Star. — London, England, 1816-04-11 00:00:00

b een ca lled upon to tnperannotte perverse le the rut: a isonr of life, as had been done 111 these estim nes.— Tlie instances of this kind which he held in his hand w ere so notorious, and of such a nature, that they should be sifted to the eery bottom. If the House l oo ked at the 2d line of the 'Bsth page, they would s ee that 4700 were given as a superannuation, being nrarlrthe full amount of the salary of a Commis sioner of the Navy in active service. Was this, he wou ld ask, a right feature in these estimates in times la ce the present ?• Proceeding a little further, the H o use would see a superannuation of 41000 a year. b e ing the full amount of a Commissioner's salary, red an additional sum of 4500 to the same person, Thus this person in fact received 41500, to induce him to leave the service. Nothing could be more in• jarious than examples of this kind, and there were se seral others of a similar nature. He repeated his statement that the whole amount of the superannua-' t i e ° and half pay estimate was only 4211,000, yboess now it was six times that amount.—( Near.) Be was quite certain that the House must be under ; b e necessity of revising this Report very spee dily, and making some alteration in its amount.— The Hon. Admiral then adverted to the Army Esti , ma res, and complained of the dispropotion which' f i s ted between the pensions allowed to the widows and relations of Officers who bad fallen in that set- T ice, as compared with similar pensions in the Navy Estimate,. He instanced the case of the • widow of Captain Harvey, who fell in the action of the Ist of h e e—a most distinguished Of f icer, who was selected by Lord Hews as his own Captain, and who led the Batt into action on that first of the series of our na val victories. Captain Harvey's widow might com plain to the Admiralty that she had a pension of only 412.5 allowed her, being 4100 for herself. and 42.5 for her child, while the widow of General Rosa had 41900 a-year, and the brothers of General Proctor 4200 a-year each. These Officers, it should be re collected, had only the pay of Lieutenant-Colonels. It was impossible, he thought, that the country should tolerate this disproportion : but the case was by no means a singular one. - The widows of Captains Duff and Cooke, who fell at the battle of Trafalgar, had pensions of only ‘2OO, whip, in one case, the mere relatives of Officers of the Army bad MOO a-year. Passing to another instance, it appeared that the wi dow of Captain Sir P. Parker, who fell while accom panying General Ross, had only x2OO a-year allowed her, while the widow of the General had £9OQ. It was not to be borne that such disproportion should exist, and he hoped for sonic revision of the pensions of both services. Proceeding to another branch of the subject, he had to remark, that the regulations on which the pensions to petty officers of the navy were framed were extremely extravagant. It might hap pen from these regulations that a petty officer might receive a pension of from 446 to 454 a-year ; and what he had to complain of was, that these people were thus brought up beyond the half-pay of the warrant officers of a third rate, which amounted to only 436 a-year. Upon the whole, unless the system generally were revised, it would be productive at once of extreme extravagance on the one hand, and portioned allowances on the other. Mr. CROKE& said it was impossible to listen to the arguments of the gallant Admiral without being strongly impressed by the nature of them, and the moderation of the tone in which they were delivered bet the view which the Honourable Admiral had taken of the whole subject was rather a mistaken one. He should begin with that which was first in the order of importance—he meant the case of the widow of Captain Harvey. The Honourable Ad miral had stated, that she had only 4100 a year, and £25 for her child, while the brother cf General Proc ter had received 4200 a year. Now, it should be recollected that the sum given to Mrs. Harvey was precisely that which was granted in 1794 to the wi dows of Captains who had fallen in battle, and the Army Estimates contained pensions to the widows of Lieutenant-Colonels, amounting to no larger a km It would be opening too wide a door, if the House were to go back to the distant period of the half or quarter of a century, and raise all the pensions whichtad been then granted. There was no instance deny pension being increased after the period of its mgt 'nal grant. They bad been raised since, however, eatthe widow of • his gallant friend, Sir P. Parker, had received 0200 a year, and his children pensions of itioeach ; a larger sum, he believed, than had been tooted to any military officer's widow of similar rank. Nunn. from Sir C. Pole.) In the Army Estimates he 'marked, that the same pension that was given to Mrs. Harvey had been given to Mrs. De Launcey, the wi fMrof a Lieutenant-Colonel, who had been killed in fix It was in fact the highest pension then given Is the widows of officers of that rank. It the Ho morable Admiral would go and compare, pound by pond, the pensions given to the widows of officers lathe two services, he would find a general cones ?cadence between their different ranks. He could as eve the Honourable Admiral that it was a much toore agreeable service to a person in the situation which he had the honour to fill, to be the instrument cof . bounty, than to make refusals. It was far from he wish, however, to dissuade the House from fur ther extending their bounty, if they saw fit. With ?lord to the pension of 4700 a-year to a Commis sioner of the Navy on going out, it was at leest an surd very long standings and he had to remark, that all the advantages held out were not more than %ailment to induce Naval Officers to take the office. He had also to state, that the only two superannua fits of Commissioners made by the present Admi nistration were in the persons of two gentlemen, one of whom was eighty years of age, and the other above n• One of them (Commissioner Fanshawe) had been no less than forty years in the office. As to the rates (?! Pensions to petty officers, it was made imperative "n the Admiralty to increase them, in consequence of the inireued pensions which Mr. Windham's Bill flve to ten-commissioned officers in the army. He extremely re grette d t h at t hi s biddi ng lot popularity urwatt the two services had been introduced. It fo rmed one of the many grounds on Which his Ha ;Treble Friends had powerfully, though =sums 4unY' _°P . nosed the . plan of Mr. Windham. The in. b.,""1 navy pensions had been Me effect of that syes 7 , „ sed it must be obvious that it would have been Peso le to propose the taking away of those i s ' fromo rope the British army, at a period when the upon its ' ate E mi ght be considered as "pending less. k . tont you could not Miura upon attu Pe end take how worn their pc :mites, it be came imperative to equalize with them the scale of' navy pensions. And indeed the'argument held still wonger with regard to the navy ; for, genertily speaking, the seaman, who must be bred up to the profession from his youth, was a much more depen dent being when unfit for service than the soldier, who had often his trade to re,ort to. • He was less able to earn his bread when -disabled from service. Indeed, since ever he had a seat in that House, he had always heard wishes expressed for the bettering of the situation of the petty officeks of the navy, on whom perhaps still more depended in battle than on the non-commissioned officers of the army. The in ' crease seemed. the more reasonable, as there were de ductions made from the pay of seamen for paying these identical pensions. Sir CHARLES. POLE and Sir GEORGE HOPE ex plained. Mr. J. P. GRANT thought it a great hardship, if the fact was rightly represented to him, that if the widow of a naval officer was to marry another of the same rank, and was afterwards to lose him, her pen. sion would not - be revived. Mr. CROKER said, that it was a proviso in the charter of the Commissioners for administering the Widows' Fund; but if such an extreme case as that put by the Honourable Gentleman was to moor, he had no doubt that the Commissioners would recom mend to his Majesty to grant a sum equal in amount from some other fund. Mr. FORBES deprecated, at some length, the great difference that existed between the pensions granted to the wounded Officers of the Army and Navy. After noticing smile other points of difference, to the disadvantage of the naval service, he concluded with .expressing his opinion that the two services should be placed on the same footing in all respects, as far as circumstances would admit. Mr. LYTTLETON thought it hard that dedoc. dons should be made from the Pensions of the Wi. dows of Naval Officers, which were not made from those of Military Officers. The Pensions to the Wounded were liable to the same objection. Lord PALMERSTON defended the inequality, upon the ground that the Military Officers purchased their commissiors, and that those of the Navy did not ; and it was to Le observed, that the Pensions of the Widows of the Army did not amount to the bare interest of the sums expended in the purchase of their husbands' commissions. Alter a few observations from Sir GEORGE HOPE, the Resolutions were agreed to. The Ordnance Estimates were taken into further consideration, and after a short conversation across 'the table between Mr. BANKEI and Mr. Rosser WARD, the Resolutions were agreed to. On the question for taking the Report on the Army Estimates into further consideration, Lord FOLKES TONE observed, that he was anxious in this last stage to protest against the adop tion of the Army Estimates in their present form.— The result had amply justified the opposition given to them in the first instance, when the reply made was, that the 'proper time for cutting down the esti. mates was in the Committee. In that stage, how. ever, many unanswerable objections were made with. out effect, as Ministers resisted all redaction, main. taininj that the House ought to be satisfied with their opinion that the large military establishment was we. emery, because the re.commencement of hostilities was a possibility, however distant. In the Staff only had any diminution been effected ; and though the saving was only £40,000 for the present year, it was enough to show that the estimates in general had been made out in a most careless and slovenly man ner. He begged to repeat his strong objections to the ready employment of soldiers for civil purposes : within the last 25 years the Guards who did daily duty within the City of London had been increased from between - 6 and 700 to 8 and 900 men, though no sufficient reason could be assigned for placing new sentries over the people. His jealousy on this point had recently been greatly increased by observing, that on Court days one quarter of the town was placed under Martial Law, without any authority from the Civil Power. He begged to refer the House to a case that had occurred under Lord Chief Justice Holt. to whom a message had been sent, requiring the a ttendance of one of his officers, to sanction the pro. ceedinesnf the soldiery in quelling a riot in aelborn. The Chief Justice inquired what was to be done in case the mob did not disperse on the appearance of , hi s o fficer, backed by the armed force ; and the reply' made by the person sent to demand the sanction was, that in that case the soldiers had authority to fire upon the people. " Have they so ?" said Lord Holt, " then take notice of what I say, for if there be one man killed, and you are brought before me for trial, I will take care that you and every soldier of your party shall be hanged."—(Hear, hear)—This capes a i ms w a s certainly warm, like others sometimes used by that great Judge, who had once threatened not only to commit the Speaker, but the whole House of Commons. What he observed afterwards was, how-1 ever, more important—" en back (he added) to those who sent you, and acquaint them that no offi, cer of mine shall attend soldiers ; and let them know at the same time, that the laws of England are not to be executed by the sword r the matter belongs to l he civil power, and you have nothinj, to do with it." He (Lord Folkestone) trusted that this opinion would have some weight with the House in inducing it to put a stop to a system by which England was rapidly sinking into the deplorable condition of the military despotisms of the Continent. The Resolutions were then agreed to. • Mr. HOLMES wished to know from: the Secre. tary at War, whether any steps were taken by the Government to apply the remedy of Sir Wm. Adams to the soldiers who suffered from the ophthalmia ? Lord PALMERSTON said, that the remedy was suggested to the Commander in Chief, and was al reogly adopted in most of the Military Colleges. He mai: willing that its operation should be extended to those who were already discharged.- Mr. GRANT ingtsired what the nature of the operation was ? Lott PALMERSTON said, it was to prevent that liability to relapse, svbich was frequent in cases of ophthalmia, from cold and other causes. The SOLICITOR-GENERAL gave notice that he should to-morrow naiste art early day after the mess, for submitting a motion relative-to the charges of a Noble Lotd (Cochrane), unless the Nsible Lord was disposed to bring them forward. Adjourned at Twelve o'clock. • THE EVKNING. STAR. DO N. THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 1816. PRICE OF STOCKS THIS DAY Al' f WELVE O'CLOCK:' ReAticed . s94l--Cons. mo. 609—for nee. Rig 4 per Cern. 7 is—S per Cott. 90;—Bends 1.. die. par. Omn. li;—Do, pay. 17i—Eteli. Bills Is. di.. es. pr. Last night the question relative to the claims upon the French Government came nipler discussion, in the House of Commons, in consequence of a Motion by Mr. Hammensutv. Some of the points deserve particular attention, being opposed to all sound prin ciples, and founded on passion and feeling, not on reason and sound policy. Thus on the rights of Bri tish subjects, proprietors of French Stock, it was main tained, even by Lord Carrnettemair, that they were entitled to little favour, and that but for the existence of previous Treaties, he would not hove even en,lea voured to establish their claims. The gereral rea soning on this paint was, that the laying out of Bri tish money in Foreign Funds, was done for the be nefit of the individual, and that these would have acted with more patriotism had they laid out their property in our own Funds. This reasoning, how. ever specious, is fallacious, and ought to be corrected. It is true that those who vestilheir property in Fo reign Funds are entitled to less commiseration as itufi. victual:, in the event of a lou, than those who lose pro perty in speculations connected with our own Funds or national improvements, but it does not fol low that therefore their interests are not to be re garded in settling differences with an enemy with whom we are concluding a Peace; and this for a reason so obvious, that we are surprised it was not stated. In questions between two States, it is impos sable for the one to refuse justice to the subjects of the other without robbing that other State of the pro perty. Whatever is lost by an individual in this way is lost by the community of which he is a member : and the Minister who, in revenge for the want of patriotism exhibited by the lender, Would neglect or abandon his claim, would in filet be abandoning the interests of the State for which he negockates. la point of fact no person can be the subject of blame, who, in the distribution and management of his own property, does not vir:late the laws nt his country ; and . every individual who conforms to the laws of the government under which he lives, i. en- 1 titled to enjoy the preledien for which he as in his contributions in taxes, and which is due t 9 him as a subject of that government. The British subjects who vested money in the French funds violated no law—and as maintained by some of the Members [though this is not necessary to the argument) they bad express treaties in their favour—And they are en ' titled to the same protection as any other subject. But we carry the argument still farther, in a na tional point of view. In disputes relative to property, between individuals of the same cimmunity, the laws offer them a remedy ; and even when- the decision may, from lack of evidence or any defect in the prosecution, be contrary to strict equity, the commu nity is neither rendered richer nor poorer, though the individual may. But it is far otherwise when the question relates to property in another country; for, in such a case, the one community loser what the other has withheld from its subjects. A s to the propriety of suffering British subjects to vest their property in Foreign Funds, that is quite a different question. Our own opinion is, that those who do so act a very unworthy part; that they ought to be pruhibited by a penal law, and that their pro perty in this country, whenever and wherever it may be found, should be attachable for the penalty. The CHANCILLOIL of the Excumatrea took a right view of this part of the question, and contended that it was just and proper to secure the interests of Eng lishmen who had vested property in the French funds. To-day we received the Paris Papers of Monday. Their chief contents relate not so mach to the inter nal affairs of France, as to those of other countries, but even these are not of striking interest they would faits induce a belief that Austria and England are on the eve of a rapture, in consequence of our extensive acquisitions in the Mediterranean and South of Europe: COURIER EXTRAORDINARY OF MONDAY MORNING. An Ordonnance of the King bears that the Coun cils of arrondistement will assemble for the first pan of their Session, which will ha ten days, on the 10th day after the law on the finances shall have been published at the head places of the department. The Sittings of the Councils-General will be opened five days after the closing of the Councils of Anon dissement, and will be continued for fifteen consecu tive days. The Councils of Arrondissement will resume the second part of their Session five days after the closing of that of the Councils General, and will terminate it the fifth day inclusively. General Drouot,who was acquitted yesterday bythe First Council of War of the First Military Division.; immediately paid a visit to the Duke de Duras, first Gentleman of the Chamber, and to Marshal Mac- i donald, Duke of Tarentum. VIENNA, MARCH 21. • The last Mail from Turkey arrived the day before yesterday: it was retarded by the bad roads : it is of the date of the 25th of February. It seems as if the, Porte gives only yam and ambiguous answers to . the English, who otaim three places in Albanians belonging to the•lonian Islands. The Foreign Mini. .ten refuse to intercede. and excuse themselves no the ground of want of instructions. NAPLFR, MARCH 14. A report was spread yesterday that se Ent!l4) squadron had landed troops in the Ahrnezes, and that they were to occupy the strong places in there provinces. This intelligence perplexed the merchants much. The Government has published nothing on :he subject, but k has been remarked that the Au strian Envoy has frequent conferences with the Eng lish Minister. Some politicians think that it is the object of the English to oppose the system of occupa tion adopted by Austria. But what wilt become of our Government, placed between these two Powers in Calabria and the Abru7zes FRANKFORT. APRIL t. Never, with the exception of the epoch of the Co ronation of the Emperors, did this City present an aspect so lively and brilliant as at this moment. Fetes succeed without end. Tae Ministers of the Allied Powers rival each other in diversions and magniSeence. The Senators and great Bankers do the same. The Theatres are always full, but these pleasures do not interrupt any diplomatic arrange. ments, which go on briskly notwithstanding. A Hamburgh Mail arrived this morning, and we have also received a supply of Brussels Papers to the Bth instant. The PRINCE REGENT, as Sovereign cf Hanover, has issued an Order, forbidding all Hann. verians to accept of any foreign Order or service without his express permission.—The following is the substance of the new Russian Tarif : " ST. PETERSBURGH, MARCH 19. " The new Tarif is approved by his Majesty, but not yet published. There is no doubt, In spite of all the reports de signedly spread to the contrary. that this Tarif becomes inn fa. aely in force, which entirely agrees with the order given to the Customs, to let the exported goods pass under the old Tarif ; bet with respect to the imported, to wait for Ms ern riff/. It may be considered as authentic, that as soon as the navigation is open, the following goods win be admitted into all the ports of Ru.sla Fine Cloths (black excepted) on paying a duty of four rubles per amble. Rzw Sugars of every kind 6 R. per pond. Refined Sugars of all kipds 15 R. per pood. Punch Brandy, Wine, and Porter, with; duty in silver (not stated). All white Cotton (keels, Silk Goods, Muslims, Cambrics, Lace, Earthenware, and other Goods without ornament. Tio-plates (Eistuldeck), the duty on which is not known. Silk Goods, and Articles of Luxury, to be kn• ported only into St. Petersburgh. " The importation of the following is prohibited fur twelve years :—Lloen, some.Woollen Goods, Printed and Dyed Cotton Goods, Buttons, Ruin, and some ether Articles. " • h . k Geoids not her? named, to pay a Duty as In the last Tarif. " It was to be foreseen that this new Tatif wnsld not please some Merchants who are owners of moo. factories. But trade in general promises itself as much advantage 'from it as agriculture and th-t:e manufactures which are natural, usual, and adapted to our country. The Exchange . his been falling for, some time, and just at the time when the uncertainty about the Tatif prevailed, and consequently nn orders would !...e given either for raw materials or manufac tnred goods. This circumstance may all rd another proof that only the stagnation of trade, .mcertaintj and distrust, and not the permission of importing, or the demand for certain foreign articles, depreciates the Exchange." The liamturgh Corrertondent Contains the cam* its substance as the above, not mentioning however s!ie prohibitions ; but it observes, that what is known of i the contents is founded en private information. The Ezchange on Hamburgh had fallen It per Cent. and that on London 11. per Cent. By the last accounts from South America, we karn, that Mr. HYSLOP, the British Merchant who fell into the hands of the Spanish Genefal Moarixo, at Car. thagena, had been tried there and found guilty, but Moaiu.o has sent him to Old Spain, there to await the decision of the Spanish Government. Charleston Papers to the 28th February, and Let. tern to the 2d March, arrived this morning ; but they do not contain any news. Mr. CANNING'S return to England is expected be. fore the end of the present •month. He is to become President of the Board of Coatroul, with a seat is the Cabinet. Yesterday a ballot was held at the East India-house for the election of six Directors, in the room of Charles Grant, Esq. I William AKA, Esq. George Smith , Campbell Marjorilanks, Esq. Sweny Toone, Esq. Sir John Jackson. who go out by rotation. At silt o'clock the glasses were closed, .and delivered to the scrutineers, wise reported the numbers to be, viz. Hen. W. F. FJphinstone 5104 I James Daniel, Esq. - - 518 John Inglis, Esq. - - - 538 John Bebh, Esq. - - - SSG John liladen Taylor. Esq. 558 James Paulson, Esq. - - 536 Yesterday a Court of Directors was held at the East India House, when the thanks of the Court were voted unanimously to CHARLES GRANT, •Esiti. MU THOMAS REM, Esq. Chairman and Deputy Chair. man, for their zeal and attention to the Company's interest during the last ear. Cou.sy, the Banbury Pedestrian, who started on the enth of March to perform 1020 mites in twenty successive days, finished his task on the Bth of April. lie was then chaired down and up . the Course amid the acclamations of thousands. A subscription has been opened in favour of the Pedestrian RAMSGATE, APRIL 10.—This thy was launched, under the East Cliff, from the yard of . Mr. GILBEHT CAUGHT, Ship-builder, the Majestic, steam passage vessel, intended to run between London and Ms-. gate: she went off the slip in fine style,t .udly buz zaed by a large concourse of spectators, and i: said to be the largest vessel in Europe of this description. They have brought I:er into the harbour to taite in ballast, and get equipped for proceeding to London, *where she is to be fitted with the steam engine, and 'have her cabin-work completed. CoaroetTuotisr, Amu. te.—Shirs entered outwards—Tho mas Nowlan, Peter, for Buenos Ayres ; Hero, Stephenson. tisr Madeira, Fore George and William, Bombay, and Prance Wit.' liam's Islairist; Strenuous, Collins. for Calais; \'row blisil; De. Zeenw, for Amsterdam; Windlust, EngeLimaq, for Antw e rp , Rotterdam, and Amsterdam ; Nra. Sra. del Csrmen, AdeSera . chigs,, for Whoa iTheodosia, Flinn, for the Caps of Good Hope; rCistede Verwigelsg,Claasiest, for Amsterdam; Britannia, 1,..!tr0, 'or Virginia; Juno, Bbckbern, for Milts and Smyrea ; elite, Cumming, for Calais; Aurora, Seibert tiarri,foi liamburgh,a ith instant, Mather, Henry Tunktn. I ' S