Mr. Rosemoved for the production of some unaudited accounts in the department of the secretary at war, namely, those of a gentleman named Lukin, a relation of Mr. Windham, and on whom that right hon. gent. while secretary at war, had conferred an employment in the department relating to foreign troops; and also for the unaudited accounts of Mr. Wickham, while attendant on the armies of our allies on the Continent, during the last war. The right hon. gent. in moving for these papers, made some allusions to the oddity of the circumstance, that Mr. Lukin, who was the relation of the right hon. gent. at the head of the war department, should have his accounts audited and settled by the secretary at war, instead of being referred to the auditors of public accounts: and with respect to Mr. Wickham, he observed, that it was pretty extraordinary, that that right hon. gent. who acted as commissary on the Continent during the last war, and whose accounts, to a very large amount, were yet unsettled, should be one of the loudest in cheering the proposition of the noble lord opposite to him, for establishing his new commission of audit, on the day he brought it forward; and as so much pains had been taken by his majesty's present ministers to cast an odium on the conduct of their predecessors, and to charge them with criminal neglect for suffering such an accumulation Of unaudited accounts to grow under their authority, he thought it right the house should see that all this accumulation had not been wholly imputable to those ministers who were now out of office, but that right hon. gentlemen who were so strenuous in impeaching the neglect of others, had themselves incurred no inconsiderable share of the blame, if any was fairly imputable, 615 He concluded with moving, "That there be laid before this house, an Account of the Amount of the sums issued in each year to Robert Lukin, esq. as agent to Foreign Corps, between the years 1794 and 1801, under the several heads for which the issues were made, and shewing when the accounts of the receipt and expenditure thereof were delivered to the secretary at war, and when the same were examined in his office; and also, Copies of all Proceedings and Correspondence of the lords commissioners of the treasury, the war office, the commissioners for auditing public accounts, and Mr. Lukin, respecting the department in which the accounts should be audited; shewing likewise the amount of the balance finally appearing upon the said accounts."
§ Lord H. Pettysaid, that as he did not mean to object to the production of these papers, he would appeal to the candour of the right hon. gent. as the names of two gentlemen were mentioned in these papers, whether it would not be fair that he should assign some reason for moving for them, or at least say, whether he meant to inculpate either of them for any part of their conduct in the transactions to which these papers related?
Mr. Rosesaid, the noble lord had lately stated to the house his intention to bring forward a new commission, in which he had mentioned the name of Mr. Trotter in a very particular manner. Why, therefore, should the noble lord thus call on him to know if he had any intention of inculpating either of the gentlemen mentioned in those papers? but he had no hesitation in saying, he did not mean to inculpate either of them. With respect to Mr. Lukin, there had been a very large sum of money issued to him by the then secretary at war, who was his relation, and he understood that gentleman had conceived a doubt, to whom he should account for that money, and had said he was accountable for it only to the secretary at war. He moved for the papers on public grounds, because he thought they would be found to contain information necessary for the house, and to which, as a member, he had a right. He could assure the noble lord, that if ever he should contemplate a charge against any man, or any member of administration, while he had the honour of a seat in that house, he should bring it forward candidly, manfully, and directly, not insidiously, or by a side-wind.
Mr. Secretary Windhamobserved, that not withstanding the right hon. gents'. specious 616 professions of candour and manliness, he had, on several occasions, endeavoured to let loose unwarrantable insinuations; and that, upon this occasion in particular, he had by a side-wind, and under the pretence of moving upon public grounds for public documents, offered an insinuation of the lowest class or description, and such as ought to awaken only the lowest class of feelings. It was true, one of the gentlemen he had so pointedly alluded to was his relation, and he obtained for him the post alledged. In this he did not conceive himself have departed from the constant usage of office; for if men, on coming into office, had relations, friends, or connections, as competent to subordinate employments as perfect strangers could be, he not only thought it admissible, but perfectly right, and in some measure, incumbent upon them, to provide for persons of such description. But did the right hon. gent. presume to say, or would he venture even to avow an insinuation, that he (Mr. W.) had, on this account, acted towards Mr. Lukin, his relation, with any degree of partiality or indulgence, different from what he should have done by any other man? he believed, the right hon. gent. with all his candour and boldness, would not venture such an assertion. He was not responsible for the conduct of Mr. Lukin, or of the other gentleman who had been mentioned, though he was confident, that he might very safely assume such a responsibility, as he was sure their conduct and their accounts, would be found perfectly correct. But it so happened, that the circumstances were not as insinuated by the right hon. gent. that Mr. Lukin's accounts were settled while he was in office; it was a considerable time after. Mr. Lukin's anxiety to have his accounts settled in the office with which his business was transacted, and where, he was always told, his accounts would be settled, instead of being handed over to the auditors of public accounts, liable to all the delays he would have there to encounter, was but a very natural feeling; and on his (Mr. Windham's) quitting office, Mr. Lukin certainly did solicit him to use his influence to have the settlement of those accounts expedited; but he had declined all interference, and told Mr. Lukin they must take their course in the ordinary way. He had no objection to the production of the papers, but a great one to the manner in which the right hon. gent. had conveyed his insinuation.
Mr. Rose"That there be 617 laid before this house, an Account of money issued in each year to Messrs. Thornton and Power, of Hamburgh, or to any other person or persons, which were by them, or any of them, paid over to the right hon. William Wickham, or to some person or persons, to be expended under his authority; shewing the amount of the total sums for each head of service, and by whom the same is to be accounted for."
§ Mr. Wickham(who, on account of some infirmity in his leg, was permitted to speak sitting) felt it necessary, after the pointed allusion made to himself, to explain his conduct. The official situation in which he was placed during the continental war, was not, as stated by the rt. hon. gent. that of a commissary. He was attached to the army of the archduke as his majesty's plenipotentiary, and was charged with negotiations for subsidizing troops. For the pay of those troops, he was officially acquainted, that a large sum of money was deposited in the Bank of Hamburgh, upon which drafts were to be given monthly for the pay of the troops. In the treaties which he had formed for those subsidiary forces, every thing relating to pay, from the general down to the private, and every thing respecting forage and other contingencies, were minutely stipulated; and he had repeatedly written home to his government, urging the necessity of sending out able commissaries, to be constantly attached to these foreign regiments, and to see that their musters were correct, with powers to draw upon the Hamburgh bank. In answer to which, his instructions were, that the responsibility. of drawing for money would not be vested in any commissary; but that he (Mr. W.) must take the superintendance of such issues; and after receiving the necessary certificates, signed by the commissaries, he must then, under his own hand, empower the commissaries to draw upon the bank at Hnmburgh. This was a duty not of his seeking, but imposed upon him without even asking his assent it formed a very laborious increase to the arduous duties with which he had been already charged. He undertook it however, cheerfully, as he would have done one more arduous, for the public service. But he felt himself placed in a predicament in which no man of honour or feeling in his situation would wish to stand: not as officially accredited, the plenipotentiary of his majesty, in a diplomatic department, but as a check or controul upon the acting commissaries, and with a share of care and 618 responsibility superadded to his other avocations. He had long felt the most earnest solicitude to have his accounts audited. He knew many other gentlemen in the same predicament, and some who, after waiting a series of years, had been obliged to go abroad on foreign stations, leaving their accounts still unpassed; and it was from his personal feelings of satisfaction, as well as his public sense of the utility and advantages of the system proposed by the noble chancellor of the exchequer for expediting the auditing of public accounts, that he had been zealous in cheering that system in a manner so peculiarly unpleasing to the right hon. gentleman.
Mr Roseexpressed his assurance, that no man could be more accurate than the right hon. gent. who had rendered very considerable services to his country.
Mr. Secretary Fox,after some animadversions on the candour, manliness, and purity of the right hon. gent. opposite to him, (Mr. Rose) begged to observe, that the expenditures about which he seemed now so solicitous, and the delay of accounting for which had excited so much of his disapprobation, must have been some years officially known to the right hon. gent. If there was any thing improper or illegal in the manner of those expenditures being accounted for, why, he would ask, had not the right hon. gent. in his great anxiety for rectitude, long since moved for their production?—The papers were then ordered.