solution.
of the difficulty, then I say that I am not satisfied myself,
and:more thaa that, that the right hoe. gentleman has
not distinguished any excepting the amendment of the
hon. member for Hertfordshire. Sir, there is ono topic
that I cannot help touching on up en this occasion before I
sit down. I have referred to what were the intentions,
and not only the intentions but the measures which would
have been immediately brought forward by the Govern-
ment of Lord Derby in 1852. I yomember, sir, on that oc-
casion, after we had felt it our duty to resign, that a dis-
tinguished personewho was a political opponeut, regretted
our resignation of office at the time. Ile said he was very
sorry ; it was not necessary for us to go out at that time.
I believe we were to have been turned out at Easter, and
we anticipated that move by going out at Christmas. But
this eminent person said why he deplored our fall, which
he wished to retard. He Lehi, what could be done for a
sot of men who based the policy of their Government on
such an incomprehensible crotchet as administrative re-
feree] ? I have often remembered that incident since. I
believe our sympathising friend is now in a responsible
position, awl I have no doubt has become a very worthy
administrative reformer. I can not help remembering
the circumstances under which he retired from office.
It was impossible at that tie-to that we could have
remained with honour in Mice, because, from the moment
we accepted that trust, the noble lord the member for the
city of London pursued, us with such unceasing combine-
tious to eject us from office that it was a hopeless task from
the first to attempt to remain in it. Considering, sir, that
the noble lord had retired from office in 185/, that he had
resigned office in 1852, and that in no case had his retire-
melt or his resignation been occasioned by the conduct of
the Opposition,but by the distrust of his own friends and
by quarrelsaud misunderstandings with his owl colleagues ;
considering that Lord Derby in 1851 hail refused to accept
the responsibility of office, because that office without a
majority, in the house of Commons was a position which
he ought not to fill;, considering that the noble lord him-
self had recommended her Majesty to send for Lord Derby,
I have always thought that for a constitutional politician
like the noblewe leoelditeeNeVe7t tthhee
tnertoeistt
‘evxhtiae•ahorv,iLeintaereyk,tuhhinsge:
his own Government twice crumbled away,
btlh"eitafeoLlrybeebffeoccroaetuttlel stand an election in my county and take my
place in this house to attempt to conduct its business, the
noble lord had absolutely railed his friends together, and
was then making bidding% for support to eject us from the
position to which we had been called. (Hear, hoar.)
Now I fissure thaesnliotbaleegolnersdont haantdladsoevneonttuseadkeevetihoapte:ebit-
ser va time with
tthleienoslbilgehltopelos.ctiinita• etagtrznhe too
moral.
e swhatriihn a. is past,
apwcaoasltion, e
ehoultet
r .
is
f possible
l aeiubnce
politics
to
ing, by which the Liberal party was to be reconstructed, and
we, who had taken the reins of power because the noble lard
was on two occasions incornpetentto hold them, to boiled&
l
as soon as possible from the office which we certainly had
not coveted with any eagerness? Why, the noble lord
called every section of the Liberal party to his house in
Chosham-place. There was the school of Manchester, with
th e unanswerable
eu lstwe feoria.
a vigilant and justifiable ambition ; there were all the Ad-
ministrativer —o
Radical e pr )r
hp
el
or e
wore s
_ell the men of Spartan virtue, who only entered public
Inh
lee r sa
sis n e
r ttehres ou
shell—(laughter)
pl
,ifs to assert a principle, and never would take office but
to carry it into aucceaftil ezecution,;,,There they all were,