The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-24 00:00:00

notoriety that many professional men held the opinion •that
if Sebastopol had been attacked by the army and by the
fleet immediately after the Alma, that fortress wou hi have
fallen into the hands of the Allies. He expressed no such

opinion, but be felt that in inquiring into the subject it
could not only be the conduct of the British general that
must be scrutinised. The promoters even of the cominittee
appeared now to shrink from carrying it into effect. The
hon. member for West Surrey, whose wit and eloquemce he
much admired, had even admitted the danger of disturb-
ing the French alliance. That hon. gentleman said, that
the committee could -inquire into such circumstances as
whether the waggon-train had boon despatched without
harness, and similar circumstances, but the country ex-
pected, if there was an inquiry at all, not only an inquiry
into the administration of the War Department at home,
but a full and searching inquiry into the conduct of the
war. The hon. and darned member for Sheffield shook
his head, but he would tell him, that there could not he a
searching inquiry into the state of the army before Sebas-
topol which did not involve the consideration of the whole
conduct of the war. There was another objection of
great force. It was all very well for the right hon. ;emetic-
man the late Secretary for War, in a chivalrous spirit to
offer no objection to an inquiry into the administration of
the department with which he had been connected, be-
cause, no doubt, he was conscious of having done all in his
power to discharge the duties of that department.
Nothing could be more natural than that that right hon.
gentleman should adopt that course, or that the Delos of
Newcastle should be anxious to clear himself from the
load of obloquy which had been most undeservedly heaped
upon him, but the hon. member for Kidderminster had
clearly demonstrated how inconvenient such an inquiry by
such a committee would be. The third and more serious
objection which ha entertained was the manifest and cruel
injustice which would be committed towards those who
were absent. (Hear, hear.) It was proposed to arraign men
who for half a century had devoted their lives, and, when
necessary, their best blood to the service of their country,
and who had left all but their lives on the field of battle,
and to commit a cruel injustice on an old and distinguished
officer. (" No, no," from the Opposition and from Mr.
Drummond.) He was glad that the .hon. member for West
Surrey did not entertain such views, but the hon. member
for Aylesbury on a previous occasion, in a speech of great
power, but of a tone which he never wished again to hear
in that house, had intimated that that was the object. The
hon. gentleman had said the country wanted a man to cut
everything down, and would apply a knife to the
root--(hear, hear)—and he intimated that the object of
the committee was to remove every man who now held
high command. When the proper time arrived, those men
could be arraigned by the Government if they had failed
in the performance of their duty, but for the House of
Commons to take upon itself to perform that act was an
infringement upon; the prerogative of the Crown. He had
been astonished on a previous occasion to hear it stated by
the right hon. member for Midhuret that the inquiry
could be a secret one; but would that satisfy the country?
The people of this country would expect to hear from day
to day the reason of their friends and relations perishing
on the heights of Sebastopol, and the consequence would
ba that day by day there would be in the public prints
imputations upon public mon, who would have no opper
tunity to reply to them until the subject had become stale,
and who, when they did have the opportatity of replying,
would be prevented, would not be allowed to impugn the
conduct of any general officer. (Hear.) It appeared to hies
to be heaping injustice upon injustice, and he_ would net
have been satisfied if he had not mitered his protest against
the appointment of this committee. (Hear.)
Mr. WALPOLE—I have listene I with extreme surprise
to the most extraordinary observations of the right hon.
gentlemen the members fur Carlisle and S nith Wiltshire,
on the consitutional rights, privileges, and duties of mem-
bers of this house that I ever heard from statesmen of au-
thority. It has ben stated that there is no authority,
except an authority in the reign of King William and the
Walcheren expedition, for the House of Commons to in-
quire into naval or military operations, and that in both
the cases to which I have referred the operations were at
an end when the inquiry took place. I will presently show
that there exist many authorities of the greatest weight,
both in this and in the other House of Parliament, that
where there has been calamity—where there has been dis-
aster—where there has been mismanagement and sup-
posed misconduct—it is the duty of this house and the
duty of the other House of Parliament to inquire into the
calamities and the disasters which were the result of such
mismanagement. I have heard it stated by my right
hon. friend the member for Wiltshire that this is au
inquiry which cannot be acceded to upon the part of the
Government, because an inquiry of this character, if ac-
ceded to, is tantamount to dismissal. Does not my ii@it
hon. friend know that inquiry after inquiry is acceded to
on the part of the Government with reference to almost
every question of foreign and domestic policy, and that
this house most wisely awaits the result of such inquiries,
instead of taking the alternative to which the argu-
ment would lead, namely—condemning first and in-
quiring afterwards? (Hear, hear.) My right hon. friend
who has just sat down tells us that we are infringing upon
the duty and functions of the executive Government, be-
cause this hoists has deterneined to have a searching inves-
tigation to enable them to judge of the case, so as not to
censure unnecessarily, but to ascertain whether the alle-
gations which have been made, that the system is in fault,
and not the men by whom that system is carried into
effect, are correct. Surely, when you have every kind of
conflicting statement before you to stop the legitimate
mode of ascertaining the true facts of the case, to say we
are not to inquire then is to say, this house—which, as the
hon. member for Carlisle most justly reminded it—is the
grand inquest of the nation, is to shut its eyes to the army
which is perishing before it, and to close up all sources of
information, when from one end of the country to the other
that information is desired; and, the justification for such
a proceeding is, we are told that, by persisting in our
rights and in our duties, we are trenching upon those func-
tions of Government which ought to be left simply and
solely to the Executive. lam willing to concede, what
may very properly be conceded, that inquiries of this kind
which in any way whatever affect the functions of the
executive Government, are always attended with some in-
convenience, and oftentimes with some evil ; but I ask
you to consider fairly whether there are not times, and
whether this is not one of them, when inconvenience is un-
avoidable, and even evil a necessity? Such a time, I think,
is forced upon you now, and remember it is net forced upon
you by any clamour or agitation from without; it is not
forced upon you by any caprice or waywardness on the part
of the people ; it is not forced upon you by any selfish am-
bition to displace a Government--(cheers from the Oppo-
sition)—but it is forced upon you by the calm, strung, de-
liberate conviction in every member's mind that there is
something wrong which ought to be remedied. (Hear,
hear.) This conviction is nothing more and it is nothing
less than the echo of an equally strong conviction out cf.
doors. (Cheers.) You are bound therefore to ascertain
—if you can ascertain—the cause of the calamities by
which you are surrounded, to detect the errors which may
have been committed, to punish the faults, if faults are
brought home to any one, and to remedy the evils of the
system, if all these calamities are to be attributed to the
system, and not to the men. (Hear.) Now, Sir, it being
as I take it a sound constitutional principle, that yen are
entitled to inquire when a cause for inquiry is brought
under your notice, I agree that the executive functions of
the Government ought never unnecessarily to be interfered
with, for I am not one of those who would lightly or un-
ncessarily interfere or intermeddle with those functions,
but would preserve them to the utmost for the good of the
country. At the same time I would equally preserve the
rights, the privileges, and the duties of this house. I
would keep the two acting together, leaving theEiecutive
the full power of an Executive, but if her Majesty's Minis-
ters, who are the responsible advisers of the Executive,
had brought us, or were supposed to have brought us, to
anything like calamity or disaster, then, on the part of
this house, and consistently with my duty towards the
Executive, I would assert to the utmost that this house is
bound to exercise its right of inquiry. (Hear, hear.) I
have stated that my right hon. friend the member fer Car-
lisle has a little overlooked some of the historical prece
dents which a moment's reflection must have brought to
his mind. He will probably recollect that in the 'War of
Succession, when General Stanhope had to capitulate for
himself and his forces, to ,the number, I think, of 2,000
men, at Brihusga, Parliament—l believe on the very next
day, and certainly within one or two !aye after is:orate-
tion was obtained, without official intelligence--insisted
upon an inquiry, although the war was going on, and al-
though that humiliation was followed by a victory. The
right hon. gentleman will also recollect the surrender of
General Burgoyne at Saratoga. Who was the greatest man
at that time in this country Saratoga.
Lord Chatham. Was he
silent when the intelligence of that disaster came upon this
country ? No. Both the Houses of Parliament resolved
themselves into committees to consider the actual state of
the nation, and in that committee Lord Chatham moved
for all the papers, which showed—while the war was going
on, and whether there had been disaster or not, a full and
complete exposition of the stateof the army and navy, and
also for the orders and instructions by which General Bur-
goyne_ was directed to -make the attack upon Saratoga.
When the war was clentinued, greater disasters happened
than the surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga; but
while the war was going on, when those magaiicent colo-
nies ware about to be severed, through the success of the
inhabitants of the United states, from this country, what
was the motion made by Mr. Fox in this house? Was he
silent then ? Did he teach us the doctrine that the exe-
, cutive functions of the Government would be interfered
'with if this House inquired into the causes of the cala-
mities which happened then ? I hold in my hand the re-
pert of the proceedings of this House at the commence-
ment of the session of 1782, and I find that Mr. Fox,
after calling the attention of the House to all the circum-
stances of those disasters, ended his speech with this mo-
tion :—" That it be referred to a committee to inquire
into the causes of the want of success of his Majesty's
naval forces during this war, and more particularly in the
year 1781." Down to the very time when Parliament was
sitting Mr. Fox insisted upon an inquiry. The mat-
ter was referred to a committee ; Lord North did not op-
pose it—it was opposed, but Ministers were forced to give in,
and a committee was granted. It was afterwards turned
into a committee of the whole House. (" Oh !") I see the
two objections which occur to the minds of some hon. mem-
bers—viz , the change from a select committee to one of the
whole House, and the other with respect to the inquiry
being retrospective. I will not blink the question ; but
this shows that the inquiry was into operations which had
been going on down to the moment: The distinction about
Fitox's was
the select committee was not taken, the committee
was
on
.
own
turn emd.oitnioton.a committeeAndwhy
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Btehceauswe holc
house lie
had moved for papers, and the Solicitor-General was the only
man who had the hardihood to resist the motion on the ground
now taken—that it would interfere with the functions of the
Executive. Lord North himself, however, assented to the
motion, but Mr. Fox having obtained the papers he wished
for, and finding there was no longer any necessity for in-
quiry, moved a direct censure upon Lord'Sandwich, who was
at that time Chief Lord of Admiralty. In 1809, the year be-
fore the Walcheren expedition, after Sir John Moore's retreat
to Corunua, and after w,hat was called the Convention of
Cintra, Mr. Ponsonby, the Whig leader in this house, at the
very commencement of the following session, moved gene-
rally for inquiry into the conduct and the causes of the want
f success in the campaign of the preceding year. That was
followed in the next year by the inquiry iuto the Walcheren
expedition and into the conduct of Ministers; and then, in
1813 (if any further authority could possibly be needed to
crown this series-of precedents), after the retreat of Lord
Wellington from Burgos, Lord Wellesley found such fault
with the conduct of Ministers in not supplying that great ge-
neral with sufficient forces to enable him to carry on the
minpaign with success, that he moved in the House of Lords,
supported by Lord Grey, in two speeches of the highest con-
stitutional wisdom and„oknowledge, and with powers of elo-
quence which have never been surpassed, even if they have
been equalled, Lord Wellesley moved, I say that under the
circumstances to which he adverted in his speech, the house
should—do what ?—resolve itself into a committee of the
whole house to consider the state of affairs ? No He
moved for the appointment of a committee to inquire into
the circumstances and results of the late campaign. (Cheers.)