Star.
London, England, 1813-03-09 00:00:00

necessary to move for the abolition of one of those
offices as a sinecure.
Mr. LONG denied that there was a real excess in
the expence of the department at all equal to what
had been stated by the Honourable Gentleinan. As
to the office of Paymaster of the Forces, the emolu-
ments had been nearly as high as at present for nearly
a century. The office had been called a sort of sine-
cure. As far as related to his office, it was nothing
like a sinecure. When he first came into it, about 14
years ago, he found, that ever since the passing Mr.
Burke's Bill, no accounts bad ever been passed before
the Auditors, and there was an arrear of 25 years ac-
counts to be audited. This arrear arose in a great
degree from the difficulties created by that Bill.—
Those difficulties had, however, been surmounted, and
all the accounts to the end of the year 1811 had al-
ready passed before the Auditors, and most of the
accounts of 1812 were now before them. He had
the satisfaction of believing, that there was now a
system established in his office, which would prevent
any such irregularities for the future. He himself
had not been absent from the office for more than a
week since he had held the situation. But although
the same sort of attendance was not necessary from
Lord C. Somerset, hiLLordship had always readil
offered his assistance when he was much pressed with
business, and had taken upon himself that part of the
business which related to Chelsea Hospital, which
was by no means a sinecure.
Mr. CREEVEY, in reply, said, that it was mani-
fest that the only reason for splitting the office of
Paymaster into two was—to make two Parliamentary
places, instead of one. He believed that Ministers
looked rather more to an increase of their influence
than to gaining an increase of responsibility to the
country. He would however contend that the split-
ting the place had thrown an additional burthen on
the country. Although Mr. Long, whit discharged
all the real duties of the situation, had a nominal sa-
lary of but g2OOO yearly, yet when it was recollec-
ted that he had a pension of £l5OO per annum, and
a house given him, it would not appear that his emo-
luments were lesss man £4OOO annually, which was
the old salary of a single Paymaster. The £2OOO
given to the Noble Lord, and the £5OO to a Noble
relation of his, who was his deputy, were expences
which ought to be retrenched.
Mr. I ADDINGI ON said, that the pension
had been conferred at the command of his Majesty,
as a reward for the long and important services of
the Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Long).
Lord PALMERSTON then proceeded to reply
generally to the objections which had been made.-
4s to the principle of limited and unlimited service,
as there were some who preferred one, and some the
other, he thought that Givernment were right in
wishing to give every man an option to choose which
of those terms of seis ,ce lie would rather enlist for.
An Hon. Gentleman had been facetious about army
clothing. If thenew helmets appearedtosometobefan-
tastical, it would appear to :Abel s rnoreridiculous to see
the troops in the small three-cocked hats which they
formerly wore, di ipping with rain, and liable to be
knOcked off their heads in action. The Noble Lord
defended the Local Militia and the Military College;
and concluded by stating, that the establishment of
permanent Barracks in Ireland would be less expen-
sive than the usual temporary Barracks.
Mr. WHITBREAD considered this day one of
the most important days in the Session, when it be-
came the duty of the House to. enquire, and of Mi.
nisters to explain, the military resources of the country.
The Noble Lord talked of savings of 10 or £20,000
with more levity than became his stuation. In his
(Mr. W.'s) eyes, every saving, however small, was
important. He iegretted that there had been any
departure from the wise plan of his friend, Mr. Wind-
ham ; and was certain that men could be obtained
more cheaply by that scheme than by the present
mode of recruiting. No satisfactory intelligence was
given, why the Life Guards, the most fit for do-
mestic, and the least fit for foreign service, had
been seht to the Peninsula. He had been informed,/
that so little were they suited to the service in
which they were employed, that in the first ten
days after their arrival in Spain, thirty-six horses
had been disabled. The Noble Lord had talked
very pathetically of small three-cocked hats: he
should remember that the Blues still wore them. In
his own opinion, the substituted helmet, beside its
absurd appearance, was too heavy, and even too dan-
gerous for the head—he himself had tried one on,
and he found, among other things, a screw in the in-
side, which, when the helmet was forced down on
the head by a blow, must inevitably fracture the
skull. The method of dressing some regiments of
cavalry was quite preposterous ;—let any gentleman
in passing survey the men at the Horse-guards, with
their tall tiait caps, without the least shelter from
the sun ; and then let him think, if whiny or a regard
to the comfot t of the soldier directed these altera-
tions. He had seen the 10th regiment rev Awed some
years ago, under the command of Sir Charles Grey,
and a finer or more fitly dressed body of men were
never seen :—if a soldier equipped in the fashion of
the present day had ridden through the line, the
whole regiment must have burst into laughter. In
compliance with the sable whimsical taste, the Eng-
lish saddles were supplanted by foreign saddles. It
was true that the English were the best in the world;
yet some person, who had been abroad, had taken a
fancy to the foreign accoutrement, and the men and
horses were therefore to be dressed in a style which
every where, except in that House, was treated with
derision. The Noble Lord had called his Honour-
able Friend facetious : the Board of General Officers
'sere far more facetious, for they made all England
laugh every day—(a tait,;:h.)—He wished the colour
of the regimentals to be changed to the original red ;
for blue, which had lately been adopted in our army,
led to great mistakes and confusion, as the English
soldiers frequently mistook each other for the enemy.
He thought more information ought to be given on
the Irish barracks. The Noble Lord begged the
House to wait till the next time of his appearance,
for satisfactory intelligence. The Noble Lord should
also be made to wait the same time for the money
he demanded.—(4 /augh.)-7As to the office of Pay-
master, there was no doubt that one person could do
the duties of the office, and that it had been split for
the purpose of Parliamentary influence. -
Mr. PEELS stated, for the information of the
Hon. Member v. ho had just spoken, that Barracks
were to be learned at New Town, Wexford, Kildare,
'r the neighbourhood of Dublin ; and It many other