Star. — London, England, 1811-05-21 00:00:00

These Duties are, of mine, subject to such dimindt tion as may be occasioned by the discouragentent sdiich they are intended to produce. The annual c harge created by the twelve millions funded, was £750,416. 2s. 2J. The amount of the additional duty on spirits was £751,000. The annual charge an account of seven millions and a half in the 3 and 4 per cents. was £470,000. This sum he proposed to charge upon the War Taxes ; but it was to be re collected, that by the taxes on foreign timber, cotton wool, Bzc. he had added above /800,000 to those taxes, which justified him in taking £400,000 from them. He had now to submit a very important point to the consideration of the Committee. His Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Foster) would, when his statement was finished, present an Irish Budget, in which new taxes would be pointed out for the renew; of the two millions and a half which were borrowed in Ireland ; but for the four millions and a half borrowed in this country for the service of Ireland, his Right Honourable Friend was not now prepared to pro pose taxes in the present embarrassed state of the Irish Revenue. He should, therefore, now propose, that the interest of this four millions and a half should, in the first instance, for the security of the creditors, be charged on the Consolidated Fund of England. He trusted that no English Members would feel the smallest repugnance to giving this accommo dation for one year, at least, to Ireland, considering her present embarrassments, and the comparative abundance of the finances in this part of the United Kingdom. This would afford a great temporary ac commodation to Ireland ; and in the hope that Par liameat would agree to it, he had forborne to take credit for the .whole surplus of the consolidated fund, leaving a sufficient part of it to pay the charges on account of this four millions and an half. He hoped, that this arrangement would be received on the part of Ireland in the way that it was meant, as originating from a sincere desire to render every accommodation to that country, which the superiority of the financial situation of England allowed her to give. Those new taxes which were voted this Session, and which he proposed to be added to the War taxes, had been voted by the House, not with a view of revenue, but for the advantage of British shipping, to favour the growth and produce of our own manufactures and colonial produce. In order to show the general increase of our revenue and affluence, be should state some in creases which had taken place in our Customs and Excise, and in the consumption of tea, wine, tobacco, and other articles of general consumption. For the year 1807, the Customs were /9.612,000; for the', year 1808 and 1809, they tell something below that amount; but for 1810, the Customs amounted to £10,575,000 ; and for the year ending 1811, they amounted to £10,523,000, which exceeded by a million the average of the years 1807, 1808, , and 1809. The duties on Excise also for the last .year' exceeded by a million the average amount of those three years. The consumption of tea had also in creased last year above the average of those years, which was /2,844,000, whereas that of the last year was /3,236,000, notwithstanding that the reduction of the duty on coffee would naturally be supposed to produce a diminished consumption of tea. He knew no possible mode of accounting for this increased consumption, but in the increasing population and opulence of the country. As to wine, for the years 1785, res. and 1787; the overage yearly consump tion was 14,800 tuns, although the duty was then only £3O ; whereas now that the duty is /95 a tun, the average annual consumption for the last three-, years bas been 23,726 tuns. He then shewed that there had been a nearly similar increase in the con sumption of tallow, although the consumption of oil was also increased. As to the consumption of to bacco, it had nearly doubled in the same time. For the three years ending 1787, the average consump-' 1 lion of it was 6,700,000 lb. but for the three last years it was 12,491,000 lb. When 'he thus saw not only our revenues, but the consumption of all the necessary articles of life, so regularly increasing, he could not have the least doubt but that the country was regularly and progressively advancing to a greater height of prosperity and affluence. Indeed, it was impossible for-any one to move in this country without being convinced that its wealth was increasing. He thought it unnecessary to detain the Committee with any further observations, and concluded by moving his first' resolution, which was unanimously agreed to. Sir T. TURTON objected to the Property Tax as aneroid and unjust ; but congratulated the Right Honourable Gentleman on the terms on which he' , had procured the loan. Mr. BARING said, that when the bill came for-, ward respecting the tax en cotton, he should oppose k as one most injurious to our manufacture. He thought the manufactures of America had been much improved by the unhappy differences with this coun try, and that our laying a duty on the importation of a raw material, so necessary to our manufactures, would be a farther encouragement to the manufactu rers of America. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER apprized the Hon. Gentleman, that as to the tax upon cotton, no new bill was to be brought into the House; but a bill for that purpose was already before them, and in an advanced state. As to the supply of cot ton, he did not fear but that our own colonies and the East Indies would yield a very sufficient supply, in case we should get none from America. If some diminution of revenue took place oh the imports, in consequence of those measures which were calculated for the protection of British produce and British ship ping, it must on the other hand be considered, that whatever favoured and served our manufacturing and shipping interests, would produce some revenue in another way. Mr. ROSE said, that he believed there never could be any deficiency in the supply of cotton wool, as the East Indies could yield a supply to any extent. Mr. BARING did not think our manufactores could do well without the fine cottons of America, nor did he think the East India cotton would be an equivalent for it. As to our West India colonies, they produced but little of that article. Mr. WYNNE said, that he was very glad to find, that among his ways end means of the year, the Chancellor of the Exchequer bad not recourse to a Lottery. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER told the ►ion. Gentleman, that he was mistakes, That was among the ways and means, The Re solutioas were then put &ad carried. HUSH SUDItT. Mr. FOSTER. said, theinterestof the Irish debt was £4,259,000. The proportion of the joint expences of the empire, and herown civil establishment is £6,569,000, which in Irish money amounts to £7,116,000, which with the separate expences for Ireland, required a supply of £163,27,000. The ways and means to meet that supply are the surplus of the Consolidated Fund, ' 8740,000, the ordinary revenue of Ireland £4,500,000, one million of Treasury Bills, which he should propose ' to vote, two millions and an half which had been rai. sed by loan in Ireland, and four millions and an half which had been raised here for the service of Ireland, making altogether a sum a little exceeding the supply. Now, as to the loan which had been made in Ireland, the terms of it were very advantageous. The Eng lish loan was raised at an interest of £4. 14s. I Id. 1 while in Ireland (where the interest of money is higher), but et. 15s. 9d. was paid on every hundred. In the Irish loan, for every hundred pound only £l2O stock is created; whereas in this country for-every hundred there is £l4O created. The Sinking Fund, I is, therefore, not so large in the Irish loan; and there.' fore taking in Interest and Sinking Fund for every Bnoo received, Ireland pays £5. 19s. 9d. whereas' . 1 England pays £6 3s. 6d. for every 8100. He con fessed that it was not his intention now to propose 1 new taxes for the interest of the four millions and a half raised in this country for the service of Ireland. 1 In the present financial embarrassments of Ireland, he thought this would be impolitic, if not impracti i I cable. He thought the proposal of his Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Perceval) was a measure of no less wis dom than liberality. Ireland was a country that had great and increasing resources. If those resources were not nipped in the bud, but suffered to rise to their natural level, there was no doubt of its abi- If lity to repay what was now advanced for its ac commodation. The first principle which he liked to go upon, in proposing taxes for Ireland, was an equalization of duty with what is paid in this country on certain articles of consumption. The arti cle which he now fixed upon was tobacco, which paid a duty very inferior to what it did in England. By the equalization of this duty he calculated on an increased revenue of £221,000. The next article was hemp. The Irish Government had taken every pains to en courage the growth of hemp in Ireland, and a small tax on foreign hemp might assist their endeavours. 'The produce of this tax he calculated at only £BOOO. The gross amount of those two taxes was £229,000, which exceeded by above £BO,OOO the interest of the loan of two millions and a half. The Right Hon. Gentleman then proceeded to observe, that he had two other taxes to propose, though he did not rely upon them as resources of great importance. The first was, to raise the present duty on timber from the United States of America, and to put it on the same footing with the timber imported from other foreign countries, at the same time rendering the timber imported from our own colcinies duty-tree.— As staves, however, were an article of much demand for packing the native produce of Ireland, he did not ' mean to propose any additional duty on them. An other tax which he had to propose was, an additional duty on cotton wool imported in foreign shipping, which would raise it to the same standard as eiisted in England, leaving the duty on cotton imported in British shipping to continue the same. As matters stood at present, the English duty on cotton was liable to be evaded, by being first brought to Ireland in American ships, and from thence exported to Eng land in British bottoms. The equalization he proposed would remedy this. He meant also to follow theexam ple of hisßightHon.Friend by repealing he duty on hats in Ireland; a tax which produced only a small revenue, and being removed here, it was desirable that it should I be repealed in Ireland also. Having made this state ment of the Ways and Means of the year, he should be sorry to sit down without adverting to the state of the commerce and agriculture of Ireland, and endea vouring to do away the idea that we had reason to be seriously alarmed for the prosperity of that coun try. Before 1507, the exports of native produce never exceeded seven millions annually ; in Iso9, these ex ports had risen to ten millions; in the last year, they amounted to £10,781,000; and he could state, that the tailing off in the commerce of Ireland during the last year was chiefly with respect to the imports, which had fallen from what they were in 1810, when the to tal of imports was 10 millions. He had also to add, that the balance of trade was this year 52,189,000 in favour of Ireland, and for thelast tour or five years the exchanges with this country had remained remarkably steady. Pie might also advert with satisfaction to the rapid increase of tillage in Ireland. That country never exported so much corn as it did in the last two years, and the exportation was constantly on the in crease. The linen trade, the great staple of Ireland, had. indeed fallen off a few thousand pounds in the last year, but it was hardly worth speaking of. The hoed and provision trade had also fallen off a little ; but then it was to be considered that all the provisions which were supplied for his Majesty's service. were not entered in the Custom-house books. He had also to add, that an unusual quantity of live cattle had been exported to England, and that in the number of hogs exported the increase had been prodigious within a few years, not less than from five thousand to thirty thousand head. This trade was not indeed so profitable as that in provisions, but it still shewed that the produc tive powers of the country were rapidly on the increase. —After the favourable reception which his Right Hon. Friend's proposition met with, for relieving Ireland from the pressure of providing for the loan of four and an half millions during the present year, he would say, that the liberality of the United Parliament on this and many similar occasions, did call down the gratitude of every Irishman. (Hear, hear!) Whether we looked at what had been done in the Session for the public charities in Ireland, the public works, and the means for diffusing education, and thus correct ing the morals of the rising generation, he thought that there was equal room for this sentiment. If we adverted to trade, the benefits. of the warehousing system had been also extended to Ireland ; light-houses had been built along the coast; and in short, he did not' know a single object that could improve the industry, the trade, or the manufactures of that country that had not been cheerfully promoted by Parliaments He concluded with moving his first resolution, which, was to impose a duty on timber imported from America. After some observations from Sir JOHN NEW PORT, and other Irish Members, the resolntions were agreed to.--Adjourned at test o'clock► ~'~'_ EVENING STAR. LONDON. , TUESDAY, MAY 21. PRICE OP STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O'CLOCK. Cana. money 64—fa account, 4 per Cent. SO-5 per Cent. Nvry 97 Elan. par to 4s. preen . — Bonds gas. 21s. prem. DEFEAT OF THE FRENCH UNDER MASSENA. We have at length the satisfaction to announce a most glorious, and, as there is every reason to believe, a total Defeat of the French Army under MASSENA. The following are the particulars, as they have reached us from various quarters : " LLOYD'S COFFEE HOUSE, Tuesday Morning, May 21. " RETRACT OF A LETTER FROM BRISTOL, DATED MAY 20. 64 Arrived the Sarah, HEATTEY, from Oporto, from whence she sailed the 12th instant. Capt. lizatrrar states, that the day before he sailed from Oporto, an express reached the Governor of that place with an account from Lord WELLINGTON, of his having de feated the French army under MASSENA, in an action fought near Almeida, on the 3d, 4th, and sth inst. in which the French lost 4000 in killed and 700 in prisoners, and the allies 1200 in killed. Lord WEL. LINGTON was pursuing them towards Salamanca." " LLOYD'S, Tuesday, 12 at Noss di EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM OPORTO, MAY 11. Pietween Almeida and the Agueda battles have been fought on the 3d, 4th, and sth instant, between Lord WELLINGTON'S Army and MASSENA, who was coming to relieve Almeida. On the first day the Al lied Army made from 800 to 1000 prisoners ; on the 4th and sth, there was severe fighting, the result of which was, that the French were compelled to retreat towards Salamanca, leaving, as it is said, more than 4 , 000 killed and wounded in the field ! 66 The official details of those glorious successes we suppose you will have by the time this gets to hand. Colonel TRANT is just arrived, having come down by water from Regua ; and the whole of his division will be back to this place by the 16th inst. People here, as you may imagine, are much pleased, and we may now consider ourselves as perfectly free for some time, if not for ever." CAPTAIN HEArrrs REPORT OF THE ACTION. 44 One day previous to my sailing from Oporto (which was on Saturday, the 11th instant), in the brig Sarah, an express had arrived from Lord WEL LINGTON to the Government of Oporto, giving an ac count of a general action having been fought be tween the allied armies and the French under MASSENA on the Se, 4th, and sth inst. near Almeida,that on the 3th the French were completely defeated with the loss four thodsand men killed in the field, seven hundred taken prisoners, besides numbers drowned in their retreat in crossing the rivers which they had to pass. , 4 Lord WELLINGTON, when he wrote his dispatches, said he was then in pursuit of the remains of the French army towards Salamanca. The loss on the side of the allied armies was 1200 killed. 41 Several British Officers fell in the action, parti cularly those of the 71st regiment, who suffered most. Almeida had not fallen when Lord WELLINGTON wrote his dispatches, but his Lordship was in daily expectation of its surrender, for want of provisions. (Signed) 46 JOHN HEATTY." " OPORTO, MAY 10. • The unexpected return of Colonel Trant with his division of Militia to our frontier, led us to suppose that the enemy meditated an attack on the Northern Provinces, but this does not now appear to be their intention, and we think the neighbourhood of Almei da will be the scene of an action in the course of a few • days. Great quantities of provisions daily art ive.— Flour sells at 191 dollars the barrel. Supplies to an immense amount arc sent from hence to the British army. Many here are of an opinion that the French armies will again attempt to enter Portugal, and if so, that it will be earlier than last year, and probably by the Northern Provinces. 6, MAY 11.—On the 4th instant the enemy sent some provisions, &c. towards Almeisla, the garrison of which made a sortie, but were driven in, and the escort went back to Ciudad Rodrigo ; we lost a few men. " MAY 13.—The affair of the 4th was followed I on the sth by a most glorious action, in which the enemy lost full 4000 men, and were driven from the field of battle, and were followed by our troops. The 71st British regiment bore a distinguished part in it. The Portuguese behaved nobly. General Pack's divison was engaged. 6C There is no doubt respecting this glorious news, as it was sent by Colonel Trant to our Government. The regiments said to have distinguished them selves are, the 42d, 3d, and 6th Cacadores ; 71st, 72d, 79th, 52d, and Chasseurs Britanniques." The convoy which arrived on Sunday at the Nore, from the Baltic, consisted of upwards of 50 sail, The letters received from that quarter are not of a very favourable complexion. The Danes have augmented ,their forces considerably this season—have more than a dozen large gun brigs in their service, and upwards of 100 very large gun-boats since last season. They have done great injury to the trade, and have taken several of our small armed vessels—but the trade has suffered most. The RALEIGH, which is there, has taken a Danish brig liden with timber, which is lon her way to Yarmouth. - - -71 SECOND EDITIO.g. In addition to the foregoing we have to state that Capt. HEATTEY heard the Deputy-Governorof Oporto read Lord WELLINGTON'S dispatch on the Exchange at that place, on Saturday se'nnight, being the 11th inst. It was also said at Oporto, that it was in a des perate attempt to relieve Almeida that the French were defeated. Captain HEATTEY is a gentleman well known at Bristol, and his veracity is unquestionable. His pas sage from Oporto was uncommonly quick for the first twO days. The Portuguese gave no quarter to the French. The number of British officers killed, is said to have greatly exceeded the wounded. The SARAH arrived at Bristol on Sunday night. Previous to her leaving Oporto several letters were put on board, and she was assisted over the bar with extra pilots, by express orders from the Governor. Captain FizArrzr thinks, from the state of the wind while he was at sea, no Government vessel could make her passage for a day or two lcnger. Late on Sunday night it was rumoured about Wind sor, that his MAJESTY was so much recover d, that his Physicians would allow him, after that day, to ap pear in public, and that he was to ride on horseback yesterday. This report brought most of the Nobility, 'persons of distinction, gentry, and the inhabitants in general, for several miles round into Windsor, yester day morning, to view their venerable and much-be loved Monarch. Early yesterday morning the public expectation was confirmed, by the King's Equerry in waiting giving orders for his Majesty's saddle horse to be got ready. This ordersoon spread through the town; and from this time the visitors, as well as the inhabitants of Windsor and Etbn, docked to the Castle-yard and Park in great crowds, and some of them waited seve ral hours, lest they should lose the gratifying oppor tunity. About a quarter past twelve o'clock, his Majesty's grooms, on horseback, made their appear. ance in the Castle-yard, with his Majesty's favourite white saddle horse Adonis. All was anxiety for the appearance of the Kiss. At length the Royal pass word of " Sharp !" signifying the approach of the KING, which had not been heard for so many months past,was given to the no small joy of those who heard it. —His MAJESTY immediately after came out of the Castle, accompanied by his beloved daughters, the Princesses AUGUSTA and SOPHIA, with whom he ap peared in very cheerful and pleasant conversation.— They were attended by General GWYN, Colonel TAYLOR, and Lady COLLYER. His MAJESTY mounted his horse in a very easy manner. His MAJESTY pro. ceeded through the Little Park into the Great Park, where the Royal Party continued till half-past one o'clock, when they returned to the Castle, where there were crowds waiting his return. His MAJESTY conti nued in conversation during the whole of his ride. Hit MAJZSTY on his return was received by Dr. WlLLts.at The Palace-gate, who conducted him into the Castle. • As soon :is his MAJesTY had atomised ibis horse, a signal was given, and the bells of the Parish Church and Cathedral struck up to announce the happy news . of his MAJESTY'S restoration to tilts public. At the same time the King's Own Royal Stafford Regiment, and the Windsor volunteers, who had been drawn out upon the occasion, fired a feu de joie. The whole town of Windsor, Eton and its vicinity was one gene ral scene of rejoicing. They also fired in honour of her MantsTY's Birth-day, which was on Sunday, when her MAJESTY completed her 67th year, which was ob served in a private manner at Windsor on the same day by the PRINCE REGENT and all the Royal Dukes dining with the QUEEN and PRJCESSES. Our Readers will see, from our accounts of the Budget, that no new Taxes are to be proposed this year, and that the Stamp Duty on Haut is abo lished. The new American Secretary of State, limos Myna°, Esq. arrived at Washington on Friday the 12th ult. and next day entered upon the duties of his office—an appointment from which much good is in ferred to the commercial interests of this country. It was strongly reported at Cadie, at the date of the last accounts, that SEBASTIAN', with all the French troops at Grenada, had marched and joined MORTIER at Seville ; and had made three several at. tacks upon Marshal BERESEORD, at each of which they were repulsed with great slaughter. The following extract of a letter has been received from an Officer serving in the Fleet under Sir JAMES SAUMARZT, dated Gettenburgh, May 4th " The Consul at Gottenburgh is come off ; he says the Russians will certainly soon be at war with France. The Emperor means to let English colonial produce be brought into his ports in exchange for Russian. Sweden wishes to be neutral. The Danes in that case must come to, and either be neutral or at war with France." - - - We learn, from our newly-acquired possession of Amboyna (via, Calcutta); that the Dover frigate, Captain TUCKER, bad sailed against Manado, and some other. of the subordinate spice islands ,with about 200 troops. A mail from Malta and Gibraltar, brought to Falmouth by the Princess Mary, arrived this morn ing after a passage of fourteen days from the latter place. The Gibraltar papers contain no news; their contents having been ant►cipated by former arrivals front Cadiz and the Mediterranean. The following article from Sicily may perhaps be interesting to some of our Readers : MESSINA, MARCH 2. By persons of respectable authority lately arrived from Zante; we are assured that the lonian Islands are now in a very flourishing state since they have been freed from the French yoke, and live only sub ject to their own laws under the protection of Great Britain. The most perfect harmony reigns between theßritish soldiers and inhabitants of those Islands. The Island of Corfu, notwithstanding the fapfaronade in the Neapolitan Moniteur, which boasted of the pro sperity and plenty that reigned in that island, is in a most deplorable state. Its commerce is nearly extinct, provisions are uncommonly scarce, and those which from time to time are sent from Taranto, rarely escape the vigilance of the British cruizers, and bring a small portion to the place of their destination. '