Star. — London, England, 1824-02-24 00:00:00

R ~ ~~~ %• ~~. ..,. a Mealore certain interests had grown (onourable Gentleman would ndt say that un anstances ought that measure be rescinded. the Committee, therefore; would be to do ngs as would not require to be undone. Coals was a very old one; it had existecU If a century ; it had been increased at dig . - _ its present amount, and ought not there , dealt with all , at once. He felt it his duty, consideration% not to deal with it so eaten - persons, whose Petitions theworthy Alder ' had payed. Numerous Petitions which presented various parts of the country f the weight of the duty, and prayed for ite if that duty was felt to press severely in of the country, how much more grievous? by the Citizens of London?—(licar).- it was only 6s. per chaldron—in London, He therefore felt it his duty to deal with, respect to its aggrivated amount as ap ity of London, and to press upon the re the Committee-that there was an additional paid upon all sea-borne coals brought to itch no other part of the country was sub- The Committee was also aware, that while 4d per chaldron was charged upon all sea imported into London, there was also a the importation of inland coals, either by o>r by the Thames. Therestriction arose impteition of a duty of . 10s. per chaldron, realityearoulited to a complete prohibition. In , brought m London by the Grand Junction Canals, paid ts. 6d. per ton, which was more to 91.4 d. per chaldron; and besides that quantity of inland coals allowedao be ins * not exceed fifty thousand tons annually. He conceive no possible excuse for continuing that re- Yet the .coal.ownet and the ship-owner. If yrat saddle us with a duty_ of 9s. 4d. you must protect us against the rivalry producer;" and he (the Chancellor of the , could not, therefore, see the necessity other than subject coals brought inland to • duty. The Committee had heard of the of the coal-owners and others to limit the coals to London, Inordee to enhance the price. fair that the proprietors of that description should do as they pleased with it ; but, on hand, it was equally fair that the consumes the option to procure the article from ano- The diminution he should propose, of . chaldron on sea-borne coals imported into would amount to about 200,0001. but, calcu ' - increased consumption of the article, that naturally ensue from itsadeereased price, he felt king the diminution at only 100,0001. At of his statement he had alluded to a sub be now wished to call the particular at- Committee. There were, as Honourabio4 knew,_many branches of trade not only en duties, but by restrictions and absohlte amongst others, was the importation of law at present stood, the duty on fonts , per pound—it had formerlybeen only Id. to 6d. took place in 1819, and was not in• :as a prohibition, but as an article of Revenue. interested in the matter had been at that told- r " You have no right to expect that be continued so long as you require that shall be confined to the consumption of this if you demand the continuance of such must consent that British wool shall be ex subject had been also brought before Par year. Meetings had been held in various country to consider the subject; some per meetings were of opinion that to remove 31d be better than to remove the restriction portaticin ; "but a decided majority of those inte wool trade of this country was of opinion ipromise would be better ; that the duty should and the exportation permitted. He therefore to propose a reduction of the duty upon from sixpence to one penny, and topermit, l Certain restrictions, the exportation of British •move entirely the oaths and other impedi iich that trade was at present shackled, by hoped that many of the evils arising out of 4ould be obviated. One consequence of the regulations would be the extension of our le in other parts of the world ; he could, there nothing but good that could result from the `vise restrictions; and in 'proposing these be the support of the House (Cheers). — by the repeal of the duty on foreign wool Aleut 550,0001. per annum. The next item _ importance ;it referred to the propriety of maintaining or repealing the duty upon silk. There was duty upon the importation of raw silk, and a prohibition on the importation of foreign menu silk; to the latter point he should in the first apply himself, and would ask what benefit arm, entry, looking at it with respect to our own manufactures? There had existed in this lately a decided conviction on the minds of the political economists, and those best ac practically with trade, that the maintenance live laws was impolitic—( Hear, hear ! ).-= made some progress in the application of of tfet trade, and were we now to stop 40, it was impossible; for if we did, we with great justice, be accused by foreign breach of faith. If restrictions were iw- States upon the importation of any article of lanufaeture or produce ' the Secretary of the' Trade was beset with Petitions, which -re-' him to remonstrate against such impositions; insuer of the Ambassador a such Foreign our Minister would be, that we imposed du e importation of the produce or the manufac lei:. countries ; to which our Ministers, being, ,eply, were obliged to retire confounded,for no reason why a foreign country should not ipnn us. If ever there was a moment at which have restored to us the blessings of a free emancipate ourselves from those ancient and make a new start in the race of pro . . was the present—(Lood cheering). But, Independently of these considerations, _ there were Inds relating to, and intimately connected •ommercial prosperity of the country, which y demanded at our hands the revision of the code, and removal of these prohibitory ract ! It struck at the root of trade. When in his on that topic, the Honourable. Member for last year, wielded his Bandana handkerchief mte—( A langh)—when the Hon. Member nil , standard of sumggling,and blew hisatossin ghicr)—there was not an Hon. Gentleman in 1:e who would not have been justified in seizing '1 obrinuanee of up ,b e Armour: . • der no cittunast lbe duty Of the uo ly such thins ve Tax en Ca for u pwards of fent times to i fore l o.he dealt for these cOnsid orly as the pe A n presented, b a d been prese co mplained of t teduction ; but • ,emote parts of Vas it not felt In the country i O tt was 9s. 41 that tax with re piled to the Cit tollection of th tax of :Ss. 6d. -1 louden, which iecteilln• A Any 'if .es. 4 borne toils at restrictift (Intl land carriage, out of .the imF ',bids in seat; fact, coals brot or other Canali a b a s equal to ,d u ty, the quar I ported, most ne ,could conceive . a rriction. Yet ,oglit say, a pet chaldron, y of the inland p lE:chequer) co ;for, doing tithes „a moderate dut • .combination of .supply of coals tit w.as'very fait 4 property she the other hand, .should have de ither source; 'Ss 4d. per chi >London, would king on the it would natural! jestiffed in taki o p early part ject, to which tention of the Gentlemen km cumbered by prohibitions ; a wool. As the wool was 6d. r the increase to tended to actin The parties in time (1819) to the duty will British wool sf •country ; and ditty,. you me ,ported." The s hainent last ye yam of the cc sons at those the duty wool upon el portat netted in the v that a comproi be reduced an felt it his dot] 'foreign wool f under certain wool ; to reit merits by whi which he hop the'system proposed res wool trade in fore, see not}; repeal of the) , relied upon —The loss b would be all was one of maintaining a high duty • positive prol tactured silk instance app to the count' and foreign country latel most able 41(mi:tied pra 1 of restrictive We have m the doctrine short? No, might, watt countries of . • posed by St; British maim 1 - • Board of Tr spired of hi but the ans Power to on t ties on the it tures of diei unable tote there was nc retaliate upr r we could h trade, and prejudices, tperity, i t independent other group with the co imperativel l Its;rictive c meats, that arguments Aberdeen, I in that H 0 u furled that i t—(Lortght ticAt 11 0Lue • ~.~:. 77 01 . 10 R*Prrw-Fr•ml ~•. "." • and exportihg the delinettleht artiele td a toreigtitetintry (Continued laughter, and Hear!)—The injuries One td the morili of the count/ too' by those rpttrittions Were also worthy of most serious consideration, by ihe.temp- I tatiorts they offeied tfrengage in wisuggling. How many ,1 conffortable corpulent elderly ladies had been delivered of their burthen without the aid of an aecoucheur I— (Laughter.) There was,' in fact, no. end to the ingenuity of those engaged in smuggling ; fraud produced crime , fur it was welt known that no person became bad all at 011 Ce-•-• " Nemo repeat fit turpissinnu." When a man began by smuggling an article of dress or ornament to make a present, he scrupled not the act, but the law made a crime of it. When a man begins to do anything illegal, he reels the necessity for con cealing it; he begins by smuggling presents ; he is tempted to extend his practice; and from the smug gling of shoes and gloves he proceeds to that of more important articles; so that in the end it requires abso lutely a navy to prevent the'violation of those restric tive laws.—And why so ?—under the fanciful notion that these restrictions are necessary to the security of. some branch of our manufacture. He hoped this was the time for throwing down the hollow and gilded idol of imaginary protection, and for establishing a system of commercial prosperity. He would now speak of the commerce of the East Indies.. It was a singular fact, that the original manufacture of that country, which it was known possessed the finest - fabrics, had been super seded by those in this country. Honourable as this cir• eumstance was to England, it was not beneficial to our commerce; for it imposed a restriction upon the exten sion of that manufacture. Whatever tended to give to the East Indies new means of bringing their manufac tures into competition, was so much gained to this country. He would then propose, that the duties on raw silk be reduced from the present rate of 4s. per lb. to 2J. thai the dutyon silk from China and Italy, which was now ss. 6d. be reduced to 6d. per lb.and that the dtity on Brazil silk, now 14s. 10d. be reduced from 14s. 10d. to 7s. 6d. He would subititute a duty of 115 s. on plain silk ; and that all other kinds should have an ad valorem duty imposed of 90 per cent. The loss which the revenue would thereby sustain Was 469,0001. and the total loss - which the removal of the duties on the several articles above stated would occasion might be given thus:— The reduction of the duties on Rum . . . £150,000 On London Coals . . ._ . . . 100,000 On Wool , • • ~ • . • • • • 550,000. And on Silk • • . : • : • . - 402,000 .................., Waking a total annual loss of . . £1,0654000 which sums multiplied by 3, for the years 1825, 1826. and 1827, would produce three millions foe died and eighty-six thousand pounds. w On the t the i t ittell Salt Duty,' many representations had beim' .' made that no benefit had arisen from the cessiniao-4.4 portion of the duty. - He was aware that, as far as tbo consuineiwas concerned, the reductioa could not be immediately felt ; but he admitted that Government stood pledged for the abblititin of that duty--(Hear) . . He had now gone through - all the necessary parts of his plan; and he was sure that the -House would join with him in expressing gratification that there: was a proba bility of * diminution of . the burthens of this country to the extent of a million. - He bad bestowed the utmost care andattention in endeavoisring to frame these pro positiohs for the best and essential interests of the scam 'try. It was indeed a gratifying state of prosperity ; increasing in revenue, increasing in power, in wealth, and in influence ; all the result, as he conceived, of sound policy and considerate legislation. The object of that policy had not been directed to aggrandisement, but to obtain security ; and the country had attained influence, not by petty intrigue or blustering dictation, but by preserving a steadfast frienddiip with Foreign States, and not being the instrument of hostility or rivalry. He would not assume the merit of 'having contributed to this enviable situation ; it was not in the power of individuals to do so; it was that calumniated and vitiated Parliament—(Cheers) —which had raised itself into a benefactor ; and it. now .saw the country Ismiling in prosperity, and, in the unrestricted enjoyment of industry. It was through the sacred portals of a Constitutional Monarchy that they now saw a contented, hisappy, and, they ought never to forget, a grateful peo ile—(Load and continued Cheering). The CHAIRMAN or the Committee then read the first Resolution, which contained the proposition of the Right Hen. Gentleman for the reduction of the Four per Cents. in the way and manner specified in his speech. Mr. BARING could not but confess, that he had never heard, and he believed there never had been made of late years, so gratifying a statement, as that which the House had just heard - from the Right Honourable Gentleman. He (Mr. Baring) must, 'however, avail himself of this opportunity of stating, that several of the questions which the speech invoFved, and particu lady that which had been last treated of, required the most earnest attention that could be bestowed upon it. In the first place, the Right Honourale Gentleman's -plan of finance seemed to him . to want that certainty in the, results without which no plan of finance could be ,relied upon, or ought to be entertained—( Hear, hear). ln his estimate of the-Ways and Means for this an d .the ast year, the Right Hon. Gentleman had stated there was a surplus revenue to the amount of 1,710,985/. in the former, and 1,520,0761. in the latter. Pursuing his calculation, he had supposed that in the. year 1825 the surplus would amount to 372,3461. in 1826, t0477)846 1 . and in 1827, to 522,3461. and he concluded, therefore, 'that inure year last mentioned the surplus of the revenue would amount to 4,135,0991. •Upon this statementhe called upon the House to make a present sacrifice, in the way of repealing taxes, and adopting certain 'regu lations in trade, to the amount of 1,062,0001. He (Mr. Baring) thought that the advantages had been too highly calculated, and that the reduction was too rashly made. For example, the Right Hon. Gentleman had proposed to reduce the duty on coals from 200,0001. to 100,0001. and had calculated upon the increased consumption to justify to large a reduction. But even if it should turn out that this was correct, it was obvious that the call for repeal of taxes was not made upon a fair estimate of die annual income, but that the addition of the sum to be received for the• Austrian Loan had been rakeninto the account. His (Mr. Dining's) objection to the calculation therefore was, mainly, that the reduction of 1,062,0001. was intended to be in perpetuity, while the increase of the revenue bf which itwas proposed to be met,was to depend uppn cireumstances the success of which no one could I foresee. With respect to the reduction which the Right IHon. Gentlehhin proposed in the fobr per Cents. be thought it was a greater reduction than the - ID taus of the country warranted. There was, muveoter, - a very considerable mistake in the calculation. The Right Honourable GendemarOstated, that he was by la paled to give six months' ootice of his intention to par 794 .1.,:ff4 , 410:.44111!"40Xiii - ight sure of such vast importan, iiargi duals, he Would listen to the'representations of the par ties interested. • - 'NIT.. MABERLY was willing to 4,lmit that thirChana cellor of the Exchequer had been extremely fair and , candid throtighout his statements sand, though fie did not think the reductions which the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed to make were the best that could be made, yet he agreed with him in the principle which lies had laid 'down respecting commerce, which he : hes lieeed would have ti e•most beneficial reset so. _ • Sir JOHN WROTTESLEY asked the ChanCellor . of the Exchequer what was the amount of the duty which he proposed should be paid on inland coal ? He al o thought that another pan of the Right Hon. Gentle+ Man s statement required explanation. The Chancellor .of the Exchequer . had stated that he would pay off a • third of the Four per Cents. in October. He wished the Right Hon. Gentleman to explain how he intended to select the holders at one third of the Four per Cents. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, • that he would answer the different questions as well as be could, and in the order in which they had been pro posed. In answer to what had fallen from the Hon. Member for Coventry (Mr. Ellice) respecting the time when the reduction of the duty on silk was to take effect, his (the Chancellor of the Exchequer's) ide a was,' that the reduction should commence on the sth of July next. He conceived, that the interval between the present time and that period would be sufficiently long' to enable those persons who had large stocks on hand .so dispose of them. At the same time, he felt it neces sary to state, that he should not consider himself bc.und to commence the reduction at that particular time, if from the representations of the pat ties interested it should.. appear to him era bi desirable t 9 postpone the reduction to a hater pet iod. He would here observe, in reference to what had•fallen from the Hort. Member for 'faun ton, that it'Vas i cestainly true that the surplus which he' had calculated upon would not be established, unless the payment had been made on account of the Austrian Loan; but then it should be recollected that an increase: of expenditure had been proposed in consequence of the receipt of that money. There' were some incidental charges this year of a miscellaneous nature, which would not occur in future. h would not be,expected that he should particuiatize all thesi charges, which were inevitable; one of them, however, was occasioned by the operation of exchanging the Irish tokens for the regular coin of the realm, acrd amounted to 100,000/. Another charge arose out of certain claims on the part of the United States of America, 'respecting some slave ships. VI ith respect to the duty on inland coals; his idea was, that it should be Is. per ton. But he wished. it to be understood that he was not pledged to that par ticular sum, if, upon More mature consideration, it shout(' appear to him to be either too large or too small. He wished to establish the .principle, that inland coals should riot he subjected to a higher duty than they could fairly bear. 'Sit ISAAC COFFIN complained of the continuation of the tax upon Salt. It was a most ridiculous tax, and extremely oppressive to the poor people, and it gave him great concern to hear the Chancellor of the Exchequer speak so doubtingly on the subject of rt• movieg the remainder of it. Mr. B. tLucr, said he was happy to find that the Right floneurable Gentleman was willing to grant the persons nue. ested in the silk manufacture, time to make those arrangements which the proposed reduction tithe duty , tendered necessary. An Honourable Member had asked, bow the Chancellor of the Exchequer pro posed to pay off a third of the Four per Cents. in October? He (Mr, Ellice) thought that the Right Honourable Gentleman had, ve ry Clearly.ttated how that operation would be performed.; There was to be no selection, but each person was to be paid off pro rata. , • Mr. JOHN swum had no doubt that the. Right Hon. Gentleman had well considered every part of the extensive subject upon which he had addressed the House; but, among the many propositions it involved, he was sorry to observe that otre was omitted. The Right Hon. Gentleman had said not a word about the • tax which was at present levied upon law proceedings; that was=a tax upon justice—(Hear, liens). He suss. • perted that Honourable Gentlemen around him were not aware of the ruinosts eff.scts of such a tax upon the peace, the morals, and the happiness of the people at large. No man could commence an action in England for a sum of 3/. or 41. without incurring for stamp and other charges an expense of 31. or 4/. more. There were a'greatt many actions entered which the poverty of the parties proceeded against alone prevented them from defending s —(Hear)—so that in fact, as they were unable to pay • 3/. or 41. in the first instance, the Legislature deter. .• mined that they were very proper persons to be required to pay 31. or 41. for the costs. It had been his own mis fortune, not many years ago, in a cake of bankruptcy, to be called upon to answer a bill in Chancery about three feet high—(a laugh)—anti.contahling upwards of seven thousand folios—(Hear). He would not, how ever, weary the House by going into any detail of the unfair, oppressive, and vexatious charges uhich were imposed upon all common law and equity proceedings. A friend of his had informed him, that some time since a case occurred in the Court 'f Chancery,•entitled "Roe v. Gudgeon," in which Roe called upon Gudgeon to furnish certain accounts. The defendant, in his teply, submitted to hik Lordship, that he hoped he ilisuld not•be called on by the 'Court to furnish such accounts; for that if he did, it would be an expense to him of 29.0001. Was it fitting that the subjects of this kingdom should be thus taxed, while seeking- that which . should be the Most sacred in all Courts of Justice—their own rights? He now came to another point, on which' he sVished•to say a word or two before he sat down. He had hard, . with the utmost possible surprise; the proposition,._ brought forward by the Right lionottrab•e- Gendeu - a”, - to expend a sum of 800,0001: in this manner—tpomoci.• • in the improvements and repairs of Windsor Castle, and 500,0001. in the building of new churches—(Hear,kear). Now, while there were any distresses of the poor 'to lie. remedied, or any oppr - t.e lightened relieved, so long wof and this application in that House alone. When so large a poi the people of_ these necessary to enable justice, he woeld in. be bad almost added a. I to the building of riser beted, " that incr.cy7e . . . . i.. -- ..,'' ~- • . it • : • . • •• . • .b . • • re / jn ill!aacit m?•ituttd. tie hapt d that tireßit4.49a9l"- • venty- obi; Citadel:ran would declare publicly that s• wottid• s&in consent to postpuoe the reduction pf the duty to some • time, period when st • would less seriously affect bi i k-owners :e the and snanufacturets. He trusted, at least, that before ~ Three the Right Honourable Gentleman decided upon a inn- 5 ,... ,entle- sure of such rastimportance to .si'istrge elk , s of indiri4; . t any oppressive burdens to Le lightened atiti-', - . [mg would he oppuS'e these improveteelter - :' .. , ,cation of money, even if he slaould . .tanci..: . • e alone—(Cheers from the Opposition ).- 1 ... 4 !. ;e a portion ' indeed the • largest portion of ~ • • *. these ' kingdoms possessed not- t!le:trie.4l.,` , enable them. to pay for the,Wok4:...lC- ' • 1 • [mid maintain, that k was , 2 ske i. g, oh 4.4 0 Gadded a strokzer term—to atipiy4.4o,436lms ' • ag of new 'cintreliCs. 'LcC it"besiteit4onk t : !, it ,it t niercy -was hetterithAtt sactvics—.-14 - 444, .- ..' . . •-. , . . , :-. • . . . , . . :.- . . . P WI" . . - Off that dent ;titian tit' steel ;. he ptciphsad r thetefore, Compliance with this laws to gisie notice that the seven' Lire millions of Fonr pdr tents. should be paid of October next, unless Within six weeks from that f the persons entitled to it would consent to tab amount _of their respective stock at par in the Tin and a Half per. Cents. The Right Honourable Gentle man, in adopting this plan, should hor;ever be aware, that unless he previously effected a reduction in the iii terest of Exchequer Bills, there would be in the market a fund which would be held against him by the persons entitled to be paid off; because, as semi as the notice , should be given, the persons holding four per ceats.woeld prefei to receive the market price of their stock ; and Exchequer Bills, bearing an interest of 4 per ct. but not being worth more in the market than at ',berate of Three per Cent. they would invest their money in that kind of security: he (Mr. Baring) could not, therefore, see what advantage the Right Hon. Gentleman thought to gain by his measure. If the Right Hon. Gentleman had re duced, as still he might, the interest of the Exchequer Bills, then he would reduce the value of that fund, the competition of which, with his proposed scheme, would be so mischievous to the latter. He (Mr. Baring) wished, however, particularly that it should be explained in the Committee upon what grounds it was that the Right Hon. Gentleman made out that the annual reduc don of 520,000/. would enable him to reduce the taxa tion to the amount of 1,062,0001. There was one "very important question which had been touched upon—he meant the iutroduction of foreign manufactures. To the principle of this he had no objection ; but it would have been much more satisfactory, if the Right Hon. Gentle man had, at the same time, stated whether any comm. nications had been had on this subject with other coun tries, and whether the advantages which the commerce of such countries was to derive from this was to be repaid by any reciproCal concessions on their pa r ts. He (Nlr.Baring) did not say, that even. with such -reciprocity, it w ourd be expedient to adopt the measure riivretent ; it would require great care and attention, before it could be en tered upon as rapidly as the-Right Honourable Gentle. I man proposed, lest great injury should' be aone to many: ,valuable branched of our : manufactures. In tlle fist ' place, the silk-trade would be operated upon by this regulation, and he (Mr. Bat irtg) should not be surprised if very setious consequences were to result from it. Setting aside the alteration which it would make in commercial speculations generally, a still greater incon- Venienc,e, he apprehended, would result, to the silk manufacturers. Not only would the taking off a duty of Thirty per Cent. upon the raw material have a con siderable effect upon the manufactures, but the pre ference which was always given to Fiend) patterns, and the superiority of that cation in the art of dying, ,might really do serious injury to this branch of our bade. 'While; he repeated, that his object in rising had been merely to obtain a fuller explanation of the means by which the Right Honourable Gentleman thought that the certain reductions which he had stated could be -effected from the hazardous surplus upon which he cal culated, he must, however, say, that the statement of the' Right Honourable Gentleman was highly satis factory, because it would convince the most incredu lous of the advantages of the systeM by which the im provement had beetreffected, and by which the public credit had been preserved. Even those who had ob jected to that system (he believed there were none such now, and that they had never been any other than the 'senseless populace, whose huzzaing at Public Meetings proceeded rather from ignorance than from a rational disapprobation of it) would at length see that the re duction of the just debt of the country had been brought about by the only honest means which could ever hive effected it, and that it never could have been otherwise done, but by shaking at the same time the credit of the nation, and by the sacrifice of principle which ought never to be lost sight of. For himself, he looked upon it as a subject of national pride and exultation, that, recovering from-a long and expansive war, we were enabled to effect such improvements in the finances of the country, without the violation of any honourable principle, or of , those moral obligations by which society was held together. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER thought he had fully explained the plan for the reduction which he had proposed; but as it appeared the Hon. Gentle man had not comprehended him entirely, he must' have failed in that intention. It would be observed, that in the calculation he had made of the produce of the last, year, although he had taken the surplus at its actual amount, he hid not estimated any increase of termite on account of the reduction. In the Custpms, also, he had assumed no addition on account of the progressive . increase which might be reasonably expected. Nor had he, with respect to the Assessed Taxes, caliulated upon any improvement in those which remained. He had made no such prospective calculation; nor had he, on the other hand, allowed for any increase of expenditure for the ensuing four years,trusting that the additionthere by to be incurred would be supplied by the natural de crement which might be expected to occur in that pet iod. If, by any accident, not now to be foreseen, that event should happen which would necessarily overturn all calculations—he meant a war, the Government then must rely upon the public spirit of the country to enable them to meet the exoenses which it would bring with at. 11, however, the tranquillity which at present prevailed should continue, the calculations which he had made would be found, he trusted, quite correct; and at the end of the time to which they reached, the Parliament would be enabled to judge of the operation of this im proved system. If any deficiency were then found, it would be the time to supply it, but he thought.in the interim be was entitled to assume (notwithstanding the apprehensions of the Honourable Gentleman) that no such deficiency would be found. Mr. BARING said, he had not misunderstood the Right H 97 Gentleman. He thought the country would be placed in a very dangerous situation if a war were to break out previous to October, and it were then called epon to pay 25;000,000/. Instead of keeping up a largo floating debt, as the Right Hon. Gentleman proposed to bo, it would be better to employ the 'money as a Sink ing Fund to purchase the S per cents. above 901. - Mr. ELLICE rose to ask the Right Honourable Gen tleman opposite a question relating to a particular sub ject, io which he' (Mr. Ellice) from his situation as the representative of one of the greatest silk manufacturing tOwns in the kingdom, felt peculiarly interested. -The Right Honourable Gentleatan . had-stated that he in tended-to reduce the duty on silks immediately the was afield that ifabe Right Honourable Gentleman carried his resolution into effect, it would occasion the greatest' ingoinfeideace. and distress amongst the silk manufae- i curing population. He perfectly agreedwith the 'Lahti , HenourabtaGentleman in the expediency of ultimately, 'educing the duty) . but lee pfotested egaiestainy great ' sudsiest reduatoo i p 444 w . qu.l4 materially affect