The Sun.
London, England, 1839-03-06 00:00:00

EVENING

pow -er to refer to these regulations, so as tobe able to giv e
infort, -.awn to those who might apply to them on the sub. -
ject. He • should beglad to have these Orders in Councilput
before the House, in order that it might be known what
'w draw the attention of .the House to
illations at present existing on the subject,
were the refs
He tv.ould no
another class of
e nstance,he would
relate the case of .) As an i
officers who were suffer-jog under
great bardships.—.(Har
Lieutenant Keys. He believedthat that officer had r
Ae.ently (since attention had been
-ed the out-pension of Green-
drawn to the case) remit
wich Hospital, which amounted to 501. per annum ;
j:u
but • this officer had been' ,- 39 years in the set--
vice—he had been twice wOu.njed overboard andnded, and he had
received no- pens en. He had
saved a man from drowning by so osqing. H e was suf-
fering from ill health at the time, aiAd this produced
such an effect upon him than he was r7irced to retire
from active service. At that time he received no re-
muneration from the Government; and he would ask
the House was it right or just that such ama I should
be to treated. Ile would next draw the at tention
of the House to the case of Masters of the :Navy.
These officers, who were in general promoted from
the class of acting Masters, had five shillings a -day I,
half-pay. If they were ordered to
.go to sea, the;v I
had to fit themselves out for the service at an ex- ,

pense nearer 2001. than 1501., and what could the
House think they had in addition to their half-pay to
meet this ? Why sd. per day, He would ask if this was
not a disgrace to the country. He knew the value of
these 111:1-the duties they had to perform were of the
. most important description. It Irad been supposed that
in consequence of this these officers ondeavoured to avoid
going into active service, but if they refused when called
upon• by the Admiralty they were scratched off the list.
This was a sad alternative, and he did ts list the House
would enable the Admiralty to bestow .something on
this deserving class 'of officers. This class of
officers served for a long time as acting Masa`ers, and
they were apt to remain in that situation the r their
merit entitled them topromotion,hecausetheyfeareel to be
employed. Ha was obliged to state these facts, bee Muse
he knew that several Hon. Gentlemen were sin-
acquainted with them, notwithstanding he bad stated
them before. He now came to the class of Surgeons
and Assistant Surgeons, and he wished them
to be compared with the Surgeons and Assis-
tant Surgeons of the Army, because although
he knew the army was very ill treated, yet it
was not quite so ill treated as the Navy. The Assistant-
Surgeons in the army were entitled to snore half-pay than
the Assistant-Surgeons in the Navy. The Surgeon in the
army was entitled to retirement after 25 years' service, but.
the Surgeon in the Navy must serve 29 years and
eleven months. If any Hon. Gentleman would examine
the lists of promotions since 1815, he would find that
more than 100 medical officers of the army had since
that period been promoted to the higher rank, giving
an increase of half-pay, whilst only one naval Sur-
geon had been so promoted. All the time of the
Assistant - Surgeons in the Army was taken
into account in the calculations for pensions, while the
Assistant-Surgeons in the Navy were entitled to reckon
three years only. When it had been proposed to im-
pose 'some additional duty on certain officers of the
Army, the Right Hon. Gentleman said it would net be,
fair to impose this duty, without at the same time
adding to their pay. When the Asylum was united to
Greenwich Hospital, the medical care of upwards of
1,000 children devolved upon the officers of that Hos-
pital, and they received no increase of pay whatever.
He would now call the attention of the House to .
another class of officers—the Pursers, who were singu-
larly ill-treated. In former times the Pursers, who were
appointed to large ships, made, it seems, a great deal of
money. They settled amongst themselves that those
who were employed should give a portion of their earn-
ings to their poorer brethren. A proposition was made
to the Admiralty on this subject, and their allowances
were reduced from ten to eight per cent., on condition
that an addition should be made to the half-pay of
their poorer brethren. Three or four years
ago 7,0001. had been voted for this object.
but he contended that by this time the Government
had made more money by this arrangement than they I
had expended by the granting of this additional Is. per
day, and he knew not why this was not divided amongst
them. He hoped that some information would be given
on this subject when they came to discuss the Esti-
mates, because the money was really taken out of the
pay of the Pursers, to be devoted to the assistance of
their poorer brethren. If any doubt existed on that
subject, he would refer to these words of the order,
which stated that an account thereof should be
kept by the Comptroller of the Navy, which sums
shall be: hereafter applied in raising the half-pay i
of the Pursers of his Majesty's Navy.—(Hear, hear...)
He was sure the object of the House was to do justice
to the Navy, and he hoped that the case of these men
would not be overlooked. Thera was another class of
persons, who were generally Secretaries toAdmirals; and
these_men who held that important confidential situation
were treated in a most extraordinary way. It was
stated that they were non-combatants, although his own
Secretary was seriously wounded in action, and the
House was aware that Lord Nelson's Secretary had ,
been killed ureter similar circumstances. It happened
that Sir Thomas Usher was called upon to engage
a very superior flotilla in the Gut. of Gibraltar,
to save his convoy. That Gallant Officer did not con-
sider the inferiority of his force, he looked to nothing
but the safety of his convoy. In consequence of that
inferiority he ordered that every man in each ship ex-
cept
the surgeon should go to the guns. Amon," theca
was of course the Purser, who received several severe
wounds and lost an eye. He got employment as a sort of
compensation, but in consequence of the loss of his eye,
it happened that he was run over by a carriage which di::
abled him from employment, and obliged him to relin-
quish his situation. Ho (Sir E. Codrington) knew that
that rein was at the present moment in absolute distreas,
and literally starving ; and he asked the House if it
was fitting that such a man should be thrown upon the
world without any pension, after having been disabled
in the service of his country ? His object was to extentr
the power of the Commission, so that cases like the 1:
present might be investigated by them for the good
of the service. The Honourable and Gallant Officer