Star. — London, England, 1822-04-30 00:00:00

tinder been a further increase over thi tithe period in the last year of 283,000 i. and this, too, at a steady rate of . 90,000/. per week: He did not mean to press this as a conclusive proof of the prosperity of the country, but it was undoubtedly a great criterion, and one which proved that the people were not so universally suffering as some wished„them to believe. At the period to which he alluded, it would be recollected that he did then declare that the distress of one par ticular interest mainly arose from causes not within the reach or controul of the Legislature. That those Caioes were to be found in the over-production and consequent increased supply with which the markets were glutted, and that until such supply should re gulate itself to the demand, all attempts at removing the evils must he futile and vain. The mode of re lief which was held out by some at that time had now been exposed as perfectly fallacious ; and this upon .the highest authorities. He need not particularly al lude to the Hon. Member for Portarlington, whose pamphlet every one must have read, and whose au thorny every one would be ready to acknowledge.— it was clearly proved, as lie had long ago contended, that the reduction of taxation would only give relief, through the consumer, to all other interests as well as that of agriculture, and that such a measure of re lief would not be a remedy for the disease by striking at once at its root, but a mere palliative, which could be attended with no permanent beneficial results. He believed that this had now become intelligible to the whole country, and that the conviction had been carried home to the farmers themselves, that even if the whole taxation of the country were remitted, it would not relieve the distress which had arisen from visitations of a higher nature. At the same time when he urged this view, be did say that it was the duty of the House to look at the question in all its bearings; and, if they could not do anything which would comp:etely remove the distress, that they should at least endeavour to ascertain what assistance could be rendered collaterally to the efforts of this great nation of capital and enterprize. He did, at the same time, call the attention of the House to mea sures regarding the circulation, the commerce, and the credit of the country, and he would now repeat the views of Government upon those subjects. He would take the last, namely, that of advances of capi tal, first, and see how far they may be made available to alleviate the evils which pressed upon the country. He stated upon the former occasion why it was not pos-ible Lc, adopt any system of advances upon per sonal security. He did say bow such advances might have been made upon parish rates, and that subject had been kept open for consideration. The difficulties, however, which would have accompanied the plan had been found to preponderate, and Government had in consequence relinquished it. Another method of re:ief had also been discussed in the Committee and re- cammended by the Report, viz. that ef advancing capi tal on the security of British corn stored in warehouses. When this was first proposed, he had considered it as one that was to be avoided, but that particular cir cumstances mien call for its application. He thought it right to apprize the House, that in the Committee he did not vote upon this proposition, and that he originated another for advancing the sum upon Ex chequer Bills, which was not adopted by the Com mittee. In deference to the opinion of the Committee,_ and to what he understood to be the general wish of the farmers, he had thought it fit to recommend this measure to the House. He had been particularly in fluenced in adopting that course, by the information that the farmers expected considerable relief from it. Ile must here observe, that if he thought this measure to be one which was calculated to raise the price of n, he would not have adopted it. But it could not be properly described as having that intention or tendenc y. Its eflects would be to stop, and remove that inundation of c , nn which had for some time been coming in upon the market, and to place the buyer and the seller in their just situations in relation to each other.— Tile consequence, therefore, was not to raise the price of coin, but to facilitate the distribution of the sup ply wising from the produce of the year, and to re store the market to its natural and just state. Neither could this measure be considered as a direct inter ference of the Government with the openness of the niarket, because persons would be acting upon it en tirely as a matter of choice. In short, the object was to give the market a sound and natural operation, and not an artificial one. As there was a strong feel ing among the farmers in favour of this plan, he had become anxious for its adoption, because they would otherwise have believed that it might have produced a greater share of relief than could in reality result from it. This would occupy £1,000,000 of capital. There was another operation to which he would next call the attention of the House. And if the Honour able Baronet opposite, who had that night made' a statement to the House, had waited a little longer, he would have found that the subject of it had not escaped the attention of Government. — It was intended to propose to Parliament, that to enable the Lord Lieutenant to afford relief to the • distressed districts, a vote of credit should be granted similar to that of 1817, to place funds at his Lord , ship's disposal for the relief of those objects who most urgently called for charity. To this purpose another million of capital would be devoted, to be advanced upon public works, so that great improvements would thereby be carried on, to the great benefit and advantage of the Public. It must likewise be ob served, that this 2,000,0001. would get into, and assist the general circulation of the country. He before submitted to the House that the Government had ne gociated with the Bank for the advance of 4,000,0001. upon Exchequer Bills, at the moderate interest of three per cent. He then stated that the object of the application of that 4,000,0001. was to benefit the tountry in general, and not to confer local advantages. He trusted that the advance of these sums would find acs way into the diminution, of the loan upon the sinking Fund, as well as to the assistance of the cir culation and commerce of the country. Thus the sum they had negotiated for with the Bank would be applied to the relief of the country as follows: ,00),000/. for assisting the markets by the stowing of corn ; 1,000,0001. for the relief of the distressed di,!.iicts in Ireland ; and 2,600,0001. for paying off ' those who dissented from the late arrangements %reed to by the House for reducing the Navy Five per Ceuta. Having stated so much upon the subject of the advances, he would now go more particularly upon the contemplated measures with regard to the circulation. This brought them to the consideration of what was necessary to be done with regard to notes Ids They Mutt lie that they bad *BO' approached so mit the expiration of the existing Act% that Parliamqht mint Mkt' its mind up as to what course should be defiltitfiely adopted ; and either extend the period — oft the - duration, or prepare foe the necessary exertions to fill up the circulationl by increasing the metallic currency—( Near; hear). —For some time past many Banks had been con tracting their circulation considerably under their natural scale ; he did not mean a scale of speculation, for he hoped that was not now entertained by the banker, blit that extent which corresponded with their natural and just credit. If the Acts were to be allowed to expire, they must now state what were their intentions, and theymust consider well what would be the effe c t u pon circulation not only of this country, but of the world. The House would, he was sure, agree with him that the time was come when something must be done ; and he was satisfied that it was both • expedient and politic not now to withdraw the paper currency altogether from the circulation. He should, therefore, propose that the duration of the existing Act should 'be made coinci dent with that of the Bank Charter, namely, to the year 1832. If small country notes were withdrawn altogether, let them consider what would be the con sequences of creating so much dead capital. They were the more called upon to come to this decision, because they could see a disposition in the country which demanded it. The People sheaved that they preferred paper if they could have paper with secu rity. It was intended to propose inserting in the Bill that private bankers should not be considered to fail in their credit so long as they could pay in Bank of England paper. It had been the anxious wish and endeavour of the Government to facilitate banking operations, as they went so much to effect the pecu niary transactions of the country—(Hear, hear). — They had consequently thought proper to enter into a negociation with the Bank of England, to obtain such a relaxation of its Charter as would enable per- sons to form banking companies with more than six partners, so that they do not set up within the mo nopoly of the Bank in London and the districts sur- rounding it, but in what might be called the more provincial parts of the kingdom. The Bank of Eng land was to engage to give up its monopoly beyond the distance of sixty-five miles from London, and any . . joint stock company would be allowed to assimilate itself to the Banks in Scotland, to be enabled to sue and be sued, and to partake of the nature, not of chartered, but of corporated bodies. There were twenty-six Banks in Scotland, three of which were chartered, and the others were such as might be esta blished anywhere, not within sixty-five miles of Lon don, if the measure should be adopted by the House. There was an average number of : between fifty and sixty partners in each of the Banks in Scotland, and when it was considered that all the personal property of these individuals was responsible, it would be seen that a bulwark was raised, in the way of secu rity, which would give the greatest confidence in commercial transactions. He had heard a report of a Scotch Bank breaking the other day, but he was not sure of the truth or falsehood of the report. Up to this period, however, there had been no failure of a banking-house in Scotland for the last hundred years. IThis plan, if adopted, would give an indirect and colla teral strength to the paper currency, without prevent ing private Bankers employing their capital at profit. Having stated everything that was necessary upon those heads, he would now proceed to call the atten tion of the House to the financial measures which had been carried into effect, and others which were in contemplation. He would endeavour to shew what had arisen out of that liberal support which Parliament had so wisely given to the credit of the country. The reduction which the Government had effected upon the various estimates of the year amounted to 2,000,0001. and even with the extraordi-. nary charges of the year, Parliament had been enabled to effect that which they had long pledged themselves to, namely, the establishment of a clear surplus of 5,000,0001. Finding themselves in the possession of this sum, upon mature reflection, they had conse crated their former determination and pledge, by placing the public faith beyond suspicion, and raising the credit of the country to the highest confidence. He must here revert to the subject of the Bank, in order to supply an omission which he had acci dentally made. As a return to the Bank, in order to induce it to give up its monopoly, it was proposed to extend its charter to a period not exceeding ten years beyond the time specified by the Act. Upon the faith of that great operation to which he was alluding, his Right Hon. Friend had effected one of the most gi gantic financial operations that had marked the annals of this country, namely, the conversion of one species of stock into another species at a much lower rate of interest, to the extent of 150,000,0001.—(Hear). — He was confident if at any former period it had been said that in the short space of six weeks such a trans action would have been effected, the declaration would not have been believed. Nothing tended to prove the, strength of the Government and the resources of the country so much, and nothing so clearly demonstrated that they would continue, if not broken down by un sound policy, as this great and unparalleled operation. By it they had relieved the People from the annual pressure of 1,900,0001. of taxes, and facilitated the future reduction of debt, whenever the state of the funds should allow his Right Hon. Friend to reduce it with advantage. In fact, after what they had seen of the' ease with which that reduction had been aca complished, that scarcely a word had been heard of it, except indeed in commendation, it must be hence- forward considered as a facile operation. He would now call the attention of the House to a measure which particular circumstances only could warra9t, and fur the mention of which he felt that he owed some apology to his Right Hon. Friend (the Chancel-' for of the Exchequer). But it had been his wish that he should mention it in the outline, and his Right lion. Friend upon a future occasion—perhaps on Wednesday or Friday—would move Resolutions which embraced the detail. It was necessary for him to state why this was the first time, or why the Go vernment had not submitted it sooner to the House., From the nature of the measure, it could only be done at a time when, by the tranquillity and general prospe rity of the country, its propriety was clear and un doubted. This had been realized by the magnanimity of Parliament, in resisting such shocks as had been di rected against it during the present Session, from the natural impatience of lion.Alembers to remove the dis tress which pressed upon one class of their constituents. Tba pringpie 416 mantra hits ties ?aria* time Under the etessideraticm of his >Riaht HOn. Friend i but it could not be inttodatea to thi l Hottie It alit earlier Pried;because it was imriossible td gliv their attention to, it until that great financial question of the reduction of the Five per Cents. had been carried out of the market. They could not know what diffi culties might intervene, and it was not until they had tranquillized any fear which might have been entertained of its effect, that they could embarrass the country and Parliament with, the details of a c m u e l a t siunmit's certainly nature. somewhat ecwertahaitnlcyoindipdlincotatemdestanndtodisy ffia that they were to look upon the two measures as pa rallel; because the other went directly to cut short a portion of the expenditure of the country, to the amount of 1,300,0001. This would assuredl7 have that result: its effect would be to place the liquida tion of a large portion of the expenditure of the country, namely, that which was called the dead ex pense, upon a different footing from that on which it had hitherto stood. There was at the present mo ment an annual charge of 5,000,0001. upon the Navy, Army, and Ordnance, for allowances and pensions, granted for the lives f the parties. This was a debt of the State annually provided for, and standing in a most inconvenient relation to the general financial ar rangements of the country.. I t - had nothing to do with the expenses of the Government, but it gave to the Public an idea that the expenditure was not twelve or thirteen millions, as it really was, but seventeen or eighteen. What his Right Honourable Friend proposed to do with this debt was, instead of including it with the general provisions for the ex penditure, to treat it as the consequence of that war which had given so much glory to the country, and, from its consequences, was never likely to be repeated. Upon these grounds they were justified in dealing with this debt upon a different principle, as a debt rid generic, and of adopting regulations with regard to it, dissimilar in their character from those which governed the management of other charges. He should now state to the House, what the nature of the debt was in comparison with other periods. It now amounted to £5,000,000 ; whereas in the years to which they were generally referred for compari sons, they should find by the Report of the Finance Committee, at the close of the American war, that it amounted to no more than £650,000. The House would, therefore, see what had been the growth of the system,' and that it was the duty of the Govern ment to provide against it for the future. From the nature of the charges pt would be seen, that for all practical purposes the annuities continued for the life of the parties to whom they had been granted. Now many of those who possessed them were compara tively young, and, according to the tables with the calculation of annuities, some of them might be ex pected to live for seventy years; but these would be a very small number. The nature of the operation he was about to explain would be, for that House to make a provision for these payments. In doing so, they must in no degree alter the relation of the individuals receiving them towards Parliament or towards the Crown—he meant the making them pensioners to any great body, or to a foreign Power. That would be to alter their constitutional election to the Crown, and he should be the' last to recommend any such abridgement of its privileges. Also, if all their expenses were not brought annually before Par liament, that would be an infringement upon the provisions of the Constitution. But the object was merely to alter the mode from which the resources ' for meeting the expenses were to arise. The effect of ' the present system was to press upon the country with more than fair severity towards the present ge neration : and if the payment were put upon s sound principle to extend over a period of a greater number , of years, it would be rendered more equitable and just. The proposition meant to accomplish that ob ject by raising the sum required from persons who' should contract to pay the expense for the valuation of a fixed annuity for 45 years. The question was, what annuity the Public should pay for such a con tract ? It was proposed not to contract for a pet nod beyond the forty-fifth year,because the expense would then become so trifling as not to be worth attention. It was not necessary for him to go into detail, but he would state something of the general working of the plan. If the House should think fit to grant the annuity for the term of forty.five years of from two millions and a half to three millions, the contract might be had either whole, or, if they wished it,for each year prospectively, as they might find it necessary.— If they paid 2,800,0001. and made the contract with responsible individuals, the immediate effect would be to save the country 2,200,0001. and consequently enable Parliament to give the country that extent of relief. The working of the measure would be, that for the first sixteen years they should have the advan tage, and after that the contractors would be reim bursed. No one would be more anxious than he to accomplish the object so much desired by the Hon. Member for Corfe Castle, of tying up the 5,000,0001 of the Sinking Fund, to accumulate at compound ' interest until it operated one per cent. in the retluc tion of the debt, as contemplated by Mr. Pitt. With the aid of that relief which the measure he had ex plained would afford to the finance of the country, if it were successfully executed, he had no doubt but that great object might be effected. Upon his calcu lation, if the House determined that the 5,000,0001. should be so set apart, in ten years, at simple interest, it would realize the contemplated maximum of the Sinking Fund, the one per cent. by arriving at the amount of 7,800,0001. This would be the proportion, because they should by that time have operated the reduction of 70,000,0001. of .nominal debt, namely, from 800,000,0001. to 760,000,0001. One of the strongest motives which influenced him in recom mending the plan was, that it would enable them to tie up the 5,000,0001. of Sinking Fund to accumu late at compound interest for this purpose. Supposing, then, that a contract were thus made for an annuity of 2,800,0001. they should immediately place at the disposal of Parliament 2,200,000/. it was not to - be said that that would relieve the distress of the agriculturists. Gop forbid that he should create so illusory an idea as that they were to expect relief from such means. But it would afford general relief through the con sumer, the only legitimate means they had of grant ing it. He should next come to what they were to do with the two millions two hundred thousand pounds, supposing the plan to be adopted; and he would in treat the House not to look for such relief but through its adoption; for in no other manner could they pro. at tree ~ratify'- A in the pkeseni Aef toritiotr. It iat vioulti be some . . disposable sum, to meet the growing dead 'ekpense which would acCrise' between the present moment and the expiration of the tea years. He had looked into this pais of the subject, and as far as it was possible to solve quei;• tions so complicated and abstruse in their nature, he had every reason to think that the sum of three or L 400,060 would completely cover the dead expenke of that period. He again conjured the House and the country t 6 recollect thit this relief could Only be obtained through the measure which his Right Hal nourable Friend would have the honour to propose. Of course the House would not call upon his Right Hon. Friend to say what taxes he would iirdpose to remit until the moment at which they were to be taken off, as that would be unjust and injurious to commerce; 'by inducing unfair speculations on particular irtiares: Within the last two years, preniising that this mea sure were carried into effect, they would then have remitted to the country the Husbandry Horse Tat, 4.00,0001. Malt Tax, 1,500,000/. and this further sum of Lsoo,poot. making a total of 8,706,0001. Id addition to this They would be enabled to tie up the Sinking Fund for ten years: And all these opera tions not calculated upon any increase of our re; venue, which was never going on in so flourishing condition. This, he thought, would convince the House and the country that the Governnient *ere not negligent of the duties which attach to them; and he could say, with the greatest confidence, that the observance of those duties would be in nowise , lessened by looking at what they had already accom;. 'Wished. He had now to perform the task which fell to his lot, to offer such suggestions for the considera tion of the Committee as appeared to grow out of the Report. The first question which naturally pre seined itself for attention was, whether this was a seasonable time for bringing the subject at all uncle* the consideration of Parliament ? Upon this point even the Committee themselves had entertained very serious doubts, and had therefore not authorised.theic Chairman to propose any specific measure. He did not mean to be understood as wishing that the pre sent business were in other hands, or as being desirout to throw from the shoulders of Ministers that respon sibility which was inseparable from their situations.-.;. Their object had been to take the opinions of Hon. Gentlemen composing the Conimittee, as tti what parts of the subject might be advantageously treated of in detail. If, therefore, there were questions of public necessity or expedience connected with the question, he trusted his proposition would not on that account be received with disfavour by the House; especially as many hints had been received from the other side of the House, that Government ought not to suffer, the Report of the Committee to lie on the table, without pressing some measure upon it. •He had balanced against each other the many difficultia which overhung the subject, and he confessed he could not see when there was likely to be a more proper time for its discussion than the present, for it could now be discussed with temper. The ports were now shut against the admission a foreign corn ; and corn, so far from being nearly to 80c. was as low as 575. A Noble Lord opposite had described the Report of the Committee as paltry and powerless; bin he (the Marquis of Londonderry) really believed that Legis;. lotion could do nothing whatever in a general man ner to protect the grower of British corn. The only reason, in his opinion, for changing the law might be, that particular circumstances in the present law would work a public mischief, unless some ahem; tion should be made for a temporary purpose.-- If, therefore, the present subject could be viewed at one raising a consideration on the score of policy, he certainly never knew a moment in which it could be discussed with less heat and passion, or so little em barrassed by strong feelings, as at the present; There would always be strong impressions on the subject, but this was a moment for confidently appealing to the good sense of the country. Indeed, it Was abso lutely necessary that the country Should be unde ceived; for never had there begin a case like the one under consideration so distorted by false statements and conclusions. He fully admitted, however, that this was a favourable moment for a limited measure; and he believed that, even during the present Session, some understanding might become to on the subject. He thought a Bill might bepassed which would avert the impending calamity, as he admitted that the de gree of distress could not'be rated lower than that of calamity. It was true, that at present the ports could not be opened unless the home price was at 80s. but in case they should by some means beconie open, and a slut should be occasioned by the importation of foreign corn, he thought there would be no differ ence of opinion, no, noteven between himand the Hon. Member for Portarlingion, ,as , to the Metre of ruin which would overtake the agrieulturists;'not next year alone, but for five, eight, Olen yers to come. —Three, four, or five millions of quarters of cheap cdrn would find their W 2, into =the colintty, and Would operate as ,a night-mare upon the agnenitural interest; would bear it down •most ruinously, and would cause the. most gloomy view of things all over the country. He would take *a 'bet(di laugh)—that the ports would not be opened thiCor.the next year, nor perhaps the year following. The queition was one of quantum of-duty, and he was disposed to adopt any, rather than allow the dreadful visitation froth the influx of foreign corn. He believed, that almost all were agreed not to live under . the present law. On this question there were two classes ; one in favour of a duty fiom 10s. to 20s. and another who was in fa-, your of the duty from 20s. to 40s. At present there was a glut of corn all over Europe; and the Legislature must look to the peculiar circumstances of the case.— It must be considered that a great expense of from 10s. to 12s. the quarter niu.t be incurred before the corn was imported into the country, • and a duty of 40s. in addition to other expenses, would operate as a prohibition: It was delusion to think that corn could afford a remunerative price at that rate. For the last seven years the price in the market of Dantaic,. though their ports were shut, bad been 475. He (Lord Londonderry) had suggested a duty of 17s. • he understood that his Right Honourable Friend in tended to move a duty of 15s. One would suppose, from the language of the petitions to the House, that t h ere was no protection to the tanners, though at present there , was a high protecting duty. The las porter must pay 275..-121. as the expense of import. 1,1:1 • . itire i ite atria . i etn Atia : Mg tact., ihit If they did adopt Sr, even Wean, ihSY might remit that ettekit was necessary for Mm taetplain that tl ' some reduction made tioni the dispo ii:... • ; 44 F ill i f 'lt r I' 1 1 • . ; 1 ‘ , c lig ‘• I I. 11 ~, i f