The Sun.
London, England, 1853-05-26 00:00:00

THE LATE BOARD OF ADMIRALTY.

The Select Committee appointed to inquire into the
circumstances under which a circular sent to the super-
intendents of her Majesty's dockyards, dated September
26, 1849, was cancelled on the 19th of April, 1852,
without any order or minute of Board ; also, to inquire
into the circumstances under which a letter addressed
by Sir Baldwin Walker to Mr. Siafford, as Secretary to
Admiralty, in which letter Sir Bald Win Walker tendered
his resignation, as Surveyor of the Navy, was withheld
from the Board ; also, into the circumstances connected
with the appointment of Mr. James Wells as master
smith in the dockyard at Portsmouth, the subsequent
cancelling thereof, and the appointment of Mr. George
Costell in his stead ; and generally into the exercise of
the influence and patronage of the Admiralty 'in the
dockyards and Government departments connected with
the several Parliamentary boroughs, and to whom the
return respecting the case of Lieutenant Engledue,
R.N. (presented 11th April), was referred ; and who
were empowered to send for persons, papers, and records,
and to report their observations, together with the
minutes of evidence taken before them, to the House—
have considered the matters to them referred, and have
agreed to the following report :
" Four distinct questions appear to be contained in the
terms of the above reference, and your committee will ac-
cordingly proceed to offer separately their observations
upon each.
"FIRST.—The circumstances under which a circular sent
to the superintendents of her Majesty's dockyards, dated
26th September, 1849, was cancelled on the 19th April,
1852, without any order or minute of the Board of Ad-
miralty.

" In order to render intelligible their remarks upon these
circulars your committee must revert to the proceedings of
the Admiralty at an earlier period.
" On the 27th of February, 1847, while the late Lord
Auckland was First Lord, an Admiralty order was issued
in the form of a circular, addressed to the admirals and
captains superintending her Majesty's dockyards. In this
document, which will be found at length in the Appendix,
the Lords of the Admiralty state their determination to
introduce and maintain a system of promotion under which
every man who shall have once entered the service of the
dockyards may learn to look to his own exertions as the
only means of future advancement. With the view of
giving effect to this determination the circular contains a
scheme, according to which, whenever a vacancy offering an
opportunity for promotion shall occur, the principal officers
of the dockyard are directed to select three names of the
persons who, after examination, shall appear best qualified
to fill the vacancy, and they are required to submit those
names, with a full report of the respective merits of the
candidates, to the superintendent of the dockyard. The
duty is then imposed on the superintendent of investigating
closely these returns, and of satisfying himself as to their
perfect impartiality, after which he is authorized to reduce
the number of candidates to two by striking out the name
of that candidate whom he considers least qualified. The
report of the superintendent, containing his opinion of the
merits of the candidates, with the original documents an-
nexed, is then to be forwarded to the Admiralty, and the
Lords of the Admiralty announce their intention to be
guided by these reports in the selection of one from the
two names submitted to fill the vacancy.
"In laying down this scheme of promotion the Lords of
the Admiralty reserve to themselves the right of making
any further inquiries which they may see fit ; but they
state that they will in all cases seek the advice and con-
currence of the superintendent before their choice is finally
notified. They call upon the superintendents and the
principal officers of the dockyard to assist them in working
out this plan honestly. They further assert that, by the
surrender of their own patronage, they have given proof
of their sincerity, and have removed everything which can
warrant a suspicion that preferment will be the result, not
of services, but of political favouritism. They conclude
by observing that the good or bad working of every system
must depend, in a great measure, upon those who are en-
trusted with its administration, and they can only express
their determination to mark with their severest displeasure
every attempt to thwart their intentions, and to reward
those who shall cheerfully second them by every proof of
their favour and approbation.
"It is important to notice, in reference to the above
circular of February, 1847, that the patronage therein re-
linquished is solely the patronage of promotions, and that
the Board of Admiralty did not surrender their right of
making the first appointment—that is, of naming persons
to be entered in the dockyards.
" In the year 1849 Sir Francis Baring, being then First
Lord of the Admiralty, introduced an additional precau-
tion for the exclusion of political influence from the ad-
ministration of the dockyards, by writing himself to the
superintendents and principal officers whom he had ap•
pointed, asking them, as officers and gentlemen, to give
him an assurance that they would not interfere in the
politics of the place.

" Thus it appears that the superintendents of the dock-
yards, and the officers appointed since that period, who re-
ported on the qualifications of candidates for promotion,
were bound by feelings of personal honour, as well as by
obligations of public duty, to abstain studiously from any
conduct which might cast a suspicion over the perfect im-
partiality of their recommendations. The superintendents
of dockyards are invariably men of rank in the naval ser-
vice, and in regard to them the condition imposed by Sir
F. Baring is the strongest tie that can be used to bind
honourable men.
_lt has, moreover, a double effect, inas-

much as the First Lord who imposes such an engagement
is thereby himself bound to support the superintendent in
strictly maintaining its observance. Your committee,
however, doubt the expediency of maintaining this condi-
tion on storekeepers and subordinate officers in a dockyard.
They have, indeed, only examined ono storekeeper from a
victualling-yard, but it is manifest that he was not qualified
to appreciate an honourable engagement, and that in his
case such a condition was futile and ineffective.
Your committee have been informed that during the
early part of the year 1849, as well as in some years pre-
vious, a practice had prevailed of transmitting to the Sur-
veyor of the Navy the reports and recommendations re-
ceived from the superintendents of the dockyards, in order
that the Surveyor might add his remarks upon the promo-
tions submitted, and his advice upon the filling up of
vacancies in the several yards.
" In the summer of 1849 the Surveyor, Sir Baldwin
Walker, mentioned to the board that some report had not
been transmitted to him, and that, in consequence of this
oversight, certain vacancies had boen filled which he could
have supplied more economically by transfers from another

yard. Sir B. Walker then -suggested that, in con-
formity with a more ancient practice, the reports from the
superintendents should be sent direct to the surveyor, and
should then be forwarded by him to the secretary of th e
Admiralty. This suggestion was discussed at the board,
who assented to it, but no minute was made at the time ;
and shortly afterwards Sir B. Walker again mentioned the
matter to Sir Francis Baring, who told him the board were
perfectly agreed, and that if he would write a letter to Mr.
Parker, the Secretary, the minute should go on. The let-
ter was written and submitted by Mr. Parker to Sir F.
Baring, who marked upon it his initials, with `Approved.'
On this authority the circular of September, 1849, was
issued. The minute, therefore, was not a board minute.
Sir F. Baring, states, `lt was not a minute made by the
First Lord ; not, however, without the knowledge and con-
currence of tho board'

" The late Board of Admiralty entered upon their du-
ties on the 2d or 3d of March, 18452. The Duke of Nor-
thumberland states, that as soon as he had accepted office
he gave up to Mr. Stafford, the Secretary of the Admi-
ralty, all the civil patronage, excepting the master ship-
wrights, and one class of messengers, which he reserved
for deserving sailors and marines. Mr. Stafford states,
that upon his acceptance of office, the first thing which
was forced upon him by all his political friends was the
amount of his patronage, and the first thing he had to in-
quire at the Admiralty was the limit of that patronage.
lie further informed your committee, that as soon as he
entered upon his official duties he received repeated com-
munications that the promotions and appointments in the
dockyards took a direction invariably hostile to the Go-
vernment with which ho was connected.

•
" On the 31st of March, or thereabouts, Sir. B. Walker
states that Mr. Grant, a clerk of the Admiralty, and pri-
vate secretary to Mr. Stafford, came to his office at Somer-
set-house, with a request that he (the Surveyor of the
Navy) would not submit the names of persons to be pro-
moted into the vacancies for foremen and inspector of
shipwrights in Devonport Dockyard ; as Mr. Stafford's
political friends were dissatisfied. 'he wished to promote
some of their party. Sir B. Walker replied that he had
been upwards of four years in the department ; that he
had not allowed political motives to influence his submis-
sions to the board ; and that he was not going to com-
mence jobbing for him or anybody else. He requested,
therefore, that such a proposition should never again be
made to him.
" Mr. Walter Eden, a clerk in the Surveyor's depart-
ment, says that he entered the room during this interview,
and hoard the roply made by Sir B. Walker.
" Mr. Stafford denies that he sent Mr. Grant to the Sur-
veyor on such an errand.
Mr. Grant states that the object of his visit to Sir B.
Walker was, as far as he can recollect, to ascertain whether
certain vacancies existed in the dockyards, the Secretary of
the Admiralty having received applications for certain
vacancies which- were stated to exist, but the reports of
which vacancies had not reached him. His own impression
is that he stated to Sir B. Walker that some inconvenience
was felt in consequence of the reports of the vacancies not
coining direct to the Secretary-, but coming in the first
instance through the 'Surveyor ; to which Sir B. Walker
replied, that ho trusted the system then in force was not
about to bo altered, as he thought it worked very well, and
ho hoped no system of jobbing was about to be recurred to.
" According to Mr. Grant's evidence, therefore, the
first intimation in regard to cancelling the circular of
September, 1849, was made by himself, a clerk in the
Admiralty, to the Surveyor of the Navy. Mr. Grant adds
that he made these inquiries from his own wish to ascer-
tain the facts, and not by direction of Mr. Stafford.
" On the 2d of April,' 1852, Mr. Stafford wrote a private
letter to Sir B. Walker, wherein he adverts to the great
dissatisfaction felt by his political friends as to the present
arrangement of appointments and promotions in the dock-
yards, in regard to which he says, there is a general im-
pression that all those things are dispensed among political
opponents, insomuch that there seems no alternative but to
resume the system which existed previous to September,
1849.'

" Mr. Stafford stated it as his belief that, before writing
the above letter to Sir B. Walker, he had consulted the
First Lord, or at least he had, in his various conversations
with
Was iththeDuke of Northumberland, mentioned how much
on"e_oof pressed, and referred to cancelling the circular as
~i4t.(l meeting the difficulty.
'''." Grace says that Mr. Stafford had at various times
conversations with him in regard to cancelling the circular
of September, 1
wa,s,
sirE., but that the letter of the 2d of April
writtenw.Nvaitheout his knowledge.
letter, Points
out
alatli his reply to Mr. Stafford's private
is regulated by the nctly that the system of promotions
circulare,ifth ,of 1847, which
preference impossible, renders political
yards perform their dut superintendents of the dock-
-1849, he adds, `lt is at!hainl' Lords of to the circular of
do-
cile whether they will rescind that
of the Admiraltyelto Surveyor of the control which is fie order, and deprive the On the sth of April Sir B. ;ahighly necessary,' &c.
with Mr. Stafford at the Admiralty,lker had an interview
subject *as warmly discussed. Tioeni-which occasion the
differ-
ence in their recollection of this conversation. material
Walker asserts that Mr. Stafford said, . ;let' Sir B.
blinking the question; I am so pressed by Lord herby use
the Chancellor of the Exchequer that I cannot helpY and
_ my-
self.
" Mr. Stafford states that is difficult to pledge himself,
either affirmatively or negatively, to the precise accuracy
of any particular words, but ho can say there was no pres-
m either by Lord Derby or by the Chan-
sure put upon hi
cellor of the Exchequer; and what he believes he stated
was, `The pressure upon
me from members of my own
party was very severe indeed, and gat the Government of
the Exchequer would
Lord Derby and the Chancellor of