The Sun.
London, England, 1863-03-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 21, 1863.

is a country where, though it has harbours in abundance,
circumstances beyond the control and discretion of the
Government of the day have so ordered it that there are
not in it any of those great naval establishments which, in
a considerable degree, contribute to the welfare and pros-
perity of the districts in which they are placed. (Hear,
hear.) Cannot my hon. friend—if he would only enlarge
his mind and liberate it from the narrow scope of considera-
tion by which he seems to be guided—can he not believe
that the Gov( rnment,whose duty it is to watch equally over
the welfare of every part of the dominions of her Majesty,
may have been influenced (if there were presented to their
consideration an arrangement which was calculated in the
opinion of the Irish nation to contribute to their prosperity
and welfare, and which would, even with a view to the
whole United Kingdom, be useful and desirable) by
considerations of the same sort, and not by such a flimsy
hope as that of simply gaining support in this house. (Hear,
hear.) But they may indeed have thought that the best
chance of a Government obtaining support, not only in this
house but in the country, was to do the best they could to
promote the interests of the whole empire, including Ire-
land. (Hear, hear.) That was one of the main grounds on
which the Government thought it right to adopt the course
they have. My hon. friend has argued this question as if
no interests were concerned but those of Scotland and Liver-
pool. He has totally forgotten that Ireland is a part of the
United Kingdom and has an interest in speedy communi-
cation and in getting its letters and goods transmitted across
the Atlantic, independent of considerations which attach
simply to the different ports of communication. (Hear,hear.)
For Irishmen to be compelled to come to England, if they
want to go to America, or to wait for their letters from
America until they are forwarded to them from England,
or to send their goods from Ireland to England for the pur-
pose of being transmitted across the Atlantic,is a great evil,
and any arrangement which gives them a more direct and
ready communication from the western part of Ireland
across the Atlantic must obviously be an advantage to Ire-
land, must tend to assist the development of the natural
resources of the country, and to increase the commercial
and, to a certain degree, the manufacturing prosperity of
the country (Hear, hear.) These were the views the
Government took on the general question with respect to
this contract, which, if well carried out according to the en-
gagements offered by the contractors,would ontribute to the
benefit of the Irish people. (Hear.) But there is another
consideration which could not fail to prey on the mind of
any Government who had to deal with the question, and
that is the consideration that the faith of one Government
had been pledged, and the faith of Parliament had been
pledged to a certain degree. A great number of Irish people
—l,BOO my hon. friend stated—had embarked their limi-
ted means, their all, in this enterprise. All this,
though no engagement may now exist, constituted some
claim on the present Government, who would not have acted
right in repudiating it, unless in the case of a great failure
on the part of the company to complete the conditions of
their contract. At first they did fail—(hear)—and no doubt
their contract was at an end, but the committee appointed
by this house recommended the company to the favourable
consideration of the Government, and we certainly did think
that if they should be able, by enlarged arrangements and
by getting more capital at their command, to fulfil the en•
gagements they offered to enter into, it would be fair to the
parties—to those of them whose only chance if was of mak-
ing good the money they had invested—to renew the con-
tract, from which they expected to derive some interest for
their money. that is the way in which the question at
present stands for their consideration. My hon. friend calls
on the house to do that which I think would be art act of
great cruelty and injustice—(hear)—to interpose and say
that the contract should not be renewed but should be ex-
tinguished. In that case, whatever chance these unhappy
1,800 people had of retrieving their losses, and deriving some
interest from their money, would be disappointed and their
ruin completed. With respect to those who have invested
their money in the enterprise, my hon. friend thinks he will
persuade this house to perform what I think an act of
cruelty and injustice. Ido not believe that this house will

grounded his remarks upon the report of two engineer offi-
cers, appointed by Lord Herbert to inquire into the neces-
t.ity of erecting defences for the protection of the harbour.
Assurances had been given more than once to the May or of
Yarmouth that batteries would be erected if -land was ob-
tained for the purpose ; but although the land had been
purchased, and was in the possession of the Government,
the batteries had not been erected.
After a few words from Sir H. WILLOUGHB Y, com-
plaining of the course adopted by the Government of taking
a supply on a Friday night, the motion was agreed to, and
tie house went into committee of supply on
THE ARMY ESTIMATES.
On the vote of £321,884 for the volunteer service,
Sir G. LEWIS said there was a distinct understanding
when the change was made that the Government shouldbe
at liberty to go into Committee of Supply on Friday night
if time permitted, and he certainly never had heard that it
was too late at 10 o'clock to pi oceed with Government busi-
ness. Frequently on Mondays and Thursday s there were
motions which prevented the house going into Committee
of Supply befo: e that hour. With regard to this vote, there
was an increase in it of £199,000, which was based on the
recommendation of the Royal Commission. After careful
investigation, they reported that the Volunteer force had
arrived at a point when a large part of it might fall to
pieces if it did not receive some Government support.
(Hear, hear.) He did not quite understand the meaning
of that cheer, but any one who referred to the history of
former Volunteer movements—that of 1801, for instance—
would see that the country came to the assistance of the
Volunteers at a winch earlier period, and to a much greater
extent. (Hear, hear) The Commissioner proposed that each
Volunteer regiment should receive a grant to be applied to
certain definite purposes, calculated on the principle of a
capitation grant. The sum was not to be paid to each indi-
vidual, but in the aggregate to the adjutant, who was to dis-
burse it and account to the War-office. It was proposed
that the amount should be 20s. for each man in all regi-
ments except the Artillery, who had passed a certain scale
of drill, and 10,,. for each man in addition who had passed
a certain course of military instruction. The Artillery
were to have 30s, each. The Government was, he thought,
upon the whole justified in making the proposal; and the
charge for the Volunteer force was, he believed, the only
head under which a real increase in the Army Estimates
for the present year would be found.
Lord LOVAINE moved that the vote be reduced by
£154,676, the amount of the capitation grant, contending
that the expenditure upon the Volunteers, which had
mounted up from £Bo,ooo—the sum granted in the first year
of their existence —to £321,000 in the present year, had
begun to assume extravagant proportions. It was, in his
opinion, quite Lime that the House of Commons should
refuse its assent to so large an expenditure in the case of
a body of men who performed no regular duties for the
money; who, as had been stated on the best authority, could
not be called out in the event of any social disturbance to
aid in the maintenance of order with arms in their hands ;
and whose arms were, as he had seen by statements in the
public press, sometimes actually a source of danger. In
moving the reduction of the vote, he must not be under-
stood as seeking to impugn in any way the spirit of the
volunteers, or to maintain that as a demonstration of the
warlike feeling of the country they had not produced a
good effect on foreign nations. He at the same time, now
that all apprehension ( f invasion had passed away, and that
no danger appeared to threaten the country, must ask hon.
gentlemen, especially those who sat below the gangway
on the Ministerial side of the house, to join with him in
pressing upon the attention of the Government the expe-
diency of calling on those corps as far as possible to main.
tain themselves.
Mr. W. WILLIAMS was astonished to hear the noble
lord complain of an expenditure of £321,000 upon 160,000
men, while there were £14,000,000 asked for in connexion
with the maintenance of the regular army, which numbered
only 148,000 men. For his own part, he thought the vote
for the volunteers constituted the most economical portion
of the expenditure embraced in the Estimates. (Hear,

do anything of the sort. (Hear.) I believe that this house
has a greater regard for political morality—(laughter)—
than my hon. friend seems to give it credit for. I think it
would be an act of political immorality and an arbitrary
act if, in consequence of an abstract proposal, which my
hon. friend is afraid to bring to the decision of the house,
and which he does not make the foundation of his second
resolution, the house were to call on the Government to
crush all the hopes which these unhappy contributors to
the enterprise may yet retain of realising the profits of their
investments, and were immediately to pass a resolution
putting an entire end to this Galway contract. (Hear,
hear.) I say that if the company, whether consisting of
preference shareholders or ordinary shareholders, can make
good their engagements, I think that the good faith and
pledges given by Government in this house will lead the
house to negative the motion. (Cheers.)
Gen. UPTO N, who spoke amidst loud calls for a division,
said that the establishment of the Galway and American line

hear.)
Colonel BARTTELOT said that the Royal Commission
of which he was a member, came to the conclusion that in
order to maintain the numbers and efficiency of the volun-
teers it was necessary that they should receive some assist-
ance from the State. The estimate proposed was a very
moderate one, and the expenditure of this sum would se-
cure to the country, in case of need, the services of 120,000
men, not five per cent. of whom would enlist in the army,
navy, or militia. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. H. LE WIS considered this one of the most economi-
cal votes which had been proposed to the committee—(hear,
hear)—but suggested that in another year it might be de •
sirable to diminish the number of adjutants, and apply the
sum saved from their pay to other objects.
Sir G. BOWYER said that the speech of the noble lord
would be received with dissent by all classes. (Hear, hear.)
A body of men who made such sacrifices for the country as
the Volunteers had done deserved to be assisted by the

of packets was much wanted, It would effect a great saving
of time in the Transatlantic voyages.
The house then divided. The numbers were—
For Mr. Baxter's motion
Against it
Majority against the motion —63
The announcement of the numbers was received with loud
cheers,
THE MURDER OF MR. BRADDE LL.
Mr. WHITESIDE rose to call attention to the circum •
stances connected with the assassination of Mr. Braddell
in July last, in the town of Tipperary, and to ask for an
explanation of the conduct of the police, and of the course
taken by the Government in reference to that transaction,
He said that Mr. Braddell was in the back room of an hotel
in the town of Tipperary, when his bailiff, Hayes, an old
man, whom he had discharged and removed from his tarm
in consequence of his son having been tried for murder and
acquitted, entered the room, and in the presence of another
bailiff named Moare, tendered his rent to Mr. Braddell, who
refused it, whereupon Hayes said, " Then take this," and
fired three shots, which took effect upon Mr. Braddell, who
died shortly afterwards without giving any account of what
occurred. Twenty minutes were suffered to elapse before
any alarm was given. Hayes was suffered to leave the
house unmolested. There were above a thousand police in
that district of Ireland, a large number of whom were in
the town, yet this murderer was suffered to walk off. Some
explanation was desirable from the Government as to the
conduct of the police in the matter.

State. (Hear, hear.)
Colonel DUNNE fully admitted the patriotism of the
Volunteers, which appeared to be valued at 20s. per head. (A
laugh.) He believed Volunteers would be quite as ready to
tight the enemies of their country as soldiers could be, but
the virtues of the force were civil—not military. The great
value of the movement was that it taught the people how to
assemble in masses in case of invasion. (Hear, hear.) In
the meantime men were not made soldiers by clothing them
in suits of blotting-paper, arming them with old muskets,
or teaching them to take up four times as much ground as
soldiers would do. (Laughter.) When the report of this
debate reached Ireland some surprise would be felt at the
facility with which money had been voted for the purposes
of the Volunteer force atter the fuss made about so small a
sum as the Galway .1-übsidy. (Hear.)
Colonel NORTH asked whether it was not worth £1 a-
head to instil military ideas into men who, in case of inva-
sion, would admittedly be relied upon as soldiers. (Hear,
hear.) The bounty would not be received by the Volunteers
themselves, but was mainly intended to overcome the diffi-
culty of bringing members of administrative battalions
together in rural districts—a difficulty which was exceed-
ingly great when they had to travel 30 or 40 miles to attend
drill. Without discussing the amount of room required by
a Volunteer battalion to move in, he maintained that the
aptitude exhibited in learning their drill and the precision
with which their movements were executed were astonish-
ing—(hear, hear)—and it was impossible for any old
soldier to refuse them his admiration. As to making

Mr. BAGWELL expressed it as his belief that Hayes
had sailed for America from Cork immediately after the
murder, and condemned in the strongest manner the pre-
sent organisation of the Irish constabulary.
THE CASE OF MICHAEL O'CONNOR.

them perfectly disciplined soldiers, that could only be
done by the continuous discipline of the barrack yard ;
and if the amount of time requisite for that purpose
were demanded at their hands it would be necessary to
pay, not £300,000, but £3,000,000. To the Volunteers their

Mr. O'HARA called attention to the circumstances con-
nected with the prosecution of Michael O'Connor at the
last spring assizes for the county of Sligo for the abduction
of Elizabeth Davey, and also to the fact that no bill of in-
dictment was preferred against him for violently breaking
into the house, and that he was discharged with the nominal
punishment of entering into his own recognisance in the
sum of £lOO. The hon. member complained that so light
a punishment was calculated to bring the law into con-
tempt, and to lead to dangerous results.
Sir R. PEEL said it appeared to him that this was a
case of rough courtship. (Laughter.) The parties were
engaged to be married, though resisted by their friends.
They were now married, and he hoped they were living
happily together. (Hear, hear.) He did not see that in what
had been done there had been any great infringement of the
law. With regard to the murder of Mr. Braddell, every at-
tempt had been made to apprehend the murderer, but up to
the present time without success. Everything had been
done to mislead the authorities relative to his whereabouts.
The T, ish Government had done and were doing everything
in their power for the purpose of bringing the murderer
Hayes to justice, although up to the present time their efforts
had proved unavailing. It was his own impression that

time was money, and he believed they cheerfully sacrificed
as much of it as was consistent with other engagements, for
frequently the men were not their own masters. They were
an honourable force, and one that it was a pleasure to com-
mand. (Hear, hear.)
Sir J. SHELLEY said there had been no falling off in the
payments from enrolled members, but the public had ceased
to give subscriptions as freely as they used. The question
was whether it was worth while to pay the sum proposed in
order to retain 150,000 men'as part of the permanent defences
of the country. (Hear, hear.)
Mr. DILLWYN said the volunteer force found favour
with members below the gangway because it was the cheapest
and most efficient organisation for defensive purposes which
had yet been proposed.
Mr. BUXTON was happy to say that in the battalion he
commanded, consisting entirely of working men, there was
as much zeal as ever. Since it had become known that the
Government grant would enable the corps to reduce its ex-
penses 170 recruits had joined its ranks. He felt grateful to
the Ouvernment for having proposed a measure without
which it would have been impossible for the force to keep
together.
Mr. JACKSON explained that in the case of the riot at

Hayes was still concealed in some place in Ireland , the
constabulary were constantly on the look out for him, and
he had that morning received a letter from Gen. Lamm, in
which he expressed a hope that the police would yet find
him. But Hayes was not the only murderer who bad sue-

Birkenhead, to which allusion had been made, the volun-
teers were told that it was not their place to come forward
as volunteers to put down the disturbance, but as citizens',
and lest any of their arms might fall into the hands of the
rioters the nipples of the guns were removed.

ceeded in escaping the hands of justice. The parties impli-
cated in the murder of Lord Norbury, and more recently, in
the Kent and Waterloo-road murders, had baffled all efforts
to bring them to justice ; and this being so, and taking into
account all the circumstances of the case, he thought he was
justified in saying that the complaints against the Irish

Mr. ADI)INGTON thought the efficiency of the volun-
teer force was greatly exaggerated. There were not more
than 50,000 thoroughly efficient volunteers in the kingdom.
The volunteer force in the country districts fell far short of
the efficiency which might be seen ia the volunteers of the
towns. It was incumbent on the Government to see that

constabulary were not well founded. The right hon. baronet,
in reply to a question put to him by an hon member in the
early part of the evening, said it was not the intention of

the money voted by Parliament was spent iu making them
really efficient.
Sir G. C. LE WIS said he thought the vbjections which

Government, considering the difficulties of the question, to
introduce an Irish marriage bill in the present session, but
he hoped to be able to frame a measure on the subject next
session.

had been male to the volunteer force and its aficieney had
been satisfactorily answered. (Hear.) It' it were assumed
that the regular force available for the service of the coun-
try did not amount to much more than 40,000 bayonets, it

THE CLOTHING FACTORY AT PIMLICO.

was impossible to conceive a more efficient auxiliary body

Colonel DICKSON, after pointing out how very serious at less expense than the volunteer force. (Hear, hear.)
a matter it was to find the Government obstinately bent With regard to the number of volunteers, he had it on
on upholding the Irish constabulary force in its present authentic information that there were on the muster-roll
form ; and, after denying that the constabulary had any- 157,000 men, of whom 138,000 might be considered effective.
thing to do with the discovery of the perpetrators of the Lord LOVAINE explained that what he said was that
murder of Mr. Fitzgerald, proceeded to call the atten- the arms of the volunteers were a source of danger. The
tion of the Secretary of State for war to the fact, that volunteers could not act as military men in case of riot, but
the clothing made up at the factory at Pimlico had not if there were soldiers present they could. He would not
been subjected to the same inspection as that supplied trouble the committ eto divide, but would merely enter his
by contract; and to other matters connected with that este- protest against what he considered au unnecessary piece of
blishment. The factory at Pimlico cost the country £70,000 extravagance, end would leave it to those gentlemen who
a year; while the amount of work which it turned out was were always anxious for economy with regard to the regu-
only valued at £AO,Ot,O. Nevertheless it exercised a most lar army to justify themselves in voting so large a sum for
injurious effect upon the private clothing establishments, 170,000 men who were not soldiers in time of peace, and
without which it would be impossible for the Government could be converted into soldiers only in time of war.
to get on in case of a war. And he was the more justified in The amendment was then withdrawn, and the vote
awakening attention to its influence by the statement now agreed to.
current that the clothing for the Canada militia was going On the vote of £55,817 for enrolled pensioners and army
to be made up there, and that the Government were like- reserve force,
wise about to manufacture for the volunteers. t Colonel DUNNE asked what was the nature of the latter
Sir G. C. LEWIS could not understand how the gallant body,
officer made out the factory at Pimlico to cost £70,000; ho i Sir G. LEWIS said the reserve force received a sort of
estimated its cost at no more than £8,400. [Col. DICKSON retaining fee, and attended a certain number of drills in the
—I take your own figures.] Well, at all events, the vote year.
had been agreed to, and there was an end of the matter. Col. NORTH said it was a very useful force.
(A laugh.) However, he had no objection to the clothing In reply to Lord W. GRAHAM,
made up in the factory being inspected in the same manner Sir G. LEWIS said there was a stoppage from the sof-
as that manufactured by contractors. dier's pay for washing sheets, He was rather opposed to
YARMOUTH ROADSTEADS.
those small stoppages, but the present one involved a con-
Sir H. STRACEY called attention to the defenceless siderable sum in the aggregate, and did not press heavily on
state of Yarmouth roadsteads, and to the necessity of their the individuals who paid it.
being fully protected from attack by sea. The hon. baronet The vote was agreed to.

On the vote of £956,365 for the manufacturing depart-

meats,

Sir G. LEWIS observed that there was a large de-
crease under this head as compared with last year. A
short time since the contract with the Elswicje Factory
was terminated, in consequence of the inability of the
Government to supply the company with a sufficient amount
of orders to render the works profitable. The diminution
of orders was due to the fact that while the present ordnance
experiments were going on the Government did not like to
proceed with the manufacture of cannon at a rapid rate. By
the terms of their contract with the Elswick Company they
were bound to make compensation if the works were not
profitable, and under these circumstances they deemed it
better to pay the forfeit and put an end to the contract.
Sir W. Armstrong had there upon resigned his post as
head of the Ordnance Department, because he wished to be
perfectly free from all connexion with the Government and
to devote himself entirely to the Elswick factory. This
change would necessitate a revision of the existing ar-
rangements in the department, and an opportunity would
be afforded of correcting certain abuses of the old system.
It was a most important question whether the Government
I should maintain manufactories of its own or employ con-
tractors. !n discussing that question some confusion arose
from the application of abstract principles of political
economy to circumstances where they required some modi-
fication. In general the Government could not employ con-
tractors with advantage unless the article to be produced
was one for which there was a natural demand, and which
was required not merely by the Government but by the
general public. Clothing, for instance, came under that
category. In the case of iron ordnance, however, there
was no general d, mend. No one wanted that commodity,
except our own or perhaps a foreign Government. The con-
sequence was that, if a contractor undertook to supply the
Government with guns, it was necessary to enter into a
special contract, either to take a certain quantity of guns
in the course of the year, or to advance a sum for plant and
fixed expenses, or else in some other manner to maintain
the contractor in his special manufacture. Thus, a contrac-
tor producing an article for which there was no general de-
mand became almost a Government manufacturer, and
would scarcely be considered in the light of a free and inde-
pendent contractor. On the other hand, artiela like cloth-
ing, in proportion as they admitted of verification by in-
spection, might be supplied by private manufacture. There
was an exception in the case of shoes, since soles might be
filled up with an inferior article and might not be quite
solid. The practice, therefore, was to cut up one or two pairs
here and there to see if the soles were perfectly made. As a
general rule, however, articles for which there was a natu-
ral demand and which admitted of being verified by in-
spection ought almost invariably to be supplied by con-
tractors. Where, on the contrary, the article was one for
which there was no natural demand, and one of which the
Government were the exclusive purchasers, and where
also the inspection could not be verified, a Government
fac ory was more economical and advantageous than
a supply by contractors. If this principle were sound,
the house would see that the factory at Woolwich had not
undergone any unju-tifiable enlargement, and that the Go-
vernment would be better supplied by its own factory in this
instance than by employing con. rectors. (Hear.)
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY said that the question raised by
the Secretary at War was rather too important to be raised
and discussed at half-past 11 at night. (Hear, hear.) He
had given notice of a motion for reducing the grant to these
establishments, and should propose a small reduction in the
present vote to enable the committee to consider the effect
of the Government manufactures upon the public expendi-
ture He agreed in the principle that there were certain ar-
ticles which it was desirable to produce by Government fac-
tories. But it was well Parliament should know how this
source of Government expenditure was increasing. Previous
to the amalgamation of the War-office with the Ordnance
this expenditure was very small. It had, however, gone on
gradually increasing from about £15,000 in 1855, until it
was now about £30,000. The present vote was considerably
reduced since last year, but there had been no reduction in
the establishments. It appeared that Sir W. Armstrong had
wisely retired from a position inconsistent with his other
pursuits, and his retirement left perfectly open the question
of the reduction of the establishment with which that gen •
tleman had been connected. Did the right hon. gentleman
propose to appoint another person in his place, and, if so, on
what terms ? Were the committee aware of the immense
expenditure employed for wages and stores in the manufac-
tories supplying the army and navy? During the last
two years the items of wages and stores for the army
and navy amounted to not less than £15,120,000. In the
present year there was a considerable reduction in the stores,
but no reduction in the establishments, and that was the
point to which he wished to direct the attention of the Com-
mittee. If they meant to reduce the stores, they should
act on the same principle, and reduce the establishments as
well. The witnesses who gave their evidence before the
Committee on Military Organisation, and who were likely
to form a sound opinion, thought we had carried this
system of manufacturing too far. Sir B. Hawes was
in favour of relying more on private enterprise, and less on
public establishments, and did not believe that the contract
system had had a fair trial. The house had not the accounts
of the store branches and the manufacturing branches be-
fore it. Without that information, and particularly without
balance-sheets, it was impossible for them to know what
they were about when voting these large sums, (Hear,
hear.) Messrs. Anderson and Arbuthnot, well-known gen •
tlemen, whose evidence was conclusive on matters of
finance, stated that the system was entirely unsatisfactory
in the store branch. The late Lord Herbert admitted that
proper financial control was wanting; and there could be no
doubt that the accounts were faulty and unsound both in
the store and the manufacturing departments. Unless they
took stock and knew the prices of the articles so as to be
able to tell whether they cost more than those produced by
private manufacturers, the basis of any correct system of
accounts must be entirely wanting, and they must be left,
as Mr. Anderson said, on these points " very much in the
dark." He did not wish to make any violent change, but
was for a moderate limitation of these establishments. His
complaint against the system was that it did not give them
the cost. He should like to know the expense of the artillery
and gun factory for the last two years. The accounts were
rac ically faulty, and the same remark applied to some extent
to the gun-carriage, department. But the foundation of the
whole, the valuatien of the store, was a perfect blank at the
time when Capt. Gordon gave his evidence. What he now
proposed was that a small reduction should be made upon
the suer of £35,871 for the nine establishments embraced
within this vote. He would therefore move that that
amount be diminished by £2,000; and if he received sup-
port he would divide the committee. At all events, before
they were called upon to agree to this large vote the right
hon. gentleman ought to afford them some explanations of
the system carried on in these establishments.
Colonel DUNNE said there were many kinds of stores
which ought to be taken from private contractors, but there
were certain special articles which Government alone could
produce. Among the latter might be mentioned gun-car-
riages, but he saw no reason why clothing should be made
exclusively in Government factories. Our public establish-
ments were becoming too big, and he thought they might
be reduce , with advantage.
Sir J. FE RGUSSON concluded that there had been an
enormous excess in the estimates last year, or there could
not be such a reduction this year. He warned the committee
against the expense of what the right hon. baronet called a
new subject of inspection.

Sir U.C. LEWIS did not contemplate any great increase
for the purposes of inspection. There would be a saving on
the salary of Sir W. Armstrong. He begged to move that
the chairman report progress. (Hear, hear.)
The house resumed.

Sir G. C. LEWIS obtained leave to bring in a bill to
abolish the office of Secretary at War.
The bill was brought in and read a first time.
The other orders were then disposed of, and the house
adjourned at half-past twelve.