The Sun.
London, England, 1845-02-21 00:00:00

attack upon the Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State.
But he had made no attack upon the Government—he had
said nothing that was disrespectful of the Government—(oh,
oh)—but he felt himself compelled to admit, for the fact was
andeniable, that the letters of the Hon. Member for Finsbury
had been opened by her Majesty's Government, and the reason
for so doing had not been inquired into.—( Hear, hear.) This
was not merely the battle of the Hon. Member for Finsbury,
but the battle of every Member of that House, and every sub-
ject of her Majesty was as deeply interested in it as Members
of the House were--( Hear, hear)—and the Government may
rely upon it, that whatever the decision of the House might be
to-night, the public would look with a jealous eye upon their
proceedings, and oppose every attempt to violate the public
rights.—( Hear, hear. )
Lord SANDON rose amidst loud cries of " Divide, divide."
He said he hid merely risen for the purpose of reminding the
House that the Committee had not made their report upon the
question as it affected the Hon. Member for Finsbury, but is
vbsdienee to the order of the House, and to the decision of
that tribunal they left it without any reference to him
(Mr. Duncombe). The House should bear in mind
that when first the Honourable Member for Finsbury
introduced this subject to the House he made some allusion to
his own letters, and yet he declined to offer any evidence to
the Committee upon that part of the subject.—(Hear, hear.)
The Committee, however, in their report, had endeavoured to
discover what number of warrants had been issued for the last
twenty-two years by the different Prime Ministers during that
period, and the result of their investigation was already before
the House in the paragraph they had already heard read, and
-which was to this effect.—( Here the Noble Lord read the
paragraph, and concluded by expressing a hope that the House
would not congent to re-investigate this question by coming to
another vote upon it.)
Mr. ROEBUCK would be sorry that the House should
come to a vote upon this question until he had expressed his
sentiments upon it, and therefore he now stood up to do so. In
speaking upon this question he begged to be understood as se-
parating from it any consideration of a personal nature, and
approaching it only upon public grounds. When first this question
was submitted to the House by the Hon. Member for Finsbury,
the Hon. Baronet ( Sir J. Graham) said, in answer to it, that he
stood upon the responsibility of his etotion, and would not
answer the question. The Right don. Baronet, the First
Lord of the Treasury, was next Member of her Majesty's
Government to give 'e opinion upon the question (and that
Hon. Baronet we... an exceedingly correct barometer of the
temperature of public opinion)—(Laughter)—and the Hon.
Ilarcine, said he was obliged to take up a position different from
IfSat of hit colleague, and that he would meet the public feeling,
bend therefore appointed a"Select Committee in order to allay
the public excitement. Why had that been done? Because
the suspicion of the public had been excited against the Go-
vernment, inasmuch as it was generally believed that the pre-
sent Government had exercise this power for the first time.
The Right Hon. Baronet (Sir R. Peel) then said, " Give us a
Committee, and the whole truth shall be elicited."—( Hear.)
Well, the Committe had been appointed, and made their in-
quiry • and what was the result of their proceeding?—( Hear.)
He (Mr. R.) did not impugn the honour of that Committee; but
-this he would say, and he would pledge everything he held dear
to support it, that the report had not given satisfaction to the
public.—( Hear.) The Committee had two questions before it
—one was as to the state of the law, and the other as to the
power of the Government. One of these affected the foreign
policy of the country, and the other the private question in re•
sheet to the Hon. Member for Finsbury himself.—( Hear. )
What did the Committee do? They gave no opinion respect-
ing the Hon. Member for Finsbury, but altogether passed
over his case.— ( Hear, hear.) Did the Right Hon. Baronet
think that the public were satisfied with the report on that part
of the case upon which they did express an opinion ?—( Hear,
hear.) If so, why did he make that extraordinary explanation
on Tuesday night, that the Chief Secretary for Foreign Affairs
received a communication from the Austrian Ambassador, and
thereupon he applied to the Home Secretary to send an order
to the Post-office, and accordingly the warrant was issued
which led to certain information being communicated to the
Austrian Ambassador? But the Right lion. Gentleman made
this extraordinary additional explanation, that the Foreign
Secretary, Lord Aberdeen, exercising that great discretion
entrusted to him, made the communication to Austria—a
private communication and, having destroyed it, he
was not now altle to trust his memory so as to
inform the House, to which he was responsible, what the nature
of the communication was. —( Hear, hear.) That was an as-
tounding explanation.--( Hear, hear.) It was supplemental
to the report of the Committee which had been appointed to in-
vestigate this great guraoron of foreign policy, affecting the
most important interests of this country.—( Hear.) The Noble
Lord (Lord Sandon) whose duty, as a member of that Com-
mittee, it had been to carry out the inquiry, and to make the
report so as to appease the anxiety and to satisfy the just cu-
riosity of the elation, r hought proper just now to characterize
the desire of Members of that House to obtain a fall inquiry for
the satisfaction of the House, and of their constituents, a
" prurient curiosity. "s•-( Hear.) lie (Mr. R. ) asked what right
had the Noble Lord to use that phrase ?—( Cheers, and cries of
" Ohl oh I) The phrase was unjustifiable—( Hear)—and be
(Mr. Roebuck)--for one was impelled with indignation to repel
the imputation of " prurient curiosity."—(Cheers.) The Hen.
Member for Finsbury had made a direct and distinct appeal
to the Committee. Now, he ( Mr. Roebuck) regretted the
tone and temper in which that Hon. Member made his state-
ment, arid he thought that great injustice had been done to the
Right Hem. Gentleman (Sir James-Graham), for he believed
that the exercise of this odious power was well intended to
maintain the peace of Europe.—( Hear, hear.) But that was
far from sufficient. They wanted to know how that discre-
tionary power had been employed, that the House might know
whether it was necessary to legislate upon the subject.—( Hear,
hear.) He regretted the language used by the Hon. Member
foe Finsbury and Liskeard, for he thought it better not to
bring personal hostility into the discussion of so grave a ques-
tion. The Right Hon. Gentleman ( Sir James Graham) was
not to blame for the exercise of this power, but the Ministry-,
and if the power was tregroper, the Ministrt, was not to blame
for its existence.—( Alirrieerial cheers.) He ( Mr. Roebuck)
might say, that he had in 1837 and 1838, the same cause of
complaint as the Hon. Member for Finsbury had now made.—
( Hear, hear," and as laugh.) The Hon. Member
for Finsbury raid his letters were opened. The
Noble Lord said he had read all the warrants, but
he did. not say whether they applied to the lion.
Member for Finsbury. That Gentleman did not know whe-
ther his letters were opened under the authority of a warrant,
or without it. He would assume that there was a warrant, and
that the Right Hon. secretary issued it upon his own respon-
sibility. What was that responsibility? Was it to this
House ?—( Hear, bear.) he Right Hon. Gentleman said
that it was on his ou n responsibility. What? Was the re-
sponsibility to himseli ? which was no responsibility.—
( Cheers.)—The Right Hon. Baronet was responsible to some-
body, and that responsibility was due to that House. The
Right Hon. Baronet said lie was excluded from giving the
H“use the information which was demanded of him. Now,
from that oath he had been relieved by her Majesty, to enable
him to give evidence on the Secret Committee. But still he
refused to give the information, and the Right Hon. Baronet
at the Head of the Government excused his Hon. Colleague,
on the plea that it would he disclosing the secrets of his
office. This was employing the name and attributes of
the Sovereign in a way altogether improper, but there was no
no doubt whatever but that the Right Hon. Baronet was per-
sonally responsible. The Right Hon. Baronet at the head of
the Treasury was exercising the highest functions of his office
when he was refusing the information the House required.
Suppose, however, they had exercised a power to which they
had no rigtit. One of the greatest causes of alarm out of doors
was what had been stated in another place by the very highest
legal authority. That this power was not conferred in the
way in which it was supposed to be by Right Hon. Gentlemen
opposite. " The power," said the Right Hun. Baronet, " has
been conferred upon me of °peeing any letters which I may
think fit, upon my own responsibility, and that power is re-
cognised by the Act of Anne, and again by the Act of Victoria."
Well, the 'ght Hon. Baronet said he had full power to open
whatever letters he thought fit, upon his own responsibility.
Now he denied this in tote. The statement bore il-
legality upon "the face of it ; and when his Honourable
and Learned Friend opposite, the Solicitor-General, was
called upon for his opinion upon it, he had no doubt he
would agree with him in what he now stated. But there had
not only been exercised an illegal power, hut the" use of a power
which was not granted by law. In the 4"th section of the Act
of Anne, there were these words :—" That no letters should
be opened atter the same shall have been delivered into the
General Post-office, before the delivery thereof, without the
express warrant in writing of one a her Majesty's Principal
Secretaries of State shall have been obtained." Now the mean-
ing of this was, that the warrant of the Secretary of State
should be a sufficient authority to enable one of the servants of
the Post-office to open letters without incurring blame or pu-
nishment. The authority was only implied to open letters, and
if the Right Hon. Gentleman would just give his warrant to any
one man at the Post-office, to open any one letter of
the Hsnoarable Member for Finsbury, and would afterwards
lay the warrant upon the table in that House, they would take
the case to the Court of Queen's Bench, and try the legality
of the warrant. If the flight Hon. Baronet would only do
that, he had no doubt that the Hon. Member would bring an
action in twenty-four hours after the warrant was on the table.
The Government were bound not only by law, but by prudence,
to answer the question that had been put to them. Now, he
wanted the House for a moment to consider the consequences
of the declaration made the other evening by the Right Hon.
Baronet at the head of the Government. He entered into a
most elaborate description of the circumstances in which the
country was placed in 1812. Now, he did not know
what was the real intention of the Right Honourable
Baronet, but the feeling existed in his mind that he
wanted to show that England was in a dangerous
state at the time. That there had been exercised every power
which the Coestitution gave them to protect and secure the
peace of the country. The House would remember that the
Right Hon. Baronet had before told them that amongst their
powers, was; that of opening letters ; and, further, the asser-
tion prev'ously made by the Hon. Member for Finsbury, that'
his letters had been opened. The natural inference was, that
the Government had thought it a precautionary step to procure
order and peace to (men the letters of the Hon. Member for
Finsbury.—( Hear, hear.) Now, if that were so, he asked,
would it not be- prudent if the Right lion. Baronet would
follow the dictates of honour and respect the feelings of the
people, by comins forward, and admitting the act, declare that
they had found nothicg is criminate the Hon. Member for
Finsbury? If they had done this, they might easily have
said that they bad pursued the same steps as their own im-
mediate predecessors; and this they had done upon the deep
feeling of responsibility which attached to their office.—
(Hear, hear.) Suppose th-t had been the answer of the Right
Hon. Baronet, why, they would have had the public with
them. Trey would have made this a useful instead of a dan-
gerous power, and the people would have been satisfied. The
Right Hon. Gentleman had already merle two concessions. He
believed that he would have to make a third, and that they
would at last, hear from him the statement which it would
have been wise to have made in the first instance.—(Cheers.)
He
would be obliged to s ,y, " We thought this necessary at
the time ; we did it under the notion that it was essential to
the peace of the community, if you think that the power
has not been. rightly
that ttexercised, say so; and, en the other hand
ought
opinion." That would have been a frank way of dealing with
this question. To refer to his otvn case, he had no doubt that
Noble if he had inquired of the Lord the 3lember for the City
of London whether or not he had opened his letters to Mr.
Papineau, he would have replied distinctly to the question p•
and had there been in them anythir;, wrong he would not be
where he was at that merepni.
As far as he himself was
concerned, he eared very
little whether his letters had been
opened or not. But that was not the feeling of the Hon. Gen-
tlemaGen-
tlemanthe Member for Frnsbury. It was not the feeling of
the people of this great country.—(hear, hear) They said,
and said tribe that, although the exercise of the discretion of
the Foreign Secretary might not necessarily lead to any evil,
yet there might come a time when there should be a Secretary
of State fur Foreign Affairs who might not be discreet, and
who might give information to foreign nations which would issue
in the most disastrous consequences. —( Hear.) If he (Alr. R. )
knew anything of the feelings f his countrymen, there was
nothing which would strike them with a feeling of greater
humiliation and shame than that the powers of their Govern-
ment should he employed for the base purposes of despotism in
any part of the world.—( Hear, hear.) The Right Hon.
Baronet migh: rest assured, that if he wished the power vested
in hint to be continued at all, he must make his declaration
quickly ; but if he knew anything of the feelings of his coon-
Iry-nacre the lower would not last much longer, but would be
dune away with even after the declaration of the Right Hon.
Gentleman that he had dune w hat had been laid at his door.
Mr. COLL-E 1 T moved the adjournment of the debate.
Ur. C. BULLER explained.