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    ^ 2 |-THE LEAD EB. [Saturday ^

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    Imperial Parliament. Tjmt "Wl«»—Ministbu...

    Wanted to have the position which the Ttmes possessed , if Slanted to have the people attheir back , let them do what the Times did , come forward and say that which the people thought , not what they wished the people to be made to think . ( Cheers . - ) There were ^ roany other things oh which he should like to have had the opinion of her Majesty ' s ministers . The . bare fact was stated , that Lord J . Russell was going to the continent , to take such a place as that of Castlereagh . Was he going upon the same principles as actuated Lord . Castlereagh ? Were we to go upon the four points ? Was the intention of government such as it was a few weeks ago , such as might be expected of those in the cabinet who represented the ' principlesbf its late head ? Surely Lord Palmerston ,

    when the whole country was hanging on his every word , might have told us a little about that—whether we were approaching a chance of peace , or going on into a great war—whether Gircassia was to be aroused , and whether , if so , we were afterwards to desert Circassia . Without entering on discussions which in a public assembly might be improper and dangerous , he asked , were not the government now placing us in a position to be somewhat despised by our neighbours ? It might be that one day , we should bitterly rue what had now happened , by which England made such an unfavourable impression on those who were , perhaps , at heart her enemies , and but for a period her friends . Did the government forget that England , in the situation

    she now was , had the eyes of all Europe on her , and would they hesitate , for any private family or party consideration , to remove her from that situation where she became the laughing stock of the world , as a nation declining from her former high place , which had failed , which had disgraced itself , and would be an easy prey to those who might seek her destruction ? Did these considerations never occur to the minds of the Government ? He would appeal now to the noble Lord at its head . A few days ago , no man who ever undertook the Government had more general sympathy and confidence . He had once told him that he had heard the name of Palmerston repeated among tribes of whom the noble lord , with his great knowledge , had perhaps not even heard .

    In Europe that name was a spell of magic : it represented great principles—however justly , - such was the fact—it represented the causD of liberty . That reputation was so bright that even the betrayed Sicilians of 1848 , and the fate of Italy , could riot tarnish it , although he formed a member of the government who betrayed their cause . That reputation endured through every storm ; and necrose in the House , as no other man ever did , with the House and the people of England to support him , because they felt that he , in moments of great national difficulties , had undertaken great and arduous tasks ; but let Lord Palmerston ask himself now whether the people of England would be satisfied with what he had done ? He thought they would not . That

    people were forbearing and long patient ; they would put up with indignities and suffer wrongs rather than by their movement old institutions should be overthrown ; but yet the time did come when like a torrent their indignation must burst forth , and sweep away the obstacle . Thayjvtrere-Sojvy itli Catholic Emancipation , they were so with the Reform Bill , ^ theylvere so" with Free' Trade . On those questions , night after night , members rose in the house and enunciated truths which every mind must have admitted ; but the grievances remained , and the people suffered , until they felt that the wrong was intolerable , that Parliament was betraying them , and in ono short year the thing was carried . ( Cheers . ) And 30 it was now ; the people seemed to be quiet , the lake appeared still ; but let us not sail upon it in false security , for the waters would i £ se if the evil were trifled

    with , and we should suffer unexpected shipwreck . The present state of the country was n matter of deep and painful anxiety . The nation were not satisfied . They wanted , irrespective of the qualifications ^ particular men at this moment , to see whether they could not be governed by something new ; they would not have the same parties over and over again . ( Cheers . ') No doubt a Cavendish in the cabinet was very important ; but the people thought more of 20 , 000 gallant lives than even of a Cavendish in the cabinet . ( Cheers . ) The people wanted a complete and thorough reform ; let the noble lord consult their wishes . He entreated Lord Polmorston once more , for his own sake and for that of tho country , to reflect ; the country as well as that House were ready to support him , if he adopted a course by which his own reputation would be enhanced and this groat nation saved . ( Cheers . )

    On the conclusion of Mr . Layard ' s speech , General Peel and Lord Pnlmorston arose at the same moment , but iu deference to the wish of tho House , Lord Palmerston gave way to General Pjebl , who merely said that ho had voted against Mr- Roebuck ' s motion only because he thought the proposed committee would bo useless . The plain fact was that wo had sent out a splendid army without a sufficient commissariat . Lord Palmerston would bo , he said , tho lost to find fault with any man who blamed any part of our administrative system , but ho protested againat the language he had hoard from Mr . Layard , who had talked of the degradation of this country and af its becoming the laughing stock of Europe . Lamenting , the . sufferings of the army , ho admitted that those sufferings had been aggravated by want of management on the part of those who had the administration of tho details ; but

    these mistakes had not been confined to the British troops . There was good ground for asserting that the sick and wounded in the camp of the Russians amounted to 35 , 000 men . These sufferings arose from physical causes in the pow ; er of no man to control . After a brief reply to some parts of , Mr . Layard ' s speech , Lord Palmerston added that he was satisfied that the people of this country looked more deeply into these things than Mr . Layard supposed , and that when they saw a Government established in consequence of the failure of two attempts , they would feel that men who undertook the conduct of affairs in such circumstances from a sense

    of public duty , and from honourable motives , were entitled to the credit of being actuated by a desire to perform a public duty , and that they would give their support to such men , not forcing themselves upon the country , but coming forward at an emergency . The Government threw themselves upon the generosity of Parliament and the country , and , with their support , m spite of trifling reverses , they would carry the contest to a successful issue , and , whether by an honourable peace now , or by iorce of arms hereafter , place the country upon a proud footing of security . Phillimore

    After some remarks by Mr . J . G . , Mr . Warner , and Major Reid , the House went into committee of supply upon the Army Estimates . Mr . F . Peel prefaced the details of the estimates by remarking that they differed from the estimates of the current year—first , in the increased number of mennamely , 178 , 645 ( exclusive of the troops in India , of the foreign corps , and the embodied militia ) which , exceeded the vote of last year by 35 , 869 men ; secondly , in the large augmentation of many of the services heretofore included in the estimates , and in the creation of new departments , such as the land transport corps . He stated the manner in which the increase was distributed

    over the entire army , and explained the various items . The charge for the effective land forces was 7 , 353 , 000 ? . —an excess over the charge of last year of 2 , 630 , 000 ? . The charge for the embodied militia was 3 , 813 , 000 ? . The total amount for effective and non-effective services was 13 , 721 , 000 ? . The total strength of the army for the coming year , exclusive of artillery , engineers , and the troops in India , was 193 , 595 of all ranks , of which number 14 , 950 would consist of foreigners . Immediately on the conclusion-of Mr . Peel ' s statement , a great discussion arose which was not always confined to the matter in hand . Captain Boi / dero objected to some defects in the Medical Department of the Army , relating incidents in proof .

    Mr . Williams detected separate charges for the oflices of Secretary for War and Secretary at War , which bffices ^ yere to be merged into one . He objected that Prince Albert , who was no soldier at all , had 2 , 200 ? ., as colonel of the Grenadier Guards , whilst Sir De Lacy Evans , and Sir Colin Campbell , and other veterans , received only half that sum for their colonelcies . The same difference existed throughout with respect to . the guards and the line . . Captain Kxox , a guardsman of twenty-five years standing , denied these accusations , and explained that the Grenadiers numbered three battalions .

    Lord Seymour defended Mr-Hume ,. _ who ^ was absent through illness , from some charges which had been made . Mr . Hume , he said , had never once opposed any measure for the efficiency of the service . This was followed by a cross-fire from various gentlemen who dwelt on the complaints of green coffee , the inefficiency of the staff , the want of an ambulance corps , the aristocratic influence , the neglect of the sick and wounded , and the various well-known charges . Lord Palbierston replied generally . It had been urged that , as England was a maritime power , wo should have crippled Russia by means of our navy , and furthermore , that our navy had been useless . Lord Palmerston differed altogether from those opinions , for

    our fleet in the Baltic had prevented the large naval force of Russia from stopping our commerce , and possibly ravaging our shores . We undertook to defend Turkey against tho aggression of Russia . We did not undertake it , as some havo represented , ^ because we preferred a Mahomedan to a Christian . We made war because it was to the interests of the world that the vast region under the sway of Turkey should not fall under tho dominion of Russia . Where did that danger lie ? In tho Black Sea . It was manifest that AuBtria had such an interest in protecting Turkey from any formidable invasion by land that wo might leave tho protection of the land frontier of Turkey to the arms of Turkey ( which did , in fact , for twelve months oppose a barrier to the inroads of Russia ) , and to tho combined forces of

    Turkey and Austria , should it become absolutely necessary for that Power to interfere . It is clear , then , that the great power of Russia as against Turkey , lay in Sobastopol ; it was its great fleet that had tho dominion of the Black Soft ) it was in that arsenal' that its groat fleet rested in security , and from which it could issue , as it wore , with tho promptitude of lightning , and sweep down upon Constantinople . At Sobastopol , thore was centred tho great power of 'Russia ; and , if wo desired to strike an effectual blow at it , it was there that wo must do it . Tho difficulties attendant ; upon tins expedition woro greater than wero anticipated when wo undertook it . An academy for staff officers had been suggested , but theory In an academy and practice in tho field wore rather different things . Continental armies had tho

    advantage of constant practice in the shape of mimic warfare , but Chobham was our only recent experience of that description . Mr . Williams had complained of the advantages enjoyed by the household troops , but that was always an arrangement in foreign armies ; in France , for instance , there was the Imperial Guard , ' and in Russia , Austria , and' Prussia , there , were troops to correspond . In the Peninsula and at Waterloo , the household brigade was irresistible , but the nature of the ground in the Crimea * rendered it unadvisable to send them there . We had not commenced the war without any land transport corps , for that was attached to the commissariat , but it was now arranged to have a separate body , whose duty it would be to look after the

    service and perform it correctly . The loss of the horses must be principally attributed to the severe storm , when twenty days' forage was entirely lost . Of course such a totally unlooked-for disaster could not be immediatel y remedied . " In the early part of the session we urged the great necessity of passing a bill to enable us to raise foreign troops , and that I especially entreated the House to consent to that bill in order that we night without loss of time enlist foreign troops to go to the assistance of our own troops in the Crimea . It is perfectly true that hitherto we have not succeeded in acting upon that bill , and why ? I must tell the House the truth , however unpleasant it may be to some to hear it ; but the reason why we have not succeeded has been the language

    ( cheers )—I am forced to say it—has been the language which was used in debates in this and the other House of Parliament , and which created such a feeling of resentment and indignation throughout the continent of Europe , that those persons who had before been prepared to take letters of service to raise troops in Germany threw them up , and said that under the circumstances they were unable to raise a man . ( Cheers . ) The condition , : also , which was imposed on the Government of not giving half-pay to the officers , likewise tended to impede the execution of the plan . I undertake to say that if Parliament had not put in a clause prohibiting the granting ' of half-pay to the officers , and if language of so insulting a kind had not been held with regard to

    what were called ' mercenary troops , Germans , Bel gians , Heaven knows who , '—thus raising the national feeling of the Continent against us , by this time we should have had a very different story to tell . This has not altered the feeling of the Continent with regard to the cause in which we are engaged ; they still say that England is right and wish us success ; but , after the language held with regard to these nationalities , they declare that they cannot take service under , the Government . ^ 1 should not have made this statement , which might be considered as a reproach to gentlemen in the two Houses of Parliament , but when I am asked for a reason I am forced to give it . " Respecting the sergeants to whom commissions have been given , the estimates included a supply to enable them to support their new dignity ; and , besides that

    there was a sum named to be given in annuities to those meritorious non-commissioned officers who have not been selected for the other honour . Knives and forks , & c , would be sent to the hospitals for the wounded -who have lost their kits , and a good supply of tents would be promptly furnished . The tents would not be on the French " ~ model ! for 7 ~ WouglFless portable , "the English tents are more protective , and the French tents were now being made on our plan . It would be much better if , as suggested , light cavalry could be obtained from Asia minor , instead of from India , for it must not be forgotten that India is as well worth protecting as Sebastopol is worth taking , and Sir Charles Wood and the Marquis of Dalhousie would have something to say if such officers as Colonel Outram and Major Edwardes were recalled . " The defect has not been the want of

    things sent from this country , for forage , ammunition , horses , everything that could be required has been despatched from this country ; and I venture to say that when tho matter comes to bo looked into , it will be found that there nover was sent from England so large a force in so short a time , so fully equipped , so well provided with everything necessary . Tho deficienriea arose from the want of arrangements for conveying to the men and to the horses the things that wero sent for them . There was groat truth and great force in the observations which fell from Mr . Newdegate , in answer to tho attacks which have been made upon the aristocracy , along with whom , I suppose , wo mu . it include tho gentry of this country ; for I believe tho term ' aristocracy' includes tho two . In reply to tho charges that our army has not bcou so successful as it ought to have

    been , in consequence of the great number of gentlemen who arc officers in it , I think tho hon . member made tho most triumphant answer , by showing thnt where your system has broken down—thnt whore evil lms arisen from tho want of capacity , of energy , of intelligence , or of tho accurate and zealous performance of duty it was not that tho gentry , not that the aristocracy , not that the noblemen in the army -were in fault , but persons belonging to other classes of tho community . It w In tho medical department , tho commissariat department , and tho transport department , which nobody contends are filled with tho sons of tho aristocracy or tho gentry . It is thoro that your system has broken down—it is there that the service has failed ; and this it is that 1 ms been tho main cause of tho suffering of which wo aro all complaining . Now , tho hon . member for North Warwu-kehire also expressed hia hope that tuo now clothing tot

    ^ 2 |-The Lead Eb. [Saturday ^

    ^ | -THE LEAD EB . [ Saturday ^

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Feb. 24, 1855, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_24021855/page/4/