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perhaps, in regulating the proceedings and decision of the House of Commons, in the present case; especially when we take into the account the great weight of authority conveyed in the name of the learned, and now noble, person, by whom the resolutions against Sir Thomas were presented to the House!—Leaving these things to the con

except, at last, to throw the debt upon the public through a writ of privy seal obtained for Mr. Dundas through the means of those Lords of the Treasury, of whom Mr. Pitt was the chief, and to whom Mr, Long (the gentleman that once paid Mr Trotter back a suni of money) was Secretary. But, it will be asked, what has this to do with Dundas and Trotter, and their withdrawing the navy-sideration of whomsoever may be disposed to money from the B nk to apply it to other uses? Why, it has this to do with it, that, in whatever degree Mr. Jellicoe's being in the secret of Mr. Trotter's and Mr. Dundas' proceedings was likely to produce" remiss

n on the part of Mr. Dundas with respect to Mr Jellicoe's defalcation, in that same degree it is likely that those proceed.. ings have contributed to the actual loss, to the public, of the 24,000, from the paying of which Mr. Dundas was exonerated by writ of privy seal. And, let it be well remembered, that the commissioners discovered that another person was retained in office even after he had been found guilty of a fraud They observed, in one of Mr. Trot ter's statements, that the sum of 1,1381. was stated to have arisen from official errors; but, say they," in the course of our inquiry, we discovered that this transaction originated in fraud and not in error Nevertheless, though it appears that the Treasurer was made fully acquainted with this fraud, he kept the fraudulent person in office. Now, whence could this extraordinary tenderness have arisen? And, what could have induced Mr. Trotter deliberately to write down to the account of "error," that which was due to fraud?" The truth is, and every one must, at once, perceive it, that, when the heads of an office act as Mr. Dundas and Mr. Trotter are stated to have acted, it is impossible for them to act with the necessary strictness towards their inferiors; and, therefore, whatever loss may have arisen to the public from the remissness, with respect to Jellicoe's concerns, ought to be attributed to those violations of the law, on the part of his superiors, of the secret of which violation he was one of the repositories.- As

we are upon the subject of keeping delinquents in office after the discovery of their delinquency, it is not at all improper to observe, that one of the heaviest charges against Sir Thomas Runbold was, that he kept an inferior in place, after he bad discovered him to be guilty of peculation! Now, I really am not aware, that there is any sound principle, upon which to make a distinction between the conduct, in this regard, of Sir Thomas Rumbold, and that of Mr. Dundas. Nor, will the precedent in the case of Sir Thomas Rumbold, be entirely useless,

pay attention to them, I shall now proceed to point out some other ways, in which the practices of Mr. Trotter might produce attual loss to the public. The Commissioners, in answer to Mr. Trotter's remark, that the issues from the Exchequer did not depend upon him, or upon the Treasurer, have very truly stated, that the Paymaster had it in bis power to cause greater balances to be kept in his hands than there was any necessity for, particularly as, by not obeying the law in raising the separate accounts at the Bank, the check on the part of the different boards was got rid of Nay, they positively state, that the business of the navy-pay-office might have been carried on with less balances; and, of course, part of the money for naval services was drawn out of the Exchequer earlier than was necessary. It came, then, out of the pocket of the people sooner than it otherwise would, and the interest of it, during the interval was, therefore, an aqual loss to the public.- Then, again, was the money due to persons who bad demands upon the navy-pay-office always paid at so early a period as it might and ought to have been paid, and as it would have been paid, if the act of parliament had not been violated, and if Mr. Trotter had not applied to his own or his principal's account and advan tage the money which ought to have been applied only to navy services? Mr. Trotter has stated, in his justificatory paper, that "there has never been the least delay or less "or interruption" in payment. And, in an other part of the same paper, he says: NI "claim merit in having so fulfilled my duty, "that every claimant was not only paid "without besitation or interruption, but in "the way most convenient to himself." Here I must beg the reader to accompany me back to some transactions that took place in the early part of 1802, when MR. ROB SON very properly made a complaint, in the House of Commons, that a bill upon the sick and hurt office had not been duly paid, after acceptance. It will be recollected, that the fact was, at first, denied by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer; and, well it might; for, who could have supposed the thing possible, more especially how could it be thought possible by that person, who well knew that the Treasurer of the Nary

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always had great balances in bis hands?|ment was insolvent. Mr. Martin took his part, Further investigation, however, convinced in his absence, and the affair seemed to be Mr. Addington, that the complaint was quietly dying away. But, the warm words well founded, not only with respect to the of the 4th had excited public attention particalar bill at first specified by Mr. Rob- and, on the 9th, Mr. Robson came down, son, but with respect to many, and a great backed by Mr. Jones, to repeat his first asmany, other bills. But, there is something sertion, to add that he was pow ready to so interesting in this transaction, and bearing prove it and to show various instances of the so strongly upon the present point, that I abuse he had complained of, and in order must take the liberty to refer to it a little to enable him to do this to the full satisfacmore in detail. Ou the 4th of March, 1802, tion of the House, he moved, "that there it was that Mr. Robson first broached the "be laid before this House an account of subject, in the conclusion of a speech upon "all the bills drawn upon the sick and hurt the army estimates, where he made use of the "office, with their several dates, and when following words: The finances of the "due, and when paid, since the 1st of De country are in so desperate a situation, "cember, 1801." It was strange enough "that government is unable to discharge to see this motion opposed by Mr. Adding "its bills; for a fact has come within my ton, Mr. Bragge, Mr. Hiley Addington, Mr. "own knowledge of a bill accepted by go- Alexander, and by all those who had before "vernment.having been dishonoured." [A dared him to the proof, who had proposed general exclamation of bear! bear !] Mr the taking down his words, and who had Dent rose to call Mr. Robson to order. "He talked of a censure of the House on his "thought he was extremely irregular in head! Mr. Robson now triumphed in his "making an observation, which tended to turn. He made a very good speech, as it is discredit the government." The Speaker recorded in Debrett's Debates. He remindgave it as his opinion, “that, if a member ed the House of the promised inquiry of the of that House cast any reproach on the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I repeat, "existing government of the country, under said he all my former assertions. The "the general charge of insolvency, or other- "Chancellor tells you he can find but one "wise to excite disesteem towards it, he was "disorderly." Mr. Alexander advised Mr. Robson to retract so injurious an assertion as " that which he had just made." Mr. Robson wished the matter to drop; but no, Mr. Addington and Mr. Yorke, were not for letting him off so easy. The former called upon him to retract, or, "if he did "not, the next step would be for the House "to proceed to censure him for his expres"sion Yes, yes! said Mr. Yorke, "far as relates to the hon. gent. himself, F "believe the less that is said the better, but "that will not now do for the House." Mr. Dent proposed to have the words taken down. Mr. Robson seemed very much frightened; but, being pressed so hard, he finally named the particular office where the bill had been dishonoured. The words were not actually taken down, but the Chancellor of the Exchequer pledged himself that an inquiry should be instituted forthwith. On the 8th of March the subject was revived. The Chancellor of the Exchequer explained the matter to the House, in his way; but he quite forgot to urge the "censure" on Mr. Hobson, whose words, though they had been almost taken down, were not now thought worth repeating. The attack upon Mr. Robson now assumed a different ground. He was accused of having spoken of bills and of publie offices in the plural number, and of leaving an inference to be drawn, that the govern. I

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instance, whereas I contend, that the papers for which I mean to move, will show instances to the amount of several thru "sands of pounds. I have received several "letters from respectable merchants in the city, from which I find that government acceptances are not so good as private ones.... .....If the House wish the letters "to be read, and the writers of them to be "named, I am ready this moment to satisfy "that wish. I state confidently, that, in consequence of the practice of which I complain, that government bills are drawn "at a disadvantage, and that the nation "has to pay an unnecessary accumulation of

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interest. -Without the account I have "moved for, I am not able to show the full

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extent of the mischief; give me but that, " and I will prove it immediately, and to a very great amount." His motion was negatived, 79 against 21negatived, 79 against 21-It will be ob served, that this took place in 1802, after Lord Melville had quitted the Treasurership; but, Mr. Trotter still remained; and, though Lord Harrowby had disapproved of Mr. Trotter's practices, he had, by illness, been prevented from putting a stop to. them be fore he also quitted the office; and, it will be seen by the TENTH REPORT, that Mr. Bragge did not put a stop to those practices, till the summer of 1802, that is, after the complaint of Mr. Robson was made; and it is by no means improbable, that the inquiry,

to which that complaint gave rise, was the cause of this great reformation, and that it | principally led to the present discovery, though, at one stage of the dispute Mr. Robson was actually so terrified as to beg pardon for what he had said!!! -It was not in the sick-and-hurt office alone, that this postponement of payment took place. I myself received from abroad a bill upon another of the offices under the Treasurer of the Navy. It was treated in the manner described by Mr. Robson. I got my money after some days of postponement; but, I took care to write to my correspondent never to send me another bill upon a public office. Would not others do the same? And is not the effect obvious? You were sure that the bills would be finally paid; but you never knew when. The answer you received was, 66 we have no money." You could not tell when you would have your money; and what, let me ask, could possibly be more injurious? My bill was upon the Victualling Office, and I am ready to prove the truth of my statement. What, then, becomes of Mr. Trotter's defence," that every claimant was "not only paid without besitation or interแ ruption but in the way most convenient to "himself!" In the debate upon which Mr. Robson's motion was negatived, Mr. Vansittart acknowledged, that he had now found out that the practice had existed for years; but, that no such bills had ever been protested, nor had any steps ever been taken by the holders to recover their amount. No; but, all persons purchasing such bills took good care to make an allowance for the delays in payment; and, I leave any one to guess at the amazing loss which this must have occasioned to the public, in the course of the expenditure of those 134 millions of money that passed through the hands of Mr. Trotter! Now, mark what Mr. Addington said in the debate of March 8, 1802. "It has, "of late, been the policy of government, " and I think it a wise policy, to prevent the public offices from becoming banking shops, and to prevent them from accumulating "large sums of money at any one time!!!" Mr. Wilberforce, in the debate of the 9th, said: "if the public offices are not allowed "to keep large sums of money in hand, it "must sometimes happen that they will "want money; and I think it better that

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this should take place, than that large sums of money should be kept in those offices"!!! But, the Commissioners have now proved to us, that large sums of money always were in the hands of some of these people; that the Exchequer, that is to say, the public, always was greatly in advance to them; and, notwithstanding this, we know that the claimants

upon the offices were not promptly paid; and, of course, we know, that, on this account, all government work in the depart. ments of the navy was charged higher. Was not here a loss to the public? An actual loss of money, Mr. Trotter? And, ought not the persons who have gained in proportion to this loss be made to refund? -As to Mr Addington, he was completely deceived: so was Mr. Bragge; so was Mr. Yorke; and all the members of that ministry. They did not regard such a monstrous abuse, or rather such a multiplicity of monstrous abuses, as possible; and, therefore, the ridicule which the " young friends" threw upon them, on the occasion above referred to, was perfectly unnterited. Their error was the error of honesty, or, at least, of inexperience: whether time and good company have, or have not, enlightened their thirds and enlarged their understandings, a few weeks will, in all probability, clearly discover. By the time that Mr. Trotter has read thus far, he will perceive, that we are able to discover that we have really lost something by the contra vention of the act of the 25th of the King. But, was there no other loss to the public from Mr. Trotter's drawing the money away from the Bank before it was wanted for actual payments for navy services? Did the commerce of the country suffer nothing by his thus diminishing the power of the Bank to discount merchants' bills ? I am sure he will not say so; he, who knows so well how glad people were to get discounts from him out of that same money! Again; did the pobid suffer nothing from his keeping a hundred of two of thousand pounds, ready at a moment's warning, to go into the stock market with? Especially if we suppose (and the supposi tion is not perfectly romantic) that he might have some friend capable of giving him a hint, when to buy and when to sell! We find bim handling one particular draft for a mile lion of money: a million of money placed, in one day, to his private account! Where did he get it? Where must he have got it? Is it possible that it could have been any thing but the public money? leave it, then, to any man, at all acquainted with the nature of the funds, to guess at the loss which must, from a single person having the power of employing such sums for his private account, though it were only for a few days at a time; I leave any man to guess at the loss which this must have occasioned to the pub fic; but, as to the number of individuals that it must bave ruined, that is beyond even the compass of a guess. There was, indeed, one possible, and even probable, advantage to the public, to balance against all those losses; namely, that Mr. Trotter might, în

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the overflowings of his patriotism, now and to then lend the nation a little money! We find that Mr. Dundas was good enough to afford "occasional accommodations" to other departments of the state; and, in alt those advantageous loans," those " ex"cellent bargains" for the public, that have been annually made during the last twenty years, who shall say how much (ungrateful wretches that we are!) we may owe to the generosity of Mr. Trotter and his principal ! Gracious God! What a complication and ronfusion of absurdities and of mischiefs has this system of paper-money, this all-degrading and corrupting curse, engendered! What a pleasing reflection, how well calculated to inspire a man with enthusiasm in the cause of his country. is it, that the money which he has last week paid in taxes, he can this week borrow from a person like Mr.Trotter! How base and ungrateful must that man be, who would not ** spend his

last shilling and shed his last drop of "blood" in the defence of the person and property of those generous gentlemen, whọ, with good security, are ready to lend him his own money at compound interest! Who, that has one spark of patriotism in, his bosom, can repress his swelling pride at reflecting that he has the honour, not only of supporting with his purse, but of defending at the risk of his life; yea, that he is entitled to the glorious privilege of shedding his blood in defence of those domains, which Mr. Trotter and others like him have acquired These, these are the things that grate men's souls. The most stupid cannot but perceive them: the most callous cannot but feel them: the most cold and indifferent cannot but be moved by them. These are the great and lasting causes of discontent, and that, too, of the most dangerous nature. They disgust the people, not only with the ministry, but with the government altogether. They make them indifferent as to men, as well as to principles. Having no hope that they shall ever see abuses checked, and hardly daring to open their mouths to complain of them, they have no course left but that of endeavouring to become partakers in the spoil. Thus is the whole community let loose to prey upon one another; thus are the public virtues eradicated; thus, if men become not traitors, they retain little that is worthy of the name of loyalty and patriotism; and thus is a nation prepared to fall an easy prey to whomsoever chooses to attack it. Let us hope, however, that there are left, as yet, the means of rescuing us from this fatal catastrophe. There are men, great men, in his country, with whose panies corruption

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was never associated we have a Sovereign' well known to be the enemy of peculators: we have a parliament composed chiefly of men, who, from their rank and their education, must be supposed to hold such persons in abhorrence: and, why, then, should we not hope that the political plague will be stayed ere we perish ?The partisans of Lord Melville and Mr. Trotter have ap. pealed to the parliament, and have not scrupled, before hand, to accuse of narrowmindedness and unjust severity all those who shall agrée in opinion with the Naval Com missioners; whose report, be it remembered, were by a well-known" young friend,” lately denominated libels; and, that upon : the same principle, I suppose, that I was recently denominated "ajacobin," because I quoted from a pamphlet, an account of· the pensions, paid to Mr. Canning's sisters from the public exchequer !-- Impudent and irritating as such language and sentiments are in themselves considered, they are modest and inoffensive, comparatively speaking, till we consider from when they proceed; till we consider, that they proceed from that set of politicians, who rose into power by professions of superior, and even exclusive, purity; whose cry against abuses and in favour of economy was as incessant and montonous as the song of the cuckoo; and who e pretensions to these virtues have continued to be urged, and are still urged, in the teeth of that insulted people, who have the accounts of Lord Melville and Mr. Trotter before their eyes!" Narrow"mindedness and unjust severity !" And, this from the Pittites! this, from that set of politicians who introduced, and passed into a law, the Office-Abuse Com.nission Act of 1785! Reader, look back at my motto." Read it I beseech you; and then recollect, that the words of it were uttered in a debate upon a bill for appointing a Board of Coinmissioners to inquire into the abuse of money that had taken place in the public of fices; recollect, that this bill was passed in 1785, the very year in which was passed the act for regulating the offices of Lord Melville and Mr. Trotter; and, I beg you to recollect, that the Pitties, who now com/ plain of the unjust severity" of a mode of proceeding which has afforded such ample shelter to the accused; I beg you to remember, that they, when the conduct of their opponents was the object of inquiry, refused to afford such shelter, and insisted upon, and passed, a law compelling persons to answer all questions put to them, whether, they might thereby criminate themselves or not! The act I altude to is the 25th of the King, c. 19. Mr. Sheridan opposed it whe

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in the shape of a bill, upon the ground of its, having no great and worthy object in view; of its arming the Commissioners with powers too great, and of its being a deception upon the public, a thing intended to obtain unmerited popularity. From the answer of Mr. Pitt my motto is taken. Mr. Burke contended for a clause to exempt persons from giving evidence that might criminate themselves and expose them to pains or penalties. This was opposed by Mr. Pitt and his friends; the act passed, and was not. amended in the House of Lords! Yet, these are the very persons; these enemies of peculators; these lovers of reform; these political puritans; these are the persons, who are now crying out against the " unjust se"verity" of an act, in which good care was taken to insert a clause for the express purpose of exempting persons from giving answers that might criminate themselves; an exemption, of which Lord Melville and Mr. Trotter have so amply availed themselves! No one blames the introduction of this clause. The Lord Chancellar contended for it by exactly the same arguments that Mr. Burke contended for a similar clause in the act of 1785, and which arguments excited shouts of laughter from Mr. Pitt and his adherents! Upon the introduction of the clause into this last bill, however, the Lord Chief Justice made a very proper remark, and one that is now worthy of particular attention. " I agree," said his lordship, "in the principle laid "down by the learned lord. I hope, how

" is an obvious tinge of the school, in
"which the right hon. author has been
"bred. Most schools have their charac
"teristics; thus, the school of Venice is
"known for its colouring; the school of
"Raffaelle for its design; but, the school
"I allude to, is the school of large promise and
"little performance." How true was this
description! How amply have events con
firmed the opinion of that truly great man!"
How many promises solemnly made have
we seen broken!

The promise of parliamentary reform.
The promise to reform the affairs of India; to put
an end to the wars, and to reduce the debts of the
Company, and to make that Company artist in
defraying the expenses of the nation!
The promise to reduce the national debt, accom-
panied with the boast, that, while other minis-
ters had been distinguished by the burdens they
had laid upon the people, it would be his glory to
be distinguished by the removing of these burdens!
The promise to restore Ocsacow to the Turks.
The promise, in 1799, to find resources for carrying
on the war for any length of time without the
creation of new debt.

The promise of a solid system of finance.
The promise, in the same year, never to make i

peace, by which the complete restoration of the
rights of the separate powers, and also the com.
plete restoration of the balance of power in
Europe, should not be secured.

The promise of indemnity for the past and security for the future.

The promise to the Irish Catholics.

I could continue the list to the length of my arm. But, the great, the standing, the never ceasing promises, for twenty long years, have been, to encourage commerce, arts, manufactures, and agriculture; to husband the national resources, and to sus tain public credit; to reform and prevent abuses in three words, prosperity, eco nomy, and purity; PROSPERITY, which, while it has, indeed, seen scores rise to their chariots who ought still to be trudging the number of paupers augmented from on foot, has, on the other hand, beheld

six to twelve hundred thousand; ECONOMY, which has swelled the annual interest of the national debt from nine to trventy-nine mil lions sterling, and which has compelled the promiser himself to confess, that, since he became minister, money has depreciated at least sixty per centum; and PURITY now so clearly and so strongly exemplified in that elaborate and able Report, towards which I have here made an humble effort to direct the attention of my readers.

"ever, that it is not intended to be estab. "lished, that, if this bill do not answer "the purposes, for which it was framed, "the legislature cannot adopt other means "to attain that object. If abuses cannot "be removed by mild measures, it will "be the duty of the legislature to have re course to such as will wing from the guilty "the lurking secrets, which are, to the great injury of the country, concealed." (Debrett's Debates, 22d Dec. 1802.) I trust so 100. It is what the people expect; it is what they have reason, and what they have a right to expect. It was no harm, no "unjust severity," to force the secrets from those who had been in office under Lords North, Rockingham, the Duke of Portland, and Lord Shelburne; that was perfectly just; but, to deal the same measure to those who had been in office under Mr. Pitt; under the "Heaven-born minister;" that was quite another thing! There are certain exemptions and privileges, to which creatures of celestial mould are entitled! "In the present bill" (said Mr. Burke, in the speech before referred to) "there Printed by Cox and Baylis, No 75, Great Queen Street, and published by R. Bagshaw, Bow Street, Covent Garden, where former Numbers may be had; sold also by J. Budd, Crown and Mitre, Pall-Mall,

*** The whole of the TZN REPORTS of the Naval Commissioners are in the press, and will be inserted in the Appendix to Vol. III. of the Parliamentary Debates, which volume will be published complete early in the month of May.

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