Mr. Baringwished to put another question to the right hon. gentleman, touching a subject which he had mentioned in the earlier part of the session. A suggestion had been made by him, and in that he was glad to find a concurrence in the feelings of gentlemen on every side of the House, that the services of a right hon. gentleman at the head of a certain department, to whose labours the country had been so much indebted; he meant the president of the Board of Trade (Mr. Huskisson), had not been sufficiently rewarded by the public [hear, hear]. The accidental absence of that right hon. gentleman afforded him an opportunity of recurring to the subject, which delicacy to him would have forbidden in his presence; but now that he had the opportunity, he would take upon himself to say, that there was a general feeling of regret, that that individual should be slaving as he was, in the service of the public, without any adequate reward. This he stated sincerely as his opinion, and without any concert or communication with the right hon. gentleman in question. What he wished to know of the right hon. Secretary was, whether government had turned its attention to the subject?
Mr. Secretary Peelreplied, that he had not heard the subject formally mentioned, but the justness of the hon. member's observations was so apparent, and the hardship of expecting a man to discharge the arduous duties of a laborious office, without adequate and direct compensation, was so manifest, that he had no hesitation in saying it was a subject worthy of consideration. The remuneration of the president of the Board of Trade, whose duties were many and arduous, ought not to be given indirectly. He thought there could be no objection in placing that office, in performing the duties of which the individual sacrificed almost the whole of his time, on a different footing. Instead of that, however, his right hon, friend was placed in another office (treasurer of the navy) to which a salary was attached. His right hon. friend stood in this situation: he filled two offices, in one of which he had little to do, but was paid for it; while in the other he was entirely occupied, but without any remuneration at all. There was no doubt but that the mode of requiting such services, should be amended.