The Sun.
London, England, 1833-02-15 00:00:00

ronet oa this occasion should satisfy the people of England
who looked up to him with confidence, that he bad not
changed his sentiments. _ .

Sir J. GRAHAM said, across the table, that they were
not changed.
- -

Mr. HUME was glad to hear it ; he had begun his re
ference to the Rigt t Hon. Baronet by saying that he did
not think he could have changed. In the same spirit,
Mr. Brougham, in a celebrated speech, had called upon
thy House " not to disregard the universal voice of the
nation loudly calling for retrenchment,"and, after charging
the then Government with not having paid due attention
to that voice, he went on to complain that " those who
refused to listen to the call for economy, in utter disregard
of the feelings of an insulted nation, proceeded from one
wasteful exp:nditure to another." He (Mr. Hume) did
not mean at all to charge the present Government with
doing so, and he only made this quotation to show the
strong sentiments of Members who then sat upon the Op-
position side of the House. Civil sinecures having thus
been in a great degree abolished, he begged to ask what
reason there was that military and naval sinecures should
not share the same fate? lie had been told that the
amount was small7-that it was not worth notice—and
that, at the present moment, old gallant officers ought not
to be deprived of this paltry reward of their services. He
remembered even to have formerly heard a Member en-
j,ying one of these pensions assert, that he thought it more
honourable than a grant front Parliament. Sure he was,
that no man in the army or n ivy who.deserved well of his
country, would fail to be amply rewarded by a vote of the
House, and sure he was, also, that had he the same claim
upon the gratitude of his country, he should prize such a
public tribute ten times beyond the value of any sinecure.
(Hear.) Then he should form one of a band not to he
pointed out by the finger of scorn, but to be pointed out by
the finger of admiration. Oa one occasion, when the Right
Ho., Baronet brought forward the case of the Governor of
Dartmouth, he (Mr. Hume) remembered that there was a
division upon the question. Let not the House be startled
at the small amount of t e proposed saving ; for a,though
the aggregate exceeded 33,0001., the suns to which the
particular vote applied was only 1751 One objection
taken was, that the Governor was a civilian, not a mili-
tary man ; and it appheil also to the Governors of St.
Kitts and 'Montserrat, who had been appointed from Par-
liamentary or family interest. He (Mr. Hume) admitted
that such sinecures were often given to worthy men ; but
has objection was, that they were sometimes bestowed
upon the unworthy, who stained the merit of all the rest.
—(Cheers.) Since the last Parliament, General Loftus
had been Lieutenant of the Tower. Who was appointed
to succeed him ? No doubt a poison of high rank, of long
standing in the army, and of eminent public services—
the Earl of Munster.—(Cheers.) If that Noble Lord
had been brought before the House for the reward of his
services, not a single hand would have been held up for
him.—(Cheers.) Every body knew how the thing had
been done ; and he could hardly blame those who, under
the circumstances, had yielded. He did not instance the
Gove: norship of Windsor Castle ; because a Committee to
which he (Mr. Hume) belonged, had abolished the salary,
and he did not object to any honours that might be be-
stowed ; they might be scattered as widely as any body
pleased, provided they were spread among the deserving.
If they were conferred upon the undeserving as well as
the deserving, the aristocracy must take care of themselves.
But who was Governor of the Tower now ? Lord Fre.
d. rick Fi.zclarence, who had been appointed to the office
after Lord Munster bad been made Constable of Windsor
Castle. This fact he had from the newspapers, and as
they some,itnes told stories, for aught he knew, this might
be one. But who was Lord F. Fitzelarence, and did he
come within the list of old meritorious officers? If such
an appointment had been forced upon Ministers, ought
nut the House to protect them from such influence ? The
saute Noble Lord had also an appointment in the Royal
Household.

Sir J. C. HOBHOUSE observed that no salary was
annexed to it.

Mr. HUME was sorry for it, if be hail any real duties
to discharge; he disliked volunteer services from any men
where there was any business to be done, for, like Hono-
rary Secretaries, they were sure to slip into some good thing
or other at last.—(Cheers and laughter.) Who was this
gallant and deserving veteran who now held the Lieuten-
ancy of the Tower? He entered the Coldstream Guards
on the 12th of May, 1814, so that he had never heard a
shot fired.
Sir J. C. HOBHOUSE reminded the Hon. Member
that the battle of Waterloo was subsequent to May, 1814.
Mr. HUME—True ; he had forgotten the battle of
Waterloo..--(Cheers and laughter.) Wont I any Member,
who cheered so loudly tell him that Lord Frederick Fitz-
clarence was at Waterloo?—(Hear, hear.) This was an
instance, therefore, of the manner in which military sine-
cures were abused. He begged it to be clearly under-
stood, that he wished to deprive no military or naval man
of the due reward of his services, and he hoped that the
country would never be backward in giving that reward
—(Hear, heir)—but he wished that all should be openly
done, and then he should not find, of the one hundred and
thirty Colonels in the army, so many who did not stand
well even in the opinion of the army. He did not himself
profess to be able to judge of the particular and individual
merits of those officers, but be knew that not a few were
indebted to family interest and influence. The House was
not, aware, perhaps, how many of I hese sinecures existed.
The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor of Berwick were
nun-resident, and there were, besides, a Town. Adjutant
and a Major ; when he (Mr. Hume) was last there, be
had been curious to learn something regarding the garri-
son, and he found that it was a mere mockery so to call it,
and there was not a single piece of arti lery in the place.
Wherever non-residence and no duties were combined, he
put it to the Noble Lord whether be could maintain such a
sinecure in the face of a distressed people demand.
ing a repeal of taxation ? He would be the first to
resist any unreasonable expectation on the part of the
people; he had done so, and he would do so again were
it necessary, though, as they only erred from ignorance--
and ignorance was fast disappearing—it was less likely that
hesh, uld be required to oppose the public wishes. Whether
naval and military sinecures ought to be reduced immedi-
ately was not the question, but whether sinecures ought to
be the means of rewarding services. It was a plain mat-
ter, and no mystification could confuse it. He would run
Over a few of the offices to which be objected :—The Go-
vernor of Blackness Castle wa- non-resident; the Go-
vernor of Csrlisle and his Deputy were non-resident. At
Ches er he did not know whether there was or was not a
garrison. He begged to say that he should be sorry need-
lessly to introduce any names, and would mention no
more than those of the Noble Lords of whom he liad
necessarily already spoken. If Ministers were not strong
enough to withstand the influence to which he had referred
in those appointments, he said again, let the House of
Commons interpose to protect them..:-..(Cbeers.) It merit
existed, let it be brought before the same House for its
reward ; and the claim, if well founded, would never he
rejected.—(Hear.) He was sure that the Noble Lord and his
colleagues meant to act honestly and fairly by the people,
and he (Mr. H.) could not h. 1p thinking that they would
be most happy in the opportunity of showing their attach-
ment to a sound principle, that reward should attend real
services, while the were at the same time protected from
unoue influence. The Governors of the Leeward Islands;
of the Virgin Islands, of Montserrat, of Grenada, Sr.
Kitt's, and Dominicat were non-resident, and two of them
he believed, were civilians. The salary for Dominica was
8661. a year, and"- the others were lower. 11 the
Noble Lord, on the motion of the Right Hon. Baronet,
',toted against the Governor of Dartmouth, because he was
Ciciviliatr, he was boiind to vote against the two Civil
Governors of St. Kitts and Montserrat. The Right
'Hod Baronet (Sir'J. Grahani) had recently laid
ilb'svitun excellent principle in the. case of Sir H Neale ;
he truly said that the-duties of PO'rt Admiral and of re-
presetithtive in the House of Commiins were inconsistent.
Hitheita it had been thnught that a:man could be in two
places it the same time, but that notion was now going
out of faShion, and lie was happy thus tii hive another
reason for'expecting. the vote of tKe First Lord of_the
Athuiralty: :While he contended ter a plain and simple
principle, lie begged to defend himself against the allegation
contained io several anonymous letters—tbat he wished
to: deprive deserving officers of their few remaining re-
wards ; on the contrary, he was ready and anxious to pay
all according' to their real merits, and only desirous that
the- undeserving should not t.e confounded with the de-
serving, -and both-mixed up in one common censure. He
therefore piopot•ed the two following resolutions :
"'A. That it is' the opinion of the ilouse, that the utmost
atte4tion to economy In all branches of the public expenditure,
which -is consistent"with the public service, is at all times a
great and important duty: ,
" 2. That the existence.of sinecure offices, and offices exe-
cuted by deputy,,in the army and navy departments, is unne-
cessary and inexpedient as a means of_remunerating public
services."
It (continited the Hon, Member) economy were not to
be practised
,With regard to sinecures, how would it be
possible to retrench the, salaries of,the offices to which
some, and, perhaps, very useful duties were attached ? He
would leave the
.question in the bands of the House.
What might be the result he knew not, for he only spoke
his individual opinions, and had not even asked a Member
to second his proposition.
Mr. ROBINSON said, he seconded the motion with-
(nt any previous concert with the Hon. Member
Middlesex, and he sincerely declared, that is a Member
of that House; he felt that his Hon, Friend bad made out