Star. — London, England, 1824-03-13 00:00:00

PARLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, MARCH 12. This morning the Loan Duerr sat for the furtherance of Ap peals, when" Mathie a. Muir," from the Court of Session. was a!- firmed with Xioo costs. " M'Call and Co. v. Black and Co." from the same Court, was next called on,when Mr. Wmtaxn and Mr. fluestaxast were heard ' for the appellants, and Mn. SHATHSI.L and Mr. Seeman for the re rpopdencs, and afterwards Mr. WARREN in reply.—Judgment de ferred.—At a quarter to five o'clock the Lona Cumscessott carne into the House. The Bishop of EXETER presented a Petition from the bin bitants of the City of Exeter, praying for a Repeal of the 'Duty on Coals carried coastwise, which was laid upon the table. Lord G. &weasel., Mr. WILLIAMS, Sir JAMES GRAHAM, and others, tram the House of. Commons. brought up some Road Bills, which were afterwards read a first time. Mr. Aromas, from the Treasury, delivered at the bar Customs Accounts of all Exports from Ireland, also Papers respecting Port Patrick 11 arhour. also the Annual Accounts of.the Public Income, and of Arrears and Balance!, pursuant to the Act of Parliament, and tinder the orders of this House. The Earl of BELMOR F. presented a Petition from the Free-' Mas Ons of the County of Tyrone, in Ireland, who prayed to be ex enipted from the operation of the Act for the Suppression of Secret Societies in Ireland. and hoping to he placed in all respects on an equ s al footing with their Brethren of England. The 31arquie of ill/ WNW IRE (on presenting a Petition from the i n habitants of Weila near the Sea, fur the gradual abolition of Colonial Slavery, in which prayer he concurred with his entire mind) said, that he wished to take this opportunity to bring before their Lordships a subject at all time.. interesting as connected with Ireland, a country in whose welfare he assented some interest, and whose situation could not ton often be brought before the House, as in proportion to the knowledge of that country...would be the be nefits it received. The subject he wished now to notice was au in tended new Survey of Irelandoehich he understood was proposed vebe made under the inspection of the Noble t)uke at the head of the Ordnance, an appaintment in which, having great property in that country, he (the Marquis of Downsitire) was willing to concur. But he apprehended, and this was the topic on which he had risen, that a mere trigonometrical weep, which had sufficed for England and Wales, would never go far enough for Ireland; where be be lieved an admeasurentent of parishes and town-laaas must be ob tairird. Ireland in those respects was different to other parts; and unless the write) , were undertaken and completed by persons of strict Integrity, it never would answer the ends proposed by Go vernment. The present could never be made by the key, the mode of estimating land upwards of one - hundred years ago; since there had alriady been a great march of improvement in Ireland, and lands originally ofno value, now become rich, were, not taxed at all, while other lands, although decayed, were rated at their ante cedent worth. Ile trisiteel, at all events, that the survey should be entirely made by .peraons from this country, who had no partiali ties to Mislead them, nor prejudices to contend with, but who would therefore be most likely to make a faithful estimate. Lord CA urnorti.F. presented a Petition from the Port and Town of lhwer fur the abolition of Slavery in the Colonies ; and The Earl of SHAFTESItUItI: presented Petitions to the same effect from. Poole and Kendal. The South American Postage Bill was real a third time and passed; and the House adjourned till Monday n6it. HOUSE OF COMMONS. • Several Accounts and other Papers were presented from-the dif ferent Public. Offices, and ordered to lie on the table- A Petition was presented complaining that the Cavan Election had been an undue otee.—Ordered for consideration an April 23. • Mr. LI NDSA I presented a Petition front the Furfarshire Cham ber of Commerce, on the subject of the Tay Salmon Fishery Bill. Sir ILFERGUSON presentl l / 4 1 a Petition from William Dal eels's. Esq. of Seotscraig, in the County of Fife, praying to be beard by Counsel and Agent against that Bill.—Agreed to. Mr. BIRCH presented a Petition from the Tanners, Curriers, Sadler*, lee. of the Town of Nottingham, against the Bill for revs lathtg the Duty on Hides and Tan Skins. • Lord STANLRY presented a like Petition from the Dealers in Leather of Preston and Lancaster. Both ordered to lie on the table. Sir WAXMAN presented a Petition from the Corporation of the Town of Hertford against Negro Slavery in the British Colonies. Lord STANLEY presented a similar Petition front liotsham, matter. A similar Petition was presented by Lord Lowman from Hil lingford, Westmoreland. A similar Petition was presented from Inhabitants in Leicester.' A Petition to the same effect was presented by Mr. Ald. Snarl, from the Aldernien and pur g esies of St. Alban's. A similar Petition was presented (rum Wells, in Norfolk.—All these Petitions were ordered to lie ou the table. Lord STANLEY plesented Petition from the Worsted Ma. nufaiturers of Kendal, against the Repeal of the Wool Duty.— Ordered to lie on the table. Mr. LA W.LEY presented a Petition from the licensed Victual lers of Irving, against the i)uty on Excise Licenses. In answer to a question front Mr. Brat: t.. The CHANCELLOR. of the EXCHEQUER said, that the only answer he could give at present was, that he flattered hiM self he:should be able to propose something to the house regarding that Duty—Petltiou ordered to be printed. Mr. S Y K ES presented a Petition front the Boot and Shoe-makers of Kingston-upon-Hull, praying for the Repeal of the Combina tion Aefs. - Similar . Petitions were presented by Mr. Ilene, from 59$ 1.1- dies' Boot and Shoemakers of Lnudou and its vicinity ; from the Boot and Shoemakers of the Borough of Southwark ; by Mr. Nehhiiscfrom certain inhabitants of Eteter ; by Sir R. Wissoo, (rum the Boot and Shoemakers of the City of London ; by Mr. Pstriatz;froM the Boot and Shoemakers of Reading ; by Mr. Goer Ilettese, from the Boot jnd Shoemakers of Brighton; all of which writ ordered to be referred to the Anisans Committee. Mr. BENETT (of Wiltshire) presetned a Petition from certain ipbabitants of the County of Wilts, praying for the abolition of Negro Slavery in the West Duties. 'Three similar Petitions were presented by Mr. Setts from cer tain district, in the County of York—from Ross, in the County of I lereford ; by Sir J. Nett/ewer, front the City of Waterford; by Sir W. Coenutve, front the Inhabitants of Plymouth and its Mei- ' pity; two Petitions, by Sir .1. WMITIESLEV ; by Mr. CAVE/IMM, front the Inhabitants of Derbyes-The l'etitions were severally or dered to be !glided. BIRCH presented a Petition from the Silk Manufacturers of the Town of Nottingham. praying a repeal of the Silk Duties. Sir T. LETHBRIDGE presented a Petition front the Inhabi tants of Crossby, in the county of Suffolk, praying for a repeal of ..all the Milked 'farts—(Hear, hear.) These Petitions were ordered to be printed. Sir - IL r ARNE I.Lpresented a Petition from certain Merchants, Bankers. and others in Ireland, praying for au alteration in the Diiikrupt lAvra, as applied to Bankers. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said the subject was one deserving the particular attention of Parliament. After a few words front Sir Amu NEw roar. the Petition was or dered to be printed. • Mr. HUSK ISSON presented a Petition from dee Merchants, Trasitga. and other Inhabitants of Liverpool, praying for an altera tion hi the Ireolvent Debtor,' Act. toots Mr. Secretary PEEL presented a Petition front the Cotton Spin ners of Belfast, in Ireland, praying for a repc:il of the Coal Duties. Mr 'HUSK ISSON said. his Right Hon. Friend the Secretary Oar Friren Affairs had given notice of a Motion-relative to our Co- Itinies in -the West Indies, for Tuesday next, the 16th inst. He (Mr.• filtskiSson) now gave notice, in the name of that Right Hon. Gentleman, that he (Mr. Canning) *mild on the sante occasion multi for Jtave to bring in a Mil to declare the Slave Trade, carried on by any of his Majesty's Subjects, piracy—(hear, hear). Ali. WESTERN moved for Returns of the Number of Persons Amesied for the Window and House Tax in England and Wales dUring the last year.—Ordered. 'Llard A. HAMILTON. seeing the Bi g ht Hcn. Gentleman (the Chauellur of the Exchequer) in his place. wished to ask what course that Right Hon. Gentleman meant to pursue respecting the proposed reduction of Stamp Duties? The VHANCELLOIt of the EXCHEQI7IIf said; the plan he bad in contemplation to propose was of :.se simplest nature possi ble—namely, to repeal certain Stamp Duties on law proceedings in Englasid and Ireland. His proposition would be simply in the Com miore, that certain duties Teethed in a schedule which he would present, should bediecontinued after a certain time. Sir T. I Oti E presented a Petition trout the Silk 'Ala notaeferers of Sheetens Mallet against. the Repeal of the Duties on the Importation ul Foreign Silk, and took that oppostunity to ask if the Right Hun. Gentleman (the Chancellor of the Excite-ie.:3) had made up his mind in whaularge omits warehouses should he opsited for the teceptrun 01 silks preparatory to the remission of duty thereon? TheU IIA NCELLOR et the EXCIIEQU ER said that Imtruc tiolia bad bunt issued that proper officers should superintend the Liu. *loess in all the sea ports where such operations were likely to oc- Pal ; and that isactrs should be ICI/1 to all town/ whores °r in the neighbourhood of which, silk manufactures were carried on, for a similar purpose. Nr. 'ELMO': wished to know, was amk is a fixed state to come withil`the meaning of the Right Hon. GrentleMan I proposed regu lation on that article? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCIIEQUAR said certainly.— Fie conceived that silk In that state must be considered as manufac tured silk.—The Petition was ordered to be printed. Mr. WODEHOUSE presented a Petition from the parish of Walpole, in Norfolk, for a repeal of the Duty on Coals. Petitions for the regulation of the Salmon Fishery in Scotland were presented by Mr. LINDSAY, from the Provost and Magistrates of the Royal Burgh of Forfar; by Mr. AIDDCRONISY, from the Provost and Magistrates of the Royal Burgh of the county of Ilad dington.—These Petitions were severally ordered to be printed. Mr. HUME intended to have put a question to the Noble Secre tary at War, had he seen him in his place, respecting the pay stopped front soldiers suffering under the sentence of Courts Martial; be should, however, move fora return of the number of men (soldiers) who have been confined, belonging to the let Regiment of Guards, for a certain period ; also a return of the income and expenditure of what wu termed the Stock Purse in that Regimem—Ordered. Mr. DENNISON presented Petitions from the Licensed Vic tuallers of two Districts in the County of Surrey. Mr. S. WORT LEY presented a Petition from the Inhabitants of Howden, in the County of York, praying for the repeal of the Duty on Houses and IVindowe; also a Petition front the Inhabi tants of Iluddersfield, In the same County, praying that the House would take into consideration the Game Laws.—These Petitions were severally ordered to be printed. REDUCTION OF TAXES. Mr. HOBHOUSE presented a Petition from certain inhabitants of London and Westminster, praying for the remission of Taxes. The Petition, said the Honourable Member, contains a view of the Revenue of the coun try, and strews, from the wasteful and improvident ex penditure, that it can suffer a great reduction of taxa tion. It alluded to the five millions appropriated for the' Sinking Tund—a fund which he had taken every opportunity of strewing was fallacious, and would be ultimately ruinous. It ought properly to be denomi nated a fund for sinking the spirits and the property of the people of this country. Nothing seemed clearer to him, and to many other Honourable Members who sat in the House, than that the money which was levied for this fund ought rather to remain in the pockets of the People; for, if war came, they would be better prepared for supporting the burthens which the exigencies of the State might require. The Petition also drew the atten tion a the House to that important part of the public expenditure, namely, the expense of governing Ireland,' which cost Great Britain . four millions sterling more than that country actually produced to the Revenue. It was lamentable to think that this was.the condition of Ireland, a country possessing such resources in climate' and in soil, and in the spirit and character of its people. It became then a duty to consider whether some remedy could not he proposed for this great national grievance. The Petitioners complained that the money which was extorted in taws from Great Britain was destined to misgovern Ireland. It was confessed by all parties, e!( whatever political opinions, that that country so far from being a source of wealth, was a source of great misery) . of jealousy, and of suspicion. A great number of pet. sons, he knew, thought these did not spring from there.. sent Governtnent ; but they allowed that this wretched ness had been created by some Government or other. — It was impossible that a people 'could continue in a state of misery from century to century unless the Go vernment had been had. The contrary would be a moral phenomenon which had never been witnessed. The latter history of the country spewed that all the promises of amelioration had proved deceitful. Whet, Lord Fitzwilliam was at the head of affairs there was, indeed, a prospect of halcyon days; but he was recalled. During the administration of Lord Cornwallis, separa- ZiOn and disunion among the people took place. To come to more. recent times, his Majesty was. gracieusly pleased in hit Speech from the . Throne in 1820, to re. commend the adoption of measures which would craw.' quillise the country, but to this day no means had been taken to put an end to its calamities. He sincerely hoped that his Majesty's Government would think of adopting a new system in that unhappy country. Mr. ROBERTSON thought that if the prayer of the Petition were granted, the best interests of the country would be sacrificed. No time seemed better fitted than the present for reducing the National Debt, through thej medium of the Sinking Fund. That fund had been' efficient ; it had reduced inte rest t o i ts p res ent low tare, and had excited an active spit it throughout the country —( Heer, from Mr. Hume). Mr. HUME did not think there was one pound of real Sinking Fund : it was all a delusion throughout—(Ai laugh).—lf die Honourable Gentleman wished to te duce the National Debt, let him attend to his (Mr.' Flume's) plan of first reducing the public expenditure. That part of the Petition which related to the extortion of money from Great Britain to govern Ireland merited attention. He would ask the Honourable Member (Mr. Robertson) if in the course of his travels he had seen any country—even the kingdoms of China or Japan— which had a worse Government than Ireland, making allowance for the difference of civilization? There was one item in the Irish Estimite which he could not pass by—it was a charge of 1,933,000/. for the Ordnance Establishment, while in 1,927,500,000! was sufficient for the whole Army Establishment. The cause of this in created expenditure was owing to the great military establishn.ent in that country, and hence proceeded the cause of the misrule. Mr. J. SMITH thought that the large sum which was expended for Ireland was a sufficient 'reason for in quiring into the state of the Government in that coun try. He stated his sincere belief and opinion, that. un-' less some steps were taken by the House in the Catholic question, three or four millions of money must still be expended in preserving tranquillity. Sir JOHN NEWPORT said, that the wantof reve nue iu Ireland arose from the perfect inability of the people to pay taxes; and that inability was the result Of the bad government of the country. That unhappy con dition had pot arisen within these few years: it grew out of a series of acts by the Government of this coun try; and he was fully sensible that peace and happiness would never prevail unless the confusion 'of religious opinions was put an end to. After a few words from Mr. Ho:mouse, the Petition was laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. LINEN BOUNTIES. The LORD ADVOCATE of SCOTLAND pre seined a Petition from the Provost and Magistrates of St. Andrew's, against the repeal of the Bounties on Linen.—Ordered to be printed. Colonel TRENCH rose to move for returns con nected %Nadi the Linen Trade of Ireland, for the purpose ut imploring of the,l/ight Honourable Gvntlennut (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) to postpone his proposed measuse for the reduction of the Linea Bounties. _He trusted the Peitions of the peueleon that subject would, be attended to by the House; it was in las power to prove that nothing could be better ialculaied to take the people out of the lauds of -their .own demagogues, than the cousideration which the House so readily 54" • to theretitioni of even the humblest individual—an effect.of ihe most desirable and important. nature, and • one whicli therefore amply compensated for the addi tional troullle it gave to the House—(Hear, hear). The Honourable Gentleman concluded by moving that there be laid before the House Returns of the weekly sales of Linen in the different markets in the Provinces of Ulster and Connaught, in Ireland, for the last ten - years, with the prices per yard. Mr. BROWNLOW seconded the motion. Mr. MABERLY pressed the consideration of this subject on the Right Honourable Gentleman (the Chan cellor of the Exchequer). He had4received several com munications from Ireland, which slated that, inconse qttence of the expectation that. the entire of the bounty cn coarse linen was about to be discontinued, 40,000, persons in that countryhad.been thrown-out of employ ment. Those people had not received the intimation of the Right Honourable Gentleman's intention that the bounty on coarse linens should be only partially discon tinued in the same proportion as that on linens of the finer qualities. The Honourable Member then pro ceeded to condemn, as inconsider ate, the announced in tention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to repeal the bounties on coarse linens altogether It was noto rious that foreign flax, on importation into Ireland, paid a duty of S 6 per tent. so that in fact, in many instances, that which was c.ailed a bounty was only a drawback. The CHANCELLOR of the .EXCHEQUER was unprepared for that discussion. The Honourable Mem ber forgot that the measure proposed could only be effected•by an 'Air. of Parliament, and which had not yet been introduced into that House. In the Committee, abundant opportunity would occur to propose any alte rations that Gentleman might deem advisable. The Resolution was then agreed to, as was a motion for a return of the nuneber.of persons imprisoned, and of the number of persons convicted under the Insurrec tion Act in Ireland, describing the nature of. the se veral offences. . ANNUAL DUTIES. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved that the House. should resolve itself into a Committee on the Annual )N16E51411. . V r. ROBERTSON hoped that HonourableGentlemen would not. lure the House, as was the custom on the in troduction of-that very important description of business. Mr. GREY BENNET complained of the quantity of business accumulated for that evening—referring part' , coarly,(6 . the traribus denominations of Estimates to be moved in ihe Committee of Supply. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER de fended the practice or giving notice of the intention to more the Estimates in the Committee of Supply. He Wished, however, on that evening, to proceed in the first nstance with the on the Annual Duties, which , *Of importance, as the present Act would expire on e 24th March inst. He did not think they would oc- Xupy much time ; and after they were disposed of it was his intention to move that the House should resolve itself into a Committee of Supply, in which, if possible, his ;Hon. Friend proposed to bring forward_ the grant to the British Mn'eum, and other miscellaneous votes. Mr. HUME said it was utterly impossible for Hon. Members to come prepared to meet and discuss such a variety of business as was set down for that evening.— How could Honourable Gentlemen be able to look into !the items of so many classes of Estimates? He had him self brought down five or six- bundles of papers to meet khe business of that evening —(A Laugh). He hoped the 'Honourable Gentleman would take the miscellaneous !Estimates in the first instance. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, 'that as far as lie was concerned, it was a matter of perfect 4ndifference to him which vote should be first proposed; and if the HonoUrable Gentleman would say . to which :of his five bundles of paper he wished reference should+ be first made, he should be happy to accommodate him. After a short conversation between Mr. PEEL and Sir Joint NEwronr, the House . went into a Cotnnaittee on the Annual Duties. Bill. , t Colonel DAY/ES said, it was his intention to move a clause which; h'hoped, would very considerably add to the resources of the country, though it would ori ginate in a repeal of part of the Duties on Foreign Spi rits. The present system of collecting and enforcing the Duty on Foreign Spirits was fraught with violence, fraud, and perjury, and was a disgrace to any financial . Osten). It was a fact, that. the smuggling on the south Xuast of England was to be attributed to the high du ies now imposed on foreign spirits, and not to a wish to I . introduce the more valuable articles of foreign manu acuire. Ile must remark to the House, that the great inducement held out, by our high duties, to smuggling was such, that even the petty officers and sailors en gaged in the Preventive Service were induced too' often to go halves with the smuggler in his speculation. That the Revenue had declined since the year 1806, when the duties were increased on brandy and hollands, would be obvious, from a reference to the peiiods of successive increase of duty per gallon, through each stage in which the amount of duty decreased. The. same consequence had followed with respect to tea and other prohibited articles. He would suggest to the Eight Honourable Gentleman (the Chancellor of the, Excl:equer) that this country should return us the rate of duties m some one past year, for instance 1806, when the duty on foreign' spirits was only 12s. 6d. In that year, too, the erpense-of the collection of the Revenue was so much lower, that he was encouraged to expect that a return to the former mode of collecting the duties would create a saving in this department alone of 956,8301. annually. It was absurd to talk of putting an end" to smuggling by. this high rate of duty, aided by the vigilance of the,Preveutive Service. - Some of the first persons in the country, desirous of possessing these ar ticles, so far from being deterred by the laws from smuggling; were foremost in their illegal attempts to obtain illicit possession of prohibited articles of luxury by means of smuggling. With a view to lessen the in ducements to smuggling he should, as a . preparatory measure to a still greater reduction of duty hereafter, now move a resolution, that the duty on foreign spirits should for the present be reduced 1 s. 10d. per gallon. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER consi dered the present mode of proceeding adopted by the Honourable Member was not that which would tend most elFectually to promote his own object. The Billl called the Annual • Duties Bill, was a Bill to continue for another year certain duties which, without it, would expire on the 25th March. It was merely the duty of the Committee now to determine whether this ditty should continue, and it would be much more conducive to the object he Had in view to move for such a reduc tion of duty on the permanent duties. This duty in ef fect was a war duty ; but, owing to the necessities of the State, had been by repeated Acts of Parliament conti stied year after year. ' The date of its original enact ment was in the year 1801. Now, in his mind*, the sim pest way for the honourable Niernber to proceed would have been to move a reduction of so much of the per manent duties as he considered necessary to effect his 'object ; for if not taker. off the permanent duty it would leave the subject to be discussed over ansi over againevery Session. He would for the present say a word or two on the subject of these duties. He would not deny that the duties on foreign spirjts were very high, .4tAt.helt could not but remartt that the present las eselas fit . C p. .pertunity to effect their reduction, IfiheseilatiejA.ere reduced,,a proportionate reduction must injustice take place on the duties on spirits distilled at home; and it Svc uld be imprudent to attempt any such reduction b e , foie the House knew what was likely. to be the effect of the reduction of the. duty already granted. last year, It would therefore be highly injudicious as. things stood to proceed off hand to remove a part of either duties; in his opinion. In a moral point of view there cer tainly could be no objection to impose. a. restraint on the use of all ardent spirit. by. a. high duty upon it. It was argued that the loss on the part of the duty so reduced would be more than counterbalapeed by th e greater qtrantiiy of foreign spirits consumed. The in ducement of a reduction of Is. IGO, a gallon; . he, con fessed, appeared to him too trivial to warrant art infer ence that many more perscins would use foreign spirits than used them now ; nor would such a ti iffing rehic tion, in fact, ever be allowed to reach the con-ureer, but only be the means of putting the I s. 101). into e e pocket of the spirit-merchant. Mu& less would it be sufficiently operative to prevent smuggling to any perceptible ex tent. Had the Honourable Member's motion been cal culated to :educe the duty, on tobacco, it might pnssi biy have been more acceptable to the House, became that was an article of luxury chiefly it, use amongst the poor. But even with respect to similes duty it would Certainly be imprudent lightly to make any alteration, considering the reductions on. jesetion which hod and ,iweie about to take place. On the whole he 'Must cp. dose the motion, because he dal not. think the j.resent was a fit opportunity for its agitation, nor was this sub ject of taxation one which so eminently challenged the attention of the .House. Mr. HUME observed, that though the enactments of last year had decreased the inducements to smuggling in Scotland and Ireland, yet the Right Hoeourable Geri tieman had unwittingly increased the inducements to smuggling in this country. His Honourable Fiend had only proposed a mosler Ate 1-4,lllcmcio of. this duty, is hopes that hereafter the Right- Honourable Gentlern.in would concede a still greater seduction of it, The enor mous profits resulting from the illicit trade was he teal source of its growing strength. In fact, he ui, hest to ask whether the Right Honourable Gentleman knew anything of the present extreme activity ct the illicit trade all along the coast from Scotland southward? Possibly he did not—(A laugh).—" 1," said Mr. Hume, " have whiskey in my house, and shall continue to iceep it, and let them find me out if they can (Loud laughter). I don't deny, nor have I the slightest intention to keep any such foolish law—(Laughing)—for it is a law which should bind nobody, because it is a foolish law"— (Laughter) —The Chancellor of the Exchequer spoke of the great distillers as usual. They had always seemed, to him to sit like a nightmare on the Chancellor of tl.e Exchequer —(A laugh).—But it was foolish to talk of the nine millions of gallons distilled which paid duty in this country, when the Right Hoaourable Gentleman was told, as he would tell him, drat the distillers were now building large distilleries within nine miles of the Scottish border, so as to be able to inundate this country with spirits, and evade the duty. In this view of . the question, he could not but look upon the Right Honour able the Chancellor of the Exchequer as the i rime ore gan of smuggling._ The difficulty of procuring pine; he believed, too, constitut d the greatest inducement to use it to excess when it could be obtained. He eas 00 , sorry his Honourable Friend's motion - was not in favour of a greater reduction. It did not go far enough : the duty should be the same on spirits tom the Continent 'as from Scotland. Colonel DAVIES, in reply, observed, that by per mitting this reduction to take place he did imagine the consumption would not be less, but the income to the revenue be considerably increased, or this article possi bly doubled. He, however, perceived.the form of. the objection as to this being.an inconvenient stage for at tempting a reduction of the duty, and he should not therefore press hi. motion. COMMIT? g; On the motion of Mr.LUSHINGTON, the House resolved itself into a Committee of Supply on the Esti mates of Civil Contingencies. The first Resolution was for 100,0001 This was considerably below the sum voted last year for the purposes to which this sum was to be appropriated. Mr. HUME said there were some questions relative toour Ambassadors at. Foreign Courts. - However, as the Right Hunourable,the S e cretary for Foreign Affairs ra as not in his place, and as another opportunity. might offer for explanation upon this subject, he would not not , / oppose the vote. Mr. WILMOT-HORTON next proposed 8,287/. far the support of the Civil Setvice of the Bahama Islands. Mr. HUME wished to know if these Islands yieldel any revenue, and.if they did he was desirous of know ing if that revenue was not sufficient for the support uf any establishments there? Mr. WILMOT-HOILTON replied,, that he was not aware of any revenue arising from those Islands. - Mr. HUME thought it most unfair that the people of England should be celled upon to support, not only the military but the civil - expeoditure of these Colonies.— These establishments were fur the benefit Of the residents there, and if the inhabitants could not bear the support of the whole establish mentsiis they now stood, let some of the useless offices he reduced, and the sums paid thereto be appropriated to delay the expense which the House was now called upon unnecessarily to vote.—The resolution was then agreed to. Mr. WILMOT-HORTOisi next proposed 6001. for the Island of Dominica. Mr. HUME thought this vote still more Objectionable. than the former. This stun he understood went to the• payment of a Chief Justice. Was Dominica in such a state as not to fe able to afford that allowance to a ChicfJustice, if it were at all necessary that a Chief Justice should reside tltere? Again he would say, that the Chief Justice was for the benefit of the inhabitants there, and not for the benefit of the people of England; The former, therefore, and not the latter, should contri bute to his maintenance. Mr. WILMOT-1-10ILTON begged to refer the Hot. • Niember to a correspondence which took place betwe,..l this Island and Earl Bathurst, in %t hick he would fra►i grounds for the propriety of continui►►g this vote, and of having a Chef Justice there. Mr. G. BENNEt . said, that the only,inform4ion c nt•. 'ined in that cortespoildetke WAS, that the inhabits 1:$ sa;cl4 .81If el rose ourselv P *as all he coi WILN sib:Venaff , by the dismiss t o continue foi w irb r egulate pr oved - by the :w o ad to tr * Opted towa t bepmpriety hitherto had.s Colonel Dd able' friend Motion rely i -E.tablii worthy Mc an Mr. HUNII for S. Lucia The CHAI that Dominic of our West I frectuently bet ]amities inßu from its disc quantity of Although oth blishments, a Dominica, an then country. Mr. HUM jndia propert lie kt as, never to maintain th anziOttS that minds, w The Hesolutit s,! Mr. WILN' the Civil Cot 11.1 - lUMI for this vote m ilitary. its w while tie nev :l 0 them , 00 h their N lishments, boi sach a vote, t the amount o means aff de dis, Posed 'sit liblartent, let lei it be dhch of the. Herne part of the Sheriffs.. WI pity the Sher Betides, is he from fees. 1 trar. He sbt Also a Ckrk Land: Why %vet e sold naui r magoti ;Ands were ip which, were tanute peopli were sent hL - _ settlement. sold they wo What he hero ties of being . be correct--1 own estahlish sion hail they was 1001. for know where I established su antes to Sury the items wl propose to rej Mr. WIL Gentleman v to this vote ti were called oftices. Nov of the tase. that, Coluily fair, he wont Colouy whit and *hick w this cow sitcy i Gentleman m Is there . that .iight tc pauses were eicpeiwiture 20,0001. wer it would be! emu to supi bad been bl Canadas, would "have.l penditore, t Hume) was Gentleman t Colonies we comideratitn ant (114ebtkon; Colonies: bi jact. now .but of the Chen man to adni eaPeeikes.. of Gentleman . 1 sale of land, dpced no p those: wh oa 9iaastion,o4 eitElengtin „r malatainiu m Feat Of ties more thit t C°l l L (4l 7,as derived fret d ig Veatioe Ileniber wi thrkbject the a' cou ntry. tbt cogtitry able &k n ts pno 40 a tal . sPgaltilig be w as spe, r . •