Star. — London, England, 1820-05-05 00:00:00

'Tense in *.he years 1794, 1795, 1796, and 1797. In a eree attached to the returns made of the items of the Lurplus of the Gibraltar Revenue, it was stated that ..0 account of its appropriation would be laid before Parliament. That account, however, had never made its a apearance. It was not only material to obtain this, hit it was most material seriously to consider the principle on which the Revenue in question had been raised. For his part he had always been led to be -I:eve that his Majesty had no right to levytaxes.upon any part of his s ubjects without the sanction of Par liament. Let the Jlouse also consider the amount of those to xes appropriated to the Civil List; that amouat from 1760 to 1S"0, was 124,226/. being 2,0701. per ennui:). The Nvhole amount of the taxes levied on ..iibrahar dining the last sixty years was, however, e.i0,0001. The House ought surely to consider how 7 . 41' his Alnjesty had a right to levy, for his own pur pose , any tax on a colony. He was prepared to con- :end that no such right existed, and that all taxation on the subject, not sanctioned by that House, was a ~.each of its privileges. He begged the House to attend to one circumstance. The Right Hon. Gen tleman opposite refused to assign any reasons for the appropriation of the sums in question to the Civil' List, but said that it was the immemorial usage. The, fact did not hear out the Right Hon. Gentleman in tat assertion. Let the. House refer to the original charter granted in the reign of Queen Anne, soon e.;:er the capture of Gibraltar in 1701.. In 1705 the (4 . 11CC11 in Council declared, for the encouragement of settlers and traffickers in the garrison, that no duties should be laid on ships, goods, warehouses, Scc. This declaration had the effect of attracting a ton.aderable number of settlers to the garrison.— Tile returns which he wished to obtain would skew w:lat the amount of the duties levied was, notwith sandiag that declaration, in 1760. In 1791. the amount assessed was 4,0001. The House would be bur p; iced to learn that it had since increased to 50,0001. To tic Revenue derived from certain small psrtions of lead, Ste. that Lad devolved to the Crown, the Crown was fairly entitled ; but the imposition of local taxes to so heavy an amount was disgraceful and unwarrantable. He proceeded to another most serious part of the subject. When Gibraltar came ir:o our possession the inhabitants wet e chiefly, if e. entirely, Catholics; and our Government. being :tel.:ious to remove them by degrees, and to substitute nen:status, gave to the latter superior advantages in order to induce them to settle. The Catholics • • ' ducted upon the principles of that persuasion. He. would go farther—there was not on the Rock any establishment from which any Protestant could re ceive that religious consolation which he required. He would now again advert to the Revenues of that place, as well as to the manner of their collection. These Revenues were collected at a grievous expense., The recent appointments too, to public orlicei, were' against a positive Act of Parliament. The Act to which he alluded was one which provided against the di charge of the duties of any office by deputy. Mr. Wickham had been appointed a Receiver of cer tain branches of Revenue, and this office he dis charged by deputy. He only mentioned the name of ehis Gentleman as an instance of the many which he could produce, and whether his case came within, or was previous to, the Act to which he alluded, would be shawl' upon the inquiry which he proposed. He did not mean to trespass further upoir the atten tion of the House—(flenr, peer! fi•oin tire Miai.ite rid wenches).—He would go a little further, in con sequence of the cheers of the Gentlemen on the other side—(Heru-, hear! from the Opp. ition).—The Ho nourable Member went on to state, that not long ago there was but one Commissary of Stores in GibralL tar ; at present they had three. Not long since, they had not a Commissioner of Accounts ; now they had three. During the war r. Military Secretary was em-' ployed ; since the peace he had been struck off, but he was retained as Translator of Languages, with the continuance of his previous salary and emolu ment,:. He would not fin ther detain the House at present. Ile had three motions to make :—The first was, " For a Return of all the Taxes and Duties le vied in Gibraltar in the years 1800 and ISIS." These two periods would be sufficient to shew to the House the nature and increase of the Revenue of that coon try.—His next motion was, " For the production of :in Account of the number and nature of the vari ous Oilices and Establishments at Gibraltar, with the Amount of the Salaries and Emoluments re ceived by the different Functionaries in 1800 and in 1818." This would shew to the House, how far the system of economy, which was now considered the order of the day, was attended to.—The third mo tion was, « For a Return of the Amount of the Re venues of Gibraltar front 1760 up to 1820, distin guishing ench year ; and also an Account of the Gar rison and other Expenses, together with the Revenues transmitted to this country.' On the first question being-put, were subjected to a variety of restrictions, which con- The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, tieeed until his Royal Highness the Duke of Kent that he did not rise to oppose the motion ; indeed, be became Governor. IVith that liberality which had al- had not, with the exception of a slight alteration, ways distinguished his Royal Highness, who felt that any objection to produce the whole of - the Accounts the Catholics ought not toremain wider any burthen moved for. He could not, however, help complain of that nature, he represented to Government its im- ing of the uncandid manner in which the llonoumble propriety and its incompatibility with the peace and Member had charged both the Governor of Gibraltar (ittiet of the garrison. In consequence, Mr. Wind- and his Majesty's Council, in the course of his speech, ham, in 1807, wrote a letter to his Royal Highness, with extravagance and extortion. He did not wish, authorising the abolition of these restrictions. But at present, to go at length into this question, as a what would the House say, when he infornied them proper period would arrive for its discussion. But that Ministers, by a late Order in Council, had laid he hoped Members would reserve their opinions until a tax on every Catholic and Jewish inhabitant of that discussion came fairly before them. With re-- the garrison ? The will of such individual was de- spect to what the Honourable Member had said, .re dared to be invalid without the sanction of the Go- lative to the right of the Crown over conquered Co., vernor; and a capitation tax of ten dollars a year lonics, he conceived that there was no principle of was imposed upon him—a tax existing nowhere the law of nations more generally admitted than that but in Turkey, and worthy of Turkey! But what which transferred to the conquering Sovereign the he thought would surprise the Muse, was, exclu- rights exercised over such Colony by that Power to sively of - all that he had mentioned, duties to the which it previously belonged. He did not mean to amount of many thousand pounds on almost every object to the first or second Resolutions ; but to the article imported into Gibraltar. On ships touching third, he would, if it were :not altered, propose an Cure, a duty was levied. On a ship of three masts, Amendment, which was, that the whale Account for twelve dollars; on one of two masts, nine dollars; the time mentioned should be produced, without spe en smaller vessels, four dollars and a half, This was cifying the items from year to year. He w ished at the in direct contradiction to the original charter. Du- same time to observe, that there was not any foreign ring the year that he (Mr. Hume) was at Gibraltar, port in which similar duties to those complained of WOO vessels touched at that port. It they tumefy were not exacted. The Right Honourable Member anchored they were subject to the duty. There were made some observations relative to certain sums re o-dier taxes levied ley the Governor, General Don, mitted from Gibraltar, and received by his late Ma ia the most arbitrary manner, and without even the jesty. He could state that the surplus remitted to :authority of Ministers. In a list in his possession, it this country, for the List twenty years, was £70,000, appeared that there was one (he would not say inn- or something more than £5,000 a-year. The total proper in its object) imposed is 1816, of £9l a year amount of the Gibraltar provisions, for the last six 'a every retail wine and spirit shop. He knew he years, amounted to about 4225,000 a-year. should be told by the Right Hon. Gentleman, that this Sir JAMES MACKINTOSH said, it was not his was confirmed two years afterwards by an Order in intention to delay the House by entering unneces-' Council. There were other taxes imposed by Gene- sarily into an inquiry as to the mode in which these ral Don on eating-houses, billiard-tables, fishing- Taxes had been laid on. He felt, however, that the boats, etc.—am 3 he was almost ashamed to say that mode of their imposition did not shew a due regard the Geacral had sanctioned the sale of Lottery-tickets, to the rights of the inhabitants. Notwithstanding without th_ authority of Government, by making the this opinion, he was ready to give credit to his Ma venders of Spanish Lottery-tickets pay a considerable jesty's Ministers for the laudable anxiety manifested suet for a license. Whether or not those sums were by them, when a.representation was made of certain brought to the public account he could not say, but severe Orders in Council, to relieve the inhabitants he knew they were levied ; and he had in his posses- from the pressure of those orders. But he could not siou live or six of General Don's Proclamations on agree with the Right Hon.. the Chancellor of the the subject. This practice of levyin g t a x es a d likings., Exchequer as to the doctrines laid down by him on and reinitting the produce home for the Privy Purse the law of nations, and which, coming from such cf his Majesty, without the authority of Parliament, high authority, were calculated to make a strong v , as, in his opinion, must u; constitutional. The este- impression. He could not see how the law of na hlivliment of the place had also been most t ioneces. ,lions vested in the Sovereign of this country, con tali!), increased. lie really believed it was increased quering a colony, the powers previously exercised ;llA in proportion as Ministers found it convenient in such colony by an absolute Monarch.' The to extend their patronage. lie would give the law of nations went only to relulate the transac- Roma some idea of the amount of the increase, in dons between nations. But the powers to be exer erder to shew the kind of economy observed. During cised over a conquered Colony must depend upon the war there was one Town-Major in Gibraltar ; the Laws and Constitution of the conquering nation. s ;ice the peace there had been two. During the war He would take the lib erty; without digressing from teem were two Barrack-Masters; since the peace the present subject, to refer to the case of Campbell there had been three. During the war there was one and Hall. The House would recollect that that case Pratitiuz-Master ; since the peace there had been two. by no means decided the power to be exercised over Instead of paving and keeping the garrison in re- conquered colonies, but that it was still a matter of pair, out of the duties levied jilt, largesums (which doubt, evea among the highest authorities, whether ihe lionoureble Gentleman specified) bad been, at that power was vested in the King in Council, or various times, voted in the different estimates, for the King in Parliament ? He felt it necessary to purposes, while the money was all remitted say that the How and the country were highly in ,-erae for the use of the Privy Purse-.4llear, hear). debted to his Hon. Friend (Mr. Hume) for his peree t-Now, really, this appeared to him to be a question vering exertions in inquiring into matters which lay ":handing serious consideration. If any part of the beyond the ordinary observation of Members gene-1 '!. reditary Revenue was given up by the Act of the rally. 'He would, however, recommend to that HO . r of his late Majesty, that at Gibraltar must have nourable Member to accept of the offer of the Chan ' ens given up too. It was not, however, simply the cellor of the Exchequer on his third Resolution, re, 21.A10 that had been applied to the Palsy Pulse, serving to himself the right of movingior any more t;:e extravagant Establishment—contrary to every detailed accounts when he should• deem it necessary nriple of economy—which had been kept lip, to so to do. He admitted that the offer of the Chancel ' Lic,i the attention of Parliament ought to be di- for of the Exchequer would bring the accounts in c.c.!. To him the system appeared to be most ille- completely before the Ifouse, but they'woUld be suf. and unconstitutional, and one which ought to be • ficient for the question just about to be inquired into; ) 01 i , I:ed. Not any pert of the duties raised wre the amount of' the Crown Revenues. With this view ;,plied to purposes advantageous to the Establish- he thought the suggestion of the Right Honourable r..znt. There were in Gibraltar two Synagogues, - two Member oultht to be acceded to, but without,preju on.in Catholic Chapels, and one Methodist Chapel; dice to any future. nquiry. . -t there was, not one church of the Established Re- ! Mr. GOULBURN said, he did not then wish to ion of this country, nor was there one School con- :enter at length in answer to the Honourable Member (Mr. Hume), as another opportunity of doing so would present itself. There was one, point, however, to which he wished to speak. The Hon. Member had stated that he had resided at Gibraltar. Ile also had resided there, and he could assure the House, whether it was from his greater desire to attend Divine Service, offrom what other motive, he would not say, but he had . every Sunday attended the Established Church, and he bad seen the troops regularly attend it also. And he could call to the recollection of the Hon. Member the existence of such an establishment, by reminding him of the monuments erected in and abcut it, to several of our naval and military heroes. There were other statements of the Hon. Member which he was equally ready to shew were incorrect, when the proper period arrived—at present he did not feel it necessary to go further. Colonel DALRYMPLE said he had resided two years in Gibraltar, and had, during that time, rep,u lady attended a Church of the established religion:' He also had witnessed /he regular attendance of the troops.—The first and second Resolutions were then put and carried. Mr. HUME, in moving the third Reiolution, ob served, that he lend made the alteration recommended to him, by striking out the words « from year to year," although this defeated the great object which he had in view in making the motion—namely, that of shewing the progressive increase of Revenue and Expenditure which had been made. He could assure the House that he was ready to meet the llonourable Members opposite on the subject of the statements he had made ; and he pledged himself to prove that these statements were correct. He denied at the same time the charge of want of candour, imputed to him. Ile had never used the words charged against him by the other side of the House. If any expression in advertently used by him gave offence in any quarter, he begged to assure the House that be had no such intention : his only object was to lay before Parlia ment the trite state of the Revenue arising from Gibraltar. The Resolution, as amended, was carried. Mr. WHITBREAD presented a Petition Irons several Per sons residing North of the River Thames atiive London, com plaining of the dangerous state of the Navigatihn under London Bridge, and praying that some measure should be adopted for remedying that evil. Sir WILLIAM CURTIS said, he was sure that some mea sure would rory shortly take piece for removing the inconveni erNes now felt by persons who passed under that bridge. But he would assure the House that it was not in the dangerous state which had been represented. Mr. F. LEWIS was of opinion, that something ought to be fmintdiately done for the removal of the evil in question; and if not, the most serious damage would be done to the Navigation of the River below the Bridge. He conceived that an inquiry on "the subject was necessary. Sir WILLIAM CURTIS said, he should feel it his duty to lay before the House any information he might possess on the subject. Mr. Alderman WOOD said, that an inquiry had been going on for some years relative to the Bridge. and if those who com plained of its present state chose to n:ove for any other inquiry, the Trustees would be ready to give them every information. Mr. C. CALVERT observed, that the City of London' wished to keep London Bridge in its present state. on account of the Water Works erected there, in which the whole (icy was interested. Now, as an Honourable Friend of his intended shortly to introduce a plan fur destroying the smoke of all Steam- Legines, he hoped the City would have no objection to erect new Engines, which should throw up the water, instead of the wheels of those works to which he alluded. - Mr.. Alderman WOOD asstired his Honourable Friend, that 'the City was riot interested in the keeping up the Water Works. Ail the advantage derived from them was a small rent, and that the City would be ready to give up, if it should appear that the public convenience required it. The Petition was ordered to lie on the table. _ It was ordered, on the motion of Mr. HENRY Curs, that an humble Address be presented to his Majesty, praying that there be laid before the House an Account of the present State of the Estabdshed Church of Ireland. The Insolvent Debtors' Act Declaratory Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow.—Adjourned. LAW INTE.LLIGENCZ. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, MAY 4. The SOLICaOR-GtNERAL moved the judgment of the Court upon the following persons, who were brought up to town from the places of their respec tive conviction, to receive their sentences. The judg ments were pronounced by Mr. Justice BAYLEY, after the Petitions put in were read, and the arguments in mitigation and a g gravation of punishment on both sides were successively heard, viz. Rickard Wade!, convicted at Maidstone upon a criminal in formation tiled by the Attorney-Ger.eral, for a violent assault on one of the stamen of his Majesty's ship Severn in the execution of his duty, in the prevention of smugglers on the Kentish coast, to be imprisoned three months in Maidstone Jail, and at the expiration of that period, to find sureties of good behaviour for two years, himself in £5O, and two sureties in £25 each. EllioU, convicted at the Dorset Assizes, for lighting fires by night upon the coast of that county, on the 15th of No vember last, as signals to smuggling vessels at sea, to approach and land their illicit cargoes.—ro be imprisoned three months in Dorchester Henry Hickson, convicted at Maidstorn,, , of resisting and assaulting a Custom-house Officer in the execution of his duty, to be imprisoned two months in Maidstone Jail, and give secu rity on his own recognizance in £5O for his good behaviour for five years. Wm. Whitman, convicted at Norfolk A.sizes, for assaulting a seaman of the Severe. in execution of his duty, for the pre- vention of smugglers on the Norfolk coast, and Or unlawfully assembling with a great number of others, amounting to nearly 200, for the purpose of smuggling, to be imprisoned ifs the House of Correction for that County for one year, and find sureties of good behaviour fur two years, himself in £5O and two sureties in .225 each. Wm. Martin and Thomas Fridge, for unlawfully assembling. with above 50 others, on the dlst of October last, on the coast of Sussex, for the purpose of landing smuggled goods, and for assaulting several seamen and others belonging to the Severn in the execution their duty in the service of the Revenue—the former to be confined in the House of Correction at Lewes 15 months, and then to give surety of good behaviour for three years, himself in 150 and two sureties in £25 each ; and the latter to be confined lit months, and at the expiration, to fled the like sureties for two years; and to remain in confinement until ttfe sureties in both cases be given. &marl speers, David Cook, and An Brooks, convicted of the like offence, and assaulting several seamen and others, belonging to the Severn, in execution of their dutiesi on the coast of Kent, suffered judgment to tr o by default on their trials.—Brooks found sureties himself in £5O, and two sureties in £25 each, to come up fur judgment when required by the Court.—David Cok and Samuel Speers, to be confined three months in the douse of Correction at Lewes, and enter into their own recogniaances for £.30 each, to be of good behaviour for thiee years. Morris, Wm. Forbes, and Jame:Reify, for lighting flash fires near Bexhill, on the Sussex coast, on the night of the 6th of April, 1819, as signals to smuggling vcssels at sea, to be confined three months to hard labour in the House of Cot rection at Lewes. James Alsaian, for attempting to bribe an Officer of the Cita, toms, in the execution of his duty, to permit the landing of smuggled goods, fined £5, and to be imprisotied in Canterbury Jail two months, and fi nd sureties foe his good behaviour for two years, bimself in it:4o, and two other sectirides in £2O each. E‘lia4rd Moore, for assaulting, at Liverpool, a Cunoni-house Officer in the execution of his duty, in eudeaveuring to seize frwn the defendant a jar containing two pain's of spirits, with out his having a permit for the same. Fined. £4O, and to be imprisoned until the fine be paid. . Geo-g: :"., for asiaultii:4 a Custum-house O.llccr, Isaai Sped? c:ing, in the execution of his duty nt .Wrexham, on the 21st of /Coven)), .r last, flnod £2O, and to be imprisoned till paid. Hi I aid a fine in Court, and was discharged. Benjamin Driver, for conspir:ng with John Franklin, to as. *auk and falsely imprison William Pringle and John Collir.s, seamen, of the ..r.:vern, (in their duty at Margate Pier, on the tth July last, at nigh', to prevent the landing of smugzled gods; and by such assault and imprisonment, f.teilitating such landing, fined £lOO 3 and to be imprisoned until the fine be paid. Aube* Gardiner, for assaultirg a Ilever.ue Oiricer in the exe cution of his duty, in searching the ballast of a boat wherein be . . suspected there were smuggled goods concealed, at Deal, on tke 2gel of August last. Fined er-tlO, and to be imprisoned till ' , old. Peter Adkins, for assaulting and endeavouring to threw into a pit, near Deal, on the 39th December last, William Hamilton, a seaman, of the Severn, employed in the cervice of the n.,..- nue, wit;le on duty on the coast to watch for smugglers, to Ite imprisoned in Canterbury Jail three monthl, and fird sure:: s of good behaviour for two years, himself in X.:4!, and two sure.- _ tic; in £9O each. Joseph Clarke,- an old man above G 7, and Henry Clarke, his son, a young man about 2.5, both of whom had pleaded guilty to au in,iictment preferred by the Society for the Suppression of Vice, early in the pre sent Term, charging them •xith the publication of ob scene books and prints, was now brought up, and Mr. GURNEY ros•!, for the purpose of praying the judgment of the Court against the two defendants. The libels themselves were of so gross and disgusting a nature, that be would rather submit them to the private consideration of their Lordships, than, suffer them to be read, even before the few individuals were present. The CHIEF Jusrtett oberved, he was given to un derstand that some pr. position was made by tile elder prisoner to make some communications to ti-.e prosecutors' Solicitor in this case, touching cei rain discoveries be proposed to make. His Lcrdship wished to know if such communications 11.. d bekrt male, and what was the result? Joseph Clarke, the father, said, he had net tbade any communication to the Solicitor for the prosectt tion; but he had written letters to Lord Sidmouth and Mr. Wilberience, expressing his deep contrition for his criminality, and offering to make discoveries to a very considerable extent of persons concemed in the same guilty traffic. Mr. GURNEY said, the Society had received the communicatiou made by this defendant; but from the knowledge they already had on the circum. stances, fifty wished to enter into no compromise with the defendant. 'fhe Cut Er JUSTICE asked the elder defendant, ifhe wished to hear the indictment against him now read? The defendant answered, that he did not, for he was so conscious of his guilt, that he had no wish to hear it read. • The affidavit of John Branscomb was then put in by Mr. Guirsov, which stated the manner in which the defendant, Joseph Clarke, had been detected. It appeared that the deponent had gone to the house of Joseph Clarke, who, without bribe or persuasion, sold him a book, which was one of the libels in question, for 3.. The affidavit then detailed the sei. zure of a bag in the pri-oner's house, which coil -tained a great number of indecent pubhcati ► s. The dcfendants now put in an affidavit, stating, that they were ready to give iuformatio:• against number of persons in London, engaged in the business of selling obscene books and prints. The father st4ted, that Fe was discharged, about five years since, from the Workhouse at Islington; and, shortly afterwards, that he fell by accident into the company of a bookseller, who told him great profits were to be made by tl-e sale of such publica tions ; and he was induced, from his poverty, to fall into the snare, and to become an instrument for the sale of such works ; that he had an aged and sickly wife to support, and no other means of livelihood. He further said, that Branscomb had bribed him with half.a-guinea. Mr. GURNEY addressed tile Court in aggravation of punishment. In particular, he called their Lord ships' attention to the circumstance of the defendants having got so large a price for these obscene pictures, from which he concluded that the traffic must haie been a most hicrative one to him, as it was going on for twelve years. It was also, he said, a great ag gravation, that he had brought up his son to the sane immoral trade as himself. Ile hoped the Court would, by. a severe punishment, set an example to those who, by destroying the morals of youth, make a base livelihood, Joseph Clarke (the father) said his son had served on board a King's snip, and was discharged at the peace. He was without means of livelihood, and he had employed him in his business ; but had endea. voured to conceal from him the place where l►e ob tained his.supply of those books and prints, and his son, by watching him, found out the source, and commenced the trade for himself; but he acknow. ledged himself as the guilty source of his son's con. duct, and prayed that the whole of the punishment might fall upon him. Henry Clarke said that he had served five years on board a King's ship, and had been wounded in the service, When peace was concluded, he obtained 4 birth on board a merchant-ship, and went to Notth America, Where he lost the use of his limbs, He had then been forced to sell children's books for a live.. lihood, but had not sold them as a blind for the sale of indecent works. He had never sold such works -to persons younger than himself. There were no religious books in his bag. Ile could not be guilty of such an act as mixing such wicked pnblications with religious books. He then commented upon the character of the informer. That individual, he said,"was in the habit of intoxicating himself, 'and singing songs infinitely more reprehensible than any which had been sold by him (the defendlnt). Was such a person "fit to be employed by a Society for the Suppression of Vice—by a Society whO pro• fessed to act from religious motives? The trade had not been a gaining tract: : : to him. In prison he had expended more money than ever he had got by the sale of the books and pictures. He had supported his father, mother, and sister, in prison ; and they had all been in a stare of the greatest distress. If they had possess'ed either friends or money, would they have remained in prison for a bailable offence ? Their last articles of clothing had been parted with. In time of war, he would not have remained on shore; but in peace, it was intpossible, Without interest, to get a ship. • Mr. GVPNET, who had before him the bag which had been found in tke house of the prisoner, Joseph Clarke, said, that upon examining that bag he found libels in it evull of a grosser description than those named in the indictment. Henry Clarke declared, that he had sold fewer