The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-06-20 00:00:00

I- af"
des. am 610 wombat auseomed stay to Ire. There were
ail who were made during the war, and the other
were all yomig Oleos made slue* 1614. He
he bad sow stated enough to make out his ease.
jk however, to make a few ebeervations epos
the herffilldp of the situation in which Midshipmen were
. pigged hp Um present regulations. He found that in
eatship there were ten Midshipmen whose United years
a alma siemnslnd to 164. In another ship he (amid
tharthe son somber had served under sixty years.—
Then was one individual, T. Jones, in the ship he first
Ambit 10, who had served as Midshipman for fifteen
rwithout getting an appointment. He had been
olrirawd that day that he was going out with Sir Oeorge
• isyrs to South America. He had obtained the history of
thew *delineate men, for such be mast called them, and
'be bast thews distinguished for their services and good
:esiffiset. There was one who had been at Algiers, and
4110110guished himself in several actions in the late war,
bid wire still remained unrewarded, and was likely to do
so t• the day of his death. The Hon. Member then read
a list, containing several names of Midshipmen who had
been made at home as soon as their time was expired.--,
14r. Seymour was amongst these, and it was said that he
wuOne of three promoted for attending the King to
Edinburgh; but the fact was that be was not there at all.
The same was the case with Lieutenants. He found that
in the Blossom there were now Lieutenants of seventy's,
fifteen, fourteen, and thirteen years standing. In the
Royal Marines, the regulations were different, and there
• were no such complaints in that service. On the Ist of
Jan. 1816, there were 6949 Officers in the Royal Marines
and in Jan. 1823, the number was increased to 8494;
and during that time there had only been 37 steps ;
whereas in the Naval service, with a smaller number of
Officers, the muter of steps was 969. He would ask,
how could such a dilfirence exist in fair and equal jus-
tice? Tba reason was, that there were no Marines is
that Molise, and they that pOssessed na borough influ-
ence. Both there services were administered by the
same Board, and the diflbrence between them wits. that
one was managed by influence and favour. The Adati-
salty themselves bad pointed oat what ought to be done
al a remedy for the evil. On the 4th July,l9o3,an Order
is Council was issued, which ordered, that in order to
permit the increase of the number of Pursers in his
Majesty's Navy, no Pursers should be appointed till the
number was reduced to correliond with the number of
ships in the service, and that the number of Parsers
should never again be increased beyond that proportion.
Hs would say, let the same order be extended to all of
and then a jest ground of complaint and disco°.
test is the service would be removed. The Hon. Mem-
ber concluded by moving a string of Resolutions embo-
dying the statements made in his speech, and upon which
the following one was founded. Upon That he expressed
his intention of dividing the House. 4, That an bumble
Address be presented to his Majesty, praying that be will
be graciously pleased to direct an inquiry to be made
into the manner in which the Right Hon. the Lords of
the Admiralty have exercised their power, both as retards
placing Officers upon full pay, and the promotion of other
Officers to ahigher rank since the peace."
Sir O. COCKBURN begged to thank the Hon. Member
for expressing himself a friend to the Navy, but be assured
him that he could do nothing that would destroy it so soon
as to adopt the principle that promotion was to depend upod
seniority.—(Hear, hear.) The Hos. Member bad made use
of the high sounding numbers of the Oficers in the service,
but that did not his argument when compared with the
small number of abuses he had brought forward. He had
said, that if he (Sir G. C.) would grant to him that Interest
Naas used %the service, he had obtained all he asked. That

admission he was prepared to make to a certalo extent. And
. be contended thet it was most desirable for the good of the
service to have the sons of Noblemen and distinguished in-
dividuals in the navy; they gave it respectability, repro-
' sented It in that House, and added to its character in society:
end it was not to he expected that they should undergo all
the hardships orinferior service, which was endured by those
who served In the profession for their bread.—lle was sure
that those who did so were satisfied with the rewards be-
stowed by the existing regulations.—lle could not be ex-
pected .to follow the Honourable Malabar, at the moment,
through all the cases he had stated, but that of Lord H. F.
Thrum he happened by chance to be acquainted with. The
name of that officer stood at the bottom of a list of seven,
who were promoted upon a particular occasion, wholes the
seven oldest commanders upon the different stations. With
regard to the service of that officer, it was well known that
the King's son must so through six years of active ser-
✓icebetore he could be made ; and that, he thought, enti-
tled an officer to an appointment, who liadsiven up the com-
forts of alliseace and rank, if it could be made with justice
and propriety. Hut this officer bad also served in the Medi-
terranean, and afterwards in the Active, with such credit to
himself, that Lord Willie= Gordon came to the Admiralty
and reported to him the meritorious conduct of this
young officer es being entitled to reward ; and he was
proud to say that he had it—(Cheers.)—And this was
whit the Hon. Member called never having set foot on
board excepting a few years service in a gnard.ehip.--
There was afterwards a ten-gun brig ordered ta go out to
booth America, and there was no one to command her,
when this young officer volunteered to do so. The Hon.
Member complained that be should have been promoted
• to a ship which was not built. But the Admiralty knew
that it would be built whee he arrived at Madras, and by
that arrangement they saved an appointment. With re-
gard to junior officers passing over the heads of their se-
niors, it so happened that his junior Lieutenant had been
placed over the head of this young Nobleman, who serv-
ed under him without a word of complaint.—(Hear,
hear, hear !)—The Hon. Member had stated that influ-
ents in that House was a ground of advancement in the
service. Now upon looking at the list of the seven com-'
ander, who were promoted, it would be seen that the
nee Immediately above Lord H. Thyone, was the Hon. F.
Spacer, who belonged to an opposition family—ln the
Carnation promotions, all were selected from Midship-
apes who had passed before 1813. He did not mean to
say, that there were none who were promotedwith refer-
-ewe to their birth ; hut the instances 'were very few.-
011 occasion of the Coronation many promotions had
taken place in the army; and it was not improper that
maw should take place in the navy. Even now be was happy
to say that many officers were datlyadduciog claims which
it *u impossible to resist. The coast• blockaded,
the attacks on pirates, and the discouragement of the
Slave Trade, all brought forward claims on the service.
The name of Hope had been alluded to ; but no one of the
promotions of that name had taken place in consequence
of the influence of Admiral Hope. The promotion as to
the name of Coffin had taken place on the recommenda-
tion of an old officer, and if any Hon. Member found
fault with this, be could only say that he did not etivy•l
that Honourable Member his feelings.—The Honourable
Member for Aberdeen bad very unfairly spoken of the
levalid Service. No officer was allowed to he invalided
nithout medical examination at the Admiralty; and if
say Captain improperly recommended an officer to be
invalided, he was liable to be cashiered. But the
well‘knew that Africa and the West Indies were particu-
larly unhealthy, and he was sure they would not suffer
tire officers to remain and die upon their stations. Capt.
Gambier, who war also alluded to, had died three days
after be had been invelided. The Hun. Member was
eery partial to rolintipg the number of persons who had
leaped over the heads of others; but this twist be the case
in every promotion. With regard to the marineN they
were regulated by the lion. Member's favourite maxim,
and advanced by seniority. On the whole, be confidently
-declared that the Admiralty had done their duty, and
that the majority of the promotions were the result of
antral and meritorious services. lie should move a
direct negative on, the main Resolution; and the pre-
- • eious question on she others, which related to mere
Lamm of fact.