AFFGHANISTAN. (Hansard, 16 February 1843)

§ The Marquess of Lansdowne
wished to know whether the noble Duke opposite intended to submit his motion relative to the military operations in Affghanistan, on Monday next, in the same terms in which he had originally given notice of it for to-day. If, however, the noble Duke intended to vary the terms of the motion, he was sure the noble Duke would see the necessity of giving notice of it.

§ The Duke of Wellington
said, the motion would not be precisely in the terms of the notice as it stood on the paper. He would endeavour to lay a copy of the motion before the House to-morrow.

§ The Marquess of Lansdowne
said, the course proposed to be taken by the noble Duke was perfectly satisfactory. It was important that their Lordships should have an opportunity of considering the precise terms of the motion before it was brought forward.

§ The Duke of Wellington
repeated, that he would, if possible, give notice of the precise terms of the motion to-morrow.

§ The Marquess of Lansdowne
said, that as this was the first day on which the House had met since the papers relative to the operations in Affghanistan had been presented, it might be convenient to take that opportunity of calling the attention of the noble Duke to what appeared to be either an omission or an accident, in consequence of which two or three material documents had not been produced. The information contained in the papers was certainly most ample, but if any of their Lordships had already had time to look at the volume, they would perceive that two or three documents were referred to, which were not included amongst the papers. One of these documents was obviously most important. In May, 1842, very peremptory directions were issued by the Governor-general to General Pollock, desiring the latter immediately to commence a retreat. It appeared that General Pollock did not obey these directions; and in the papers before the House reference is made to a letter written by General Pollock, and dated the 13th of May, as explaining the grounds on which he acted. He had looked carefully through the papers for that letter of the 13th of May, but it was not to be found. That letter could not fail to be of importance in considering the subject. Again, at a subsequent period, reference was made to a letter which 697 might or might not be of importance, but which certainly might be expected to be produced, namely, a letter written by Mr. Clarke, the political agent, dated the 5th of May, and with respect to which the Governor-general himself makes the observation, that on perusing the letter it appeared to him that Mr. Clarke was in possession of the views of General Pollock. That letter also was not to be found amongst the papers. Here were two letters which were directly referred to which were not produced; but, beyond that, it appeared that very peremptory orders were issued to General Nott directing him to evacuate Candahar, and General Nott took upon himself not to execute those orders. It would, indeed, be extraordinary if General Nott took on himself to depart from the instructions he received, without stating to the Governor-general the grounds on which he acted, and yet in the papers presented to the House there was no communication from General Nott to the Governor-general in any degree explanatory of this point. He had felt it his duty to take the earliest opportunity, after perceiving the absence of the documents he had referred to, to call the attention of the noble Duke to the subject, and to ask whether those documents existed in the public offices, and, if so, whether there would be any objection to produce them to complete the chain of evidence?

§ The Duke of Wellington
was understood to say, that he would make inquiry on the subject, and give an answer to-morrow.

The Marquess of Clanricarde
hoped the noble Duke would have no objection to lay before the House copies of the famous proclamations. He was not going to argue whether they were connected with the subject or not, but as he believed they had been presented to the House of Commons, and were, besides, papers so notorious, he thought their Lordships ought to be in possession of them.