Star.
London, England, 1817-05-09 00:00:00

lien allowed to withdraw with an egregious sum,
ether most deserving officers have been left with a
half-pay, scarcely removed from penury and want ?
(Hear, hear.) That Gentleman, first a Clerk in the
Treasury, next a, private Secretary,- was' permitted,
an instance never before exemplified'in public remu-
neration, to retire with no less a sum. than Jr.,:700
Fie had, at the head of the Commissariat, succeeded
his friend Colopel Gordon, the Gentleman who first
part all the rnactinery of that departmlnt into motion,
and by so doing had considerably Licilirated the la=
hours of his sumer* Mr. Herriea. But, said the
'Chancellor of thet• Exchequer, consider the great in-
crease of millions that Mr. Herries had to manage.
If then research are to be reeidated by a per ventage,
'on the millions laid out, where is the principle to
stop ? If it be right in one case, why should it not Iv i
extended to other offices under similar circumstances?
Would not the same reason apply to the department
of his Right Honourable Friend '(Mr. Long) op;
posite, the Paymaster General ? In every view of
it, he could not but consider it, if not a nob, at le.s.t
a most extrayagsut waste of the public money.—
Compare this ailowahce with that given to the other
Offices of the Sive, and the House must be struck
with the prodigality. Take, for instance, the pro-
posed pension ais,ut to he fixed for the Prime Minis-
ter of the Country, the man on whom was placed the
responsibility of every thing. He was to retire with
42,500, while a Clerk in the Treasury, afterwards
raised to an office which he ably executed for five
years, was to r.a!re with no less a sum than 5e2.700.
For of the Audoorship of the Civil 'List, he must con-
tinue to say, that it was wholly unnecessary, or that
£.500 was ample payment for the labour to be exe-
cuted. He feared that•the recent habit of discuising
nothing but millions had made the House altogether
regardless of hundreds. But in the distress, and em.
harrassment that surrounded the landed interest' of
the Country, it was no reflection on the great mass of
the Gentry to say, that such a sum as 4'2,700 per
annum would be a great object with almost every
Gentleman. and its disposal in the provision of Mr.
Herries must, under these circumstances, be most re-
volting and reprehensible. The blame would rest no
where but with that House, if it refused its inter-
ference, and he sincerely hoped the countty would, at
the proper opportunity, remind them of their conduct.
Lord CASTLEREAGH presumed, that if the
Right Honourable Gentleman and his friends w. 1.!
not, like the starling, * much in the habit of repeat-
ing the word "job," the experience of the last even-
ing but one would have given them a dislike to the
expression—(4 laugh, and Hear, hear.) The Noble
Lord entered at large i.ao a review of the merits of
Mr. Herries, in the exercise of his duties as Commis-
sary-General. That office was specially kept by Mr.
Perceval out of the operation of the halt pay, on the
ground, that while all the subordinate ranks had the
prospect of promotion, that oilicer had nothing to ex-
pect but his retiring allowance. Nothing, he con-
tended, had been done in Mr. Herries's case that was
not always done in the case of every person who re-
tired (tons office. He should certainly feel it his duty
to resist the motion.
• Mr. PONSONBY maintained that the office of
Mr. Herries was a military one, notwithstanding
what had been said by the Noble Lord ; but suppose
he were to *now that it was merely a civil office, he
would then ask where was the pile which entitled
civil officers, who retired, to receive more than their
half-pay ? He might ask, indeed, what were the in-
stances In which they were gratteed the full half' of
their s Clary ? If Mr. limits chose to take the Office
of Auditor of the Civil List, ,why were the public to
suffer ? He sari no reason why he should not sur-
render his half-pay. upon having acceptedlhat func-
tion ; unless, indeed', there was sotne peioliar Merit
in his case, which entitled him .to -have ptinciple.
violated for his sake, which had never been violated,
for any other person. He doubted, however, whether.
the transaction proceeded upon any ground of merit;
he rather believed the whole thing was to be traced
to the influence of favour; and he thought the House
was bound to pronounce upon it, that it was an
proper use of the public money. •
Mr. C. GRANT said, that the Treasury, in fixing
the'cempensatlon due to Mr. Herries, were not bound
to refer to the enactments of the Superannuation Act,
because that Act related to offices from which per-
sons retired in consequence of ill health, length of
service, or advance of years. whereas the office of
Mr. Herries was oboliihed. The only question,
therefore, was, whether the Treasury had or bad not
exercied a sound discretion in the mode and amount
Of compensation ? He thought they had, and he
therefore did not consider that they had incurred the
censure of the House.
Mr. BENNET, in reply, noticed the services of
Sir Robert Kennedy,.iie the character of Commissary
io Chief on the Peninsula, which he contended were
much mare laborious and important. than those of
Mr. Herrin.. Colonel Gordon did not voluntarily
resign his situation; he was desired to give it up,
although he did nos wish tsp.du so ; and he wok a
rank in the army which he now had, and that was
all the remuneration he received.
The House then divided—For the Motion 42--
Against it 93. •