The Sun.
London, England, 1840-07-25 00:00:00

Syria, and it was no wonder if insurrection had been
the consequence.

Mr. HUME said that Syria under Mehemet Ali had
enjoyed a state of peace unknown before. The Noble
Lord was incorrect in stating that Mehemet Ali had pro-
posed terms derogatory to the Sultan. Those terms had
been published, and Ismael Pacha, the Minister to the
Porte, who would have acceded to them, protested against
foreign interference, and had only been overawed by
Lord Ponsonby. So far were those terms from weak-
ening the Porte that Mehemet Ali offered to deliver
the fleet and all his possessions except Syria and Egypt,
to the Porte, and pledged himself to carry those condi-
dons into effect under the superintendence of the British
and French Governments. If the Noble Lord's col-
leagues were net better informed than be appeared to
be on those subjects, then in the Cabinet they must be
miserably ignorant of the real state of affairs in the East.
Lord INGESTRIE said that having a few years
since gone through the whole of Syria, he could state
that the government of Mehemet Ali in that country
was of the most grinding disposition in existence. He
wished to know whether any new ships would be placed
in commission, and to what amount ?
Mr. MORE O'FE RRAL had stated at the com-
mencement of the Session that the number of men were
not in proportion to the number of commissions, and
that it was the intention of the Government to pay off
some of the ships, or, if their services should be required,
to apply for an additional number of men, and accord-
ingly now they came down for this vote.
Captain PECHELL. would suggest the expediency
of returning to the former system of permitting seamen
to enjoy their former pensions while in the service.
The consequence of the present system was, that these
seamen were driven either into the merchant service
or into the service of foreign Powers, where they were
allowed to retain their pensions. He implored them to
revise the present system, and thus bring forward some
of the best seamen in her Majesty's service. Captain
Napier had had the pension restored to him, of which
hehawdoubideebne deprived,pursued ar
towds the seamen.
and he hoped the same prin-
ciple Sir T. COCHRANE could not agree with the Hon.
and Gallant Officer. By giving
a pension to a man
they to a certain degree obtain a command over his
services, and every pensioned man they took into the
service would drive another man out of it, whose set-
vices they could not command in an emergency, and
the effect would consequently be to keep young men
out of the service.

Captain PEC HELL said he was sorry the Gallant
Officer differed from him. He believel that his only
object was to benefit the service. He had written a
very able work on the subject, the plans of which, if
carried out, would confer great benefit. But on this
point he differed from him, and he thought it unad-
visable to hold out inducements to those men to enter
foreign service, while such a difficulty existed to pro-
cure men for our own ships.
Admiral ADAM thought these men were most
excellently and properly employed in navigating the
merchant marine. In time of war they would be
secure of their services, and as long as they continued
on board of the merchant vessels, the merchant sea-
men would see that owing to their having been in the
service they were receiving double pay, and the bene-
fits to be derived from this were indiscribable.

Sir T. TROUBRIDGE wished to observe, that
there were not by any means, as had been asserted,
2,000 pensioners who could be called into service. He
believed that 300 or :350 was the utmost number which
would be found eligible.
Captain GORDON wished the Admiralty would
particularly attend to the state of the force in the Me-
diteranean, which was now, he believed, without a full
complement of men. It was the more necessary that
that part of the service should be attended to, as the
French vessels in the Mediterranean were at present in
the most efficient condition.
Admiral ADAM could assure his Gallant Friend
that the British ships in the Mediterranean had at pre-
sent their full complement. He did not mean to deny
the efficiency of the French fleet ; and he would admit
that some of our ships in the Mediterranean were
smaller than theirs, but they were fully as well equipped,
and he had no doubt but they would always be found
fit to support the honour and dignity of the country.
On the next vote being put for the sum of 101,748/.
to defray the charges of the wages of the 2,000 addi-
tional men for ten months.
Captain PECHELL complained of the insufficient
provision made at present for mates, who were frequently
left for fifteen or sixteen years, and in some cases for a
longer period, without any advancement.
Sir THOMAS COCHRANE also complained of
the hardships which the cases of those parties involved.
Mr. MORE O'FORRALL admitted that there
might be cases of hardship in some of the instances
referred to, but there were similar cases in every pro-
fession. Besides, the grievances of those parties were
often exaggerated, as they did not in most cases remain
mates during the period that was supposed, but had
retired from the service.

Captain GORDON said that many of them had
certainly retired from the service, but they bad done so
because it offered them no prospect of advancement.
Lord IN GESTRIE thought that the case of those
parties was one of great hardship. The fact was that
their not being advanced arose from the want of family
connections. He would mention a case of peculiar
hardship. It was the case of an officer who had dis-
tinguished himself in a long service. He had been
wounded, and it was expected that, as he was
under the patronage of a late Gallant Admiral,
his promotion was secure. But upon the death of
that Gallant Admiral his prospects were closed, and
he was laid aside ; whereas the brother of the Hon.
and Gallant Member for Brighton, being a younger
officer, obtained the promotion to which the person he
alluded to was better entitled. It was painful to him
to speak of the relatives of Hon. Members ; but he
thought it right to allude to this case, as showing in
what way length of service was overlooked, for the
sake of serving particular interests.
Captain PECHELL thought it was quite impos-
sible to make out a real case of grievance in the mole
of promotion practised at present. If the Admiral in
the Mediterranean sent home despatches complaining
of the appointment of inefficient officers to the ships
under his command, then there would be (what there
was not at present) a parallel to the state of things com-
plained of by Admiral Collingvvood when he commanded
in that station. All the officers who had been promoted
at the Coronation were old officers, and no injustice or
impartiality could be complained of.
Mr. II UME said that he might object to the
present rote as much as to the former one ;
but there was included in it the sum of
39,000/., which was voted at the recommendation
of the Commissioners, for the augmentation of the
wages of mates and medical officers ; and of that vote
he must say, that he thought the addition to the pay of
those officers was only a small part of the justice to
which they were entitled. Indeed in this vote he did
not complain of one of the items. But he did complain
of the vicious system of promotion. The Noble Lord
opposite (Lord Ingestrie) had no right to complain of
the system, which had been so advantageous to himself.
He did not blame the Noble Lord for obtaining as
rapid promotion as he could. It was only what any
man might do. But, in fact, the whole system was bad.
Promotion was altogether a matter of favour, instead of
being regulated, as it ought to be, by service and merit.
A youngster was often put in command of ships over
the head of a mate, who might be the oldest and best
man in the ship.---(Hear, hear.) In 1837, he exposed
thLoersde
A mattersitho r in that p
,s brother, o th
er, House,wh
o andwas he
put
in statedt hethe case
command
of a ship, over the heads of three officers who had
been lieutenants before Captain Spencer left school.
—( Hear, hear.) Those who complained of such hard-
ships ought to assist in altering the whole system. He
approved of the alteration that had been made in the
increase of the pay of the mates, but it did not strike at
the root of the evil.

An item of 341,550/., and another of 312,0401. were
agreed to, but we could not hear the purposes.
I 1.8,000/, was voted for stores for ten months.
On the motion that 21,6001. be granted for the acce-
lerated conveyance of her Majesty's mails to Alexandria
for seven months,
Mr. D. DAMES objected to the present mode of
conveying the mails in the Mediterranean by contract
with the owners of private steam-vessels. It
would be vastly better for the public service if
armed steam-boats under the command of efficient
officers were employed for the purpose. When
he was recently in the Mbditerranean, he saw its
waters covered with foreign steam-ships, and he heard
it said that that sea was becoming what it ought to be—
e Fri nch basin. He had already pressed this subject
upon the Government, and b ecalled upon all who were
connected with India, to assist him ; for the rapidity of
our communication with all the East would be greatly
increased by the em to
officers of her Majesty's Navy.
This of efficient vessels, com-
manded experience
This had been recommended to the Government by the
highest officers at present in the Mediterranean ; and if
the suggestions were acted upon, it would create an
array of armed steam-vessels, which, in the event of a
rupture with our immediate neighbour, or our Northern
Ally, would form the best defiance of our own coasts.
posed, without any additional complement of men.
He believed he might state that all Ambassadors, Consuls,
and commercial men were anxious that such a plan should
be adopted. He believed that steamers of 200-horse
power would be fully competent to carry out all he pro.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said
he was not there to defend the policy of France with re-
spect to its navy ; it had always been different from that
of England, but he was there to defend the course that
had been pursued by this country. He believed the sound
policy for England to pursue was to secure the proper
transmission of letters and communications, and to leave
the transfer of passengers from one part of the world to
the other to commercial enterprise and speculation. All
the great lines of communication had not been neglected
by the Government ; and with respect to the complaints
of the Hon. Member as to vessels in the Mediterranean,
it was to be remembered that the ports there were small
compared with the great lines of communication to other
parts of the world. He believed that the plan proposed
to be adopted by the Government would be far more bene-
ficial to passengers than any Government establishment.