The National Register. — London, England, 1816-05-13 00:00:00

IN; taxes than were WereSSitry ; but that they Warily t%atet.eil the expeinliture of the publ:c money. He him ever ii.hcd itli tri.ters would undertake that curtailment and retrenchment which weir practicaUe ; because front their know ledge of the sletail. of mike they were triter gush& d for stick task. Ma -111 (Acts might be abolished -others might be retteneheA— and to see what (.0111(1 he untie, as well as Whig bad been, was the oljeet of his motion. 'fins gave rise to a long and animated debate, which termi• listed in the rejection of the measure t there being, ou a (Lei. stun, 1•;ti fur the motion, and Iti9 against it. WEVIIIE4II Y, MAY M. Sir ASII.:EL ROMILL 1 gave notice of a motion for Toesday seNt, on the situation of the Protestants in the South of France. .Mr (:c w Ell. in moving for the production of certain papers 'chair:• to the subject of tythes, wished to explain to the House that he hail ulterior objects in view. lis the numerous peti tions lately presented to the House on the Agi icultnral 11/is. tresses, there was scarcely one in which the Petitioners did out complain of tithes, and prayed for a commutation. There was nu class in the Collllllllllity which had lin direct an interest as the Clergy themselves in the commutation of tithes ; and it was to be regretted that any discussions Klima!' ilaVe I,nd the siker of en sting an alarm fu that 'oody. It could never be intended, not to give the lithe-holders of Myr) . description a rem 1111 l .ration. lie slid not mean, Imayever, to bring lhe eivat question of commutation at present before the House. Tim fit st motion strict he should submit would bring to view the conduct of the Courts of Equity, which had assumed to themselves for a course of yeal*the power of directly deeirlite: du mentos of tithes. Ile cooreived this was contrary to the law of the hold and tile principles of the British Constitution. •Ir tithe causes had come before Juries, a number of articles would never hat e been made tithes ble ; pine-apples for instance, winch were no more the proshirthat of the earth than the web Cf the meant:arta rer. .It was high time to restore tithes to the trial by Jury, that a pniper security might be' Mho-sled to the subject. At this moment there were BM tithe causes depend in the Court of Esehegiter. The papers moved for were entries!. _ _ A m•w writ was ordered fur Warwick, in the room of Lord 'Brook, How Earl of Warwick. LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. Mr. BROUGHAM, at the conclusion of a very able speech, in :the course of which he complimented the attorney-general, on 'hi , having forboine to file es-officio info l nations, m o v e d f o e _leave to bring in a bill for the better securing the Liberty of the Press.— First, To aboli-li the distinction between written . and avert libel, and oral spoken slander; it being well known, that at present words which were not actionable when spoken, :only because so when put on paper, or were published. Se .-condly, To allow the cognizance or non cognizance of the de fendant, under whose ostensible authority the libel issued, to be put in evidence on his trial. Lastly, To allow evidence of the truth of alledged libel to be laid before the jury, Pith the view of modifying their decision. The lion. Gent, also meant to make a provision. that the defendant Amnia give Wire to the "prosecutor, that, when put on trial, he intended to of proof to establish his statements. the Attorney-General (Sir W. Garrow ) would not oppose the introduction of the bill; but be entered his protest against the principle of staking alter ation on any of the points uf law alluded to. He w ouki here after fully ex: lain his scntinumts when the sub:roc was before the House. The power of fil:ag ex-officio intinuatinnf. which the Learned Gentleman would propose to abolish. ought to re main vested with government. Ile (Sir %V. Garrow) had always nettle it his principle never to hunt out cases fur prose cution; but he had, on the contiary, resisted merr: ietlitma tions he hail got, and lie had uniformly studied rather to lessen than to multiply them. lie hid always put this question to him-elf, Co u ld I, if I were a Grand Juryman, to illy say, on my oath, that this was a plotter subject for sending to a tuon Jury ?" and on that question he had uniformly acted, as he had no doubt the House would believe him to have dune, (1:e .r, hear.) Leave -- was given to bring in the Bill. Till RSOAY , MAY 9. The Committee on the distressed state of agriculture was postponed till to.mor:.ov A number of petitions were presented against the Publicans' Licence Duty, against the Leather Tax, and against the pre sent Distillery Laws. Mr. A A xsuTr.leT, in reply to a question from!Lord Stanley, whether hoit-t formeily dwelling-houses, but i w used as mantifac'ories, were liable to he taxed us dwelliog-houses? said, he had no hesitation in stating that such houses did not . come within the meaning of the Act.—( Hear, :Ica:Oran) LEATHER TAX. Lord A ILTHOR PE, in rising to make the present motion, felt Itnecessary to state, that he should not have stood forward on this occasion, had it not been that his constitusints were greatly sod particularly interested in it ; hut se strong was his opinion of the ticcasity of the repeal of this tax upon one of out greatest staple . ennittiodlties, that let witoey - cr would hose lirmight it forward, the motion would ha% e had his slur port. formerly we had ale ass beim able to meet our opponents, and to undersell them in at foreign market; but now, owing to the additional duties laid upon the trade, it was •a the greatest state of depression. If, however, the ditty ware taken off, the price of the article would fall, and the expert would, in his opining, increase in proportion equal to the late consumption et the army; trade would increase, and employment would again be found for our distressed journeymen. Thus notch the repeal of the tax would do towards the relief of the trade ; bat still _more would he done for the tanners by a relief from the vexation attending the collection (tithe ditties. The Noble Lord then entered at length into a detail of the nooks of col lecting the dirties on It artier. In 1814, the ditty was only 633.000 1 . and in the present year there must unaviyidabis t oe o still ;treater falling otl. The Noble Lord conelitiled by moving for leave to bring in a Hill to repeal the tax upon leather. Mr. W. SMITH would feel ita very serious measure, in the present situation of the country, to take off a tax producing 600.0001. a year, mile..s there was a prospect of reimbursing the rAchri r er Airiest to the full amount. He thought, however, this might be done, and many inconveniences avoided, by doing us% ay the stensting of hide, and obliting the tanner to enter in a tr , ok all hirleasent into his yard, anti aliment out; and upon these hides he should pry,* ditty of two shillings. The t'tt.y xcau.on Of the ELI:4I44II'FM ssiJ , if the Noble I .ord and the Honourable Gentleman had contented themselves with moving for a Committee, to winch the ingitious on the table s agalit have been referred, to enquire into the biert, he should Just )rase opposed the motiou.—He thought the plan by Mr. 4intialt worthy of consideration ; w rash regard to thedep•ciation under which the Leath. r Trade had laboured, the Noble,Lord het] ansagrial himself, by saying, that every other trade was. also derds -I.el The Leather Trade most hair lidt an extracts , : Binary ileptiev:iim in conyequerce of the peace. Within two last year., :etc r the opening of the rivers in the South to A werica. the importation of hides had greatly increased. in swoop nee of the cheupue:s and goad quality of those bides, THE NATIONAL in preference to thwe of the Confine:it. The Noble Lord . had said nOthing of the•atieet of the tax upon the eins-:111111r. Eat it would be itsatislaetion to the !loose In know that the erne' fat prices of Leather tt cry lower than before the itn;,osition of the lay. 'the price was 0119119d: 1 1. now it had decreased to Illy 1. If tanners obtained their raw niat-iial, cheaper, it teas but reasonable to suppose that the consumer would reap the benefit •f the dim:Minion. Bark, in 1511, was under 531. in 1513, it was :41/1. in the present year it had deer eased in 'nice to between rd. and 211. thus cannot; one third in -price. or IS per coot. anon Leather, and mom the article of Rink 30 per cent. Raw hides were from 3d. toad. per lb. on the ;overage. This year they had fallen front to 3.1. making a difference of 21 per cent. With respect to the tax, the House must be aware of the necessity of maintaiiiinc the revemic entire. if it could be done without real injury to the emtitt..y, nod at the same time afford an adequate protection to trade. It was his dills' theta fore to abautlou the tax, for the reason he had stated. * A Com mittee had sat in 1513. aid au inference was to be drawn from the enquiry before them, namely, that half measures would not do, for the Noble Lord desired the repeal of the entire 'fax-- a repeal of half of it would not have mem ered the object of the petitioner , . Wishing, how ei er, to eke every satc.r;tetion, he should move for an *mollify to see what moult be done, and object to the motion of the Noble• Lord fir the repeal.- - He tltca 'ell an anieu.bnent—•' For to Cnmm'ttct• to consider the state of the laws relating to the 1114111114etUry 6t; and duties on, Leather." Lord Costmrow was in favour of the otiTionl motion. The fall in the price of leather arose front the depression in trade. The objections which lie hail to the to were, that it was 41100. tXrettSice in its collection, fell heavily and equally on the poor as the rich, and operated to the injury of agriculture. Sir J. YORKE thought relief oor•ht to be elven to the' consumer; for if the tax was to be taki I; off, he dad not think there would lw any disposition to totter the price of shirrs.. An empty Exchequer, and- the people walking in high•prired shoes, was not a sirs agreeable prospect for the country.--Se.. veral other Memhers spoke on the cia,..tion. Lord AI:114()!A Pc then replied, and the House divided —.for the Committee, 12I—for the repeal, HU —Majority 33. A Seleet Committee was then appointed, and the petitions were rcferreff to the said Committee. Colonel Wool) gave notice that he should move fora Com mittee to enquire into the propriety of legalizing the sale of game —Adjourned. Frtinnv, MAY 10. Mr. ILYTTIXTON 110 rive. that he <lonthl, on the Inth of May, aubmit a 'nation to the lipase on the evil tendency of Lotteries, and propose seine mode to correct the evil. IRISH GRINTS. Mr. Fcrgcan sty moved for the House to go into a Com mittee of Supply. 41,0001. was granted for the .expence of the Charter School —3'4.0001. fur the Foundling Hospital-42,0001. Mr thelluuse.- of Indle-try-28,2801. for the Lunatic Asylnm —8,9321. for the Hibernian Society-9,MM. tor the OrphauDouse-9.0101. for Westmorland Hospltal--1,4UU1. for the Lying-in Hospital— I,Soul. for Stephen's Hospital--50001. for the Fever Hospital -9,6731. far the Roman Catholic Semioary-00001. for the Edu cation of the Poor-24,71V. for the Secretary's Office, in re spect to statiopery-12,9001. for Proclamations, sle.-2i,9001. for Criminal Prosecutions-2,3001. f ur the apprehension of public offenders-90001. for the Non-conformist Mlui.ters--- Z,9001. for the Seceding Ministers—lXlol. for the Public Offices —31,1701. fur the Board of Works-21,6001. for the Trading Manufactures-19,0001. for the 'Commissioners of Streets in Dublin-10,11001. for the Dublin Society-4,9151. fur the Farm ing Society-2,5001. for the Cork Institution. The Report was brought up, and ordered to be received on Monday. The House went into a Committee on the Malt Duty Bill, in which some amendments were made. The Report was ordered to be received on Monday. Mr. BANKE% gave notice for Friday next,.of a motion re specting the Elgin Marbles. ALIEN BILL. On the second reading of the Alien Bill. Lord A. HAMILTON observed, that in the present Mill, there appeared a total inconsistency ; for it made no distinction be tween alien friends and alien enemies. He noticed the power given to the Secretary of State to send these Aliens without dislinction ont of the country, as inimical to the present cir cumstances of the country, and unfit to be trusted to any Ali 'Oster. The principle of the Bill was also obnoxious to the recognized aims:Ott! given to strangers, and therefore met his decided disapprobation. Such a power v. as unnecessary, for the only reason to justify it was the apprehension of danger. Did Ministers apprehend any danger He thought not. They had not given any grounds for such apprehension. On the contrary, he conceived, that triglausl. in the proud situation in which she stood, was least liable to mach opinion, and therefore he skould ; propuse that it be read " a second time this day three months." Mr. H. ADMNGTON said, that this Bill was formal on the same principles as the Bill brought in two years since. if it was e\pttliant then, it certainly was so now ; and for this rea son, that .there was now a considerable increase of Aliens, which bat! added to the number of 20,000, originally supposed to be the amount of that description of persons resident in the romitry. linor ci:#4g could not agree with what had fallen from the Riglit Hon. Gentlemen, that the measure now proposed was not a new measure— The Right Hon. Gent. had said, a. similar measure was adopted two years ago. He (Mr. B.) highly dismoproVN) of that measure ; hut when the cituation of the county then and now were compared, it would be found that the present was indeed a new measure in every respect. The SOLICITOR-GENF:I2AL could not but consider that gen tlemen who professed to think this measure no longer needs sary, took an erroneous view of the subject. He trusted, that the revolutionary spirit was overthrown and broken ; but mil chief still lurked in the minds of many individuals, and he could not consider-it as wise to give up all precautionary measures at once. It lind been said, that this was a Bill against Milli t,kmis. Ile t1101);(11t ; it was not an act against alien friends, but against alien enemies under the mask of alien friends, and therefore be support the Bill. Lou .1 CANT LAI:I;46Ii defended the Bill on grounds of general policy. Mr. Homan said, that no man could say but that a state of danger would warrant surto a - law ; but we wele out in such a state of danger now as would requirt. u measure of this violent nature. _ _ Sir J. MACKINTOMI cowlick red this Biil (as be always had done) at a wanton (fellation from the established law of the lansl.. TYrserresy of the aecasations against Aliens as only to be eqnallled by theprocerding ut the Court of Holy Inquisi Hoyrcouht we boapt of pus free and equal laws, when, by this Bilf,..vre evtidenmsed 20,000 Aliens resident in this couu- 'MAY IS. try to a shay of slavery ; for it sviiswpiivaient to - L avory, to ho obliged to live in this country at the sufferance of a 'secretary ofStitc. Instead of enjoy ing the proud boast that the soil of England pave liberty to the slave. if Ibis Illil Wire pirs , aal, wn should in future only possess the miserable distinction of en slavitt:4 the free. The Home . then divided. Tor the second reading of the Rih Ist--Against it 17 -Majority 91. The other Ortlei, of the I).ty were then disposed of, snit the lionseadjouroctl at Ilalf past Tnelve o'Cluch till Aloud y. FRENCH PAPERS. ROYAL ORDINANCES,-PA RIS, M 14111i 4 . The Sieve - briao, Prt siitoni of the Chauther Or Deputies, i. nppointed Aliiii , ter of the liitcrinr." Look, e‘e:—" The Count de N'oublane i, appointed Minister of State, and Nlenilwr at . - our Privy Council." Louis, .04. e.-" Considering the state of the health of Count Bashi. Marbois, Oar keeper of the seals, 0101 wishing to pro. We for the administration of the departnient of justice, me Ito% e ordered, and do older ns follow,: Our well brio% ed and -faithful Chevalier the Chancellor of Primer shall resume the WAIN of the klinehlai:" 'the Duke ae U'eiliiigtou, co 11111 l of the army or occupation, wilt spur dill - visit ide 4 . 0111.4 ..r slim, Pi teo.inu, Auteriusi, and Bay alum wrinict4, vthich sit ate • tiuue , l in u part et' Cautp.t ue. Lurraine, and .11. net. TRIal, OF AN O. The Court opened nt u quarter past eleven. The Reporter (Captain Von) rend the documents:—The first we.* depllSl. Lion tootle by th. , Duke Fitsjunies, Peer of France. The Duke received a letter from General Bei tr ud , dated Fontainebleau, the Dull of 'April, ISI Flux letter contained the submission and oath of fidelity which Bertrand too► to Louis XVIII. It was na follows: " The Emperor having abdicated, I ant free from every MAN gation. lu accompanying. him, I pay the debt of gratinniv and hon:mr. I remain a subject (White King, air& I shun be a faithful flubject. I ant persuaded, that the Emperor has renounced in his heart every idea of returning to France ; bat what I can pledge myself for is, that I shall never meddle with political affairs; I was never a man of revolution or intrigue, and I shall die as I have Us ed, an honest man, and a man of tumour. If you have et ar any oceasi )))) to speak of me, you may, without tear of being afterwards euntrathrted, affirm that 1 shall never wonder, whatever es - cutaway occur, frian the line which I have traced out for myself, which i.. that 01111 duty." The Reporter then, after stating the treasons or General Ref. traud, and commenting upon the abut c letter, titmaaded a sen tence of death against inn). Here M..loasselin Delasclie, eous;n to General Hertel:nil, demanded a &lour three mouths, to enable I to notify to the general the procedure intended against him. This request was opposed by the Keporter ; and the Court having dethircrated, at live o'clock it was declared unanimously that Lett cal Bertrand was guilty of the CI inns imputed to him he was conwtpiently condemned to sutler death, and to pay the expencet at the process. The demand :fur delay was tri . cuinse rejected. Satiu•dac, the 2d, a court-martbv: will try Ceo. Lefebvre Demieuetten, an outlaw. Lord Borghersb, the English Ambassador at the Catirt or Flu re nee, has received, says the Gazette of tli.it city, the im portant intelligence, that, iti the treaty concluded by - Lord Ex mouth with the.lley of Tunis, on the 17th of April, there is tie! follow tug stipulation:—" '1 hat power engages, should war break ont betw Pt II it and any state whatever of Europe, nut to consider the jUlllot Ideals who shall fall into its power as sluvo, but to treat them as prisoners of war, contot utably to the magi.* of Em ope:" Marslial Pdasseas is at present very dangerously ill. RISE IN THE 1'121(E OF WHEAT. The late extraordinary rise of Wheat , 'bcing about 18s. per quarter in three weeks, neasiy one-third of its pre vious value, is a subject of the higiest.kaportance. Wo take the Gaulle price as a criterion of its lute great deprev sion; the aggregate average of Wlirut per quarter (Eng land and Wales) was so low as 525.1 id.; the week ending the 27th of April it was 635. Bd. ; a great proportion of these returns was made previous to the late great advance; we may therefore calculate that the aggregate average in the course of two weeks will bring the average to nearly 80s. the price at which importation will be allowed. It is a high medium rate, proved by the evidence before the House of Commons, and by the enactment of the Corn Bill; Parliament fixing 80s. as the rate at whit.% the agriculturist was fully remunerated, that the other classes of society should receive the benefit of importing Forci ! rn Corn, to guard against too extravagant prices. The present unprecedented rise has becu, in a great measure, produced by the scarcity in France, and the consequent opening of the French ports to importation. In consequence of this increased price, the labouring classes in agriculture may think that they should.have un immediate advance in their wages from the farmer. But they will recollect, that in nine cases out of ten the farmer is not benefited by the rise, having sold his grain befbre the rise took place. To feel or to execute any ill• will, therefore, against him for not giving this advance, would be equally unjust and useless. lAnother considerable rise in wheat has taken Owe at the Corn Exchange. It is said, the farmers will not be nefit by the advance, as they havelong ago parted with their stock.—lVe know not whether the growers or this dealers be the gainers, but the Poor will soon know by woeful experience who are the losers. It is said, that the Duke of Wellington will shortly arrive at Paris. The new coinage, which is proceeding at the Mint, is said to include both silver and gold. The gold pieces are of 20 shillings, which is certainly a great convenience to trad..% The silver includes what has lung bc:n much wanted—a bhilling of a new die.