The National Register. — London, England, 1822-03-10 00:00:00

74 inptriat laaritatuttlt. HOUSE oF LORDS. MONDAY, MARCH 4. The County Assizes Bill was read a third time and passed.— Adjourned. TI7ESDAY. MARCH 5. The LORD CHANCELLOR heard appeals. Mr. Brogden, and other Members from the Commons. brought up the Irish arms and gunpowder importation bill, which was read the first time. The Irish population act amendment bill, and the Irish seizure of arms indemnity bill, were read a second time. Several public papers were presented, mad the Douse ad journed. WEDNESDAY. MARCH 6. The Transfer of Aids Bill, the Exchequer Bills Bill, the To- bacco Duties' Bill, and the Arms Importation Bill, were read the second time. The Irish Population Bill, and the Seizure of Arms Indem nity Bill, went through Committees—The House adjourned. THURSDAY. MARCH 7. The Irish Population Act Amendment Bill was read the third tune and pawed. The Transfer in Aids Bill—the Importation of Arms and Gunpowder into Ireland Bill—the Exchequer Bills Bill, and the annual Duties Bill, severally passed thiough Cummins:es.— Adjourned. FRIDAY, MARCH 8. Mr. Woodford from the Treasury, presented an estimate offal the Taxes proposed and repealed since the termination a the late war.—Laid on the table. The transfer of Aids Bill, the Exchequer Bills Bill, and the annual Duties Bill, were read the third tune and passed. HUNT'S BR EA K FAsT POWDER. The Marquis of LA NSDOW N E said, he rose to move for certain returns connected with a subject to whin he called the attention of that Douse and the public. It had been stated in the other Disuse of Pluliament, and was the subject of much public conversation. He alluded to the prosecutions instituted by the Board of Excise against persons selling a preparation of roasted wheat, under the name of breakfast powder. These pro secutions he understoed had been commenced on pretence of the substitute for tea and coffi.o interfering with the sale of coffee. lie was not able to say how the sale of the article might atlect the Revenue, but he considered it highly illegal to prevent the sale of any article of flod and subsistence, without the same was prohibited by . law. It certainly was an abuse of the power given the Commissioners of Excise, when that power was stretched so as to intetlere with any article not prohibited by statute. If roasted wheat became an article of food, it might be advantage ous to increase the consumption, rather than prevent it ; but the noble Marquis considered the matter in a constitutional point of view. If an officer in the revenue had the right to seize every article he might consider injurious to the revenue, the effect would be a transfer of the power of that Douse to the Board of Excise. It was 411 important question for the consideration of Parliament, and with the intention of making it a subject of inquiry, he moved for an account of all instructions given by the Commissioners of Excise to their Officers respecting the seizure of imitative toffee, and the prosecutions commenced for the tale • of the article. The Earl of LIVERPOOL did not object to the motion, and the return was ordered. The Earl of LIVERPOOL rose to move the third reading of two bills on the table, one entitled •• a bill to regulate the im portation of arms, gunpowder, and ammunition into Ireland ;" the other •' a bill fur indemnifying such persons as have seized or detained any arms or gunpowder in Ireland, since a time to be limited, for the preservation of the public peace." The noble Earl observed, with respect to the first of these bills, that it had been the law in Ireland during sonic time, but the act baying expired in August last, it became necessary to make a new law, providing for the public service, as if the old act had suit expired. He concluded by moving the third reading of the bill. Lord HOLLAND said, when the noble Earl admitted that the provisions of these had been practical law in Ireland during some time past, he could not avoid saying, they were measures for nothing more nor less than disarming the people of that un fortunate country. The nature of such laws was repugnant to the Constitution, and nothing but absolute insurrection could just;ly them. When such means were resorted to, the House must naturally feel that Government, during 22 years, had ne glected to place Ireland in a condition to enjoy the Constitution. to which they were admitted by the Act of Union. The noble Lord concluded by observing, he could not allow the bills to pass without making the above remark. The hill was read the third time and passed. The Earl of LIVER "001. then moved the third reading of the Seizure of Arms Indemnity Bill, which war. accordingly Lead and passed. On the motion of the LORD CHANCELLOR a bill brought in by his Lordship (as we understood) to regulate the practice of saturates, was ,'cad the second time.—Adjourned. DOUSE O1' • COMMONS• MONDAY, MARCII 4. The annual accounts of the West India Dock Company, and of the shoreham Harbour, were presented. Lord OSSULSION presented a. petit• from the spirit dealers of Ber ick-u; ~,,, -Tweed, playing that the rest lic • 110ns trg2iflling Scot, h a lie key might be taken WI, as fur as reil.artled that place. D'et.tions, causitlaining of re:rt.-altar:A distress, were pre ar•uied fr WUrCeStersaire und Devonshire. Ordered to be di int.id. Mr. MA IILftLEY complained of the difference beivieen flee public accosoits, laid before all the members, rind the Diable Margnis's (Londonderry ) details ; he knew not has there could be such variance; amid he therefor.• mused fur setUrleS explaining the serious 1/1 these dilletenees in the customs and excise ; w the land and pestered taxes, looped these accounts nould he ordered, mind Out they would be ready before his 1111 l tom, lived for the I ith inst. lie innsed for aCCOUIII 1 ill 0408 W 110 e: tilllbe variant cis arose, because lie did not wish 10 he told a hers he hitroLht forward his smatuti, that the statements welt, not the Gusettnuent's but his. Aft, r some remarks from Mr. G. Wynn, Mr. Ilirtnc, &e. was a,thdraan , an the 11111/erstanding that Mr. could his) beiti/e tile House un nee/wilt 'Aiding the livads of the sevi till ;retsina:, he tore the 14th msg. The assizes conimi bill iWits brought (ions the Lord,. —ltrad a hva Mr. CA NNINO pre cote,' a petition (tom merchants of Liverpool engaged ill the foi vigil corn orade, praying that sac would take their case into coundertitiun.—Pcti tlon h ere,tett 1 , 1 a committee. Mr. GOOL II (from the opppositiun bench) said he wished to learn from the re :tit bolt. grill. oppteitc—(cheering and leur•.ter) w het her au) (h illges haul taken place since Friday, lull the suhject of the mal• tax. The the I..XCIIIEQULR replied, that that the ta•peal should take place 'ruin Feb. 25. the day on h the re*crialion pa►.ed. r. Mr. Libre, &c. cognired w hat wits to be done tespecrosig foe sort k ••n haw,. Tin CIiANCLLLtIIi ut the LICHLQULR .~.~ I Tin NATIONAL REGISTInt that the pleura pursued in former instances where taxes had been taken off were to be adopted ; w here the duty had been paid it was to he returned. Mr. G. BENS ETT said, this was another invance of the injurious tendency of the right. hon. gentleman's plans;— already had persons been induced to take corn to marker under disadvantages. Mr. Alderman WOOD presented a petition from Mr. 11. Hunt, complaining of the injurious and oppressive hardships se Inch were daily heaped on hint, the severities being tun. snotty increased, in Detester jail. Ile had also received a letter from Mr. 11. mentioning, that within these few days fresh oppressions had been resorted to. doors closed, and the tanoily refused admission to Mr. Hunt when a surgical opetatioin was to be pet forieett. Ile should call the :Mea t* of the House to this question as suou as the evidence was printed. Mr. 14013110 USE ssid there was no hope except the Government interposed, and that by removing him from so untenable" a prison as that of Ilehester, , but at all events let the House recollect that there ought not to be a 11111 l nent's delay—that while the petition was printing Mr. hunt was sulTerine.. Mr. tiCARLETT complained of the prison; enquiry had proved it not to be what had been represented. Mr. LOCK H ART said the law had been improperly acted upon, and the hem Alderman ought instantly to bring the subject before the House in a specific form. ' Dr. LUSII GTON deprecated the conduct of judges in signing general rules. lie hoped the magistrates would lay before the judges It series of new regulations. As In t lie jail, if it had been properly inspected, it was impossible those atrocities could have taken plaice that were proved to have been committed. Mr. Alderman HEN - GATE said, after what had been proved, the House ought to look at llchester jail with suspicion. Petition read and ordered to be primed. Dr. LUsH I NGTON presented IA similar pelion from in habitants of Ilehmter ; a n d Sir R. WILSON another petition from Eccles, praying the flume to address the King to commute Mr. Hunt's sentence.—Reail, and ordered to be printed. Sir J. NEWPORT presented a petition, to which he begged the serious attention of the house, from lay impro priaturs of Waterford, complaining of the present system oft thee. They felt assured, and he agreed in opinion with them, that the interests of the clergy,as well as those of the country, would he benetitted by a revision of the tythe system. It gave rise to the grossest abuses. In Tipperary there had been Al. demanded for tytlics by a Proctor, but on inquisy the Mal) Said that wily 111. was due. (Hear.) Now lie contended that a system, which would admit of such unjust demands and oppressions, must be bail. Mr. GOULBURN said, that government had the sub ject under consideration, with the view of aceing what amendment could he devised. Mr. HUME asked the noble marquis whether the tythes of England had engaged the attention of government, but received no answer. The petition was read, after which Lord ERRINGTON repeated Mr. linme's inquiry. Lord LONDONDERRY replied, that lie was not aware of government having any intention to introduce a measure on this subject. When there was %Hell intently'', Ile should be happy to give notice to the lionse. Petition ordered to be printed. Mr. ELLICE presented a petition from an individual named Trow, praying for more time, as Ie could not gel the ouinion of four trustees iegai ding the Five per Cents. scheme. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, lie saw no reason for departing from the plan lie had already announced. Particular cases of hardship would be sus ceptible oh special remedy. Mr. TIERS EY protested against this bill being consi dered like Mr. Pelhanes—it was in ito respect like it. — W heti was the report to be brought up? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, the report could be discussed on Thoirsday. Mr. GRENFELL asked, whether there was any rate of remuneration between the Government and the Bank for managing the reductions of the Five per Cents. 'Elie CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied, that no rate of remuneration had been agreed upon: there was to be a clause introduced into the bill for such purpose. Mr. P. GRENFELL said, the snloject was important, and ought to be closely watched by the house. The ma nagement of the public debt gave the Bank 270,0001. a year, anti would mutually cost that sum, except the house interfered. Had the wisduni of the yountry given them another Bank, this manrigentent would be at much less expellee. Sir R. WILSON asked, whether there was any truth in the rumour of au lutes option of peace between Russia and Tot key ? The Mat qtais of LONDONDERRY had no hesitation to answer, though the question was calculated to affect the 'make!, that there was not the least cause for such rumour. Sir R. WILSON said he had asked, because lie was deeply interested in the question. Mr. SCA ItLETI gave notice, that on the 2il of April be should again introduce his bill to ameold the poor laws, supposing the 4,000,0001. scheme of government to be abandoned,—(Hear.) Lord LONDONDERRY did not see any necessary Cosine etiau between such hams and the poor laws. Mr. scmeLorr said it might be seen, from the res pot is, that nothing could be lime itijoitious to the interests of the poor than lending the public money in such manner. The house then went into a committee on the Five per Cents. bill. Mr. GRENFELL said, he should move the rejection of the clause for renomerathig persons who usight be en ca..ted in carryitug ties bill into effect. Ile thought the iii ought tout to make any charge, being the richest coo tamale hotly in the would. The gallery was cleat rd for a division. The numbers were.—hoe the clause, D.—Against it, 39—Majority, Si'. After some Anther lossitiess had been disposed of, and after sonic questions relative to the estimates, the houses on the motion of lite Chancellor of the Exchequer, weal into a committee. The &limy estimates were referred to such c iiiiii Moire. Lord PA I.NI vit.syos detailed the estimates, and said, Hint Cuilsidciablv tednttions bari been made; that is the espFitee of the army their was a saving of upwards of one animal; that the dimitintion ill the minaret of Mill Was j and that this had been ettexted by reducing (soy I - - - - companies in each regiment. He concluded with mowing the grant of 68,0001. for the use of the army. Cot. DAVIES complained of the continued extrara. gance that characterised our military establishments i of the sparing diminutions, and particularly of the expellee of the staff. There might be tar more extensive savings if there were the disposition to reduce. lie maintained that many of the officers, one out of every two majors, the waggon train, &c. might be reduced. There might be a reduction of 5,000 men, even according to the present principle of keeping up the army ; there might, in fact, be a saving of 136,0001. He proposed such reductions in an amendment. Lord PALMERSTON replied, that there was no satis fying hon. gentlemen opposite. Last year a reduction of 10,000 men was required by them, now they were corn. plimented with a reduction of 12,000. Indeed, increase of appetite seemed to grow from what it led upon. Mr. HUME said he was no party to the request of a reduction of 10,000. He last year maintained that there might to be a reduction of 20,000 man. He contended that a reduction of 10,000 men night be made on the ber now proposed by the noble lord. Each thousand reduced would produce a saving of N 3,00 The amend ment proposed by his I . friend (Cul Davies) did not go far enough; lie should therefore propose,as an 8111elltla ment, that instead of 68,802, the number of men should be 55,102. Mr. BENNETT contended that the present state of the country made economy the first object, and therefore the reduction proposed by his hon. ft lend ougla to be adopted. After some observations from Lord Althorpe, Mr. Ga rrott, Sir C. Hardinge, and Sir R. Ferguson, the gallery was cleared for a division. For the amendment, SI For the original motion, 1911—Major ity, 1.15. The committee then again divided on Colonel Davies's motion for a reduction of 5,000 men. For the amen& meta, 54—Agaitist it, 181—Majority, 126. A sum of 2,2 i5i.2991. Ifis. 7d. was then voted for the pay of the forces. The house resumed, and the report was ordered to be received to-morrow. The other orders were disposed of, and the house ad journed at a quarter before one o'clock. Tue.mev, 11.tacil 2. Petitions were presented from Doncaster, and Peter. borough, complaining of agricultural distress. Mi. Ald. WOOD presented the report on the London bridge petitions. It said, that the standing orders had been complied with. The lion. member then moved for have to bring in a bill fur the removal of the water-works at London-bridge. Mr. H. SUMNER expressed his astonishment at this proceeding. When it might have been expected that ap plication would be made fur leave to build a new bridge, there was a request made fur permission to remove the water-works; iu tact that power was already possessed. Motion agreed to. Lord LONDONDERRY said, his right lion. friend (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) was utterly incapable of bringing forward his motion on the subject of Super annuation!'; he thereto' e postponed his motion till Thurs day. Lord LONDONDERRY requested, that the lion. mem ber for Aberdeen would postpone lois motion on the sob ject of the National Debt Office.—Put off accordingly. Mr. DENISON moved for leave to bring in a bill to amend the 57th Geo. 111. fur the suppression of riots and seditious assemblies. The object of the bill was to amend the law respecting the proceedings to recover damages from hundreds, for injsuies done by riotous proceedings. At Kingston eleven actions were brought, amounting to 691.; the colts were 1,1001.; —there were tone actions ti ied at Croydon, to recover 71. odd, the costs were up wards of 5001.—The damages in one being 12s. and the costs were 1121.—(Heat, hear.)—The remedy lie pro posed was, that the party aggrieved should give notice to the overseers after wards to the magistrates, who should assess the damages ; and such assessment to be confirmed or amended at the Quarter Sessions. He moved for leave to bring in a bill to amend such act..... Motion agreed to. Mr. KENNEDY moved for leave to introduce his bill again, to alter the mode of striking the panne' in criminal cases in Scotland. Sir M. W. RIDLEY withdrew his motion MI the sub• jest of the Lords of the Admiralty, which stood fo r Thursday, the tote of a former night ha vin g rendered i t unnecessary. Mr. COURTENAY moved for the revival of the com mittee to inquire into the state and operation of the law regarding prison discipline. 51r.W MIRE called the particular attention of the house to the local jurisdictions of magistrates in prisons, hoping that some regulation would be introduced to amend the law on such point.—Motion agreed to, and a committee appointed. Mr. PEEL gave notice, that on the I ith inst. he shotild more for a committee to inquire into the state of the pe- I.ce. The report of the committee of supply on the Army Estimates was presented. On the reading of the first resolution, granting the quantity of men, Mr. HUME re-urged the necessity of further reduction. He had proposed a further reduction that would save halt a million—a sum that had been treated as a petty paltry saving. He hoped the house would not deem it such. — There were upwards of 40011111 men in England and Ire land, and notwithstanding the state of Ireland, he thosight there were troops enough. He moved as an amendment that the number of men should be 58,111C0 instead of 615,040 men. Mr. WILMOT denied that be had called the saving paltry and petty, but lie had called us the house to reject the hon. anembei's proposition. Mr. HUME was glad that the lion. member disowned the words. lle still II ght the saving might be effected. Motion :weed to without a division, on the amendment being pressed. The other resolutions were agreed to. The house then went into a committee on the AMlllid Malt 'lax Act. Mr. LUSHINOTON said this duty expired Feb. 25th, 1822. Mr. MONCK asked about the allowances on malt in hand. Mr. LUSHINGTON said, the arrangements had been explaired last night—the allowances were f i rst resolution o be made on the malt in hand, not o n the beer. The fi th e second w as, that the duty do cease and determine; regarded allowances on stock in hand, the returns to be made y our eqal payents. There we re other regu- lations b to f cattild u the likem a dvantages to lielaud.—Agred to. Mr. LUSIIINGTON word a roulutiou for allowaucco