Star. — London, England, 1817-06-21 00:00:00

re:. of the Sec:tt Committee, be Cti ltfed to attend in Lis Face rd FnLK:TONE withdrew his motion, and Mr. an:.ndrne...t was then put as as original 11. T,e Ci.-114CELLOR of the EXCHEQUER . r ; 2 pruhended that some difliculty might be found in cr; e7.;ing the attendance of his Right Honourable ;...: 1 „i, f. orn an igonranze of where he might happen ..., :), at th.q moment. Ile had often heard of ord,rl :J1 :•: , :r7I - TrS to attend . on a given dash but never k.-. f . one for an immediate attendance. :‘'.7. '''Ni.` . ...: remembered an order having been r.;..ie on the occurrence of some worth of heat, for - !t :rnmcdiate attendance of two Members, and he, ....:h an , :her Centleman, had been dispatched to en -4,;-re it. A sintil tr order might be made in the present : loner, and th:-; attend:-.t r.e of the Right Honour_ ~.5: '.7.tniticrian might be tat:ft:led by similar means • ...4 ..'„-.??-, e:‘.:r ) !:e c.I - 7.ANcE• .7... Len. a the EXCHE(MER. 1., th-.• i:Ase all c.ded to by the Hon. and Learned Geri :„m, i !lie two Members had but just left the House, :he flier could therefore be easily enforced, but the re!-o' case was essentially different. He then movev!, • an.endment, that the Order of the Day for the t:nosit resolving itself into a Committee of Ways and !.•ans be read. Mr. BROLGT - TAK—Ai: tlle only difficulty ap pnlierdA I:y the Char:el:or of tl:e I:tchec i uer was eiir.ohy o tied..,:h out. t!le Ci:ainnas: of the t.crr.mitec, two Members best ticquaioted with the c Right lion. Gentleman I be dispatched, and ::c doubted not his attend-, asce r:i',2,ht soon he obtained —(Near, 11.71 r.) 1..!' NIII.TON expressed his satisfaction at the Ile Lord's (Folkstoae) having withdrawn his mo.' t;or, as if caeried, he s'...ould have found it very diJi. c:t to have complied with the order of the House. lien a Member of the Comm !tee, and ac.l cutinte.l ith :he contents and ohj-?os of the Report, !•e fah tk n aile-Antitge the 1i iuse would det ire from ...::ing the Repo:t read that evening preparatory to tbscussion on Monday, and at an early hour ton, at txelve or one o'clock, when only a Jew v:ould be present, and dime probably the usual 5 i,purters of the Ministers. The Report appeared tt.:,irn to ex.izera!: the diourtancet of the country. There we t e undoubtedly many circumstances in it, in cont. ! todence widt the evidence submitted to them. but t' ere \k Cie alvo many things not in it which ought to 1 !Ave b:cit exprLsteil. Mr. GILTS called tile Noble Lord to order. The It,po r t was not yet before the House —(Crier of ‘• Go, ON. " ) Lord MILTON said, he would he unwilling to Freed if he were out of order. lie merely wished to bare bad the Report lead at MI early hour, hav ing heard that it was intended not to produce it until .4:ta a certain business, and he thuetose was zniious to take the earliest opportunity of L:spiebsing Ins °pl.., ion on the subject. The SPEAKER conceived that the Noble Lord was in order—(Lord cries of " Go on, go on." Lutd MI LTON —There were many circumstances ' tn which, in his opinion, the Committee ought to heye referred, besides those to which their attention Led been particularly directed. There were souse Members of it who appeared to see nothing but civil wars and. revolution. in the evidence laid before, tiro, but there were certain causes of those vin-' leoces to which sufficient notice did not seem to have t"irs paid. About five years ago a Committee had ben appointed to inquire into what was commonly tailed Luddism, and this it was which, .in somewhat an enlarged shape, and of a more acerbated charac ter, the country had to complain of. On that occa., :len a different measure from that now proposed had been adopted—one of a local nature, suited to the necessity, and which had been found sufficient to counteract the evil under which the country laboured, and to bring it into a more civilized and comfortable state. He really felt it quite inconsequential why a similar measure sheold not be adapted at present. 'lnc Noble Lord was proceeding in his continents, when Mr. C. B. BATUCRST entered the House, and both !potion and amendment were withdrawn as un necessary. THE REPORT. Mr. B. BATHURST brought up the Report of the Secret Committee, to whom the contents of the Green Bag laid On the table by Lord Castlereagh bid been referred. The Report was read by the Clerk, and stated nearly as follows : . " In forming an opinion on the state of the coun t'f, your Committee could not fail to bear in mind the former information laid before them in the COM rtncement of the present Session, and find that the riPers now referred to them contain a continued sigative of the disaffection still subsisting in the ciliary, and which unfortunately appears to have i4sreased since that period. These papers completely ccrroborate the apprehensions formerly entertained respecting the state of the country, and contain evi .atoce of fresh acts of instirrectioa. It appears, that uf.erever Petitions were recommended to be prepared by delegation, there was a general instruction of the rteessny of using force to obtain their objects, and a thy was appointed for a*general rising of the people. I:Jrly in March a Meeting was proposed in Man '}ester, and it was resolved that the Petitioners should :elemble on Monday, the 10th, prepared to march in body to London, to present their Petition to the Ij :ince Regent in person. They were to divide them elves into parties of ten persons each, furnished oith provisions for the march, and with blankets, ''.at they might sleep on the road. At other meet-, ''Ys, comparatively private, it was represented that ud. body of men might easily he surrounded by the ~ lice and the military, unless they were provided :iih arms tot their defence; that they would cer .;:tly amount to 100,000 men ; that all the towns in %, al a ickshire were preparing to follow their example; the Scotch were marching to their assistance; it they arrived 't Pirmingham, such num would join them, that the business would be Petitions were prepared, and a copy furnished !ci every tenth man, stating, that if the Prince Regent thit redress their grievances, they could neither '';pest him nor themselves, and they were instructed t i 4 1 , it tt.ey did n ut succee d by m e ans of intercessien, t-ry shwlld employ force. To this resolution there 1 : (11 may persons resolved to act, and at one of tf ' Meetings, one person avowed himself a leveller Aid a republican, and declared that he would never aua back Until be bad accomplished hiS !;teat object. T —The example of the Rebellion in tile reign of IRichard the Second, and the Rebellion in I re l an d i n 1798, were held up to the notice of the people, and the most violent declarations were uniformly received with the most applause. The Meeting was held at Manchester on the 10th of March, aod many per- sons attended there with blankets and knapsacks; and although the Meeting was dispersed by the mili. tory before they could come to any resolution, yet a considerable number marched on the way to London, and several reached Oxford and Ashbourn. Many of those persons most likely to disturb t} - e tranquillity of the country, were arrested ; but it appears to your Committee, that the organisation of the people was so widely extended, that these arrests produced no other effect than to damp the proceedings of the con spirators tor a moment, and then call ',nth the exer tions of new leaders, who, according to their own phrase, re-organised the party. Another meeting was held in Manchester in March, and the ;10th day of the month was appointed for a general rising. In the execution of this plan, the conspirators expected to obtain great assistance from Huddersfield, Shef field, and other places, and it was their design to assemble dm ing the night as many persons as possible, set fire to the barracks, attack the houses of the Ma gistrates. plunder arms, and destroy the manufacto. ties. This last project, it Was hoped, would, by throwing many men out of employment, increase the amoimt of their strength. It was thought that, at the commencemeez of this • a few: thousand men would be suf):cient, as it ass n ot doubted their numbers wool(' increase before day-break to at least 50,0110. It was understood that a simultanems rising would take place all over the country, and your Committee see reason to apprehend, that. if the rising at Man. chester had been successful, it would have been fol lowed by malty parti .1 insurrections. This intention WAS prevented by the activity of the Magistrates, and many of the leaders were apprehended. This made tie others mote careful in their proceedings, but sonic attempts were made to assassinate persons most obnoxious ; the house of one Magistrate was attacked, another was wayl.id, and a pistol was tired into the room of a Gentleman who had acted as a special constable. •fr The conspirators had then recourse to the sys tem of delegation, and agents assembled from Derby, Nottingham, Manchester, Sheffield, Huddersfield, and several other places.• Their numbers were not large, but their emissaries were actively employed in exciting a spirit of discontent, comparing nears of the state of the public feeling, and it was their avowed intention to assemble a large torte, march to London, destroy the existing Governmentoand establish a Re public. The arrest of their leaders did not extinguish their hopes of success, and it aas a great disappoint ment to them to find the insurrection postponed. It was then appointed for the Monday in SVliiistin week, and finally for the 9th of June, which time they thought best suited for a midnight attack, as the mom would thee be in its wane. The notice of this Was so widely circulated, that it became a matter of public notoriety, and it was found impossible to re strain the violence of the people, who, in expectation of the intended insurrection, had o holly neglected their ordinary occupations. On the nth of May a meeting of delegates was dispersed at Sheffield, by which the final arrangeinent of their pran, which was to be there concerted, was disarranged; but the feeling not being suppressed in Hedderstied, homes were there attacked for arms, and a body of armed men approached Huddersfield, who fired at a small detachment of yeoman cavalty,; " Time Yeomen had a few horses shot, 'lad find ing themselves unable to resist, they were compelled to retreat. They soon after returned with an addi. tional force, but the enemy had disappeared. The firing, however, and the numerous lights around them chewed how.very general was the insurrection. On the 9th of June an insurrection began at Derby, l in which a servant was wantonly shot. The insur gents advanced to Nottingham, in hopes of their procuring assistance, hut they were dispersed by the activity of the Magistates, and fifty of them taken, together with a considerable quantity of arms and ammunition. Your Comtnitttee, in thus giving their opinion on the disturbed state of the northern and midland districts, cannot avoid remarking, that the character of the danger is the same as in the early part of the Session. They are happy, however, to observe, that it is excited solely by persons of the lower orders, or but a little above them of popular talents, who hold out to the people the assurance of immediate relief, by a Reform in Parliament, but who really desire the total subversion of the Consti tution of the country. This plan had for a long time been carried on under the veil of iianspden Clubs, for the purpose of Parliamentary Reform ; but the members of these Clubs are now found, in many in stances, the leaders of these insurrectiouary move ments. " In the former Report. your Committee did not allude to the system too generally prevailing of Luddism and assassination, because they did not think it connected with the disturbances of the coon try ; they must, however, now express their sorrow at finding them constituting a part of the general plan of these conspirators. Your Committee have thus given their *pinion, without any anxiety either to extenuate or exaggerate the real state of the coun try; but they are not unaware of the doubts that might be thrown on the evidence of persons formerly implicated in those crimes, or of persons exciting their continuance for their private objects—(flear, hear, from the Ontorition lienehm). They feel that in many instances the language and conduct of such persons have encouraged the designs which they were only the instrumei is of detecting—( Rear, bear). 'Th e number of persons implicated in those proceedings, could pot be estimated from the exaggerated state ments of their own Delegates, but it was certain they all looked to London fur encouragement and assist ance. In the insurrection in Derbyshire, the people generally expressed the greatest abhorrence of such outrages, and in all other places wherever they were summoned in support of the Civil power,' they obey ed the eall with alacrity, and had of themselves uni foi ally furnished the most effectual protection to the country—( Loud cries of Neer, hear, from the Oppo sition). Your Committee, however, are of opinion, that We trauquilhity c of the country would be put to hazard if the extruordinary powers vested in the Crown should be now withdrawn, and with every i - cliail4c on the loyalty of the people, they do not Wink it sale, in the present citcumstances of the ronratry, to rely lot pritection on the ordinary powers of the Law." On the question that this Report do lie on the table, Lord MILTON thought that now the House had heard the Repoit, they must agree with him that twitch of the clanger of the country was magnified by its language. It was his opinion that m►rch of the evidence WAS not to be implicitly relied on ; but the Report induced an implication that the Committee were satisfied with the evidence brought before them. But he was far frOm giving his assent to its general complexion. Nothing should induce him to Lelieve, that a meeting of 10,000 people, in a place which, with its vicinity, contained a population of 100,000, could be so very alarming ; and therefore he thought that much greater importance was attuche•.l to the proceedings eminatieg ot:t of that meeting than they deserved. It was not stated i❑ the Report, that when the party that matched fr , :m Manchester reachtd Ashbourne, they wet e not 5u in number. (Hear, hear.) The Noble Lord proceeded at considerable length to argue that the spirit of disaffection was greatly exag gerated. He was anxious that n o t any thing should be left out that could tend to dissipate the •,1 tun cf the country. Anther circumstance that ►eeiel,ed on his mind was, that the utmost anxiety had bean shewo ► to take away the effect of a paragraph introduced in the Report of t! - .e'Lerds' Committee. He knew that much of what happened in Ic - arhyshire had heel pro duced by the eruissaties sent out by G , eernmeht. He did not, however, charge this as a crime against Government; hut merely that they Were not acquain ted with the effect their weapons had produced. The •delegates from London were supposed to be revolu tioinsts, but they were the spies ot Government; and at Nottingham one of them was susp.!cted, and no insurtectton took place there, though thirty miles fur. ther in Derbyshire he rucceedea in his object. He ridiculed the idea of these bodies being organized so ' as to act simultaneously ; and was of (pluton that the tiring of rockets from hills was " a mere humbug to alarm the people"—(llear, 7nr, hear.) He would not deny that some new measures might be adopted, but he was very far from saying that the particular measure in contemplation was necessary. Mr. B. B r was surprised that the Noble Lord should now state objections to the (Report, as. excepting the concluding pass.tge, it certainly had the approbation of every Member of the Committee, and every passage was amicably agreed to. Lord MILTON—There was not any single pro. position, taken by itself, which he might not be wit- I ling to atErni, but the (Noire context seemeet to him I to have magnified the danger of the country. Lord LASCELLES had heard the Noble Lord disapprove of the Report with astonishment and re gret, because it never was in the contemplation of the Committee that the Noble Lord had any objection to offer. In tin one instance had there been any dil. terence of opinion, barring alw•a)s what amuse out 0 1 the concluding paragraph. He thought it rather t oo much to insinuate that the Committee had been in a state of irritation and collusion. Mr. PONSONBY all ,wed that his N ble Friend had made no specific proposition in the Committer. I Though he had expressed his opinion that sonic puts were too pointed, he also thought one part too weak. The Right Hun. Gentleman exPlained.how particu ls•he I sett had been m Intreating . Gentlemen not to compromise their opinions. " Lord CASTLEREAGH bate testimony to the ' unanimity of the Committee, and the pains that were taken to make the sentiments of- the Report conge nial with every Gentleman's opinion. • Sir ARTHUR etcorrc declared himself, is a Member of the Committee, hostile to the cuatinuauce of the Habeas Corpus Suspension Act. Mr. LAMB said he had come out of the Commit tee unpledged in either way, as he wished to give a fair hearing to the arguments that might be advan ced. He was yet to learn how this measure could aggravate the danger, or what substitute Govern - relent wculd propose in its place. Mr. BROUGHAM wished the printed Repoit could go forth accompanied by the speech ot hti Noble Friend (Lord Milton) as welt a► by that ot th e other Member to►r Yorkshire (Lord I...ascetics). Torre had evidently been concessatits in the Committt e. some Members had seemed to meet relicts hall way in the contents of the Report, in order that the othets might meet them half tvay with respect to the con clusion—(Hear, hear.) Lord LASCELLES explained. The Honourable Gentleman was at liberty to give what circulation he pleased to any thing he had said. lie wits not in the habit of making speeches; but whatever he said should not be wilful misrepresentation—(Hear.) Mr. CANNING denied that there was any dispo- sition to keep back or extenuate any thing in the Com mittee; but still less to exaggerate any fact in the Committee. There was a cameful and anxious corn munication in every sentence on which any diffeeence was surmised. . • LOrd FOLESTONE had never understood from his Honourable Friend that concessions of facts had been made, but concessions ot opinions, and this was what the Right Honourable Gentleman hinsselt had acknowledged. This had been done in order to No. duce unanimity in the Report. Lord COCHRANE thought that it was much to ,'be regretted that ex /carte evidence should have been received in the Committee, to deprive a whole na tion ot its rights ; whilst the whole evidence was gone through in a Court ut Law, and the result was, that no cotyipiracy had been found to exist. No ne w could lay hi► hand upon his breast and say, that the suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act was necessaty. The Report of the Committee was ao infamous and scandalous libel ou the people of England. Ilk had been confined to the County of Lancaster, and to she offenders in that County. then it might have been founded in fact. But, as it was, he repeated, it was an infamous and scandalous libel on the people. The Noble Lord was then called to melee by Sir WILLIAM Btntuows and the SPEAKrIt., who stated that the name which the Noble Lott! had appl.ed to the Report ot a Committee of that House WAS dis orderly. Load COCHRANE had not applied those epi. thets to the individu:ils who coinpmcdthe Commit. .tee, but to that scandalous document. (Grid of Ur iisr,oider, 1 . • Chair, chair I) The SPEAKER put it to the House. if it acqui esced in what he had Already said, whether the Noble Lord was not highly disurderl)? itirostr ANb milts:in:vat OF Tilt „ The CHANCELLOR o f t h e EXCHEQUER moved the Ordrr of the ll.ty, for the House resole; log itself into the Comtnittce of W.tys and Means. Mr. TIERNEY suggested the .propriety of post; poning the Committee at that late hour. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEOUE4. observed, that after the statement of the Income and Expenditure of the country bad been fixed for that night, it would be nec!..s.try in order to prevent the circulation of unfonntled rUmrurs, that the Housti should go into the Cortimitter.—e'rhe House thed resole, J itself into the Committee.)—The Chancellor was sorry that it seas necessary•, at so late an hour, to bring the atabj •ct before the House, bUt indulged the !Ripe that no practical measure h•• had to propose to the Committee would meet with opposition. The House would also come b:tter ioepared to the do.- oussion than upon similar occ isiens, by means of the different repots of the Committee of Fiasnce.--- The•:e Reports would spare him much laLonr, as to them he intended to refer and more atten•ion would probably be paid to printed alticuments of that na ture, than to any necessary hurried statements that he might make. Ills 1 'boor wool.' he also much diminished by the eonsnlidation of the Revenues of Great tritain and Ireland. Much labour had been employed to reconcile :h•• Accounts ot the two Coot tries, :is would app.•.:r atterwards. 1: had been so .arrained, in virtue of the cons , lidatlon of the Engli,h and Irish Etc:ie.:luaus:. dna:, from the :;th of last L. nuary, they started trill: a new Consolidated Account of the Revenue of tl.e united Kingdom. In otie pa:t of the Revenue only. :a ere was to be ;eizretted a de ficit of t!.) per cent. ; bit th:s could not be wondered at in ana Agricil:m al y It elmid, at the Cu::. c/usinit of ia se.,r tt•!..cl•. I:7 , 1 lin piVe!:shed its natural resources. Not wili:s:ariPi o painful circum stances, the House would b., gralined Ia hearing, that the means by winch :he current demands of the y e•sr were to be met, weir neither burdensome nor objectionable. The suppl!•s of the year were e,:i• mated as follows : V 14IG• 1:1f.,t41 , 9,74 ,, -Army, (inch du ,E 1 ,500,0'.10 fu? l'attrkordmar:r, and collusive of Trnopi in Prat! - .) - ar t .!,0,0,000 Z1,4134,195N.L1ty. (V %4111.iVIC II: Grant for the re,l;. c. gnu ..1 Navy Dcbt) , - 6,000,000 .X1,t;1!1,1 4 2--Orklitaiwt, • - .. A 1,22 i ,300 4:2,:rix.),..oo—Miscalatieutis - . - 1,700,( r 0 Total Supply for the Service or the Year Ini 7 A 18,001,300 I.72,trtity;l:(l-I:.ter,st onl:t.utteo.ler Kish ael,t."oo,ooJ Sicking 1 7 stee.1 t.:. time) 330000 To make rood the permanent Ireland to the 5.11 of January, 1817 4%6,509 T ..,%;treet reduction .4 Navy Itai:Ni•urt Vein i,FOOI/nO 4,136, q4ll • 4'2;137 0 1A Such was rota! auto not of II at establishment t e bad to propose. cold.' not call it a Peace EAA blislimer.r. fur the pet i.id Lid riot rt arriv.rd At which we con:tl be wild to t'l)j:,y the benefits of .1 proti , und and real peace—(Rear, hear.) Tire Hou s e would recollect Oar at toe ipeninll of the Session he had the expentlitore at rC18,300,000, whizh fell £luri.ooo shoi 'rtie Unfunded Debt Was rel,g.mii,t;.l.), and there were thirty-three millions of unprovi,led expenditure. This expenditure !ie pru• posed to meet in the following in inner K'.►l%; AND MEANS. 63,(1UUdutl--Ansltlai Durk, £3,CCO,C.C3 Ihiposable • - 1815 51749 Ways and Means tal6 1;849,110 1,865,5 9 3,soo,ooo—Esebte Dmies continn. , l (4fn:r lug the Grant theieut. for the ytar 1816) - 1,300,000 IVl:nsey remaining at the divnfal of liana:nem nt the Cantu Waled Ftthd at Al.rti 5, 1817 - - 1,225,978 400,C00-I.ottery • - tt54.10C3 Old Stores - - 400,u00 Arrears of Property Tax received or to hr receivedN wen the sth of April, 1817, and Ilth April, 1818 - 14013,000 9,54453/ Id+ Treasury Bills 3,600 1 000 EZClicquer 1.1:114 9,000000 I 2,CCO s aC 0 X 22,14100 Before taster, no less than £4,200,000 had been ap.. plied to equalise the Briik of Ireland, which still in , sisted on an interest of Five per Cent.—but as the Itich Estelle:pier Bills would not become due till 144 loamy next, it was the intent on of Government to tesairdy this evil. lie had no doubt, at the same I time, hut that she Bank of England would reduce their interest as the hills became due. There still remained af9,000,000 to be provided for, which he proposed to do by Eschrepter Bills—a mode which every ciactunstance had convinced him was most beneficial to the. Public. He had tried to redice the iiitereq of Exchequer Bill , , and had succeeded in reducing it to the amount of sCat:o,oo l .) a year without the least difficulty From the 24th of re• bi oary lie had disposed of 27,000,000 of Exchequer Bills, an.l more than eight months remained for the Idisposal of the other A:24,000,000. It was upon these I considerations that he reef:run:ended the mestatke with the greatest conticiteice as flue not likely to re duce the credit of the country, and wbch, in point ' of tact, would not produce the le. st inconvenience.... IViiluitit now going to the extent of what might be offered to the House, it was no %light satisfaction for them to reflect, that the public feC:iiitihe w eS had hol i e nr apia a t lifC i d of the to the amount ilf 20 per cent. country. F.:chequer Bills which went lately at 4 1 and I:1, per cent, were how reduced to !t;;- per cent. interest, with 12.. premium. This ins. provement to the state of poiLlic credit sheared that the resources of the comitty were rekiving. There was another topic to which he was anxious to tall the attention of the Home, and this wa4 the restamis- Con of cash payments by the B.ank. When he tem!• lected how lie had been mocked and twitted on this subject not longer titan two Yeats ago, and he be lieved the lbwsr had nut forg.aten it— (laugh:)—he had some reason to pride himself on chat nrd new taken place. The difficulty, in tact, was to prevail um the public to take guineas, hough the Bank were ready to supply them. ( I dui . ;hr.) Ttiutrrsumpticn had, however, been canoed to a consolatory extent, and. he hoped, would he completed by July, 181 e. This resumption had been accomplished without giving the least shock to Fuhliecredi:— Ile ar, he tr).... so that the value of our p tp.r and cur specie Wile