The Committee expressed their confident opinion of the adequacy of the machinery to work under all the friction and strain to which it can be exposed; of its durability, strength, solidity, and equilibrium; of the prevention of, or compensation for, wear by friction; of the accuracy of the various adjustments; and of the judgment and discretion displayed by the inventor, in his determination to admit into the mechanism nothing but the very best and most finished workmanship; as a contrary course would have been false economy, and might have led to the loss of the whole capital expended on it.
Finally, considering all that had come before them, and relying on the talent and skill displayed by Mr Babbage as a mechanist in the progress of this arduous undertaking, not less for what remained, than on the matured and digested plan and admirable execution of what is completed, the Committee did not hesitate to express their opinion, that in the then state of the engine, they regarded it as likely to fulfil the expectations entertained of it by its inventor.
This report was printed in the commencement of the year 1829. From that time until the beginning of the year 1833, the progress of the work has been slow and interrupted. Meanwhile many unfounded rumours have obtained circulation as to the course adopted by Government in this undertaking; and as to the position in which Mr Babbage stands with respect to it. We shall here state, upon authority on which the most perfect reliance may be placed, what have been the actual circumstances of the arrangement which has been made, and of the steps which have been already taken.
Being advised that the objects of the projected machinery were of paramount national importance to a maritime country, and that, from its nature, it could never be undertaken with advantage by any individual as a pecuniary speculation, Government determined to engage Mr Babbage to construct the calculating engine for the nation. It was then thought that the work could be completed in two or three years; and it was accordingly undertaken on this understanding about the year 1821, and since then has been in progress. The execution of the workmanship was confided to an engineer by whom all the subordinate workmen were employed, and who supplied for the work the requisite tools and other machinery; the latter being his own property, and not that of Government. This engineer furnished, at intervals, his accounts, which were duly audited by proper persons appointed for that purpose. It was thought advisable—with a view, perhaps, to invest Mr Babbage with a more strict authority over the subordinate agents—that the payments of these accounts of the engineer should pass through his hands. The amount was accordingly from time to time issued to him by the Treasury, and paid over to the engineer. This circumstance has given rise to reports, that he has received considerable sums of money as a remuneration for his skill and labour in inventing and constructing this machinery. Such reports are altogether destitute of truth. He has received, neither directly nor indirectly, any remuneration whatever;—on the contrary, owing to various official delays in the issues of money from the Treasury for the payment of the engineer, he has frequently been obliged to advance these payments himself, that the work might proceed without interruption. Had he not been enabled to do this from his private resources, it would have been impossible that the machinery could have arrived at its present advanced state.
It will be a matter of regret to every friend of science to learn, that, notwithstanding such assistance, the progress of the work has been suspended, and the workmen dismissed for more than a year and a half; nor does there at the present moment appear to be any immediate prospect of its being resumed. What the causes may be of a suspension so extraordinary, of a project of such great national and universal interest,—in which the country has already invested a sum of such serious amount as L.15,000,—is a question which will at once suggest itself to every mind; and is one to which, notwithstanding frequent enquiries, in quarters from which correct information might be expected, we have not been able to obtain any satisfactory answer. It is not true, we are assured, that the Government object to make the necessary payments, or even advances, to carry on the work. It is not true, we also are assured, that any practical difficulty has arisen in the construction of the mechanism;—on the contrary, the drawings of all the parts of it are completed, and may be inspected by any person appointed on the part of Government to examine them.[23] Mr Babbage is known as a man of unwearied activity, and aspiring ambition. Why, then, it may be asked, is it that he, seeing his present reputation and future fame depending in so great a degree upon the successful issue of this undertaking, has nevertheless allowed it to stand still for so long a period, without distinctly pointing out to Government the course which they should adopt to remove the causes of delay? Had he done this (which we consider to be equally due to the nation and to himself), he would have thrown upon Government and its agents the whole responsibility for the delay and consequent loss; but we believe he has not done so. On the contrary, it is said that he has of late almost withdrawn from all interference on the subject, either with the Government or the engineer. Does not Mr Babbage perceive the inference which the world will draw from this course of conduct? Does he not see that they will impute it to a distrust of his own power, or even to a consciousness of his own inability to complete what he has begun? We feel assured that such is not the case; and we are anxious, equally for the sake of science, and for Mr Babbage's own reputation, that the mystery—for such it must be regarded—should be cleared up; and that all obstructions to the progress of the undertaking should immediately be removed. Does this supineness and apparent indifference, so incompatible with the known character of Mr Babbage, arise from any feeling of dissatisfaction at the existing arrangements between himself and the Government? If such be the actual cause of the delay, (and we believe that, in some degree, it is so,) we cannot refrain from expressing our surprise that he does not adopt the candid and straightforward course of declaring the grounds of his discontent, and explaining the arrangement which he desires to be adopted. We do not hesitate to say, that every reasonable accommodation and assistance ought to be afforded him. But if he will pertinaciously abstain from this, to our minds, obvious and proper course, then it is surely the duty of Government to appoint proper persons to enquire into and report on the present state of the machinery; to ascertain the causes of its suspension; and to recommend such measures as may appear to be most effectual to ensure its speedy completion. If they do not by such means succeed in putting the project in a state of advancement, they will at least shift from themselves all responsibility for its suspension.
[23]Government has erected a fire-proof building, in which it is intended that the calculating machinery shall be placed when completed. In this building are now deposited the large collection of drawings, containing the designs, not only of the part of the machinery which has been already constructed, but what is of much greater importance, of those parts which have not yet been even modelled. It is gratifying to know that Government has shown a proper solicitude for the preservation of those precious but perishable documents, the loss or destruction of which would, in the event of the death of the inventor, render the completion of the machinery impracticable.