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Front Page arrow Titles (by Subject) arrow 38.: The Naval Dockyards 4 AUGUST, 1866 - The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXVIII The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXVIII - Public and Parliamentary Speeches Part I November 1850 - November 1868

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Subject Area: Political Theory
Collection: The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill

38.: The Naval Dockyards 4 AUGUST, 1866 - John Stuart Mill, The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXVIII The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXVIII - Public and Parliamentary Speeches Part I November 1850 - November 1868 [1850]

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The Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, Volume XXVIII - Public and Parliamentary Speeches Part I November 1850 - November 1868, ed. John M. Robson and Bruce L. Kinzer (Toronto: University of Toronto Press, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, 1988).

Part of: Collected Works of John Stuart Mill, in 33 vols.

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38.

The Naval Dockyards

4 AUGUST, 1866

PD, 3rd ser., Vol. 184, col. 2067. Reported in The Times, 6 August, p. 6, from which the variant is taken. Adjournment had been moved by John Pakington (cols. 2057–60) so that the House could discuss allegations of extravagance by officials in the Royal Dockyards.

mr. j. stuart mill thought the conclusion to be drawn from this discussion was, that a great improvement had been attempted in the mode of conducting public business, but that, as is often the case with first attempts, it had not proved very successful. Every one must feel the great advantage it would be to this House and the public if the facts in any matter relating to public expenditure could be authenticated and agreed upon on both sides aby previous inquirya before the question founded on those facts was brought before the House. His honourable Friend the Member for Lincoln (Mr. Seely), with great credit to himself, applied to be allowed to ascertain his facts in the best possible way, and with the assistance of those best qualified to help him:1 and the Admiralty consented to that arrangement,2 though they did not appear to have persevered in that laudable intention to the end. The misunderstanding which appeared to have arisen was to be regretted, as they all knew how much more information could be obtained on a complicated matter across a table than across this House, and how much more complete and intelligible that information was likely to be when asked for in a friendly than in a hostile manner.

[a-a]+TT

[1 ]Charles Seely (1803–87), in his Speech on Supply—Navy Estimates (1 Mar., 1866), PD, 3rd ser., Vol. 181, cols. 1361–2, had asked that his assistants be allowed to confer with the Admiralty’s staff, and that points of dispute be submitted to a professional accountant.

[2 ]Clarence Edward Paget (1811–95), M.P. for Sandwich, Secretary to the Admiralty, indicated (ibid., col. 1366) willingness to explore the issues with Seely. In the event, the Government did not act on Seely’s request.