Star. — London, England, 1802-04-06 00:00:00

I Tars which have in many inflames been the fhb , et • f complaint on the part of the Merchants. I myfelf jullified in Rating the ellimate of th e .;•isliiet of the Duty on Exports and Imports at so,cool. It will be perceived, Sir, by the Com e iota, that 1 have been desirous of providing for et:; the I/ al II 'LIS demands of the public fervice. Many fear will be of opinion, that the amount of the lion. end the amount of the taxes, exceed what e ere was any neeeffity for; but timely the Hotife feel, that if this is an error, it is an error on tide ; it is undoubtedly riolft and pro- • to be prepared with a Hon to anhvet the pof .:e exi . eelicies of the public service, even beyond s• nety be necefftry. The Committee will ob -12: Ye, the: 1 have made no provision for paying off t:e2 capital Hock created by the loan ; upon this iej.Ct I mull reqeefl the attention of the ilonfe; it is nut my intention to go minutely into it at the piefeat moment—it is a fubjett which depends on nice celculations, and requires mature confiders-' t;•.n. I lhould therefore - with to defer entering in to it till the Committee have had an opportunity t eflediag . and acquiring pafeet incormation up-, ca it. It is however 112 zef ~try for me to Hate, why I have not provided a fum of one per cent. with a view to the redudien of the Rock created by the loan for this year. lam aware that I am t. cadin,e on tender ground when adverting to fuch a fultj•d as this is there is no individual who is more 1:r rible than myfeif of the value and impor tance of :he eftablithment ofa Sinking Fund; Icon fidet it as the Iheet-anchor on which the fafety of the country depends, and if f were capable of bring iee forward any propolition is the fmallefl degree I.Celr to aired that fund, or retard its progrefs, I fleould justly deferve the reprobation of all oho :ear me. With the indulgence of the Committee, I is ill (late the outline of that plan, the adoption of which has induced me to deviate front the ordi ten y pradice of providing for the redudion of the capital firm created by loans. In the year t the plan for the redemption of the National Debt was firft fubmitted, and i,000,0001. was veiled in Commillioners for that purpofe—it was provided that all intereft receivable, and the etecruing compound interell fhould be veiled in Cue!! Commit:loners, who were to apply fuch ag grcgati: rum in the reduetioa of the debt of the na tion ; and was enatled that when this felting find amounted to 4,000,0001. Parliament fhould duet mine whether it &odd nCt be applied for tak ing off Taxes to that amount. In estapan Ad peered, by which a fund of one per cent. was crea ated for the extindion of the debt accrued by the Loan for the year, and that praftice has been fince continued. It is my intention now, Sir, to propofe that thefe two Sinking Funds thall be con felidated. It is propofed to confolidate the new and old debt, and the Funds for their redemption. Paradoxical as it may app:at-, the effeet of this fy item will be to redeem the National Debt within a much shorter period than it could poffibly be redeemed by the former one, and the Public will derive this intermediate advantage, that we (hall get rid of the neceffity of railing a fum of eicoaciool. for the fervice of the prefent year, one per cent. on the Loan would amount to precifely that fun,. In the year iScS, Annuities will fall in to the amount of 5.e0,0001. which maybe applied to taking off the Taxes. I repeat, therefore, that the aid of the fyilem I have adopted, of confo lidating the two Funds, will be, that the Public will be burthened with Taxes to the amount of cp:o,oeol. lefs than mull otherwife have been railed for the prefent year, and the ultimate redemption of the National Debt will be accelerated. Ac cording to the plan which I defire to recommend to the Committee for the Diminution of the Taxes, by the confolidation of the two Sinking Funds, the while will he extinguifhed in the courfe of 45 years; I mean, that in the period I have Hated, the debt of the country, which may be ellimated at soo,coc,oool. will be entirely paid off and dif chat ed. If this flatement is accurate, it mull be nil:mired that it is highly deferving the attention of the Committee. My object in wilhing to promote it, bas been that of doing juffice to the prefent times and to poilerity.—On the fubjed of the Du ties on Salt, I had hoped to have been prepared with a propolition for getting rid of them altegc ther ; but upon dmfideration, I feel that this is mot the proper time fur recommending filch a mea fure. It is necelfitry we fhould wait till we fee v.-hat effc!ts are produced by the Peace fo recent ly obtained. Till we are able to form a judgment with regard to its operation upon the relburces of the country, I certainly fhould not hold myfelf ju:hitied in propofing a tefolution for depriving the l'oblic of fo material a branch of revenue ; but I look forward with hope and confidence to the pc- riod when the Salt Duties may be confiderably re laxed. It is one fource of confolation to me, thtt the operation of thofe duties on the lower clafres are nut To grievous as they have been re yrefentcd. I admit that they prefs in fome de glee on the manufaauringinterelt, on agricul ture, and on the poorer clatfes of lhciety, but by no means to the extent which has been fnppofed. Thus then it Rands upon the ilatement I have made: The amount of the Supply is 24,6144301. of which 1,icc.1,0001. is for Ireland. The Ways and Means amount to 27,930,8741. The whole of the taxes ale 4:00:1,0001. and the Slim required to be railed leaving an excels of 800,0001. It is my on Friday or Monday next to fubmit an eXplati motion on the lobjea of the Sinking Fund. Having Ilated to the - Colmnittze nearly all that is neeelfary, I can exprefs no fentiments hot filth as mull have occurred to every one who has heard me If we look ball for the last nine Year-.., tie find the fyllem which was planned by tile prudence, vigilance, and (economy of my Pre. clecelfor in office, purfucd for the advantage of the country. With refpea to myfelf, I (hall make no profelliuns ; I dcfire to be judged by my condua. It mutt be the with of the Houle, and of the Conntry, that the principles which are hereafter to a thole mutated with the Government, may lush as will enfure the contitalance of peace. It i• to conciliation and fit rime& we can alone hook fm " d for the enjoyment of that blefling. The fureit way of enabling ourfelves to preferve it, is LA by invading dm fecurity and attacking the in dependence of other countries. Tint by maintaining and ado zing our own. I look tOrward for many I ) ears of peace, tranquillity, and ha pine's to the countky. The e xpences of %var have at fait ceafed, vi : ;iiance, prudence, :nil motion, are ne c. Ifla y. A fyllem of jealottly never ought to be purfued, but a fyllem of cantion mull never be departed from. It will afford us the fairelichance of that fecurity, the attainment of which has been the ohjeet of the tedious attd expenlive war now happily terminated. 1 have malting to adJ, but lltall critclude by moving my fire, refolution." Mr. WH:T3REat• Paid, that feeling for the im portance of the interefts*l the Public, and par- Ccularly for a let of men and a trade, the plan of taxation developed by the Chancellor of the Ex chequer would opprefs and ruin, he protelled again(' its receiving Coe fanaion oldie Committee. It might be owing to the danger of which he was apprehenfive, that he di I not participate in the joy the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Com mittee lotted to exprcls at the terms on which the Loan had been concluded, and on the arrival of the day, when the folid fyltern of Finance of his predeceffor, which had lb long oppreffed the coun try, was done away. Whatever c.unpliments the Chancellor of the 'Exchequer might think proper to bellow on his Predeceifor fur hi, wildoni ; his own condo:; in repealing the Tax en ifl.:')111, was the fevcrelt cenfure. Happy he was Hutt odious Tax was abolithed, but he could not avoid thia!:- ing it unfair to retort to a particular let of Trader. men to make good the deficiency. If the propoled Tax took effea, it would be irnpriflible for the la- I bouring poor to buy beer; and with regard to the Brewer's Trade, it would be entirely deftroyel It was peculiaily hard, that filch Taxes as thofe now ropofed thould be laid on at a period when the trade was jolt beginning to look forw ar d t o a relaxation of the preffures it had In long experienc ed. If it was to be fubjeft to fuch a Inirthen, it would be impotlible for the Brewer to make in— terefl of his capital. The Right Hon. Gentleman propofed a tax of tad. a barrel. Suopoting this to apply to a manufaftory that brewed 200,000 barrels, the etre& would be nothing let's than tak ing near rc,0004 out of the profits of the proprie tor. This was a Committee would nie accede to. Hc hoped it was not the intention of the Chancellor of the F.xchequer to take flock in hand, as it would fall par:icularly heavy on the Trad.2, many of the Brewers having, at tl.e beginning of the late fear city, imported barley upon a (peculation, which though advantageous to the public, they had 101 l considerably by. He was perftraded that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had flitted the Tax infinitely below what it would produce; he bad no doubt but it would amount to 2,500,00tA. It might be very prudent to raife more money for the ser vice of the Public than was neceft4ry, yet it was extremely hard upon thofe who were called upon to pay it. He wi(hed the Chancellor of the Ex chequer had Melted fome other objetft of taxation —not that it affeited him fo materially, becatife the indefatigable induftry of his predeceffors had placed him beyond the poilibility of being perfon ally affected; but he (hould be ungenerous indeed if he did not come forward, and plead in behalf of thole of the trade who were not fo fortunately fitnated. The Hon. Member proceeded to ob ferve, that the (Ned of the late war had not been in any one inftance obtained—France remained poffeffed of advantages beyond what the molt fan aiiine Jacobins had ever imagined; Holland was wrelled from the poffeffion of the Stadtholder, and Switzerland andltalyare fubjeet to the French Go-. vernment. He rejoiced at the determination of the Right Honourable Gentleman to conduit him felf with moderation towards other countries.— He entertained no doubt that great as were the burthens of the country, there were refources which, managed with (economy, would in time relieve the Public of their weight. One part of the fpeech of the Chancellor of the Exchequer re minded him of an obfervation made by a Right Honoutable Gentleman in the year 179 z, who when opening a Budget, Rated, he had never contemplated fo fair a prof pelt of 15 years peace as at that moment. Since that period, the coun try had experienced nine years of a molt deltruc tive and calamitous war—he fincercly hoped the prophecy of the Right Honourable Gentleman oppoilte him, would be more fortunate with re gard to its accomplifltment. There was no doubt bat he would have a fairer chance of teeing it ful riled, if he concluded himfelf with that temper, moderation, and at the fame time with that firm nefs of which he had given the Committee and the Public his folemn affurance. The CHANCELLOR of the Exenroyr a, in reply to a queftion from the WI !Speaker, raid, he did not mean that the flock of beer now on hand fhould be liable to the duty. He did not fee any reafon why that exemption Ilionld extend to the flock of Malt now on hand ; nor did he conceive it prac ticable to make any dalin&ion between one kind of Malt and another. The Honotu able Gentle man laid none of the objeds for which the war bad been entered into were attained. Every thing the Country had not loft, might be contidercd as hav ing been preferved. We preferved our .Contlitu tion and our Monarchy, and the Public was re lieved from thole apprehenfions which prevailed with regard to the inficaiity of perfonal property. The attempts that had ben made ag-ina Mo narchy became completely aborCve ; and the ten timents entertained now by the country towards its Monarch, were fully proved in a manner that muft do honour to the loyal and generous feelings of that Houfe, by the vote it had recently given to relieve his Majelty from the embarralfinents he la boured under in coniequence of the arrears of the Civil Lift: and the confidence the Public had in the fecurity of private property had feldom been manifefted in a more fatisfaaory manner than on that day, when money was railed on conditions fo advantageous to the Public. With regard to the Hon Gentleman's charge as to the intended Tax on Beer, the Houfe would do him the juflice to believe his declaration, when he allured them that he was not fulalituting a charge upon the Brewers in lieu of the Tax on Income. He could prove the very contrary to be the fact. Mr. Parr fed, t obferved fo very 1;:a!: :htre rence th.tt night or, the 11111 . ,...a of the new T.tre , , that it ‘vould hardly be nect:ifiry for him tr, itnimadverilons tract fell from the IL oppoinc Inane lint there v..yre other topics in!imiticc.! in:o his Sp2.ech v.itich re quited - come oh;;ervAtions. Vt . ;rll rl:tard to the words the I-1:111. GC::LICM:In ra'd he had o:1-2 in Lite year 179:, ti.al i.e had it cor.t:ieni. re liance, and an ii,pe, that the cour,ta y wuuld contioue to enjoy a I , tot Peace," he m o: i that at this diitanee tune, he could tvi.t. exaetiy rectille.ct the expo:ain't he might have ; hut no man at that time tr.it more forcibly th.in by did, the LI rength and die happiners w I h the country poEfled at that time—no man antieipar,:d more than he did, thole bright prolpeCts which tli2 Oper.lti: .11 of our wealth and (air comme:•ce out to tie—no man placed a greater relirnee than lie, on the Ilrength and ref avecs which we enjoy ed as the flak of ten years of (economy and labanr, fecooded by the wildom and fianti:ls of meat, which were fechilaufly employed in cold vating the arts of peace. in promoting indutley, or in endeavouring to ameliorate the condition of the people, aral dir..inifli the weight of taxation on the lower oilers. Ile did indeed, at that time, i n d u l ge a hope that the didraCtions which prevail ed in Fra7;ce would not have interfered with the lecurity or tranquillity of this country ; that they would rather have fervcd to confirm the people of this country in the opinion they had already formed of the excellence of their own Contlitution—of the unexampled (late of felicity in which they lived, compared with that of other nations ; and if he did indulge there fond expedations, he did In in common with others. There were certainly fome who went Cu t her than he had done, not in their abhorrence of tho:e principles which gave rife to the miseries of France; but in the means by which th -y were to be r:f..ied. Among thefe WAS the Mr. Burke, whore great genius hail prophetically limed all the mischiefs that would refult from this fyilem. He confidered France as nothing more than a blank in the map of Europe : aid if he (Mr. PITT) did not at the period anti !ed to by the Hon. Gentleman foie fee the mischiefs that afterwards followed Item this fyitem, it was an error of which he had no caufc to re,.cnt, hi:cattle it dirt nut praCtically be• tray him into any thing by which the country could have fuffered. He hoped that the Hoii. Gentle man, who feemed to have lo clear a recollection of the words he had ufed ten years ago, would alro recollect the calumnies that had been to re peatedly uttered by Gentlemen on his fide of the Houk, in hich he (Mr. Pitt) was reprcknted as infenfible to the miferies of the people, at a time when the country was driven into the war; when the was compelled to forego all her hopes of Lilting tranquillity, to turn the whole of her itrength and refources to the maintenance of her very exiftence, and meet the molt gigantic &item of danger and deftration that ever threatened the tranquillity of the world. Although in this arduous and long contest we bad not lucceeded to the extent of our wifhes, yet it was one in which we had no choice; and as his Right Hon. Friend very ably lilted, we' had gained that which we ihould have loft if the conteft had not been entered into. We had gained that which left us in polfeffion of our constitution and liberty ; that by which the Houfe Was at the inertia moment exercising its molt folemn privi leges. As to what the Hon. Gentleman had ob ferved relative to the intended repeal of the Income Tax, he would put it to the Houfe, whether on a review of what had paired, the propoiition made that day could be confidered as a fubvertion of what the Hon. Gentleman called the folid fyftem of finance? He withed the Honk would recolleCt the circtimilances the country was placed in at the time he brought forward that meafure, to which he had jultly applied the name of a folid fytlem of finance. It happened at a time when, after the repeated prophecies from Gentlemen on the other fide of the Houk, of ruin to the country—when, under all the difficulties arifin,g out of the itoppage of payment in fpecie—on the part of the Ilank--*— the mutinous proceedings that took place in the navy, and the extreme depreflion of the pubic funds—when, after the endeavours made by several Gentlemen to obilrua the efforts of that Houfe and the Government, thofe Gentlemen had, with declarations of defpondency, given up ever y thing as irretrievable, and defencd their poi, without holding out a tingle hand to rcfcue their country from danger—after all thole circumftances, he did at that very time, bring forward this folid fyftem of finance; and the Houfe with its wonted dignity and fit mnefs, coincided with him in the propriety of the meafure. He would ark, therefore, whe ther he could 're charged with an error in having brought forward that tax—the juitice of which no body could, on folid grounds, objcdt to--becatife difficulties had arifen in the colleCtion of it, which rendered it lefs produftive than it was calculated to be ? Thc benefits expefted to refult from it were certainly very much diminifloed; but notwitliftand ing that diminution it produced effeCts that evi dently deirionftrated its value. There were - even perfins at that time with the heft of hearts and the foundeit principles who fhrunk under the difficul ties before them ; but there were others who thought them not irretrievable, and who were firmly refolved to meet them. This tax, there fore, was brought forward at that time of unex ampled prelTure: the war was perfevered in, and the nation went on with redoubled vigour; her finances, commerce, and refources, encreafed every day ; and notwithftanding the rigour of the feafons, which caufed fuch diftrefs among the poorer claires of the community, (he was con tinually increafing in wealth and profperity, which was at kit the means of bringing about a peace. The expences of this year, though a year of peace, were, owing to the length of time to which the negotiations were pro traCted, equal to the expences of a year of war ; yet he withed the Houfe to confider that at this very time, when an entire war etlablifhtnent was kept up, a Loan was negotiated on terms as fa vourable as it was nine years ago, at the ct anmence ment of the war. He could fay with confidence that there advantages were very much owing to that tax which was now about to he repealed : and he had oaly to • etiu.al the Ceutlemenooi.o'ite to hint would take other day to make I:nt dv penance for having branght forward tcm of Fin.y.e.e. IVilh regard to the oh!c.(;i made to fork. of the Taxes then propofed, he cer tainly felt that the Hon. Gentleman v.-ho pi oved of the Tax n Porter was entitled to the Lt. vour:Me conid,:r 'don of the Hours, as hr ceived himf*.e'd . Ekely to be perfonally it. But, i.t his opinion, the Hon. Gen:l!man mi!lak it M the pound on which he argued agaiult the nn:afure. It was not a tax on the tr„de or . Brewct s, litcauCe he was convinced that aftrr this duty, the beer might dill continu to he fOid at the ! nice to whash the b• ewers had, daring the late !eareity, rairsd it. Ile would lay one word nt,re on tbjcd bro.l::lic l.rward that day, and winch deiCrvcd gr.ett deal of difcadioa--henteant the moslificat ;on about to take place in the Sink. ing l'und. lie conlidt red this meafur e as a very teat reiaihrcement of a fyilern that had already caufed loch important and !ailing advantages to die Public: a plan that had more than arty oiler contributed to keep alive the %Imam of the try, and broni,ht her to that date of prolpetity (he was now in. Mr. liukooN did not think that thole advan tages were likely to arife from the renewal of the Convoy Duty which werc Rated by the Chancel lor of .hz Exchequer, who he hoped would cOnfl. der the ftibj .6t attentively. As to the lncomeTax, he had given it his fupport, and he believed in his conf:icocc it had Sec..ithe titivation of the cc - unary. The Hon. Member concluded with exprefling his high apprlbation of the whule condua of Mr-Pitt wide Miniaer. The CHANCLIA.OR of the Excittoptit raid, that owing to the papers not being ready, he did not mean to propole the Duty on Exports and Imports that evening. Mr. Gacy began by n'oferving on the manner in w!.ich the Right Hon. Gentleman, on the oppofite fide, introduced his remarks on the condud of own adminifl..ation during the late war, which in facet had nothing to do with the fuhjed before the Committee, and to do which the Right Hon. Gen tleman had taken advantage of fume expretlions in the fpeech of his Hon. Friend (Mr. Whithreed ). The Right lion. Gentleman fpoke in fuch terms of exultation of his public ftrvices, that he appear ed to confider himfelf the Saviour of the country. There were, however, two ftriking features in the proceedings of this night, which did not go entirely to juftify the Right lion. Gentleman's pretenfions: —the one was the total abandonment of that folic' fyflem of Finance, once his proudeft boaft ; and the other was the fubverfion of that Sinking Fund Ivltem, for the eftablithment of which the Right Hon. Gentleman was fo folicitous, that a Law Lord of the &a emiitence was dithriffed from of fice, hecaufe he ventured to doubt its wildom and propriety ; and for the prefeivation of which the Right Hon. Gentleman was fo anxious, that he then declared that the condud of every future Mi nitter lhould be carefully watched, in order that that fyltem lhould not be departed from in the {lighten degree ; yet that at was to be this night completely infringed ; and with the Right Hon. Gentleman's affTra, another fvfleni wart° be fob- Itituted in its room. He would not appeal to the Right Hon. Gentleman as to the confequences likely to refult from this newfyftem, for from the known fanguinenefs of his temper, his predidions were not very much to be relied on ; but he would :ilk the Right Hon. Gentleman on the floor to !late whether, and why he thought this new fyttem would be as beneficial as that which it was meant to get rid of ? He would alfo afk him, how the fifty-fix millions which were borrowed on the faith of the Income Tax,' and which were to be paid off in eight or ten years, by the produce of that Tax, were now to be provided for ? Would it be con latent with the national faith, pledged to the Pub. lic Creditor, that this debt lhould be difcharged within a limited period—to incorporate it with the general debt of the country, and allow it to wait the fame fate ? He called on the Right Honour able Gentleman to explain this. Thu u.;h it was impolfible for any man, who valued jallice and popular liberty, to look at the Income Tax with out horror, yet its propefed repeal naturally produced the reflections he bad Itavd.— !Its change of fyltem, however, it was not difficult to account for—it could have refulted from nothiag but the mirchievons operation and inefficient p... - duce of that pernicious Tax—a Tax which was ftrongly oppofed at the time it w:5 en ided, and as ftrongly fupportcd by the Minifter and his ad herents ; yet now experience was found to confirm the predictions of its opponents, and to evince the erroneous calculations of its friends, the Milliner being obliged by the loud and imiverfal complaint of the country, to propofe its abolition. lie thanked GOD, however, that the country was about to be relieved from it. Among the other irrelevant obfervations of the Hon. Gentleman, (Mr. Pitt) he hefitated not to Alin, that we had attained all the objects of the war, bee:title we had gained all that we had not loft ; that is to fay, that we had obtained what was once termed in that Hotife—. , negative fuccefs ;" ho' why thnuld the Right Hon. Gentleman alTume what it .vould be, indeed. rather difficult to prove, namely, that we lhould have loft thofe things to which the Right Hon. Gentleman alluded, had we declined the war. If the Right Hon. Gentleman withal to be correctly informed.as to the boafted flicceis cf the war, let him afk the people who were hifrering under the preffur e o f t h o le. burthelis which the - war had accumulated ; let him iliten to the cry of diftrefs which refounded from every quarter of the empire —to the murmurs of the taboo:LT, the ut matt exertion of whofe induary was ina..ey aate to furnith him with common lultenanee ; let him afk the opinions of his old colleagues ; let him confult the fentiments of his fellow labourers, who, far from thinking the war fuecefsful, were forward to aifert that the Minifter, in concluding the Peace, had figned the death-warrant of the country.—. Let the Right Hon. Gentleman compare thefe authorities with his own opinion, and account for the difference. The voice of the people and of his OYU party was agaialt him on this 4kcah00...., .tiIhUMY 1 I