The Sun.
London, England, 1835-09-04 00:00:00

GENERAL DARLING.

REPORT.
The Select Committee appointed to inquire into The con-
duct of General Darling, while Governor of New South
Wales, particularly with reference to the grants of Crown
lands made by him, his treatment of the public press, the case
of Captain Robison and the New South Wales Veteran Com-
panies, and the alleged instances of cruelty towards the sol-
diers Sudds and Thomson and other persons, and who were
empowered to report their observations thereupon to the
House, together with the minutes of the evidence taken be-
fore them, have agreed to the following report :
" Your Committee have inquired into the cases of the sol-
diers Sudds and Thomson, and in support of the charges
preferred against General Darling in reference to those indi-
viduals examined Captain Robison, Norman *Lean, and Dr.
Douglas, being the only witnesses tendered to your Commit-
tee. 'They also had recourse to the several papers on the
subject laid upon the table of the House; but they did not
deem it necessary to call for any witnesses in explanation or
defence of the conduct of General Darling.
" Under these circumstances, your Committee, without en-
tering into any detailed statement of the evidence, or of the
grounds on which they have arrived at that conclusion, beg to
report to the House their opinion, that the conduct of General
Darling, -with respect to the punishment inflicted on Sudds
and Thomson, was, under the peculiar circumstances of the
colony, especially at that period, and of repeated instances on
the part of the soldiery of misconduct similar to that for which

the individuals in question were punished, entirely free from
blame ; and there appears to have been nothing in General
Darling's subsequent conduct, in relation to the case of the
two soldiers, or in the reports thereof which he forwarded to
Government at home, inconsistent with his duty as a public
functionary, or with his honour as an officer and a gentleman.
" Your Committee having read the petition of Mr. Robert
Dawson,,which has been referred to them, are of opinion that
it contains matter which cannot be investigated by this Com-
mittee with advantage, the subject being more properly cog-
nizable by the Colonial Office.

" No evidence was tendered to your Committee in support
of the remaining charges comprised in the order of reference.
" September 1."

DANISH CLAIMS.

MR. EDITOR,—As other important matters have, no doubt
preventing your noticing the case of the poor Danish claim-
ants, I take the liberty of appealing to your sense of justice,
and to trouble you with the following facts -
The claimants of the 2d class, for goods taken on shore, and
of the 3d, for ships and cargoes, have been doubly aggrieved by
the conduct of Lord Althorp and his successor at the Treasury.
The motion of Mr. Parker was for a Committee " to examine
into the claims for book debts and other property," which
Lord Althorp requested to be withdrawn, and said, " After
such an unanimous expression of the feelings of the House, it
would be inconsistent with his duty to waste more of the public
time in the discussion of the subject. The' Government would
be ready to take measures for the payment of the sums claimed
as due to the petitioners." Lord Althorp, therefore, does net
appear to have thought any further inquiry necessary, and that
he had only to provide for the payment of the claims. On
cooler thoughts, however, he found that he ought to have
agreed to the Committee, and have left it to the House, on the
report of such Committee, to decide on the various claims. In
order, therefore, to get out of the serape, he determines to throw
the 2d and 3d classes overboard by wording his minute in opposi-
tion to the resolution as recorded on the votes, by which he under-
took to satisfy all the claimants. Instead, then, of such an in-
quiry on the equity of the claims generally, and the justice of re-
funding a portion of a sum not the most creditably acquired,
as would have been afforded-to the claimants by a Committee
of the House, Lord Althorp endeavoured to strengthen him-
self with cx parte dry legal opinions on abstract questions, so
framed as to suit his object ; but at the same time to circum-
vent the apparent iberality with which he had lulled the House
into a belief that the general expresSion in favour of all the
claimants would be corresponded to.
In regard to book-debts, his Lordship most likely did not
think it advisable to take legal opinions, as it might be diffi-
cult to obtain one so exclusively in their favour that it would
not at the same time apply to the other classes. Mr. -Spring
Rice has, therefore, to thank the Noble Lord for the difficul-

ties which have beset him on this subject, and his only course
now is to redeem the original pledge to the House of Com-
mons. The feeling of the House evidently was, that indivi-
duals who had suffered losses by the acts of the Danes gene-
rally in 1807, in consequence of the attack on Copenhagen,
should, without invidious distinction, be indernnified by the
repayment of a portion of the amount received by the seizure
of Danish property in that year.—Yours,
AN OBSERVER.