The Sun.
London, England, 1840-02-12 00:00:00

enrnestly entreating the Noble L7rd, the Leader of that
House, to consider the Committee as one under the
charge of the Gaver nment, who should select the
members to compose it, and who ought. to be thoroughly
gratified to discharge impartially this important duty,
and such was his confidence in the perfect fairness and
integrity of the Noble Lord, as to rest assured of the
selection being such as to give contentment to the
people of Scotland, and influence to the result of the
labours of the Committee. This proposal is not only
made in rod faah, but should the NJble
Lord consider the Committee would be better con-
stituted without he (Mr. Wallace) being upon it, he
begged distinctly to tell him he was willing to relinqush
the honour of the Chair, and he was most welcome to
leave his name out altogether ; for in this mltter, as
in all °there, he had no other object in view but the
good of his country.—( Hear, burr.)
Strangers were then ordered to withdraw.
The House then divided, and the numbers were
For the motion 123
Against it

Majority in favour of the motion —l7
EAST INDIES.
Mr. MART then rose to move for returns, show-
ing the extent of the settlement of British subjects in
India, since the last renewal of the East India Com-
pany's Charter. He could conceive no measure of so
much importance to the extension of our commerce and
the maintenance of our Sovereignty in India as the in-
troduction and permanent settlement of English, and
the East India Company ought to be required to give
returns to enable the country to judge how far that
body had encouraged their settlement ; he did not
know how far it might be in the power of the Right
Hon. the President of the Board of Trade to compel
the East India Company to give these returns. But
it was important that the country should know under
what circumstances British subjects transported their
capital to a distant part of the globe.
Sir J. HOBHOUSE was very willing to accede to
the proposal of the Hon. Gentleman, but he hoped to
be excused from entering into the other topics upon
which the Hon. Gentleman had touched. He was s era
willing to do every thing in his power to show the lion.
Gentlemen how far the Government and the East India
Company had given , encouragement to Europeans to
settle in that immense dominion. The return of the
papers asked for could do nothing towards compelling
the East India Company to allow British settlers to
take land in India upon the terms which the Hon. Gen-
tleman considered most expedient. At the same time
he had no objection to the production of those papers.
He was quite willing to give all the supplementary in-
formation in his power.
Sir CHARLES GREY begged to ask, the Right
Hon. Baronet what was the nature of the tenure under
which British subjects were allowed to possess land in
India?—Motion agreed to.
COMPTROLLER OF THE EXCHEQUER.
Mr. LIDDELL, in rising to bring forward the motion
of which he had given notice, trusted that it was unneces-
sary for him to disclaim every feeling adverse to the
parties who were engaged in the transaction which was
the subject of that motion. He had long been ac-
quainted with the Noble Lord, who was one of those
parties, and he could have no feelings towards him but
those of esteem and regard, which were shared with him
by every person on both sides of the House. If any
observations which he might have to offer were at all
unpleasant to the Noble Lord, be hoped it would be un-
derstood that it was only by a strong sense of public
duty he was compelled to take the present course.
The papers for which he was now about to move would
be laid before the House as a matter of course at a
later period of the session, and the reason which in-
&lced him to forestal the period fixed by law was, that
there were circumstances connected with the transaction
which rendered it a subject for the graver consideration
of Parliament. -In the year 1834, shortly before the
death of the last Comptroller. of the Exchequer
(Lord Grenville), a Bill was brought in, founded upon
the Report of the Commissioners of Public Accounts,
for remodelling the offices of the Court of Exchequer.
That Bill pissed--into a law, and at that time Mr.
Henry Ellis, the Clerk of the Polls, discharged all the
duties at a salary of 1,400/. a year. The Act of Par-
liament, founded on the Report of the Commissioners,
stated in the preamble that it was expedient that a more
efficient mode of performing the duties of the offices
of the Court of- Exchequer should be adopted.
In 1834. Sir John Newport, then 78 years of age re-
ceived the appointment of Comptroller of the Exche-
quer, Mr, Ellis being allowed to retire upon a pension
of 1,400/. a-year. (The Hon. Member then proceeded
to state the circumstances under which the appointment
to the Comptrollership of the Exchequer took place,
which cannot but be fresh in the recollection
of our readers.) In September, 1839, Sir John New-
pert retired from that office, and was succeeded by the
late Chancellor of the Exchequer, the present Lord
Monteagle. Sir John Newport, having a pension of
1,0001. a year, five-sixths of the whole sum allowed by
Parliament to be granted by her Majesty each year in
the shape of pensions. This change of office had given
to no less than four persons pensions, and that he looked
upon as a fact that would not be tolerated by the
House. Upon these facts he founded the motion with
which le intended to coneltide ; but before he did so,
it was right that he should draw the attention of the
House to the d'fferent Acts of Parliament regulating
the :appointment of this office. The Hon. Member,
having adverted-to the different Acts of Parliament,
stated that he would leave it to the House to determine
from those Acts as to the course they would. think
proper to adopt. For his own part, he thought it was
highly improper that so large a pension should be given
to a gentleman who was greatly adtranced in life, and
who he was not aware had clone the public any service.
.._.(lreriical cheers from the Ministerial side of the
House.) Hon. Gentlemen opposite might laugh, but
he would refer to the feelings expressed upon the de-
bate by Hon. Members when the Right Hon. Bart.,
the Member for Pembroke, brought before the House
his Bill for remodelling the system adopted in the Ex-
chequer. The Honourable Member for Kilkenny, the
Honourable Member for Birmingham, and Colonel
Evans, objected to that measure, and were of opinion
that Mr. Elis should still hold that appointment.
He (Mr. Liddell) had considered this subject most
anxiously, and the inference that he drew from the ap-
pointment that had taken phace was that it was a Mi-
nisterial job.—(Cheers.) He considered that the
cir-
cumstances he had vated justified him in asking for the
pipers he required, and it' those papers were granted
he would leave it to the Hltlie and the public to deter-
mine whether or not they conveyed a censure upon the
course adopted by the Government.—(Laughter from
the Ministerial side of the House.) His only object
was to elicit truth. He would leave the public to draw
their own inferences from these papers, and all that he
could say was, when they were produced, God defend
the right !—(Lities'ater.) The Hon. Gentleman con-
cluded by moving, " That there be laid before • this
House, a copy of the warrant granting a pension to the
Right Hon. Sir John Newport. Also, a copy of the
letters patent granting the office of Comptroller of the
Exchequer to Losd Monteagle."
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
he certainly made no complaint against the Honourable
Geatle,nan for having brought the subject before the
House, so far from it, he was happy at the opportunity af-
forded him of meeting insinuations and accusations which
he never expected to have heard in that House. The
Honourable Member said " If you refwe these papers, I
call upon Gentlemen to support me to compel-their pro-
duction, but if you are prepared not only to give not only
those, but any others the House may wish, the real
facts of the case may be made manifest, I shall draw my
own inference, and take it for granted this is the conduct
of those who arc guilty of the charges made against them.'
(Cheers, and laughter). There were three points in the
Honourable Gentleman's accusation. First, the pension
to. Sir' J. Newport, of whom, although the Honourable
Gentleman had said his name should be a sufficient
Protection, lie had, in the course of his remarks, let slip
some words which called in question the expediency of his
services ; secondly, the appointment of Lord Monteagle ;
,and next, and most important, the connection between, the
appointment of Lord Monteagle, and the retirement of Sir
J. Newport, which was the sting of the whole attack, and
which, if the facts were true, the Hon. Gentleman would
have some reason for the accu:a!ion he had made, namely,
that Sir J. Newport had been bought out of place—but fora
salary, and for the purpose of putting in Lord Monteagle.
Now, to this he gave at once the most explicit
and unqualified deeial—( Hear, hear, hear)— and he
would first read part of a letter front Sir
J. Newport himself, and whatever claims he eglit
have on the gratitude of his country, he considered it quite
sure that those oho knew him better than the Gentleman
opposite,-during his public services of thirty years, would
consider that his word might be trusted. He wrote " The
regulation was adopted on nay part without being suegested
to me by any person, and most certainly arose frot those
increased infirmities which rendered retirement to my
waive home most desirable, even if I were obliged to re-
linguish all claim to the pension, to which the embarrass-
ment occasioned by my long attendance to the duties of
Parliament compelled me to resort." That was the state-
ment
of Sir J. Newport, and the House would
observe that it stated three things very distinctly,
and which all contradicted the imputations of the Hen,
Gentleman, that Sir .1)11n Newport's retirement was en-
tirely unconnected with his Noble Friend (Lord Mont-
teiaognl e; 'sa)ndaptphoaitntthmeenpten;
sitohnatwiats not offeredwasupnnllis on theown partsolici ofta-
the Gavernment—for that sass the charge—but applied for
by Sir J. Newport, under the circumstances stated. He
had also, on the part of his Noble Friend (Lord Mont-
eagle), authority to give this
statement the most perfect