The National Register. — London, England, 1812-03-22 00:00:00

MM!""' 'ICC MATT K.;112. .~. 179 THE NATIONAL REGISTER. rplexinecircumsteoces in the Courts of Law, he had deemed :it ex pecheat to frame the present amendment , whi ch he here notified, for the future acceptance of the House. Lord Foeteroe E declared his astonishment at the amendment pro posed by the Right Hon. Gentleman. The measure, at the close of last Session, had been passed its tehurry, to accommodate particular and pressing circumstances, without having undergone any exp%ss investigation, and now the Right Hon. Gentleman called again Upon Aletnbers to agree to its - renewal, without any examination whatever, which the House had expressed the utmost uneasiness about when the measure passed so rapidly through their hands during the Session before; and would they consent then, tinder these circumstances, to a measure which at once constituted Bank-notes a legal tender His Lordship con cluded by opposieg the motion. Mr. Ti ERN Itir rose, not in opposition to the present measure, which he would refrain from, though he was conscious it was the most im portant Bill for the nation at large ever produced •before the House of Commons; nor was he at present prepared to say that in any future state of the Bill, he would trouble the House with his opinions. In truth, the whole had been thoroughly searched by the Committee ap pointed for that purpose, whose excellent Report was never surpassed, and by the ample discussions throughout the progress of the Bill be fore tee whole House, all of which showed nothing was to be gained by making any opposition to the measure except obloquy, and reite reed exclamations from Ministers, that Gentlemen were endeavour ing to cast down the currency of the realm and create inextricable confusion throughout the whole operations of British commerce. Those persons who had set themselves in opposition to the Bill, de- claret that Ministers were proceeding from a had measure to a worse ; and really the Right Hon. Gentleman's (Mr. Perccval) assertions showed that he was not standing now on a " rock " (Hear, hear ! ) How the present Aniendelent would fall short sf a legal tender he could not conceive; it went so far, in Lis opinion, as to make all contracts, of whatever kind, where the tenant chose to resist, payable by Benk-notes, were the case carried to a Court of Law. Eut the Right 1 flute Gentleman (Mr. Perccval) must contempl a t e , a mid s t hi s own good sense, the evils of the policy, and feel pain while be proposes such a measure. 'Else Right Hon. Gentleman might gaze oil the Bank of England, bin he dared not meddle with it, because, from being his servant, It was becon:e his master. He knew well, that the finance entietly depended upon the Batik alone, and the House would never re • - quire the last mastery over their servants, unless they caused the Direc turs to attend them, and showed them by evident demonstration how Parliament was their masters. Was it not a direct fraud commit! ed upon a man to cause him to accept of paper instead of gold frcm a Cor poration like-the Bank of England, which none knew to be solvent ? ; Hear, hear !)—lt was worse than the assignats of France, which were payahle upon the national deinesne. If the Parliament was really resolved - to adopt the Bank of England as their master, commerce might mourn her death blow.—(//car, hear ) It empowered the Bank to issue haineinis quantities of paper,_ according to directorial pleasur e , an d against which there re ma i ne d no power to secure it within proper limits. The Bank, as a Corporate Body, possessed a most insatiable thirst for gain, and bed *conducted themselves accordingly. Let them produce the accounts of the enormous profits accruing to them since the restrictions were first put upon them, for the House to examine the pro digious gains. 3y tit acts of some person the country had been induced to believe, that on the uninterrupted progress of Bank issue depended the prosperity of the country ; such had been the representations, and the nation at large believed fondly in the assertions. It, was easy for the Chancellor of the Exchequer to raise a cry against all those who op posed his measures, and no doubt Ike plumed him se lf u p on hi s f uture success in the present motion ; hut let him take all the 'responsibility teem himself: he was a stout man, and glorying in his might, regarded neither minority nor majority.—/ Hear, hear ! )—Let him therefore consider, along with his darling Bank ore,kilisigt how he may carry on his gigantic s y s t em , an d preserve the !laded": or his own part he had eattred his s o l e m n p rotest aga i nst t h e measure, and his conviction was, that should it b e e out i nue d , t h e prosperity of ee country would be for ever blasted, and all hope ruined. . , Mr. Precevee sa id, t h e Right • Hon. Gentleman had totally •mista k el one of the Minister's sources of delight, when•he declared his belief ill the utter indifference exhibited by the strong man, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he shouts,' ha; pen to be in a minority or ma j"rma- jorityThe Right H o n. Ge n tle man appeare d terrifie.d for the public opinion, but !sae entered his protest against the measure, even while he was declaring that he was aware of its popularity ; he allowed the mea sure, which he condemned, as one capable of endangering the public credit to proceed, without any opposition , declaring 'his unwillingness ev e n to enter the lists of controversy again. Really. (for he was willing to quiet th e H on. Gentleman's mind) he felt pain in proposing the • Present measure, but not from any consciousness of its evil tendency ; I B e was fully assured of it s necessity, but not from the thoughts of the Bank having gained the ascendency over him as the-Hon.G e nt. had ima- R i led- When he examined the assertions of the Hon. Gent. himself, he w as almost led tte believe that no man was capable of framing three sentences, and stringing them t oget h er, more strong l y ca l cu l ate d to an shake tile Bank than those w hi c h t h e Hon , • Gentleman had empleyed, d at a moment too *hen be Was eapressing the utmost unwillingness to utter S entenCe against them. Had the Bank evinced any desire, or demonstrated any inclination to take advantage of the situation of the country, then there would have been room to wield such language; but the issues of the Bank, so tar from increasing, were really.lower than at the moment when the Bill was framed towards the close at lest Session. On the whole, therefore, he returned thanks -to the Hon. Gentleman for his courteous and magnanimous resolution of abstaining from all future opposition to the Minister's measures—it was an avowal of pacific intentions worthy of the Hon. Gentleman. Mr. TIERNEY, in explanation, observed, that the Right Hon. Gen tit man was very much mistaken if he supposed, that because-he did not mean to give any further opposition to this measure, he should notvp pose him upon other questions, for he never saw any gentleman whom he was more disposed to oppose upon all occasions. The House then divided, when there appeared—For bringing in the Bill, 73; Against it, 26—Majority for the Bill, 47.. Mr. TIERNEY then moved, that a Secret Committee be appointed to examine into the outstanding demands against the Bank of England, and the nature of the . Funds to discharge the same; also to inquire into the operation of the Order in Council of the 27th of February, 1797, and to report their opinion thereon. After some observations from several Members this motion was nega tived without a di%ision. Mr. TIERNEY likewise moved for an account of all sums divided by the Bank of England on their capital, from Jan. 5, to Jan. 5, L 1312, which was also negatived.---Adjourned. WEDNESDAY, MARCH 18. The Charitable Donation bill was read a second time, and com mitted for Friday. Mr. WulTinteAn presented a petition from several thousands of the manufacturers of Yorkshire, stating the hardships under which they were at present labouring ; and stating their conviction that the hard ships resulted from the war, and the present system of representation in Pm - li:inumt, and praying for a Reform in Parlimeat. The petition xvrts br , tn;ht u", rt ad. zinc' ordered to lie on the table. Mr. l L d for an account of th.s different sums raised for the Public Service e..ch year, sines the year 1790, distinguishing each year's amount, and „he sum raised each war by taxes, and by loans.— Granted. TIL! fio7l. Gentlemen said, he was of opinion, that, on a very short notice, the Bank would be able to pay, even In specie, all demands whidi could be made tipoa it. Mr. MAURICE Fl ZGERA LD moved for an Ae:•ount of the number of gallons of Irish-made Spirits on which duty had been paid in Ireland, and thir amount of said duties, which was agreed to.—Adjourned. THURSDAY, MARCH 19. The Wotton Basset Electlon Petition was postponed toThursday next. In a Committee on the Woods and Forests Bill, Lord Cochrane ob jected to the exchange of certain grounds, upon the principle that such exchange would be wily advantageous to certain individuals. After some obserations from Mr. Rose and other,, the resolutions .were agreed to, and the report ordered to be received to-morrow. A variety of other business was gone through, of no great importance, and the House then adjourned. TRIDAY, MARCH 20. r Mr. BLACKBURN presented a Petition, signed by many thousand s of manufacturers iu the town and neighbourhood' of Blackburn, in Lan cashire, complaining of distress occasioned by the high price of provi sions;-and the stagnation of trade, which they attributed to the Orders in Council, and praying relief.—Ordered to lie on the table. THIRD THVATRE. Mr. WHITH2E AD hoped that the Noble Lord (Lord Ossulston) would postpone the motion for tjie second reading of the Lill tilt ]Mo nday next, in consequence of the indisposition of a Right Hon. Gentleman (Mr. Sheridan) who was much intetestea in it. Lord Os stms - ro N could not consent to postpone the second reading of the Bill any longer. Mr. PE kER lkilookc said, that the population of the metropolis had increased s() considerably, the number of play-g4ing people st einol !o have decreased. The receipts of the houses were now less than they were formerly, although the expenses had considerably increased. lle therefore moved, that the second reading be poiquued to this day six months. Sir . P. TURTON thought, that is was not a time to throw any ob stacles in the way of re-building Drury-lane Theatre. Mr. H. SUMNER contended, that the people of this great metropolis, had a right to better .accoinsiOdation, and more places of . theatrical amusement, than now. exist. He might, at present, send seventy • times, day after day, •to get a box for his family, and not succeed. In order to acepniniodate the increasing population of this city, the pro prietors of the theatres had overshot the mark ; and in order to all.)w many to see, they made their houses so large that nobody could hear. The consequence of this was, that those plays which had delishted•our ancestor, were much laid aside, and it was found nacessaty. to intro duce dogs, horses, elephants, and all manner of.li‘astchpop the stage. Besides, if any actors of the most brilliant talenty,lW4the ,ftne Of the Kembles, were to present themselves for an engagencent, they could not find one in London ; but must content 'themattses --with acting in . country towns. • ~► - -:- .~ ,~