The Sun.
London, England, 1802-12-14 00:00:00

NAVY 'REGULATIONS.•

Cap tain"MAPRIIAAI roSe, in pursuance of his..
notice, to call the attention of thellouse,to• the sub-
jeet of an Inquiry into the Abuses of the Navy, •
Which the House, he observed,' would readily agree
with hini in coriidering an _important one. • He
could.have wished this business to .have fallen into
more able hands to bring itiforwatd, but he• crusted
he should have the indalgence Of the House, while
at no:greatlength he laid the Outline of this,Matter
before it. He begged the House to be assured,
that nothing was mire remote :from his views, and 1.
the views of those with whom lie had the honour of
acing, than that of conveying,:in-the most distant
degree, any thing like 'blame 'on the late Admini-
stration, for not having done that which was now
about to be commenced. On the contrary, • both
himself and his "Colleagues had the' highest
for every branch of the late Administration; he
had a very partieular regard for the Noble Earl who
lately presided at the Ilyartinent to which he had
now the honour of lilbriging. The truth of.the
matter was, that the lale Administration had not
had it in its potyer io set this .matter on-foot, owing
to the very great exigencies of the late War. It
was necessary that he should now shortly advert to
what pasSed in the 35th year of 'His present' Ma-
jesty's Reign. A Committee of Inquiry was then
iastituted, under the authority of Parliament., into
the Fees, Perquisites, Etnoluments, &c. of Public
Offices, and calling for a Report, &c. as well as on
. the future management of 'Axil Offices, &c., This
examination took place, ,and a number of va!uable
Reports were made ; but this could not be follow-
ed- up at the time, because we were engaged in
War. The measure which he should have the
nour of proposing, was of The same .kind as that
which"had been ilready recommendedit went en.
tirely upon the same principle. Ir was solely to
the NaVal.Department of Administration, and was
intended to embrace all the existing Abuses in the
Navy, as.far as they 'could be found out, front the
top to the bottom of it. He then desired that a
part of the 31st Report of the Committe appointed
to inquire into the Fee's, Emoluments, Perquisites,
B:c.' of Offices, be read ; which being done, he pro-
ceeded to observe, that the Report at once she if:l;J
the necessity of what,he was now proposing tkobe"
done, and. the excuse of the late Aaroinistration for
•‘not having done it ; that was to say, it stated the
necessity of instituting a further inquiry into this,
subjed, but stated also that it couiti nor be done until
Peactishould be obtained.
.Havinz waid this with re-
,speCt to the iritention.of bringing this measure for-
ward ; he wished to bewcierstood as not recommend-
ing a novel proceeding; bar a thiq that was known,
and, perfettly pra6iicable. The re:twrally the.Mmi-
ralty'brought it fOrward in this shape was, that they
could not go over the matter with sufficient particu-
larity and minuteness themselves. It was a matter
that would require a great deal of care and labour,
and a great deal Of zeal ; nor was the Admiralty
Board at present poSsesSed of powers sufficient to
make' the proper inquiry into this business, so as
to form a.eomprehensive plan for the removal of the
evils complained of, of the existence of many of
Which'they had too ma' proofs before them. Ano-

then reason Was;• why the tom' of MitirAlty

not take the matter up themselves, and inquire into
these abuses,- they had not -the means of rendering
the inqui,y ,effrau4l," Tor they . had not, power to
examine any body upon oath. Neither. could .they
•

cAll fur thenecessary papers to convey proper inior_
[nation on ni,my of these points. The evils he al—
luded to had. been complained of in the year 1795 ;
no .opportunity ,had .occurred till. now of ,p.utring
them in a train of beini.remedied ; that was the.
Objed he had now in view,, and therefore. he. moved,
" That leave be given to bring in a Bill for _ap-
pointing Commissioners to examine into, the Frauds,
Abuses,.atql Irregularities, which have becn, or may
be, prafticci by Persons in the several aTartna,-ms
of the,Navy, .and in the business of Prize-Agents,
and to report the same, together with such observa-
tions as may occur to thetri, in order to' prevent
such, Frauds„ Aliases,' and, Irregularities in future,
fur the better condu6fing and management of such
Departments of the Navy, and the business of N.rs.,v

Agents, &c."
The Question being putt,
LordTEMP LE. ir:::rved, that these abases might.
exist.; at. the -sane time it was to be observed, that

when any extraordinary power was to be given to,
any &tidy of men, some ground should be laid as a
reason for it. Much had been said ,on peculation
and pliroder. did not say there was not a great
deal of peculation and plunder, but the House !mist
have an higher•authority than the assertion of an
Hon. MemberArespedable as that might be), in or.
der to ad. He apprehended that the' Navy. Board
had the power whiCh the Hon. Gentleman wanted
to be granted to a Committee. At all events; he
wishedthe Hon. Gentleman to-state the causes why.
such apOsiier as,this was Wanted. He: wished. to
know -whether this was founded on the RepOrt of
the year reB-e ? ,
LordiIAO'KES.OURY observed, that the Noble
Lord had appeared to him to have misunderstood
the nature of the opening of his Hon. Friend.—
This Motion was :not .to giVe any. new power
to the hoard of Admiralty, but to establish numi
bet of CommiSsioners with power to inquire into
Abuses in the Navy. The grounds for this were
two—The first., that the time of the Admiralty
Board was taken up in the ordinary business of that
DePartment, so that it was impossible dens to
devote their time to services of this nature; nor
coold- they look,at this business---Secondly, it Wey
had time, they were defi,ciest in power, fon- thlt
they could not administer an oath, so that if they
set the inquiry on foot they could not render it el_
felual, and therefore it was that the proposal was
made for the appointment of a Committee ;f loquiry,
with full power to examine into the matter; and to.
deliver their opinion on every part of it. The
House of commons was admired fur having a jealous
eye on every Abuse in Office, and, indeed, that
was a great advantage to the Public; 'btu he appre-
hended the House would not wish to follow the
Noble Lord in the lesson he proposed to give to
Ministers, namely, that • when they proposed a
CoMmittee of
_lnquiry_ into Abuses, the House
should _tell them, they had laid no ground for such
an Inquiry, and refuse to allow such an Inquiry to
be instituted. This Motion had for...its objea to
create a Committee to inquire into Abuses, for
whiels- there was at present no adequate pow,er
in the Adiniralty.k
Adoi;ral BERKELEY concurred most heartily in
the present measure ; he had no doubt but one upon
the' whole of the case, which was upon the power of
the Admiralty to send for Papers, and to administer
an oath ; he inclined to think the 'Admiralty had
such- poWer already.
Mr. DICKENSON, jun. said, that in conse-
quence of the rumours which had gone abroad re_
sneeting favour and partiality, he was happy to find,
that the Board of Admiralty had recourse to this
measure. He. praised the Economy adopted by the
present Administration, .to which the Country
could not forget its obligation for being relieved
froth" a most vexatious and oppiessive Tax upon
Incotne. -
Captaiy YORK. E, (of, the Navy), declared his ap-
prehensions to be? (hat this - Bill would not go far
enrhigh. The AdMiralty had 66 power over Pi.rze,
Agency Business, and in this respea, much was nd-
Cessal y to be done ; nor was that. necessity dimi-
nished, by .thespodatOus and seditiOus, disturbances
which lately took place in the Dock-yards. .
The CIIANC'ELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
observed; that the favourable eZpressiOns-which the
Hon. Member who 'spoke last .but- one, used- in
respea .ttr ,;he existing .Administration were much
qualified by remarks of a very diffeteot kind.—
This was the Lit time that he' ewer "heard Of a
charge ,of •partiality -against the -elevated charac
ter 'who presided Ate the Board of Admiralty. Sup,
posing it to allude to the appointment of Sir J. B.
WARREN to a FOreign Station, for . which he pos-
seised peculiar qualifications, a more discerning
mind, amore undaunted: intrepidity, more expert-
Mental knowledge., more- personal integrity, and is
more ardent zeal for the public service, was not to
be found in any man. , The Board of 'Admiralty
hal only on such an occasion to, consider -of the
qualities of the person to be employed,
,and in this
instance there were but few who would quarrel
with the exercise of their judgment: He admitted
that the Noy Board, thOugh not' the Admiralty,
had power to administer Oaths,
.but they could not
comirei_ect. the attendance of persons, papers, and
recore::e This deficiency remained 'to be supplied,
and in so important and extensive a department- it
would, in' his opinion, be better that matters of re-
gulation shouldte arranged by a ParliaMentary Com-
mission than by any Board whatever. In adverting
to the want of subordination which manifested itself
in some of the Dock Yards, it h.h beer repressed,
he said, by the energy and spirit of ree 'Vtrst L'utd
of the Admiralty, but certainly -would, require the
most seriou. investigation.
8;r A. .11 g4:-.)ND declared himself -6. be of tbe
same ()Pinion, and pronounced a short eUlo:,eitnia oti
the Navy Board, than which no other deve.ted half
so much time to the Public Service. There could
be no impeachment of its intelligence, fidelity, and
zeal, in remedying all which came to its.
knowledge, :hid were, within -its juriseiaion..
that was reqUired in this case, was a Comm6sion
composed of liberal and enlightened men, and ttits he

11

sr" ro reason why the ifolge should reel any dir..
position to refuse,
The Motion was then agreed tor-Abe Bill brought
;in by Captain IVIAaKsrAm, read a first time, and or-
dered- to be ra d a second time, and printed,
The Transportation Bill was read a second time
24-o comtnitied for to=morrow.
The House 'then resolved itself into a Committee
,of Supply (Mr. ALEXANDER in the Chair), to which
several Public Accounts being referred,
The CHAttc ELt..o a of the KI::CH'EQUER moved
the following Resolutions, which were agreed to. •

r,500,c001. to be. grant l to His Majesty for the purpose of
414 charging Exchequer. Bills to the same amount, issued by
authority of Parliament in an 40 of the last Session.,
•
r Corn imported .
for in the same year.
' rzi,oool. to pay such Bills as maybe drawn, or become due,
-fpr the Settlement ;of New South Wales in the year 1803 s
4,6001, for the supply and maintenance of :c2onvidis at
home.

igr,oool.for the suilering C:ergy.,and Laity of France, and
the American Loyall:3s.

sum,-he said, would not have been so con-
sideralle for the gross sums advanced to Erni:
grants wishing to, re,„;:: and would, in the next

year, he to a much stnaller
zt9l. t2S. to CTICS 13011011, Eq. for money advanced
from the Civil List to defray cet*,,n, expences. in the Ex-
phequer. •
• 3001, to John Kings Esq. Seretary toth: Commission for
kettliug the Boundaries in America.
to Mr. Baldwin, for services performed in Egypt.
3241. to Mr. Chinnetv, for his services under Governor
Pinter., in New South Wales.
6591. to Mr. for compiling the Journals ofthe House
of Cords.

%,70i I. to Lord Walsinghami as Chairman of the Commit-
tee of the House of Lords.

. .
$6.1. to George'Rose Esq. Solicitor to the Exchequer.
091. Ed.-to Mr. Mtissen, for his attendance on the. Cor-
d upon the improvement of the Port of London.
soot. Ito C. Smith, E to repay money advanced, in
making out E xtraais of the proceedings.of Parliament.
' .1461. and B.lsl. to other Gentlernen for similar services.
~r 34!. to Mr. Cobb,. for an additional Allowatitie to the
clerks in the Auditoi's °Like.

3, 7)pl. for the,Piscliarge, of Exchequer Fees. •
lotial. to j. W.' Hay, Esq. for Public services..
1,225,0r.;01. for the Repairs, &c. of Ships of War.
59a,c001. tor the Experceof Transports.
7.20001, for the Maintenance of Prisoners of War:

&r the sustenance of Prisoners of War, for the Year
!tc3, 4c,

The diferent- Resolutions were then agreed to„
g.nd ordered to be reported•to.:morrow.
- The Mutiny Bill was read a first, and ordered
to be read a second time to-morrow. , .
Mr. VANSITTAkT moved for leave to bring in a
,t,o.suspend the Proceedings in the Courts of
law 'upon penalties incurred under _former .Laws,
r.artielarly one in the reign of Queen Elizabeth,
for machinery, and persons employed in the Woolieh
Manufatrure of the County. This, Ite 'sairt; be-
came indispensably necessary in'our present -im-
proved state of our Manufaaures, which owed their
prosperity in a great measure to the negled of those
taws and ancient restraints, which were no 'longer a
applicable. . ,

Leave was given to bring in the flill, and.after
disposing of, the routine business of the d4y, the
17-louse adjourned till to-morrow,

MAILS.

P.R!z.lvcp.

PUE•

Holland o
Vrench 1
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I
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THE SUN.

OLZM QUIS DICERS. Phl.:11,1.01 ReDLAD?