Star. — London, England, 1819-04-02 00:00:00

att ention of Parliament—the debt of the by the trustees to be £230,000. Of was a real debt, and had been in tilding of some new street ; the other 1m lent to improve the port and bar , This debt, according to the state- Learned Lord, had been created by an - and by and with the consent and burgesses. He wished, however, to ex estance, which had been rather mis s shew the House how far the system of co ncealment had been carried on within alone—( Hear.) In the year 1800, the ished to erect two new streets, and :pense of building them at £30,000. they laid before the Burgesses, and appear extravagant, obtained the irgesscs to their obtaining an Act enable them to carry their scheme They obtained an Act of Parliament ender which the Magistrates of the iber for the Burgh, and the Member w ere appointed Managing Trustees. limit that they should not commence they had collected 1:20,000 ; and them to borrow one single sixpence I ask the Honourable Member for i'erdeen, whom he rejoiced to see in his place, bow „ n v of the meetings under this Act he had attended? • D ; (Mr. Home) was rightly; informed, there had after the first Quarterly Meeting, been one full ; and yet a large debt had been contracted, - the particulars under which it had been con . were all unknown, except the naked fact, it had been contracted by the Treasurer: so seventeen years a system of concealment had on, which it would have been impossible ;e carried on under any other system. He had possession a letter from a Gentleman who had a Member of the Council in 1811 ; but who • turned out of it subsequently to that period, he had suspected that every thing was not right, and because he had dared to express cions. This Gentlemen one day, on turning Minutes of the Council, was surprised to ;cat lie had been put down as present, when in hu was absent, at a Meeting when £lO,OOO Ved by the Council. If a Committee be appointed, and he hoped that a Committee be appointed—(Hear, hear),—to take into con e the system of the Royal Burghs, the facts. he had just detailed to them would be proved , aleman who, because he was an honest man, A allowed to remain a Member of the Council. that was known of this loan, and the circum ;lea with it, was, that the Magistrates consented to it. The whole debt of £230,000 to 510 creditors, of which 32 were charit. institutions. The money thus borrowed and ex • - the he was happy to say, would as the management of it was in the hand; and there was a prospect that through :ions care for a few years there might be lal to pay the debt—(hear, hear, hear). to the conduct of the Magistrates of Aber- Honourable Gentleman said, that they had most improperly their authority already new set of the burgh by interfering with fund:. Considering what the conduct of had been, he asked the Learned Lord, election, which was given to Montrose. ,used to Aberdeen? The Learned Lord had , thu• gross misconduct, or misnianagoi could justify the Privy Council in grant ee for the poll election, and depriving the the sight they previously exercised. ha he conduct of thc Aberdeen Mag istrates, fox. ' years, during which they had acted on a secrecy and concealmeht,—during which occasioned great distress,—during which, those who hid a right to allowances were )y them to neglect and want,—present such misconduct or mismanagement, as called, .ivation of that power of self-election which such mischiefs.? What had Montrose done fate horn which Aberdeen had been saved? Magistrates chose to elect by ballot. This rocs illegality, the unpardonable misconduct they- had been guilty—(Loud cheering). used a few white and black balls at their and this was the monstrous crime for which was thrown open to poll election—(A laugh). rad not occurred a single in stance for the last a'rs, in which a burgh whose set had been lost 'ioned for a poll election, and had been refused. aourable Geuticman stated some facts in sup• xis assertion, and particularly alluded to the Montrose and Brechin at the time of the last • Why then did not Ministers in the exer soir.el discretion ' ,errant the Citizens of Aber- Election ? The case of Montrose, which means had been freed from their influence, them.—(Hear.) They saw they were losing hence, aid therefore would not repeat the lent—Wear.) He could not here pass/. curs:stance which came to his hearing, manifested a strange inconsistency in the cone the Learned Lord. By the advice of that . Lord, ....lonrrose had obtained a warrant for Election ; but when Aberdeen came to be in tme situation as Montrose, shewing a gross MIS. On the part of the Magistrates, of which t'ese was not guilty, he advised the Council to fcot Petitions to the Privy Council, praying old sect might be renewed. The Learned told the Couwilt that if they could get such I respectable signed, they would succeed in 'Oka: el.—(iken) What had been the re ht of a vrpulation of 30 ,000, only 43 persons x ~,,F rcmc d to sig n suc h P et i t i on (L ou d c h eers ) ; -15 - .were all in the houses of individuals of . Though the Learned Lord thus re er.ded tltc Council to get the signature of re and independent men, there was not the ,4,b'f„ral:. independent man in the whole list of the a , - cheers), while 1,400 independent -4 .td voted on :he ' done to e atom side. Such was the in ,the majority of the Citizens ; the prayers of -IS individuals against th ( g ), ..--Ificar, hear.) Loan - )v ?:4,1 8ay • 1 01,1. Eof SCOTLAND ex lAonourable Member bad spoken of • eiesented to the Privy Council, upon the 1 . 4 person wh o h a d given him 4 statement' :" 174 % t;:lte an d un f oun d e d tiked if the Learned Lord conbidered what he had said, a falsehood, and unfounded— (Cries of Order, order!) The - LORD ADVOCATE of SCOTLAND said, he certainly considered his informant had given him an incorrect statement. The SPEAKER called to order. If the confusion which prevailed in the House had not prevented the Honourable Member from hearing, he could not have misunderstood the observation .of the Learned Lord. Mr. FERGUSON spoke favourably of the Magis trates of Aberdeen, whom he had long known to be honourable and respectable. Mr. FORBES said, that he should have refrained from offering himself to the attention of the House upon the present occasion, had he not thought him self compelled to contradict some of the bold asser tions of the Noble Lord who had originated this Mo tion. When he heard such unfounded declarations made against a public body, nothing on earth should prevent him from speaking—( hear, hear, hear)—He wished particularly to call the attention of the House to the observations of the Noble Lord, with respect to the finances of the town of Aberdeen. It had been stated, that the town had been c/eclared a bankrupt to the extent of £230,000. This had in some measure been explained by the Honourable Member opposite (Mr. Hume) ; but the fact was, that the sum expended upon the streets and the harbour only amounted to £208,000, the sum of £1Q6,000 being expended upon the streets, and £42,000 upon the harbour. For the payment of the interest of this debt, the town had revenues to within £6OO of the interest of the whole debt due, at five per cent. He felt persuaded that five per cent. interest would be paid, and that ultimately the creditors would not lose one farthing. It was a very remarkable fact also, which was strongly in favour of his argument, that the charities had not suffered the loss of a six pence, notwithstanding this alleged bankruptcy. Sir GEORGE CLERK spoke in opposition to the Motion, and justifies' by precedent, the authority of Government in granting warrants for the re-election of Magistrates. Whates er malversation the Magis trates of Aberdeen might have been guilty of, he contended that it had nothing to do with the present question. Whether strict law or uniform practice were considered, he thought that no ground had been laid for the motion. Mr. MAXWELL was of opinion that the warrant was illegal, and that the inhabitants of Aberdeen were much better judges of their own interests than the Lard Advocate or his Majesty's Ministers, who had never seen, and knew nothing of the town. Had not the call been made upon Parliament, it was impos sible to say to what lengths the little junto of Magis tracy might not have 'one. Mr. WILBERFORCE felt that enough had been brought forward in the cour. 2 of the debate to shew that it was the duty of the House not to stifle in quiry into this subject. The authenticity of that most important declaration of the Magistrates, that the old system was liable to the grossest abuse, and had been the source of most of the evils complained of. had not been denied by any Member, and that of itself was sufficient ground for the motion. What would be said if the same abuses had existed in any town of England? —(Hear, 'tear, hear.) This was a fair way of putting the question, because those at a distance, and who were mere uninfluenced by-standers, were the most impartial judges upon the subject. Mr. FIN LAY said, that when a particular ease like the present occurred, the House was called upon to interpose. The Learned Losd had made a long speech upon the law, but he had not touched the facts ; and if he had proved that a practice esisted, the had failed to shew that it ought to exist—(Cheers). no fact, no man but the Learned Lord would have undertaken in such unqualified terms to defend the system of the Scotch 13urghs. lie had shewn an utter ignorance of all the particulars of the case ; and if his law were as bad, as his facts were defective, his case had not a leg to stand upor.—( flear, hear). Lnrd C ASTLEREAGH would not have risen, but for the sentiments just delivered : lie was quite wil ling to rest the whole case upon the admirable and lucid speech of his Leat ued Friend :—( Laugkter ) that speech had been treated by the other side of the House in a manner which sufficiently proved that they were incompetent to reply to it—( Continued laughter from the Opposition Benches).—The great defect of the speeches on the other side was, that they assumed the whole case; for no one act of cri minality had been established against the Burgh of Aberdeen. All that the Magistrates had done was for the Improvement of the Town, and there was not even an allegation of mal-administration. It was not just, because they Rad borrowed money of Public Charities which had been freely lent, and the interest upon whichshad been regularly paid, to brand the whole body with fraud and malversation—( Hear).- -It was quite obvious that the object of the motion was exactly what it was so strenuously contended not to be. The Noble Lord (Archibald Hamilton) had done his utmost to persuade the House that he asked very little, that his motion was one that none could refuse ; but in fact it was nothing else than to intro duce into Scotland a Parliamentary Reform, which the other side of the House could not obtain for, England.—(Hear, on both sides.)—The disguise was somewhat too thin to cover the real purpose, how ever artfully the Noble Lord might have enveloped his motion in it. For his own part, he (Lord Castle reagh) was decidedly of opinion, that after the Act of Union the House had no jurisdiction to interpose, and whatever objections might now be made to the system of election, it was obvious that the same opi nion did not prevail in the reign of Queen Anne; for one of the ancestors of the Noble Lord had himself brought forward a motion in the Scotch Parliament, expressive of the highest approbation. Setting aside this point, however, no case for inquiry or interfe rence had been established. Assertions might be very serviceable, especially if they were sufficiently bold; and it might be very convenient to some Gentlemen to obtain a Whig, instead of a Tory, Magistracy ; but it became the House to be cau'tious how it listen ed to such statements.:.—(Cheers.)—.Ar.other reason for not complying with the motion, therefore, was, that if the Crown ought in this instance to take upon itself to give directions for disfranchisement, no case 1 could occur, however triflin , where the. same claim might not be made backed by this precedent. Upon! the whole, therefore, he was well satisfied that the House w ould do wisely intejecting the proposition. Lord A. HM411,1'01 6 1 maid, coateading that nti, answer had been given to hisitatamat of facts, eithet 'by the Learned Lord Advocate, the Noble Lord op posite (Casdereagh), or by the young Lord of the Admiralty—the sucking statesman—the pupil of the Noble Lord, who having now for the first time left the nursery of Whitehall, had given so excellent a proof of his aptness under so able a tutor —(cheers.) The House then divided—the numbers were as fol lows—For the motion 105—Against it 110—Majo• rity 5. The announcement of the result of the divi sion was received with continued cheers from the Op position side of the House. The motion for the production of the several docu ments alluded to by the Noble Lord, was then put and negatived. Lord A. HAMILTON said, that as the House on this occasion had divided so nearly, he should feel it right soon after the holidays to move for other papers, containing the reports of the law officers of the Crown. the atteßtior was stated by tl oto 121660 1; !. / - in the buildi c i", , 000 was a sum of -Aberdeen. ro of the Larne( O t t it ci p ar li a ment, is ri • rf o f the burge 40 1 : t his circumsta e d, and to shew ; j eer and conceal burgh alone -1 ; h i s tracy had wi' t i t/ rated the expel , !zt EstinlateS ; 111 did not t at e tion of the Bur, pliament to en 'execution. Th e Purpose, Ull jab, the 111embe County, we 4 1, 1 required • .iroperations till 71 n ot authorize tl :n e. He would ug h the .par uteri were a it had be ,at for sevente ken carried on bare carried his possessia /a a !demise 1 Ices ternei c xause he had esiag on right, suspicions. ~ : tr the Minnt d ;rat he hal rd.itv he wa; horrowed . iould he app9 could be appoi iil.T.eion the s illicit he had j it 4 Gentkm:t tts: , .ot allowe 1 1 .; that was races connect mJ consented due to 51 institution rzied by the be lost, as I ; , rir,tces, ar judicious t erin;tot tr., the Hon , :7‘ised mos the ne%% pildry ilc Claimed h; u'ay a poll e 1 vab:eused a avntied, ti :al alone, c Ipalvanant tin tot the cc ....last 17 y , peat of sec Ley had occ clay of the aiteseJ by tl of mi dcpriva haled to su oczrit a fat the N; %.4% the grits 4 %lid% They had us ioa; ant 6e burgh wa Lee had a years, ii tipetiticm t .. 111);10'.11 NI of dais ates cf 31o: : 4 4rarrl. of a So 7 Ikea a Poll me: 7. zr,Ectl. the tlt ;ns.lc: ti? er i rnent. circum zch mini daft the Itraed "Pcil Elet 4 sap* si .44 4tiCt aasd loatose r, ll f eci at ice lied told appli • t),, t •••• p. 'able ti:nt of a ler d o , 4 like t ,J . • LANARKSIIIRE. Lord ARCHIBALD HAMILTON, in consequence of information which he had received respecting cer tain legal proceedings between the parties concerned, thought that it would be unfair to forward his intended motion respecting the Lanarkshire Election. Ibis Lordship therefore postponed till after the recess. Tho LORD ADVOCATE of SCOTLAND wished to know, whether it was wished to put off the ballot indefinitely, till after the Lords had taken up the question alluded to? Lord ARCHIBALD HAMILTON said, as far as he was concerned, he did not wish for any particular . day. He only wished the House to be aware of the circumstance, that it might be decided that Sir Alex. Cochrane could not be a freeholder of the County of Lanark, and therefore was a person not qualified to sit in the House at all. Mr. I3ANKES said, a Committee of tho House had full powers to decide on a question of this nature, without regarding any decision of the House of Lords. SINKING FUND DILL ACT. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved, that the House then resolve itself into a Corn mittee on the Sinking Fund Bill Act. Some additional clauses were proposed, the prin. cipal of which were— That it was expedient that the Commissioners for the Reduc tion of the National Debt should be allowed to accept offers from the Commissioners and Trustees of the Waterloo Fund, for the transfer of Long Annuities , on the books of the Dank of England. That all Annuities for Lives or for years, granted to such Commissioners, shall be charged on the Fund fur the reduction of the National Debt. LICENCP.S. The House then resolved itself into a Committee on the Excise Licence Act, when it was agreed that the additional duty of a. 6s. 6d. charged on persons selling silver plate, shall not be payable by persons selling gold and silver watches only. The Ilouse adjourned at Ow &Cloak this Morning. AMERICAN CONGRESS. IN THE SENATE. FEBRUARY :3. CONDUCT OR CFNERAL JACKSON. Mr. Lacocie, from the Committee appointed in pursuance of the Resolution of the Senate, of the 18th of December last moved, " That the Message of the President, and Documents relative to the Seminole War, be referred to a Select Committee, who shall have authority, if necessary, to send for persons and papers ; that said Committee inquire relative to the advance of the United Stara troor. into WC3t Fin rida; whether the Officers in Command at Pensa cola and St. Mark's, were amenable to, and under the controul of, Spain ; and particularly what circum stances existed, to authorize or justify the Command ing-General in taking possession of those posts." l'he Report takes a detailed view of the whole of the military i,roceedings of General Jackson, in the origin, progress, and conduct of the war against the Seminole Indians, and his subsequent incursion into the Spanish territory, and while it does justice to his vigour condemns the means resorted to in rai,ing volunteers. &c. contrary to the orders the Sccro tary at War, and in violation of tlic principles of the Constitution, and the tendency of which was to in volve the nation in a war without her consent, and for reasons of his own, unconnected with his military functions." The Alickasuky towns were first taken and de stroyed ; the army marched upon St. Mark's, a feeble Spanish garrison, which was surrendered without, firing a gun," and then occupied it as an American, post: the Spanish Commandant having, fiat by humble entreaties, and then by a timid protest, en-, deavoured to avert the measure. Here Alexander Arbuthnot was found, taken prisoner, and put in confinement, for the purpose, as it was stated by Ge neral Jackson, " of collecting evidence to establish his guilt ;" and here also were taken two Indian, Chiefs, one of whom pretended to possess the spirit of prophecy ; they were hung without trial, and with little ceremony. This being done, and St. Mark's garrisoned by American troops, the army pursued their match east-' ! ward to Suwaney River , on which they found a lar g e Indian village, which was consumed, and the Indians' and negroes were dispersed; after which the army returned to St. Mark's, bringing with them Robert C. Ambrister, who had been taken prisoner on their march to Suwaney. During the halt of the army for a few days at St. Mark's, a general court-mar tial was called, Arbuthnot was arraigned, fouls& guilty, sentenced to suffer death, and hung. Ambrister was tried in like manner, found guilty, and sentenced to whipping and confinement. Gene- . ral Jackson annulled the sentence, and ordered him to be shot; and this order was executed. Speaking particularly of the invasion of the SpaH nish territory, the Report thus proceeds; The Treaty with Spain still existed ; it was made' by the Constitution, the supreme law of the land,' and had Spain violated, on her part, every article of that Treaty, still the Executive of the United States, 'rho is bound to see the laws faithfully executed,' Most, in good faith towards Spain, haVe observed on our part that Treaty; and the obligation of preserv ,iag the peace of the nation would have remained 'until the Treaty should have been revoked or annul led by Congress. Furnishing the Indians with arms, ammunition, and supplies, were so many violations treaty stipulations, and might have been consi -ed .good. c4ur- of war by Cp4ress ; but of this 101 .4eek9an ms no; thqjudkc, His duty was ivAkto ktskel4e l apd punish the Semi acs, whom weorfre at war ; for this ' wits jailed to . pursue them to the terri.. P~~ tonal limits of Spain, and over a part of which ter ritory-those Indians had, at least, a qualified right of possession and property. Under these orders, no act of aggression on •the Spanish Authorities could have been designed, nor can any such acts be justi fied. Spain, before she could become or be mad, a party to this war, must have merged her neutral character in that of the enemy, and clearly identi fied herself with the Seminole Indians, and by acts of open and undisguised hostility to General Jack son, have opposed him by physical, not moral force. Adverting to the plea of weakness on the part of the Spanish Authorities, the Report says-- "-The time was when ere United States were also weak ; she had no navy, she had no army. In those days she was a strong advocate for neutral rights ; anxious that free ships should make flee goods ; that the neutral flag of the Republic should protect all sailing under it; ever protesting against, and com plaining of, the violiition of her neutral rights by the belligerents of Europe. But these times have passed away, the nation has tried her strength in battle, and found herself quite equal to the struggle—she has had time to strengthen her army, and to increase her navy ; her former weakness forgotten, her former precepts abandoned, and feeling power and forget ting right, she walks over a prostrate Constitution to conquer and subdue a miserable and feeble, though neutral colony, whose very weakness (pleaded in ex cuse for the aggression), should have rather con:ai i tuted an appeal to a generous people for protection:' In this unfavourable light, the Committee have too much reason to fear, will the civilized world view this transaction, and if sanctioned by the nation, they regret to . say, there will be too much reason given thus to consider it. But there are still other reasons disclosed and facts developed, that discover the motives cf the Com manding Officer, more fully than those above stated. More than two months after this campaign had ended, and the Seminole war was terminated, another expe dition is planned, and the laud and naval forces of the United States ordered to execute it, which is to reduce the fortress of St. Augustine, the capital of East Florida. The reasons offered for this measure arc stated in his orders to General Gaines, dated Nashville, August 7, 1813, and are as follows : " I have noted with attention Major Twi g g's letter, marked No, 5. 1 contemplated that the agents of Spain, or the Officers of Fort St. Augustine. would excite the Indians to hostility, and furnish them with the means of war. It will be necessary to obtain evi dence substantiating this fact, and that thehostile In dians have been fed and furnished from the garrisca of St. Augustine. This being obtained, should yoo • deem your force sufficient, you will proceed to twee and garrison Fort St.August:ne with American tr00p , .., and hold the garrison prisoners until you hear from the President of the United States ; or transport them to Cuba, as in your judgment, under existing dream stances you may think best. " Let it be remembered, that the proceedings car. tied on by me, or this order, is not on the ground that we are at war with Spain—it is on the ground of self-preservation, bottomed on the broad basis of the law of nature and of nations, and justified by giving peace and .security to our frontiers; hence the necessey of procuring evidence of the fact of the agents or officers of Spain having excited the Indians so continue the war against us, and that they Imo Aseet.he.i. Este the IflßCrt . n3 ere 4,, h e; vn the 1 1 war; this evidence being obtained, you will, yoar force is sufficient, permit nothing to prevent you from reducing Fort St. Augustine, except a positive order from the Department of War. Orders some time since have been given to the Officer of the Ordnance commanding at Charleston, to have in readiness a complete battle train, the num. her and calibre cf the guns pointed out : I have no doubt you will find them in readiness. " I inclose you the Report of Captain Hc-aley, of the na al force on that station. You will open a correspondence with Commandaet-A. J. Dallas, to in sure his co-operation, provided it should be required." lu this projected expeCion, it was, not thought necessary or expedient to ult the Executive branch of the Government ; the irder sent to General was peremptory, on the' discovery being made dna the Indians had been supplied with ammunition and provisions, and excited to war; tla-..t blow was to be struck, and nothing but an express order from the Secretary of War was to prevent it. Long before this period, the Commanding General had, by his letters to the Secreta: y of NVar, declared the Seminole war at an end, and after which not a single new .act of hostility had been committed. Yet, in this state of peace, is a military Officer directed to ascertain cer tain facts, and on such facts being substantiated, to make war on the neutral colony of a nation in peace and amity with the United States ; thus disrega: ding not only the Legislative and Executive Authorities of the United States, but setting at nought the usages of all civilized nations, by making war without a pre, Minus and public declaration. Were this nation subject to the will of a military despot, and were there no constitutional barriers to the inordinate ceercise of military ambition, more than this could scarcely have been expected. It is with pain the Committee are constrained to make these observations; but wherethe vital principles of the con stitution have been violated, as they conceive, it would be criminal in them, under the instructions theyt have received from the Senate, and the duty they owe to the nation, to be silent. Silence en their part would have been considered an acquiescence in those measures, and they tietr this precedent and es ample may be pleaded and folto wed on other occasions. If these things ho admitted in the south, will they not be considered as authorised in the North e Are there not fortresses there to be won, and provinces to be conquered, and are there not Indians in that quar ter likewise, and may not the officer in command find means to prove that those Indians have been, or hereafter may be, furnished by the British with arms and munitions of war, and if so, may he not follow the example set in the South, teld add something to his stock of military fame, by redeeing the Brinfh fortresses of Canada, and unfurling the star-spangled banners of this nation pn the walls of Quebec ? • We hope better things of the distinguished CNcer, et the head of our mimes, and we had hoped better things of the Het o of New Orleans, but we have been disappointed ; and if the conduct of the of in the south be sanctioned and approved by the tion, we are free to declare that the reduction bec (v:hcrc Mantg,omery fdl, unable to { ~ ... i i ( I . I I i .., i i by the :la- cin of Qut- conquer),