Star. — London, England, 1802-02-06 00:00:00

HOLLAND. HAGUE, JANUARY 30. Comitner.—The new regulations upon the trantit of goods which the Government prefented to the I.c:;illative Body, will he fanelioned to-mor row. declares that all commercial articles and nictchandife may pafs through the Dutch territory, except 1. All British merchandise, in the full meaning and extent of that term, as they were fptrified in the pub:itation of the Pircaory of the 23d or October, :79R, ren...wczi he the proeb ination 1/: the 3d of December, t 8: a. This es-option will alto oromptifc th, objet ts Gratified in the faid publication, which, though they may have been matitsfadtured in other countries than f ngl and, are corifidered a* firitiik produEtiot.s. The latter, bowiver, may hare the bendit of the tranfit when arrived in one of the ports of tb:: to be conveyed by water to the I;3:avian t-tritory. They than bt furnished with a regular certilleate, delivered it; the 114301ra:es of the place whence they come and wh, re they were landed or embarktd. The cer tificate is to matt, that the articles arc not of Englifli origin, and that the prihtt who Ins Lipped them has made his declaration by a Memo oath or by a legal affeetration. 2. Shall be exclucLd from the tranfit alt kinds of rags,as wdl as every thb:g that is ufsd in fifhing, nets, &c. and what is ...n -drritood in this country by the appellation of A J :Z.suaid, both old and new : old c•irtlage, which is no longer fervlceable in All forts of fizzing, cut and torn, which can no r he ufed in Cups. 3. All foreign fpices. viz. cinnamon, nutmeg, c!ovo. 4. Al! kinds of forcign tea. It is eft.Lbliflied by this regulation, that foreign tea cannot be comprifed, not only among the ob jets which have the benefit of the tranflt, but it is ut..j ur trzal:pin 1. 411 a traffic in the interior of the Republic. All the chcfis of foreign tea which (hall be feized, and which than not be marked in the manner pre fc ribed by the publication of the t ft of March, t 799, renewed on the 22d of February, ;Soo, (hall be con tifcated, as well as the fhip, bark, carriage, dm. by which the conveyance has been effeeted, to the profit of the Hate, and the perfon who fhall have lei zed it. It is alto forbidden by this regulation to carry tea thefts filled with other articles, which are not marked, and furnithed with a declaration of the Officers of the Cuftoms, under the penalty of one hundred florins per deft, and the confifcation of the elicit and the other articles it contains. 1 1 ,1RLLIMENTARr PROCEEDINGS. HOUSE OF LORDS, FRIDAY, FEB. c. A great deal of private hulind, was tranfadted--fuel as Erasing :rr..n,zemems for the hearing of Appeals, receiving Pt - titifois t r n_w causes, and forwarding of Private Ails. The : , tanding Order of the Houle, relative to Private Bilis from Ireland, was ordered to i - e taken into conculeration on IlinntLy Next, and their Loraiiips fummoned on the occafion. Lo.o Ho LIA o prefentcd a Petition from certain Info!vent Debtors in the Kin:fs Pcneh Prifon, praying for relief. Ste. It was fiznel, his I nrclitup obferved, by upwards of 200 indivi duals. He moved. that the Petition do lie on the Table, which was ordered accordingly. The Noble Lord then ?relented Pe titions of a fimilar nature, from ccrtain perfons confined in the county gaol of Cardigan; and ago in the gaol at Ennis, in the county of Clare, in Ireland, which wan alto fen:ally ordered to lie on the Table. Lord HOLLAND then &Admired a kyr words to a Noble Earl who fat near him ; the purport of it was, to learn from his Lord fhip (Moira) whether he perfifted in his Intention of brio-this forward thofe propofitions which he had given notice of pre vious to the late reeds, refpeding Infolvent Debtors. The Earl of Mut RA replied, that he had certainly given no tice of his intention of hriirling forward, loon after the Reeds, certain propolitios.s of the tendency alluded to by his Noble Priknd, and the °Ned of which was, as far as pradicable, to prevent the recurrence of Ads of Infolvency.-.-Tbofe propofi tions were not yet, he Paid, perfeitly matured,but were in that lute of forwardr.cfs, that he loon hoped to have the honour of fubmitting them to the confidcration of the Houk—Their Lordflaps then adjourned till Monday. HOUSE OF COMMONS. A poise from the Treafury brought up an account, &ming bow the money granted for the fervice of IA year had been dify,tfed of. Lord (AL MBIRVII brought up a Bill for amending fo much of the Act for regulating the fate of Pith, as relates to Eels. It was read a fiat time, and was ordered to be read a feeoud time to•morruw. Sir 11. hfiLDMAY Lid. it was his intention to move for leave to Lring in a Bill to amend tie 3zd Geo. 11. commonly called the Loris .IEI. An Honourable Gea:leman had alfogiven no- tice of intention to move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the fame A Et, hut he believed thzir views were by no means tie fame. He lhohld therefore with to bring in his Bill, and afterwards, if the Houfr thought proper, the two Bills might conGdidated. The irate of theft unfortunate debtors to whom he walled, his Bill, to extend relief, was too well known to tender it neecary for him to take up the time of the Houk by commenting upon the fubjed, be &add therefore movc.for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the 32d Geo. 11. Lord GLKNItr.VIL Paid, he willted the Hon. Bart. would withdraw his motion, and content himfelf at prefent with giv ing notice of his motion. The law in queftion had remained in force for It-If a century, and therefore it required fome delibe ration before it was altered—A very Large part of the commu nity, particularly the trading part, were very much interelted in the Cubic.% and therefore he hoped the Hon. Bart. would not perfift in bringing in the Bill, until chafe who were interefted in It, were apprized of its objed. Mr. STUROESS Paid, that the Bill might be brought in; and after being printed, the fecond reading might be poßponed for force time. ' Sir H. MA LDMAT withdrew his motion, and put it off till Monday. I.O4GLINISCRVie moved the Order of the Day for going into a Committee, to take into confideration the Southern Whale Fidisery Bill. The Houk having refolved ler& into a Commit tee, Lord Glenbervie moved as a Refolution, that it was need. fary to amend the kid BiU ; which was agreed to, and the Houk being rcfunted,the report was ordered to be received on Monday. Mr. Wll. DUNDA6 kid, that he had, before the reeds, giv irg notice of his intention of moving that a fum of snow]. which had been appropriated to certain fervlces in Scotland, &mild be applied to the purpofe of building Bridges and making Roads from the middle tithe North of Scotland. He wilbed now to poliponc his motion, beeaufe fevers, Gentlemen from that country, from whole local knowledge the Houk would derive great advantage, were not arrived in town. Mr. VAN t,ITTA KT brought up an account of .dl Places held by Patent, or for Life or Lives.--Ordered to lie on the Table. COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY. The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEQI/ER moved the Order of the Day for the Houfe to refolve itfelf into a Committee of Supply ; and alfo that the account of the Extraordinaries of the Army not provided for by Parliament, the Ac count of the Outitanding Debt of the Navy, as it flood on the 3111 of December a Bot ; and the Ac cout.t of Ole Charge payable for re-embodying a:lci calling out the Militia in Auguil, 18ot, fhould be referred to the laid Committee. The S►EAKER having left the Chair, The CHAVCELLOR OF THE ELCHEQUER fold, the Houk, in confegitence of the execution of its r.v.•n ordcrs, R.ls in poffeilion of the manner in the furn of z,sco,oool. granted laa Serum roc the Extraordinary Expences of the Army, had been diftributed ; and all . ° of the particular Cer vices en which the fum of 2,000,0001. railed in purfuance of a Vote of Credit, had been expend ed. In addition to thefe accounts, his Majetty had thought proper to lay before the Houfe an Account of the excels for the Extraordinaries of the Army beyond the 2,503,0301. It was for the purpofe of confidering thofe Accounts, as Well as the Debt of the Navy at the clofe of the IA year, the Committee were now fitting, and he enter tained no doubt every Gentleman prefent had made himfelf perfealy acquainted with the va rious items to which the accounts referred. The aggregate of the litm exceeding the eßimate laid before Parliament, with reference to the 2,500,0001. was, he was concerned to fay, a Cum no lefs than 1,847,1741. The various articles of which this excels was compofed ranged themfelves under three ditlina heads ; the firtt was the fum of 260,0001, paid to Mr. John Wood,the DeputyCom mifEirr General on the Continent. In obedience to the form's of the Houle, he felt himfelf liable to be called upon to give every fatisfaCtion that could be required of him, with reference to the Extraor dinaries of the Army, though the particular point on which explanation (honld be required might not have been immediately referred to the Com mittee. He fhauld therefore obferve, that the fum of 260,0001. to which he had alluded, was Rated as an item of charges which formed a part of a considerable, but at the fame time necelfary ex oence. It was an eenenre which :wore not of mands founded on various fub fi diary treaties be tween Great Britain and the Elector of Bavaria, the Duke of Wirtemberg, and the Eleaor of Mayence ; and alto fums this Country was bound to make good, in confequence of having taken into it-. pay the Swifs Corps, and the Regiments of the Prince of Conde. He prefumed it was not necelfary to Rate that every potlible check had been interpofed on the part of Government and its Agents, with refpea to the charges to which he referred. To the care and circumfpeCtion of Government there had been every additional ad vantage to the Public which could be derived from the feleaion of a man whore ability, experience, and tried integrity, rendered him, above all others, a proper perfon to carry into effect whatever re lated to the fervice of his Majesty. The indivi dual by whole authority alone the drafts could be drawn in payment of the demands arising out of the Subfidiary Treaties with the Continental Powers, was Mr. Wickham, a Gentleman upon whole probity and unwearied diligence the Houfe could not but rely with the molt perfe& confi dence. Independent of the fecurity which the appointment of fuch an agent afforded, no bill had ever been honoured till it had undergone a ftria examination on the part of the Comp trollers of the Army Accounts. Not only had the greater part of the charge been fubmitted to the Comptrollers of the Army Accounts, but every item was Rill liable to be examined by the perfous appointed to audit them. The Committee would fee there had been every poffible caution on the part of Government, not merely with regard to the mode of permitting the expence to be incurred, but for inquiring into the application of the mo ney for satisfying fervices previoufly provided for by Parliament. He felt extremely demons the Committee Mould be perfealy fatisfied on this part of the fubjea, becaufe he was aware it muff have excited a confiderable degree of attention, particularly with reference to what was the opi nion of thofe more peculiarly concerned, as to' the fums Mr. Wickham had expended. It ap peared that of the three Sulifidiary Corps, of whole fervices this country had availed itfelf, the eftimate of the expence for the Bavarian Corps had fallen Short of the aftual charge upwards of ioo,oool. The eftimate had been 594,0001. and the aftual charge amounted to 694,0001. — With repel to the two other Corps, the advantage was confiderably on the fide of Great Britain. The actual expence, both with regard to the Corps of the Duke of Wirtemberg, and the Eke-, tor of Mentz, had fallen Short of the eltimate. He meant by this Statement to infer that the whole of the expences under the controul of Mr. Wick ham, as far as they were under the controul of that Gentleman, were jultified by the neceility which produced them ; and that in all his concerns con nected with the objet to which his attention had been direaed, he had acquitted himfelf highly to the advantage of the Country. The opinions of thofe perfons whole sentiments on fuch a lubjea were molt important, had been unequivocally ex preffed, in apps oval of the conduct of Mr. Wick ham. In a Letter written by the Comptrollers of the Accounts of the Army to the Lords of the Treafury; they Rated, that they had taken into confideration fundry Accounts of Mr. Wickham, refpeaing the difbanded Corps which had been in the fervice of Great ' , Britain, and had found them perfealy cone& By thefe Accounts k appeared the fums paid by this Country to its three Subfi diary Allies, were considerably below the eStimate, except with regard to the Elector of Bavaria— whole charge, as he had Rated, exceeded the eSti mate by 100,0001. There was one circumllance which appeared eminently confpicuous in the con duet of Mr. Wickham, and that was, his eitraor dinary attention in procuring fuch remittances as prevented any Prince his najefty had fubfidized from having the lealt demand on this Country re maining unpaid. It was with the utmoft fatisfac tion he Rated, that the expellees of the large bodies of troops employed upon the Continent had, upon the whole, fallen confielerably Short of the esti mates, and that tile accounts were completely made up to the prefent moment. With refpea to the two other heads of Expenditure, as Rated in the paper in his hand, the molt confiderable was that which arofe out of bills drawn from Egypt in the iprhig, fummer, and ..tunin, of !aft year. They amounted to t,540,0001. a fum which lie freely confelfed greatly exceeded any expectation he had entertained at the time ; but he was thoroughly convinced that large as it was. the circundlances of the war in Egypt had rendered it inclifpenlibly necelfary. He was far frt.m desiring to link the repordibility of thole who had employed filch a lbm, by tugiiu der: frktalid and unparalleled &cedes of the Britith Arms. He wffbed the Ac counts to be as minutely fcrutinized, as if Great Britain, inftead of a glorious and well-earned vic tory, had experienced defeat and difappointment. The Campaign in Egypt was one, of the molt ar duous and trying fervices an army could be en gaged in, and unexampled expences had necefra rily refulted from them. A Gentleman who Eft his life in that country, had the direction of the Accounts relating to the whole of that expedition. Mr.:Mote, the Commitrary General, was too well known to render it necefrary for him to fay any thing for the purpofe of firming how well quali fied he was for the fituation he had held ; fur knowledge of butinefs and integrity of character, no one ever exceeded him ; the whole of the con cerns relative to the expence of the conquell of Egypt, had paired through his hands. It had been the opinion of fume of the molt diftinguifhed per fons in the fervice, that the operations in Egypt would not have been of any confidevable duration. It had been the hope and expectation of the great and dillinguiflied man who had commanded the army, and the lois of whole life the country had to regret, that the fate of Egypt would have been de cided within a much fhorter period than that to which a variety of events had protra&d it. When therefore it was conlidered that the operations of the army had continued for a much longer time than had been expected, and that the ac counts had paired through the hands of filch a man as Mr. Nlotz, the Committee, he was per ito..l-a• would bi- ( " 4 " ih." 1.,4 not been la vithed the dealt unnecefrary expence. There was another head of expence to which it was neceffary to call the attention of the Committee—it was the amount of the excels of the expence incurred in the Weft Indies, in confequence of bills drawn by the •Commitfary : this amounted to between 4 and soo,oool. He had no hefitation in flying that he contemplated this excels with confidera ble concern. It might be Lid, that an augmen tation of expenditure was necefrary in confequence of the Expedition againtt the Daniffi Welt In dia Iflands, and that confiderable additional ex pence mail have been the confequence of the un exampled high price of provifions. Independent of there confiderations, the whole expence, with out fuppofing the 'earl imputation againft the Gentleman who was Commiflary in the Welt In dies, or meaning, in naming General Trigge, to infinuate that the leaft fufpicion attached to his condua,hemult yet acknowledge that the taiMate he had given was not fufficient to juftify the ex cels, and his Majefty had therefore determined to appoint a Special Committee to proceed to the Welt Indies to examine into the accounts ; to go from ifland to ifland and enquire upon the fpot in to the facts upon which they were founded. The refult of this enquiry would of courfe be laid be fore the Houfe as loon as it (hould be tranfmitted to England. He had referred more particularly to the paper in his hand, becaufe it was his with to have put the Houfe in full poffellion of the ac counts of all expences up to the dole of daft year, in order that the Houfe might fee the amount of the additional burthens which would be necetrary, and that no account might remain behind. Per haps it would rave the Committee force trouble if he referred to the account on the table, though it did not relate to the vote he Ihould propofe. The Right Hon. Member Rated that the Debt of the Navy was, on the 3ift of Dec. 1801, 9,073,0701. and after enumerating the increafed amount of the navy eltimates in confequence, a greater num ber of (hips of the line having been brought into fervice, and the augmentation of chipping of vari ous defci iptions, the employment of crafts to pro tea the mouths of rivers, and many other fources of expenditure, he obferved, that it was a fubjea of finprize the excefs had not been to a much greater extent than it appeared to be. That it was not, was owing to the aconomy and vigilance of thole who prefided over that department con nected with the fervice. As to the excels under the head of Victualling, it was one he regretted, kut at the fame time the term itfelf indicated the Viafou—it was attributable to the enormous price of fubfiftence during the lait year ; but it was to be underflood, that under the head of viaualling for the navy, a very large turn was applied to victualling the army. It mutt be in the recollec tion of the Committee, that a much greater por tion of the army was afloat IA year, confequently the charge under the head of victualling was ne ceffarily larger than it had been the preceding year. It was to that he afcribed the excels, and he trailed the Committee would contemplate it in the fame point of view. It was impoflible, under the prefent circumtlanees, to afcertain how far it would be prudent' to diminifh the debt of the nary. Much would depend on when the country would be enabled to relieve itfelf of a confiderable part of the naval fervioes : till it was known what the amount of the naval eftabli(hment would be, it was impoaible to lay at what amount the na val debt lhould be fuffered to remain. He trufted it would not be thought too much if he propofed a vote of 2,000,0001. towards reducing the navy debt; and as to the extraordinaries of the army, he fhould propofe that a fum to the amount of the excels fhould be prolided for. He concluded by moving, that a (urn not exceeding 1,847,1741. be granted to his Majefty to defray the extraordi naries of the army incurred and paid by the Pay mailer General of his Majelty's force for the year Mr. RoswN began a feries of remarks upon the accounts on the table, and the -feveral eflimates referred to the Committee, by alerting that the Chancellor of the Exchequer, when, in July-lai, he had Aced for a vote of credit, amounting to z,g00,0001. Itated gravely in his place, that the extent of the whole he fhould require for the ex traordinary fervices of the year would be rellriaed to that fun ; whereas, laid the Hon. Gentleman, " I, knowing from the appearance of matters he would require a much larger firm, advifed him to afic for two millions more, and he fhould have my fupport ; but the Right Hon. Gehtleman poll tively faid he lhould want no 'Pore (a cry of No, No, from the Treafury Bench). Mr. Robfon con tinued, " Upon my word, Sir, he did ; I have it written down." (At this a general hurfl of laugh- ter pervaded the whole Houfe). wouldadob r lz e r e v o e n d at , the after Hon. all c t r. } 7t i l s e:m i p i a e r n o :h c a i e s m d f i l u e r t:' pilled and difappninted at beholding the amount of the extraordinalies of the army to exceed 5,;} ; ,1741. lie complained much of the cuaein which he afferted had of late prevailed, of calling on the Houle for large isms o; money, by Iliort notice of their nee,ffities, without any notice at all (a laugh again) ; and now he had reafon to fay, that however much he had hoped from the prudence of a new adminiaration, the whale was but hope, for ha faw as yet no rata to fatifiion his opinion in their mconomy. For aught he knew, many of thofe fums might very materially infringe upon the articles of the Union ; for as tyre were no slates affixed to feveral of the items, Ireland would have impofed upon her the hardfhip of de fraying her moiety of them, and for the truth of that he app.r.led to an Hon. Gentleman who then fat behind the Chancellor ofthe Exchequer (mean ing Mr. Nicholls). He then proceeded to notice the charges for Black Corps, and alked, whether it was intended to continue or dilband them, ob ferving, that in the one cafe they would be expen. five and burthenfome, in the other dangerous and formidable. From thence he adverted to the army accounts at large, laying, that during the ten years which the pretent paymaller was in of fice, they had never been finally fettled ; and ad ding, that he believed they never would. With regard to the peace, however much he valued it at tira. he %villa now own he did nut fee it exactly in the fame point of advantage ' • and with the knowledge he has fince obtained, he would not have contented to it, nor did he think, would even the Chancellor of the Exchequer himfelf, when he refleaed on the acquifition of power and territory which Bonaparte has obtained once the lignature of the preliminaries : this he was pofitive of (a very general peal of laughter arifing). Mr. Rob fon, in continuation, exclaimed, he was convinced of it, and a laugh was no reply to his argument. Having touched on thofe topics in his tibial mode, he proceeded to the feveral items charged in the accounts, viz. the fums of zoo,ocol. paid to Mr. Wickham ; 100,occl. to the King of Sardinia ; 80001. to Sir William Hamilton; 67,0001. to a Co lonel Ramfey; 500,0001. without dates; 135,0001. to Mr. Thornton, of Hamburgb ; 1,360,0001. for St. Domingo ; Expenditures at the Bahamas, amounting to 26,0001. ; the fame at Bermuda ; another fum to Lord Balzarras, at Jamaica. From all of which, taking the number of forces into con fideration, he could affert, that by the accounts on the table it would appear, that the Extraordi naries of the Army would exceed the rate of sot, per man per year; and no reafon was to be af figned for all this but the letters of the parties themfelves concerned, and no other token of the vat} expendirtre but what he faw in the refult— from the fplendid equipages of Commiffioners, and the luxurious (late of Jobbers and Contractors; for, in fait, Army Extraordinaries have ever beea the pack.horfes of every job. He calculated the additional burthen this would place on the back of Ireland as exceeding 4500,0001. for her moiety. He defired to be informed whether the fum of 200,0001. given to Lord Minto, at Vienna, was to be reckoned as ftrialy coming within the mean ing of Army Extraordinaries; and whether that fum was expended for the act of our forces . in Egypt ? The Chancellor of the Exchequer anfwer ing in the affirmative, in a low tone, acrofs the table, the Hon. Gentleman aid, that Country Gentlemen hearing of this fam being paid to a fuperannuatedAmbalfador, and not having the op portunity of hearing what was faid by the Right Hon. Gentleman in a low tone of voice acrofs the table of that Houfe, could never be taught to be lieve that monies advanced in that grange way could have been intended or applied to the purpo fes of the Army of Egypt. In the fame way he fpoke of fums charged as paid to Lord Elgin, at Conftantinople ; and for all this, nothing but Jet ters ofAuditors, Rating their approval ofaccompts expended, without fpecification or date—letters which that Houfe could not admit as proof, which no Court of Law could receive as evidence; and for the truth of that he appealed to the Attorney- General himfelf. Having then glanced at other items, fums iffued for fubtidies, and other engage ments with Foreign Princes, he concluded with giving the queftion his negative. Mr. MARTIN (of Tewkelbury ) faid he mull return thanks to his Hon. Friend for having entered fo largely into the bufinefs before the Houfe. It was high time for that Houfe to examine minutely into the expenditure of the public money; particularly when a General EleCtion was in all probability not far diaant ; and when every Member fhould give an account of his conduct to his Conftituents. He hoped that what had already happened would dif guft the people againa foolifh and unneceffary wars, and a fcandalous expenditure of public mo ney. He would never oppofe any MiniAer, as long as filch Miniaer continued to bring forward )good and ufeful meafures. He was forry to fay, that in his opinion the Houfe had not treated his Honour able Friend with the refpeet which as a Member he was entitled to. They anfWered his obferva- Itions not by argument, but with a laugh and a ' freer. It was the duty of the Chair to proted a Member in loch a fituation. The CHANCELLOR OF THE EXCHEUER Said, he hoped whenever it would pleafe his Majelly to call a new Parliament, that the people would chute fuch men as would be true to the interefts of their country, and to the welfare of their con ilituents. On what ground the Hon. Gentleman who fpoke 'aft could impute a fcandalous expen diture of .the public money to either the prefent or the late Minillers he was at a lofs to know.— And he was equally at a lofs to know, on what ground the Houfe could be charged with treating with levity the obiervations made by the Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Robfon) who (poke before him. " I have," Paid the Chancellor of the Exchequer, " liitcned to that Hon. Member with great pa tience ; and that is all I can fay. I heard him with that refpca which i 3 always due to a Mem ber of Parliament. No man applauded more than himfelf that jealous and vigilant attention of Members of Parliament to the management of 111