AMENDED RESOLUTION. (Hansard, 16 March 1858)

§ THE EARL OF ELLENBOROUGH

I rise to move, your Lordships, that the first Resolution of Thanks passed on the 8th February last to the Governor General of India and others, for the measures taken by them for the suppression of the mutiny in India, be read, for the purpose of inserting therein the name of the Hon. Frederick James Halliday, the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. The noble Lord who moved the Vote of Thanks (Lord Panmure) has informed me that it was owing entirely to an accidental mistake that the name of Mr. Halliday was omitted at the time when the Vote of Thanks was moved. Undoubtedly there was no objection made at the time that Mr. Halliday's name was not inserted with the rest; but had it been included in the Resolution, I should have raised no objection, and I think that the omission will be a slur upon his character to which he ought not to be exposed. In point of fact, Mr. Halliday has done the army in India good and meritorious service. He was a civilian, accustomed to civil duties, and probably the last thing he thought possible was, that he should be 244 engaged in the conduct of a war, in the preparation of commissriat supplies, and in preparing dâk carriages upon the roads of India. He had not only to do this, but he had to encourage the good and control the disaffected, and to regulate the entire affairs of the province of Bengal—a province equal to a large empire—to the empire of France. In the discharge of these duties, Mr. Halliday has given general satisfaction. It so happened, that only the day before yesterday, a paper came to my hands which represents the general satisfaction of the officers who passed along that trunk road with the arrangements that had been made by Mr. Halliday, and it will be satisfactory to your Lordships to know in what terms these soldiers expressed themselves, who, be it observed, are not very usually satisfied—quite the contrary; it is the most difficult thing in the world to give them satisfaction. The first paragraph that I read is, "All good;" another, "Everything good;" another, "Perfectly satisfied with everything;" another, "Everything arranged to entire satisfaction;" another, "All supplies in good condition, both as to quantity and quality;" another, "The arrangements were quite perfect;" again, "Everything arranged to our entire satisfaction;" and finally, "Everything perfectly good; the rations excellent." Now, I do think it is a very great merit on the part of any public officer to take such care of troops under circumstances of such difficulty and confusion. All this could not have been done without the exertion of great energy and great ability on the part of Mr. Halliday, and it is but fair that Parliament should acknowledge his merits. I therefore beg to move, that his name be inserted in the Vote. And, as I am now speaking on the subject of granting a Vote of Thanks to Mr. Halliday, I also beg to state to your Lordships that Her Majesty has been graciously pleased to confer a baronetcy upon the son of Sir Henry Lawrence, and that it is the intention of the Court of Directors to propose to the Court of Proprietors that a pension of £1,000 a year be granted, in order to enable him to maintain the dignity which Her Majesty is graciously pleased to confer upon him.

§ LORD PANMURE

My Lords, It is unnecessary for me to say that I join most cordially in the Motion which the noble Earl has just made. The noble Earl has stated accurately the reason why Mr. Halliday's name was not originally inserted in the Resolution which embodied the Vote of Thanks to those functionaries who have so ably discharged their duties in India. In considering the services rendered in forwarding the troops through Bengal, it did not in the first instance strike the Government that such a Vote of Thanks would extend to the Lieutenant Governor of Bengal. But if it did not occur to the Government, it certainly did occur to the Chairman of the East India Company, before whom these Resolutions were laid. I must say that the Chairman of the East India Company took upon himself to represent to my noble Friend at the head of the late Government the recognised merits of Mr. Halliday to be placed with the others in the Vote; and had the representation been made to me, I should have taken the same course as the noble Earl has now done. No doubt Mr. Halliday has done very much to contribute to the success with which troops have been moved in India; but at the same time I am bound to state my belief that many of the acts for which the noble Earl has given Mr. Halliday credit are due to those facilities which had been already provided, followed out by the excellent arrangements which were afterwards carried out by Lord Canning. But the circumstance that no additional troops were required for these operations, owing to the organisation made by Mr. Halliday of the police force at his disposal was an arrangement that gave great facilities for the forwarding of troops. I have, therefore, great pleasure in seconding the Motion of the noble Earl. I have heard with great satisfaction of the honour about to be conferred by Her Majesty upon the son of Sir Henry Lawrence, and also of the means by which the Court of Directors propose to bestow on him the means of maintaining that dignity. I rejoice in this public tribute to the memory of one of the best servants whom this country ever had, and one of the most eminent and loyal subjects who have ever served their Sovereign, and I cannot but rejoice at this recognition of his great services.