§ LORD LYNDHURSTrequested their Lordships' attention while he made a few observations respecting the notice of Motion, relative to the expedition to the Crimea, which he had placed on the paper of the House. The following were the terms of the Motion:—
That in the opinion of this House the expedition to the Crimea was undertaken by Her Majesty's Government with very inadequate means, and without due caution or sufficient inquiry into the nature and extent of the resistance to be expected from the enemy; and that the neglect and mismanagement of the Government in the conduct of the enterprise have led to the most disastrous results.Their Lordships would observe from the terms of that Motion that it applied to the late Government generally, and was not intended to bear exclusively on any single Member of it. This was in accordance with a statement made in the other House by a principal officer of the Crown, the noble Viscount, now at the head of the Government, who said that he considered every Member of the late Government responsible for the conduct of the war. That doctrine, he believed, could not easily be controverted. Now, looking at the list of what was supposed to be the new Administration, he found that it consisted of thirteen Members, and that twelve of them, including the noble Viscount himself, were Members of the late Government, and consequently involved in the responsibility for the conduct of the war. Nevertheless, considering the present state of affairs, and considering also that it seemed impossible to form any other than the present Administration, he felt it would be wrong to take any step calculated to disturb in any way whatever the first movements of the new Administration; but, on the contrary, he thought that every one ought to endeavour in the present state of things to unite, heart and soul, for the purpose of assisting the Administration in retrieving past disasters and restoring the lost credit of the country. He therefore felt that, under these circumstances, he should best discharge the duty he owed to their Lordships and the country by abstain- 1328 ing from proceeding with his intended Motion.
THE MARQUIS OF CLANRICARDEsaid, that he entirely agreed with every word that had just fallen from his noble and learned Friend. He wished, however, before the Motion was withdrawn, to take the opportunity of making a suggestion which he thought was worthy of consideration, especially to the noble Lords connected with the Administration. His suggestion is this—that if, as is to be presumed from the reports that have appeared, this House, upon its rising, is likely to adjourn until this day week, during that interval Her Majesty's Government shall be prepared to lay upon your Lordships' table, upon the re-assembling for business, a statement of the actual condition of the army in the Crimea at some certain date—up to as late a period as such information can be conveniently supplied. He ventured to make that claim because he thought, if such a statement was made upon authority which could be depended upon, it might save many Motions for returns, and many not very profitable discussions in reference to that subject. He knew that to ask for information as to the state of an army, and the condition of the effective force of an army, engaged in operations before an enemy, would be, under ordinary circumstances, a very unusual, and, he might add, a very improper proceeding. But, at the same time, under the circumstances in which we were now placed—under the circumstances in which the army was placed—it was manifestly absurd to say that any information whatever would be conveyed to the enemy by the production of some such statement as that he had alluded to. It was notorious that on comparing the accounts, more or less authentic, which had proceeded from private sources in reference to the state of the army in the Crimea, with the statements which had been made by Ministers of the Crown, a very fair estimate may be had of what that condition was. At the same time, he thought it was right that Parliament, before it proceeded to take measures in reference to the army—which must be framed, more or less, upon an estimate of its military condition—should be accurately informed on the subject. He had read with some surprise, and with considerable pleasure, on Tuesday last, and on the authority of the right hon. Gentleman the Chancellor of the Exchequer, that the effective force under Lord Raglan's 1329 command amounted to 30,000 men. He sincerely hoped that that was the case; nor was he about to dispute the fact, though he must say accounts of a very different kind had appeared in the papers. Now he did not think those matters could be satisfactorily discussed if they were to proceed first upon one authority and then upon another. On the contrary, he believed it would be equally advantageous, both as regards the deliberations of Parliament, and satisfactory to the country, if a statement were given of the real effective force of the different arms under the command of our general in chief in the Crimea, so that they might know in what condition things actually stand. Ile thought that this suggestion, if acceded to, would save some discussions; and that if Motions were to be made, they would be male on better grounds than was possible with the information at present possessed. He left it to Her Majesty's Government to determine whether they deemed it worthy of consideration or not; but, at all events, he had thought it his duty to make such a suggestion in the present posture of affairs.