The Sun.
London, England, 1856-02-12 00:00:00

They had been told that the Russian fleet was reviewed
during the summer before the war under the eye of theEm•
peror himself, and that such was its efficiency that is only
one instance was the lino Into which it had been formed
broken. The Emperor was so much gratified at the spec-
tacle that he nominated the officer who performed the ex-
ploit a rear-admiral on the spot. Notwithstanding the
statement of the gallant admiral near him (Admiral Napier),
that the fleet with which he sailed was inefficient, he was
confident that it would have met the Russians in a way
worthy of its ancient renown. (Cheers.) He regretted that
the right hon. gentleman had thought it necessary to direct
a personal and unworthy allusion against him. His accusa-
tion. against the Admiralty was not for having placed him
upon the reserved list. If, either from age or other circum-
stances, it was thought he could no longer serve his coun-
try with credit, it was right and just that he should be put
on one side. But in the year 1823 he happened, through
the blessing of God, to perform a service that in the opi-
nion of his commander-in-chief was of a brilliant character,
and for which ho recommended him for a Companionship
of the Bath. Owing to the employment in which he was
engaged, his health was so much reduced that his life was

deip;irsid of. But in 12 months afterwards his health was
restored, and he addressed the Admiralty for employment.
From the year 1823 to 1?52 he continued to offer himself
for any description of employmentato serve on any station,
and to accept of any command. He to offered himself hun-
dreds of times altogether, as the records of the Admiralty
wouldshow. Having done all that man could do to obtain
employment, and having failed, he sail it was discreditable
to the Board of Admiralty to rob him of the fair honours
he had wen in 1823, and to plaCe him on the reserved list
undecorated and unemployed. • The Admiralty said that
all the captains could not be employed; but if the Admi-
ralty kept a few captains year after year with ship after
ship, how could he or any otter man get employment ? He
wanted no pay; he only wanted the honour and credit of
serving his country. If it were on record that he had been
recommended by his commander-in-chief for the Com-
panionship of the Bath, and if his late Majesty had written
to say ho was deserving of the honour, then he said that to
place him on the reserved list was unworthy of the Admi-
ralty, and conduct that his country would, he believed,
treat with reprobation.
Sir C. WOOD explained that he had only said that on a
former occasion the hon. and gallant admiral had corn plain cd
of the institution of the reserved list on which he was placed.
That list was not his doing, and it was a matter of fact
that the hon. and gallant admiral had complained.
Mr. CAYLEY wished to know what alterations the right
hon. gentleman proposed to snake with respect to masters.
Sir C. WOOD—The alteration made is raising the pay
of two classes of masters.
Mr. BAILLIE hoped that the first opportunity would be
taken of increasing the qualification of naval instructors.
It was very desirable that they should be able to give in-
struction in the French language.
Sir H. WILLOUGHBY hoped that some means would be
devised of placing the• power of exceeding the estimates
under some control. It appeared that in this year's expen-
diture no less a sum than 634,000/. had been spent without
the sanction of the house. One item of this excess, the
expenditure of 435,0001. upon the vote No. 10, he had be-
fore brought under the notice of the house.
Mr. BENTIacK thought there was a practical absur-
dity in the system of which the hon. and gallant member
for Christchurch (Admiral Walcott) had complained. An
officer was not employed for a certain number of years,
and at the end of that time he was told that, because he had
not been employed, his services Should uo longer be avail-
able. Every efficient man in the service might be placed on
the reserved list of the system were carried out.
Capt. SCOBELL said, the right hon. gentleman had
spoken at considerable length, and had alluded to some
points to which no reference seemed necessary after the
ample discussion they had received some nights ago.
He did not assert that more ships than were necessary had
hitherto been employed, but when the right hon. gentle-
man talked of 350 pennants in the Baltic and 100 in the
Black Sea, where there was not now a single cockboat
of the Russian• fleet, he thought it was rather overdone.
Let them send out as many small ships as they pleased—
they were at last doing right. in that respect, but ships like
the Conqueror and the Marlborough were too large to be of
use in the Baltic, for they could not get near the places
which were to be bombarded. He was glad that a large
increase was to take place in the number of boys, for no
one could become a good sailor who did not go to sea as a
boy. With regard to the employment of coastguardsmen,
no doubt they were fino old sailors, and it was very pro-
per to put them on board ' men-of-sear at first, but he
thought they would • now be able to -get a suffi-
cient number of seamen at less expense to the
country. Older sailors didl not like to see men
with much larger pay than themselves on board the same
ship, although they did not say much about it ; and be
thought it would be better to expend the amount of their
extra pay in bounty. He denied that it was wrong to
mention the subject of bounty —the error was in not giving
it. Ito wished to impress upon the right hon. gentleman
the necessity of keeping down the number of cadets. Old
admirals and captains could not be strangled; they must
be put up with while they were alive, and cadets ought,
therefore, to be kept out of the service. From 1812 to the
present tierce 2,000 cadets had been admitted, while in the
same period not more than half that number of lieutenants
had been made. An average of 15 cadets a year would be
quite sufficient for the next 10 years.. The .right hon.
gentlemen had accused him and other hon. members of
making erroneous statements; but, iu spite .Of' the right
hon. gentleman's judgment, expelieece, and authority, he
would repeat every statement that he had made on former
occasions. The right hon. gentleman had alluded to one
of the first naval officers and one of the best Lords of the
Admiralty we ever had—Sir G. Cockburn. Was the
document left at his death, by an officer of so much expe-
rience and talent, of nowathority.? Why, the right hon.
gentleman (God grant ho might live many years !) might,
perhaps, favour them with a little advice in his will —(a
laugh)—for be believed many a man hid his real opinion
while he was in office. With regard to promotion, he
wished to know how it was that ninny subordinate officers
who had served against the Russians before Sebastopol
had been passed over in favour of men who never saw the
trenches? The right hon. gentleman had read a letter,
although ho did not name the writer, to prove that every-
thing was going on as well as possible, but every First
Lord could get a hundred sect' Jetters if lie gave out that
be wished for them. • He haul some letters in his possession,
and he should bo glad to show them. to the right hon. gen-
tleman, which would prove to him the existence of more
discontent in the service than -he could imagine. With
reseect to the small vessels, ho 'should congratulate the
Admiralty in finding them better names. Some of them
were most wretched, such as the Clinker and Cracker.
There was something in a name, for sailors did not like to
be lout on hoard the Flincher or Pincher. Surely there
wero enough gods and goddesses to pick names from. The
subject of transports was ratite: a terrific one. In the be-
ginning of the war they weresent out at random, and heaps
of money were throw') away. There must be 103 or 150
transports somewhere in tlie Black Sea and Baltic. The
price of them he was te'd was -noes' somewhat lowered—from
50s. to 495. per ton per month. Thus, a vessel of 2,000 tons
would cost 4.030/. per month, or 48,0001. a year, in addi-
tion to which the Government found coals for the trans-
port. Why could not men-of-war have been used for the
purpose, especially since the sicking of the Russian fleet at
Sebastopol? The French carried almost all their troops in
men-of-war, and thus saved a great deal of money. With
respect to the dockyard; nothing had worked better than
the system of rewarding merit which had been established
for two years, and he only wished such a system existed in
the naval and military services. Our ships, he admitted,
were noble machines, but lie thought it extraordinary to
push on the completion of large vessels when small wore
wanted. He congratulated the services on the establishment
of en order of merit, which would incite officers and men in

the performance of their dtty more than any other device
that could be bit on. It would be more valued than the
Order of the Bath or any medal, for the Cross of the. Order
of Merit would not be given indiFcriminately to a whole
army or navy, but only to such individuals as deserved
it. The right honourable baronet said that to remove
the' coastguard men would create inefficiency in the fleet,
and that observation preyed that the Government were
obliged to resort to that method of getting men to mix
with the landsmen. W:th respect to the chauges to be
made in the commanders' list, he thought the right hon-
ourable baronet's motive very goo] indeed, but be (Cap-
tain Scobell) made some remarks the other night on two
classes of retired captains, which the rightbonourable hart.
had misunderstood. 01)3 class was made of men, many of
whom bad been nearly 40:, years commanders, and they
were put on the _retired captains' list, and got the highest
pay of commander. When they were made post captains
they got 10s. 6d. pay and ranked with lientenant-colonels,
and in three years' time afterwards ranked with colonels,
hut got no higher pay. But the great hardship on the class
was this, that there was another on which younger com-
manders ware put, according to choice, before them. Ho
would not object to any grant necessary. for the efficiency
of the service, or to any encouragement being given,
whether by bounty or pay, for the ptirpose of obtaining
good men. . _

Adtrifiel BERKELEY said that many gallant, officers lied
talked very much on the impropriety of Government re-
fraining from offering bounty, but he did not believe that
if 5/. bounty had been offered at the beginning of the war,
one able seaman would have been got more that at present
for men of war. Those seamen were not to be picked up in
the street, and if Vie Government had of ;red Si. bounty the
merchant service would hare offered 10/. He had been very
much surprised to hear an officer like the hon. and gallant
member for Bath (Capt. Scobell) advocate the conveyance
of troops by men-of-war. The hope had been told that the
fleets were bg:lly manned and deficient in discipline.
...,fiief.A.Sstk!hCaOdßsEtaLtLed ate:
,iiet
manned, but that the Baltic fleet was the reverse.
Admiral BERKELEY thought that an extraordinary
ctht.'elßralhZ. fl"enedt ralslavnet'rymaevthell
statement, seeing that the ships m the Baltic fleet con-
stituted the best part of the Black Sea fleet. However that
nil Olt be, it was well known that nothing disarranged the
affairs of a ship or interfered wi th the discipline of a. man-of-
war so much as when a raw shipte company was mixed up
with a body of troops. Besides, in order to make zoom for
troops on board a man-of-war she must discharge half her
crew, and so, he supposed, it was intended that ships should
come home, land half their companies; and then retum to
fetch the troops. He was quite sure that the freer men-of-
war were kept from strangers thS better it would be both
for the discipline and the comfort of the crews.
Sir C. NAPIER, before making any remarks, wished to
know whether the right hon. baronet had been correct in
saying that the number of seamen and marines to be voted
this year was greater than that voted the year before last,
as he (Sir C. Napier) imagined there was a decrease?
Sir C. WOOD replied that the number of seamen, ma-
rines, and boys voted in the year alluded to was 70,000,
while the vote for the present year was 76,000, an increase
consequently of 6,000.
Sir C. NAPIER proceeded to congratulate the Govern-
ment on the statement which he had heard from the right
hon. baronet, that there wes to be 4,44fficient fleet of gun-
boats and mortar vessels for the BaltiS this year, and he
gave the Government the highest credit for malatkhionugghsuhcles
aprfeepwaroabtisoernvsaattiolnasstr.esHpeacytiinnggstahkei tAhLt,ihraeltwyi,shed to make
knew very well it was quite useless for any naval officer
in that house or out of it to criticise the conduct of the
Admiralty or the construction ofsthe board. The moment
such criticism was attempted, up started in defence—first,
the First Lord, then the first naval lord, then the secre-
tary, and so on through all the members of the board in
that house. However he Would day that it was impossible
for the duties of the Admiralty to be Well performed while
one half of the establishment Was at Somerset-house and
the other half at Whitehall. When the right hon. taro-
net the member for Carlisle (Sir .L Graham) reformed the
Admiralty, it was, no doubt, his intention that the whole
establishment should be at Somerset-house, but he (Sir
C. Napier) heard that it was the ladies of the department
who objected to the transfer,
•as they considered White-
hall more fashionable than the Strand. Every one con-
nected with the department, whether First Lord or clerk,
must know how impossible it was •to carry on naval
duties in sepasato buildings, and yet there was no rea-
son why the inconvenience had not been remedied, only
that the Admiralty did not choose to do it. The Surveyor
of the Navy was an officer of great importance, and he had
to bo tolosta,plal for frow Vilitolall Somerset-housekm