Star. — London, England, 1816-05-07 00:00:00

11, P' 1 id tit td . - • • n or depend oo the economy of a Sovereign, but „„ the band of Pitovroesc.a, whether there was a nu. Royal Family in a Country—(Litnykistg ' 31351 , 0 d t u r s woula be as unfair to find fault with the de I ilorable calamity with which the real Sovereign of t h e country was now afflicted, as with the causes that had for some years past increased the expenses of t h e Household. The Right Hon. Gentleman l os incorrect in the statement he made respecting the expen ses okhe reigning Monarch ; they did not a mount to £500,000, but to. £409,000 a-year. The rat increase which took place in the expenditure of the Civil List during the last four. years was occa. s i cc ed by the increase of Foreign Ministers, in con sequence of which the expenses were raised to the am ount of £169,000 beyond what they had been for Even years previous to ISII, daring which time Great Bri:ain had scarcely any -intercourse with the Continent of Europe. There were now ten or eleven tt u s iiotis, not one of which existed during the seven yeses in question. To the Household, however, t hee was an increase only of £16,000 sleer dur. l og the four last years. The whole excess then on t h e Civil List, so far as the individuals of the Royal rah were personally concerned, was no more than itron,ooo in four yeas, during which it was aug. seated by a variety of citcuinstances necessarily ap pertaining to the situation and family of the Sove reign. Indeed, it was impossible to make a bargain tee the Crown which did not make the Crown - too e 'en or too poor. Here there was a debt upon the Civil List of A'9oo,ooo.incurred during the he:t four pars, and not one-fourth of that was applicable to t h e Royal Household and when it was considered that an establie.rnent lad been formed ter tee Prin- - ceis Charlotte, that increased establishments had b ee n provided for other m•mbers of the Royal Fa mily, and that the person exercising the duties of So , wort required 'an increased establishment, that excess would not be considered as too great. The Right Honourable Gentleman had animadverted on the espeeses attending the Prince Regent's House. bold, and particularly the application of eflo.ooo from the Droits of Admiralty for purchasing turni- we fix his house at Brighton. In answer to this, he aunt contend, that the expenditure at Brighton was not greater than was consistent with the splen dour that properly belonged to royalty. and although the Palace at Brighton was private property, the ex penditure attending it came *under the Lord Cham berlain's department, and ot course came under the bend of the Civil List. The Lair way of considering this question was, to see at what expense % the Lord Clieseberlain could conduct the establishment for ',erste come. The Right 'Hon. Gentleman repro. filed the expenses at Brighton as a wanton waste of • Wel; but Gcntlernen should recollect that the, Dice Regent must live in some country residence, aid that with the exception of his cottage near %Vaud 'aeir, it was the only country residence to which he tdOid go tor recreation, and there was not a Sove. Wien in Europe wao had so few country residences,' . sr places of recreation as his Royal Highness; there fore, he would put it to the House, whether it was IN necessary that the residence at Brighton should k made tit tor the reception of the Sovereign, 'and ire company he had there to visit him ? To apply the Droits ot admiralty to that purpose was nothing store thin it Parliament had voted an equal hum to defray that expense. He maintained then, teat the only excess in the Household expense was £lBO,OOO in four years, and a great part of that went to sup 'von the establishment of the Princess Charlotte; the remaining excess was occasioned by the necessat equipments belonging to royalty He should now give the Right Hon. Gentleman some information relative to that foreign expenditure with which he had himself been connected ; when it would appear, that the expense was fully warranted by the circum stances in which Europe was placed at the time. At the time when he went to Vienna, Lords Stewart and Cathcart were also there, but they did not go to 'desist him, as the Right Hon. Gentleman asserted, lotto fill separate departments of their own ' • and *sir establishments were necessarily attended with 'fiery great expense; and, as to his own exp?nses, he trusted, on examination of the whole, it would be' .Iwind they were indispensable. The whole which i.triu in a.sy way connected with his missions amounted to #21,000; there were three missions attended with great exp.,..:::, and each requiring a large establi;t- Went; h 1 twelve persons ettached to his mis -sisd, all e. whom were fully employed ; their Main tenance and travelling charges fell into the expenies of his department . and the expense of each mis. *let° which no splendour had been attached, amoun ied to eight thousand pounds. He would put it to be House to say whether these sums were too much fwsuch services, for so many persons for travelling, bring at Vienna, &c. There was no information ekich any Gentleman had ever asked -for, or any vtiicb the Right Honourable Gentleman could wish bit was ever r e fu te d ; but he did not see any neces-,1 for entering into a detail of all the minute con tent connected with. the Royal Family. The chief nue of• the increased expenditure of the Civil List, as, the increase of diplomatic missions abroad ; and k . miaceived th e in q ui r y of last year had done every 1 1 111 g that was necessary towards satisfying the pub st subj ect , an d f or t h e purpo se of givi •in non to the House. He trusted the House 'tiled not indecently break into the Royal House bid in a way which had never been practised befOre. Lf is had not been for the necessary equipmdnt of the Royal Establishment, the only arrear on the Civil List would now have been that which related to the th fc' e reiln Ministers. He could not therefore accede to Right Hon. Gentleman's motion. Mr. CALCRAFT contended that no question could be more interesting to the House or the coup. II than the present. How, he asked, did it happen that in all other estimates there was no variation ex lePt in those relating to the Household, which were Plastantly exceeded by the actual expenditure ? and. 11 .j a new co urse o f i nvest i gat i on was not entere d i nto , re would b e no en d to excesses.a nd e xtr a vagances. _No man ever s a id t h at the wh o le of the Civil List was applicable to the personal expenses of the Crown; !ly belonged to the whole of the Government, ind what objection could them be to have an inveeu• M i. 14 nude into t h e ot h er ex p ense s I He tontende,e ' ili t'rrr, that in order to enter properly into this Zaladtiun, it was necessary to b eg i n at the follotan. I lit also contended, teat it the Monarch c ...1 to law . receive h is hereditary revenues, he would m. UN well of as h e h a d a k iee b ees by the Civil List. e • . . He had never heard of OA an ordinary ekes*. stance ai that of advancin c it= nut Of the Drolis of the A smiralty for a fuenioire of a house- He .v ts mtrori.e,4 4t the conviageeei made by the Noble lewd between the expenses of our Sovereign and the King of Freme ; just As if this ceuntry should abet its former systems of economy, because an enslaved nation chose to give a, million a year to its Monarch. For these reasons he should support the motion of his Right Hoe. Friend. • Mr. LONG defereied his Noble Friend from the imputatton of having termed the teiestion uninterest ing to the public. He had merely expressed his apprehension that the details would eepear so to the. House. In reply to the Honourable Gentleman who had just s u down, and who had asked why the esti mates of the Civil List ve.re more erroneoos than those of the Army and Navy, he observed that the latter were framed eve' y year, and that of the feirther there had been but two since the accession. The Right Hon. Geneemen had tei coed the Report of the Committee appointed by Government to invest?. Late the subject, an insult to the House. That Committee was formed of himself and two Honour. able Friends of his, in consequence of directions from the Treasury. To rebut the charge, that they had ueen influenced by any disposition to court fan >lir in any quarter, he state I the suggestions which they had made, viz. diminishing the estimates of last year, by 139 thousaod pounds, recommending the reduce tion of a variety minor officers in the departments of the L net Chamberlain, the .Lord Steward, and the Master of the H ere ; and finally proposing the appointment of an Auditor to examine the accounts. He always considered that there were two great, defects in the arrangement of the Civil List. ?bet first was, that a certain income had been .appropriate ed to defray the charges of a variable and uncertain expenditure. In the reign of George 11. the suns of eight hundred thousand pounds had been fixed as .he Civil List Revenue. If the expenditure was less than that sum, his Maj 'sty enjoyed the surplus, but it it exceeded it, Pauli .meat were to make gned the defi ciency. The case was different with his pre-e it Ma jesty, who nod a certain sum to defray an expenditure, which was variable, and whish every man knee had risen in consequence of the increased charges, and of the advanced prices of every article of consumption. 'rite Civil List was then charged with expenses, which were extreme!y uncertain ; among tellers, that of the printing of the House of Cemmons, which had w e re taken off in 1804, and which tnen amounted tote/20,10X but which since had risen to a charge of 130 or 4190,000 per annum. As he had mentioned this subject, he thought it was a fair one for the inquiry of the House. In Ibet it was also to be considered that the charges of Foe sign Ministers amounted onli to about 4110000. but at preseut they were nearly £l3o,ooo.—(HeerS kear.) —The consequence then was, that either a fixed and atlecjeate sum should be applied to these charges, or that application should be made to Parliament for the surplus. The second objection to the presentH arrangement WAS, LliAt no direct power of controul over it was given to the House, by not 'laving it tine der .he immediate direcoen of the responsible Minis ters (.1 the Clown. This object was said to have bees obtained by Mr. Burke's Bill, but though be (Mr: Long) had every respect for Mr. Burke, he did not think 'hat all his plans were practicable, nor could, they be unless the income was equal to the expendia lure. The pe.n which had been suggested by his, Noble Friend (Castlereagh), was, in his (Mr. Long's) opinion, the best which could . be adopted, because it gave Parliament a proper view of hel subject and a fair controul over the expenditure.l It was for this reason that he objected to the plan of his Right Honourable Friend (Mr. Tier , y) because te conceived it would take away the responsibility of Ministers. He (Mr. Long) should also object to having a Committee with a power of examining persons, papers, and records. which he considered would be an innovation of the' practice of the House. The usual practice of the k }louse, in getting information on the subject of the Civil List, was by address to . the Crown, on which oceasien every information required was givens but bet wouht.ask whether the House would delegate the' power which it thus exercised to a Special Commit. tee ? He had no doubt but the Right Honourable) Gentleman who made this motion had every respect -for the person and dignity of the Sovereign; but b e contended that if the precedent which an acquiescence, in this motion would establish might hereafter be , ' used by persons who might wish to examine the me. till servants of .the Sovereign, without any view to public benefit. He concluded by repeating his ap e probation of the plan of his Noble Friend, as the oily one which would given properventroul ever this de partment to the Lords of the Treainry. Mr. C. W.,WYNNE objected to the calling on Parliament fdr deficiencies m the Civil List, when the . Droits of the Crown were sufficient to cover the greater part of them. He also condemned the man ner of applying those Droits, which, instead of being ' expended on the Royal Palaces, which were the pro- perty of the public, were laid out on private resi ' I dences which might in a short time be given away to any favourite. He contended for the necessity of I a . Comvnittee, as it was important to know the rea sons on which that extraordinary minute of the "I'rea wry, which his Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Tierney) had mentioned, were founded. It was important to. know why £50,000 had been expended fur furniture at Brighton, when according tei the declaration of the Noble Lor d (Castlereagh) last year, a great quan tity of furniture had been kept up in store fur future, exigencies, and that no new expense would Wane levered on this head. This additional expense then, which had been since incurred, was iu violation of she' pledge which had then been given s _and the liaise was now called upon to sanction it. The Houobrable Member then contended, that the House was quite competent to examine into every part of the Civil List, as well as any other branch of the public , expen diture, and.obaerved, that though it was necessary to support the dignity and splendour of the Crown, it was also necessary that in doing so, they should up hold those rights and privileges which had been be queathed to them by their ancestors. It-was no valid. isgument against the present motion s that 0o owl resulted truaefor met Committees. The MAW, .could consider the present state of the country, bur- , oened as it WAS with taxes,- and should carefully irate anise every item of the public expense; unless }bey' tied this, they wuuld not tliiily diecharr Abair duties to their snattitutakth The CHANCELLOR. of the EXCHE9UER. thought the Honourable Gentleman sib° hid just sat down, and the, Right Honourable Gentleman near him, haig been mach misled in the view which they had taken of the subject of the Oroitsof Admiralty. There. was not, as had been supposed,.a balance to exist of £277,184 that might be applied to the dis charge of the incumbrances of the Civil List. if that Wm remained in hand, there were (as he skewed (tons a paper which he read), detnands . of nista; on it to nearly an equal amount. It was true he be lieved, after these claims were settled, some balance might eventually remain, but this he did not think would eiceedaoo,ooo. The total amoent of pay mentamade out of the Admiralty Droits, within the last two years, was 4950.000; out of this sum there had been paid, as Naval Re►vards to Captains, nearly 4450,000; to discharge claims on the Civil List, 4890,000. So out of the 950,000 here was a sum of 4840,000 had been directly 'applied to the public service. Besides this a small sum had been carried to the Consolidated Fund; twenty thousand pounds had been paid fcic repairs at Brighton, and about the Same sum had been paid for furniture for the Princess Charlotte, at the several places where she had resided. The statement he had now offered might serve to Thew, that there was little cause for jealousy on the subject . of the application of the funds in question. The balance in hand was not what it had been sup posed to be, nor was it such as to demand the consi. detation et Parliament as to the mode in which it might best be applied. He concluded by reminding the House, that besides those payments to which he had Or adverted. the sum of A 1,501.000 had been adianced from this fund, an applied, by the direc tion of his Majesty, to the service of the public. * 1 Mr. I'IERNEY offered a few words in reply, after which, the H►►uae divided.—Ayes 122—Noes VS— Majority against the Motion 91. When the Gallery was again opened, Lord Twe nties - er ►s on his legs, opposing the bringing up of the Report ►►o the Ba►►k Restriction Bill. He conclu ded by moving, that the House should adjourn. On dividing there appeared—For the Adjourn ment 65 -Against it 189—Majority 118. Mr. BENNE 1"1 1 afterwards moved the other Or d -rs of the Day, with an intention of dividing the . House, when the CHANCELLOR Of the EXCHEQUER consented to postpone the Report of the Beek Re striction Bill to Wednesday. Lord CASTLEREAGH brought in A Bill for better regulating the Civil List, which was read a first, and ordered to be read a second time on Mon day.—The other Wets of the Day were disposed of, and at half past Twelve „'Cln►ck the House adjourned. GERMAN PAPERS. • VIENNA, APRIL 21. Prince Metternich was to have a conference with the Emperor at Treviso, after the ratification of the Convention with Bavaria; and then, as they say, pro ceed to Florence and Naples. s . PE FERSIBURGII, APRIL 12. By the new Tarif which, though not yet formally published, is known in its leading pints the different views on the abject are reconciled. Both the Com mittee appointed to draw it up and the Council of the Empire having terminated their labours on the subject After mature deliberation, and the results as well As the detail having been laid before his Mojesty for his approbation. his M..jesty, with wise care for the progress of our own manufactures, has been pleased on the one hand to retain the prohibitive sy-. tem, Intl on the other, in order to maintain the corn ' aerce with foreign countries conformably to the pre lent wants of the nation, to allow several exceptions Irom it. Thus, for example, the importation of nearly 200 a r mostly manufactures, is prohibited, but oche% Well as cloth. plain silk, and white claim goods, porter, French brandy, fayence (earthenware) of one colour, sc. may be imported at a high duty; cloth pays roubles in slyer per ar•liine, 41cc. It is true, many of the friends of unlimited importation, par ',ocularly in the Russian paper " The Spirit of - the Journals," have announced that it was allowed by the new Tarif ; but at has turned out now that this was premature. VERSAILLES, APRIL. Se. The trial of Su Robert Wilson and his friends has in general had no good influence Oil the public opi. nion respecting the present state of things. In the course of the trial it was necessary to touch upon several tender points, weaknesses, and errors of the present Government, which it would . have been bet ter to pass over in profound silence. The turn given to the hilliness is also considered as a false measure; but it is affirmed the Keeper of the Seals or Minister of Justice would never have done so, had he not been compelled by the predominant party in the Chamber of the Deputies. BRUSSELS, MAY 1. His Highness Field-Marshal the Frinciof Water. 100 arrived at Valenciennes on Monday evening. He passed the following day in examining that great fortress. To-day the Field-Marshal will reach his headquarters at Cambray. A general change of the cantonments of the army is expected, but it is uncertain whether it will extend to the whole line, or only to the right wing. Oa his arrival at Valenciennes, the Duke met a Courier with important dispatches from Paris. The Courier returned soon after. The same letters say that great uneasiness prevails in the department of the North, on account of the numerous fires which are believed to be the effect of design. Strict mea sures are adopted to discover the perpetrators, and several who are suspected of being concerned are arrested. Two permute implicated in the affair of the Nain nricolore, have escaped from France, and have passed through this city, but without stopping. • HANOVER, APRIL se. ' Ibe village of Rehstorifin Laneberg, which this Easter two years was under water, was burnt down this Easter Sunday, with the chur ch And parsonage, only four houses being saved. . TAUGERMONDE, APRIL 23. Yesterd4i. atter ten o'clock, a fire broke out in a stable, and the east wind being high, spread so ra pidly, that in two hours five large brewhouses near it were consumed, with a great qiiaptity of malt ; And twenty fine huge houses, and nearly tarty smaller were set on bre auni burin so the . ground by the flakes of ere. A great many of the inhabitants have lost .by this cksacliul fire. a ~ , IT''' . 7"117' . .. . '' . 7vTPtit EV.K,NING STAR.- 1,0 N DON: • NEXT ItTEMAY THE LOTTERY RE(7.174g, WHEN EVERY TICKET DRAWN WILL 131 7 . A PRIZE; AND THE FIRST PRIZE MAY La .C3;,om)! !I • TUESDAY, MAY 7, N l 6. PRICK OP STOCKi THIS DAY AT WEI.VE O'CLOCiCs Reduced gni: —Cons. mo. 6i; —for ace. 621 y 4 per Celt. 7 off --5 per Cost. oil—Bonds 2%. 30. pr. Omn. I4li —hitch. Ellis is. dis. us. pr. Mr. TIMINICeII Motion for a Committee to inquire into the state of the Civil List, with power to sera for persons, papers, and records, came ender (Iscus. sion last night. The Motion was rejs;eil, as might have been anticipated, and was 'mar nmajo•i , yof 91. 'rhere*was a strong contest on the questi4i, fn. the second reading of the Rams Tate Harbour The principal ground of opposition rested on the circum• stance of the harbour dues being much increased by the increased trade, occasioned by .4 return to state of peace ; and the probable' future increase which ren. dered the necessity of an advance of dors by •vs means evident. The increase of 3ast half year WAS At the rate of £3OOO pet• annum on for,ign vessels alone, 41.0 the probability is that the proceeds of the second h 4lf year will be at even a higher average. The real gitestioe was negatived by a majority of three. Mails from HAmburgh and from Holland arrived this morning. The German Papers state, that the Russian Tarif, so anxiously expected by the Mercan tile world, has at length been settl •ct to the suisfac• tiOn of all parties At St. Petersburgh. We have received New York Papers to the 10th of March. The National InteWinger of the sth an. nounces that . 44 The B tnk Bill has finally passed the Senate, having previously passed the House of Rti presentatives, that there remains only the consent of the House to the aa•endments of the Senate an'. the approbation of.the PRESIDENT, to make the Bill a law. The amendments adopted by the Senate are not . such, it is believed, as affect the principle of the Bill. The principal of thetas have already been stated in the Journal of Proceedings of the Senate. There is one of same moment of this district, which has not been . noticed, the obj•ct of which is to allow the Govern ment to charter any ether Bank or BAnks wit'.in this district, with capital; nct exceeding in the while six of chliars. Tate icnprelon is, we .tiaderstaad, th:tt t!)e amendments will be c incurred in by the House of Iteprentatives. " It is stated, on the au•hority of a Gertle.man direct from Canada; th-tt the Colleelor o! C'ut , lins at St. Jo!rn'z has given official nctce that after the first day of April inst. the Ctatute of 28th Geo. 111. will be in full force, probibi;ing ta an entry from the United States, of 211 rick, v:.tres, merchandi.:e, or proinee , •:hatsoever, excepting grain, potatoes, and lumber." • There is, we understand, some kind of caiilate going on at the Mint, both of Gold an f Silver. 'Elie Gold pieces are of 23 shillings, and among the silver some kind of Shilling ; but we apprelwn,f teat it is not a Royal but a Bank Token issue that i. praNring i , and this we think highly exceptionable. The .presert state of our silver circulating medium is most shock. ing, and G ivernment should instantly prepare an issue of such magnituale as would allow of the Bir mingham coinage, and French livres, and half lilacs, to be driven at once out of circulation.— As to the fears erpti.:cs: i,y sumo, that coiners low money will melt Bank tokens, while that money is allowed to circulate, it is founded in a palpaiale error : these money=makers will never melt tokens while they can buy bullion at a lower price. One of the cam. plaints agaoist the Bank is, that they also are issuers of low-money—silver tokens of a weight. greatly eae. lose the quantity of bullion which they nominally re. resent.. In one worl, a three shilling token should represent three shillings worth of bullion, and while it is of a less weight than three shillings worth of ver it will not be melted by the shilling and sixpence makers. _ _ Thursday last Ameas M.Dosstx, Esq. Proprietor of the Dublin Chronic*, was convicted of a libel in the Court of Ding's Bench, Dublin, but the Jury strongly recommended him to the lenity of the Court. The libel complained of was inserted in the form of a let. ter from Tipperary, in January last, while that county was in a convulsed state, and contained s one aol. madversions, by way of aaticipaGon, on what was likely to be the line of procedure on the,pirt of the Government in putting an end to the disiurbances. The French papers still maintain an entire silence on the prorogation of the Legislative Session; but we learn that a great variety ot rumours are afloat a; Paris, assigning various causes for that event. One among these reports is not a little singidar. It is that in a secret sitting of the Chamber ot Disiiti.o„ a Member stated some proofs which had come to his knowledge of a plot to change the reigning dynasty. Among the persons inculpated by him were several connected, more or less intimately , with the exis t ing Ministry. The statement is said to have made a great impression on the Chamber, .vho, it was thought * would have pursued the matter further; but their in. tentions 'having transpired, the Government, either not giving credit to the asserted plot, or wishing to avoid any public scandal, thought it best to resort to the measure of a prorogation. Whether this story ''be accurate or not, certain it is that the prorogatioa was very suddenly determined on ; and that nobody knew of it in Paris an hour before it happened. A brew Edition, in French, - Of the inseresting Mosoires de la Marquise de la Rochejaquelein, was this day published by Mr. CILBURN, ot Condnit-street. A NURTHER ADVANCZ IN BREAD...—The Qllattertli Loaf, in consequence of the rise of Wheat at market yesterday, is to be Thirteen-pence this week ; to take place on Thursday. ' C " It