The Sun.
London, England, 1854-12-22 00:00:00

in this matter. The compressed hay would have kept
sweet for many days had it been fished out even within
the week after it floated out of the wrecks, and the
slight hr-pr.!,,,nation of the outer portion by salt water
would not have rendered it at all distasteful to the
horses. But no ; we are all `Jolly miller wights' out
here, and care for nobody or nothing, and so the fodder
floated and bobbed about, stranded on the fringe of
unutterable abominations and corruptions by the
beach, floated off again, and rotted and stank, and
stinks and rots, while the animals are half starving. In
the same way the immense amount of timber which
washed about the harbour and on the coast outside,
and which would have answered for hutting all the
army, and for fuel, was permitted to drift out again the
other day when the freshet set in to the head of the
harbour after the rains and when the wind blew off the
shore, and very little of it was saved, though woe betide
the luckless wretch who may be found by the provost
marshal walking off with a piece of wood for his but
without an order." He (Lord Hardwicke) called the
attention of their lordships to this case, in full confi-
dence that the Government would take immediately
every means in their power to put the harbour of Ba-
laklava in a proper condition. (Hear.) 'He did not
fear for ships in the roadsted of Balaklava, if properly
handled. He had stated last year, and he was still of
that opinion, that a fleet might winter safely in the
Black Sea. He would not say a word against any
officer in the navy, but he would say that any officer
who would allow his ship to get on a lee shore there,
either in a gala or with an enemy, was not fit to com-
mand her. Such was the form of the land that, with an
offing of 20 miles, a ship could be in safety from any
gale. The only gale that was dangerous in the Black
Sea was the south-west, but if there was a good offing
obtained, and warning taken in time, any ship might
ride out the gale in safety; as to a steam-ship there
was ne question at all.- He made these statements 1
with no unfriendly feeling. (Hear, hear.) He felt
that the port of Balaklava c•i%ifi the basis of our opera-
tions, and on the state of the port depended, if not the
success, the sustenance and comfort of the army in the
Crimea. His question was, who was the responsible
officer of the port of Balaklava. But he had no desire to
be answered directly.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE said he was extremely
glad that the question had been mooted in Parlia-
ment, and especially by the noble lord who was a
member of the naval profession, as it was a question
of paramount and vital intereet. He oould not but
admit, although all that had been said and written
on the subject was not absolutely correct, that there
had evidently been cases of neglect and want of fore-
thought and attention to the wants of the army ; which
might in future be prevented by that pressure of Parlia-
ment coming in aid of the remonstrance made by him-
self and other members of the Government. Before pro-
ceeding to put the question put by the noble earl he
should express his regret that 'he had brought up the
question of the disqualification of the captain of the
Prince. He assured his noble friend that it was by no
means an established fact, and considering that that in-
dividual, whether qualified or disqualified, had perished
with his ship, he regretted that anything should have
been said till what was undergoing investigation should
have been decided. It was extremely painful to the
feelings of that gentleman's family, and it was but fair
to wait the results of the inquiry which had been insti-
tuted some days ago. (Hear, hear.) His noble friend
should recollect, when he complained of the loss of this
ship, that it was lost in a storm of no ordinary character.
Generally speaking, in those latitudes there was a suffi-
cient offing to get out of the way, and not be caught
on a lee shore ; but, it was not an ordinary storm, but an
extraordinary hurricane. His noble friend said he did
not charge the Government with any neglect in re-
spect to the details of the port, but he held them respon-
sible for the appointment of sufficient and competent
officers. Ho ,agreed in that proposition of the noble
lord, and if noble lords and right hon. gentlemen, and
all those in and out of Parliament, dealt in the same
spirit with the Government, they would have no right to
complain. That was a fair responsibility ; but to say
that if officers in the Crimea were in want of a change of
linen it was the fault of the Secretary-at-War was an
absurd assertion. He admitted it was the bounden duty
of the Government to appoint fitting instruments, and
he thought he could satisfy his Noble friend that they had
not been deficient in the present case. He asked who
was the responsible naval officer in charge of the port of
Balaklava ? From the 10th of March to the 17th Octo-
ber Sir Edmund Lyons was the responsible officer, and
he thought his noble friend would admit that a more
responsible officer than Sir Edmund Lyons could not be
found. (Hear.) Sir Edmund Lyons held the situation
till the 17th October, when he left for the purpose of
attacking Fort Constantine, which operation he con-
ducted with suoh gallantry. (Hear.) Since then he has
been otherwise engaged in the public service. A captain
in her Majesty's service was the person who succeeded
him, Captain Dacres, of the Sanspareil. Captain Dacres
was the responsible officer till he was invalided on or

about the 14th November—he did not know the exact

day. He was not certain who succeeded Capt. nacres,
but he had reason to believe that Captain Drummond
of the Retribution was the gentleman. Commander
Powell, of the Vesuvius, was the beach-master. Admiral
Boxer, who was in command of the transport service in
the Bosphorus. had been ordered up, and Admiral Stop-
ford was to succeed him. These were the responsible
parties at the respective periods named, and he thought
that his noble friend would admit that they were offi-
cers fully competent for the discharge of the duties
confided th.m_

.
irregularities, errors, and acts of culpable negligence
should have occurred to produce the lamentable con•
sequences to which his noble friend had felt it his
duty to call their lordships' attention. The statement
read by his noble friend hal appeared in print ou Monday
or Tuesday. He should undoubtedly feelit his duty again,
by the mail that would leave this country on Monday, to
call on Lord Raglan to make immediate inquiry into
the acts of gross neglect which must have taken place,
and to report immediately who were the culpable par-
ties. He should give the same directions for a strict in-
quiry as he had already felt it his duty to give in the
case of the loss of the Prince. Instructions should be
immediately sent out to Admiral Lyens to institute in-
quiries, with the view of ascertaining the parties with
whom the culpability rested, and of preventing, if pos-
sible, such disastrous accident from °enuring in future.

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGH did not rise to offer
any observations on the points particularly touched
upon by his noble friend, but he wished to call their
lordships' attention to what had been stated in reference
to the steam-ship the Prince. It bad been represented
that the whole of the warm clothing and medical stores
were conveyed in that vessel, but that the medical
stores were placed iu the bottom of the held with all the
other stores above them, so that the medical stores being
wanted at Scutari they could not be got at for landing
without first removing the heavy articles, and this being
found impossible it was necessary to take them on to
Balaklava. Now that of itself showed great misman-
agement on the part of the persons charged with the
stowing of that vessel, and he thought it would be well
that there should be some persons appointed who should
be particularly responsible for the stowage of all ves-
sels in the public service. But what he particularly
wanted to suggest to the noble duke was, that every
cargo sent out to the Crimea should be an assorted
cargo, and that in no case should there be put on board
of one vessel the whole of the stores of the same descrip-
tion, because, in the event of the vessel being lost, the
whole bulk of the stores of one description would be lost
likewise, and the army be left utterly destitute of a
supply of such articles. It was an essentially uniform
principle that every cargo should be perfect in itself, and
should be an assorted cargo, containing a portion of each
class of articles, however small, and then, if you
lost one ship, you would suffer comparatively little, be-
cause the several ships, in a manner, insured each other
making up each other's deficiencies.
The Duke of NEWCASTLE had not seen the state-
ment to which the noble earl referred, and certainly was
not aware that any newspaper or individual had ever
stated that the whole of the medical stores and warm
clothing were on board the steamer Prince. But this
he could assure the noble lord, that if any such
statement was made, no statement more incorrect
certainly was over put forth, because every ship
or transport conveying stores, with the excep-
tion of those that carried the battering train,
had invariably carried. out an assorted cargo. Thus,
for example, in the case of the very vessel whose unfor-
tunate loss they had had so much reason to deplore.
The Prince carried out a regiment of soldiers ; it carried
nut besides a considerable quantity of ammunition ; it
carried out also a large amount of medical stores and
warm clothing. So far from all the medical stores, how-
ever, having been placed on hoard that vessel, it was in
fact the fifth or sixth consignment of such stores which
had been sent out, and it certainly was not the last.
Again, so far from all the warm clothing for the troops
having been placed in that ono ship, he rejoiced to 3:3y
that nothing could be further from the fact. Tile Prince
certainly carried out a considerable quantity of warns
clothing, which was lost ; but since then various ships hal
arrived out with warm clothing, and a great number of the
troopsbad obtained this comfort. The Jura arrived almost
immediately after the loss of the Prince with a considerable
quantity of warm clothing on board, and he believed tkero
was hardly a ship which had left this country for the
Crimea during some time past which had not carried out
warm clothing of some description or another, and es
special care had been taken never to semi out in the
same ship the whole of the articles of one description,
so as to avoid the risk of losing them. Thus houses and
lodges for covering the troops had been sent out on
board several different ships. So far had this point been
attended to that there had arisen in consequence serious
difficulty. Perhaps noble lords were sometimes too
little inclined to make allowance for the great difficulties
existing in these matters, He did not say that either the
Government or the subordinates and officers employed
by them abroad were without blame, but he said that
great allowance ought to be made for the difficulties ne-
cessarily attending this class of business. An assorted
cargo led to considerable embarrassments in the case of
such enormous ships as the Prince, unless the whole of
the cargo were embarked at one port. In that case it
happened that the medical stores were put onboard in the
river, and placed in the bottom of the hold ; the vessel
afterwards went te '%Voolwich for ammunition and ma-
chinery; then to Portsmouth for other stores ; and List
of all she took on board a regiment. It might, perhaps,
be possible in future to make arrangements by which all
stores of one description should be shipped at a par.
ticular port, though at considerable expense and incon

venionee.
The Earl of IIfrEDWICKE would suggest to his
noble friend that in every port where stores were shipped
there should be placed some responsible officer to take
chargo of the cargo, so that he might be thoroughly ac•
quainted with the articles composing it, and it might be
stowed under his own eye. This would be of the greatest
service both iii the river Thames and the principal naval
ports, and would give every facility for conveying the