Star. — London, England, 1821-05-03 00:00:00

. ----- qt, -7 , 7; vv.: be sent to rison upon somehearsav infOrmation, and detalne,l d itAthe f4rgon. s Alt ',l -.. M gii_r . e , pYy m Lord A. II maiLrow s and 44i5 ) k iike.-i 4 ,4 o•rtrom the LO RD ADV O CA the Peti .l4 • 4 "liio/Iv..is % -, 1 ei'eatisi 14 on the table. lI.CHICIFiItit JAIL. Mr.'IttNNETT preientvd it Petition from a lad, aged 'not-teen years, named John Wheeler, now con fii , d in l'enemer Jail. The Petitioner represented biro:is-1f to he the son of a poacher in the County of S,lnersei, arid being confined in the Jail of Ilchester fir some ~ ITence against the law, represented that he was subjected to vaiious acts of excessive rigour on the pact of the jailor. Mr. Alderman WOOD said he had reason to know that certain facts of a most extraordinary nature would be made known with respect to the jailor of Ilchester, as soon as the inquiry into the state of that jail would take place. He wished to know from the Chancellor of the Exchequer if the Commission of Inquiry was yet appointed, and if so, of what per sons did it consist ?—(No answer was given.) Sir R. WILSON made it his business to inquire of the late Under Sheriff of the County of Somerset with respect to the truth of certain statements which he had seen, involving heavy charges of unnecessary se verity against the jailor. The Under Sheriff informed him that it was true great seventy had been prac tised in that jail, which he had suspended during the period of his office, but which he understood had been since revived.—Petition was laid on the table. HALF-PAY OFFICEIt. Colonel DAVIES, in rising to bring forward his promised motion respecting the Officers on Half-pay, took occasion to call the attention of the House to the great hardships which these Gentlemen sustained by their being excluded from promotion and com missions in the Army. A great many of them had purchased their commissions, and it was most unjust that they should be debarred their right of promo tion. If the present system continued to he acted upon, some of those Half-pay Officers would never be raised from the condition in which they were placed at present. No one would deny but that this was a great hardship on men who had suffered so much for, and deserved so well of their country. He ad mitted that many of them went voluntarily upon half-pay, but he thought the case was not altered.— Therefore, what he proposed was, that one-half of the vacancies at least should be filled from the Half pay. List. With that view, he proposed an Address to his Majesty, stating, i‘ That for the present and future ease of his subjects, it was expedient that he should employ in the Army such persons on the Half-pay List as were qualified to serve his Majesty." The gallant Colonel added, that this Address was verbatim the same as one proposed and carried una nimously in 1740. Lord PALMERSTON objected to the Address, as conveying an imputation upon the Commander-in- Chief, which his Royal Highness did not deserve.— He then went on to state, that there were many-Of ficers on half-pay who were neither able nor willing to enter into actual service. If all vacancies were to be filled up from the Half-pay List, all regimen tal promotion must necessaril y be put an end to.— The Commander-in-Chief ha d no reason to under value the services of Officers on half-pay more than any other class of Officers. In fact, his Royal High ness had always shewn a disposition to give commis sions to these Officers. No less than 2178 commis sions were given to Half-pay Officers in the five years between 1811 and 1816. This was at the rate of 400 promotions a-year, and computing the number now on the Half-pay List, in nine years time the whole would be proMoted. Sir ROBERT WILSON agreed with the gallant I Officer near him, that the Officers on half-pay were entitled to the best consideration of the House and the Country. But he could not view the motion as conveying any imputation on the Commander-in. Chief. He was sure his Honourable Friend did not intend it should convey any such thing. The gallant General then stated- that there was another class of Officers to whose claims sufficient consideration had not been given, and who were yet most deserving of notice,—he meant the General Officers ; many of whom, though the best men in the country, and most gallant Officers in the Army, were now living upon so narrow an income, that they were actually in great distress. He was not for increasing the pay of all these Officers, but he would suggest that measures should be taken to let in one General Officer at least every year to the increased pay of 1812. Captain O'GRADY contended that the Half-pay Surgeon ought to be employed in those small stations where there was but a handful of man. He paid the tribute of his praise to the strong claims which the Half-pay List had upon the country. Mr. HUT stated, that for the last five years, out of 1,154 promotions, only fifty-four were taken from the Half-pay Officers. With regard to regimental promotion, it appeared to him that all promotion ought to cease until the Half-pay List was exhausted. He hoped the House would adopt this Address, for it would serve to shew the Commander-in- Chief the great anxiety which this House felt to reduce the burthens of the country. Mr. HUTCHINSON said; the House had before them the claims of Half-pay O ffi cers , atteste d b y years of glorious services—they had the merits of these Gentlemen, which, "trumpet-tongued," backed these claims; but what answer made the Noble Lord? —that a consideration of their claims would be an insult to the Commander-in-Chief—(Hear, hear). This could not be the fact, and the Noble Lord, with all his ingenuity, could not attach such a tendency to the Address before the House. He (Mr. Hutchin son) contended that it was the duty of the House, when so meritorious a class of men preferred their claims, to treat them with that consideration to which they were entitled, and not to be turned aside from them from motives of delicacy to any indivi dual, however exalted his rank—(Hear, hear). This he would contend for, as an answer, in limine, to the Noble Lord's objection; but, having this strong ground, he still denied that the Address would have the tendency ascribed to it by the Noble Lord. He would vote for the Address, therefore; first, because of its importance; and secondly; because he was cer tain that it conveyed no imputation on the Comman der in-Chief—(Hear). Colonel UAVIES begged to disclaim all intention of impiyit% any censure on the Commander-in-Chief. But equ it this motion had such a tendency, pain- 't:>., ) i 'ful as it would be to him to hint the feelings of any individual, yet he would•not be tempted to sacrifice his feelings to the duty which he owed to the Public. The House then divided, when the numbers were— ' For the Motion Against it Majority for going intethe Committee - On the return of strangers to the Gallery, Mr. HUME was on his legs eulogizing the system lately adopted with regard to supplying the Army with medicine. I►► consequence of this system a great saving was gained by the Public. There was now a difference in the prices of medicine furnished to the Army and Navy of no less than nincteen per cent. The question was then put for the House going into a Committee of Supply. Mr. HUME again rose, and made a series of ob servations on the system- of superannuation grants to the Army. He referred to the sixth Report of the Finance Committee of 1817, wherein, though that Committee declined to interfere with vested rights of long standing, yet they strongly recommended the House "to reverse and curtail these grants." He thought these grants ought to be referred to a Com mittee, to inquire into them, before the House went into a Committee of Supply. He complained that there was the most unjust partiality in giving away these superannuations. In the Estimate which be held in his hand there were Clerks who had pensions of six and 'seven hundred a-year, whilst General Offi cers, Knights of the Bath, and men who had bled in so many battles, were half starving on a few shillings a-day. He concluded by moving, as an Amend ment, " That a Committee should be appointed to examine the Superannuation List, before the House went into a Committee of Supply." Lord PALMF:ItSTON, in opposing the motion, read a quotation from a Treasury circular, dated in July, 1817, founded upon the Report of the Com mittee of Finance, and intended in some degree to carry its recommendation into effect. With regard to the comparison the Honourable Gentleman had made between civil servants and military Officers, he (Lord Palmerston) did not think it at all fair, nor were the cases in any respect parallel or analogous: " Ilellorum exuviz, truneis affila trophseis larica, et ft seta de easside buocula pendens, Et eurtum temone jugum, victzque trtremis Aplustte, et sunnno tristis eaptivus in arcu, liumanis majors bonis creduntur l" —The situation of personeemployed for a length of l years merely in the situation of clerks or agents was widely different. Mr. BERNAL asked how did it consist with this order that Sir Ralph Woodford, who had a superan nuation allowance of £7OO a-year, was suffered to be Governor of Trinidad,where hehad a salary of 5,0001.? Lord A. HAMILTON supported the motion ; and thought it a reproach to the country that military men should live on such pittances as they did, while clerks in public offices were so amply paid. The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said, there was an order to suspend the superannuated allowances, until inquiry could be made into the situation of the annuitants. Mr. H. G. BENNETT supported the motion with a view to alleviate the public burdens. After a few words from the Marquis of LONDON DERRY, Colonel DAVIES, and Sir R. WILSON, the House divided. cient but mischievous, and could be no remedy for the disgraceful scenes that occurred in the streets of the Metropolis after dark. The objection to the old system was, the greatness of the temptation and the smallness of the pay ; and the same evils remained under the present system. The first Police Officer 1)3.1 only a guinea a week, and no compensation for danger cr wounds, nor any provision fur retirement in declining years. He thought it a great defect in the Bill, that there was no remuneration for deserving Officers. Most of the Constables did duty in the ni.;ltt by deputy, and many of these deputies were little better than thieves themselves. Before blood money had been taken away, a person had always been found to swear to the confession of the accused, and which person was entitled to a share of the re ward. Since the reward had been done away, no example of that nature had occurred. The greater part of the High Constables were dealers in coals, with which article they supplied most of the brothels and alehouses in the Metropolis. Bill Soames was pot fond of the other side of Temple-bar; and the reason was, that the Officers were much more vigi lant, because they were much better paid. The whole strength of the Marlborough-street Police was eight Constables, to keep in order a population of 300,000 persons. At the Queen-square Police the number ot Constables was the same, though the population was only 24,000. In the months of November, January, and February, it was unsafe to walk the streets after dusk; and•the state of the Police was obvious, from the rescue that had taken place of criminals as they were in the act of being led to prison. Ills principle was, that the Police Officers should be numerous, and well paid, and under the controul of a Magis trate as independent as possible of the Crown. At present, transportation operated as a reward, and the prisons were seminaries of vice. Mr. H. CLIVE observed, that the principle of the Bill was the same as that passed in 1811. The Ma gistrates had been consulted, and their s►►ggestions adopted. The Reports of several Committees had also been acted upon. The object of the Bill was to enable Magistrates to reward meritorious Officers, and instead of a guinea, the pay of Officers was pro posed to be twenty-five shillings a week. The town was to be divided into sixteen districts, and each to have Patrols. It was also proposed, that the watch men should be put tinder the modified controul of the nearest Police Office, and none could be appointed above the age of forty years. To relieve the Marl borough-street district, the Office of Whitechapel had been removed to Mary-la-bonae. Mr. DENMAN said, that some of the clauses re minded him of the power possessed in a neighbour ing country. The latter part of the Bill had no con nection with the former, and the whole Bill was lia ble to many constitutional objections, and gave by far too much power to the Magistrates. He would recommend the introduction of a new Bill. Mr. BATHURST complimented the Member for Shrewsbury on the important suggestions he had thrown out. In the Committee, the question of re muneration to the Officers would come properly to be considered. The Learned Gentleman who spoke last was inclined to throw out the whole Bill, because he disapproved of some particular parts. Mr. BENNETT, Mr. DENMAN, and Mr. CLIVE ex plained. Mr. Alderman WOOD stated, that the City Of ficers had about two guineas a week ; and hence arose this superior vigilance. Of several parts of the Bill he approved, and should vote for the Commit tee. The Bill was then read a second time, and or dered to be committed for this clay fortnight. The other Orders were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at Half-past Eleven o'Clock to Fri day next. THE EVENING STAR. For the Motion Against it Majority - COMMITTEE OP SUPPLY. - 22 63 -41 Mr. BANK ES moved a sum of 1.:8,475 to the Trustees of the British Museum.—Granted. Lord PALiIERSTON moved a sum of £31,520 for Superannpdted Allowances in Great Britain. Mr. HUME wished to know why a person in the Military College should have been returned at £5OO a-year, when he had been struck off ? Lord PALMERSTON said, that perhaps the per sons at the College were not aware of the Officer hav ing been ;educed. Mr. HUME asked who the individual was? Lord PALMEItSTON said, it was Sir H. Douglas. Sir H. HARDINGE said, Sir H. Douglas was a very meritorious and scientific Officer, and had not been ton highly remunerated by this allowance ib addition to his half pay. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER spoke to the same effect. Mr. H. G. BENNETT was not satisfied with this explanation of a considerable waste of public money. Colonel DAVIES found no fault with Sir H. Douglas ; but complained that he was made to form part of the extravagant system of the present Govern ment. If Government wished to do its duty, it must re trace its steps, and alter and reform these allowances. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER con tended that Government had acted a perfectly fair part by the meritorious Officers of the Army. The question was then put and carried. £8,864 was Voted for Irish Superannuations. £35,000 for Exchequer Fees. Mr. HUME thought, that all the Accounts should be brought into one, by which they would be much simplified, and a great saving would take place.— Should no other Member take the subject up, he should make a motion on the subject before the end of the Session. He thought £35,000 too large a sum to be paid to their own servant. Sir C. LONG said, that the whole of the chequer Fees had been regulated by Mr. Burke's Bill; and the persons who held those offices were entitled to Ahem by law. Arty information might be obtained --fiy a motion on the subject. Mr. HUME wished to know, if the Chancellor of the Exchequer intended to bring the subject under the notice of Parliament? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that as the Offices were already regulated boy law, he saw no advantage from a reconsideration of the subject. The Fees in the Exchequer were not such is to admit of much reduction. Mr. BENNETT thought, that a money grant would be much preferable to the present. Sir C. LONG said, that the abolition of fees in the Customs had saddled the country with an ex pense of £.165,000. £269,500 was voted for the Militia of Great Bri tain ; and 1:25,300 for the Militia of Ireland. The House then resumed, and the Report was or dered to be received on Friday. On the second reading of the Metropolis Police Bill, Mr. BERNAL objected to certain provisions re specting the award to Officers. Mr. BENT-EIT thought the Bill- not only ineifi- LONDON. THURSDAY, MAY 3, 1821. THE FUNDS. PRICES OF STOCKS THIS DAY AT ONE O . CLOCK Bank Stock 224-3 per Ct. Reduced 7154 A % 3 per Ct. Cons. 72 1 % 5 4 1 / 2 -3% per Ct. 81 A 4 per Ct. 89% %-5 per Ct. Navy 108 1 4 3 4 y 4 Long Anns. 18 1 / 2 —lndia Bonds 41s. 425. pre. Exchequer Bills 3s. ss. pr. Cons. fur Account, 72% A %. We learn, by private accounts from Genoa, that the sentences of death, under the new Military Com mission in Piedmont, have already been numerous. Among the condemned are twelve of the principal Members of the late Provisional Government, who are, however, out of the reach of the cowardly cruelty of their oppressors. Amongst them is Chevalier DAL Posso, a man of high and acknowledged acquire ments, and who presided at the head of the Supreme Court of Justice at Genoa for many years. Dr. Cm:- yaw, the Editor of the Sub-Alpine Sentinel, is ano ther. As the vessel which conveyed them to Spain weighed anchor, he observed, " the cause of Consti tutional freedom in Italy is for the moment physically' lost, but it is morally gained." VICTOR EMMANUEL has, it appears, positively re fused to resume the sceptre. Experience has already convinced him of the dangerous insecurity of a Throne, which, unsupported by a Peoples love, is only fenced by foreign bayonets. The Universities of Turin and Genoa are to be abolished: this resolution is at least consistent with the avowed object of destroying enlighted opinions is Italy. to mute German influence, they must recal the time when— " A rugged wight, the worst of brutes was man, On his own wretched kind he ruthless prey d; The strongest still the weakest overran ; In every counts? mighty robbers sway d, And guile and ruffian force were all their trade!" The latest accounts received at Genoa, from Na ples, state that all was quiet in that capital, but that the Austrians had made little progress in their ad. vances towards the South. The Members of the Par liament, who still considered themselves as possessect of the right to dismiss pnblic affairs, notwithstanding the prohibition of Austria, had taken up their residen ce in the capital of Hither Calabria. The Austrians say that-they have been thence dislodged, and that the pr o , vince of Hither Calabria is now in their possession; but there has been no confirmation of this account. The King of NaPt.r.s must believe everything settled, as he has now left Florence, on his return home ; a n d the KING, though no genius, is jocularly said to know the Neapolitans and the weather better than, any of his subjects. The conduct of the Neapolitan troops, i t sturen. dering their country without a blow to the invader, has surprised -the friends of liberty in the Sout'i of Europe, as much as it has done the People of Ens. land. The inhabitants of Rome an d o f other parts of Italy, whine the Neapolitan ch aracter f or courage has never been high, disbelieved at fi rst all their de clarations of resistance. They continued, howe ver, to issue them so uniformly, and cypress them so fer vently, that the most incredulous supposed there would be some severe fighting. Our Ambassador, Sir W. A'Counr, laughed at first at the idea of the Neapolitans making a stand ; but latterly he wrote Ito a friend at Rome, that he had surrendered his pre conceived notions, and now believed they would (Lak e a bold resistance. The more sensible and liberal. minded Austrians were equally possessed with the idea of Neapolitan regeneration, and regretted that they had been sent on a service so perilous and so unwelcome as that of endeavouring to overthrow the free institutions of brave men—brave, because they conceived they were free ; and about to be free, he. cause they were brave. Advices from Petersburgh, dated the 13th ult. re ceived in town by express, state that intelligence had arrived there of orders having been issued for the halt .of the Russian army. The exchange immediately rose from 9 1 / 8 to 9 1 / 3 —an improvement of 4 per Ceut. In the arrangement made between the Governors of the Bank of Ireland and Lord LIVERPOOL for an increase to the capital of the Bank, it has been stipu. lated, that the permission to establish Banking Com panies exceeding six partners, at the distance of not less than fifty miles from Dublin, shall, during the continuance of the present charter of the Bank of Ire. land, not be construed to extend to such Companies any privileges and immunities beyond those to whids common partnerships are by law entitled ; except that of suing or tieing sued in the name cf the Tres surer or Secretary, if they should be sufficiently nu merons to require such a privilege, and should be • authorized by separate Acts of Parliament obtained on -their own application, to avail themselves of it. The half million which is to be added to the capital of the Bank, and advanced . to Gove rn me n t at four per cent. interest, is to be paid as follows:—The Bank holds £1,500,000 Treasury Bills, which fall due on the sth July next. Of this sum £1,000,000 is to be exchanged for new Treasury Bills, and £500,000 given up, as - the consideiation for the in crease of capital, the difference between. English and Irish currency being paid in cash to the Bank, as their capital is expressed in Irish currency. Yestetclay morning, at a quarter past eleven, Hs MAJesry arrived at his Palace in Pa!Mall, in his travelling carriage, from Brighton, escorted by a party of Light Horse. Lord and Lady Awsow, and Miss ANSON, arrived on Tuesday at the St. James's Hotel, Jermyn-stmt, from Shugborough, Staffordshire ; and in a few days they intend leaving town for Switzerland. Sir ROBERT and Lady'Llsrox are arrived at their seat, in Scotland. Yesterday a Court of Directors was held at the East-India House, when FRANCIS WARDEN, Esq. *at appointed a Provisional Member of the Council at Bombay. The number of yearly licenses taken out by the Bankers in Great Britain during the last year, was 849, being seventy less than during 1815. Saturday, the silver bugle horn, given by the Royal , Company of Archers, was shot for in Hope Park, Edinburgh, and won by Captain HAY, R.N. Monday se'linight, the gold medal given by the Montrose Golf Club was played fcr on the Links there, and won, after a very close and kee'n contest, by Mr. JAMES LEIGHTON, town clerk, The people who suffered by the fall of the timber bridge at Glasgow, on the King's Birth-day, are all doing well. The boy who received the contents of an old pistol into the substance of the brain, is still alive, and apparently doing well. LONIAN Is t, NI s.—Extract of a letter, dated Venice. April 19 Further arrests have taken place in the lonian Islands. In addition to the individuals al ready mentioned, Signor Rossi, Justice of Peace; Stravopodi, Major of Militia ; Sicuretto, who was Se cretary to the former British Governors (Generals Oswald, Airey, and Campbell), with many others, are now imprisoned at Corfu, for having signed a Petitioa to the King of England, complaining or some of Sir T. Maitland's proceedings, and explaining the means he had employed to make them accept the Constitatice- The Police-officers at Zante seized Signor Ilos4 while employed in collecting signatures to this Poi tion ; and this is the crime ! Are not the lonian's MEI by their forced Constitution, invested with the rightm petitioning the protecting Sovereign? And did not& Thomas .Maitland's own agents, but a very few web back, go about to procure signatures to a Memorial to himself, in praise of his own measures? But s uch , is the pitiable state to which these unfortunate isl,ncle are now seduced! The fate of those under arrest will not be determined until Sir Thomas Maitland has communicated with Government, for which pur• pose he is now proceeding to London ; but surely his Excellency will nut be able to deceive the Mi "nisters relative to the real state of things there, be trayed as it is by the events which every day occur. He is accompanied to England by Signor CapPr doca, one of the Judges who condemned Martinengot and whose object is, no doubt, to vindicate the pre' =dings against him." ~,. ~. E ,a