The National Register. — London, England, 1816-02-18 00:00:00

-I IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT: HOUSE OP LORI)S. MoaDAV, FEB ? It LOtil) KiNN Lord Housun said, that before the House plocerefed to business leo had a question to pot t:e the Noble Lord, which the usage of the House allowed him to put ; mad &MO to in the a statement of what had lierallen .t Notele Fsieaul of his. who was a peer of the sale'', Alibiing,' he had not the honour of i.e egg $ member of that tlou.e. It was well known, that a N-nte Fl ivied ot it a hn:t been se at away ir.e.l neig:ebour . mg country. Su a manner %Inch tile Noble Lord woutu have be, u ui Vet . *Die to ata:e, had he been a inember of that Hulse. For his owu part, 1001 e now for the purpose of a.hin the Noille • Lord opposde if as he knew there hall) any mnemonic...thou had taken pace eietween the two Government , on this Nula . p et; and whether the Noble Lord had any objection to the 'nucleic tient of such corn:mime:thou ? The Earl of LIVERPOOL said, he considered it as a dear else that every government inielit maid any perann out of the ' country who was not a natural born sooject of that country. l'his the government of nuy cumntry et.g:it do without itssi•.fn leg any teawu fo. - it, provided it foorol it. necessary to du so. He tilt this the more strongly, ;I:• we had in tour statute book a law %lieu enabled the gov lament, on its own ree, 1111 l sibility, W send aliens out of the country. And he had no difficulty iii stating that the opinion of this 6.,veruttlent would be regulated by what would be its own eoriluet in a similar Clot ;an. lie would any, that if a subset of France. however high his rank may be, were sent out of this country. the Government would not think fit to account to the French Allem...iodise at all for it. In this view, the present case was one to which the Execut.ve Govern ment could have no adequate giouetts to interest itself; 'our could Parliament, he thought, cal mi thou to proceed in such a case. He therefure tilt himself callod on, by every prin ciple, to refuse the produettoa of any communications which might have taken place on this subject. As to the Noble Lurd who was the subject of them, he had no charge of any kind to make against him. Lord HOLLAND said, he was I.appy to hear th it no impu tatioe was attempted to be cast on the character or honour of the Noble Lord abutted to. Fur bil own part, he considered this act of the French Government as the act of the British Govereinent, es things wet e 110 W Coll , tilllleti. It was 110 W 1011.1g0 to his p:lfiloSn to enter into a discussion of the Alien Act ; uut he could out help venial k :lig, that it was the grew est innovation on our Constitution that haul been iutroduced withiu the memory of man. Here the conversation closed. Lord HOLLAND said, that before the House adjourned he haul a question to put to the Noble Earl opposite :—After con sidering the last treaties which had been laid before the House. and which spewed the present situation of Europe; be found that no mention was made of any Treaty except that of fell, consequently the Treaty of Utrecht is as not noticed. On this account he conceived that the two Bourbon families in France and Spain were under the control of the Tecate of Utrecht no longer; so that ut no very (listing period Ferdinand might succeed to the throne of France, and both France and Splint would then be subject to one monarch ; a circumstance to pre. scut which so much of the blood tool treasure of this country had been lavished. The Earl of LlvaßroOL said, there were no other treaties in existence besides those before the House. Lord HOLLAND said, be was them to understand, that there was nu engagement to present the union of France and Spain under one sovereign, if the present royal family of Frarice should fail of male issue.—Adjourned. TuESDAv, Fan. 13. The Bishop of Hereford took the oaths and his seat, on his tranalation from the See of °booster —Ad i ourued. WZONESDAV, Faa 14. The Bishop of St. Asapli took the oaths and his seat, on his translation from the See of Hereford. PEACE ESTABLISHMENT. Lord GRENVILLS said, he had precedents for such a motion as be was about to make, and thr the very reasons he was ac tuated by. The first was in 1742, the next iu 1736. In the latter instance, the House was called on by the Crown to co operate in bringing home the blessings of peace to this coun try. It was then agreed to wailing debate, that an Account of the Peace Military Expenditure should be laid before the House. It was on these grounds that be ceded for the pro duction of the Estimates of the Military Expenditure for the current year. It was necessary to consider, when they cosi . gravitated the Prince Regent on the restoration of peace, 'shr iller the peace was likely to be permanent. But abuse all it was necessary for them to take their share in the reductim. Of the enormous expense we bud endured for ti years; tor upon this depended, whether we should—tatter at years or war to maitgain the laws and constitution of this country ) soddenly abandon that constitteiun; lose our lank in Europe; and become, at humble distance, the emit tars of the military nationsof Europe; and from being great and free,alluvr ourselve to become emlaved and degraded. He dad suspect, is um the . conduct of Ministers last year, that suet would he the coti,e quence. Many treated his fears as visioaa.y ; bat even then, when a Peace Establishment of 19 millions was to be kept up, it would have been impossible for him to behave, that it would be proposed to keep bp no army of 130,000 men; and (still mum to itiereast his horror and dismay) that 50,00 i) of them nem to be kept tip in Great Britain. IsU he heard these things asserted in Partianicut, Ile knew not how to believe Weill. Bit: if suet' a scheme was to be proposed, it would destroy in his nut! the very hole offreedom tor this country; and lion ev. r much he might mesh from year to year to take less share in their debates, yet wh,le be had a voce, lie would lift It up against so peruiC.oDs a s)stent. At some future pei ioil be seoaluttcome down prepared for the disc ussion ; such would then chew that Zilluisters ouelit now to make some r.tductious eien below the Peace I stailishinent of 1783. At that per.od it was the atiximis study uf the :Ministry, by every woes In its power, to reduce, our eviAli.ihment es much as Possible. At that period the great mall then at the head of the Ministry did not think lie had d.seliargt d hi , tints sigh: iently by the ceinitty in reducing the establishment for the army to 10100,0001. and the navy 2.03u,0a1N. which he th , ight should have been still lower. ii was the to to resoilect so long; het at that period hr lived in the closest niiioll of thoughts and coinitels ut Mr. Pitt: but lie firmly belies ed that he felt no consolation equal to that of having (by that reduced establishment) enabled the country to meet those drealltin 'Amine and convulsions of the French He • volution. .He tllen moved an Address to the Prince Regent that he would he pleas( of to .or der the Army Estimates tOr Clue y 0,4 lblo to be laid le fore the House. The Earl of Li% eireurfe was pet ffEtly willing to admit 1.1.- propriety of laying the documents asked for befure the Home. e nes prepared for himself and his colleagues to argue this lii.LACt point by point; and would be content to rest the isms( ten mi. necessity or urgency et seeping up th proposed Peace illishineig for the security of the country. I n the first 'lace Ott proper to look at what was uecessary fur the sup- TIIE NATION AL REGISTER. port of the army twn, compare , : win' what it lids to 1792. ha f-pay and other increased :Moscone, sto the :army (some of which he had At first opposed, trail still thought w•lravittnint), were greater than the whole pay of the army in 1794 Since laet period he had lised in intiimiey aids Nil.. Pitt; and he ao•dd say, that that great man expressed hi. regret, that we 1 1 ,d elec t ed into the war of 1792, in some dev;ree impreistred, Li consequence of the small peace establis mei:t we had pt e viouslv kept up. The army t.. be kept up in France was to lie 30,091) men, and th .t in India '20.08..: bat these lie deducted from tlio• wholearmy, a hich left 99,0i1:1 men for Great liritaiu and the Colonies. He had no objection to the production of the papers moved for, and would he ready, at a future day, to chit r tutu a complete diseumion of them. The lariptis of Lssoinow sr said, the hope of the country h a d now hero deceived, that after the dreadful pH. Atom: the peop.e had suffered storing this war, the !race that tAlowed it would bring them relief. The Peace Establishuistit this year was greater by tour or five millions than It aas last year. Was Itimnaparte a finmidablc in St. lie:ena than lie was iu the Idle of Elsa; where, by the bye, tic 31inisters told them thy had last year placed Mat in perfect security? The Noble Lail (Liverpool) was now calling on the House to make the War Establishment a permanent one in the time of pear.. It was too ninth to tell the 'ample of this country, who had shed their blood and spout flair trea , ure—who ha d by their valuer and their zeal destroyed the French fleet—re Meet, their army to 10 or 19 regiments—it was too much to tell the 'wood: of this country that thi re should be uo reduction of our expend:tore ; no relief to than from the hardens under which they had groaned for 95 years. He trusted the House mould endeavour to bring back that relation between the military avid civil esta hlisl ails of this country which presailed before the war, and which could alone secure to us the blessing, of a free constitution. --------------- Lord KINC Coiltendvd, that this %Vat On!s an attempt to try the tempur of the country, how fir it would stair a Will uta hdishnu•ut to be kept up hi ii tin.e of peace. 'flue motion %4 as Own agreed to rem. dbl. ToLnito‘y, Ft it. 15. _ The Naval Courts Martial and the 6:ass Ditties Rini we►e brought iip from the Cumulous. by 11r. Ititoan•.n and others, and read a first tinte.---Adjourited till to.nioi rine, (Friday), When the House sat; but there being lei particular hubiacts before it, the House adjourned to ;Monday. HOUSE OF COMMONS, Mosnnv, FEB : 12.. Lord O. Buie:Vann informed the lion.e, he ha 4 waited on the Prince Regent with the Addre:s of the 10th inst. respect ing the erection of a Naval Monument, and that his Royal Highue:s had signified be would give imediate orders fur car rying the vote into effect. Sit. F. Futon gave notice, that be should, on the 11 th of March, move for leave to brine in a Bill for the better protec tion of Landlords against Frauds e 'Bed open them by Te nants. lie would also t sky this opportunity of asking an Hon. Member (Mr, Western) it, in his notice for a motion to appoint a Committee to enquire into the state of the Agriculture of the Country, it was in his contemplation to include Ireland. STA I E OF THE FINANCES. The House then re , olved into a Committee of Supply. Mr.N'aSiSITTAIIT said, if, on the present occasion, lie merely had to advert to the Resolution which he was about to submit to the Cumniittee, it would not have been necessary to detain them by any long statement. All that lir had now to submit to the Committee would be, a Resolution for a sum of 12,501,0001. for paying off that sun isined in November, 1811, at present unprovicled for; and 4,300,0001. other Exchequer Bids now caning due ; and, filially, for a vote for the repayment of such as were outstanding of the grant of 1815, according to the usual mode of proceeding; but he understood some Gentle men hail, during his absence on a former evening, expressed an expectation that he should on this occasion submit to the House, and to the country, something in the shape of a gene ra' outline of the nature and amount of the Supplies which would be required far the present year. Although this was not the usual course, he should nut consider it as either un ma rt asonahle or an inconvenient one ; and would now, therefoir, proceed to give a general outline of what our expenditure was likely to be fine the coining year, and what our tinanc•es to meet that expenditure. Gentlemen would be await, that it could only be a general statement, and one liable, ill some de ec, to rror ; but lie would endeavour so to state it now, that there should be nu increase her cutler. We were now, he trusted, arrived at the end of this long and eventful contc•st a contest which We had maintain( d fur the Menet of the liberties of Europe ; and, he trusted, we had so conducted our elves through it, that our naval and military glory was established with all the world ; and it now only remained for its to exert a little of that firmness and constancy so often recommended in that House, to meet the difficulties we had at present to en• counter. On the present occasion, it would first be necessary to take a short review of the financial state of the country at the con ttttt 'icemen' of the present year, to state our winds, the ways and means we had to meet them, and the expenditure mutt receipts of the lust year. The documents on the last sub ject would be speedily laid before the House. The first head of Finance which he would mention was the Clinton's. These, for the year eliding the hilt of January, ltilS, amounted to 11,0.5 1 . 1 ,0001. ; the produce for the year ending January 5, 11116, was only 10,182,0001.; but it mint be recollected, that in the roci tilt of Dill the war tax un toandee, amounting to 700,0001. was inn luded s this was repented, and, therefore, if that SUM was deducted front the amount of Customs fur 1811, it wood lie found, that even that head of Revenue had increased in the last year. The next head of Rureipts which he would advert to was the Excise; this branch of Revenue in 1814 produced 25,145,0001.1 in the last year it produced 26,56r!,0001. exceed ing the former year by 1,400,0001.; yet no new duiy had been unposed, except all additional duty on licenses; which, how. ever, had produced no more than 300,0001. of the increase. flie next 'minx of Revenue was the Stamp Duty : which in fall produced 3,500,0001.; and in 1813, 6,965,1:001. A con miler:4lde i,u•re'ase had been made in the Duties on Stamps of different desetiptions ; but he could not say, that the increased duty was occasioned by this circumstance. l lie Ploperty ax, in 1514, produced 14 millions ; iu the last y v ar, its produce exceeded 15 millions. The next vain head of revenue was the Assessed Taxes, which, iu 1014, produced ,6,111,0001.; and, in the last year, 6,620,0001. The Right ilotiourable Gratlemau than proceeded to enumerate the revenues of the Post-utliee, the Lund-tax, &c. arid compat tit he receipts of last year with those of the precediug y ear ; and ' observed, that there was an iiierraie upon each item ; and on looking to the total amount for each year, it would be found that the total mount of income in 1814 was 65,130,0001.; and in the last year it was 66,413,0u61. being an increase of wane thing nose than a million, notwithstanding the difficulties an der sib eh the counti y had laboured during the last year. It would be ex; edit d that lie should now give some account of the applicatiou of Supplies so liberaley raided, so well boned to ineet the daggers we kill to apprehend at the tune FEB. 1K- they ei re given. Ily the ii alts attic everglorione battle of Waterloo, teat ever, the twee. for them was in a great de gree esavessetled. On the 11th tifJ tine Islet, the Holl , l* voted a ereat part of there Supplies, iind there were at that time some Gentlemen on the other side of the I lotiee, who prophesied that, us great as they were, they wroth! hill short of the wants of those v lie applied for them. Those Gentlemen also predicted, tbat any attempt upon the French fortresses would end only in proy lug the absurdity of the attempt. On the very next day, however, Ow atteniai was made, the valet. of the prediction was sheen, fur the attempt frilly succeeded, and thr cannon did not eerie to roan till the power of France ices overthrown in the field of ataiteiloo.—( How, hear.) — And he had now the sit. tistaction of stating, that so for from the slims them granted by Parliament not has itig been sufficient, 20 tailbone. a part of them had ireen applied to the reduction of the mit . ..tided debt of the ram wry, and a feather et to of 21 millions to the payine, off oatatrinding Eye:Napier Hilt..—(tlear,hcar.)—in the bieginniee of the year 1015, the Hecht:liner Relit outstanding armainteil to 08.54'. 1 ,0tat. ; now they were 17,000,0001. From a view of the res enur e he would wish the Honse now to look to the trade of the country. The total of r.% ports for the three quarters of a year ending on the !Orli of Oct. Il 14, was 31,167,0001. ; fer the three quarters ending Oct. 10, tart, they aniounted to .12,121,01101. Thin Cotton Exports in lala were 13,169,9004.; iii tee last y; ar City were 113,376,1M:11. The Linen Exports in Itilt welts 1,1813,0001.; in the last year they were 1,334,00111. The Wnolli in Int 1 were 6,131 Judi. ; in the last year they were 8,339,000 i. 'file great and leading dif f iculty which we had to encomiter at present was the distressed state of the agri cultural interests of the country . . the depreciation of veiny of all agriroltnral productions, wiocln d a ring the war had, from Various eiretimatancee, risen so notch beyond their dew priva tion : th's unnatural rise had its origin in the (a wits of the yews ITtla and HMI; fair supplies from the Con:Mate, lit that now, deomuled on the caprice of an Metier:ate enemy, and a great price wee afterwards given to our own gene eta, to etwouravis the growth of grain at Mime, and rend( r us, as tar as in.:— ',twilit of tie Continent fir a supply ; the hieh mice which all agricultural produce fetched in the market fawn that time, certainly encouraged the growth of corn at home, lint on the Continent becoming open to its, it was discos et eit that we could totality ourselves cheaper, and the consequence was that corn fell at 110111 e. v oiler ileac cirelliti stance*, adopted th, illeannUre Of !Ana Session, butt that measure coming immediately alter a plentiful harvest, rind it large sup ply from the Continent, came leo bite, and the prices continued to Lill. Besides the large sue• lies of corn sent into the Mil - ket. it must be recollected, mit Government din ine the war had betel in the habit of taking a large quantity of done for biscuits, a nnomiling inuatially to 200 ; 000 ne.ll'lon ; the Con tttt i t sary General was also in the habit of unitising large contracts; and whew - % er Government went into the market, it had the elfect of raising the priee of the cammoility, because it was know a that its liver ssities wet:( pressing, and the commodity must he had at any price ; this was ; 110 doubt, another rause of the hill in price. Hail Parliament interfered at an earlier period, and adopted the IIIenISHIC of last Scission, it might have had suave etteet in art lath; the evil: sorb a measure was proposer) in the recce dine Session ; but the country was not then prepared for it, and it was abandoned to the following Scesiem ; awl iii the mean time the blow to agriculture was struck. .1 van bay of remedies had been proposed; at present he should oak ert to but two or three of them. Hon. Member had suggested, ae a remedy fee the evil, a suspension of the Usury Lees. Could he (Mr. V.) consider the evil as likely to be lasting. he would not dismiss this reememendation without a most mature considi ration : but he trusted the evil would not be of that description. Fur himself, he considered there were two modes to be adopted; first, a diminution of taxation—theur, Afar ;,-- und secondly, the support of public credit. The first might appear, and certainly was, desirous ; but he did nut consider it as the m o st politic. He would put a case to the I louse. Sup pose, for Mamm. every prison in tit eat Britain, num, women, and children, could, by any magical des ice, find at their rising tomorrow morning each ofthem a guinea in their pockets.—(.4 genera! iangli. ) '1 lrie woold bring it capital of near 15 millions into Great Britain : vet no person would be able to pay a Ilia hill, or buy as heel of earn with it, any mere than he could at present. Unless it could be collected together into a capital, it would be of no rebel* to the country. It', instead of a ;dilute guinea in the pocket of each individual, the 15 millions could be paid into the country banks, the distress of the country won he was convinced, disappear almost instantaneously. E cry man who stood in want of temporary uesistanee. and had security to otter, would get it, and get it ?rum the usual clime net. Now it would not be convenient to Parliament to give assistance to every individual in tine proportion in which he might emit it, or would it perhaps be prudent to lead la mil lions to rational bankers; yet, what Patimment could not du positively it :night do negatively ; and in hie opinion. the only way to alleviate the distress of the reliantly at large, would I;., to uphold public credit. raise 15 millions by taxation, would be to take a guinea from each individual; but this he did not believe would have any elect on public credit ; thenieli to take that sum by way of loan for the public service from ti.e money market, would have that effect. n4llll tend e ery materially to aggravate the distresses of the country last year 54 were added to the public debt ; if this year we should add nothing, but on the contrary pay MI 17 millions of old debt, much woald be dune, and the country bunks would then obtain assistance from the nuiney-market through the usual channels. He had 011 a fin ma r night stated his intention to propose the rednetiou of the Property-tax to five per cent.: this would take 01l seven millions of taxation, above four millions of which would belong to the agricultural interest. lie also 1101A4 llt be able to diminish agrtealtural taxi a to the amount of anothet million, making altogether a diminution of five iiiiiliotts. it would he for the futon. consideration of the Howe to say on what cuticles of taxation this reduction could best tie made. His regent opinion, however, wln lie would Atate, was, that it email be best made by taking; oil part of the duty set forte in schedule It, namely, the Tenant's Tax, and the duty of fann ing Mires altogether. 'Elie Hight Hon. Gentleman ngaiu oh served, that lie trusted be should be able to raise the mipplicv without having recourse to any luau for the present year; three loans had amounted to alle millions, of which Si had been taken in the last y ear. If we this y ear refruim d bout taking any loan, and instead of doing so throw 14 iuillinns into the money mark et, a great deal Would be done towards relic.' big the distress of the country, and he trusted weiltd, in a fill' months, accomplish that object altogether.—(l/car, heur.;— With respect to the expenditure of the present )uar, au Heo. Friend of his would, in the of the evening, propose a resolution fur the ittinibi:r of seamen and wan Met for the pre sent a car. In what was now to he imbinitti ii to the house, I,e den trot intend to say such was to be the eceee csiahlkloment; pie contrary - , he was in hopes consideree,e teductietns inkla see be made, even in the present y ear,setal in future )eara Mut!' gi eater, The Home would not think it catraorilitieny tort every thing could not be done in the hi St year after the Olic.G -Itoll Of this momentous contest i when, it they looked back :et