Mr. Calcraft, seeing an hon. gent. in his place (Mr. Johnstone), said he should take that opportunity of giving the hon. gent. every satisfactory explanation as to the questions which the hon. gent. had thought it necessary to put to him yesterday, with respect to the item for powder in the charges for the island of Ceylon. The hon, gent. asked, why the necessary supply of gunpowder had not been furnished by some of our settlements in the East Indies: to that question the best answer would be the simple statement of the fact, that the governor of that island had required a supply of English gunpowder, in preference to that of our Eastern settlements, owing to the superior quality of the former; and this too, not so much from the comparative excellence of our gunpowder, as the positive inferiority of that formerly supplied by the settlements. As to the apparent disproportion in the charges of 1000l. for Eng- 430 land, and 7000l. for Ireland; for worms, turn-screws, &c. it was to be considered, that of the supplies hitherto furnished for the-service of England, 9,100l. remained unexpended, so that towards the customary annual supply there was but a deficit of 900l., whereas, there was no remainder to supply the yearly demand for Ireland; this statement, however, as it stood, put in this case the Ordnance Estimates of England to those of Ireland in the ratio of 7 to 3, which he was free to acknowledge was by no means in the due proportion. As to the officers of Ordnance, in Ireland, they were entitled to every praise for the strictest economy, and the most laudable attention to the duties of the department. If blame, therefore, was justly to attach itself to any quarter, it would rather belong to this side. He confessed that, upon this head, he was not sufficiently prepared, to be as satisfactory as he could wish, not having had sufficient time to possess himself of the fullest information upon the subject; he should, however, take the earliest opportunity to enable him to account for this apparent disproportion.
§ Mr. Johnstonefelt much obliged by the great anxiety the hon. gent. had evinced to give him and the house every satisfaction relative to the questions he took the liberty of putting to him yesterday. It was, however, very natural for him to suppose that in that country, where the material of which the gunpowder was made was to be had, it could be furnished at a cheaper rate than it could be contracted for in England. As to the requisition forwarded by the governor of Ceylon, he did not think that the responsibility to that house rested upon the governor, but upon the ministers, who were bound to judge of the propriety of acceding to it. This, too, he felt it necessary to add, that he had the fullest reliance in the capability of the governor of Ceylon, and thought that that gentleman had given proofs of a strict economy.
§ Mr. Calcraftsaid, that he had only to repeat that English gunpowder had been sent out to the Island of Ceylon, upon the positive orders of the governor, founded upon reasons already specified, that appeared to the government convincing.