Sitting of 22 February 1855

MINUTES.
PUBLIC BILLS.—1°Consolidated Fund (£20,000,000); Intestacy (Scotland).
3£ Common Law Procedure Act Amendment (Ireland).

IRISH PAUPERS—QUESTION.
MR. MAGUIREsaid, he had a question on the paper, to be addressed to the Secretary of State for the Home Department; but as he did not know who the Secretary of State for the Home Department might be at present, he would postpone his question to a future day.
SIR GEORGE GREYsaid, he trusted he could answer the question of the hon. Gentleman.
MR. MAGUIREthen said, he must make a short statement, in order to render his question intelligible, and the answer to it satisfactory. He wished to refer to a

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report which appeared in the police reports of the morning papers, the other day, to the effect that an Irish boy had received temporary relief at St. Martin's Workhouse, but had been turned out into the streets at midnight, where, but for the interference of a gentleman, he might have perished. The formal question he had put on the paper was—
"To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department whether his notice had been called to certain statements reported to have been made in his official capacity, by Mr. Hardwicke, a police magistrate of the metropolis, in the course of last week, to the effect that shiploads of Irish paupers were being constantly sent by the authorities of Ireland to this country; and, if so, has any step been taken with respect to a person holding a responsible public office making such statements?"
SIR GEORGE GREYsaid, his attention had not been called to any statement of that kind, and except from what the hon. Gentleman had said, he had no reason to believe that any such circumstance had happened.
MR. MAGUIREsaid, he then must beg the right hon. Gentleman to make inquiry into the matter.
SIR GEORGE GREYsaid, that if any report were made to the Home Office with respect to the conduct of any magistrate, inquiry should be made into the circumstances, but he did not think it would be fair to call any magistrate to account for chance statements made in newspapers.

ARMY ARRANGEMENTS IN THE CRIMEA —QUESTION.
MR. BERESFORDsaid, he wished to ask the Under Secretary of the War Department, whether, as reports generally concur in the statement that the quality of the food supplied to the army in the East was bad and injurious, that the tents issued were inefficient for the necessary shelter of the troops from the exposure to which they were subjected, and that the hospital arrangements, especially as to the corps of ambulance and orderlies, were lamentably deficient, any suggestions were made, as they ought to have been, by the principal medical officer there, to Lord Raglan, commanding the forces, or by the Director General at home to the Secretary for War, and, if any, whether the Secretary for War will produce copies of the suggestions, with the date of their receipt, and the answers returned to them?
MR. FREDERICK PEEL,in reply, said, that the Government were not in posses-
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sion of copies of any correspondence that might have passed between the principal medical officer abroad and Lord Raglan as to the imperfect provision that had been made for the army. With regard to the other part of the question, Dr. Smith informed him that he had made representations as to the importance of organising a staff of persons to attend upon the sick in hospital, and also upon the troops; but perhaps the hon. Member would not press him for the production of that correspondence till he should have had an opportunity of seeing whether it would be for the benefit of the public service to produce it.
MR. WARNERsaid, he begged to ask the First Lord of the Treasury, whether the Commission proceeding to the East, in relation to the Commissariat service, was to be merely a Commission of inquiry, or whether it will have power of summary dismissal and appointment extending to all officers and appointments to which its power of inquiry extends; and, if it shall appear that the Commission will have powers of appointment and dismissal subject to any kind of restrictions, what those restrictions are?
VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, that the Commission would have power to alter any arrangements they might think calculated to be effective, and to make reports both to the Commander of the Forces there and to the Government at home, with a view to any personal arrangement also. But they would have authority to carry into execution immediately any change or arrangements they might think essential to the public service.

THE COLONIES AND THE WAR— QUESTION.
MR. ADDERLEYsaid, he wished to ask the First Lord of the Treasury whether Mr. Rankin, a member of the Canadian Parliament, had made an offer to Her Majesty to raise and equip 1,000 men to join the army in the East, and, if so, what answer had been given him; and whether Her Majesty had offered commissions to colonists who raise regiments at their own expense; and, also, whether it was the intention of Her Majesty's Government to propose that any grateful acknowledgment should be made on the part of Parliament of the sympathy and patriotism evinced by various colonies in voting large sums of money towards the expenses of the present war?
VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, he had

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not the least recollection of any offer such as that to which the hon. Member had referred; nor had his right hon. Friend near him the Secretary for the Home Department, any recollection of any such communication being made. With regard to the offer of commissions, there had been on one occasion a confidential correspondence with the Governors of Canada and Nova Scotia on that subject, but he was not at the moment prepared to inform the House of the exact position in which the question stood. With regard to the third question about the thanks of Parliament for funds sent to assist in the prosecution of the war, they were unable to make any definite statement on the subject in any vote of thanks they might move, for the whole funds expected had not come in, and a Resolution at the present moment was impracticable. With regard to funds that had come in on previous occasions, the Colonial Secretary had certainly expressed in his letter to the Governors General of the Colonies a high opinion of the liberality and generosity that had been shown, which could not fail to be fully appreciated by the Crown, the Parliament, and the people.

MINISTERIAL EXPLANATIONS.
VISCOUNT PALMERSTON: Sir, I have to state to the House that which I think is pretty well known already, that three Members of Her Majesty's Government have intimated their intention to resign the offices they have hitherto held—I mean the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the First Lord of the Admiralty, and the Secretary of State for the Colonial Department. Those officers hold their offices at present only until their successors shall be appointed. Under these circumstances, and considering that those officers are three Members of the Government in this House, I trust the House will not think I am unduly pressing upon their indulgence if I propose that we should not enter into any public business to-day; but only to carry through those Orders of the day which may stand on the paper, to which no objections are made, and that this House should adjourn till to-morrow. To-morrow my right hon. Friends will attend in their places, and will state to the House the grounds upon which they have taken the decision to resign, which I have announced; and I therefore propose that the House at its rising adjourn till to-morrow.
MR. DISRAELI: I merely, Sir, wish
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to state that I have heard with deep regret from the noble Lord that, before ten days have elapsed, the Government, which we with pleasure heard was formed, and which it was hoped would prove a strong Government, was virtually dissolved. We hoped it would be a strong Government, since the presence of the noble Lord, who was generally considered to have been the obstacle to the formation of such a Government, was a difficulty which had ceased to exist. But after the statement of the noble Lord, and in the absence of the right hon. Gentlemen, whose conduct must be canvassed on the proper occasion, as well as that of the noble Lord, I think it would be improper on this occasion for me to make any remarks. I only wish the noble Lord to understand that I express a very general feeling in this House and the country when I say that they have heard the official and authentic announcement of the noble Lord, that the Government recently formed is already partially and considerably dissolved, that they have heard that announcement with deep regret and some consternation.

ARMY SERVICE ACT AMENDMENT BILL.
Order for Committee read.
MR. MILNER GIBSONsaid, he wished to make an inquiry of the hon. Under Secretary of War or the Secretary for War,—he did not know the precise office which the hon. Gentleman filled—and if he could not give any explanation, he would ask the First Minister of the Crown a question with reference to what had been stated in another place when this Bill was under discussion. He found it was reported that in reference to the recruiting for the army, the Minister of War made use of these words—
"The attention of Government has been much directed, my Lords, to the recruiting of the army, and there can be no question that means must be found—if not gentle, then they must be found by compulsion—for recruiting the ranks of Her Majesty's service in order to enable this war to be carried on with vigour."
As he could not conceive that the Minister of War intended the meaning conveyed by those words, and presuming he must have alluded to the militia, and not to the army, though speaking of recruiting for the army, he wished to have the matter explained by the First Minister of the Crown whether this compulsion contemplated for some service or other, did not apply, if it applied at all, to the militia and not to the army?
VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, that if stringent means were necessary to replenish the ranks of the army, those stringent means would entirely consist of an increase of bounty. As to the militia, the Government had power by law to resort to the ballot, but he should be extremely unwilling to have recourse to it, because the militia had had its ranks filled by voluntary enlistment to a most satisfactory degree, and those men who had entered had conducted themselves in so admirable and exemplary a manner that he should not willingly resort to anything which would in any degree weaken that voluntary enlistment which had been so generously and nobly displayed by the people of this country. He was sure the words quoted never were uttered by his noble Friend as relating to the army, and that he could only have said, if the militia should fail by voluntary enlistment, it might be necessary, in certain eventualities, to have recourse to the ballot.
MR. MILNER GIBSONsaid, he did not presume to impute that it was intended such should be the meaning of the words. The Minister of War was reported in all the public papers to have used the word "compulsion."
MR. A. STAFFORDsaid, he wished to draw the attention of the hon. Gentleman the Under Secretary for War to a paper which had been sent to him. It was headed—"Quinine for the Sick and Wounded Soldiers in the Crimea," and it went on to say—
"This invaluable restorative, so essential to the sick and wounded, is much needed in the Crimea at this moment. Subscriptions are therefore earnestly requested for the purpose of providing this medicine, and care will be taken to ensure its immediate delivery to the officers commanding regiments in the Crimea."
Now he need not tell the hon. Gentleman that, if one medicine more than another was of essential importance to the troops serving in the Crimea, it was quinine; yet the opinion had generally gone abroad that the medicinal stores were so deficient in the Crimea, and in the hospitals in the East, that the people of this country, already so heavily taxed for those supplies, were called upon to provide, by private subscription, for these important medicines; and that, too, in the month of February, after so much attention had been called to the subject that the whole island had formed itself into a committee to supply these articles. He trusted that the hon. Gentleman would give a distinct answer, or that steps would be taken without the interven-
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tion of a single hour, to forward a supply of this important medicine. If he found that the smallest delay occurred, he should make the most sedulous inquiries, and should feel that it was his imperative duty to again bring this most serious question before the House.
MR. FREDERICK PEELsaid, the only answer he could give to the question of the hon. Gentleman was, that he would make inquiry upon the subject. It was not within his knowledge that there was any deficiency in the medical stores supplied to the hospitals. He could only say that a most ample Vote had been taken for medical and other stores, and it would be his duty to see that that Vote was well and properly applied.
MR. GOULBURNsaid, it had been his duty some time since to see great quantities of quinine and other medical stores placed, in waggons, on board ship for the Crimea.
House in Committee; the several clauses were then agreed to.
House resumed.

BUSINESS OF THE HOUSE.
MR. WILSONsaid, for the convenience of the House it was thought desirable that the Motion of the hon. and learned Member for Sheffield (Mr. Roebuck) should take precedence of the Orders of the Day to-morrow, and he had been required by the noble Lord at the head of the Government to move that the Orders of the Day for to-morrow be postponed till after all Notices of Motion, in order that the Motion for the nomination of a Select Committee to inquire into the state of the army before Sebastopol might be brought on at an early period of the evening.
MR. DISRAELIsaid, he wished to know whether he was to understand that the noble Lord at the head of the Government intended to make a statement before the Motion of the hon. and learned Member for Sheffield was brought on?
VISCOUNT PALMERSTONsaid, he thought it was very desirable that the explanations of the right hon. Gentlemen who had recently withdrawn from the Government should take place, and a decision on the Motion for the nomination of the Committee to inquire into the state of the army before Sebastopol be come to before the House went into Committee on the Army Estimates. With that view, his hon. Friend (Mr. Wilson) had moved that the Notices of Motion should take precedence

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of Orders of the Day for to-morrow. This would give his hon. and learned Friend the Member for Sheffield an opportunity to bring forward his Motion, at which time the explanations of those right hon. Gentlemen to whom he had referred would be given.
Motion agreed to.
The House adjourned at half after Five o'clock.

DAY OF HUMILIATION.
THE EARL OF RODENsaid, he wished to address a few words to their Lordships on a subject of the greatest importance—namely, the appointment of a day of humiliation and prayer to be observed throughout the country on account of the present disastrous state of things in the Crimea. According to all accounts, the army was rapidly wasting away, and in a few weeks, unless some speedy change took place, would be entirely extinct. Their Lordships would recollect that some weeks ago a noble Duke (the Duke of Grafton) asked the Government to appoint a day of humiliation and prayer. He regretted that the noble Earl who was then at the head of the Government thought it his duty to refuse the application of the noble Duke; and he stated to the House at the time that such an answer from the Prime Minister might draw down a grievous calamity upon, the nation. The army in the Crimea had been sinking from that day to the present, and had been reduced from 50,000 to little more than 8,000 men, and he was informed that on the 5th of the month the Guards were reduced to little more than 400 men. He was told that the deaths in that brigade averaged thirty per day; so that, if the mortality proceeded in the same ratio, in the course of a few weeks the Guards would have ceased to exist. The condition of our army was such as to call upon us to use every means for its rescue; and surely it was the duty of the Government of a

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country which believed in the supreme providence of God—which believed that there was one overruling Power regulating the affairs of men—to take steps to appoint a day of national supplication for the averting of the impending evils. So strongly did he feel his duty upon this subject that, should the answer of Ministers to his present appeal be unfavourable, he would, on Monday next, move an address to Her Majesty.
THE EARL OF ABERDEEN: The noble Earl has, unintentionally I am sure, misrepresented what I stated on a former occasion. The noble Duke who asked me the question proposed that a prayer should be introduced into the Liturgy for ordinary use. Now, I certainly do object to introduce any such prayer into the Liturgy for ordinary use, but I did not object, and I have no objection whatever, to the appointment of a special prayer to be used on a special day of humiliation. So much is that the case that a short time before I left office I wrote to the noble Duke in question, and informed him that it was my intention humbly to advise Her Majesty to order a special day of humiliation and prayer some time in the course of Lent. My objection, therefore, was not to a day of humiliation, but to the appointment of a prayer for common use.
THE EARL OF RODENwas quite ready to ask the pardon of the noble Earl for having misunderstood him. He could assure the noble Earl that he had not done so intentionally.
EARL GRANVILLEsaid, that in consequence of the remarks of the noble Earl with respect to the state of the army in the Crimea, he very much regretted the absence of the noble Baron at the head of the War Department. Not seeing any notice upon the paper relative to that subject, the noble Baron hoped their Lordships would excuse his presence for one evening, at a time when his whole energies were directed to the demands of the public service. He (Earl Granville) thought, however, he might state—indeed, he was authorised to state—that, whatever might be the case with regard to any particular regiment in the Crimea, the Government had every reason to believe that considerable improvement had taken place in the condition of the army generally. With regard to the particular question put by the noble Earl, he assured him he did full justice, as every Peer in their Lordships' House must, to the noble and pure motives
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by which he was actuated; and he was conscious that there were peculiar circumstances connected with the noble Earl which made it more natural that he should feel strongly on this subject. He was happy to inform the noble Earl that almost immediately after the question which he put to him about a fortnight ago, the Government resolved to advise Her Majesty to issue a proclamation, appointing a day of humiliation and prayer.
LORD CAMPBELLsaid, that as he was involved in the discussion which took place upon this subject when it was last before the House, he might be excused if he made one or two observations upon the present occasion. It was true that he objected to the proposition of the noble Earl opposite at that time; but what he understood the noble Earl to propose was, that a day of thanksgiving should be appointed for the prosperous state of public affairs, and he pointed out that before the day so appointed arrived our army might meet with a reverse, and we should be called upon to show humiliation for our condition. Such, unfortunately, had been the case, and he now most heartily agreed that a day of humiliation should be appointed. Our situation as a nation was most humiliating with regard to what had taken place abroad, and he was sorry to say it was still more humiliating with regard to what had occurred at home.
House adjourned till To morrow.