The Sun.
London, England, 1821-06-28 00:00:00

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about the piece of ground behind the building, -thereby in..
eurrin,,,,an expense, ,and sanctioning a principle highly injuri-
ous to the pUblic.""
Sir J: MARJORIBANKS said hehoped the House
-had entertained. a higher Opinion of him than to
give credit to • all the charges brought against
him. But, -perhaps the praise which the Hon.
:Gentletnan-(Mr. Hume). had lately received for
his attention to the public accounts, had induced
him' to bring forward charges against private indi-
viduals. The .Hon. Baronet then'proceeded to
explain the transaction. •He had the right of ap-
pointing an• individual, and having known the
Gentleman alluded to, and considering him a very
•proper person for the situation, and having a de-
sire to serve him;
.he desired the builder to send
in his estimate for building the Stamp Office, and
he should forward it to the Board. He did.so
accordingly, and . he. transmitted it to the Trea-
sury. He stated a number of local circumstances
to justify the choice made for the situation of the
new StaMp Office. It was .near the Play-house
and the Register Office, two places of much re-
sort among the inhabitants of Edinburgh. He
contended that the new building would cost less
by 3001. than the.' expence which would have
been incurred by purchasing Dumbreck's Hotel,
which had been off'er'ed for the purpose. He
would be less surprised if on . his way home he
were to betaken into custody by a watchman than.
at having this matter brought forward as a charge.
against him. It happened to him once (though
it was scarcely to be expected of a . man of his
figure) to be pressed at. Dover. Perhaps they
-thought Co have got money from him, but they
should have known that Scotchmen did .not so
easily part with their money. The accident was
not more surprising to..him than the tharge
against_ him on the present motion. He argued-
against the pertinacity. of the Edinburgh Stamp
Commissioners in preferring Dumbreck's Hotel.
He contended,. in reply to other observations of
the Hon. Gentleman, that the Scottish Bankers
derived no pecuniary profit from remitting the
revenue of Scotland. He concluded by lament-
ing the frequency of attacks in . that. House of
late on private character.. He instanced a la*
mentable 'case in which a Gallant,ollicer,..who
had been wounded In the service, was charged.
with Making a false report, by which imputation
his fortune, his fame, and his life, were put in
jeopardy.—(" Name,.name!" from the Opposi-
tion Benches.)
- Lord A. HAMILTON was sorry that the. Hon.
Baronet had mixed himself up with the subject
at all. He denied the peculiar convenience of
the site selected. for the new office.. He wished
to know of the Chancellor of the. Exchequer why
there had been no contract, no estimate, and no
surveyor on the occasion? The job had gone on
under the protecting influence of Sir J..Marjori-
banks,
.Lord Melville, the Lord Advocate, and
Sir George Clerk. •Considering the .opposition
made to it by the Edinburgh Stamp Commis-
sioners, he thought that there was.cause of suspi-
cion that great neglect had taken place at the
Treasury. He disowned any intention of per-
.sonal attack ; he objected to the interference of
the Hon. Baronet,, hough he did not question
his motives. Ile admitted the. integrity of the
Chancellor of the Exchequer, but the Right Hon.
•Gentleman must have been deceived. He would
support the motion.
The CniNCELLOR of the Excnr.ouEtt said, that
the Stamp -Office was not independent of the
Treasury; indeed it would be. very wrong if it
were. it Was highly proper that there should
be a superintending Board, responsible to the
Sovereign and•the Parliament. If in the present
case the Treasury Board was open to atiy animad-
version, it was in. not giving orders•sufficiently
peremptory to the Board of Stamps. The Right
Hon. Gentleman then contended at• some length
that the situation of the building was a proper
one, both in point of local convenience, of inter-
nal arrangement, and of economy.
Mr. MABERLEY said, that when he made the
offer of remitting the Scotch revenue at half the
usual par, lie intended to benefit himself as mnch
as the pnblic. iic asked no favour, but only a
fair competition. He offered to
.remit it in twenty
days, and the .Right Hon. Gentleman had con-
cluded an improved bargain on the old rate for
remitting it in thirty-eight days ; making a loss
of fifteen days' interest in the three millions. He
attributed this to the weighing down of the strong
Scotch influence. Had the offers been equal he
would not have expected the preference. Had he
succeeded in his tender, his plan would have
been to have made the' S.cotth Bankers pay their
. _ .•

own notes, which they resorted to every shift and
trick to avoid. The Hon. Gentleman was pro-
ceeding to explain the loss incurred by the pub-
lic in the remittance of Scotch revenue, when
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY spoke to order.
He' apprehended that the remittance of Scotch
revenue had nothing to do with the question.
Mr. lIIABERLEY put it to the House if the allu-
sions made to him had not made his explanation
necessary. He did not wish to detain the House,
and would not add another word on the topic,
though he considered himself hardly used.
Mr. II um': replied. Ile thought that the lion.
Baronet had completed his (Mr. Hume's) case,
and confirmed all that he said on the subject.
He was very far from wishing the Treasury to
have no control over the expences of public
buildings, but he denied that they had any right
to meddle with the particular functions of other

Board,4.
Sir J. MARJORIBANKS explained.
Sir G. CLERK said a few words in justification
of the arrangements for building the new Stamp-
office.

Mr. HumE objected to the manner in which

PRICE SEVENPENC.E.

character was attempted to be broUght forward
in reply to facts.
The question was then put, and n6gatived
without a division.

• Mr. then moved for a copy of the co:raper:dente
which hyd taken place between the Corm missioner:A of Stamps
and the Treasury, respecting the suipension aadxe.,appointrnert
of Mr. Bremner, the Solicitor of Stamps in Scotland which
Was ordered accordingly. ,

MR. THEODORE HOOK.
Mr. BENNtk, in rising to move for Papers con-
nected with the suspension of Mr. Theodore
Hook, late Treasurer of Mauritius, and the AC-
count of Sums due by him to the Treasury, said,
it Might be in the recollection of the House that,
17 or 18 months ago,
.he had put a question re-
specting this subject. That questiOn was.put'at
the solicitation of a person in the Houser and this
year it was repeated. Ile (Mr. B.) had then
no knctwledge of the transaction, but before he
brought for Ward this motion he had, irreliurse,
obtained. some information. The statement-which
he should now make, was on authority which he
was at liberty to name, and should name if it were
necessary—it was the very best he could have.
The facts were these :—On January 15, 1818,
General Hall, the Governor of the Mauritius,
received a letter from a Principal clerk in the
Treasurer's Office, marked Cl most confidential
and secret," in which it was stated that Mr. T.
Hook had appropriated a part of the money due
to the office by bearing a coachman as an office
messenger, at 40 dollars a month, and a cook at
15s. Mr. Allen, (the name of the clerk) also
stated that Mr. IL had impropriated a sum of
37,150 dollars, and he expressed his surprise that
so large a default should have escaped the Audi-
tor. The Governor replied to Mr. Allen on the
25th Jan. 1818, that notwithstanding his desire
that the communication should be confidential,
it was impossible that so serious a charge should
not be examined into, and he referred the mat-
ter to Mr. Cook, who had the. charge of the
department. Mr: Allen wrote to the Governor
to say that he had received the Governor's ans wer
through the hands of Mr. Hook, who, at the
same time, dismissed him (Mr. Allen) frozi
hiS office, and told him he was " ruined for ever."
On the 28th January, Mr. Allen wrote another
letter to say that Mr. Hook's clerk had conte to
him to tell him. that Mr. Hook had been with
the Governor, and • that the result was, that he
(Allen) was ordered to quit the colony, and that
lie must quit the colony accordingly, but that
Mr. Hook, in compassion for his family, would
allow him 251. a year. The Governor told Mr.
Allen that this was .riot true, and ordered him to
stay in the colony. Mr. Allen wrote afterwards
another letter to the Governor, Ivhich he (Mr.
Bennet) had not seen, but which was described
to him as bearing marks of insanity. Ilis„mitt I
seemed to have been Shaken by the alarm into
which he had been thrown. The Governor ap-
pointed a Committee to examine the affair,
who assembled the 9fh of February, composed
of the Secretary, Auditor, and Paymaster,Ge-
neral of the Island, who, after examining the
witnesses on oath, reported that Mr. Hook
was deficient
_in the sum of 60,868 dollars, and
. that there were various non-entries hi the Trea-
sury accounts. They learned the names of the
persons to whom the money had been paid by lI r.
Hook, and found correct the account of Alr.
Allen, who did. not however survive to see. his
truth and integrity thus established. It appear-
ed before the Committee, that Mr. Hook had
put two sets of Treasurer's notes in circulation
to cover his deficiency, and, after the departure
of the Governor, it was found that more of these
false notes than were then known were in circu-
lation. The Attorney General of the Island ad-
vised the Governor that there was no tribunal in
the Island to try Mr. Hook, and that he should
be sent home for trial. He was accordingly sent
home in custody. As to the legality of this pro-
ceeding, or the possibility of proceeding ,crimi-
nally against Mr. Hook, he (Mr. B.) did not
wish to give any opinion. He only wished to
know what steps had been taken for obtaining
the Money ? He should therefore, move for the
Dispatch of Gen. Hall, or the extracts referring.
to Mr. T. Hook. He wished also to ask, whe-
ther Mr. T. Hook had any securities, for. they
of course would be the persons to be proceeded
against? Mr. Bennet concluded by moving for
the Dispatch .from General Hall, acting Governor
of the Mauritius, dated 18th April, 1818, re-
specting the suspension of Mr. Theodore /look,
anti for. an account of the Sums due by him to
the Local Treasury.
Mr. GOULBURN said, he had no personal op-
jection to the dispatch being before the /louse;
but the case of the individual referred to was not
confined. to that dispatch. A dispatch was sent
home by General pall, containing in substance
the facts which the lion. Member had stated.
Shortly after Mr. Hook arrived, and a case was
submitted to the Law Officers of the Crown,
whether the Government was justified in detain-
ing the individual in custody, or in proceeding;
criminally against him ? The Law Officers. re-
plied, that there was no warrant for the deten_
tion of Mr. Theodore Hook, and that there was
then no evidence for a criminal proceeding
against him. The Colonial Office had then
nothing to do but to set Mr.llook at liberty, and
to turn over the case, to the Colonial Audit Office.
From the distance of the Colony, the inquiry had
since gone on more slowly than could be wished.
Mr. /look had been .examined and had given ex-
planations (whether satisfactory or not he ,fioulqa
not say), and the case was again submitte4 by 4.1 V
Audit-Office to the Officers of the Crow- ,t,he-
ther there was-not now ground for a ct,irrtnal pro-
ceeding ? The Law Officers bad noje,iet made
their Report, and while it was poss.bs- that there

ruigbt 1.46 a criminal prosecution, it was obviously
imprcpet to lay the dispatch in question before
the House.—(Hear!)—lf the proceedings took
ditTerent turn, he should readily consent to its
eduction. lie should mention that every
thing in the island belonging to Mr. Hook had
been seized.

Mr. BENNET acquiesced in the propriety of
not producing the Papers at present. He only
wished to repeat his question as to the securities.

Mr. GOULBURN' s:iid that—Mr. T. Hook had
given none, as none had been, required from his
predecessor. Care would be taken in future to
prevent this irregularity.—The motion was with-
drawn.'