Star. — London, England, 1802-04-14 00:00:00

PdIRLIAMENT.ARr PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OP LORDS, TUESDAY, Arms 13. Counfel were finally heard, relative to the Scotch Appal, Preftun w the Earl of Duodenal. After which, their Lordibips. en the liggeitioa of Lord Thurlow, who Sway Rated Ids redone for recornmendidg the proceeding, ordered the Cafe to be remitted back to the Court of Steen. in order to take certain interlocutors of the Cafe spin into their coolideradon, Le. The various Bills before the Houfe were forwarded in their refpeetive Rages; among there were the New Loan, and the Corn Trade Regulation Bills, which were read • faced time, the Commitments feverally negatived, sod the third readings ordered to take place tomorrow. Several arrangements were made with repel to the hearing of Appeals, ad • great deal of Private Subsea tranfadod, after which the Houle adjourned till to-morrow. HOUSE QV COMMONS. Sir Wat. SCOTT moved the Hoek to refeive fete s Caneek tee on the Bill for rendering wan Weasel the Radom el the Clergy, ate. The Hoof* went threw* the RIM, the Re port was merited, agreed to, and the BM twisted tebelehtted, and to be taken into further otaidenehra r Iffewhy the 3d of May. Mr 'Sara 'DAN pretested a Petition from Wall" la that ford:hire, and alto one from Wolverhampton, esusgidniag of the barbarous pradiee of Dull•balting. and gaging the sedi ment of a Law tg prevent it in future. Tim Ham Gentleman exprefed his regret that a Right Has. Gendmimminaown robe the advocate alibis emertainamet, was abtent on dd. malice. Ordered to he on tbe table. On the mod= et Mr. Alderman Comm the Papers pro. fatted to the Rode from the Landon Flou r Company, were ordered to be printed. Mr. laws v, from the ConuniSoners of Clams, prefented certain Amount. relative to the Quantity of &ear from Surinam and other Settlements, futvendered by thee et ants- whim rafp•dias the Slave Trade. which were ordered to be printed. Mr. CANN:No gave notice, that he intended CO Thurfday the 13th of May, to bring forward a motion refpeiliog the eal. deaden of the nueleaml Lands in the Wand of Trinidad, by Negro Men. Sir R Pe ILL brought M a BM to prderve the health and morals of Apprentices, Sts in the Cotton and other Mans h.-Reeks—Read a deft, and ordered to be read a Second time to-sorrow. - Mr. Alderman CORTI/ gave soder of bin imendon of Cab. mining to the Houk, Coon after the reeds, a prepolition re frain the regulations for the Mize of Bread. The Petition Come time ince prefented to the Houk hem certain perforce relative to the Coal Trade. was, on the mode's of Mr. Tr , read, and referred to the conideration of the Committee on the BM for regulating the Loodon Coal Market. PALS brought lip the Report of the Committee appoint ed to prepare an Eilimate of the expellee of allowamea to Sub altern °lacers of the Militia in time of .Peace, which was or dered to lie on the table. The Ste aaaaaa at WAR informed the Houk, that his Ma. jelly had been waited upon with the Addles of that Hoofe, with reted to certain Papers rektive to the Mend of Trinidad. and that his Majelly would be grecioutly pleated to give di. realoos accordingly. Mr. Ws aaaaaa Lea pretested a Petition from the Merchants and Mannfalturers of the Town of Leeds, bating that . the' Duty on Pafteboard, Cloned Paper, and other Paper, bad been extended by the Board of ladle to Paper tired in the Mann failure of Woollen Cloth, which they aßedged was not Intend ed to be included, and praying litellefOrderod to Be on the table. Mr. Hamar Lasetstas pretested a Petition front the Mer chants and Mansfaaarers of the Town of Wakcileid to the tune efat—Ordered to Be on the Table. Mr. WIIITSRIAD tendered a Petition from certain Brewers gigabit the Tea en Beer and Malt. The S maize fold, the Petition-being againft a Tax Bill, was contrary to the farms of the Hoofs. Mr. WRIT/AZAD bid, he was aware of that, but having been dandle pretest the Petition, be thought it his duty to mention it. TIII MILITIA. The SECILITAIT at WAR rote, purfuant to no tice, to fubmit a motion for leave to brinE n tl Bill to explain, amend, and confolidate the laws relative to the Militia. He Paid he thould Rate to the Node the outlines of the meafure he meant to introduce, in order to obviate the poffi. bility of mitreprefentation, and in the hope of do. ing away even a probability of oppofition, for he entertained the ftrongeft confidence that every part of the fyllem he dF to propoie would be univer tally approved of. Upon the conclution of peace it was the opinion of his Majefty's Minifters, that no time fhould be loft in calling the attention of Parliament to our defenfive fyfiem ; they felt that by a folid well-arranged plan of defence, peace was molt likely to be rendered permanent. He agreed with the fentiment of his Right Hon. Friend, exprefed on a former occafion, that the bell fecurity for the long continuance of peace would be that condo& which mould be equally marked by conciliation and firmnefs—that which Mould be moll confiftent with the dignified cha. rafter of the State to purfue, tenacious of our own interells and confequence, and refpeetful to the in terefts and confequence dour neighbours—always unwilling to offer, ind ready to reprefs, an intuit, or refill an injury—fuch a condua, and fuck a degree of capacity, k was ever the Rudy of this country to preferve ; but it was particularly de firable at prefent, when the great acceffion of power which our neareß and molt formidable neighbour had made was taken into account.— When the principles and form of their Govern. ment, which was efentially military, was confi dered, it mull be obvious that it was now more neceffary than at any former period to dire! our • moll anxious attention to our Military Power ;for whatever might be thought of the form of the Go vernment alluded to, or of the principles of took by whom that Government was adminiftered, it muff be admitted, that among them were to be found many great warriors—and that our fituation would be viewed by them with foldiers' eyes—we Mould be therefore mindful to render that fitiiation refpe&abk. With refped to the degree of pro. teeion tile. Empire was to derive from its navy, of that be trufted there could be little doubt, and flat under the fuperictendance of ouch men as our navy now boaßed, certainly, the able*, braveft, and moll fcientific tea officers that Europe ever produced, every man mull entertain a confidence the affairs of that department would be managed fo as to gixe the reacheit narrikance to our commerce, at the fore time keeping in view the Rridell tem amt.. He was fully perfuaded that the fame dif pofit ion ta oda, ity and teconom y which di Ilinguithed the navy, would be alto found to prevail among thole who had the diredion of the Ordnance, and thee the defence of feaports would not fail to be attended to. As to the Rate of the army, to that the Hoofs would look with confidence and pride; for indi4mitsbly in point of seal, bravery, difcipline, or numbers, the laft war had to boaß a fupersority•ttstrry that evar preceded it. It was ansfoling to retie& that our regulars, infantry, and cavalry, formed a Reidy Sundation upon which to place a refpedable peace eftablifhment, but the Houfe mull be aware, that whatever might be the difpofition or adivity of the illuftriout per cottage who commanded the army, it was inspof fible for his Royal Highnefs to make any arrange. meat until the balm& of the Militia fhould be firil finally fettled—until it fhould be determined what their number &Quid in future be, and how that force was to be occafionally made available for the public defence. It was generally admitted, that for the protection of this ifland, whatever might be our well-grounded confidence in the navy, it was wife, from the vat extent of our fea-coaft to keep up a hong military force; and as it was im poffible, in a manufaduring country like this, to maintain an adequate regular army, it therefore, putting conftitutional conliderations entirely out of the quellion, became neceffary that a confiderable part of our defenfive force fhould coal of militia, Inch were the motives which recently caufed fo important an increafe of that corps, and which now induced him to propofe a till further augmenta tion. In the principles of the projed he fhould fubmit to the Houfe, there was nothing mate rially new, for they were ground e d on the 26th of his prefent Majelly, with the introdudion of Inch amendments as experience had fuggefted to be neeeffary, and with th e a dditi on o f filch pro vifions as were found featured among other Bills, and as hod proved to be falutary. His principal objeas were the confoliciation of all the Militia Laws, with Tome alterations, and the increafe of their numbers ' with other arrangements, which he defcribed. As to the confolidation, he thought it would be highly ufeful to the fervice, and confi derably facilitate the duties of Governors, Ma giftrates, and others conneded with the affairs of the Militia. The Right Hon. Gentleman gave a Ihort hiflory of the Militia, of the confiderable number they amounted to in the late war, and the important fervices they rendered to the empire, particularly their readinefs to volunteer for Ire land, and to recruit the regular army. It was right in his opinion, and in that of the molt com petent judges, now that peace was arrived, to af certain what the amount of the Militia ought to be. Confidering all the circundances of this country, and making every allowance for our navy, he hoped no Gentleman would deny that we ought to be prepared to bring too,ooo men into the field fhortly a ft er the commencement' of war : of that number he thought 70,00t0 ought to be militia—that is to fay, 60,000 for Eng land, and Scotland would be capable of pro ducing to or ta,ooo ; for in that part of the king dom, though the elabliflunent was recent, and at firl rather unpopular, the people were now fo con vinced of its utility, as to be perfectly reconciled to an augmentation. He therefore calculated, (by the adoption of his propofal) upon an addition of ychooo completely trained and difciplined militia to the regular force of the country, within the Bunt period of a fortnight. It was defigned that the fhould be exercifed during peace, a t days each year, which would produce an expence to the na tion of about 240,0001. a year. His Majefly was to be inveled with the power of calling forth any proportion of this militia force according to the occafion—if ao,ooo for England, a Grafter quota for Scotland ; if the emergency fhould demand the whole of the militia his Moldy to apply to Par liament, according to culom. By this means a large effective force might be colleded, with left difficulty and lets inconvenience to the reverel counties than by a fudden meafure ; for this advan tage would refult, that no more would at any time be railed than circundances required. The Right Hon. Gentleman had already Rated that the firft principles of his plan originated in the Ad of the 26th of the King, combined with Tome parts of later Ads, which were conceived applicable to a general fyflem. The principal points which this fylem involved were nine : firl, the propofed augmentation would make an addition, equal to one-third, to the quota of the feveral counties, but before this quota fhould be fettled, it would be N- I ceffary to afcertain the number of fencibles railed 'in each county, and fo to divide the quota cor redly. In the firft inflame the proper returns are to be made by the Lieutenants of counties to the Privy Council, according to the At of the 26th of the King, and at the end of every ten years new returns arc to be delivered. As to the mode of enrollment, it was only an improvement of that adually exiling, namely, that every man &oald be examined by a properly qualified furgeon, for it had been too often found hitherto, that men were fent into quarters who were only fit to occu py the wards of an hofpital. This cafe would therefore be productive of much raving to the counties and to the nation at large. At the time of the enrollment, the men were to be thrown in to dares : the firlt to confill of young unmarried men; the feconil, of married men Who have no children ; the third, of married men having one child: the fourth, of married men having more than one child, and alto of men advanced in year*. The purpofe of this arrangement was, that in cafe his Majelly fhould only require a fmall number, fuppofe ao,ooo men, to be embodied, that dal: would be called upon which was the leaf incum bered, and which of courfe would ferve with the leaf perfonal inconvenience. Solditutes mull be of the fame county, and if of the fame parifh as the principal the more eligible. With regard to the augmentation of regiments, every company was to have a Captain ; no Field Officer to have a company. In the regimental la,: no Adjutant, or Parmafler to be appointed to any corps confin ing of lets than three companies ; the obvious ob jed of this was to prevent the great accellion of eepence, for it frequently happened that a corps of two companies bad as large a fiaff as a regi ment of moo men. No Surgeon to be allowed to any corps of left than three companies ; every fur germ to be examined at Surgeon's Hall before he ball be received into any corps; and be is not to be allowed to hold any military rank. Non-com miffioned officers to be in the proportion affigned by the Ad of the 26th of the King, via. one fer jeant, one corporal, and drummer to each com- 1 -piny. There perform: to refide, 'during peace, ' wherever the arms of the regiment may be placed. Dikipline muff depend much on the non commit fioned officers being kept in a Rate of order and regularity, under the fuperintendence of the Adju tant. It was but jun to advance the pay of thefe perfons, as the pay of the army in general had been railed fince the tan peace ; be therefore propofed that the pay of the ferjeant Should be is. 6d. per . day ; that of the corporal is. ad. and the drum mer rs. If, however, any of them Should be ab fent from their Ration on leave, their pay during fuch abfence to be reduced to the old flandard, be caufe then relieved from duty. As to training and exercifing, it was intended the whole corps Should be exercifed for twenty-one days in each year, which would not be produdive of more expence than the former arrangement of twenty-eight days bad been. Some had deemed it advifable to velt a power in his Majefty to transfer the militia to any part of the empire, but that recommendation had been dikountenanced, becaufe it appeared en tirely incontinent with the fyftem upon which the militia was founded; and becaufe it did not ap pear necelfary„ for it muff be within the recollec tion of every Gentleman that on a recent occafion the Cervices of the militia of England were fo ho nourably offered to fupprek rebellion in Ireland ; and the militia of Ireland exhibited an equal de gree of alacrity and promptitude to ad as became the charader of foldiers, anxious to defend every quarter of the empire. As to the mode of railing the militia within the counties, with other minute regnlations, they were to be left as they now flood. Having Shortly recapitulated the principal articles of his fyftem, he concluded with Rating that if his Majefty was to call out 20,000 of the Englifh mi• liva,he was alto to embody 3 or 400ciof the Scotch ; if 40,000 Englifh, nOOO Scotch ' • and if 60,000 Englifh, 12,000 Scotch r in all, the meafure he meant to move for leave to introduce, would pro duce an available force of 72,000 men. The mo tion being put, Mr. SHIRIDAII rote and exprefed his thanks to the Right Hon. Gentleman for the very clear and comprihenfive lineman which he had jun deliver ed, and his (Mr. Sheridan's) perk.% approbation of the principal arrangements the Right Hon. Gen. deman bad lajd down. It teemed defirable to all that our national Militia Should be placed on a permanent footing, continent with ftrid conftitu tional principles. He rejoiced in the defcriptlon of our force, as drawn by the Right Hon. Gentleman, and applauded the policy of proportioning our means of defence to the power of our late enemy [a cry of Hear Hear!] He hoped the fyftem pro poled by the Right Hon. Gentleman would fettle the Militia on a retpeetable kale, and that it would , not be capricioully violated, as was the cafe in the , late war ; and that the Officers of the Militia Should not again be converted into Drill Serjeants for the regular army. Referring to the &cements of an Honourable Baronet on the other fide Come time' !ince, as to the Situation of the Surgeons of the Mili tia, and their fair claim to half pay during peace, he tinned that Hon. Baronet bad not given up his intention of feeking juftice for that 4nterving clefs of men. Here the Hon. Member took ova fion to allude to a &Ned which he felt was pot conneaed with the prefent queftion but which too ftrongly interefted the caufe ofjunice, and even of humanity, to overlook the opportunity of mention. mg it. It was a cafe connected with that Navy to which it was impolfible for the Route or the coon. try to render fufficient homage, or to thew Suffi cient gratitude. It was the cafe of the Lieutenants of the Navy, a clefs of Officers who, though not placed in thole diftinguifhed Stations where the fame of victory attached, yet it mull be admitted were Sharers of the dangers, and participators of the glory of all thofe brilliant *dims, which fo eminently dillinguiffied the late war. Was it ge nerally known What was to be the half-pay which was to fultain thole gallant men at the conclufion of the war ? He was aware that a propofal to ad vance that pay would more properly come from Minifters, and furely they Should not hefitate to encounter the unpopularity which might attach to a deviation from the prefent allowance in favour of thofe deferving officers, whofe half-pay during peace amounted only to ed. a year. What a pit tance to fupport a Gentleman I Was not the bare mention of the fad fufficient, without any com ment; to intereft the feelings of the Houfe, and to call forth the gratitude of the country ? Surely it was incompetent to furniffi any man, under the prefent eircumnances of the country, with the com mon necelfaiies of life. The Houfe would recoi led that there were at prefent many rowers in Eu rope who were anxious to recruit their Navy, and who would be happy to engage in their fervice any Britiffi officers. Much as be admired the gallantry, and much as be relied on the loyalty of the Gen tlemen he alluded to, he Should not think it with in Gpvernment to leave them in fuch a nate as muff expofe them to temptation. He threw out this hint to Minifters, and Sincerely hoped their I would take it into ferious confideration. Mr. Forraa rote to aik whether it was the in tention of the Right Hon. Secretary to extend the falutary provifions of the fyliem he had juR ex plained, to the militia of Ireland The SIiCASTART at WAR. replied, that much in formation would be neceffary before the arrange. Client the Right Hont Gentleman alluded to could be made ; and he apprehended that it would be impracticable, in the courfe of the preient Scilicet. He declared his readinefs to give every affiftauce in his power to accelerate th e a d o pti on o f a fimilir plan for the Milt militia. Mr. PORTZ, Paid, that much confulion would arife, if this plan was not extended to Ireland be fore the Militia should be difembodied. Mr. Wycomss defcribed the difference between the Contitution of the Englifh and Irifh Militia, which rendered the fame fyllem inapplicable to both countries. Sir W. EsTOID (aid, that he Rill retained his former opinion, as to the juR title of the Militia Surgeons to half pay during peace, and hoped the Right Hon. Secretary would make fome provifion for them in the Bill he propofed to introduce. The Saearraav at Waa differed with the lafi fpeaker, as to the claims of the Militia Surgeons to half-pay during peace. Leave was then given to bring in two Eills to arrange the Militia Laws in England and Scotland, which were afterwards brought up, read a firlt, and ordered to be read a fecond time to•morro«•. The Right Hon. Gentleman Rated, that he would move thofe Bills to be committed on Thurfday, in order to have the blanks filled up. They thould then be printed, and lie ovet for a fortnight, tlut they might be fully examined. SINKING FUNDL The Order of the Day for the Houfe to refolve itfelf into a Committee,to confider the Ads cf 1786 and t 792,relative to the Sinking *Funds,being read, The CHANCELLOR of the ExcHaskyta moved to defer the Order until to-m=ow, as the papers to which he referted on a 'former day were not yet ready for delivery to-morrow ; but even if they should not be in readinefs to-morrow, he would move for the Committee, and would take care that before the Report moul d be, taken into confedera tion, thofe papers fhould be put into the hands of every Member.—The motion was agreed to. MALT AND USK TAX. The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHIQNSR moved for the Committee on the Malt and Beer Tax Bill. Sir CHARLES Bummer condemned this TAX, as calculated to drive the indnflrious poor to the ufe of fpirituous liquors, and to banifh beer even from the tables of the higher orders ; for in con. fequence of this tax it was not likely to be made of fufficiently good quality for their ufe—thus would be confirmed the modern fafhion of fume Gentlemen who imitated the praftice of the French—that of drinking wine at dinner inficid of beer. Mr. WHITBREAD inlified that this was, to all in tents and purpofes, a Commutation for the In come Tax ; and it was one which would fall moll heavily on the labouring poor. whole fituation was Inch that they would not be able to pay the addi tional halfpenny which the tax went to tmpofe on them. The confequence would be, that these perfons would forfake a wholefome beverage, and either drink water for ftrong fpirits , to the injury of their health and mor.. But the revenue from this room would not be productive, becaufe the quantity of beer would be diminiffied, and the bler would become much worfe in quality than it bad been. The neceffity of the times had already obliged them to do fo. With refped to the furn of two millions, which the Chancellor of the Exche quer Rated as the probable produce of this tax, that Right Hon. Gentleman had either under-rated the wants of the public for the milting year, or it was incumbent on him to thew why he with ed to raife a funs fo much larger than what he told the Houfe he fhould want. As the tax was now to Rand, nothing was to be allowed to the Brewer for the increafe of his capital, although the con trary principle had been adopted in the year t 76c, when that Tax was laid on whi9h caufed the pct of porter to be railed to std. No doubt, fince that period, confiderable improvements had been made in the art of brewing, by which the Brewers were enabled to ufe a lefs quantity of malt, and by that means, as well as by their large capitals, they were enabled to fell the beer at to . kw a price. But the confequence was, the delirndion of all the little Brewers. There 'were, indeed, many Brewers who were in the habit of buying u the leafes of public honfes , and obli g i ng th e pub licans to take any kind of beer they c o ok to give them. Theft, in fad, were :parable dependents on the Brewers, who gave them the worn' beverage that could poffibly be made. Iq juffice to the memory of that perfon from whom he bad derived all his fortune, he mutt fay` be had never purffied, but always difapproved, of that pradice. The Hon. Member next alluded to the great advantage given to the private over the . publie Brewer, which 'would be highly injurious to the trade, and which could'affordno relief to the labouring part of the community, who had not the means of buying malt and making beer he mull go to the public houfe and pay an extraordinary price, while his opulent landlord, or his employer, and while the independent tradefman would take none of the Brewer's commodity, but lw their own beer.' The Cmattcannoa of the Kacttsgy as. obferved 4 that of the four millions about to be raifed in taxes, two millions would fall exclufively on the higher orders, and the reR would fall in common on all defcriptions of people. Any perfon taking the trouble of looking at the fchedule of taxes, would find that no great tendemefs had been (hewn to people of rank and fortune. He confeffed it was not in the power of faculties like his to provide an interetl for the debt, which fhould not bear upon the lower orders. This tax would not tend to ia creafe the confu m ptio n of fpirits, becaufe the duty on malt would enhance the price of that article.— He wiffied-to remind the Route that in the years taco and dot, when the price of porter bad been railed, and when that article was as bad in quality as it could poffibly be, the quantity of beer was not much lefrened. The quantity brewed was as great as it had been in former years, although the quan tity of malt nfed was very (mall. No man regretted more than he did the increafed burthen on the pub lic; that burthen, however, had already taken place long before it was the intention of Government it fhould. And who were the perfons impofing it The very man who now fo loudly complainedof the hardthips of the poor (a cry of bear! bear!) It was well known that he had told the Houfe it was not his intention to propofe laying any duty on the Rock of beer now in hand; but what mull his alio nifhrnent have been when he underflood, that the re turn made by the brewers to this indulgence on the part of Government, was to raife immediately the price of the beer they had lying by them. To fay that the brewers were, by this meafure, likely to be oppreffed, would be at once Milting at the root of all taxation. Every perfon dealing in a commo dity from which Revenue was to be railed, might in the fame manner complain of oppreffion ; and if their complaints were attended to, no tai.es would be railed at all. It was the very great re duetion that had taken place in the price of grain, and the late abundant barveß, which had fuFgetted to his mind that a coofiderable revenue might be railed from beer, without impofing any extraor• dipary borthen on the labouring part of the com munity ; particularly fo when he looked forward b' ~a U • t( ti 4 . im