The Sun.
London, England, 1855-02-22 00:00:00

CONDUCT OF THE WAR.

In pursuance of a requisition addressed by a large
number of the ratepayers of Marylelsone to the church-
warden, a meeting of the ratepayers and inhabitants of
that parish was held last evening at the Literary and
Scientific Institution, Edwards-street, Portman-square,
to consider the attempt of the Government to suspend
the committee of the House of Commons, ordered to be
appointed to inquire into the state of our army before
Sebastopol, and to urge on the Government and the
house the absolute necessity of an immediate and vigor
ous prosecution of that inquiry. The chair was taken
by Mr. Clement George at eight o'clock.
The CHAIRMAN having stated the object for which the
meeting had been convened,
Mr. LEWIS moved the following resolution :

" That, in the opinion of this meeting, the great suffer-
ings and disasters to which the English army in the Crimea
has been exposed imperatively call for a searching investi-
gation into the causes and the defects of the system under
which such misfortunes have occurred ; that the House of
Commons having, in answer to the unanimous call of the
nation, voted by a large majority in favour of a committee
of inquiry of that house, this meeting earnestly deprecates
the reversal of such vote by any means, direct or indirect,
and calls upon the Gevernmept and the House of Commons,
as an act of justice to those whe have suffered unparalleled
privations and distresses, to institute, by means of a fair
and impartial committee, an immediate, honest, and
vigorous inquiry.'

(Cheers.) Our army having by this time dwindled down
to 10,000 men, and having, consequently, been obliged
to give up the post of honour to their French allies, he
thought the time had arrived for the public-spirited men
of Marylebone to speak out. (Hear.) If a vessel was
lost, the commander was obliged to prove before a court-
martial that it had not been lost through negligence, and
in like manner, a court-martial of the nation ought now
to be held upon the vessel of the State. He denied that
a commission appointed by Government would carry out
the object they had in view, which was an inquiry, not
only into what had taken place in the Crimea, but also
into the administration of the army at home. (Cheers.)
They wanted to'know whether everything had not been
done too late—(hear, hear)—whether the army had
been properly supplied with the clothing necessary for
a winter campaign ; whether or not the medical staff had
been supplied with medical necessaries ; how it was that
green coffee had been sent out to the army ; and also
whether summer clothing was now being provided.
(Hear.) They further wanted to know why there had
not been a sufficient supply of ammunition at the com-
mencement of the siege, why a sufficient force of cavalry
had not accompanied the army, the presence of which,
after the battle of the Alma, would probably have avoided
the subsequent ; why the warnings and advice of Mr.
Layard (the hon. gentleman's name was received with
loud cheers) to the Government with respect to the re-
sources of the country to which the expedition was to he
despatched bad been disregarded ; and why an army of
reserve had not been formed ? The inquiry was resisted
by the threat of a dissolution, but he believed the result
of a dissolution would be the return to Parliament of
those men who had voted for inquiry, and the rejection
of those who had opposed it. (Cries of "Sir B. Hall.")
He did not believe the house would reverse their vote,
but: it was necessary to apply to them " the pressure
from without," and therefore the people ought to ex-
press their undoubted and unanimous opinions upon tins
question. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. NICHOLAT, in seconding the resolution said the
interests of the country ha f been sacrificed and the
army destroyed during the disputes of the late Ministry.
Inquiry they must and they would have—(cheers)—no
matter what Ministers were in office, in order to prevent
the recurrence of such disastrous events as had recently
occurred. He lamented the absence of their late noble
representative Dudley Stuart—(cheers, and cries of
" Where is Ebrington ?")—upon such an occasion as the
present, and he would conclude by entreating them to
compel the Government to do that which, unless the
people insisted upon it, would not be done at all—
namely, institute a searching inquiry into what had taken
place. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. J. BELL, who was received with much cheering,
contended that it would bo unconstitutional to refuse
such an inquiry as was now demanded. If the Gdrern-
ment had done all in their power to prevent the disasters
which had occurred they need not resist an inquiry, but
if they had done those things which they ought not to
have done, and had left undone those things which they
ought to have done, it was their duty to avow their
errors and to promise to do better for the future. (Hear.)
But we ought to be cautious how we set on foot an agi-
tation upon this subject throughout the country—(cheers
and expressions of dissent)—we ought not to appeal so
much to the passions of the people as to their calm and
deliberate judgment. Some time ago there was a great
outcry against Lord Aberdeen and the Duke of New-
castle, and in favour of Lord Palmerston ; that noble
lord had now come into office, and he ought to be al-
lowed to develope his policy before an outcry was raised
against him. He believed that if the people expressed
their sentiments in a calm and dispassionate manner an
• inquiry would take place. Lord Palmerston would adopt
energetic measures, and in a short time more favourable
reports would be received from the Crimea.

Mr. MIOHBLL said, in answer to the observation of
Mr. Bell, that he had attended the meeting in order to
awaken that excitement against which Mr. Bell protested
and to arouse the country to the necessity of inquiry,
whatever Government might be in office. He should
rejoice if Lord Palmerston would popularise his Admi-
nistration, but his doing so would not obviate the neces-
sity for inquiry as to the past. (Cheers.)
Mr, MOIVATT, M.P., said, the necessity for inquiry
was so patent that it did not require to be enforced by
any recondite arguments. Our army had behaved as it
was expected to behave, but those who were entrusted
with the management of our resources had utterly and
signally failed in their duties. He bad not been a thick
and thin admirer of that powerful organ the Times, but
he was bound to say that he had been induced to forget
the past in admiration of its manly, unflinching, and
patriotic conduct in the present crisis. (Hear.) The
gross incapacity and the disgraceful indifference of men
in power had, in his opinion, been the cause of our dis-
asters. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) From the landing
of the army before the battle of the Alma to the present
time the men had been ill-supplied with necessaries,
notwithstanding the advantages of their position near
the harbour of Balaklava, which ought to have enabled
the Government to supply them as plentifully as if
they had been stationed at Greenwich. More than
60,000 men bad now been sent to the Crimea, all of
whom had done their duty, but it seemed impossible to
find out how many of the number remained. Mr. Glad-
stone had stated that there were now upwards of 32,000
effective men before Sebastopol, but the general belief
was that the army had dwindled down to between 12,000
and 15,000 men. What had become of the remainder ?
(Hear, hear.) Why, most of them had perished, not by
the sword of the enemy, but from indifference as well as
incapacity on the part of the Government amounting to
gross criminality. More tnan two months ago pro-
posals had been made to the War Department to pro-
vide the means of transport from Balaklava to the camp,
and they had been approved—why they had not been
carried oat he knew not. The Commander-in-Chief was
quits as culpable as the Government for not having sup-
plied his men with food when the neighbouring country
abounded in bread and meat ; he bad utterly failed in his
daty, and the men had triumphed, not in consequence of
his military genius, but in spite of him. (Hear.) An in-
quiry must be instituted to ascertain where the responsi-
bility rested for the calamities which had befallen us, for
which he might almost ask whether the block would be
too strong a remedy (Hear, hear.) The committee
which Mr. Roebuck had at first nominated was so con-
stituted that it would not have given the Government a
fair trial ; but it was said that a compromise had now
taken place, the effect of which would be merely to
gammon the people. It was for the people to say whe-
ther that compromise should or should not be carried
into effect. (Cheers and cries of "No !'')
The resolution was then unanimously agreed to.
On the motion of Mr. DIFFANGEB, seconded br. Mr.
TATERNAR, the following resolution was also agreed to :
" That, considering the critical position of affairs coa-
nected with the war, this meeting is of opinion that any
Ministry who will apply itself honestly to the reform of
those abuses which have contributed to our misfortunes,
and will carry on the war with unflinching energy and
vigour, until an honourable and substantial peace is estab-
lished, should receive the support of the country."
A motion that a petition be prepared for presentation
to Parliament embodying the preceding resolutions
having also been agreed to, the proceedings terminated
with a vote of thanks to the chairman.
The meeting was numerously attended.