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A pbil 28, 1855.] T H E LEA P EB. 389
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THE SEBASTOPOL COMMITTEE. MONDAY. Ok thi...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Imperial Parliament . The'vienna Confere...
civilisation of the age , and a reproach to the administration of justice . He did not , indeed , seethe necessity for any separate Court of Probate at all , such as the present bill proposed to establish in connexion with the Court of Chancery ; but he would not insist upon that view lest he should endanger a measure which he thought a vast improvement . In committee , he would propose certain amendments . The bill was also supported by Mr . Rotjndeli , Palmer , who observed , in opposition to Mr . Malins , that it so far complied with the recommendations of the Chancery Commissioners as to establish a separate Court in the Court of Chancery for testamentary jurisdiction . —On the motion of Dr . Phillimorb , the debate was adjourned .
PUBLIC OFFICE BUILDINGS . On Sir William Molesworth moving for leave to introduce a bill to enable the Board of Works to provide additional offices for the public service in Downing-street , he was asked by Mr . Northcote if it was intended to carry out any plan for connecting public offices with the Houses of Parliament , and replied that plans had been prepared for his consideration by Sir Charles Barry , for building offices
-in the vicinity of the Houses of Parliament , and had been laid before the Treasury . The object of this bill , however , he said . " is chiefly to rebuild the offices in Downing-street , which are now in a most dilapidated state . ( Laughter . ) For instance , the Foreign and the Colonial offices are in such a condition that they require to be propped up on every side . ( Great laughter . ) In fact , those offices are nuisances—( renewed laughter " )—and any change would be for the better . —Leave was given to bring in the bill .
A Pbil 28, 1855.] T H E Lea P Eb. 389
A pbil 28 , 1855 . ] T H E LEA P EB . 389
The Sebastopol Committee. Monday. Ok Thi...
THE SEBASTOPOL COMMITTEE . MONDAY . Ok this day the Duke of Newcastle was examined with reference to his mode of conducting the War Office . The Committee-room was crowded . His Grace , after describing the nature of his dutieswhich included the general direction of the war , the number of the forces to be sent , & c- —said , in answer to Lord Seymour , that , on the breaking out j > f the war he communicated with the Commander-in-Chief and the Master-General of the Ordnance , but that he did not communicate with the Director-General -of the medical department immediately , because the business of that department , previous to the division of the War Secretaryship and the Colonies , was generally conducted
through the Seeretary-at-War . He also said that he did _ not communicate with the Quartermaster-General as regards the class and character of . the stores that were to be placed under him : he always communicated with " the heads of the department . " The names of the officers selected for command were submitted for Her Majesty ' s approval by the Commander-in-chief , after he had first consulted with the administration through the witness . That is to say ( added his Grace ) , the administration was " generally " consulted ; but there were exceptions . Upon being pressed to mention the names of those who formed the exceptions , the Duke at first-begged to . be excused . He then said there were three of these exceptions ; that
they were appointed without the knowledge or consent of the Government , and that they continued in command ; but that his Grace had reason to know " it was all done through inadvertence , and not intentionally . " Ultimately , the Duke consented to mention the names of the officers so appointed , which were , Lord Lvican , and Brigadiers Torrens and Goldie . No official notice was taken of this irregular proceeding , though the witness said that a certain amount of responsibility fell on him for the conduct of those officers . As regarded the Commissariat , having explained to those who had the management of that department what the duties were , he expected them to carry out the requisite arrangements . As regards the stores , he looked to the Master-General of the Ordnance
and to the Board of Ordnance . Still , he did not mean to say that he divested himself of all care on these matters ; for he often interfered . The medical department came to a certain extent under his notice ; but , until atter the separation of the secretaryships of War and of the Colonies , the business of thut department , " generally speaking , " wus carried on by the Secretaryat-War . The witness then went on to state that every possible precaution was taken before sending out the expedition . Sir John Burgoyno and Major Dixon were charged to make inquiries into the character of the neighbourhood ot the Danube , both as regards salubrity and capability for military operations . Lord Ruglan
received from Omar Pacha a strong assurance of the health fulness of Varna ; but the result did not justify it . When the invasion of the Crimea waa decided on , the immediate occupation of Perekop was recommended to Lord Ilaglan ; but the Duke received a communication from Lord Ilaglan , expressing his opinion that it would not be practicable , or desirable , to occupy Perekop or the Sen of Azof ; and it was only four of five- months afterwards that they ascertained there was another access by a bridge to the Crimea , some miles eastward of the Isthmus of Porokop . This information came through the captain of a vessel from some Tartars . The witness waa not aware that Captain Drununond had , made offers
to Lord Stratford de Redcliffe to go into the Crimea for the purpose of examining into these matters . His Grace then proceeded to give an account of the steps which he had taken upon its being determined on to keep the troops in the Crimea during the winter . Extra supplies of blankets and warm clothing , together with huts and fresh meat , were sent . out . There was a reserve of troops in ca * se of casualities in the army formed at Malta at the end of November ; but the Commanderin-Chief did not inform the witness that the troops suffered greatly from overwork in the trenches before Sebastopol . His Grace was not aware that in December an offer was made by a Spanish colonel to provide the English government with 10 , 000 Spanish troops . There were , indeed , several offers of that description at the Foreign-office ; but at that period there was a strong
feeling against the employment of foreign troops . The despatch from Lord Raglan asking for more troops was when the pressure on the troops became very serious . That despatch was dated the 3 rd of November . Referring to the ill-fated ship , the Prince , the duke said : — " It was stated that the medical stores were shipped under the heavy ordnance , as well in the Prince as in other vessels . When I heard a statement of so disgraceful a character as that , I called upon the Ordnance authorities to explain it , and they positively denied the truth of it . I also appointed a commission of three gentlemen to inquire into the matter—one from the Admiralty , another from the Ordnance , and another from the War Department—and they reported that it was not the fact that those medical stores were shipped under the ordnance stores . "
Touching upon the division of authority , his Grace observed that apparently there was not between the Admiralty and the Ordnance that proper understanding of their relative duties which ought to have existed . This led to the reconstitution of the old transport board . His Grace added : — " I never received any information as to the receipt of the goods by the army . " A design was entertained of constructing huts for the army on the spot , but , to the witness ' s surpr ise , wood could not be obtained at Constantinople . Supplies of wood were then sent from home , from Trieste , and from Malta , but there were no means of conveying the wood from Balaklava to the front . The troops therefore went without
the benefit of the huts for a great length of time . The witness further stated : — " I was well aware , from the complaints made to me by private individuals , and also from statements in the newspapers , of the failure of the transport animals from" want of forage and from exposure to the cold ; but I never received any official intimation of that , nor any complaint from the Commis ^ - sariat department that the shortcomings of other departments prevented them , ( the Commissariat ) from executing their duties . Certainly no information was given to me as to the probable failure of the road to the front before that failure took place . I remained entirely in the dark upon that point . "
His Grace then gave a brief narrative of the expedition of Miss Nightingale ; and , referring to the alleged want of medicines , said he believed some accident had taken place on the arrival of those articles , and he , therefore , sent out fresh supplies . With respect to Dr . Andrew Smith ' s letter about the clothing of the troops , he said 7 : ~ — ¦ "Sry ~ imp 7 © ision *" IsV'that ~ Drr Andrew-Smithnever sent to me any such letter . My conviction is , that I never saw his letter on that subject ; but he may have drawn my attention in conversation to the necessity of making changes in . the clothing of the troops . I do not think any blame attached to the military secretary for , not sending Dr . Smith ' s letter to me . That blame would rather attach to Dr . Smith himself for not making arrangements for bringing that letter under my notice . "
His Grace ' s evidence occupied the whole day , and was not even then completed . It will have been seen by the reader that its chief tendency is to trace the evils of the war to the divided authority which directed it .
TUESDAY . The Duke of Newcastle was again examined , and said , in answer to Mr . Layard , thut " undoubtedly" he found great difficulty in connexion , with the forma which had to bo gone through . The routine system prevailed throughout , and existed equally before and after the separation of the secretaryships of War and the Colonies . Ilia Grace said he superseded these forms in numerous instances , more especially in the case of the medicul department , which was one of the worst cases , and in which the head of the medical board , to obtain medical comforts and supplies , was obliged to go through a large circuit of forms and offices before ho could obtain them . The witness directed
this to be superseded , and he had no doubt it was ; but it was merely a personal exercise of authority on his part . To the best of his knowledge , these forms still exist . Ho did not , however , make any reports on the matter , for the business of the office was so onerous * that it was impossible for him to do so . Inventions calculated to be useful to the public were very much dolaj'cd by the process of form and routine they had to undergo at the Ordnance , lie had no doubt that muny inventions were not investigated nearly so soon au it was desirable they should be . These delays sometimes arosa ' from the inadequacy of the Ordnunce staff ; but , from the fact of there being so many separate war departments , the public are necessarily in ignorance to whom they ought to apply . The same
observations are to a certain extent pertinent to the War Office , the Commander-in-Chief , and the Horse Guards ; but there are no forms to be gone through between the Secretary-of-State and the Horse Guards . Witness believed that the present constitution of the War department necessarily entails a larger amount of correspondence than is desirable . He did not think , however , that the relations subsisting between the War department , the Horse Guards , the Ordnance , and the other departments of a cognate nature , are on an unsatisfactory footing . He believed that no extensive change had taken place since he left office . There was some change ; but he was not aware of the exact nature of it . Referring to the details of the campaign , his Grace stated that he carried on a correspondence with Lord Raglan , but
did not submit the letters to Lord Hardinge : that waa not usual or necessary . The witness ' s despatch , giving a sketch of the proposed military campaign , was shown by him to Lord Hardinge , and , of course , Lord Hardinge , if he had seen any reason to object to it , would have communicated his objections ; but his Grace does not in any way hold Lord Hardinge responsible for anything contained in that despatch or in other despatches , nor is he responsible for any of the movements of the army during the campaign . Witness thought that , in some respects , the line of demarcation between the Minister of War and the Commander-in-Chief is undoubtedly vague and inconvenient . There are many alterations in the whole of the war departments which . are desirable ; but he had never been consulted by the present Government on the subject .
Referring to Lord Raglan ' s position as Master-General of the Ordnance , his Grace said , in reply to a question from the Chairman , that his lordship , he believed , still continued to receive his pay , though the work is performed by Sir H . D . Ross . With respect to the navy , witness had very little control over it—nothing more than results from the issue of a general outline of operations . Until lately there was no blockade in the Black Sea ; but that arose entirely from political reasons . Uponvbeing asked if it had not been stated in the House of Commons that a blockade . was actually in force , the Duke replied , he thought the statement was that " orders had been issued to institute a blockade in the Black Sea . " , The non-institution , of the blockade did not arise from any disagreement between the Admiralty and the Government , and the latter were principallv responsible for the omission .
Mr . Layard—" Were any : reasons sent to you from . the Hast which were considered satisfactory to the Government for not enforcing the blockade ?"—" Reasons were sent , but that they were in all respects entirely satisfactory I cannot say ; and I really would rather not say why I consider they were not satisfactory . They would not apply merely to those departments into which the hon . member might wish to inquire . " ( Upon the whole of this subject his Grace exhibited some uneasiness , and more than once declined entering into details . )
The witness then went on to give a variety of particulars respecting the ambulance corps and other military arrangements in the East , and stated that Lqrd Ilaglan had plenary powers in such matters , and had no necessity to refer to the Government at home ; but possibly he thought it - desirable to . . . so . JDr . Andrew Smith never forwarded to the Duke any complaints of the state of the hospitals ; but his Grace had received complaints from private sources . He communicated with the Admiralty after the battle of Alma , and the Admiralty sent out instructions that a fleet of ships should be appropriated for the use of the sick and wounded ; but these instructions were not attended to for a considerable time afterwards . He believed they were at length carried out by Admiral Dundas . He ( the Duke ) was satisfied that the state of things at the hospital at Scutari was anything but what it should have been .
With regard to the transport service , the witness said that the first statement he received from Lord Raglan as to the deficiency in the land transport was a mere casual one , and was made in order to explain other things to which witness had culled hi . s lordship ' s attention . That must have been quite the end of September . He ( witness ) had certainly received , in the way many others had received , information as to cavalry horses , each worth from 501 . to 70 / ., being devoted to purposes in the Crimea for which small ponies of the value of 51 . would have been adequate ; but he had received no official information on the subject . The last statement he received from Mr . Filder was that the coininiasjiriat horses ho had in the Crimea very little exceeded 400 . When the land taken to send
transport became ho reduced , no ateps were out horses from this country . Tliat was quite imposoiblc under the circumstances , imd he ( witncus ) organised a separate and independent transport corps on a military system , which ho placed under the direction of Colonel M'Murdo . Before that period , no attempt was made to orguniso a transport service in England . The statement thut tho men placed in churgo of . the ambulances wore very old was not true , but it nniHt bo acknowledged that they were in tho habit of getting drunk , though not more frequently than tho nvcrugu of the whole army . Witnes . s had heard that largo quantities of the stores ordered to be went out were dishonestly detained ; but he found upon inquiry that they wcroprivuto atorcs , and that they were only waiting for means of transport . Tho
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), April 28, 1855, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_28041855/page/5/
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