The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-12 00:00:00

wilful misrepresentation• He had said he could not apply
to it any other term than wilful misrepresentation—that was
the only expression 1w had used.—(oh 1 oh l and laugh-
ter on the Opposition benr.hes.) He believed that charge
wng.made out, because if an anonymous writer chose to sit
down and concoct false stitements, and publish them to the
world, while he must have had accurate returns before him,

no'other motive but that of an intention to deceive could be
artributed to him. When he had accused him of wilful

misrepresentation he did not brow who the writer was.—
( Cries of t• Ohl oh I")
Mr. MAXWELL—You knew perfectly well.—(Cheers
from the Oppositton benches, and cries of " Order, order,"
on the Ministerial.)

Admiral ADASI begged to state that he did not know
who that author was.

Mr. MAXWELL had the means of knowing that the
Gallant Admiral, when he mentioned the term " wilful
misrepresentation," knew very well who the author was.—
'Fury checis, and Ministerial cries of " Order, order.")
He had no objection to mention his name to the country.
Admiral ADAM said it was 'perfectly immaterial
whether he knew his name or not. What he had said had
been borne nut by the statement of -his Hon. Friend.

Mr. C. WOOD said the -13orrd.OT
Admir.atr, through-
out the whole of what had passed, had been the assailed and
not !he assailing p rty, and Hon. Members had not made
sufficient allowance for the situation in which they had been
placed. Mod:Tate and reasonable men would have been in-

t.luced to believe that the Navy had been grossly neglected
sod in several of the main articles reduce-I, and the effect of
the representation generally was most prejudicial to the
character '.tae Government. It had been the great ob-
ject of the Government to vindicate their conduct and stop
these reports. The repreEoltatiens were these-4• the Navy
is in a bad state ; it is brought to that state by reductions,
and those reductions havo been made by you."—( Hear,
hear.) Now he denied the bad state of the Navy—he de-
nied it had been brought to that state by reduction ; but
if those who made the attack, and represented the Navy as
in a bad state, did persist in attributing that bad state to
the reductions that had been made, let them not impute
that reduction to the present Government, but blame
those who made the reduction ; and that reduc-
Bo:A were made by the Government of the Right
Hon. Gentleman opposite no one disputed. His Right
Hon. Friend near him had completely answered what cer-
tainly was the inference of the speech of the Hon. Gentleman
opposite, that it was in the contemplation of Lord Auckland's
Board to reduce the number of men; and what ills Hon.
Friend opposite repeated was, that the estimates were in
a great measure framed by those who went before them.
Now on the points in dispute, the number of men and the

amount. of stores, he must be entirely mistaken. lie did
not hesitate to say that no such intention was for a mo-

mina entertained by Lord Auckland. And in support of
this assertion he could refer to Captain Peelle 11, Captain
Berkeley, and Sir William Parker.—( Hear, hear.) The
ft!ght Hon. Gentleman opposite very naturally might

conclude that the number of men on the 31st of December

was a fair criterion. He would only refer him to the
Hon. Baronet on his left, or the Hon. Baronet on his ri,t! ht,

who would tell him that it was not the CBS,., in any instance,

and that in ail probability the lo,,cst number of men on
the ships' books was iu the month of December. Last
year, on the 31st December, they were 1,800 men short;

A March only 300: they were up to the niunber now;

and if in June they were up to 1,800, the average number
would have been kept up. With regard to the stores

foundation of the calculation was the account of the stor,-5

actually in the yards in December. In the beginning of
January it was laid before the Board; and the report of the
Storekeeper-General, in 1835, on which the amount was

be decided for the ensuing year, was dated on the sth

F:bruary. Some of the observations of the Right Ho..
nourable Baronet, as to the distribution of force, re.
qnired a slight notice. He first asked what had been
done for the protection of the trade from the in-
creased force entrusted to the hands of the Government.

They had mode a considerable increase to all the
stations where ships were stationed for the purpose of pro-
tectinea our commerce. If the Right Hon. Baronet re-
ferred to the returns from which he had quoted, he would
fled that, taking the stations where, generally speaking,
it might be said that ships were stationed for protection,
the East Indies, the Cape of Good Hope, South America,
North America, and the West Indies, on the Ist of De-
rember, 1835, sixty, six ships were stationed there, and in
December, - 1838, eighty-nine ships ; or, if he took the
station where, according to him, the greatest disregard
and want of protection existed—the North American and
West Indien station—he wcuid find that, in, 1835, there
were twenty-seven ships; and in 1838 no less than forty.
The Right Hon Baronet referred particularly to the pro-
tection of our trade in Mexico. He said the first alarm
at Mexico was on the Ist of March. On the 26th day
of March a sloop of war entered Vera Cruz; and
there had been one always employed on the coast
of Mexico, except so far as to communicate with the
Commander at Jamaica. , Orders were given early in
the year to the Commander in the West Indict, to
afford protection to the British interests in Mexico—
A considerable disposable force had been at his command
throughout the summer, and if he considered it necessary
to send it there, he had the power to do so. When the
Right Hon. Gentleman said it was necessary to with-
draw the force from North America, he was mistaken

Commodore Douglas appeared there with a squadron of
ten ships of war. Four left frOm England direct—two
were already in the West Indies—three were dis-
posed between Bermuda and the West Indies, and the
Admiral's ship left North America in the beginning of
August for other lessons than those stated. The only
ether subject to which the Right Hon. Gentleman alluded
vies with regard to time, In the tone and temper with which
be dealt with that subject, there was no member of the
Government who did not concur. He agreed that the
whole transaction ought to be brought before the House,
but in the present state of affairs it would not be prudent
to call for their production. The Right Hon. Baronet
the Member for Pembroke had alluded to the state of the
dockyards. From the year 1834 till the increase was
made in 1837. the yards were working with a reduced
number, but during the present spring three ships
of the line would be launched.—( Hear ) He believed
the system recommended by Lord Auckland, of keeping
the ships in an advanced state I.f completion oa the slips,
was a far better system than that of launching them. It
was the system pursued by the French and they lasted for
a much long, r time.—(Hear, hear.) The -Right Hon.
Baronet, the Member for Pembroke, the eother night
doubted the accuracy of his ( Mr. Wood's) assertions as:to
'site building of American vessels. From the report of the
Secretary of the American Navy, it appeared they had
four ships of the line on the stocks, and eleven contracted
to be delivered in 1841. In 1822, they had one ship
ready for leunehing, two on the s'ocks partly finished, and
two frames re ovided. Since 1822, one ship only had been
launched.—(Hear, hear.) The ships ready for launching
seventeen years ago, still remained on the stocks, and the
frames erected seventeen years ago were kill on the stocks.
The Right lion. Baronet the Member for Stamford had
made some allusion to the quantity of stores which were in
the 'dockyards under Lord Melville. The Right Hon.
Baronet would be glad to hear that the stores were in as
good a state as then. - The stores of timber were rather
lower, but the stores of fixtures were considerably increased;
the store of tanks was considerably higher ; of hemp the
stock was higher than in 1830—not quite so high as in
1834; the stock of cables, &c., was higher than in 1834 ;
the stock of 'canvass was not so high, but there were many
contracts' nut. He did not recollect that he had any other
point to brine under the notice of the Committee, or any
observations of the Hon. Gentleman opposite to answer.
With tha, ke to the Committee for their kindness, he would
relieve them for the present.
Lord ASHLEY wished to explain. He would not
detain the Committee more than a few moments. He had
stated that when he left the Board of the Admiralty, the
amount of stores was greater than when he joined it.
Captain PECHELL did net thinkahat the Hon. Gen-
tlemen opposite had discussed the question with a view to
the honour of the service—(Cheers, and cries of " Oh")
—the debete throughout had been conducted upon party
principles.--( Cheers.) The Right Honourable Secretary
for the Admiralty had most successfully, and at one fell
swoop, demolished the preposterous and exaggerated state-
ments which 1.2 been so industriously circulated upon that
point.--(Cheers.) He could not withhold his support
from our present Naval rulers, for he believed theiyewdeirfe.
pursuing a better plats than their predecessors. He I
subject
feted from them in many things—especiallsvhaotn
there were
many grievances under which the
of manning the Navy, and he considered
professionam onstrous humbug
( liver, from Sir E. Codrington. ) It was
frighten
with the idea that was any dancer to our shoes from
t laboured.
cl,eval de baltaile of the Right Hon. Member for Stem-
sae i
Russian
:Its s
ihaandfinceeat.rly
Tsehravte dßiutssspiaunrp purpose tot h
adb een tmheadpeeotphl
the
place, sorry
madenot t oh
his
see
presence in his. place. (Sir (Sir G.
Stam-
ford,
Clerk
whheohm,
f 4,
He
preposterous; no one
(Captain P.h)ienwhwaisassglad to see him present, for he had a
high respect for him, as lie was the Lord of the Admiralty
who sigced his commission. --( Laughter-) Was the
lion. Baronet prepared to place 27 sail of the line in the
Channel ? lie said that we would have swarms of privateers
heaartihtifng would ever
take place, and he did not ehxp
eßci ht Honourrotal the Right
icnoutldh''forCha
Honourable Baronet.
beene doneg by Sir ae Baronet
had boasted of what hadnGeorge Cock-
twhich carried the
twsutaoesh
to Lis-
burn, in equipping the
. momentnnel , bufta
fancy
ye tat
merely en flute as itart"
Lis-
bon, but they were
dwas called.
were not t all rtsan o a a to be compared
They were mere transports
to the fitting out of the Powerful by Capt. Napier
• It was
tand
four years cruise, was going to a sta-
tionfitting out for a
no dockyards, and was fitted in
where there e
perfectwer manner for such a serviceolltH.
a complete and
the Right lion. Baronet the Member for
quite agreed with
to the coast blockade.
proved with respect
of .. . • He ap-
• hment snips in ordinary and
proved of the establishment .
he
much waste inhaving a large quan-
titythought there was
yards ; of course he exceptedtimber.
of stores in the
bought there was a
aed hemp. but be t considerable
quantity of sails
loss in having a largeet_
(Sir James ying idle.
The Right Ho, Baron
for abolielilng Graham)that had de-
served well of the country for incubus on
(Hear)—and for
este lishig
the Navy, the Naval 130
unequalled '
ships in the world,-_
system of constructinget to the manning of the Nav he
( Hear.) With respect :I,__ts_rie .
i a the opinions of Cay't •
(Captain Peehell) le
Im't most important that the Gov') al"
Berkeley, and thought 1 , ern -
steer) at present • •
merit should alter the S3' . existing, and
establish one more efficient. The pension system ought
that regulation done away •
also to be changed, and
who had acquired with
which prevented seamene from resenterinees tahepension
by twenty years'
servieforfeiting his pension. H Navy,
unless upon condition of
widows —( ear.)
The sum allowed for pensions, to and orphans,
d nate: to th
14,0001. a year, Was
q""e ;nad 'lcile misted thethat numerous cases
which required relief;
5 0001. or 6 the amount
would be increased by at least , •000/.—( Hear. )
Now one word as to the Express packet.toiab f He thought it
was the duty of the
.Government
Y e ore the House,
as soon as possible, every
; information
Croke they could obtain
as to the conduct of Lieutenant --an officer to whose
Peehell) could •
courage and honour be (Captain testify—
as to whether he had made any remonstrance or protest
rior force—a credit deeply involv
upon yielding to a supe
dthe - -
iwl the honour of the service an
—( Hear, le . )
Captain (SO RDON observed, that he would not follow