Star.
London, England, 1823-02-20 00:00:00

corekeeper's ofKces ; indeed the latter was costsi-
Jere(' altogether as a sinecure—(Hear)..--Titen, a;
to the Clerk of the Deliveries, he, by the general
Orders, or on: of his sworn clerks, ought to be present
at emery delivery ; but, by one of those innovations ax
otlier times so much complained of, the duty was
now no longer.Rerformed in this Tanner-7{ll6dd
Whir a view to ascertain what tber—Caartiatit-Weii.
ral and Master-General's separate duties were, a
)Ived efftililintbn WISIIIITtrmrri-Kw A.- sa----- .

result of which vas, that in the absence of the Nes- -,
ter-General the Lieutenant?Cieneral took his place; -%
'and kept ari account of .:the 'warrants. -141 r. Creel :t
who had held a high offitiallintatien in the Offiee,..l
stated that his duties were not distinct from cheer
whith belonged W him In the capacity of a Member ..;
of the Board, unless in the absence of the Mainers
General, or in the event of a vacancy. Earl lrat'
IhaM and Lord MOira, vibes hid 'both been Masters
General, were exaMine4 To 14ord Chatham tho
question.ws put, 0 What is.riur opinion of the via
lity of the appointment of Lieutenant-General of tb
Ordnance?" The answer to this Anestion was re-
markable. The NOble Earl begged to postpone an
swering, which was accordingly permitted, in.order
that he might have time, no doubt, to consult with
those interested in the affair, and to manage .his and
saver to suit their taste.. When he did make any rt
ply, it appeared in a postscript, and was to the fol-
lowing carious effect:—" I really find it difficalt to
understand what could lead to the doubt expressed
by your question, of the utility of the appointment,
of Lieutenant-Generals, especially when the office
appears to have been filled by such high and re'
'sponsible naines"—as`though (continued the Honour-
able Member) the high and responsible names had
anything to do with the matter—(l-/enr, hear).,
Next was Lord Moira, to whom the same question
was put. His answer was very different. He said,-
" I apprehend the office was originally instituted ht
contemplation of the Master-General, nho is usually
an Officer of high military rank, being sent abroad
in the command of an army. to that c ise the Lieu-
tenant-General would cettatrily. take the manage-
ment of the department in his place. Besides this,
lam not aware of any duties he can have beyond ,
those of a Member of the Board." The Commis-
~.:
sioners, upon this evidence, report to the House 'td
kthe same effect: In the same way the Clerks were
useless, as they could only be required in
case of the absence of the Master-General; mid in the
absence of the Master-General at Walcheren, the
whole duty. was done by the Under-Secretary. The
Commissioners therefore said—a We think 'that theie
Clerks must be unnecessary, and ought to he disc
missed, especially as it is not likely the absence of a
Master-General would be of long continuance. We
are also of opinion that a Lieutenant-General cannot
be essential to the constitution of the Board; espe-
cially if the Master-General have not the duties of
the appointments to'attend to." The Commissioner's
recommended also that the Ordnance Department
should be united under one distinct Commission, in i;
the manner of the Treasury and the Admiralty, with ..,
the title of Commissioners, and the Master-General
at the head, and the duties exactly of the same na--
Lure. Lord Moira raid that the Officers of the Ord-
, !lance should be fixed, with one in the House ofCotnL ' '
mons, to answer questions and give information.—.
The Commissioners allowed thete might be two in'
the House, and the others should be fixed. But they-
had seen four in that House; and even now there
were three, contrary to the recommendation of the
Commissioners, and three to one over the allowance
of Lord Moira. The complaint he had to make was,
that scarcely any one recommendation of the Com-
missioners had been attended to. They had ream*
mended the present formation of the Board to be
abolished; and the question for the House was,
whether they thought it necessary that this Board, if
a time of peace, should have five officers for con-
ducting the affairs of such a small department, when.
they considered that four were sufficient to coaduet
the affairs of tht Navy. Things must be very mei%
changed if the Navy of England was' unworthy of
the same degree of consideration as the Ordnance.
He might be told that the Barrack and Commissariat
Departments had been added to the Ordnance. Bet
theßarrack had always belonged to it, and even with;
both; the business in amount and importance could 0 -..
be nothing to that of the Navy. If, therefore, the
House thought itself right in the decision of last Seta
sion relative to the Lords of the Admiralty, it could •
not refuse him the motion he was about to submit for
the reduction of one from the number of this Boards
When it was considered that the nation paid COOSA
for the Ordnance Board, and- 4,0001. for the Ad• i
iniralty, the disparity would appear in all its mesons
inky. After the Speech from the Throne, it was
really an insult to the Petition of the People forst,
..
trenchmentyto Rap chit oppointment within twenty-
~
four hoer: of the meeting of that House. In the es-
isting circuinstances of the country, they ought not
to spend one single shilling beyond what was elm-
lately necessary. The Hots* therefore, he treated,
would support hint in endeavouring to make a
stand against wasteful expenditure, in the intuit*
of what he considered to be the most expensive
of the Public Departments; Ireland always 'el-
cepted. The Report said, 'the Secretary ought
to have no More than £BOO a year,. whereas Mt.
Crew had 18004 a year, according to the resents
last year, whilst his house cost.the country 15,0001.
building. fie did not blame Mr. Crew for getting
all be could, but he blamed those who gave it to
him. The Secretary, in point of fact, cost the maims
1900/. a year; for a pension of 4001. was given to
Captain Chapman, to retire and make way for Mee
one else. It was impossible the appointment add
be of much importance, for he was frequently abseil {
—.indeed, he was at the present moment at Madrid,
Why then pay 15004 a year for performing one 411111
and send the individual on another? The- MAN
Secretaey was discharged, but without any saving UP
the. Public, for the 3001.' a year he had was. diviikg
between his two clerks, who were kept. There**
no. Department in tbe State required more lookihi
thee than the Ordnance, he was: convinced. In WO
the whole Department c05t'18,726/. being in tiMeti
war; bin 'in 1821, the sixth year of peace, it sing
68,2781. being an increase of 47,0001, upon. der-twe
Offices of theTovrer and Pall-mall only. lbeCeir
missioners of Militity-Fsquiry, seeing this gresit-lr
crease, suggested two mdst important -Aerial&
which kWh:tame-the stney oldie House-to take Whit
had never been attended tu. The first wash tberfin