Lords Sitting of 6 April 1852

MINUTES.
PUBLIC BILLS.—1a Common Law Fees Regulation.
2a Bishopric of Quebec.
Reported.—Patent Law Amendment (No. 2); Mutiny; Marine Mutiny.
3a Indemnity.

TREATY WITH BELGIUM.
In reply to a question from Lord STANLEY of ALDERLEY,
The EARL of MALMESBURYsaid that the treaty to which the noble Lord alluded was first negotiated by Her Majesty's late Government. A difficulty arose respecting the interpretation of that part of the treaty which referred to the duty upon salt, but that difficulty was got over; then came another difficulty as to the object of the negotiation—a difficulty which had arisen in the Belgian Chambers. The Belgian Chambers had altered the tariff on the articles mentioned in the treaty, from what the tariff on those articles was when that treaty was first entered into. The consequence was that the advantages which we expected to accrue from a negotiation were quite neutralised, and the whole spirit of the treaty was altered. For those reasons the late Government delayed the ratification of the treaty, and in that state of

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suspense Her Majesty's present advisers found it upon coming into office. The present Government found it impossible to advise Her Majesty to ratify the treaty; but they took measures to have the tariffs placed on the same footing, both in the spirit and the letter, as they stood when those negotiations first commenced. The Government, in effect, drew up the treaty upon exactly the same terms as Mr. Labouchere had originally presented it to Belgium. Whatever advantages the English Government then expected from the treaty, which had not yet been ratified, would be thus obtained. The treaty was now about to be ratified. He expected it would be ratified before the 10th of this month; and he believed that, both in the spirit and the letter, without giving any opinion as to the merits, its provisions generally would remain identical with that treaty which was first negotiated by Mr. Labouchere between the Belgian and British Governments.

LOSS OF THE "BIRKENHEAD."
In reply to Lord MONTEAGLE,
The DUKE of NORTHUMBERLANDsaid that, with respect to the alleged loss of the Birkenhead, he was sorry to say the Admiralty had not received a report, nor any other information on the subject. The Admiralty, seeing the telegraphic message in the newspapers, sent a message by electric telegraph to Devon-port to the superintendent of the packet station, to know whether he had received any report of the accident, and if so why he, or the Admiral on the station, had not forwarded the news to the Admiralty, at least as soon as the newspapers had it. The Government, he repeated, had no further information than what was transmitted through the newspapers.

ADJOURNMENT OF THE HOUSE.
The EARL of DERBY: My Lords, I rise to move the adjournment of the House, and in making this Motion, I think it right to ask your Lordships to adjourn to the same day as the House of Commons, namely, Monday, the 19th instant. I know your Lordships do not generally adjourn to exactly the same day as the other House, but upon the present occasion I think it is desirable to fix the meeting of your Lordships upon the day on which the House of Commons assembles; for it will be necessary not only to pass the Mutiny Bill, but there is also another Bill fixed for
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Monday week, to which it is desirable the Royal Assent should be given as soon as possible.

THE INDIAN PRESS.
The EARL of ELLENBOROUGHsaid: My Lords, I wish to take this opportunity of making one or two observations which I refrained from making last night from a reluctance to detain your Lordships, Those observations arise out of the speech of my noble Friend opposite in reference to the war with Ava. My noble Friend at the head of the Government stated last night the intentions of the Governor General, in the military operations now going forward against the Burmese Government, and likewise the substance of two communications made by the Governor General to that Government. I feel it necessary to state to your Lordships that those intentions of the Governor General with regard to those military operations, and the substance of both those communications to the Burmese Government, were published in the Indian newspapers a month ago. A fortnight, at least, before these military operations were commenced, their nature and their object, the points against which they were to be directed, and the intentions of the Government to withdraw the troops before the rainy reason commenced, must all be well known, through these Indian newspapers, to the Burmese Government. My Lords, this constant, inveterate vice in the administration of the affairs of India, must be absolutely eradicated. It is essential to the credit of the Government, it is essential to the safety of the army, that complete secrecy should be observed on all their movements. I know all the difficulties that the several Governors General have had to contend with in preserving that necessary secrecy. Your Lordships can hardly form a notion of the extent to which the secrecy—even of State documents—of the intentions of the Indian Government is, I might almost say, universally betrayed. When I arrived at Madras, on my way to Calcutta, I saw in a Bombay newspaper one or two paragraphs respecting the war with China. These paragraphs, my Lords, I recognised as having proceeded from my own pen—as being a part of my own instructions for the conduct of the war—instructions which were written by me, when at the Board of Control. I sent for those instructions; and I found that those paragraphs in the Bombay newspapers stated not merely the substance, but every word: nay, my Lords,

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that one to which I now refer had been so evidently copied from the original document that a literal error which had crept into the original, was also in the copy in the Bombay newspaper. The original I had in my own hands. I will mention another circumstance. About a fortnight after my arrival in India I received a report from the General commanding Lower Sinde, who was then about to advance to Candahar. He stated, in the most minute details, the positions in which he intended to place the troops in Sinde, and the strength of every detachment which was to occupy those positions severally. The whole of that important document giving this important information was conveyed to the enemy, for it was published in a Bombay newspaper three days before it was received in Calcutta. My Lords, no Government can possibly conduct the affairs of a great empire, especially in time of war, without incurring the greatest perils, if they are to be subjected to these betrayals of public confidence. I will mention another instance. About three months after my arrival in India, I thought it necessary to remain at Allahabad, at a great distance from the Commander-in-Chief, who was so much nearer to the army then in the field. I was not then so conversant as I afterwards became with military affairs, and I thought it expedient to give a discretionary power to the Commander-in-Chief to direct that the forces should remain at Jelalabad, or should retire, as he might think fit. My Lords, every particular of that order was, by means of private letters, known in the camp before the General could possibly give instructions for carrying out the measures the Commander-in-Chief had directed him to adopt. After that, my Lords, I determined that the knowledge of no military movements whatever should leave my own breast until the time of execution had arrived;' and from that hour no man in India but my own private secretary and my two aides-de-camp knew of the directions given or the contents of my letters; and by that secrecy so preserved, various military operation were conducted to a successful issue, and with a small loss of men. Through this want of secrecy, my Lords, although the object in view may be effected, it is frequently effected with a greater sacrifice of human life. Now, in the present case, the Governor General of India, being at Calcutta, cannot take the measures which I took, being then in the field at a distance from the Council. All the orders of the Government in Calcutta must be known
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to all the Members of the Council, and to their Secretaries. I do most earnestly recommend to my noble Friend at the head of the Government, by the next mail which sails to India, to call the attention of the Governor General in Council to this scandalous betrayal of public confidence, and to tell him, that any measures which may be necessary to extirpate this evil, and to preserve the necessary secrecy as to the measures of the Indian Government, will receive the full and cordial support of the Government at home, even though it should involve the instant removal of any man, whatever his rank, who holds office under the Government of India.
The EARL of DERBYneed scarcely assure his noble Friend that he thought this subject one of deep and vital importance, and that he concurred in every word which his noble Friend had uttered regarding the impossibility of conducting the affairs, and especially the military affairs, of a Government, if all or any of its measures were made known to the enemy almost as soon as they were decided on. He would communicate on this subject with his noble Friend who was at the head of this department, and he had no doubt that proper instructions would be sent out by him by the next mail.
The Motion for adjournment agreed to.
House adjourned to Monday, the 19th instant.