The Sun.
London, England, 1856-03-01 00:00:00

THE 5E074,...t...,0';':...D0N1 SATURDAY EvENING., MARCH 1, '0'156.

may be convoni3nt that I sliord..l expl The hen gen-
tleman has entirely misumlersto )1 the object of my motion,
which is to blame the misconduct of those by whose ne-
glect or incompetency various depart meats of the army have
been pLced under the command of offi.;ers whose conduct
has been inculpated by the report of the commission ap-
pointed by the Government.
Mr. PEEL, remarked that the hon. and learned member
had altered his ,notion so often that it was somewhat diffi-
cult to understand exletly what he did mean. When he
was told that the inquiry was to sit with closed doors, the
hon. and learned gentleman said the object of the Govern-
tumt was to shelter incompetence; that they desired to
screen the officers against whose conduct imputations had
been cast in the report, but the Moment he was informed
that the board of general officers was to be an open tribu-
nal, then the hon. and learned member turned round and
said the object of the Government was not to shelter the
officers who were to appear before it, but to hide thcir own
misconduct.

Airey was nest taken by Lord Hardinge alone, but was shared
by the Government, for what could otherwise have in-
duced the Government to send General Airey ae a mem-
ber of the conference which was held in Paris with regard
to the future conduct of the war? They could only have
looked to the fact that this country should have its
weight in that conference when they selected ofUcere who
• represented this country, and. General Airey was one of
those who was sent over. There was everything to induce
Lori Hardinge to believe that General Airey was capable
of doing a duty similar to that to which he had devote I
himself fur two years ; aud, couddering that the report of
the Crimean coutnissioners had not then been received
by the Government, no more proper appointment could
then have been made. He (lir. Peel) did not know
whether ‘fr. Filler had been named by the. hon. and
learned gentleman, but the right hon. gentleman opposite
(Sir J. Pakington) had spoken of some injustice having
been done to that gentleman because he was n.)t aware
that ho had bean recalled until he (Hr. Peel) had so stated
last night, and because he had becu sant a copy of the re-
port, -vhich had only been laid on the table of the house
a short time ago. Ho (Hr. Peel) did not use the word
" recall " with any moaning that it conveyed censure,
and he would state the circumstances under which Mr.
Filder retired from the office of Commissary-General.
When Lord Panmure came to the War-office he re-
ceived an impression that the performance of the duties

of tha Conirnisgariat in tll3 Crim©a had not been satisfac

tory, as it ought to have been. The report of the com-
mittee over which the hon. and learned gentleman presided
strengthed that impression, and the first report of the
Crimean commission could not but have tended still fur-

ther to strengthen it. Having also heard that the health
of the Commiesary-General was failing, it was natural that
Lord Pannier° should take the first opportunity to relieve
that officer. It was known there was every prospect that
the army would pass another winter in the Crimea, and
that its numbers would be largely increased, and that
greater exertions would be required to provide for the
army in the winter of 1855-56 than were required in that
of 1354-55, and Lord Panmure came to the resolution to
intimate to the Commissary-General that another officer
would succeed him. A despatch was sent to Gen. Simp-
son stating the reasons for the recall of the Commissary-
General in the kindest aad most considerate manner ; but
while that despatch was on its way to the Crimea, Mr.
Filder applied for a medical board to inquire into the state
of his health, and in consequence of its decision he had
actually quitted the Crimea before the despatch arrived.
Ho came home ; but, if had remained in the Crimea, he
would have been made acquainted with the fact that an-
other officer would be appointed to succeed him. Then
with regard to not communicating to Mr. Filder the first
report of the commission. The fact was, that whon the
Government received it, the Commissary-General had al-
ready retired, and it was not thought advisable to com-
municate to him a report against him, when the whole
question had been settled by that investigation. That first
report was received in June last, but it was not complete,
and it was unaccompanied by the evidence—it was simply
a bare report of the commission, but contained no account
of their proceedings, for which there was no time, and it
was only intended to inform the Government of the de-
fects of the Commissariat as early as possible. The Go-
vernment was therefore unwilling to do anything towards
Mr. Filder, which might be considered unkind ; but
when in December last the Commissary-General applied
to Lord. Hardinge to recommend him for the Order of
the Bath, it became necessary to state why Lord Pan-
inure would be unable to recommend him for that dis-
tinction ' and that he was not satisfied with the way
in which the duties of the Commissariat had been per-
formed, or that greater exertions might not have been used
if the department had gone out of the beaten track,
in order to obtain supplies. That communication was
not made to Mr. Filmier till the middle of January, soon
after the complete report of the Crimean commission had
reached the Government. The house would observe that
the statements in the report made it necessary that further
opportunity of explanation should be afforded to the other
officers who were inculpated, and it was thought advisable
to deal with Mr. Filder in that respect as it was proposed
to do with the others, and that a court should be appointed
to receive the explanations of all of them. That was all
that he (Ar. Peel) thought it necessary to state on that
occasion. He could only say that when the hon. and learned
gentleman imputed misconduct to the Government for
some of the appointments which they had made, he
was sure that at least they might claim credit for
others. The departbients generally were now ad-
mitted to be filled by the fittest men. The present Adjn-
ten',-General in the Crimea was an officer whose attention
to the drilling of the troops and training them to the use
of the new weapons which had been established, had con-
tributed to form an infantry which would be found in ac-
tion to have reached an effectiveness which had never been
reached before. The efficerwhe filled the office of Quarter-
master-General had shown great capability, and the condi-
tion of the supplies of the army testified to his ability to
do his duty. With regard to the medical department, at
its bead was the very officer:named by the hon. andlearned
gentleman, Dr. Hall.
Mr. ROE BUC&—I did not mention his name.

Mr. F. PEEL—His :mpression was the hon. and learned
gentlemn.o did mune Dr. Hall.
Mr. ROEBUCK—I did not.