The Sun.
London, England, 1850-04-09 00:00:00

NOTICES OF MOTION.

Mr. DISRAELI, in reference to the motion of the
Noble Lord the First Minister of the Crown, which the
Noble Lord had fixed for the 12th inst., fur a Committee
on Public Salaries, begged to give notice that it was
his intention to move, by way of amendment, a resolution
t.) the effect that the House was in possession of all infer-
matio a regarding public salarics,and that a Parliamentary
Committee of inquiry would under these circumstances
only lead to delay. It was therefore the opinion of the
House that Government ought upon their own respon-
sibility forthwith to introduce any measure necessary for
effecting any reductions in our national establishments
consi,tent with the efficient discharge of public services.
Mr. HUME gave notice that to-morrow fortnight he
should move n resolution to the effect that it was the
opinion of the House that all articles now subjected to
customs' duties should be admitted duty free, so that the
importation of manufacturing produce might be placed
on qua) footing with that of agriculture.
Mr. HORS MAN gave notice that, in the event of
the Committee on Public Salaries being appointed, he
should move that it be an instruction to the Committee
to extend its inquiries to the income of the Ecclesiastical
Commissioners.

AUSTRALIAN COLONIES.
Sir W. MOLES WORTH called the attention of the
lion. Member, the Under-Secretary for the Colonies,
to certain resolutions which had been officially published
in Australia, and which were to the effect that any new
constitution to be established for the Australian colonies
ought to be based upon the principle of a double
chamber, and the Government of the colonies assimilated
as much as possible to that of the mother
country. He wished to ask the Honourable
Gentleman whether the Colonial-office had received any
information with regard to that resolution, and if so,
whether he had any objection to lay it before the House
before the debate on the Australian Colonies Bill came
on again.

Mr. HAWES said copies of the resolutions had
been transmitted to th• Noble Lord at the
head of the Colonial Department, but they
were proposed by a private member of the local
legislature to be moved at a future meeting
of the Legislative Assembly, and the Govern-
ment had nothing whatever to do with them.
How they came to be published in an official
form he really could not tell, but he ghould have no ob-
jection whatever to produce the dispatch.
Mr. DIVETT thought it right to add to this answer,
that he gathered from communications which he had
received from the colony that the vast majority of the
colonists were opposed to these resolutions.
ECCLESIAS nem, COMMISSION BILL.
In reply to a question from Sir E. BUXTON,
Lord JOHN RUSSELL said .there were two Bills
which the House was alretvly in Committee upon,
namely, the Australian Colqnies Bill and the Irish Par-
liamentary Electors Bill, and it was desirable to push
forward tho Stamp Acts Amendment Bill, on which -he
proposed the House should go into Committee on Fri-
day ; that being so, he would scarcely be able to proceed
with the Ecclesiastical Commission Bill till Monday.
Mr. HORSMAN asked whether the Noble Lord could
fia•any day fur proceeding with the Ecclesiastical Com-
mission Bill?

Lord J. RUSSELL thought Monday, the 22d; at all
events it would be the first that would be taken up attn.
the House had *disposed of the Australi in Colonies Bill,
the Irish Parliamentary EleJtors Bill, and the Stamp
Act.

NAVY ESTIMA TES.—NAVAL ASSISTANT
SURGEONS.
On the motion fur going into Committee on the navy
estimates,

Captain BOLDER() presented several petitions from
the surgeons, lecturers, and students in the different hos-
pitals in London, praying that the assistant-surgeons in
/he navy might be placed on an equal footing with
surgeons and the army.
and
insu
The GALLANT MEMBER then moved a resolution to
the effect that the accommodation provided fur the as-
sistant-surgeons on board her Majesty's ships of war is
inadequateof their professional service. He wished to have a fair,
full, and liberal consideration of this question; and he
wouldendeavour to
ocielnat for securing the full benefit
lay
before the House such
facts connected with it as would lead them to
a proper conclusion. The medical: profession were
loud in their complaints that naval assistant-surgeons
were not placed on an equal footing with surgeons in the
army. This arose from a systematic and unwise
neglect practised towards them, which had the effect
of degrading the medical profession, and of bringing
an insult upon the assistant-surgeons, and an in-
jury and injustice to the navel service at large. It would
not be necessary for him to enter into argument
upon the question. These was proof sufficient in the
documents which were already before the House. From
the year 1803 surgeons in the navy had been held to be
on an equal footing with those in the army, and in 1838
a commission had been appointed by the reigning Mo-
narch to inquire into the subject, which recommended
the same course. This recommendation had been
ordered to Le carried out by an order in Council
of her present Majesty; and he would ask gentlemen on
the opposite side counectei with the naval administra-
tion, why these orders in Council had not been
carried out ? He found that in a Committee of
the House appointed to inquire into naval ex-
penditure, a report had been,, presented in which
,it
was stated that tie surgeons in the navy were
each placed one rank below the army surgeons. This
report also showed the great injury which such a state of
things effected upon the characters of men employed in

the service. The AdmireLy had found out this. and
hail actually offered the University of Edinbiirgh
she appointment f nevel eurgeons, but the Uni-
veraity to avail themselves of its ,t
offer whilo t.:,•:-,:,!:0113 in the 'lnv y ore platssel in their
present treerier position. ',V fist would the Goeerieseee
do in caie of a war ? They could not send press-gangs
into the universities to get sera eons, and it was pretty
evident that men of character would not present them-
selves. He would contrast the position of two young
men educated together, and perfectly equal in their
qualifications as surgeons—one of whom was
fortunate enough to get en appointment in
the army, and the other so unfortunate as to he
appointed to the navy. The first on joining
his regiment was received kindly by his commanding
officer, introduced to his brother officers, and became
immediately a member of the mess. But ne would take
the case of a naval assistant-surgeon. nett functionary
was received with the same degree if lsinduess and
courtesy, but he was turned into the cockpit. The com-
panions whom he met there were not much above
thirteen years of age, for that was the age a which
cadets were received. He slept in a hammock, and was
obliged to perform his ablutions in the presence of these
boys. He had no separate cabin to retire to, nor servant
to wait upon him, and thus he was preluded from
following his studies in the way in which a profes-
:dotes! peraen in his position ought to do. The
more zsalous and anxious he was to progress in
knowledge the stronger he felt his degredatiun, and it
was to be borne in mind that his profession was one in
which a thorough acquaintance with arts and sciences
was necessary. But what was the cockpit? It
was an apircaient in the hold of a ship where
the sun never penetrated, nor where even day-
light entered, and its occupants lived in an altogether
impure and artificial atmosphere. The interruptions
and annoyances to which an assistant-surgeon was
there subjected was an antidote to study, to deep
thought, or to serious application, and the cons( quence
was, they broke his spirit, destroy el his self-respect,
and not only his self-respect, but also his self-confidence,
which was the first requisite to success in all great
undertakings. If they destroyed the stimulant of emu-
lation, who among them would tread the beaten path of
life to attain an eminent position in any particular pro-
fession? These surgeons, therefore, became care-
less and indifferent, and left the ship on the
first convenient opportunity. With the pay of
assistant-surgeons he bad no fault to find, and his notion
did not involve any additional expense to the Govern-
ment in the shape of additional pay. But the rank or
position which was awarded to them on board a ship was
a perfect mockery. He might be told that they held the
rank of a lieutenant in the army or in the marines, but
the facts showed that this was not the case. A first or
second lieutenant in the marines went into the ward
or gun-room, but an assistant-surgeon had to put up
with the cockpit, although by education the
latter was equal to the former.—(Hear hear.)
He might be told that there was no room for these
assistant-surgeons, but ho disputed that. Separate
cabins had been given to the carpenters, and the Ad-
miralty had been compelled to find room for other
officers. Formerly the schoolmaster and school.
master's assistant messed in the cockpit, but it was
found that the youngsters did not treat their master with
that respect that was due to him, and the Admiraliy
changes the schoolmaster for a naval instructor, giving
him a higher rank and a berth in the ward-room. By
that means the service had received a superior class of
men, who were in every way competent and qualified to
attend to the moral and religious instruction of the
young men. It had been the same with
the engineers engaged in the steam navy. At first the
Admiralty placed that class of officers in an inferior
position, but eventually they were forced to change their
rank and increase their accommodation. Now, if it were
necessary for a man dealing with the machinery of a
ateam-vessel to have superior comforts and a superior
rank, how much more necessary was it for them
to deal liberally with men who had the care of so
delicate a ma :hine as the human frame. Under the
existing system who could wonder if there was an in-
ferior class of men in the service, or that they were not
treated with that respect which their station entitled
them to ? A friend of his recently told him an
antcdtA which would servo to show what re-
spect was entertained for the opinion of a
naval surgeon. A captain commanding a British man-
of-war received a wound in his leg after a sharp con-
test, and his ship surgeon advised him to have his leg
amputated, declaring that he could not live a day
without it was removed. The captain, however,
refused to take the advice, and having the
wound bandaged up, he inade fit the nearest
port, where his leg was dressed, and so far from ampu-
tation being necessary, he soon re covered, and was now
walking upon his two legs.—(A laugh.) There were
other points which ho could bring before the House in
support of his 'notion; but, without detaining the House
further, ho thought he had stated sufficient to
show the necessity of a change in the system.
He did not make this motion in behalf of the assistant-
surgeons, for he was not acquainted with a single one,
nor had he had any communication with any of the
body. It was from a pure, honest, and conscientious
belief that there was an injury done to the naval service
generally, that he made this motion, and he hoped
the House would have no difficulty in agreeing to it.
Admiral DUNDAS admitted that there was room to
increase the accommodation of assistant-surgeons, but
be could not agree with the Honourable and
Gallant Gentleman that there was a paucity of applicants
fur the situation of assistant-surgeons, since there were
uo less than 2G3 applicants on the list at the
present moment, while since the increase iu their
pay the efficiency of assistant-surgeons was equal
to that of assistant-surgeons in the army.
Every ship in the service had a cabin twice as large as
any other in which the assistant-surgeons might road
and study. For himself, he believed the best surgeons
now in the navy were those who had been brought up in
the cockpit.
Mr. HUME was obliged to the Hon. Gentleman who
had brought this subject forward. The question was
whether the navy, as a public service, was not entitled
to have as able men as the army could obtain ?
No roan would go to the navy as a surgeon who
could find employment in the army.—(Hear.)
The system of accommodation for navy surgeons
seemed to him a gross injustice to the service generally,
it eunuch as it tended to degrade the surgeons. The
Gallant Member (Admiral Duntlas)shad said there were
few or no complaints made against the present system
by the assistant-surgeons in the navy themselves; but it
was not likely those men would dare to make many
complaints whoa they found even admirals snubbed
—(A laugh)—by men at head- quarters. He (Mr. Hume)
would support say motion which had for its object the
amelioration of the position of assistant-surgeons in the
navy.
The House then divided, when there appeared—
For Captain Boldero's motion 48
Against it ••• ••• ••• ... 40
Majority in favour of the motion ... —8
On re-entering the gallery we found Captain BEdKE-
LEY
on his legs speaking to the same point. lie
maintained that by the present system assistant-sur-
geons were relieved from many incumbrances. In the
Royal Marines, in which many young men entered,
they had to borrow money from their friends for their
outfit, and after their introduction into the service, had
expenses forced upon them by which they were involved
to an inextricable extent, and were obliged to leave
the service. This would probably often be the case with
naval surgeons if they were placed in a similar situation.
He would maintain most honestly that this attempt to put
assistant-surgeons over the head of their superiors in
rank would be attended with very great evils, and would
inflict one of the greatest injuries on her Majesty's naval
service. Ho wished to know why the Honourable
and Gallant Member did not, when in office,
endeavour to induce the Admiralty of that day to make
the new arrangement which he now proposed ? He
imagined, however, that they were as much opposed to it
as the present Board of Admiralty. If the opinion of
naval officers were taken, he was convinced
that it would be decidedly against the motion of the
Honourable and Gallant Gentleman. Allusion had
been made to the fact ef the engineers of our naval
steamers having separate cabins, but the necessity of
such an arrangement was obvious, because, when the
weather was boietereus and the lives of the
crew were in danger, the engineer had to be
up at all hours of the night, • and therefore re-
quired accommodation which other officers did not.
He denied that naval officers bad any desire to give less
accommodation to assistant-surgeons than their position
and education required, and said he should give his de-
cided opposition to the motion.
Captain BOLDER() replied.
Sir FRANCIS BARING said there were serious
wad practical difficulties to the carrying out
ore the motion of the Honourable Member. If
there were the means of giving this aeoommodation
of course there were would be no objection to it ; but
that such means did not exist was proved by the
report of the Commission which had sat upon this
very subject,- • and ,which had reported that
there was no room for additional cabins.
The report, however, suggested certain other improve -
ments in the accommodation of assistant-surgeons which
had been fully carried out, and which it was thought
would render additional cabins unnecessary. However
he should not put the House to the trouble of dividing
again, but, though the House should agree to the reso-
lution, ho was very Much afraid that it would be im-
possible to carry out its object.
Mr. HUME said it was perfectly true that the report
of the Commission stated that there was not sufficient
room for additional cabins, while the other improvements
which the report recommended had greatly benefited
the medical officers of the navy; but it should be
remembered that since that report had been made room
had been found fur no less than three cabins.

The motion was then agreed to.
ILLEGALITY OF REPRISALS.

Mr. ANS'i?EY then proceeded to call the attention of
the House to the illegality of reprisals when made by
officers of her Majesty's navy, without the
authority of au order in Council. Adverting to the
Grecian affair. he said he did not dispute the legality of
the claims, Out he complained rather of the informal
manner in which thoy had been enforced.
He deprecated the course that hal been pursued
by the Government in this case, because they
had advised her Majesty to place her royal
prerogative at the disposal of Admiral Parker,
lilting under the direction of Mr. Wyse. Ile
alluded to the prerogative of declaring war or peace,
which he asserted could only be exercised by her Majesty
with the advice of heir Privy Council. The Hon,
Gentleman then proceeded to observe, that reprisals
amounted, in fact, to a declaration of war, L,r the only
difference between reprisals and a declaration of war
was, that the former was imperfect war, while the latter
was wur in its perfect sense. Ea also wished to know if
the neceessary notice had been given by this country to
foreign states in respect to the reprisals which had been
adopted regarding Greece. lie must, in the outset, ab-