The Sun.
London, England, 1841-10-05 00:00:00

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NAVAL PROMOTIONS.
The Earl of MINTO said he ink anxious to say's
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thought might be injurious to the character of the late
Government as regarded the administration of naval affairs.
The
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Is was not ' agreed to—first, because it could not
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lead to any beneficial result ; and secondly, because the
been
information required was already before the
spublic—
tl a late
e Therewas Government.
first,
the
ordinary a4go:rtidn)s t‘ thev
Lords of the Admiralty. Complaints had beena
made of the' large number of promotions which
had taken place shortly before the resigna-
tion
was o ft
lr the
kinds.
in which, on a vacancy occurring by death, an officer
was promoted to fill the vacant rank.
.The second kind
promotion
case,
of promotion was that which occurred under flag-officers.
There was a third kind of promotion by special minute
of the Board, in consideration of circumstances which,
in the judgment of-the Board, required :atoll an expres-
sion of their approbation, e ,Now, withafeePeet. to the
first kind of promotion, to which hVield referred;
he was not at all responsible for the amount,
although he was so for the distribution. With respect
to the second, lie was neitleer responsible for the amount
nor for the distribution. 11 W 1 respect to the third kind,
he acknowledged himself responsible both for the
amount and fur the distribution: It was perfectly true
that there had been of late an unusual amount
of promotion.—(Cries of " Hear.") Ile was sure that
their Lordships would not wish hies to enter into
the details of each particular ease. He thought that
would be to establish a bad precedent. He would only
say, as regarded that port: oa of the promotion, for the
amount of which he was not responsible, that he
was sure it was justified by the conduct and
character of those officers on whom it Was conferred.
With regard to the persons who were promoted from
mates to lieutenants, he would say without going
through their names, that twenty-five persons were ad-
vanced to the rank of lieutenants, who had beets in
the service from seventeen to nineteen years. He was
anxious to state this to show that there was
no disposition on the part of the Admiralty
to promote young men, to the exclusion of the old, who
had served for many years. With regard to special
promotions, it may be thought necessary that he
should go more into detail. There were four
officers. promoted froth the rank of commander
to that. of captain, who had been employed on spe-
cial service. The first of these was Commander Crosier,
who had the command of two ships in the expeditions of
Captain Ross. And their Lordships would recol-
lect the great and important success of his first
voyage of discovery. His services had been duly
appreciated at the Admiralty. Captain Ross stated
he was indebted to the officers and crews of his
vessels for the success of that expedition, and he made
it a request that his only reward would be the promotion
of Capt. Crosier, who commanded the Terror, and some
of his other companions in that expedition. The next
was a person in whom he (Lord Minto) could not say
that he did not feel a deep interest—the Hon. Charles
Elliot, the commander of the Hazard—but he could say
that his promotion was not the consequence of his being
at the head of the Admiralty, but that he had been
warmly and strongly recommended for promotion.
The next who was promoted was Commander Granville,
and the fourth was Commander John Parker, both
of whom had been strongly recommended for pro-
motion in consequence. of their services and ability
He next came to the cases of these officers who lied
been promoted from the rank of Lieutenant to that of
Commander. These cases were nine in number. The first
case was that of Commander Scutt, an officer who had been
employed on two different occasions in the Turkish
fleet, who had been particularly recommended by
the Turkish Governinent to her• Majesty for some
mark of her approbation. Now, it was certainly not
according to precedent to promote officers in con-
sequence of the recommendation of Foreign
Governments, and he (Earl Minto) had felt great doubts
as to the expediency of complying with the recominenda-
Lion, but when lie considered the services which that
officer had rendered on the coast Of Syria, and that the
servicee rendered to the Turkish GOverment were rendered
to a Government with which England was in close
alliance, he certainly had thought it expedient and
right to promote that officer. Ile would only state, in
additieurchnt'Cofainiander Scotkewas -of it i roily strengly-
opposed to him (Earl M.) both irle geileaei and local politics.
The next cases were those of Lieutenant Edward Stop-
ford and Lieutenant Lloyd who were in the Syrian
campaign, the next was Lieutenant Make, and the next
Mr. Sherningham. There was also Lieutenant Fan-
shawe who was nearly connected with Sir Robert Stop-
ford, and considering the great services of that officer, he
thought he was justified in the promotions he had made.
The last officer on the list was Lieutenant Lowe, who
was nearly related to Sir Thomas Hastings. Before he
(the Earl of Minto) left the Board, lie placed on
record a minute of the valuable services of Sir Themes
Hastings, in perfecting the system of gunnery
in the navy. On his (Sir Thomas nesting's)
recommendation he (the Earl of Minto) promoted
Mr. Moorman from the office of Senior Gunnery Mate to
the rank of Lieutenant. The concluding observations of
the Noble Earl were made in so low a tone of voice as to
be quite inaudible in the gallery.
On the motion that the, Exchequer Bills Funding
Bill be read a second time,
THE LATE AND PRESENT ADMINIS-
TRATIONS.
Viscount MELBOURNE said he did lint rise for the
purpose of making any objection to the'Bill. or to the
manner in which it was intended to carry itsprovisions into
effect, but it appeared to him that he Government having
come to the determination that they would not take into
consideration the financial state of the country, that they
should not take into consideration its commercial diffi-
culties, that they should not adopt thoSe.measures which
were proposed for that purpose by the late Government,
or produce tiny similar measures of their own—as soon
as that determination was known it vt as impossible but
that some such course as the present should have
been adopted. Knowing that there was a deficit
in the revenue, and knowing that there was
no time to consider the question of taxation,
the only course that could be adapted under the cir-
cumstances was the present, and he did not know that
any particular objection could be taken to the form in
which it was done. The only objection was that
it had failed—that they had not succeeded—
that they had not raised their money—that they
had not funded their Exchequer Bills:—(Hear, hear).
He was certainly the last man Who would say anything
likely to • produce any effect upon the Money Market,
and he was very unlikely to say anything that would
be calculated to produce that effect. Considering
the language which the Government had held
with regard to, the finances of the country and the state
of the money' market, he thought •.they should have
taken care not to have failed. They should have taken
care to haire succeeded, and even if they had made
some worse bargain or made worse terms than the
late Government—and be rather feared they were
actuated by some such motives—(Hear, and a laugh)—
they should have endeavoured to carry their point, and
it appeared to him that they were actuated by very short-
sighted and injudicious motives. At the same time, ho
was not its the least degree objecting to the measure,
but he wished to call the attention of their Lordships to
what might be considered the manifesto or basis of the
motion which had led to the change in the Government.
That was characterised by his Noble Friend as a very able
and eloquent speech. He (Viscount Melbourne) admitted
that it was a very able and eloquent one, but even
admitting the whole of that to be true,
it was utterly insufficient to maintain the super-
structure of the vote that was founded upon
it. He did not deny its eloquence, but there
were many able and eloquent speeches which had.
been productive of great inconvenience afterwards.
It was said that the late Government had never
,go-
verned the country in a fair, manly, or straight-
forward manner—they were denounced for tam-
pering with the finances of the' country ; but
he would 'ask whether those who made such iarges
against them had a right to come forward with a mea-
sure of so completely temporary a nature—nay, with a
measure so objectionable that even the Chancellor
of the Exchequer admitted that the me: sure was a
mere temporary one, and ought not to form a precedent?
He (Viscount Melbourne) did not object to the
measure, only he thought it was inconsistent with
the arguments used on the "No Confidence" motion
If they were determined on the course they had pur-
sued, then they were not justified in that motion. They
might have had the vote of No Confidence without
any argument—(Laughter)—they were sure of the vote,
but they had no right to call the attention of the Par.
liament and the country to the deficit. In the late Go-
vernment it was quite consistent because they were pre-
pared to propose measures for curing that state
of things, but it was not fair of the present
Government, considering tho arguments used by
them against the measures of the late Government.
On various occasions within the last two years they had
heard much in both Houses of Parliament of the
necessity of relieving the finances of the country
from the immense difficulties in which they were,
involved. That language had been repeated lately in
the other House of Parliament by those who now filled
the highest situations and possessed the highest
authority in this country. He (Lord Melbourne
denied it. He said it was not correct, that
it was not fair to the finances of the country 'to
say so. He (Lord Melbourne) said the finances
of the country were not in immense difficulties.—(Hear,
hear.) He said it was an overstatement of an exag-
geration. He perfectly admitted that the ex-
penses of the country in some years exceeded
the income—that the financial situation of the country de-
manded serious consideration, to be looked at seriously,
and to be energetically met; but he said they were not
involved in immense difficulties, and looking at the ge-
neral State of the country, the amount of its revenue, its
resources. and its strength, he could not conceive any
.course more unjust or i.4llm)litig than to hold cles.