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

was know', that by the regulations of the service,
when an Officer on halt-pay received any Office, civil
or militaty; his half-pay fall in. 'The indulgence t
this Gentleman night be contrasted with the rigour
exercised towards those in lower situations. He ed
in his hand a letter from the Secretary at War to the
Colonel of a Regiment, requiring the-names of those
Lieutenants who held other eve or military- appoint-
menu, by which their hali*-pay was forteited.-1
(ilea►r , Aear),---When'-thests circumstances we're,
talen into consideration, it should also he considered
at what time this transaction had taken ;place....
It was at a time when there was an universal cry of
distress throughout the land—at a Aim. when, the
rich were compelled to give their superteities, and.
others their necessaries of life, to the rcEet of their
poorer brethren. At such a time, the grant of 02,7001
a year to a person, whose services had out been eery
or very important, seemed an inselt on the pull-
long
lie. He did not say some reward should not.be he.
stowed upon this Gentleman; hot he contrasted th'e
general misery and want with this prodigal waste.
The House would perceive that the Ministers did not
consider how they might save, but how they might
squander, the money wrung from penury on their fa-
vourites and adherents. He concluded by moving a.
Resolution—u That the allowance to the late Com.
missary•General in Chief, of one half of his salary, nn
his retirement, was an excessive remuneration, regard
being had to the length of his services; and that the,
grant of a permanent office of £1,500 a year, in ad-
dition to the SAW, was an improvident expenditure
01 the public money, lied formed a precedent injurious
to the public interests."
The CIIANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, that he should endeavour to prove that justice
had been barely done to Mr. Herries, if, indeed, he
had received justice. The situations held by that Gen-
tleman had not been fairly stated. He was appointed
Clerk in the Treasury in 1798. Soon after, when he
(the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was appointed
one of the Secretaries to the Treasury, Mr. Herries
was his Private Secretary, and continued in that situ-
ation till 1804. He was afterwards, for several years,
Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
and First Lord of the Treasury. Both these offices
were at the same time confidential and laborious, and
generally led to considerable emoluments or promo-
tion. Had these been his only services, he should
not have thought Mr. Herries overpaid at present—
(Hear, hear). Mr. Herries, however, when Private
Secretary to Mr. Perceval, was appointed Comp-
troller of Army Accounts; an office for life of 41600
a year. This office he abandoned on accepting the
place of Commissary in Chief, which Colonel Gor-
don, who had performed the duty certainly most
honourably and respeciaoli, had relioquished, in
order to resume that military career which he had
quitted with eeret when the superintendence of the
Commissariat had been proposed to him by Mr. Per-
ceval. He did not intend to depreciate the merits of
Colonel Gordon, under whom, as the Honourable
Mover had stated, a new system had been organized.
Mr. Herries held the office of Commissary in Chief
till 1816, when that office was re-united to the
Treasury, by which step forty-two offices, with
salaries amounting to 411,000 a year, had been
abolished, besides a saving in incidental expenses.—
To Mr. Herries's advaucement he had not himself
the fortune to contribute. • This Gentleman, as father
of the volunteer system, had some claim to the kind-
ness of the country. He had also relinquished in
1811 an office of ie1,500 a-year for life on his accep-
tance of the Commissaryship, and this last office he
had held during the most arduous period in the his-1
tory.of the country. His important services in that
office he should shortly have occasion to enter upon
more fully. By 4 minute of the Treasury, in the
time of Mr. Pereeval, this office was excluded from
the halt-pay regulations as not a military office, for
;t was thought unfair that if a Gentleman retired
from it Mier serving in it a short time, lie should re-
ceive ha e if tor lite. The office, therefore, came
ender the Act of the .50th of the King, which regu-
lated the remuneration to holders of places in their
retirement. By that Act persons who had been in
the service ten years were entitled tohalf the salary
of their office ; those who. Lad been twenty to two-
thirds. Mr. Merrier: had been eighteen years in the'
service, or within two years of the time which would
have entitled him to two-thirds. The allowance of
one-halt was therefore surely not extravagant. The
office of Auditor of the Civil List, to which Mr.
Hetries was appointed, was the result 'of Parham*
tary enactment. The experience of the new system
had remedied the frequent occurrence of an exerts in
the expenditure, as since the appointment, though so
recent, no deficiency was observed. The situation
was to be filled by some person, and the Treasury
could no: make a better selection than the talents and
experience of Mr. Herries afforded. No other man
could have entered on that important duty with such
advantages towards an efficient execution-e(Heor)—
The House, in estimating the retOing. allowance ef'
such a public servant,_ should bear us mind the period
of great public exertion or which his services were em-
ployed. In the year 1814, no less a stun than
£18,173,000 passed through his department; is
1815, fifteen millions and upwards. In any compa-
rison with the claims of his predecessor, regard should,
in his judgment, be paid to the, increased extent of
service. ,In the year 1812, when the war assumed a
new character, it became necessary to provide, not
only the military, but the pecuniary means of unli.
mated exertions. The means of furnishing the credit
would have proved of little value, unless accompa-
partied with the power of making it bear on the seat
of action. Those who recollect the debates of the
House at that period, will testify to the exertions-of
Mr. Herries, by which twenty millions were realised
in metallic currency on the Continent—they will feel
that when year Miter year the drain of bullionincreased,
and the rate of Exchange became more unfavourable,
ti.e late Commissary General had made efforts unpa-
ralleled. Never was the diversified service of the
country interrupted by any pecuniary want, in the
variuusshiltings of military operations; both to oar!
Allies and to our own forces, naval and military, illol
nos; abendant supplies were furnished. • .
Mr. TIERNEY observed, that He would Alain
from any reference to the merits of *Mr. Herries, ad-
mitting all that bad been said in his favour, and be-
lieving him. a •meritorioas servant, the only question
was, was he not on his retirement from in'office
created duriog the war, remunerated in a way dis-
proportioned tohis services ? and that whilst he had