The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-02-25 00:00:00

rfATES

but as military allowances? The Honourable Member
was then proceeding to touch upon salaries and pensions
in the Customs and Excise, and to specify some iudivi-
dual cases, when he was called to order by
Mr. GOULBURN, who said be understood the Hen.
Member did intend•o confine himself to the volunteer al-
lowances, and ought not to travel out of thatsubject, for
the purpose of bringing forward persons superannuated in
other dep atments.
Mr. HUME then moved, that a return be laid before
the house of the names of all persons who received pen,
sions or retired allowances in the yeomanry department
in Ireland, with an account of the nature and length of
their service, also copies of the certificates of infirmity,
with the names of the medical examiners, the dates of the
certificates ; the amount of pensions granted, the date of
their commencement, and the authority on which they
were grounded.
Mr. GOULIILTRN assured the house that, as to the
papers moved for, he had ne objection to grant them, in
order that the question might come fairly before Parlia-
ment ; but he could not omit the opportunity of calling
the attention of the house to a charge which the Hun.
Member had thrown out against the character of a brave
aid meritorious officer on a firmer evening, and which
duntained the unfounded Imputation that the Officer in
question received a pension upon which he had no pro-
per claim. The officer alluded to was Major E. Collis,
Brigade-Major of Yeomanry, and the charges made
against him by the honourable member were three :
first, that he was out fairly of age to receive such a pen•
sion; secondly, that he had served a very limited period ;
and thirillv, that he was in as good bodily health as the
hon. member himself. Now, what were facts? Why,
that Gallant Officer had joined the army in 1776 (hear,
hear!). In that year be joined his regiment in Allltri-
ea, and in the year forowing received a severe wound.
Now it was clear that any one who possessed less skill
io figures than the hon. member, might discover that
this officer was far from being a young man ; indeed,
at the time when he first received the allowance, he hail
been 45 years in the service (hear, hear !), and he had
been thirt-en years acting as Brigade• Major of Yeoman-
ry. He could also tell the hon. member, that the Irish
Government was not in the habit of granting such
pensions without the regular medical examination, and
a knowledge of ,the infirmity of the pensioner. The
Right Honourable Gentleman then proceeded to read the
medical certificates of the infirmities of Major Collis, in
which it was stated that he was gouty and paralytic, and
he then put it to the Hon. bla.nber if there could he a
:mkt deserting case of pension, both from length of W-
ilco and infirmity (hear !).
Mr. HUME expressed his confidence that the House
WoOld suppose him incapable of willingly tusking so un-
justifiable a statement as that imputed to him. The fact
was, that the case which the Right Honourable Gentle-
man itated, was not the same as that which he (Mr.
Hume) had mentioned. He had on the evening alluded
to, with the paper in his hand, specified but two names
out of nine, one of which certainly was that of the o:fi-
cer in question, who, according to that printed documeut,
was Major Collis, receiving half mond 10 years Brigade
Major; he objected tothe allowanceond saw no authority
for it; unless it was declare! that Major Collis was not
a military man, they might as well say lie was a WOlll4ll
(a laugh). He knew not whether the law to which he
had referred was differently construed in Ireland ; but
he understood it to be against the claim. But now, he
would ask, what confidence was to be placed in the Re-
turns of the Right Honourable Gentleman, when those
Returns stated that Major Collis had served but ten
years and the Right Honourable Gentleman told them
he bad been thirteen years a Brigade Major. The other
name to which he (Mr. Hume) had adverted, was that of
Brigade-Major Bridgman. At the time he received the
information respecting this officer, he was requested to
uppeal for the truth of it to the Honourable Member for
Galway ; but he did not now see him in his place. What
he was given to understand was, that that Officer had
hot the plea of being incapable from infirmity, of dis-
charging Ills duties, as he was in as good health as him-
self, and shout as young as be (Mr. Hume) was. This
was what he said, and he observed the unmake w. •
had been made in the newspapers the next morning, and
wrote to the Editors to correct it.

GOULBURN said, that the Hon. Member, in
alluding to the case of another officer, at present was as
unfortunate as he had been in the former instattee. If
he nderstoad him right, he said that Major Bridgman
was rather a young nun, built would he allowed, that as
be had served in South Carolina in ntd). he must be ad-
vanced in years.—(Hear, hear.) He had also served be-
tween It/ and 15 years as a Brigade Major, but neither
did he receive the retired allowance without full and ,
frequent proof that he was entitled to it front infirmity.
He had fallen from his horse in an apoplectic fit in the
discharge of his duty, he suffered a long illness in con-
sequence,and on the eel tificate of Dr. Itennie, than whom
no medical officer was snort capable and willing to guard
the public against abuse,, he was declared to have a deter-
initiation of blood toThe head, with occasional lois of
sight, and other apoplectic symptoms, an .l was justly en.'
fitted to the retired allowance.—(Hear, hear.)
The motion was then granted.
Mr. HCM E, after a few prefatory observations on the
existing abuses in the Land-tax collection, moved that
there be laid before the house a return of the assessments
of the Land Tax not exonerated in the county of Surrey,
daring the lait twen'y years: stating the amount as-
sessed, the amount collected, and the amount paid into
the bands of the Receiver-General ; as also the amount
of the surplus of each year, with a statement of the
items, if any, of expenditure, and the authority by which
they were su appropriated ; together with a statement of
the place where the surplus was now deposited ; distin-
guishing the districts, and the names of the collectors
and commissioners.

After a few words from Mr. WARRE and Mr. LUSH-
INOTON, the motion was agreecito.
On the motion of Mr. HUME, and after a few observatlo,ns
from Mr. N. CALVRItT, an Account was ordered, to be
laid before the bones of the amount collected in the pa.
fish of St. Saviones, Sosth wank, or any other parish,
under the denomination of Stock Tax, independent of,
and separate from, the Land Tax; with the dares of the
commencement of the payments of the authorities tinder
which they were paid, of the amount collected every year,
an 1 of the purposes to which it h►d been applied.
On the motion of Mr. HUME, an Account was also
ordered to be laid before the honseof the nam-s of all
Collectors of the Land or Assessed Taxes, who also acted
as Commissioners fur those Taxes.