The Sun.
London, England, 1855-05-07 00:00:00

AD2I4INISTRATITE REFORM.

THE GREAT DEMONSTRATION IN THE CITY
ON SATURDAY.
The following is a more extended account of the latter
part of the proceedings of this great meeting than we were
enabled to give in our impression of Saturday. Mr. F.
)3ennoc.k's name was, in the hurry, spelt Mr. F. Devan.
Mr. F. BENNOCR, in supporting the resolution, said, it
was one of the high privileges handed down to us by our
great forefathers, that we should meet in public to express
oar opinions with regard to any great public grievail
There was scarcely anything too high or too sacred for
tas
light of public opinion to dwell upon. It was an old adage
and a wise one—" a place for everything,
m moment,
in its place ;" but in this country, at the presentand everything
it seemed as though there was a place for everybody _
was in
had a friend in parliament, but scarcely anybody was
his proper place. Sir W. Moleswo already been
was, too,
al-
luded to as an instance of this. There another
gentleman, who in times gone by rthhandmade himself dis-
tinguished for hunting out abuses connecteds with th
to
e
church, but jest lately, when it was
for Ireland was held
Se
offer him office, the post of e
to be most fitting for him. (Lraeughter.) Then there was
been in almost every Adminis-
uother gentleman who had
aration for some time back, and who not long ago was
Chancellor of the Ex
chequer who ha d created universal
disgust by his contemptuous reception of the Liverpool
merchants—(cries of " Wood," and hisses)—but even that
aws considered strong enough to entitle
gentleman's grasp -
I,i to wield- the destinies of England at the Admiralty.
Mr. F. Peel but the other day made Unde-
r
Then- th-ere• was
of State for the War Department, when, as every-
body knew, he was of all men the most unfit for it. The
claims of men who had spent their time in making them-
selves acquainted with certain subjects were set aside in
favour'o
f men totally ignorant of them in the most shame-
lea manner
,; for instance, in the appointment of the
CharitY Commissioners some time ago, what consideration
had there ever been directed to the self-evident claim of a
man like Robert Whiaton, who in the city of Rochester
had fought the battle against malversation singlehanded ?
Hear, hear.) It was said by the Beerier/list of that day
hat did not follow always that because men con-
ducted their oven affairs well that they were fit for the
routine of public office. It was not for the routine of office
that they were wanted ; but would the Economist under-
take to say that it did follow that because men could not
marine their own affairs well they were therefore fit to
have a shoe% ht the government of the country ? (" Hear,"
and laughter.) Sometimes really it did seem to be the
caw, looking to the sort of men who were in office. Capa-
city and small pay, incapacity and large pay, seemed to be
the ride of the public service. (Cheers.) One of the great
curses of the present system was the number of offices held
hYlbe fame scan, each one of which would be sufficient
fora single man, if he did his business properly. (Hear.)
Ifit Were necessary that there should be sinecure offices—
a proposition which he denied—they ought to be kept as
rewards for long and faithful service, and not heaped on
one seen. What was the department against which public
indignation was most strongly directed at the present mo-
ment ? The Ordnance, of course. (Hear.) And who was
the Master-General of the Ordnance ? Lord Raglan.
(Cries of " Shame r) Was it reasonable, was it proper
that such should be the case, and could a man restrain his
indignation while thinking over such things ? Either, Sir
Hew Ross, who now acted here in his place, was capable
for the office himself and ought to have the remuneration,
or the remuneration which Sir Hew now received was
sufficient for the office, and Lord Raglan ought to be de-
posed. (Hear.) The system of promotion in the army was
absurd and disgmeeful. Who ever heard of a man being
called in as a physician simply because he had purchased a
diplomat who ever heard tell of a lawyer being raised to
the woolsack because of his family connexions? If scien-
tific acquirements, if great energy and judgment, and if
extended knowledge on all subjects could be purchased by
wealth, there would not be an office of any kind left for
any man save an aristocrat. He had nothing to say against
the aristocracy as a class. Many of the most distinguished
among them had risen from the middle class. Some
of them were brave to an excess, as they had proved in the
glorious charge at Balaklava, when the blood of the noble
ad the common man was mingled together for the honour
of England. (Cheers.) But where was the judgment that
led to that charge ? Something more than mere bravery
was wanted, for the commander who sacrificed one life
unnecessarily sullied the truncheon which he wielded. The
battle of Inkerman had been called the " people's battle,"
but why was it not the "officer's battle ?" If the officers
had doneaheir duty, not a drop of the people's blood need
have been shed on that misty morning. The evidence be-
fore the Sebastopol Committee showed neglect and imcom-
'Atelier everywhere:- It had been stated just lately before
the committee, that harness was sent out to the Crimea
which had been received into store in 1815; it had got rot-
ten, but a little varnish made it look as good as new, and
when it came to be used, as might be expected, at the first
pull it broke. Again, shoes were ordered in the autumn,
to be ready by November, but they were, he believed, still
in the Tower. Stockings were ordered of a larger size than
usual at a particular juncture, to be extra-warm, and
shoes were ordered of the usual size, and the consequence
was that, though the stockings and shoes could be worn
separately, they could not be worn together. (Laughter.)
Then came the inquiry, who was responsible for these
things? (A voice, Nobody.") That was just the answer.
Sir T. Hastings, on being questioned on this point, said he
thought—nay, he was sure—shoes and stockings did not
belong to the Ordnance, end that if he had time he thought
he could prove they belonged to the Commissariat.
Take another instance of Routine v. Skill. What
could be more degrading to our position as a nation
than the state of the hospital at Scutari? But contrast with
that the hospital at Smyrna. No sooner was there an esta-
blishment formed with a civil staff and under civil superin-
tendence than out of chaos rose perfect order. Take the
small thing of cooking ; what in the hands of the common
soldier was only a nasty paste, in the hands of the skilled
cook—who, as had been well said, " wielded his spoon
with the skill of a magician"—was turned into a delicious
liquid to satisfy the burning thirst of thesick and wounded.
All men had naturally been greatly excited by the grie-
vous loss which we had suffered in the storm of •Balaklava;
hat to what was that loss to be attributed ? Capt. Dacres,
in his evidence before the committee, expressed his, con-
scientious conviction that it was the act of God ; but, by
pressing him hard on that question, Sir J. Pakington ma-
naged to screw out of him an admission that if all the ves-
sels had. been -got under way not a single one of them need
have been lost. He did not wish to attack the small fry
of aspiring young gocsequills with stiff collars, who would
hardly condescend to give an answer to a question, found
at all the public offices; but he would mention one in-
stance of the manner in which they transacted business.
A friend of his went to Deptford upon important business
connected with a contract, and, after waiting for about
two hours was delighted to see the gentleman to whom he
had applied descend from his stool and ring the bell. His
friend now thought his business would be attended to ;
but no—the messenger entered, and the clerk merely said,
" John I poke the the" (Laughter.) It was now the
people?s turn ; they meant to poke the fire. (Cheers.) The
best remedy, for all these evils was an association of this
kind. -The best remedy for all these evils was an associa-
tion of this kind. He did not know how many hotels and
public rooms in the neighbourhood were filled with per-
sons who-had been able to obtain admission there, and
there was also a meeting at Guildhall, so that at least, two
meeting were taking place upon the same subject, at the
same hour,.at a time of the day most valuable to men of
business. Gentlemen of all shades of political opinion had
forgotten their differences, and united here with the
firm determination of supporting any Governmeni
which put an end to the abominations now dis-
gracing the land. (Cheers.) Last night but a small num-
ber, probably, of the House of Commons would have sup-
ported their views, but by Monday he believed that num-
ber would have increased so much that no Government
could exist which declined to listen to them. He denied
the truth of Lord Pahmeeston's assertion, that the state-
ments made by Mr. Layard the other night were calumni-
ous and unfounded. , (Cheers.) Mr. Layard had no wish
to destroy the character of Lord Hardinge,—he had
attacked not individuals, but the system by which power
was placed in the hands of incapable men. T e illustra-
tion of Mr. Layard was unfortunate, but his principle was
right; the great damning fact remained—that public
affairs were mismanaged, and favour. not merit, was the
rule of! promotion. (Cheers.) Mr. Layard had spoken
:with the voice of the country, and the cheers of the meet-
ing convinced him that in their opinion that hon. gentle-
man was one of the men fitted for the present emergency
(
Chad hit eers
he.) There
-were many other men in England who.
had hi ref used to sit in the HOW aof Commons, but
who would flaw go with pleasure to aid by their votes and
voices those members already there who were determined
to do their duty. (Cheers.)
Mr. JOHNI3TON& NxALR supportedthe resolution, but
thought that they ought to give
were about to condemn, and that both sides play to those they
tem ought to be placed before the public. (Cheers.)
of the ques-
hears.) Ho
would, therefore, state that what he knew to be Lord Pal-
merston's answer to many of the charges brought against
him, He had it from the lips of a noble peer hortl
all respected—(cries of " Name !"),--that Lord Palmery-
ston had said in answer to those accusations, that he
offered office, while he was forming the present Govern-
ment, to merchants of the city of London, but those
merchants told him it would be impossible for them to
leave their business and give up emolument of 5,000 t.
or 7,000/. a-year to join a Government for a short
time, at the risk of losing both business and ap-
pointment. This statement ought to go forth with
that of Mr. Lindsay, which showed how incorrectly the
noble lord must have been informed, if he was under the
impression that the practical gentlemen to whom he had
applied had refused office from mere pecuniary motives.
Lord Palmerston's difficulty lay in the formation of the
House of Commons. (Hear.) They had already been told
- the number of members connected with the peerage now in
' the Rouse of Commons, and he would add the information
"fah he obtained from Dod, that there were 23 places
v►hiola returned members under the influence of great fa-
1144ukeer, e They were Chester, Chichester, Cirencester, Dud-
bury, le., an. Enniskillen, Helstone,Launceston, Malmes-
rnond:lth, Marlborough, Peterborough, Reigate, Rich-
Th,_etftsk,T4
Rye, Shaftesbury, Sandwich, Tavistock,
-!!"-Qr-trerle else Wilton, and Youghal. There were
zomideeee, te,,,tleer places under similar influence. He
cluisesiA eseis IL•411 Rouse of Commons contained 4 mar-
-30 lmrolleW, /14COttnta, 31 lords, 50 hononrables, and
do
ther, laaliore arketehsar.) He asked Mr. Lindsay whe-
herwise lisp mints- ter to-morrow, he could
votes alone he worthrtt°.thmee demands of men by whose
This was-.the whole
piai4
ta
the
eriatocrawm.4....ii,: retain office? (Hear.)
-ex thetA--; lt must now had gone
to its fullest extent and lame e_Present Bystem had gone
this for the benefit of the ee al
loved the aristocracy—(lanerseY.— They must do
give
been everything that they de they th(eyA latatiogsht- )
been attacked the other night became it Mr. Lay= gilavei
of e connexions of the ariNtooruylnwmi the interest
he should be silenced. (Three cheers werette lu'use that
Mr. Layard.) He was sure that this me., rs given for
tilos f
succeed,
the and
Crown or the that it wou Iprivileg esd not infriof n
teehe nt
uPon tile Preto too-,d
oe ere 'a.
uphold the rights of the people. Ch ereDe , but would
The resolution was carried unanimously.
Mr. W. TITE moved the third and last resolution
" That an association be now formed to promote, by all
constitutional means, the
attainment of administrative re.
ems- That the association be called the Administrative
Reform Association and that the following gentlemen,
with ee appointed the coin.
'—wer to add to their number, be
-matte*, to eau prepare an address to the con-
stittienbr eet funds, to _
.11 to c
the le • • end genera y arry
out the oh,_, nited Kinedom,
srs F. Bennoch,
G. BishopTe of the association :—Mes .
J. ifeetchin-
aOns W. J. Rte • Crawford
IV. W. T. mectati'Gregor Laird, S. Laing, W. S. S Lind-
Morgan, W. L. coAgil, S. Morley, R. B. Moore, H. L.
Wilkinson; J. G. -prvi3a D. Powles, J. I. Traeers, N.
D. Nicoll, J. Collett,—A."' Amore", W. Lister, W. Tito,
o:iveira Baker, B. Smith, jun., and B.
M. Xitts said _he. had never h
before
meeting in London, but he had ate) addressed a political
cam be fate -441 d 1141373 tiler§ . t.nded on this occasion be-
at the cmultry beau