The Sun.
London, England, 1859-03-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 19, 1859.

that no recognitionof those services had taken place. (Hear,
hear.) He did not allude to the promotion of Sir J. Law-
rence from the position of Commissioner to that of Lieut.-
Governor, for the latter rank was only held for a brief
period of time, but Sir J. Lawrence had received the thanks
of that house, a baronetcy, the Grand Cross of the Bath, a
special pension of £2,000 a year, in addition to the pension
to which he is entitled by right as a retired member of the
civil service, and moreover, Sir J. Lawrence held a seat for
life, if he he desired it, in the Council for India. (Hear,
hear.) He hoped Sir J. Lawrence's career migli be consi-
dered as closed, and that some future Government might, if
that distinguished individual did not returnto England, still
avail themselves of his services in. India. (Hear, hear.)
With respect to the question put by the noble lord, he had
to say that it was the intention of the Government to pro-
pose to that house a vote of thanks to those who, whether in
a civil or military capacity, had taken a prominent part in
the pacification of India. (Cheers.) In that vote both the
Governor-General of India and Lord Glyde would be in.
eluded. The reason, the only reason why the vote of thanks
was not proposed at the begging of the session was, because
though at that time the pacification of India was obviously
nearly accomplished, it was not absolutely effected, and the
Government were anxious to have the opportunity of in-
cluding in the vote any exploit which might still seem to
deserve the thanks of Parliamer t. (Hear.) He confessed
that he thought, if it were inconvenient to discuss the
question of Parliamentary reform on the motion for the ad-
journment of the house, it was not less so to take that op-
portunity to discuss a matter fully debated last year, viz.,
the issue of Lord Canning's proclamation. (Hear, hear.)
At the proper time he should be ready to vindicate the
course taken by Government ; but he was not very much
surprised that some political discussions which had taken
place that evening should have recalled to mind the circum-
stances which attended the debate on the proclamation last
year. (Laughter.) If ever that debate should be resumed,
he believed it would be attended with the same res alt.
(Hear, hear.) With respect to the general conduct of Lord
Canning, as distinguished from that particular transaction,
he did not think that the noble lord the member for the
City of London could speak of him in stronger terms of ap-
proval than ho had done, not only of late, but when that
conduct was formerly under discussion in that house. 'With
regard to the question of the hon. and gallant general re-
specting the artillery, as he had not received notice of it, he
had not had an opportunity of ascertaining when the papers
would be ready, but he would make inquiry on the point.
Lord PALMERSTON wished to say one word on that
which had fallen from the noble lord in regard to the
observations of his noble friend the member for the City
of London. His noble friend did not revert to the de-
bate of last year, and did not advert to the policy of
the Government in regard to India; but he did make
some observations on that which must strike with pain
every man who read the document alluded to. (Hear,
hear.) His noble friend observed on the taste and
the feeling—to say no more—of that despatch, which the
noble lord the Secretary for India thought it consistent
with his duty to send to Lord Canning—(hear, hear)—and
the noble lord must not be allowed to escape from those re-
marks by endeavouring to revert to the discussions of last
year. (Hear, hear.) He deeply regretted that the noble
lord should have thought it befitting his position as a Mi-
nister of the Crown to write a sneering, taunting, ironical
despatch to Lord Canning, in answer to explanations which
every man might read with admiration. (Cheers.) He
would say nothing as to the concealment of those explana-
tions for many months during which they lay in the office
of the noble lord. (Hear, hear.) At last they came out, and
no man who read them could avoid feeling with respect to
them sentiments very different from those expressed in the
despatch of the noble lord opposite. (Cheers.)

FOREIGN-OFFICE MESSENGERS.

Mr. WISE asked how the £40,000 voted in the estimates
for the Foreign-office messengers was disposed of ; what was
the tenure of office of Queen's foreign service messenger;
and what were the regulations which had been recently
made with reference to the remuneration of that corps.
The hon. gentleman made a long statement which was very
imperfectly heard in the gallery, but the purport of which
appeared to be that these officers were insufficiently remu-
nerated, and that the public service suffered in consequence.
Some of them had been appointed many years ago on an
assurance that their situations would be for life, and that
their clear income would be £4OO a year ; but it had now
been reduced to £250. Under the old system the greater
the amount of work these officers performed the greater,
was their remuneration • but now there was an induce-
ment for them to do as little as possible. Many of them
were gentlemen who had given up their position in the
army to accept these offices. When Lord Palmerston
was in office he had caused an investigation to be made into
the matter; and from inquiries made at all the Courts of
Europe it was ascertained that the expenses of out
messengers did not exceed those of France, Russia,.
and other large States. The direct tendency of the
new system was to discourage energy and activity.
As the messengers were not allowed travelling expenses their
salaries were not sufficient to support their families. The
present arrangement was most unjust to the officers and in-
jurious to the public service. Out of salaries ofsoo or £525
these officers had to submit to income tax, superannuation
allowances, and other deductions, besides their expenses, so
that they had not more than £250 left. The plan of a fixed
salary would never answer. There ought to be an allowance
of at least £1 a day for travelling expenses. The messengers
were sometimes so heavily burdened with despatches that
they leoked like agents of Pickford's. (A laugh.)
Mr. S. FITZGERALD could not give any assurance of
an alteration in the system. The hon. gentleman complained
at once of extravagance and of the officers being underpaid.
He was desirous of giving the fullest information to the
house, and would on Monday or Tuesday place papers on the
table supplying all that information. The £40,000 referred
to was expended in the payment of expenses of messengers
and telegrams, the cost of which was rapidly increasing.
By arrangements for decreasing the number of journeys to
distant courts there would be a saving of £lO,OOO or £12,000
a year. The Queen's foreign service messenger held his
office during good behaviour, being appointed under war-
rant by the Secretary of State. All the messengers now re-
ceived £525 a year in lieu of former allowances; but there
were extra payments for boat hire, &o. The papers to be
produced would, give the fullest information.
The motion for adjournment to Monday was then agreed
to.