Star.
London, England, 1819-06-03 00:00:00

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necessary. Tcolliainguity the gallant Admiralhad,
in tact? made no reply-410feet, hear.)
The Csimmittee then divided—For the Amend-
' • tatnt'97l.2fsgainst it 164—Majority 67.—The origi-
nal Resolution was then put and agreed to.
Sir GEORGE WARRENDER then moved, that

a sum not exceeding £1,631,628 be granted to his
Majesty for building and • Ships of War in
his Majesty's and Merchants far s, over and above
what was proposed to be done under the head of
Wear and 'rear, for the present year.
Mr. HUMS objected to the proposed sum of
£55,000 for works at Bermuda, Jamaica, and Trin-
comalee, on the grounds that no estimates had been
laid before the Committee. He also wished to know
whether the sum of £4OBO, for the Board of Longi.
lode, was a new vote, and intended to be annual ?
He concurred with the recommendation of the Com-
mittee, that the Naval Asylum should be abolished,
though he should have thought the Military Asylum
should have been the first to experience that fate.—
He hoped that, now the country was about to return
to Cash Payments, all salaries would.be reduced and
allowances to what they were in 1797, before the
Restrictions had taken place. If that were done, no
new Taxes would be necessary. In a short time he
should move for a comparative statement of Public
Salaries in 1797 and in the present times, and should
propose that the deduction be made quarterly. He
concluded by moving, that the sum of £55,000, for
works at Bermuda, &c. be left out of the proposed
Grant.

Mr. CROKER explained, that the works in ques-
tion were not new ones, but had been in progress
many years. If a certain estimate of the expense had
not been laid before the Committee, it was became
the st.cessity of pushing them to a particular extent
must depend en, ow political relations. He should
meet the omission of. this sum, as no works were
more important than tkom carrying on at Bermudas.
The Honourable Gentleman must have the goodness
to confide a little in his Majesty's Ministers, and to
believe that they would not go beyond the necessities
of the case. Uhe looked into the Estimates for for-
mer years. be would find that larger sums had been
demanded for the same purpose. The £4OOO to the
Board of Lassitude were an old and an annual vote,
and he believed no money could be better applied.
The Honourable Gentleman talked very lightly of
abolishing the Naval Asylum ; but he did not know
that it had been established by private charity, whose
co,-.tributions amounted to £lOO,OOO. The Public
had taken the charity, and also the £lOO,OOO. The
-Establishment could not therefore be abolished with-
out a breach of good faith and honesty.
The Amendment was then negatived, and the ori-
ginal Resolution agreed to without a division.
Sir G. WARRENDER then proposed a sum of
Z 419,319, for Troops and Garrisons on Foreign Sta-
tions, and for extra Wear and Tear.

Sir M. W. RIDLEY, on comparing the present
with former Estimates, found that 1.54,000 were de-
manded for the Yard at Deptford, whilst the on
Estimate last year was only £34,000. On the Esti-
mate fur Woolwich there was also an increase of
e 12,000, and on that for Chatham of £.5100. But
the most important of all was for the works of Sheer-
ness. The original Estimate in 1818 was £433,800,
of which £170,000 had been granted ; £553,800
were now demanded, so that the Whole would amount
to £733,800. These things required explanation.
Mr. CROKER stated that the increase in the Esti•
mate for Deptford, was in consequence of the neces-
sity which had arisen to rebuild instead of patching
op the.old walls, which were 100 years old. As to
Sheerness,. it would have been impossible, without an
actual ocasti inspedu, to form a correct opinion of the
expense required.. The excess was produced by the
difficulty of working in strong chalk grounds, which
the French called travaillees. With respect to the in-
crease in the charge for Woolwich, it arose from the
necessity of changing the line of the Wharf walls.—
Twenty-five thousand pounds a year had sometimes
been voted to remove the mud from the Woolwich
Yard; but by altering a little the course of the river,
and removing the mud with machines, the bed of the
river had already been deepened, and much future
expense would be saved.
The Resolution having been agreed to,
Sir G. WARRENDER moved, that £761,321 be
granted for the Transport Service in 1819.
Sir M. W. RIDLEY urged the claims of those
Clerks who, having passed through their examina-
tion, and acted for years in the capacity of Parsers,
were upable to attain that rank, and the half-pay
which it conferred, in consequence of an Order in
Council. He thought that an application to the
Prince Regent might procure a remission of that
Order in their behalf. lie trusted their services
would not be disregarded by the House ; and if no
one undertook the task, expressed his intention of
proposing, at some future opportunity, an Address
to the Prince Regent on the subject.
Sir GEORGE COCKBURN stated, that with re-
gard to the Navy Pursers, a regulation was in pro-
gress which would place them on the same footing as
other Officers.
Mr. CROKER regretted extremely that due atten-
tion to economy should not allow the services of the
individuals to whom the Honourable Baronet had al-
luded to be properly rewarded. Their case, however,
was not clearly understood. By former regulations,
the number of Pursers in the Navy was limited to the
number of ships of war. If a ship were broken up,
no Purser could be made until a new vessel bad been
built. As many ships had been broken up during
the war, and it would have beets hard for individuals
to be deprival of their support, they were entered,
out,of charity, on the check of the yard, and received
about 15d. a day. Thus as many Pursers had been
created as vessels had been broken up. This system
had afterwards been abolished, and they had been
placed on half pay; receiving, at the lowest, as much
as an Ensign on half-pay in the Army, and at the
highest, as much as a Lieutenant in the same situatiop
in the Navy. This regulation had been adopted on,
the' express -condition that the old system should be
restored as soon as possible, and that no more haul
ers, should be made until their number should have
ceased to exceed the number of ships in the service.
This was the ground on which it was impossible to
accede to the claims of the Clerks whom the Honour-
Baronet had mentioned, to be raised to the rank
-1 placed on half-pay.
- was then agreed to.

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