The Sun.
London, England, 1861-02-09 00:00:00

THE DISTURBANCES IN THE EAST.

Sir JAMES FERGUSSON asked the Secretary of
State for Foreign Affairs whether her .Majesty's Govern-
ment had received any information respecting the tribunal
bore which the Druse chiefs had been tried who volun-
tarily surrendered themselves to the Turkish authorities ;
',whether the evidence before that tribunal was in the pos-
session of her Majesty's Government; whether it was tine
that these men had been condemned to death; and, if
they had, whether the Government intended to make any
representations to the Porte upon the subject? Ho con-
tended that the chiefs who had surrendered themselves had
been prejudged, and, if the reports which appeared in the j
newspapers were correct, the proceedings before the tribunal
were a farcer and a perversion of justice. If such were the
rase, then he contended that it was just and politic for this
'country to pro Vent the execution of these men. These
Druses were taen of heroic principle, and animated by the
same feelings that prevailed formerly amongst the High-
land tribes of Seetland. He believed these men were as
free from: guilt% .regird to the massacre that had taken
place, and, if we did not interfere in their behalf, we were
gnilt.g of innocent blood being shed,
Lord J. RUSSELL said the tribunal in question was an
e-itraordinary one, but still it was properly constituted.
:However, from circumstances that had come to the know-
ledge of her Majesty's Government, they were of opinion
that the Druses had not had a fair trial. With respect to
their innocence the Government had no means of judging of
that, until they had seen the evidence on which they were
convicted. Her Majesty's Government had made arrange-
ments with the Ottoman Porte that in the event
of the conviction of these men none of them
"were to be executed until the evidence at their trial had
been submitted to the European Powers and received their
approbation. He asked the Turkish ambassador bow it
happened that aft the Turks who were convicted in respect
to the events in Syria were sentenced only to exile, while
the others. were executed, a fact which had excited the at-
tention of Lord Dufferin. The only explanation he had
received was that, according to the law of Turkey, it was
not legal to condemn inhabitants of that State to death
under the circumstances. The noble lord entered into
some further explanations, and concluded by stating that
the European Powers would take care that justice would be
done in regard to these Druse chiefs.
COMPETITION IN THE MARINE AND NAVAL

SERVICE.
Sir F. SMITH, asked the Secretary of the Admiralty
Nrhether it was intended to introduce the competitive
illinallttlA of examination in the selection of cadets for the
1114 service. He was opposed to limited competition,
said "intetided that, if there were any competition at all, it
should bolope
la ...,
A. U.
Mr.
expressed a
competition would be hope that the system of open
n io
applied to the royal navy as well as
to the maiine ERA.'
of appointing boyseiet: and strongly objected to the system
the t navy merely because their fathers
bad been in her
mal
to their intellectual ttea ra service, and without reference
q "lineations (Hear, hear.)
DOCKYARD MANAGEMENT.
Sir J.
Admiralty'when the reELPHINSTONItasked the Secretary to the
yard management would por
bed
p the commission on dock-
Majesty's Government intended to :lied; and whether her
the appointment
of surveyor of the navy, vacant by tlri:,: retirement of Sir
Baldwin Walker, before the hells,
Of the evidence taken by that commission.
complained Possession
complained strongly of the mismanagement lie
bited by the authorities at the dockyards, 'and
alluded alluded to the failure of the floating batteries conet,r4i
during the Crimean war, which proved utterly mei .
He thought that before they proceeded further in the bun -
ing of iron coated ships, they should ha e
sent the Warrior to sea, or tried the experi-
ment of iron coating on some of the old vessels that
were lying in the docks. Instead of that, however, they
were building enormous vessels, some of which would cost

£500,000. The otlicets appointed to decide on the con-
struction of vessels for the Royal Navy were incompetent
for the duty, and he cited the case of Sir Bald t Walker,
who had no practical acquaintance with ipbuilding
and no knowledge of naval architecture at th time of his
appointment, and yet for the last 10 year, all the ships
that had been built in the dockyards had been sub-
jected to his approval. It might be said that he
was furnished with models by naval architects ; but he
exercised his own judgment, and complaints were made that
he carried out his crotchets of long masts to an injurious
extent.

Sir JOHN PABINGTON expressed a regret that
the Government had not made experiments on a
limited scale before they adopted the principle of
iron-coated vessels, and deprecated strongly the delay in
the launching of the Warrior. Ile asked for full informa-
tion as to when this vessel would be sent to sea, which he
hoped would be With as little delay as possible.
After a few words fromMr SCULLY against the system
of half competition and half nomination in Ireland, parti-
cularly in the constabulary,
Lord C. PAGET said he thought the naval discussions
had been commenced very early this session. He hoped that
he should be able to lay the naval estimates upon the table
in a few days, when they might have the whole evening to
themselves, and when all these questions would meet with
a full and fair discussion ; therefore he trusted the house
would not require him to enter into all the details of these
great questions upon the motion for the adjournment of the
house to Monday. In answer to the question put by the
hon. baronet the member for Chatham (Sir F. Smith) with
regard to the competitive examination among the marine
cadets he had to inform him that the present First Lord had
introduced a system of limited competition among the marine
cadets. (Hear, hear.) He knew his hon. friend did not ap-
prove of that, and that he preferred an open and unre-
stricted competition. (Hear.) There were many opinions
as to the various systems, and upon these questions the
public were very much divided. He might state that he
(Lord Paget) was in favour of unlimited competition; but
his noble friend the First Lord had, in the course taken with
regard to the marine cadets, acted in a very fair manner,
and it was a very great improvement upon the old system,
Under the old system it was a pure matter, he would not
say of favour, of giving these cadetships to the sons of meri-
torious officers. (Hear.) His noble friend had directed that
the nominations should be limited to old officers' sons and to
the sons of men who had not large enough means to pinto
their sons in other professions. The marine corps neis one in
which men who could afford to go into the army or artillery
were not disposed to enter; but he wished they would do so
because it was an honourable corps to belong to, and the
position of the cadets on board ship was a high one. The
system introduced by his noble friend was this, that when a
vacancy occurred a certain number of young men were exa-
mined, and the successful candidate was placed in the
corps., He thought the system was a fair one, that it worked
well, and that it gave general satisfaction. The hon. mem-
ber for Derby (Mr. Bass) had alluded to naval cadets, and
he found fault with the system pursued by the Admiralty,
in not appointing naval cadets by open competition. There
was a discussion last year on this question, and he then
showed that it was one of great difficulty, and that it was
impossible to say that every lad of 14 years could be said to
pass a successful competitive examination which could test
their abilities when grown up, and for that reason he did not
think it would be right to introduce it among naval cadets.
(Hear.) His hon. friend would no doubt admit that some
improvement in the system had taken place. He would
turn now to the questions of the holl.member for Portsmouth,
which were, "when the report of the Commission on Dock-
yard Management would be presented," and "whether her
Majesty's Government intended to fill up the appointment
of Surveyor of the Navy, vacant by the retirement of Sir
Baldwin Walker, before the house was in possession of the
evidence taken by that commission." He (Lord C. Paget)
was unable to state when the report of the commission would
be presented, because the various details which had been
entered upon would require a great deal of consideration
before the report could be made. (Hear, hear.) As to the
appointment of a successor to Sir Baldwin Walker, it was
impossible to refer to this without expressing his great
satisfaction that that gentleman had been selected for a
command worthy of his talents and reputation. (Cheers.)
He stated that much, because the right hon. baronet oppo-
site had said on former occasions that he had taken a plea-
sure in making a personal attack on Sir B. Walker. He
sincerely rejoiced that Sir B. Walker had been brought
back to the service of the navy, and that he had been employed
in a way he deserved, and therefore he wished to bear his tes-
timony to his great worth and abilities. Sir B. Walker had
suffered so grievously in his health, that some time ago he
begged that he might be relieved from the office he held, but
the noble First Lord said he must have his assistance in pre-
paring the estimates, and when they were ready to be laid
before the house, he would be able to retire from the comp-
trollership of the navy. The question was what was to be done
in the management of that great department, and were the
Government to wait until the commission had reported their
opinion to the house,'and in the meantime keep this impor-
tant office in abeyance ? All hon. members would admit
that it would be impossible to allow the office to remain
I vacant, because the whole duties of the dockyards would
come to a standstill, and consequently the Government
were obliged to appoint a successor to Sir B. Walker. The
noble duke the First Lord had chosen a gentleman who had
written a book on steam machinery, and was a great autho-
rity on naval architecture, and he was also a remarkably
intelligent and distinguished officer. He thought the noble
duke could not do better than select this gentleman for the
situation. At the same time, in order that it might not be
a permanent appointment, this gentleman had been ap-
pointed for five years. (Hear.) The noble duke had under
his consideration the enormous duties of the department,
and he felt that there was some necessity for having some
one to act between the comptroller and the dockyards, for
it was impossible that thecomptroller could give due atten-
tion to what was going on in the dockyards, and it was ne-
cessary that some assistance should be given to him. It was
now under consideration whether some such appointment
ought not to be made. (Hear, hear.) His hon. friend the
member for Portsmouth appeared to think that instead of
appointing a single successor to Sir B. Walker there should
be a council ; but he (Lord C. Paget) thought if anything
was going out of fashion it was that of divided responsibi-
lity ; for they heard every day that the Board of Admiralty
was a divided responsibility, and that matters were shuf-
' fled about from one to another until nobody knew who was
responsible for them. (Hear, hear.) As regarded ship-
building, if anything required an undivided responsibility,
it was that; and therefore he could not favour the sugges-
tion that there ought to be a council tc, manage this great
department. (Hear, hear.) His hon. friend opposite (Mr.
Baillie) found fault with the appointment of Sir B. Walker
to the office of surveyor, and complained that the surveyors
were not scientific men. He thought it would be admitted
that the present officer stood very high fur his skill, and
that the noble duke had done well in appointing him to the
office. The right hon. baronet opposite (Sir J. Pakington)
had found fault with the Government for ordering the con-
struction of more iron-cased ships.
Sir J. PAKINGTON said he had found no such fault.
The noble lord had entirely misapprehended him. The
question he asked was whether the Government intended to
test the sea-going qualities of the Warrior, she being a ship
of a peculiar construction, before they gave orders for the
construction of other ships of the same kind.
Lord C. PAGET admitted that the contractors were to
blame for the great delay in completing the Warrior, but
there were various reasons for the delay, some being the
peculiar construction of the ship. He hoped that the ship
would be completed this summer and be ready for sea.
THE GRANT OF £520,000 TO THE MYSORE
FAMILY.

Mr. VANSITTART asked the Secretary of State for
India whether it was true, as set forth in the fourth para-
graph of a petition numerously signed by the inhabitants
of Calcutta, at a meeting held in that city on the 20th of
December last, that the grant to. the Mysore family had
been made by him against the protest of the Indian Govern-
ment, against the recoided decision of the late Governor-
General of India, the Marquis of Dalhouse, in Council,
and against the representations of the financial Minister
appointed by the Crown, the late Right Hon. James Wil-
son, and of the Viceroy and Governor-General the Earl
Canning; and whether he had any objection to produce
copies of all papers connected with the aforesaid grant, and of
all despatches of the Secretary of State for India to Earl
Canning, ordering the payment of £620,000, to and for the
Mysore families, and copies of the minutes of the members
of the Indian Council thereon.
Sir C. N.V.Q913 stated briefly the circumstances under
which the Indian Government had recently directed the
payment of above half a million sterling to tho Mysore
family. The princes of that house who had been dispos-
sessed of their territories by the British Government had
made a claim to an adequate provision tieing made for their
support, which had been fully investigated by the Home
Government, and the result was that the sum of £520,000
had been invested to form a permanent fund, the interest of
which would in future be applied to the maintenance and'
support of the family.
CHURCH RATES.

Mr. BUXTON having, at the suggestion of the Speaker,
withdrawn the first part of the notice which he had placed
on the paper, viz., "To call the attention of the house to
the present position of the question of church rates," asked
whether it was the intention of the Government to intro-
duce any bill on the subject this session'?