σε

of the public establishments, servants, &c. as may be requisite, and are consistent with his excellency's dignity and conσ venience, and to that end the said Nabob agrees to consult with the Company's government, and, in concert with them, * devise the proper objects of such reductions, and the best means of effecting "them." And, lastly, in the said treaty it was stipulated, as to the management of the internal affairs of the principality of Oude, that all transactions between the two states should be carried on with the +c greatest cordiality and harmony on both sides, and that the, Nabob Vizier should ἐσ possess full authority over his household affairs, hereditary dominions, his troops, and his subjects." That the terms of the sad treaty were highly advantageous to the English Company, not only as enabling them to defray almost the whole increased expense of their military establishment, and having added in perpetuity to the possessions of the Company the important fortress of Allahabad, which was to be put in a state of defence at the expense of the Nabob Vizier, but did greatly aid the said Company in their commercial concerns, as appears in a letter from the governor general in council to the Secret committee of the Court of Directors, dated on the 5th of March, 1798, and of which advantages the Court of Directors were fully sensible, as appears by their answer to the extract last quoted, of their political letter to the Governor General Marquis Wellesley, dated the 15th day of May, in the year 1799; wherein they observe, that "the governor general's minute of the 5th "of March, 1798, contains a very satisfac

tory explanation of the variations between "the terms of the previous engagement executed by Saadut Alli at Benares, and those of the definitive treaty concluded at Lucknow. By the latter the Company's influence over the Vizier's country appears to be sufficiently preserved without the insertion of any article that might be deemed offensive; and we have the fur*ther satisfaction to find, that, exclusive of the immediate payment of twelve lacs of rupees (or £150,000 sterling) by the Nabob Vizier, his annual subsidy is increased upwards of twenty lacs of rupees, (or £250,000) besides the acquisition of a fortress in the Oude dominions of the greatest consequence in the scale of general defence" and in the saine letter

ceedings, we are, upon the whole, de "cidedly of opinion, that the late governor general, Lord Teignmouth, in a most at"duous situation, and under circumstances "of much delicacy and embarrassment, con"ducted himself with great temper, im

partiality, ability, and firmness, and "that he finished a long course of faithful "services, by planning and carrying into "execution an arrangement which not only "redounds highly to his own honour, but "which will also operate to the reciprocal "advantage of the Company and the Na

bob Vizier."That the character and conduct of the said Nabob Vizier Saadut Ali Cawn was, in letters from the governor general, and from the governor general in council to the secret committee aforesaid, bearing date on the said 5th of March, 1798, thus described: "His talents and capacity,

though moderate, are not mean; his ha

bits of economy are strong, and approach"ing to parsimony; his conduct during his "residence at Benares, was reserved and "correct; in all his dealings he was fair " and just; if some moral defects are imputed to him, they are not exposed to "general observation. His conduct since

his accession has been dignified and con"ciliatory; and indeed, in all respects, re"gulated by the strictest propriety; and it "is with sincere pleasure we acquaint you, "that the most perfect tranquillity prevailed "at Oude at the time of the governor ge"neral's departure therefrom, and that there

cr

was no ground whatever to apprehend its "being disturbed."That such and so auspicious was the state of affairs in Qude, and such its connection with the East India Company when Richard Colley Marquis Wellesley arrived in India, and entered upon his functions as aforesaid in the month of May, 1798; that is to say, three months after the date of the treaty so happily concluded, and so strongly approved of as aforesaid.--That, by an act passed in the year 1784, being the twenty-fourth year of the reign of his present Majesty, it was declared and enacted, that, "Whereas to pursue "schemes of conquest and extension of do"minion in India are measures repugnant "to the wish, the honour, and policy of "this nation.

To be Continued.

VOL. IX. No. 25.]

SUMMARY OF POLITICS. BARRACK-OFFICE ABUSES.It will be fresh in the recollection of the reader, that, on the 16th of May, Mr ROBSON moved, in the House of Commons, for certain papers, relative to Barns, rented by government, and used as Barracks, in Sandown Bay Division in the Isle of Wight. By a reference to the history of that proceeding (in p. 773 of the present Volume), it will be seen, that this motion was set aside by a motion for the previous question, made by a clerk in the Ordnance Office, named CALCRAFT, and commonly called, for what reason I know not, Colonel Caleraft; that, in a few days afterwards, Lord Henry Petty, who had supported Mr. Calcraft's motion, came to the House himself, and moved for all the papers which Mr. Robson had moved for; and that he did, indeed, adopt the very motions and the very words of Mr. Robson, though, upon the former day, he had affected to ridicule the manner of them, and had represented the matter of them as extremely improper.. -The motions will be found in the account of the debate, in the page above referred to and in the following ones. papers have been produced, together with another paper, which, for reasons by-and-by 'to be mentioned, Lord Henry Petty himself moved for. Of these papers I am now about to give the render an account. Some of them I shall insert entire; and I venture to presume. that, as giving the public an insight into the shameful waste of the public 'money in this department, they will be regarded as of the greatest importance.

The

The reader will please to bear in mind, that the object of Mr. Robson's motion was to prove to the parliament, that the barns, which had been, and which now are, rented by government and used as Barracks, in the Isle of Wight, had been paid for at dou' 'e the price that they ought to have been paid for; and, indeed, that the price was four times as great as it ought to have been. confined himself to Sandown Bay Division, because to that Division more particularly his information related.The materials for producing a conviction of the great truth he had in view were suggested to him by the

He

[899

following facts that had come to his knowledge; to wit; that, in the month of December last, the then Barrack Master of the Sandown Bay Division, whose name is ArKINS, wrote a letter to Mr. Dundas the then Secretary at War, stating to him that a price beyond all measure too high was given for the Barrack-Barns in his division; that, as a proof of the correctness of this his statement, he enclosed to the Secretary, proposals from Mr. JAMES DAY of Brading, for the building of a barrack, capable of lodging as many men as could be lodged in the five barns at Brading; and that the said proposed barrack would be let to government for 4220 a year, whereas the said five barns (the mere shells of them) cost the government more than £1,100 a year. That the Secretary at War, who had been told by Mr. Atkins, that this exposure would subject him to persecution if made known, did, nevertheless, send the letter of Mr. Atkins to the Barrack-Master General; that thereupon the Barrack-Master General sent the Assistant Barrack-Master General of the South Western District, one DAVIES, to make inquiry into the matter; that this DAVIES (who was the very person that had made the contract for the barns) arrived in the Isle of Wight on or about the 8th of January last; that Davies called before him, and had long conferences with, Mr. Day; that Day's proposals were not agreed to; but, that, in a very short time afterwards, to wit, in the month of March, the rent of the barns in Sandown Bay division was reduced in or al out the proportion of ONE HALF; and, finally, which I beseech the reader well to note, that, in a few weeks after having produced this great good, in a few weeks after having rendered this essential service to the public, Mr. Atkins was, by Genera! Fitzpatrick, TURNED OUT OF HIS EMPLOYMENT, and left, with a large family dependent entirely upon him, to meet all the calamities of poverty accompanied with as much disgrace as it was in the power of the government to throw upon him! Upon th's information, communicated by Mr. Atkins to Mr. Robson, because he knew him to be an honest and an independent man, because it was his

bounden duty to endeavour to correct such. an abuse in the public expenditure, because he was convinced that the House of Commors was the only place wherein for the matter to be brought forward with effect; upon this information it was that Mr. Robson proceeded, in the manner which the public has witnessed with so much satisfaction, and so much just praise, as well with respect to the form as the substance of the proceeding. —The reader, thus put in possession of the origin and the object of Mr. Robson's motions, will be the better enabled to accompany me in my progress through the sequel, to the first stage of which we are brought by the copy of Mr. Atkins's letter to Mr. Dundas, which was as follows: "Not being honoured with an audience on Mon"day or Tuesday when I presumed personally to solicit it, the duties of my situa"tion forbidding longer delay, I commit to

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paper what I could have wished in person "to communicate. Enclosed I have the "honour to transmit a letter from the late

highly respected Secretary at War, a cre"dential by which, Sir, you can appreciate "the credibility you can attach to my state"ment. Within the district of Sandown, "where I act as Barrack Master, there are twenty barns, annually rented as temporary barracks, fitted up in the interior at a "vast expense by government, and subject "to rents which must be considered enor

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mous when simply viewed as barns. The "troops have even occupied them reluctantly, and have considered government rather negligent of their comfort in appointing them to such situations.-I am far from implicating any gentleman "who acted on the arrangements, but shall "remonstrate to you, Sir; there was a vast "oversight from the proposals. I have the "honour to enclose you. The annual "saving, Sir, of nine hundred pounds and four shillings, out of eleven hundred and twenty pounds, must strike you as considerable; extended through a large scale, "which I can point out as practicable, the aggregate sum would be vast; this saving only including five barns out of twenty in my division. I once presumed, Sir, to "solicit a removal when there was a vacancy at Deal, deeming it a necessary step for my safety, previous to disclosure. In full reliance of your honour for immediate "removal, I enforce the danger I should "incur by my residence here, both from "those of my own department in this island, and the inhabitants, whose places were "rented to so much advantage. There are "other matters. Difunts! could humbly

"point out for consideration, though the "wise regulations of the present Barrack"Master General leaves but little to act on. "The site on which the enclosed building. "would be erected is on a rising ground, "the proprietor engaging to have it ready "for troops in six weeks if approved of."— This letter, which was dated on the 29th of December, was sent, at once to Mr. Atkins's superiors, as before-mentioned; and Mr. Atkins was not removed to Deal, notwithstanding the representation of his dangers! And, as this representation was made in private; as the writer could not have the least netion of its ever being made public; as he really must have appreliended the dangers of which he speaks, I leave the reader to draw his own conclusion as to the known disposi- . tion of Mr. Atkins's superiors.-The person selected to inquire into the matters mentioned in this letter was, as was before observed, DAVIES, the very person who had made the contract for the barns. On the 10th of January he makes, upon Day's proposals, the following report: "The building "proposed by Mr. Day is not according to "the plan transmitted to the right hon. the

Secretary at War; Mr. Day proposes "simply to erect sheds of brick-nogging, "eight feet high to the plate, with a fifteen"foot span, capable in the whole range of

containing 384 men, for which shell he

now asks a rent of £300 per annum.―― "In this point of view the offer cannot be "beneficial to the public, since, if it were "adopted, it would require the immediate

expense of £2,500 to fit it up in the "most slight and temporary manner, Mr.

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Day declining to do any thing to the "building than merely delivering it over "(as before observed)" a shell.”—The "Barrack Department would then have to

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provide for this (comparative) trivial ac"accommodation, chimnies, floors, births, "arm racks, pin rails, grates, windows,

cooking kitchens, boilers, mess rooms, "cleaning sheds, privies, guard house, pump and well. This, without including

hospital, officers' barracks, stores, coa "yard, or inclosures. Added to which, "from the situation being a field, adjoining "the village of Brading, of a clay soil, the

access would soon be difficult, and roads "necessary-Roads, and forming a parade, "will be very expensive. Experience in "works of this nature at the Isle of Wight

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gives me full information, that materials "for a parade is here more than commonly

high." -Upon this report, which gives us a pretty good specimen of the knowledge and talents of the reporter, we must observe,

that "a shell" was all that was wanted to supply the place of the barrack-barns, they being merely shells, and that, too, of boards instead of brick; that all the additions here mentioned had been supplied by government in the case of the barns; and that all these additions might have been easily transferred from the barns to the proposed barrack, the shell of which would have wanted no repairs, whereas the shells of the barns cost several hundreds a year to keep them in repair. What means were employed to induce Mr. Day to rise in his demand from £220 to £300 a year, it would, perhaps, be difficult to say; but, after all, £300 a year would certainly have been a better bargain for the public than £1,100 a year; and how comes it, that Davies should have been the

4 Barns

man selected by the Barrack-Master General (Hewett) to make the inquiry and to nego tiate with Mr. Day?But, though Mr. Day's proposal was not agreed to, the rent of the barns was reduced in consequence of the representation of Mr. Atkins, as appears from the papers called for by Mr. Robson, and of which papers, as relating to this point, the following is the substance. Here we have first a description of the buildings (for in the papers other buildings are included) rented by government, and used as barracks in Sandown Bay Division; next we have the owners names; next the time when first rented; next the weekly rent paid PREVIOUS to Mr. Atkins's representation; and, lastly, the rent NOW paid,

3 Cottages

1 Barn

1 Outhouse

Thus, then, we see, that the buildings which cost the public 401. 10s. 6d. a week before Mr. Atkins made his representation to the Secretary at War, now cost the public 241. 10s. a week; which, in this trifling Division alone makes a saving of 8331. 6s. a year; and, observe, that this saving ought to have been made for two years and a quarter before it began to take place, and that, therefore, 1,8741. 16s. has, in this little spot, and in this article alone, been squandered away! What, then, must have been the amount of the waste upon the, whole of the millions that have been paid by the public on account of barracks! And is it any wonder that the resources of the nation fall short of the expenditure? Is it any wonder, that tax upon tax is laid upon the people; and that still the demand increases daily?-But, we must not stop here. We must not suppose, that the rents are not now too high; for, who is there amongst us that does not know what a barn is? Who does not know that the mere shell of a barn (to be kept in repair by government) cannot be worth a hundred pounds a year? Who does not know that a common barn is not worth, in the fee simple, a hundred pounds? Who

40 16 624 16 0

does not know, that, at the place we are speaking of, a farm of a hundred acres together with barns, out-houses, and farm-house, do not let for a hundred pounds a year? And, is it not monstrous, then; is it not enough to sting us to madness, to know, that the mere shell of one of these barns should now cost us a hundred pounds a year, and that it should, for more than two years past, have cost us two hundred pounds a year? Let inquiry be made as to the amount of the rent of these farms; and, my life on it, it will be found from the tax-gatherers books, that the rent of the whole farins is not equal to the rent that the public even now pays for the barns and out-houses. Is not this, then, a fit subject for inquiry? Is it not a fit subject for parliamentary inquiry? For instant inquiry? For inquiry not to be left to Boards of Commissioners? And, have not the public good reason to thank Ma. ROBSON, who, in spite of MR. CALCRAFTS' previous ques tion, has brought about this most useful exposure?-But, while Davies and all the other persons concerned in the renting of these buildings, are to this hour in their places, what is beconte of Mr. Atkins, whose representation to the Secretary at War pro

duced the great saving above-stated? This unfortunate man, with a wife, and several small children, is now in the deepest distress in London, having scarcely any means of procuring even the necessaries of life! He was dismissed, as was before observed, BY GENERAL FITZPATRICK, in the month of February last; that is to say, in a few weeks after he had made representation in consequence of which 8331. 6s. a year bad, even upon the present scale (which is still much too high) been saved to the public; and, let it not be forgotten, that General Fitzpatrick had in his office, all the documents relating to this saving, and this highly meritorious act on the part of Mr. Atkins. Of the effect of a disclosure of these facts LORD HENRY PETTY seems to have been aware before he came down to the House to move for the adoption of Mr. Robson's motions; and, being thus aware, he moved, quite gratuitously, for a document relating to the misconduct of Mr. Atkins. That document, as constituting the grounds of Mr. Atkins's dismission, has been produced, and is now before me. And, the first impression that it made upon my mind, was, that of wonder at Lord Henry Petty's having thus given to this poor defenceless man so cruc a blow. I am sure the act never criginated in his own pure mind. I am sure of it. It were to slander human nature to suppose that his lordship could have so acted from bis own inclination; and, therefore, I do most sincerely acquit him of it. This document, upon which I will fully remark by-and-by, is an affidavit made to show, that Mr. Atkins himself was a peculator; that he wanted to borrow money, and that he actually did receive presents, from one of the barn-owners. But, first let us see the several letters relating to his dismission, whence it will appear, that he was accused in, the dark; that he was dismissed without being confronted with his accusers before a competent tribunal; that, when he requested to be furnished with a copy of the documents, upon which he had been dismissed, the request was refired him; and that, the first sight he has ever obtained of these documents, has been in a paper laid before the House of Commons, and printed for the use of its members, a Channel through which they must, according to established custom, naturally find their way to the public!

Copy of a Letter from the Sec. at War to the Barrack Muster General, duted War-Office, 15th Feb. 1800.

SIR;-Having duly considered the several papers received in your letter of the

6th instant, respecting Mr. Atkins's conduct as a Barrack Master, I cannot hesitate to determine upon the evident impropriety of his being any further employed at Sandown Barracks; and I shall accordingly subunit to His Majesty the name of another officer for that situation. You will be pleased to communicate this letter to Mr Atkins.-(Signed) R. FITZPA, KICK.

Copy of a Letter from the Deputy Borrach Master General, to the Chif Berruch Alaster in the Isle of Wight, datet, Burrack Office, 19th Feb 1806

SIR-I am directed by the Barrack Master General to transmit to you, the enclosed copy of a letter from the Sec. at War, respecting Mr. Atkins, Barrack Master of Sandown, and to desire you'will immediately communicate the same to him, and direct him to prepare to deliver up the barracks, and stores, now under his charge, to the person who may be appointed to succeed him. You will also direct him to prepare for closing his accounts with this office, as Barrack Master at Sandown, to the period, when the transfer of the barracks shall be made.-(Signed) P. CAREY, Dty. B. M. Gl.

Copy of a Letter from Alr. Atkins, to the Secretary at War, dated Feb. 22, 1806.

SIR-I have this day the honor to receive, through Captain Bygrave, your order communicated to the Barrack Master General; with respect for your decision, I must beg leave to appeal to your liberality, to be made acquainted with those charges preferred against me; and to permit me to stand a fair and candid trial. Unconscious that culpability could be attached to my pointing out situations where vast savings might have been made to Government, I stepped, perhaps, beyond the line of my duty, not aware of the consequence. (Signed) B.W.ATKINS.

Copy of a Letter from the Deputy Secretary at War, to Mr. Atkins, dated, War Oj fice, 27th Feb. 1806.

SIR-In reply to your letter of the 224 instant, I am directed to acquaint you, that you were discharged from His Majesty's service in consequence of misconduct in the di charge of your duties as Barrack Master, and not as you erroneously conceive, from any statement you may have given with respect to the rates of barracks hired in the Isle of Wight.-(Signed) F. Moore.

Copy of a Letter from the Deputy Barrack Master General to Mr. Atkins, dated Barrack Office, 28th Feb. 1906.