Lord G. Lennoxrose, pursuant to notice, to bring forward his motion for the production of the report of the Commissioners appointed to inquire into the state of the Navy, Array, and Marines. It would not be necessary for him to occupy the attention of the House for any great length of lime, because he expected that some member of the naval and military commission would rise in his place and give the House some satisfactory reason for the delay in the production of their Report. It was now two years since the commission was appointed, and it was surely time the House should be put in possession of the cause of the delay in laying the report on the Table. There were at present many vacancies in the corps of marines which could not be filled tip until the report was made. As the 180 commission had been issued two years ago, it was time that the report should be ready. The noble Lord the Secretary of State, in the middle of last Session, said, in answer to some inquiries, that the report was ready, but that it could not then be printed owing to the lateness of the Session. He (Lord George Lennox) had been lately informed, that the commission had not sat since January 1839. Since that commission had been appointed by the authority of the House it was the duty of the Government to see that that commission had been fully performed, and they were bound to carry into execution the wishes of the House. There were many circumstances, but one especially, to which he wished to call the attention of the commissioners and of the Board of Admiralty. Riots had taken place in Monmouth where a small body of troops saved the town from destruction. He was rejoiced at the promotion of Lieutenant, now Captain Grey, who commanded that little body, for his conduct upon that occasion, and he believed that everybody considered that gallant officer was eminently entitled to the honours conferred upon him—but had he been an officer of marines, and had he performed services similarly signal, he would have received no such promotion—and he would give a proof in point. Lieutenant Parke, of the marines, commanded at Toronto, in Canada, a small body of troops, consisting of fifty men, which had been attacked by the rebels. Owing to the gallantry of Lieutenant Parke and his fifty marines the rebels were repulsed; twenty of the marines were either killed or severely wounded, and among them were Lieutenant Parke himself. Sir John Colborne did all he could in his power for the gallant officer, and conferred upon him the brevet rank of captain, which he could only continue to hold while in Canada. The Admiralty wished to continue the appointment, but the Horse Guards disallowed it. There could be no doubt but that a subaltern officer of marines was equally entitled to honour and promotion for faithful and efficient duty as any subaltern of the line,—but it unfortunately happened, that the subaltern of marines was the only officer in the service who could not be rewarded by promotion. It was his earnest hope and wish that some Members of the Government would give a satisfactory account as to the time when 181 the report would be laid upon the Table. By doing so they would relieve the minds of many a gallant and suffering officer from the greatest anxiety. He would detain the House no longer, but conclude by moving, "That there be laid before this House the names of the military and naval commissions, and the date of the appointment of that commission: also a return, stating the days upon which they have assembled, and the number of commissioners who attended on each day," appending the words, "and the names of the commissioners who sat each day upon the commission."
§ Captain Pechellseconded the motion, and bore testimony to the anxiety of the officers in his own profession as well as in that of the army. It was necessary for the country as well as for the officers themselves to know why that report had not before been laid upon the Table of the House, and it was stated in his hearing, that the reason why a brevet had not appeared in the Gazette on the recent auspicious occasion, the marriage of her Majesty, was, that the report had not been made by the commissioners.
Sir H. Vivianrequested the noble Lord not to persevere in his motion. For himself he could safely say, that, from the first moment he had been nominated to the commission, and he could say the same for all his colleagues, there never was a duty imposed upon a body of men more anxiously performed than that duty had been performed by himself and these colleagues. All the members of the commission had attended most sedulously to these duties with the exception of two individuals, whose official employment in the Government prevented their attendance, and with the exception also of two gallant officers, the companions in arms of the immortal Nelson. These were the only exceptions. The noble Duke who sat upon that commission from the very first day of his appointment was always present in his place—and was ever ready to give the commissioners the advantage of his great talents and experience. The appendage moved for by the noble Lord, viz., the return of the names of the commissioners who sat day by day upon the commission he deemed unnecessary, and be hoped that the noble Lord would not press it. The course of proceeding pur- 182 sued by the commissioners he would briefly state. It was true that the commission had been appointed two years ago; the commissioners met from week to week, and as frequently as they could; but from the nature of their inquiries there was a necessity of adjourning from week to week, because it was their duty to enter minutely into every question which came before them. They gave directions to have returns from every regiment in the service, and for that reason they could not meet from day to day—they were obliged frequently to meet from week to week. They afterwards entered into the consideration of every department of the service—the army, the navy, the marines, the commissariat, and the medical departments. To each of these the commissioners applied their attention regularly, and after due inquiry, they came to a resolution to frame separate reports on the individual points submitted to their consideration, and to submit their separate reports to officers of knowledge and experience, each in the respective department on which the report was made, so that before the general report should be completed, the branch departments of the general report world be revised by officers in the different departments of the service. When one of their branch reports were made, and the proper evidence obtained, it was forwarded to the noble Duke who sat upon the commission. Some delay had been occasioned by the reprinting of the report; because when it was first printed the names of the commissioners were appended to the report, which was found inconvenient, and for that reason a reprint was deemed necessary, and delay was occasioned Before any general conclusion was arrived at by the commissioners, it was found necessary that every officer who belonged to the commission should have an opportunity of entering minutely into each branch with which he was connected. The evidence with respect to the army, navy, and marine department was complete, and the report upon those branches was ready to be produced; but the reports upon the commissariat and medical departments were as yet incomplete; When the evidence upon those branches was complete the commissioners would meet, and then come to a decision upon the general report. That was the reason of the delay from June last to January. The commission could not proceed hastily 183 to decide to a question of such importance. When that report was produced, he did not entertain a doubt but that the House would do them the justice to say that they had taken a great deal of trouble and performed their duties with the greatest anxiety. Whether the House would adopt the advice of the commissioners would be another question.
§ Captain Pechellbegged the House and the right hon. Gentleman to understand that neither himself nor the noble Lord who introduced the motion intended to offer the slightest reflection upon the Members composing that commission. There was no doubt but that they acted with the greatest anxiety and industry.
§ Sir H. Hardingeconcurred with the gallant Officer who had last spoken, that there had not been any intention on his part or on that of his noble Friend, to cast the slightest censure upon the commissioners. As a Member of that commission, he (Sir H. Hardinge) assured the House that he had not neglected his duty. A portion of the commission consisted of Cabinet Ministers, who could not give the subject all the attention which it demanded, being compelled to attend Cabinet meetings. How then could the commissioners proceed? Hon. Gentlemen opposite could not attend, and there was a difficulty in constant attendance of the Members composing that commission. In the observations made by the Master-General of the Ordnance, an allusion had been made to the Duke of Wellington. He knew that a portion of the report had been forwarded to Walmer Castle, to the noble Duke by post; and on the following day that report was returned, having received the revision of the noble Duke. That was a proof that there was no want of expedition. Another portion of the report had been forwarded to the noble Duke by post to Strathfieldsaye, and it was returned in a similar way. He (Sir H. Hardinge) said, that every Member of the commission had done his duty, and among them he enumerated those who were Cabinet Ministers. It had been stated, that there had been no intention on the part of the Government to grant a brevet on the late auspicious occasion. He hoped that, as her Majesty's birthday was not far distant, a brevet would then be issued.
Lord G. Lennoxconsented to withdraw the motion, being unwilling to divide the 184 House upon the question. It was not his wish to disparage any Member of the commission. He had served with many of the commissioners and under the noble Duke, and he would sooner sacrifice his life than utter a disrespectful expression respecting any Member of the commission. His object in bringing forward the motion was to obtain all the information he could upon the subject, and he deemed that course the more eligible than asking a solitary question. On a former occasion, he had asked the noble Lord the present Secretary for the Colonies, when it was likely that the report would be presented to the House, and that noble Lord replied that "he did not know and could not say." A similar question had been put to the President of the Board of Trade, and that right hon. Gentleman gave a similar reply, "that he did not know and could not say.
§ Motion withdrawn.