The Sun.
London, England, 1854-02-08 00:00:00

RAILWAY ACCIDENTS.

Lord MONTEAGLE called attention to the great
increase as well as the deplOrable consequences of railway
accidents, and pressed on the Government the necessity
of placing a return of the number of accidents before the
house. He understood,: from what passed in another
place, that it was the intention of the. Government to
introduce a bill on this subject, and he hoped they would
soon have an_ opportunity, in this house of judging of
that measure. He would ask the Vice-President of the
Board of Trade whether fie had any objection to lay on
the table, without delay, the papers and reports regard-
ing these accidents in the possession of his department,
and whether he would undertake to do this from time
to time, as any fresh calamities happened ?
Earl FITZWILLIAM concurred in the necessity of
legislation upon this matter. but thought, if any mea-
sure was proposed, it ought to originate with their lord-
ships' house.
Lerd STANLEY, of Mderley, said the Government
was fully sensible of the importance of the subject, and
were anxious to assent to any remedy which could be
proposed. It was true that a bill would be introduced
into the House of Commons. and this it was hoped
would meet the evils complained of by the public last
session. A committee of inquiry sat upon the question,
g
and the report ernanatine• from them would no doubt
exercise an irovirtant influence upon the forthcomin
bill. As to the questions of the -noble lord, he (Lord
Stanley) was ready not only to present to their lordships
the returns now in the hands of the Board of Trade, but
to publish and lay before them without delay accounts
of accidents as they occurred hereafter. (Hear).
Earl GREY was not very sanguine as to the bill being
effectual in protectiag the public against railway acci-
dents, and therefore he could not help"suggesting to their
lord Ships that they had the power in their own hands of
rendering great service to the country in the matter,
if they thought fit ;',Ap exercise it. There was
hardly a railway compaity ilaEngland who did not apply
every session for new powers, :and their lordships might
accomplish the object desired by the proposed bill
if they refused to grant these powers without a
thorough inquiry into the manner in which their existing
.ones had been exercised and where necessary, without.
inserting a clause for the protection and safety of the
people. (Hear.)

,
Lord CAMPBELL con,idered that further legislation
was indispensable, and boded a bill would pass both
houses this session which' woulci do • justice to the

country,

The subject then dropped

STATE OF TiIE "NAVY LIST."

The Earl of HARDWICKE was desirous of calling
the attention cf their lordships and the Government to
the present state and condition of the Navy List. The
subject acquired greater importance owing to existing
circumstances. • He would declare at the outset that he
had not the slighte,t intention to give offence. He was
convinced that there was not an officer on the Queen's
lists—be his age what it might—who was not ready to
serve his country to the utmost of his power, and who
would not fejoice in an opportunity of meeting the
enemy. It was also his intention not to mention the
name of a single officer, but to confine himself to a
statement of the average age of officers of the.higher
rank. The most prominent list, and one of the great-
est importance, was that of the admirals. The active
admirals—though the word "active" applied to such a
body appeared somewhat ridiculous—were 22 in num-
ber. Assuming that each of these officers was 25 years
of age when he-attained the rank of captain, it appeared
that the youngest admiral in the list of actives was 75
years of age. Applying the same list to the vice-ad-
mirals, he found that the youngest of them was 69 years
old. Among the rear-admirals were 9 or 10 fit for ser-
vice, and the vice-admirals might be placed in the same
category with the rear-admirals, being of nearly the
same average age. This state of things was the result
ofregulitions and orders in Council, and it certainly did
not hold out a very satisfactory prospect for the
cointry. The first order in Council affecting the lists
Was issued on the 30th of June, 1827, an .l it provided,
first, that captains who had reached by seniority the.
head of the list of captains with tiablenishe.d character,
and had not declined or avoided service, should be
deemed eligible to he superannuated with the rank of
retired rear-admiral ; secondly, that captains should be
eligible to receive appointments as flag-officers, provided
they should have commanded one or more rated ships
during war, or six complete years during peace, or five
complete years of war and peace- combined ; thirdly,
that lieutenants and commanders should respectively
serve on board, in their proper ranks, two years and
one year before being capable of being promoted to the
rank of commander or captain. The 'object of these
regulations was to get rid of old officers, and to sepply
their places with younger ones. On the 10th of Aug.,
1840, this order in Council was repealed by another,
which also provided "that, in all flag promotions, every
captain whose seniority brings him in turn for advance.
ment shall be placed on the list of flag-officers, provided
he has served as a captain, and shall not have declined
service at any time when called upon, and that there
be nothing against his character as an officer and a gen-
tlemen ; but that the half-pay of those flag-officers who
have not commanded one or more of your Majesty's
rated ships four complete years during war, or six coin- '
plete years during peace, or five complete years of war
and peace combined, shall not be increased beyond that
of rear-admiral, unless they shall have rendered, as flag-
officers, sea service of equal length to complete the period
above mentioned, of which they were deficient as cap-
tains." By the same order in Council it was decreed
that retired rear-admirals should be allowed to remain
on the active list, but should receive only the pay of
rear-admirals. In 1351 the Government reverted to the
former system, and, by an order in Council, declared
that officers on the active list, who had not served for
their flags under the order in Council of June 30, 1827,
should be removed to the reserved list, which was, in •
fact, a retired list. Having taken, by chance, 16
officers on the reserved list and 16 on the active list,
he -found that the united ages of the former
amounted to 1,027 years, and of the latter to 1,038
years. The fitness for active service depended, of
course, on the mental and bodily vigour of the
respective individuals ; but it must be admitted that the
fact he had just stated indicated that the officers on the
active list had generally attained a very advanced age.
The existing regulations were objectionable, because
they =operated unjustly upon officers. When a man
entered the navy a moral contract was formed between
him and the Crown, by which it was provided that, if
he discharged his duty zealously and efficiently, and
maintained an unblemished character, he should have an
opportunity of advancing to the top of his profession ;
but at present, when an officer had raised himself to a
certain point, he found the door of promotion shut in his
face by an order in Council. The orders in Council
stated, annd very properly so, as a reason why an officer
should serve six years as a captain before he obtained
his flag, that he should be fitted by experience for pro-
motion. That, no doutt, was extremely right and pro-
per • but there was this ab-urdity in the case, that prac-
tically the spirit of the rule was not adhered to. For
while the orders in Council rejected a captain for pro-
motion who had not served his full term of six years,
the Government, on the other hand, would take an officer
and give him a very magnificent ship, with a broad pen-
dant, who, perhaps, was a young man who never before
had the command f anything but a small vessel, and
who, probably, had never been more than two or three
years at sea. These were the general features of the
case he wished to lay before their lordships. He could ]
have -materially strengthened his case if he had thought
proper to mention the names of some of his brother
officers, but that he had declined to do. Those con-
nectod with the navy were not sorry that the orders in
Council existed, but there was not one of them who
did not admit the injustice of their operation in the
instances which he had briefly pointed out. His opinion
was, that if an opportunity were given to officers in the
various grades of the service of purchasing their com-
missions, and that upon a faii• calculation of the value
of their pay, great relief would be afforded to the navy ;
and he believed, moreover, that if the orders in Council
were so modified and enforced as he had suggested, the
Crown would still have the power to make a selection
of ,he officers whom it might choose to employ. Had
these things been done, this question with regard to the
noble
Nat'Y List would never have mine before them. The
earl concluded by moving
for the appointment of
a select committee to inquire into the subject.
The Earl of ABERDEEN thought the noble earl who
had just losunaed his seat might be assured that there
was no noble lord who did not sympathise with the
views and-nMtives which, had induced him to bring this
subject before their lordships ; and, if it were not from
a sense of what- he (the Earl of Aberdeen) believed to
be a duty he owed to the service and to the public,
he should not be disposed to oppose the motion of
the noble earl. He was quite aware that much differ-
of the enactment of the regulation to
euue of opinion had prevailed upon the subject from
the
which thetime noble earl had referred ; but it was a re-
markable fact that, although that regulation had,
he presumed, been brought before every Board of
Admiralty that had existed since 1827,. not one of
those boards, in any instance whatever, had thought
proper to deal with that regulation. The regulation in
question was framed by Sir George Cockburn when he
was the naval adviser to the Board of Admiralty, and
from that day to this not a single instance had occurred
of an attempt to make any alteration in the rule in any
respect whatever. There had been subsequent orders in
Council with a view to the extension of the rule then
made, but not for the purpose of introducing any altera•
tion in the order in Council of the 30th of June, 1827.
He would repeat that in no instance had any officer
whatever been promoted to his flag without having pre-
viously complied with the conditions of that regulation.
Before the regulation of 1827 was made there was so
much favour and caprice shown in the promotion of offi-
cers in the navy that there was no certainty whatever as
to who would be promoted or who would not • and their
lordships must be aware of the many
criminal
practices
that were resorted to in the promotion of officers in the
naval service. It was therefore thought only reasonable
that six years' active service as post-captain should be

required as a necessary qualification, previously to any '
officer being entitled to receive an appointment as flag-
officer of the fleet. Of course, any regulation of an in-
variable description, such as that, must in its operation
be attended with cases of individual' hardship: He re-
gretted that such should be the case. The noble earl
himself, •and other noble lords who were in a similar con-
dition, might think that an alteration of the regulation
of 1827 was necessary, and they might have reason to de-
plore the operation of the existing rule ; but their lordships
would perceive that, if such a regulation were of any ser-
vice at all, it must be invariably adhered to, for if once an
exception were made, and the invariable character of the
rule infringed upon, that would deprive it at once of all its
fairness and of all its merit. He had conferred with his
right hon. friend at the head of the Admiralty On this sub-
ject, and it was his opinion, as well as that of every
preceding Board'of Admiralty since the year 1827, that
no mode more fair could be adopted to preserve efficiency,
in the service than to require a reasonable qualification
on the part of the officer to be promoted.' That being
the case, although he (the Earl of Aberdeen) agreed with.
the noble earl -that practically the regulation had ope-
rated hardly in individual instances, yet he 'could not
conenr with him in thinking that the rule should in any
case be relaxed, because he believed that any such de-.
pariure from a fixed and unalterable character would im-
pair the efficiency of the service, and be attended with
consequences which would put an end to that fair and
equitable proceeding which had hitherto characterised
the conduct .of the Crown in the promotion of officers in
the navy. Therefore he could only say that, after the
most full inquiries and examination of the subject,
ho had come to the same decision at which all preceding
Boards of Admiralty had arrived—that, upon the whole,
the present system, although attended with individual
cases of hardship, nevertheless was the most just and the
most advantageons to the service that had been proposed.
Lord COLCHESTER said, that no doubt the subject
to which his noble friend had called the attention of
their lordships-was one of great difficulty. Tho noble
earl at the head of the Government had said that the
regulation of 1817 was made by Sir George Cockburn
when ho was at the Board of Admiralty, and that it had
never since been altered. Now, he begged to remind
the noble earl that two orders in Council had been sub-
sequently issued on the same subject—one in 1840, and
the other in 1851. In the order in Council of the 10th of
Aug., 1840, it was stated "that so much of the order in
Council of the 30th of June, 1827, as related to the promo-
tion of captains to flag officers shotild be rescinded,':and that
those officers who had'been placed on the retired list under
that order in Council should' be placed on the list
of flag officers a,ccording to their seniority as captains.
He believed that this alteration of the regulation if
1827 was made in consequence of the case of Captain
Debenham, which was considered at the time to be one
great hardship. Under the order in Council of 1840 all
captains, who Were ready to serve, whether they served
or not, were put on 11 level with rear-admirals in respect
to their pay. Under the order in Council of 1851 the
country was deprived of the advantage of the service of
those offieers who had been placed on the reserved list,
and who alight have been called- into active service.

(The noble lord made some observations in • respect to
the orde:. in Council of ISSI, but they- were not audible
in the gallery.)

The Earl of ELLENBOROUGLI said,- it was essen-
tial to the effective power of the service; and that the
public interest required it, that -every captain having
the qualification and rank of admiral should have served
ft;r 0, certain period as commander •of a ship in her
Majesty's service. Such was the rule, and no doubt it
wss a just rule ; still, be thought it very desirable to
reconsider the details of the. Order ire Council. For,
certainly, ;there was something contrary to all reason in
saying, that an officer should be considered qualified for
a flag after having served six years in one of her Ma-
jesty's rated ships, yet that he should not be considered
qualifiel by having served in another ship, where equal
or even superior experience might have been acquired.
The service in her Majesty's rated ships was a service
before the discovery of steam and belore large ships were
built. Therefore, practically, the orders in Council
had a tendency, as they now existed, not of giving
to the country those men who were best acquainted with
the service as it at present was; but .men who were ac-
quainted with the service as it used to be. It appeared
to him, therefore, that it was most desirable the details
of the rule should be reconsidered. The noble earl had
stated, that the rule was established in 1827, at the sug-
gestion of Sir George Cockburn. No man was held in
higher esteem, or more honoured and. deservedly so, than
Sir Geo*rge Cockburn, by the whole of the British navy,
but their lordships must. consider the difference of the
naval service in the year 1827, and•of the same service
in the year 1853. In 1827 not many years bad elapsed
since the country had been involved im a long and ardu-
ous war, and when, therefore, captains in the navy were
not required to wait long for promation ; but now, at
the'end of 40 years of peace, the rule was, exclusion
from promotion, and not admission. This was a further
reason why he thought it highly desirable that the' rule
should be reconsidered in its details. He recollected
most distinctly a thin? made on beha:.if of her Majesty
by Sir Robert Peel in 1846, to a p,s-wer of promoting
any officer of any rank in the navy. That was a power
which should never be confided to t: he Admiralty. It
should not be for the Admiralty to make any such ex-
traordinary promotion. That power had been most
rightly reserved to the Crown, and a. case might arise
when her 'Majesty might most wisely exercise that
power by an order in council. There -would be an ample
guarantee against the power being improperly exer-
cised. No order in council could Ls.ke place without
the whole merits of the officer to be promoted being
brought before the Cabinet. It won Id thus become a
public measure, and one of the highesv.; importance, and
which it would be the duty of the Minister to defend in
Parliament. The country would thereby be perfeCtly
satisfied that such a measure would not be adopted un-
less under very peculiar clrcumstanca 3. He thought it
most desirable to guard against the, introduction, or
rather the extension, of anything like: party feeling in
the selection of any officer for any ezawloyment in the
service of the Crown. It was hardly too strong an ex-
pression when he stated that he thou, ieht it a public crime
in a man at the head of the naval department, or. at the
head of the army, when, from private, personal, or
party motives, he promoted. a person over the head of
another who was deserving of the appointment. It was
his first duty to look around and select from every de-
partment the fittest man he could &aid. That was the
true secret of success in war. It was, indeed, the true
secret of success in civil affairs ; but in war it was essen-
tial to success. Let them look around ;Ifor they would
invariably find that, whatever might be the general
merits of individuals----whatever might be their ability or
their zeal—all great things in civil life, and even more,
perhaps, all great things in war, were performed by some
few, some very few men of superior ability and superior
genius and there could nit be a greater or a more
valuable talent in a man placed in the situation of his
noble friend opposite, or, yet more, placed in the direc-
tion of the Admiralt, or of the army, than that of dis-
covering the ability by which great things might be
done.

After a few words from Earl WALDEGRA.VE,
which did not reach the gallery, the motion was with-
drawn, and their lordships adjourned.-

HOUSE OF COMMONS--(YESTERDAY.)

The SPEAKER took the chair shortly before 4 o'clock.

PRIVATE BILLS.

A. large number of private bills were introduced by
Mr. BROVIERTON, and read a first time.
.The following bills were read a second time, and
ordered to be committed :—Ardrossan and Glasgow
and South-Western Railways; Bacup' Improvement ;
Barnard Castle and Bishop Auckland Junction Railway
and Branch ; Blyth and Tyne Railway ; Bolton Gas ;
Brighton, Hove, and Praston Waterworks ; Cannock
Railway ; Carlisle and Silloth Bay Railway and Dock ;
Clyde Navigation ; Cork and Bandon. Railway; Don-
caster Cemetery ; East Lancashire Railway ; Eist Lan-
cashire, Lancashire and Yorkshire, and Manchester and
Southport Railways; East London Waterworks; En-
niskillen Waterworks ; Gloucester Water Hastings and
St. Leonard's Gas; Hull Cemetery; Kingston-upon-
Hull Docks ; Kingston-upon-Hull Improvement ; Law
Life Assurance Society ; Leeds New Gas ; Liverpool
Improvement; Liverpool Police Superannuation Fund ;
Liverpool .Sanitary and other Local Acts; Llandudno
Improvement ; London Life Association ; Middleton
Gas ; Newport Improvement ; North London Rail-
way.; Norwich Equitable Fire Assurance Company ;
Nottingham. Waterworks ; Oxford, Worcester, and-
Wolverhampton (Stratford-upon-Avon and Stourbridge
Branches) ; Radcliffe and Pilkington Gas ; Ramsbot-
tom Gas ; Rochdale and Burnley Roads ; Rossen-
dale Union Gas; Shrewsbury and Chester Railway ;
Shrewsbury and Hereford Railway (Stations) ; South-
port Waterworks ; Stafford New Gas ; Stockton and
Cleveland Union Railway ; Swansea Vale Railway ;
Towy Vale Railway; Warrington Improvement and
Market ; Wellington (Salop) Improvement ; Wey.
mouth and Melcombe Regis Markets and Pier ; White-
haven, Cleator, and Egremont Railway ; Whiteyaven
Junction Railway ; York and North Midland Railway.

PETITIONS.
Mr. FERGUSON presented a petition from Carlisle-,
upon the subject of the ecclesiastical patronage in that
town.
' Mr. WILCOX prevented a petition from Southampton
against the sale of intoxicating liquors on Sundays.
Mr. HORWFALL presented a petition from the Liver-
Pool Chamber of Commerce in favour of a system of
decimal coinage.
Mr. T. BUNCOMBE presentee T‘etitions from two
individuals named Barnard and Dunn, chola of whom
claimed to be the inventor of the penny receipt stamp
upon paper, and praying the house to appoint a coin- '
mittee with the view of having their claims investigated,
and if found correct, rewarded.
Lord J. RUSSELL presented a petition from the
Corporation of Cambridge complaining of the corrupt
practices which prevailed at the last election for that
town, and praying that steps might be taken to prevent
a recurrence of such abuses.
Mr. ADDERLE Y. presented a petition from the inha-
bitants of the Orange River Settlement, against the
abandonuient of that sovereignty.
Mr. HADFIELD presented a petition from the
inhabitants of Nova Scotia, in favour of an Ocean Penny
Postage.
OATHS BILL.
Lord J. RUSSELL brought in the New Oath Bill,
which was read a first time, and ordered to be road a
second time on Monday fortnight.

NOTICES OF MOTION.
Mr. T. DUNCOMBE gave notice that on this day
fortnight he should move for leave to bring in a
bill to amend the act relative to the settlement
of disputes between master and servants by arbitration.
Mr. MACKINNON gave notice that this day fort-
night he should move the appointment of a :Mot come