Star. — London, England, 1828-05-02 00:00:00

f o rt, t he shlayok. Alderm'ett, and • ; eisOns enghied Ili w r „ v iog uf. St* it. NO,rwrifli, cirtn . plaining the l ow rate Tfie,rqnnpflopturers had o• strong tijoac iamtn,grve their WOrmen good Wages. but cir• comstances prevented them.. The protection given to the agricultutist was. a . forithen on the working clines. ve te mercantile interests, the •Silk trade especially: re nu.4ol further protection. He would not then move 'l4, Committee. of Inquiry, but he trusted that the p et i t i o n he held in his hand would meet with the serious and deliberate attentidn oldie House. He moved that the petition be brought up. • m i ,WODEHOUSE said, that be had a similar Pe. s w o t to present; and that he trusted the House would p ay the attention which was due to so important a su bject. sit. BERNAL had also a Petition to present to the use on the subject. The present• state of things de. wo w t he most serious attention of Parliament. The neitionallowing from so many qoarters were quite as 4 ;4 entitled to consideration as the claims of any other s i s o of his Majesty's subjects, whether agricultural or commercial. All that the Periti-ners required was, Mat the masters and the men stviuld he eitipoo.ered to N ed fur the purpose of arrangiirr, the rate of the wages which might be justified by the circumstances of the r i ot !. Hrestrongly urged the appointment of a Com mittee to inquire into the subject. bar. FLYER said, that he also had Petitions of a similar nature to present from Coventry and SpitaL fields. He deprecated the pressing of abstract principles of p acy in cases in which the general interests al whole classes were concerned. 'What the Petitioners wished for was, not any legislative standard or results. tino of wage s , but that a Committee should be formed of masters And men, to meet from time to time. and arrange what appeared to them to be the proper rate. f; by granting that request the persons now complain. in were pacified. a great step would be gained. Mr. W. SM I l'H, 'while he was quite sensible of the, gi kvences under which the Petitioners lab o ured; wai l mike as adverse to the proposed remedy as the Hon., Alderman by whom the Petition had been presented. He was perfectly convinced, that any Legiilative . . interference between the* masters and the workmen would be pi ochre ice n f the most injurious consrquencrsA Mr..C. GRANT thought that the pre ent was not a kopportunit) for the di;cussion of the subject, though veld not refrain from acknowledging that he felt a interest in the fate of the Petitioners, to whose cheater and conduct he was willing to bear the tti beeof his praise. lie thought the House ought to se.the Petiti2hOrt4i every favourable feeling, be could not soma the doctrines advanced, could he altogether agree that the Petitioners weft' ) distressed a condition as some bad represented. the year 18011..m.mral taitsinitteis had set upom , and they bad in agreed upon the imprac. L iability of settling a minimum ol'iages by eV dative enactment. Every Commitme Atad tn. agreed that this measure liras tspriaiishlgsprac-, *able, but that, were it practicable, a recourse to at Id be attended with the worst possible ccritsequeoces.l Right Honourible Gentleman then read .trattiousi its from the Report's of tonnistees, in prelerl , port his previous assertions. He felt +winced' had parliament formerly fixed. or attemPiesi Unimum price of the warn of weavers, tfie mit:Orr mutes of the "country' could sieves' bine Bien. . to their prr,ent carriclitipn• IddOIC)C sopporied the appointment of a C 0..! , The Petition did not pray for a minimum a , bet it prayed that the wages shootd 'beret ['Cc! he thought the plan tnniediNchtt io be e z ,4 - .' to effeCr. A ,modes ate Chrh arlf Would .be else is of relieving the Petitioners rbut them *lb another remedy—rednetion• of *the tiles. TOoW were prictiCal; not tbeofetitaltrigible, tSot If tie Engiisb etrictsliiirint iere as generous; _ poor as the French aericulturistis, the oistreis of. lin waking classes of England witsld be iteat '40041: .00 a! , - - IIh.WOOD said. ;hit if the House refused.to appoint s.Comietkere, the.retitsoners would naturally complain« Thy would . sly. N if we are in error, why is not a Ca*: tearer appointed to sor lie hiokstiff *asides.: silted that the measpie 'WORId.Ee roala: impracticable an injurious;. bst txill he thought a Coma mine, ought to be appninted, for the satisfaction of the Petitioners. fle.regifrdei the Corn Laws as . the sails of the dinTe,s in the ptiiimkOirifig,olisiricti. Titretithe was thee teos ,Ot't srhnwsk to ordered tabs pelpseit j IlliatiaL presented a rimier ladies freas the Mist Vows at Klearrattaster.—Orderee en hipdeied. CUSTOMS A ND =CIS* LAW TRORLAZMUjiML _Mr. HARVEY rose for the pu r po s e of moving a Iletalurion of which he had given Oink*. relative to 4kettliediency of appointing an efficient coriuml oiler origin and conduct, ail proceedings instituted Crown, for the recovery of penalties tinder. the • and Excise Laws. He had learned within an with regret, thitii was the intention of _his .Ma- Goreroro-- - oppose the °lotion. Ito regretted bectoirt it ,Made i lecessary 'ion go rag into statements and of a dreary tedioes lammed, however. to make was open the subject. which be would occupy its atten-; In the first place be shored of the country were most ;pea to Customs and Etch/ ,hem the iouittry wad lob. , cemary expense. • In the next hat the authority wkieb some crested was injnlions, repe at-Odin tbnet - erho stet! it By a reference to the Ar d Hotise world find that they ny dire Returns it . of . infoimation s filed bfibe Coon of •Escherpta . for and Excise Laws dosing fiet Of there 940 were for . the the*Coltrk idd.pl ;ist haws: 1 1 4 (401 jai* as 1,038.7098. and that shit equal proportions in the tem'. formations filed oa Itie .l 'l,att ;cessful ; a n d a ihe 944 Med iss**oB only were suece*sful. tiant tried by . th e'C r uitOin ?i I by the Excise. Ther - efore" 1,019 tans out of 1,861—.. thervonehalf of *the Whole. -Aged no • benefit whateien-j Pc l k! f !* 4 .o7 d ' e P i tt li # o 3 l4l epowoos p rofits in 'AV° Of . to the sum recoveiiiil; .fist, . erOant caught for, Ib7. bring little some than half a crown hole, and on the department of #.l4iritlioixopgt lotion; Nog ett4;licied: .B 0 i 5 7.4261. received, not one Earthing found rts way into the Exchequer. fia WAS eaten ip by law expenses and othereithrges: The" iiiiweetrutitala ... - stituted by the Ciiithdli, dialed arifritilieterrelsWiltd% IN! 28,0001. while thoe upiin the isrnceedingilOr the Esc'sre, were 59.2751. .Out of the 15/,B26l.i.being the . total re= coverei by the Crown, the sum of 45,8791. was paid so informers; ind the result of the whole . Wes, that - after the payment` of the law charges, the • ioqiiiners, lod other matters, the public revenue sustained a loss from the prosecution of the intormations of 12,0671- It further appeared, from an analysis which he had made of the returns before the House, that the costs in 63. cases amounted to 9,5771.—the amount of penalties went for in those cases, weer aged on each 301.--and• the tertittsum recovered was 3781- only.— Having stated thus much in support of hictirst position; he would call the attention of the House to the circum• stances which led to the aggravation of the evil. Upon an average the costs for every cause was 1721. No penelties, however small, could be recovered Ai less cost, on the average, than 1721. And upon looking over the particulars of the costs, he found two or three items. which were particularly worthy of attention.— He was perfectly satisfied that it was only necessary for him to bring them under the attention of his Majesty's Government in order to secure their removal. Toe first, item of that character was the fee paid ton person called the Clerk in Court. In the Court of Exchequer there , were six or eight of those persons, and their offices were sinecures, in as much as the duties were discharged byl deputies. The Clerk in Court received on in• averege, on each inforination 201. and such was the practice of the Court, that'no information could be prosecuted to, a conclusion without the assistance bf those o f fi cers. ‘ - 1 Another very singular item was 30'f jurors for 28 easse‘ being 0ft . 411 avera g e 141 jurors to each cause. Thaw' was a nine when jurors received 40s: for every ierdicil returned its favour of the Crown, and were fined in 20s. tor Every verdict returned against the Crown ; but that hlppe invention for securing verdicts wat no longer in force. and way he could account for so large a notaber of jurors was lions the fact of their being paid for ansswitiog tetheir names, whether they were ;rupee nelled or not. In one bill of costs he found, for 23jorye men. 20. 3s. and in another there were' 50 jurymen charged for. He thought that that ought to be amended, nay, he went farther, and thought that the jurors should not be paid 'at all. He then came to the fees paid • to Counsel. The aver age amount of the fees paid to the Counsel on each case was 521. It was an enormous• payment; for 'the business Os be transacted was, gene rally speaking. of a most simple kind, confined to - A sirilple faCt, and supported by very willing witnesses. He had a bill before him which would show that the Lew Officers 'of the Crown were most enormously paid, not for services performed, hilt generally for staying away for ifltiey did' not read one line of the brief, they Ltd their feet i did same. In the most simple cause hair niel ‘ere 'retained on the part of the Crown. The ItttOfpi i :dcneiat hid ten guineas, the Solicitor pelletal hid tett giineat, Mr. Clarke hal 81. 101.61 and Mr. Walton had 41.65. 6d. But he had also an*. the! 1)0).4 tbe costs incurred by a defen dant. .The brief for the prosecution consisted of eight sheets, and that for thedetence occupied nineteen sheets. Mr. Jatyis.'apentleniak - of well known eminence in his pinfetaioes; war the only Counsel for the defence;ind be received a fee of five guineas. , Then he ahed why it 'was that the counts? should have to pay 301. for that which s t in individual could bate tistuillY well done for rie•guineis? 'Having touched upon the expenses for . r..oneset. he would call the attention of the House to the expenses fur witnesses. The trial always took place in,W4orsioster Ha, and the .tonsequence was, that Nofrreijer great the distance, the parties were obliged to, 'come to L.oncion; In one case, where the witnesses re-. 'sided ar Newcastle, the charge upon their account 'wit thliee' litindred and eighty pounds; white if the' Icifielial been tried on Orcuit, the expenses would, have been comparatively nothing. lie wished to say 4 . few wordy with respect to the severity of the pro.; :ceed,ngs: Ha - had selected five pirticular cases.— ilone art executioh was issued' where the costs Wire' 061. and the produce of the "goods, all the man had in. 'the world, was 41. 7s.fid. In another the costs - were 1601. and the goods 'produced 51.55. 61. In another the costs were 1401. and the goods brought 111. Ifs. Its another the costs were 3251, and the goods predated, Si. 2s. Id. and in the fifth case the costs were 1411. and the levy was•l7.: In order to show the e ff ect of !Itch' sevealty..he refitted to a Petition on the table; fle'theat ) 'carne to the Wiressity of 'establishing a sufficient can-, . trottl over the origin and conduct of Excise and Cos., toms prosecutions. If he was told that at present no! it trirmatitin Could be peoceeded with but by the 'direr-' tiosi'of the Boaids„ it proved one of two things, either: that the Boards were inefficient from ignorance, or that they were guilty of culpable negligence. He had before him the bill of costs an one of the most severe and harsh cases ever.heard tit, even in the Court of Exchequer— llt waa'that Of,Captain fluent. By the Navigation Act, 'a Master of a vessel was Tendered liable to a penalty o f '4OO it was a variaticalsetween the ship's srlastifeei 'and its contents. It so happened' that Captain BrYairti who wider] . from ;hit country to Surinam, hid, on' hits arrival here, an entry of . 145 casks of pepper, weight 12,0601b5. bin on inspection the pepper proved to be in "bags instead of casks. Captain Bryant explained th chows:mess, whirls were unavoidable, and the POS• :toms. finding the weight perfectly accurate, gave bias permission to amend his manifest: He did so. Aber that he performed another. voyage, and his first salto: tatino on arriving in this country was an Exchequer ,process, Which bad. been issued out against He sent alleasotiitl to the Customs. bat the Petititte war rejected; oh the'grOand that no offeror plytneiti 'bad been made; In ail glees of 'hit, kind guilt woe ' presumed, and a man must admit that he is a criminal 'be im e be *can be acquitted. These wet u motive ftei 'die, for 41, the tittle the machinery the law was IN 'action. A third 'Petition Wai sent in rejected:t .A 4 length be was driven into the Court of,Eachequer for defetsce,'end the Chief Baron held that he was not Orthittect•hy law to amend hit manifest. - He then Mil a p 1 exceptions, and was floaty exonerated by "the pt yoseot of his costs. These costs upon an average were 475 i. The costs in this case were 1601.51.514 Oie he tatid hie own *solicittir 891. 81. At present, Mot easaoti thit kiqd'etel be tried at the Petty Sessionsbefoid Magistrates. But 'how does this system work? To w this he *told mention one case--that of Wawa stock. This . poor smin. alter many years' . setaiael WA a 10141 halite in: Stabbing. in the county if *IL where be tft • *mall brewery; whit lilablitAiritse.' He stk*d before"thted 'testi; p cfg ypeo. • Now he Amid ask, was this i - clee VW. of proceeding to *Point Clergymist ta'suelt it &nation? liawmay -lie 'rendered A good lawyer, hot in the same . pospossion he was tandiseri unfit for his "littlest dattiti;• oh. proportion as a than fitted himself tot We 4inortitornti Geral, the'sank prcto6F: 'i, . . post he toatd / ere4 item an t for that if I clertrilhao. Iteratteatat Sat orday he was suntroopedhefo#tberfi, and rewas 4ttedldt. because be did not wane jpreoise at which he intended to toe siiniegmfan, he money. and afterwards endeavoured to clear his shititii ;be brought the question'ter the ibssinei--alt thwiting's Counsel were arrayed Ifgainst hint. 'but the *firmer was found guilty of pesjory.- An applicatinh Lwas sob , eqtlently made to quash the indict ment.upon the grtiOnd MMUS' Malt was desci ibed ici be ibieviii,whereas he' was* tilettailfer.. He trusted the. Governstiesit would' restore to the poor Man the 3001. he paid f.'r the pur pose of vindicating his character. • This was enoegh to show that there should be some more efficient con trout. in instituting these prosecutions. He cast no imputation upon any person. It was the System that was defective. There ought to be some tribtutal of adequate responsibility, to be open at all times to the petitions of defendants.: He admitted the necessity of protecting . the public revenue ; but then he contended that it might be done with equal efficiency and less. oppression to the subject. 'The Honnutable Gentleman concluded by moving the following Resolution-0i That. it is expellent that an efficient controtal should be ap pointed over tl.e origin and conduct of all proceedings instituted by the Crown for the recovery of penalties under the Customs and Excise Laws:** • The ATTORNEY-GENERAL said, no person could have stated the case more lucidly, or with greater abi. lity than the Hon. Gentleman; If he did not follow him through the details, it would not arise from any want of desire tonommunicate fell information to the Haute. but because he thonght it unnecessary. He should prbeend to the more general consideration on which the 'Motion was grounded. The first statement of the Huainan& Gentleman was, that the sum paid in the ''wilofetieenses for prosecutions under the Eziise and tuapt Laws, exceeded by.,12.0001. the amount of sitt,penaltietrecoirered. Tire statement was perhaps correct. The amount of penalties received did not meet the whole of the.expenses. But the House must recollect that the Excise LAWS were applicable to a revenhe of not less than 43,000,00 M that' they em braced the protection of all • the great 'internal in. terests of the country; and that the Custoins' Laws ex- , tended over the whole of their commerce and .nirviga aims ; and the complaint of the Honourable Gentleman was that a system *to various and iMportant in its objects, so tridely extended in its operation,. was administered too deerly for 12,0001. In this they *ctimpletely 'dr& , fired. So far from considering it dear, bethought it very cheap. The neskgeneral . observation of the Hon. Gentleman was dart the litigation to which the present erten, gave rise was attended with great expensl .to &fendants, and that in many.cases thernperated-op pressieely.. This assertion would imply. that prosecu. lions were sometimes instituted improperly, and to prove it the Hon. Gentleman had re:ourse to figures. He said that during five years there were 940 cares in the Cus. torn; and Off irt - the "Estisei in all 1,8.41 . , of which 1,019 . went' tinsuiedsslel,ltd be therefore concluded that they were iestirOperly isrstitutedi as no more thin 832 had been tried. -But the Hon. Gentleman seemed to have forgotten Abet -in the other cases, either the parties shbotitted, or .else the matter was settled. The interim* he should draw from' theie faits was quite' different from that drttwn by the Hon. Gentleman. • If ,the whole of the 1,651 had been brought into the Court in Exchequer, and . l,ooo had been lost, he would be disposed to concur in the conclusion that such prawn. iions were often improperly instituted. But that was lb, no means the case. In the year 1823,. the number Of informations under the Eloise Laws Wast2B6.* The Crown obtained verdicti in fifty-nine, the defendants, 'were successful in three, and 173• were comprorniseiL 1624• the informations were 209; and in sixty of *kick' there were verdicts for the Crown, two were linaecceilful. and 147 were . compromised. In 1825 kiieid were 26.7 cases, eigt,t of which were lost. In 1826. `VI - cal/Whit - 0 only of which were lost; lad in 1827 160 carer, of which three were lost. The whole num ber of cases during three years; were 919, of which 'only eighteen were lost. He thought, therefore. he 'might look back with some degree of congratulation at this state •of the prosecutions under the Excise Laws, 'and Witty blame attachedttitheAttotneyand Solicitor , 'Central, he had every right to-ask of the House that it should be taken atm gran. sails. It appeared to him tbat.this was a tolerably fair per ventage of success, and that she Attorney-General ought to stand acquitted ,ea 'these imputation; of severity so very liberally deak Oat If he went to the Customs the thing was , neatly the same. To one hundred cases of success there ; *Was only the proportion of one or two failures. Here . the per tentage of success was acgreat as in the Excise. , :10 10323 there were three hundred and sixteen informs. tinol,end The failures-hole nil, there were none. This Ott of nexus asikabilis with the Attorney Gene ' litt. 1i did übt fail in 'a single case. In 1824 there. 'were tiro hundred and nineteen informations, and two failures; is .1825 One hundred and fifty-one cases and two Worts ; ie . 1827 twenty-seven cases end hire. He trusted, therefcre, the Attorney General Weald tilt appear in so monstreuse light to the House,' `es he did th iough the gangrened m edium held up by The HOhOuriblellentlenian. TheXonottrable-Gentle- . 1 Man made it a subject of serious charge, that the penal.',l ties amounted to one million sterling. tf which no more than 157,00 W. was ever received; but how did this tally with tfisether charge of 'oppression? If all the penal were exacted, Then indeed there might be some . irotind for' the: charge ; but ihtie two astertions de-. fated each other. In many cases theAttotney-General: l l n s sAh l t exact the double or triple penalty; when he took bre than one. This he tnonght Wes 'quire enough to the accusation of cruelty add epprenion brisiight by the Honotrable Gentleman against the 'Boards of. Excise and CuStOms, and against his' Ma jetty's Law Meets. He should not hate dwelt so long upon the Abject; but such statements. if they Wentibioad unconticacted, were calculated to injure 'their', Boards in a most" unjust way, and to bring into hatred and contempt the fiscal regulations of the 'coun `try. • There wete Many Cali in Which' a triple penalty might *be evicted. If• a 'brevrer, for • instance, paid 'only the slily of table beef, when in fact he manufac tured ale, •a triple penalty 'seat incurred; and he united, the hospitality of the ,IldnOurebte 'Gentleman would induce hint to aarhit thet this cane which should of be allowed to past isitheiut notice. In many sech taint, wbete the Attorney; General might demand SOW. he was id the:babit Of 'settling the matter by compro. mice. In IBS theie were 205 such cases compromised He fter4 he thinfght,' "to* sbfficiently proved that there was no 'ground • full these taunts. thrown out by the Honourable Gentleman on the 'seierity of the Attorney General. He neat asked what had been done with the 457,0091. paid is the shape of penal ties? and he said that 45,000 /. of it was paid to informers.' That •was net the fault of the Attorney General. In revenue cases thereon. no mice of pro ieecfsag but thrbuitit iftfermert; The whole protection of their revenue depended upon the information commu nicated to the Boards; and the principle of giving a roportion of the penalties to t h e i n f o rmer was as old ak their htic4e..lf theY abolished the practice of pay ing istlernserts-4 they gave thempa it the way . of paysiost , i , wtry . dies the infeemere 'meld giro the way of ioraratatiosi. • Heft WOOld be' V.":' 14161" lie was pc interference would be pi mroC. G kopportun be mold no Intl, Uttar Chlfalef a u iota his look ratihe dotter he c ow could is so destres Soce the y' the subject, tica~ity 01 kgidative formly ago ticatele, bui mould be at The flight emits ftc to support that, had P, fit, a minim ininsfactut anted to ti 'MG Mal trainee. Tr wages, but • Ho clewed ') • into efl I hest means a▪ lto soothe] a remedies w t, iitionary. 1 1 . 1 to the poor the or gis and conduct of alt 1 m the Crown, for the recovery Cauoms and Excise Laws. }, *or. with regret. ehie . 74 was • iv • p g. -71 Goveromentici Optt hi- *opposition the more, al •. , .him to support his motion bia kith were void of interest, I cater. He had endear* leer& master of the Returns de 'albeit'', the House, and hi 'timidly as possible. 10 I . e. !minds that the resources c eetly applied with respe enwcutions, and that by tilt , led to a great and unnecem L a. , Om, he should contend, that Is lithe Law Officers were inve '1 as it was erieriiitislWil meaning any responsibility. sit !Iltuns upon the table, the H Whir "PP°tttd him in three poi* a& aPPeareel that the ;umber of . LM Atenrney General in the t ltr L eaches of the Customs and reNwas no less than 1,851. b 1 geteyeiy of penaltiei Under di q' s PtnaltiO.under' the Excis , g e ' • .fit to be recoveted was fa distributed in nearly equ cots. Of the 911'infoi aa-Excise, 624 were succe s albs kita• , part of the cm,atoros s t were I n ,iittoraiatiai lb failed. imei.637 tiled h vf as a total kaitureof considerably mor e that i*t tit which the Ceawie deti " d, the Willre,Eert•ir4 'cas who raegive'd epormi ofth°'t`•". Then w ith res p ect t o I g le the 1,0 30:209/. the ptt~ Ar.lfit• 4 tecoveved, being litC met tue l'eund upon the whole, 4 1ents. outich Jai! "" il e'closettmlifkinoWL,l tq t Li )0 of the 157,1126 L receive, .$• "-i> -ions. one equivalent to the other but how was the revenue to be pierect.4lX- not know precisely what' • the proposition of the i firrenur able - .Gehilalban Was.' He .talked or establishing' e Akira tribenale 'lt is impossible •that ehr teiboula could be more efficient than the Boat& already existing. ' that; 'the bdtiftesi coditt be Utter administered by any body of me n . If an y ot h e r cribs-. nal should be established, it would soon become mach more odious than the present. The Hon. (Indianan alluded to 69 cases, in each of which the costs'vrere XS& He-did not, however, point them otirdistinctly. did nit deny that there might be cases in which, thou& the penalties sought were trilling. the expense Might be considerable.-.cases in which peculiar circurnilktees mighteender the prosecatido accessary, though the kilh. natty to be received could not be large. He.wasccd• cerned in twocases is which died= to be recovered was trifling, though the costs Were large. One was a case of lass, in which it was necessary that all the statutes hens: mg upon the point should be brought tegetberend castigated. Allusion was made to the clerks in the . chequer, and their place was rept - seated intli scni:eute. He could assure the House cher WINE IS/ lurmeatm sinecure. A vacancy lately Oecurrecho which he ap• pointed a Gentleman every way fit forthe sittiation•ibalf before the appointment he had a promise from him, kW, in wilting and by word, that he. would make 'himself master of the 'revenue laws'connected with'his depute.: ment, and take notes of every case which occurs ed.t hat the Batons Might- afterwatds have recourse to them for It* . formation. But it seemed the Attorney General and do Solicitor Gesittat were too largely paid for these Odra. cutions. For Isis part , he could assure'the Hon. Mu.' denten that he was frequently detained in the Cam of Exchequer, on tevenne • causes, very much hiccinvenitnee, and that ie point of professional einolb. Meat be was a loser rather than a grlineeits suchprotteed. ings. These observations were addressed bi Gentleman—not to him persenallj, but to theciffiCa. of Attorney-General. Had Ahoy been addressed to-hiall personally. he would not' bare descencktltet.the ditty condescension of noticing them; With respect - to - 6e case of Captain Bryant, he 'was oft - acquainted . with it, except from the statement-of the. Honourable. (eettle . man. me had incited, heard something•tabobt mete stint pude to *NO. The CORlplisitlC was, that , afteir having been. allowed- to amend his manifest; it* siktt proceeded against and put to great expense. • He um unacquainted with the circumstances o • f the sass, Ms in matters of this kind . the utmost ataratimr• was necessary •to prevent frauds oh the reeetine." He recovered penalties for valuable pictures:conees between twit slabs of marble, the. entry being itt manifest only so many pounds of marble. Wiehie. 'spect to Mr. Stock, be was proceeded againsit hat not giving the regular notice required .14. the Stem Laws. • a notice on which the whohtsprotectfon •of revenue depended. The witness' was afterward; found 'guilty of 'perjury; but the Clerical ' Berate; to whom the HonOttable Gen tleman alluded, wee not to blame: They acted upon the'etridetwas brought before them. It was, he would admit, a hardship fornletly when all revenue cases lade brought up to London . for trial. But that was not thecase now, tot three 'out of ellery four cases were 'decided before lota tribunals in the country, andvhe never yet, since the'ilfs troductinti of the 'Act by the Master of the Mint fMr. }ferries), heard of any charge of' misconduct on the part of the Magistrates. told the Honourable Gentle. Man propose to abolish thhi' Act of Parliament? By so doing he would again let in oneof the principal evils of which he complained. After swine further ob.erva tions, the Hon. and Learned - Gentleman concluded by giving the motion his decided negative. . Mr. WESTERN admitted that the Honourable Member fortolchester had 'not pointed out any reme dy for the evils. burstill he did not think the local 'tri bunals were adequate to the relief of those charged with offences against the revenue. He contended, too, that those charged with these offences were deterred from defending prosecutions by the:want of means, as well as the want of courage, when they saw the whole power of the Crown arrayed against them. lie ad verted to the case of Mr. Sticks, which was one, in -his . opinion, • of extreme hardship;' the pro. mention against him bad been instituted on insufficient grounds—the conviction founded upon it had been supported by perjury—and in eyes) , respect in which it could be received, it was a case art ethanee with the-principles of justice. The iHon. Member considered this case peculiarly entitled to the consideration of Governmetst.: He proceeded to state the subsequent proceedings . *hit hbad b.enadopteeby Mr. Stocks, bat which yielded him no - seisfactory relief. He gave credit to the general dispositioaahat existed on the part of the Excise to an impartial Omni nistration, but he did not think that a sufficientljeffi cient.conuoul was exercised over the administration of the department. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER ad. ' omitted that the case feinted to bi the Hon: Mentter who bad just sat down, was one entitled to the serious attention of Government ; and he could assurethe 11. n. Member, that it was the intention of the Lords of stye 'Treasury to bestow upon this case, as They had dor* upon others of a similar nature, the most m ante con sideration. If the case were one entitted . to relief, it -would be afforded. Indeed, from what had fallen from the Hon. Member who had just spoken, it would appear that his objection was not so much to the form of pro. ceedings, or even to the tribunals before whick those pro. ceedings took place, as to the perjury which took place, and whet no tribunals, no mode of proceedings,. could -quite prevent. Ho could bear testimony to the vigilance esercised by the. Board Excise in laying informations. -They usual', took the precaution to have a previously wellesseblishest case before informations were laid. As a proof of this, be would sta:e, that out of 954 infot. , mations, there had been 971 convictions.-(Hear, him). He knew that there wawa disposition sometimes to god fault with whatever-trammel was instituted. If it were proposed that the trial should- take place before the Court of Exchequer, the expense was complained 01.-. -and if 'it were referred to the local jurisdiction of two Magistrates, the competency of the tribunal erns at tacked. But it should be remembered, that if-the de cision of the Magistrates was impugned, these was an appeal from it to-the Quarter Sessions. Mr. BRIGHT objected to the local jutisdietion of the Magistrates and to the proceeding in theEttete. goer. Some reform of the law was requisite. Mr. HERRIES spoke in terms of comuseudation of the consolidation of the Excise Laws. .Bomoinconve. nience might have arisen from the summary process of the Magistrates: but it should be remembered, that these was a power of appeal to the Quarter Sessis ns from their decision. By that means relief from 'airy grievance, under these laws, was secured. Hews* sun prised at the extraordinary error into which the Hon. Mover had fallen, in supposing that dooblefees were given, on conviction, to Exchequer dorms. Hs had applied fee information, since the debate began, to a Gentleman who had practised for thirty years in that Court, andhad understood chest it was foisuerly. the • . , I 1 I • 1 , . t ' 1 1 i. 1 ti ' i { i 1, i t ; i . . . i, • ,i , 111 1 1 "4 1 1. ' A . s . , 1 r ' , It F, i . C • : '1 : - 'ri