On the fifty-sixth day, being read a second time, it was, after some
opposition, referred to a committee of the whole house, to sit five days
after. In the meanwhile,
On the fifty-seventh, it was ordered that the proper officers do lay
before this house an account of what persons were authorized, by virtue
of the act in the 4th of queen Anne, for "the encouragement and increase
of seamen, and for the better and speedier manning her fleet;" to
conduct seamen or seafaring men taken upon privy searches made by
applications to justices; and what number of seamen or seafaring men
were returned; also, the charge attending the same.
On the sixty-first day, moved that the said account should be read;
which being done, the house resolved itself into a grand committee on
the present bill; and the first clause being read, proposing the blanks
to be filled thus: that every volunteer seamen, after five years'
service, be entitled to six pounds per year, during life.
Sir John BARNARD rose, and spoke as follows:--Sir, as it is our duty to
provide laws, by which all frauds and oppressions may be punished, when
they are detected, we are no less obliged to obviate such practices as
shall make punishments necessary; nor are we only to facilitate the
detection, but take away, as far as it is possible, the opportunities of
guilt. It is to no purpose that punishments are threatened, if they can
be evaded, or that rewards are offered, if they may by any mean
artifices be withheld.
For this reason, sir, I think it necessary to observe, that the intent
of this clause, the most favourable and alluring clause in the bill, may
lose its effect by a practice not uncommon, by which any man, however
inclined to serve his country, may be defrauded of the right of a
volunteer.
Many men have voluntarily applied to the officers of ships of war, and
after having been rejected by them as unfit for the service, have been
dragged on board within a few days, perhaps within a few hours
afterwards, to undergo all the hardships, without the merit, of
volunteers.
When any man, sir, has been rejected by the sea officers, he ought to
have a certificate given him, which shall be an exemption from an
impress, that if any other commander shall judge more favourably of his
qualifications, he may always have the privilege of a volunteer, and be
entitled to the reward which he deserved, by his readiness to enter the
service.
If such provisions are not made, this hateful practice, a practice, sir,
common and notorious, and very discouraging to such as would enter the
service of the publick, may so far prevail, that no man shall be able to
denominate himself a volunteer, or claim the reward proposed by the
bill.
Admiral WAGER spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, it is not
common for men to receive injuries without applying for redress, when it
may certainly be obtained. If any proceedings like those which are now
complained of, had been mentioned at the board of admiralty, they had
been immediately censured and redressed; but as no such accusations were
offered, I think it may probably be concluded, that no such crimes have
been committed.
For what purpose oppressions of this kind should be practised, it is not
easy to conceive; for the officers are not at all rewarded for
impressing sailors. As, therefore, it is not probable that any man acts
wickedly or cruelly without temptation: as I have never heard any such
injury complained of by those that suffered it, I cannot but imagine,
that it is one of those reports which arise from mistake, or are forged
by malice, to injure the officers, and obstruct the service.
Lord BALTIMORE rose next, and spoke to the following effect:--That the
practice now complained of, sir, is very frequent, and, whatever may be
the temptation to it, such as every day produces some instances of, I
have reasons for asserting with great confidence. I have, within these
few days, as I was accidentally upon the river, informed myself of two
watermen ignominiously dragged by force into the service to which they
had voluntarily offered themselves a few days before. The reasons of
such oppression, it is the business of those gentlemen to inquire, whom
his majesty intrusts with the care of his fleet; but to interrupt the
course of wickedness, to hinder it from frustrating the rewards offered
by the publick, is the province of the representatives of the people.
And I hope, sir, some proviso will be made in this case.
Admiral NORRIS rose and said:--Sir, if any such practices had been
frequent, to what can it be imputed, that those who employ their lives
in maritime business should be strangers to them? Why have no complaints
been made by those that have been injured? Or why should officers expose
themselves to the hazard of censure without advantage? I cannot
discover why these hardships should be inflicted, nor how they could
have been concealed, and, therefore, think the officers of the navy may
be cleared from the imputation, without farther inquiry.
Sir John BARNARD spoke again, to the following purpose:--Sir, it is in
vain that objections are made, if the facts upon which they are founded
may be denied at pleasure: nothing is more easy than to deny, because
proofs are not required of a negative. But as negatives require no
proof, so they have no authority, nor can any consequence be deduced
from them. I might, therefore, suffer the facts to remain in their
present state, asserted on one side by those that have reasons to
believe them, and doubted on the other without reasons; for surely he
cannot be said to reason, who questions an assertion only because he
does not know it to be true.
But as every question, by which the liberty of a Briton may be affected,
is of importance sufficient to require that no evidence should be
suppressed by which it may be cleared, I cannot but think it proper that
a committee should be formed to examine the conduct of the officers in
this particular; and in confidence of the veracity of those from whom I
received my information, I here promise to produce such evidence as
shall put an end to controversy and doubt.
If this is not granted, sir, the fact must stand recorded and allowed;
for to doubt, and refuse evidence, is a degree of prejudice and
obstinacy without example. Nor is this the only objection to the clause
before us, which appears very imperfect, with regard to the
qualifications specified as a title to the reward. The reward ought not
to be confined to those who shall hereafter be invited by the promise of
it to engage in the service, while those who entered into it without any
such prospect, are condemned to dangers and fatigues without a
recompense. Where merit is equal, the reward ought to be equal; and,
surely, where there is greater merit, the reward proposed by the senate,
as an encouragement to bravery, ought not to be less. To be excluded
from the advantages which others have obtained, only by avoiding the
service, cannot but depress the spirit of those whose zeal and courage
incited them, at the beginning of the war, to enter into the fleet; and
to deject those from whom we expect defence and honour, is neither
prudent nor just.
Nor is it, in my opinion, proper to offer the same reward
indiscriminately to all that shall accept it; rewards ought to be
proportioned to desert, and no man can justly be paid for what he cannot
perform; there ought, therefore, to be some distinction made between a
seaman by profession, one that has learned his art at the expense of
long experience, labour, and hazard, and a man who only enters the ship
because he is useless on land, and who can only incommode the sailors
till he has been instructed by them.
It appears, sir, to me, a considerable defect in our naval regulations,
that wages are not proportioned to ability; and I think it may not be
now unseasonably proposed, that sailors should be paid according to the
skill which they have acquired; a provision by which an emulation would
be raised among them, and that industry excited, which now languishes
for want of encouragement, and those capacities awakened which now
slumber in ignorance and sloth, from the despair of obtaining any
advantage by superiority of knowledge.
Sir Robert WALPOLE then rose, and spoke as follows:--That this charge,
sir, however positively urged, is generally unjust, the declarations of
these honourable gentlemen are sufficient to evince, since it is not
probable that the injured persons would not have found some friend to
have represented these hardships to the admiralty, and no such
representations could have been made without their knowledge.
Yet, sir, I am far from doubting that by accident, or, perhaps, by
malice, some men have been treated in this manner; for it is not in the
power of any administration to make all those honest or wise whom they
are obliged to employ; and when great affairs are depending, minute
circumstances cannot always be attended to. If the vigilance of those
who are intrusted with the chief direction of great numbers of
subordinate officers be such, that corrupt practices are not frequent,
and their justice such, that they are never unpunished when legally
detected, the most strict inquirer can expect no more. Power will
sometimes be abused, and punishment sometimes be escaped.
It is, sir, easy to be conceived that a report may become general,
though the practice be very rare. The fact is multiplied as often as it
is related, and every man who hears the same story twice, imagines that
it is told of different persons, and exclaims against the tyranny of the
officers of the navy.
But these, in my opinion, sir, are questions, if not remote from the
present affair, yet by no means essential to it. The question now before
us is, not what illegalities have been committed in the execution of
impresses, but how impresses themselves may become less necessary? how
the nation may be secured without injury to individuals? and how the
fleet may be manned with less detriment to commerce?
Sir, the reward now proposed is intended to excite men to enter the
service without compulsion; and if this expedient be not approved,
another ought to be suggested: for I hope gentlemen are united in their
endeavours to find out some method of security to the publick, and do
not obstruct the proceedings of the committee, that when the fleets lie
inactive and useless, they may have an opportunity to reproach the
ministry.
Admiral NORRIS spoke next, in substance:--Sir, though it is not
necessary to enter into an accurate examination of the gentleman's
proposal, yet I cannot but observe, that by making it, he discovers
himself unacquainted with the disposition of seamen, among whom nothing
raises so much discontent as the suspicion of partiality. Should one
man, in the same rank, receive larger wages than another, he who thought
himself injured, as he who is paid less will always think, would be so
far from exerting his abilities to attain an equality with his
associate, that he would probably never be prevailed on to lay his hand
upon the tackling, but would sit sullen, or work perversely, though the
ship were labouring in a storm, or sinking in a battle.
Mr. GORE then spoke as follows:--Sir, the danger of introducing
distinctions among men in the same rank, where every man that imagines
his merit neglected, may have an opportunity of resenting the injury,
is, doubtless, such as no prudent commander will venture to incur.
Every man, in this case, becomes the judge of his own merit; and as he
will always discover some reason for the preference of another very
different from superiority of desert, he will, by consequence, be either
enraged or dispirited, will either resolve to desert his commander, or
betray him to the enemies, or not oppose them.
I remember, sir, though imperfectly, a story which I heard in my
travels, of an army in which some troops received a penny a day less
than the rest; a parsimony which cost dear in the day of battle; for the
disgusted troops laid down their arms before the enemy, and suffered
their general to be cut in pieces.
General WADE then spoke to this effect:--Sir, I cannot but concur with
the honourable gentleman in his opinion, that those who are already
engaged in the service, who have borne the fatigues of a long voyage,
and perhaps are, at this hour, exposing their lives in battle to defend
the rights of their country, ought to have the same claim to the reward
proposed, with those who shall hereafter offer themselves. Nor, in my
opinion, ought those who have hitherto been pressed into our fleets to
be discouraged from their duty by an exclusion from the same advantage.
For if they were compelled to serve in the fleet, they were compelled
when there was not this encouragement for volunteers, which, perhaps,
they would have accepted if it had been then proposed, Every man, at
least, will allege, that he would have accepted it, and complain he
suffers only by the fault of the government; a government which he will
not be very zealous to defend, while he is considered with less regard
than others, from whom no greater services are expected.
A prospect of new rewards, sir, will add new alacrity to all the forces,
and an equal distribution of favour will secure an unshaken and
inviolable fidelity. Nothing but union can produce success, and nothing
can secure union but impartiality and justice.
Mr. SANDYS rose, and spoke as follows:--Sir, the efficacy of rewards,
and the necessity of an impartial distribution, are no unfruitful
subjects for rhetorick; but it may, perhaps, be more useful at present
to consider, with such a degree of attention as the question must be
acknowledged to deserve, to whom these rewards are to be paid, and from
what fund they are expected to arise.
With regard to those who are to claim the reward, sir, they seem very
negligently specified; for they are distinguished only by the character
of having served five years; a distinction unintelligible, without
explanation.
It is, I suppose, sir, the intent of the bill, that no man shall miss
the reward but by his own fault; and, therefore, it may be inquired,
what is to be the fate of him who shall be disabled in his first
adventure, whom in the first year, or month, of his service, an unlucky
shot shall confine for the remaining part of his life to inactivity: as
the bill is now formed, he must be miserable without a recompense; and
his wounds, which make him unable to support himself, will, though
received in defence of his country, entitle him to no support from the
publick.
Nor is this the only difficulty that may arise from the specifying of so
long a service; for how can any man that shall enter on board the fleet
be informed that the war will continue for five years? May we not all
justly hope, that alacrity, unanimity, and prudence, may, in a much
shorter time, reduce our enemies to beg for peace? And shall our sailors
lose the reward of their hazards and their labours, only because they
have been successful? What will this be less than making their bravery a
crime or folly, and punishing them for not protracting the war by
cowardice or treachery?
But let us suppose, sir, those defects supplied by a more explicit and
determinate specification; there will yet arise an objection far more
formidable; an objection, which the present state of our revenues will
not suffer to be answered. The consideration of the greatness of the
annual payment which this proposal requires, ought to incite every man
to employ all his sagacity in search of some other method, equally
efficacious, and less expensive.
We have already, sir, forty thousand seamen in our pay, to whom eight
thousand more are speedily to be added: when each of these shall demand
his stipend, a new burden of two hundred and eighty-eight thousand
pounds must be laid upon the nation; upon a nation, whose lands are
mortgaged, whose revenues are anticipated, and whose taxes cannot be
borne without murmurs, nor increased without sedition.
The nation has found, by experience, that taxes once imposed for just
reasons, and continued upon plausible pretences, till they are become
familiar, are afterwards continued upon motives less laudable, are too
productive of influence, and too instrumental towards facilitating the
measures of the ministry, to be ever willingly remitted.
Mr. BLADEN spoke next, as follows:--Sir, it is obvious, that when the
balance is unequal, it may be reduced to an equilibrium, as well by
taking weight out of one scale, as adding it to the other. The wages
offered by the merchants overbalance, at present, those which are
proposed by the crown; to raise the allowance in the ships of war, will
be, to lay new loads upon the publick, and will incommode the merchants,
whose wages must always bear the same proportion to the king's. The only
method, then, that remains, is to lighten the opposite scale, by
restraining the merchants from giving wages, in time of war, beyond a
certain value; for, as the service of the crown is then more immediately
necessarv to the general advantage than that of the merchants, it ought
to be made more gainful. Sailors, sir, are not, generally, men of very
extensive views; and, therefore, we cannot expect that they should
prefer the general good of their country before their own present
interest; a motive of such power, that even in men of curious
researches, refined sentiments, and generous education, we see, too
often, that it surmounts every other consideration.
Lord BALTIMORE then spoke again:--Sir, to the expedient which the
honourable gentleman who spoke last has suggested, and which he must be
confessed to have placed in the strongest light, many objections may be
raised, which I am afraid will not easily be removed.
The first, sir, which occurs to me on this short reflection is not less
than the impossibility of putting his scheme in execution. The
prescription of wages which he proposes, may be eluded by a thousand
artifices, by advanced money, by gratuitous acknowledgments, the payment
of money for pretended services, or by secret contracts, which it would
be the interest of both parties to conceal.
But if this objection could be surmounted by severity and vigilance,
would not this expedient help to defeat the general intention of the
bill? A bill not designed as an immediate resource, a mere temporary
project to supply our fleets for the present year, but as a method for
removing the only obstruction of the British power, the difficulty of
manning our ships of war.
It is, I hope, sir, the intention of every man who has offered his
sentiments on this occasion, to contrive some general encouragement for
seamen, which shall not only invite them to assist their country at the
first summons, but shall allure others to qualify themselves for the
publick service, by engaging in the same profession.
This is only to be done by making the condition of sailors less
miserable, by entitling them to privileges, and honouring them with
distinctions. But by limiting the merchant's wages, if such limitations
are, indeed, possible, though we may palliate the present distress, we
shall diminish the number of sailors, and thereby not only contract our
commerce but endanger our country.
Mr. TRACEY spoke next, to the following effect:--Sir, I know not for
what reasons the present method of advancing rewards at entrance is
practised, of which, however specious it might appear, the success by no
means encourages the continuance. The sailors, though not a generation
of men much disposed to reflection, or qualified for ratiocination, are
not yet so void of thought as not easily to perceive that a small
increase of constant wages is of more value than several pounds to be
paid only at once, and which are squandered as soon as they are
received.
Instead, therefore, of restraining the wages of the merchants, it seems
probable, that by raising those of the king, we may man the fleet with
most expedition; and one method of raising the wages will be to suppress
the advanced money.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL spoke next:--Sir, if the sum of money now paid by
way of advance can be supposed to have any effect, if it can be imagined
that any number of seamen, however inconsiderable, are allured by it
into the fleet, it is more usefully employed than it can be supposed to
be when sunk into the current wages, and divided into small payments.
The advance money is only paid to those that enter: if no volunteers
present themselves, no money is paid, and the nation doth not suffer by
the offer: but if the wages are raised, the expense will be certain,
without the certainty of advantage; for those that enter voluntarily
into the fleet, will receive no more than those that are forced into it
by an impress; and therefore there will be no incitement to enter
without compulsion. Thus every other inconvenience will remain, with the
addition of a new burden to the nation; our forces will be maintained at
a greater expense, and not raised with less difficulty.
Lord BALTIMORE said:--Sir, I cannot but concur in opinion with the
honourable gentleman who spoke last, from my own acquaintance with the
sentiments and habits that unalterably prevail among those who have been
accustomed to the sea, a race of men to the last degree negligent of any
future events, and careless about any provision against distant evils;
men who have no thoughts at sea, but how to reach the land; nor at land,
but how to squander what they have gained at sea. To men like these, it
may easily be imagined that no encouragement is equal to the temptation
of present gain, and the opportunity of present pleasure.
Of this any man, sir, may convince himself, who shall talk to a crew but
half an hour; for he shall find few among them, who will not, for a
small sum of present money, sell any distant prospect of affluence or
happiness.
Whether I am mistaken in my opinion, the honourable members who have
long commanded in the naval service can easily determine, and I doubt
not but they will agree that no motive can be proposed to a sailor
equivalent to immediate reward.
Sir William YONGE spoke next:--Sir, that some distinction ought to be
made to the advantage of volunteers, if we intend to man our fleet
without compulsion, is obvious and incontestable; and to avoid the
necessity of compulsion ought to be the chief end of this bill; for
nothing can be less to the advantage of the nation, than to continue the
use of such ungrateful methods, and yet increase the publick expense.
We ought, therefore, in my opinion, to determine upon some peculiar
reward, either to be advanced upon their entrance into the service, or
paid at their dismission from it.
But as I see, sir, no reason for hoping that all the encouragement which
can be offered, will raise volunteers in a sufficient number to secure
our navigation, and assert our sovereignty, it seems not proper to
confine our consultations to this part of the bill; for since compulsion
is on many occasions apparently necessary, some method requires to be
considered, in which it may be legal.
What new power ought to be placed in the magistrate, for what time, and
with what restrictions, I am far from assuming the province of
determining; but that some measures must be taken for compelling those
who cannot be persuaded, and discovering those that will not offer
themselves, cannot admit of doubt; and as the magistrate is at present
without any authority for this purpose, it is evident that his power
must be extended, for the same reason as it was given in its present
degree--the general benefit of the whole community.
Sir John BARNARD then spoke to the following effect:--Sir, if the
intent of this bill be to enable one part of the nation to enslave the
other; if the plausible and inviting professions of encouraging and
increasing seamen, are to terminate in violence, constraint, and
oppression; it is unnecessary to dwell longer upon particular clauses.
The intention of the bill is detestable, and deserves not the ceremony
of debate, or the forms of common regard.
If a man, sir, is liable to be forced from the care of his own private
affairs, from his favourite schemes of life, from the engagements of
domestick tenderness, or the prospects of near advantage, and subjected,
without his consent, to the command of one whom he hates, or dreads, or
perhaps despises, it requires no long argument to show, that by whatever
authority he is thus treated, he is reduced to the condition of a slave,
to that abject, to that hateful state, which every Englishman has been
taught to avoid at the hazard of his life.
It is therefore evident, that a law which tends to confer such a power,
subverts our constitution as far as its effects extend; a constitution,
which was originally formed as a barrier against slavery, and which one
age after another has endeavoured to strengthen.
Such a power, therefore, in whatever hands it may be lodged, I shall
always oppose. It is dangerous, sir, to intrust any man with absolute
dominion, which is seldom known to be impartially exercised, and which
often makes those corrupt, and insolent, whom it finds benevolent and
honest.
The bill proposes only encouragement, and encouragement may be given by
his majesty, without a new law; let us, therefore, draw up an address,
and cease to debate, where there is no prospect of agreement.
Mr. WINNINGTON spoke as follows:--Sir, the payment of an annual salary
will, in my opinion, be to the last degree inconvenient and dangerous.
The yearly expense has been already estimated, and arises to a sum very
formidable in our present state. Nor is the necessity of adding to the
publick burden, a burden which already is hard to be borne, the only
objection to this proposal.
Nothing can more contribute to dispirit the nation, than to protract the
consequences of a war, and to make the calamity felt, when the pleasures
of victory and triumph have been forgotten; we shall be inclined rather
to bear oppression and insult than endeavour after redress, if we
subject ourselves and our posterity to endless exactions.
The expenses of the present provision for superannuated and disabled
sailors, is no inconsiderable tax upon the publick, which is not less
burdened by it for the manner of collecting it by a deduction from the
sailors' wages; for, whoever pays it immediately, it is the ultimate
gift of the nation, and the utmost that can be allowed for this purpose.
It must be confessed, sir, the persons entitled to the pension are not
sufficiently distinguished in the bill; by which, as it now stands, any
of the worthless superfluities of a ship, even the servants of the
captains, may, after five years, put in their demand, and plunder that
nation which they never served.
Nor do I think, sir, the efficacy of this method will bear any
proportion to the expense of it; for I am of opinion, that few of the
sailors will be much affected by the prospect of a future pension. I am,
therefore, for dazzling them with five pounds, to be given them at their
entrance, which will be but a single payment, and probably fill our
fleets with greater expedition, than methods which appear more refined,
and the effects of deeper meditation.
Lord GAGE spoke in the following manner:--Sir, nothing is more clear
than that a yearly pension will burden the nation, without any
advantage; and as it will give occasion to innumerable frauds, it is a
method which ought to be rejected.
As to the new power, sir, which is proposed to be placed in the hands of
the magistrates, it undoubtedly reduces every sailor to a state of
slavery, and is inconsistent with that natural right to liberty, which
is confirmed and secured by our constitution. The bill, therefore, is,
in my opinion, defective in all its parts, of a tendency generally
pernicious, and cannot be amended but by rejecting it.
Mr. Henry PELHAM spoke next, to this effect:--Sir, I cannot but think it
necessary, that on this occasion, at least, gentlemen should remit the
ardour of disputation, and lay the arts of rhetorick aside; that they
should reserve their wit and their satire for questions of less
importance, and unite, for once, their endeavours, that this affair may
meet with no obstructions but from its natural difficulty.
We are now, sir, engaged in a war with a nation, if not of the first
rank in power, yet by no means contemptible in itself; and, by its
alliances, extremely formidable. We are exposed, by the course of our
trade, and the situation of our enemies, to many inevitable losses, and
have no means of preventing our merchants from being seized, without any
danger or expense to the Spaniards, but by covering the sea with our
squadrons.
Nor are we, sir, to satisfy ourselves with barely defeating the designs
of the Spaniards; our honour demands that we should force them to peace
upon advantageous terms; that we should not repulse, but attack them;
not only preserve our own trade and possessions, but endanger theirs.
It is by no means certain, sir, that in the prosecution of these designs
we shall not be interrupted by the interest or jealousy of a nation far
more powerful, whose forces we ought, therefore, to be able to resist.
A vigorous exertion of our strength will probably either intimidate any
other power that may be inclined to attack us, or enable us to repel the
injuries that shall be offered: discord and delay can only confirm our
open enemies in their obstinacy, and animate those that have hitherto
concealed their malignity to declare against us.
It is, therefore, sir, in no degree prudent to aggravate the
inconveniencies of the measures proposed for accomplishing what every
man seems equally to desire; to declaim against the expedients offered
in the bill as pernicious, unjust, and oppressive, contributes very
little to the production of better means. That our affairs will not
admit of long suspense, and that the present methods of raising seamen
are not effectual, is universally allowed; it, therefore, evidently
follows, sir, that some other must be speedily struck out.
I think it necessary to propose, that the house be resolved into a
committee to-morrow morning; and hope all that shall assemble on this
occasion, will bring with them no other passion than zeal for their
country.
[The speaker having taken the chair, the chairman of the committee
reported, that they had made some progress; and desiring leave to sit
again, it was resolved to go into the committee again on the morrow.]