The National Register. — London, England, 1823-02-24 00:00:00

Pir" , "7""" 4 de;* INSOLVENT hit:Brons. copula. THVISDAT, Fez. N.—A public meeting of the mer clouts, bankers. and tradesmen of the City of Londoti, Ill( t he purpose of 'r taking into consideration the ope ration of the present Inso;eetit Act, and the propriety of petitioning Parliament for such a modification or repeal of the act, as shall he deemed advisable," took place at the Egyptian Hall, in the Manna' lluuse, this clay, at one o'clock, when the business of the day having been ripened by the reading ul the requisdial convening the Hireling. the Itiltit Hon. the Lord NI Jew' %V 33 called to the chair, %%Inch, lioveet er, he shindy afterwards re signed to Ald. Wood, to attend other mipottant duties of his high office. Alderman Bauwa then rose and observed. that the olject of the present act was to relieve insolvent debtors, and the Lantana' of such ham impri 1111111 l ent. Front be King's Bench and Fleet Prisons alone 3,78 u int oners hsd been discharged wittliii the 15 mouths pre cethug Dee, 1831, whose debts amounted to 3 170,0001. and the assets did tint average noire 'bait one hallpensty in the pound ; it was with this circumstance staring titans in the face that creditors are asked daily to sign compositions, and if they refuse, are bearded with a threat of taking the Itenefit of the act. Tue worthy alderman then detailed the nature of the improvemet.t, suggested, and read the petition, which we sal join : To the Honourable the Commons of the United Kingdom of Greet Britain and Ireland in Parliament assembled. The Istuidde Petition of the undersigned Merchants, Bankers, and Traders, of the City of London, Slieweth—That en Act of Parliament was passed in the first •rar of the reign of his present Majesty, iiiiituled An Act tor the Relief of Insolvent Debtors it. Englund, to continue in force until the fir►t day of Jone, 1825 ;" and that Reuther Act of Parliament was passed in the third year of the reign of his present Majesty, intituled, An Act to amend an Amt of the fret year of his present Msjeity for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors in England. That the limited duration of each Acts spews manifestly, that they were intended rather as an experiment to determine the practical operation of their provisions, than as being the result of experiments already made and valuable consequeuces. already ascertained. That your Petitioners humbly submit to your Honourable Howie. that the said Acts have been sufficiently tried, and that they have proved highly injurious to the country, Mar moth as Ilety have weakened that faith, and impaired that confidence, which are so essential to the commercial interests of Great itritain, have injured the fair trader, and have af forded facilities to the practices of the fraudulent and un principled. That, in a country so eminently commercial u England, it is almost impossible, amidst the competitiois occasioned by trails, to be at all dotes wholly guarded against the designs of Forums who contract debts without possessing the means, and frequently without the intention, 44 payment. That experience liu abundantly proved, that so far from the honest but unfortuoate debtor having occasion to dread the relentless persecution of his creditors, it more generally hap pens Mal imeolvents obtain their disaltarges without sufficient Investigation, on the part of their creditors„ of the causes ut. their inrolveemy. That while your Petitioners disclaim all desire of pursuing with severity those whose insolvency is occasioned by the ca lamitous-vicissitudes of life, and are solicitous that all such should be shielded by the proteetion of the-law, they most re spectfully submit to your bon. now, that it. inessential to the wail-being of the community, that effectual provision should be made for the counteraction and punishment of dis honesty and fraud, and that the esistiug laws have proved in• sufficient for that purpose. That it appears to your Petitioners, that any legislative enactments, by virtue of which insolvents may obtain a dis charge from their debts without the consent of any portion of their creditors, must be destructive of commercial prosperity, as thereby the honest creditot is made to bear the evil conse quences of fraudulent and improvident speculation, while the unprincipled debtor entirely escapes from the effects of his own dishonesty, under the protection of such enactments. Your Petitioners therefore humbly pray your honourable 'loose, that the said Acts may be repealed, or that your Peti tioners may have such other relief from the evils occasioned thereby, as your hoc. House shall in its wisdom see 6t. Aod your Petitioners shall ever pray, tge.. The Ire • vas carriol intai iiiii oti•ly. A resolution relocating Lord &thin-mill to present the petition to the House of Lords, and the Right Non. the Lord Mayor to the House of COIIIIIIIOIII,,WJS then agreed to; and Ald. Wood having expressed his determination to support the petition in his place in Parliament, thanks were rued to the chairman, and the meeting was ad journed. COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL. On Wednesday last, the Lord Mayor held a Court al Conn 11111 l Council, for the purpose of considering the float of the Bridle !louse Co 1111 l Mire, relative to Lon. Jon Bridge. After tile minutes of the lan Court had been read, Mr. FAvatt. stated, that the Petition to the House of Comma's* ' Mr Parliamentary Reform, had beets pre seine:: and read. Mr. OLDHAM then presented a report from a Special 14;oinuititee spooned to enquire jilt() Law of Election under the Act of Parliament of the liib Gen. I. which stated the Committee had proceeded to take the opinion of counsel in respect thereof; that they had received solute opinions, and were about taking a further opinion, when there had been legal decisions thereon lately given --which, in the opinion of theCin 1111 l utter, completely wiled tile qtysinni as to the te:111 householder, and consequently the right 01 voting, and tic habilay to serve °dices. Mr. It. JONES then called the attention of the Gout to the business iOf Which they hail been convened, and mowed, 1 hat the Court do agree with t h e Bridge House Committee in their report ; which, alter their stnitedis. cossion, and the alteration of the report, was agreed to, and tinceied to 1)2 presented to the House 111 (it 11111 l I:pits by the tiheralls, and attended by the Itianciainrancer, and the Committee instructed to watch the pruceetliino its she House, and report iixetcon Irons tuns to tilts: to the (burl. • . y =Mr N 1 '.%, LONDON, MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24. On Friday night the Right Hon. Frederick Ro binson, the new Cbanceilor of the Exchequer, brought forward hia Ways and Means in the House of Commons,. and although the reductions proposed are not to the extent they might be, they must be, and we, are convinced (if the House, constituted as it is, can do anything like• its duty to the public) they will be—yet it would be injustice to the new Minister not to admit, that in his exposition of the affairs of the nation there was a perspicuity, an ho nesty, a candour, and plainness, to which we have not. been accustomed, and which at once enabled every Member to comprehend it, and drew down approbation from all sides of the House—there was an absence of the studied stupidity and mystification which always shone so brilliantly in little VAN, and if the people are still to be robbed, we think they may now see how it is to be done.—lt is proposed to reduce the Window Tax and the House Tax— not to do either of them quite away, because that would decrease the expense of collecting, and, of course, curtail the influence of Government, which consists in patronage—from. this it naturally arises, that if each of these taxes be reduced 50 per cent., while the same collecting machinery is retained, the per ceutage of expense will be doubled ; or, in other words, if the collection of 1001. now costs 5 per cent., if that 1001. be reduced to 501., without a reduction of the receiving establishment, the per tentage on collection will be raised to 10 per cent.— this is one of the many ways in which we are made to support the very system that destroys the best parts of our boasted Constitution. In our last we alluded to the great neglect of at tendance on the part of Members of Parliament, and already has the absence of impartial men lost two important questions, one of which respecting the Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance, would have saved the country 15001. per annum, and the other would have placed the question of Reform in a state of motion. We have always thought that men who cannot, or will not attend their duty con stantly, ought not to have seats—it is not suffi cient that they walk down to the House when their own pleasure may bring them to town, they ought to make their attendance in the House of Commons an imperative duty, and we do hope to find some Patriot Member resolving to move calls of the House so often us to prevent questions of vital importance being lost, by the negligence of those who ought to be in their places, to support every question of re trenchment or reform. The arguments of Mr. Canning in support of Lord Berestiotl's appointment were unworthy of a school-boy—he says, either a Master-General or a Lieutenant-General of the Ordnance must be pre sent at a Board—how then, we a►k, Las the business been done for the last four months—the Duke of Wellington being at Verona, and the late Lieute nant being then dead ?—besides, Lord Beresford holds so important a situation in the army, that, in case of a war, he would be absent with the Master- " 4.11, 7 A. /- THE NATIONAL REGISTER . . COURSF. OF EXCHANGE, Fan. 91. Amsterdam, 12 6C. F. Seville, 35i—Gibraliar, 301 Ditto, atsight, 12 2 I Legliorn,46l—Genoa, 46 Rottertlani,l2 7 Alaltn,4s—Venire,27 i' , o Antwerp, 12 6 Naples,3o—Lisbon, all Hanliburgli, 37 10 Oporto, 52i—Ilishitt,50 Allow., i 7 11 I Rio Janeli o, -13 l'avi,,S ilityesiglit, 25.65 l'alei inn, 110 Ditto, 25 85 Dublin, 9i per cent. Bourtleatiz, 45 65 Cot 1 , , 91 per eetis. FrniikftniontlieNlzine,lsB Foreign goldiubilre,3l. 17s. Peterbliorgli, 9 3 U. titl. per oz. Vienna, Er. Flo. 10 30 New 1)00111J011 51 ,3 1 . 1111 .6d• Trieste, Et. Flo. 10 30 New Dollnrs, 4s, 00. Alititri.l,37*—Cadiz, 344 Silver lit liars,stainuiarl,4s. Bilboa.374—liarceloun,6.4 113 d. 'E OF STOCKS. (Minium 0. Imp. 3 per Cent. 73} India Bonds 32 luiiiit Stuck 237 Exchequer Itilk 11s. prem. Cous. tor Ac. 733 Lottery 7 ielset. £z.9 19s. PRL., Bank Stork 234 S per Cent. Red. 141 3 per Cent.Contors 731 3! per Cant. b 7 4 per Cent. !ri New Foiirs, L.4b11.4 . Ann. 19;- "":.,..5.:4tt : while both were receiving their salaries—but really td re fute Mr. Canning's arguments is a of time—the fact, as we have already said, is, that Lord Beres ford's family possess a great deal of the corrupt influence which is necessary to curry on a bad Go-. imminent, and a bad Government must submit to any terms, however hard, however infamous, to sup port itself—this is the easiest and plainest solution of the late appointment of Lieutenant-General of • the Ordnance. TH E NATIONAL REGISTER. THE FUNDS, SATURDAY. Foust o'CLocc. Yesterday the aspect of the market was pacific, of which the Hebrew Bulls taking advantage, sold out largely, but not to an extent sufficient to clear oft their accounts. We have seven expresses in from Paris, the con tents of which transpiring before the market opened, Consols, which were yesterday at 741, began to-day at 74, and gradually declined to 73 4 1. They have since revived, and now stand 7311, the market heavy arJ unusually gloomy, with a general im pression that, notwithstanding the sanguine hope so long entertained of accommodation between France and Spain, there is now no other prospect than that of war. French Rentes, latest price, 78f. 15c. FORElON.—Spanish were done yesterday at J 5, • but bargains have been muds to-day at 331—they are now 33k. Script, 324. In Columbian, what little has been done may be quoted at 48; but this, as well as other Foreign, is nearly stagnant. According to an Account printed by order of the House of Commons, of the salaries, allowances, and other emoluments of the Receivers General of Taxes, the aggregate amount drolleries is 30,0001. per annum, and the allowances 1,4571. 15s. On Friday last Chief Justice Dallas tried all the causes appointed for the Sittings after Term, at Westminster, in the Court of Common Pleas. . _ His Majesty's steam-packet the Dasher, arrived at Dover on Sunday afternoon, from Calais, hav ing on boned his Excellency the Duke de San Lo renza, late Ambassador from Spain at the Court of Paris. As it was known for upwards of an hour before, from the flags hoisted on board the packet, that his Excellency was on board, great crowds had thronged the Piers to witness his disembarkation. On entering the harbour, the illustrious Duke was received with three tines three cheers, which were _ repeated when he landed front the packet. He ar rived in town on Monday evening, between five and six o'clock, from Paris. He came along the Lon don-road, fidlowed by a large concourse of people buzzaing, while others loudly cheered him as he passed. As he approached Westminsteisbridge the populace disengaged the horses from his carriage, and drew it to his residence, where he was received with acclamations. The Duke seemed much pleased, and gratified with his reception, as it manifested. the abhorrence which the people entertain against the politics of the Holy Alliance, and against the meditated, attack of the French on the Constitution and Liberties of Spain. We have received New York papers to the 24th ult.—They state that the provincial Parliament of Lower Canada assembled at Quebec on the 10th, when the session was opened by a speech from His Excellency the Governor-General, the Earl of Dalhousie. The principal subjects to which the attention of the Parliament is called are, the pro. jected union of the Provinces, and the finances of the Government. "No bill," says the Governor, " of appropriation having passed. the last session to themeet the expenccs of civil government, you must be aware of the difficulties and embarrass ments thereby thrown upon me. I have endeavour ed as much as I could to avert the great inconve niences to the public, which 1 stated in my message to you on the 6th of February last, by paying up the usual established expenses tbr the half year then current; but I have not felt mpsclf justified in do ing so beyond that period, and there consequently remains a very considerable arrear due to several of the public servants." Again, His Excellency says, " I um convinced that every member of this legis. lature must regret that the progress of the public interests for some years past has been so materially interrupted. I will not therefore on this occasion dwell upon past events; the remedy lies in your hands, and to you I leave it, with my most earnest recommendation, that you will seriously consider the incalculable injuries which have been, and must continue to be, accumulated nu the province, tv rile the executive branch of the constitution remains disabled from exercising its just and legitimate and most useful powers." • The Lord Bishop of Meath, Dr. Thomas Lewis O'Beirne, died on Sunday, the 16th instant, at his See House, Ardbrawan, Navan. His Lordship was, in his 83d year. --„