The National Register. — London, England, 1823-03-09 00:00:00

• . r Y ,mt trial glarlianient. HOUSE OF LORDS. MONDAY, )lARCU 3. Mr. Tomkins, from the Treasury, delivered papers relating to the Exchequer of Ireland. The Earl of COVENTRY (led to his seat by the Er ,1 of Shaftesbury). presented a petition from the merchants, bankers, traders. and others of the borough of 'Tewkesbury, against. the Insolvent Debtors' Act. The Earl of SH A F lESBURY presented a similar petbion from the banl - ;.trs, merchants, and traders of I.eicester. The same noble earl also presented a ?ethic.• front the mast ten; brothers. and sisters of the Royal Hospital of St. Catherine, Tower, praying fur a repeal of the Alarriage Act. The above petitions were read, and laid on the table. The E4rl of SHAFTESBURY moved that the Ilth. 11th, and 12th Reports of the Commissioners appointed to make inquiry into the emoluments of clerks and others in the Courts of Justice. Scotland, he printed.—Onlered. STATIONEKY 1114 IRELAND. —The Earl of DAIINLEY rose to mention the charge relating to the supply ef stationery in lrehmtl, which the noble earl named the ••• 1. oh job." Three years since the subject fell into his hands, and the result proved that inquiry had not been taken up in vain. It appeared by the documents on the table, that the Irish Government had been defrauded of a large sum, and the object of the n01..e earl was to ascertain the extent of fraud, as well as tetrilmtion. The letter written by Mr. Goulburn, under the date of the 11th of May, mated, Cat unless the individual complied with the tenns of a letter, bearing 'hate the 20th of April, measures would be Taken to enforce compliance. Loot Darnley hail understood from the noble earl (Liverpool). since lie Caine into the house, that the terms had been acquiesced M. He wished to know what tbi•se terms were, and the amount of loss accruing to the public. He should therefore move there be laid before the house copies of the agreement entered into between the Irish Government and Sir A. B. Kill, lice a supply of stationery up to July, Dag; also for an account of the quantity of stationery furnished to the Irish Government for the lust ten ymtrs. distinguishing the amount in eicb year. The noble earl then adverted to his Majesty's visit tolreland, when So A. B. King had the honour of Ilarenet con ferred on him. Having been thus honoured by his Sovereign, in the spirit of peace and conciliation, it was most remarkable that he should be Mond active in a party which had lately dis turbed general recoucitiation. The noble trail expressed a hope that the general state of Ireland would soon be brought under the consideration of that House. It was his intention, when time pritper time came, to enter more at large on the subject of the party to which he alluded. The motion was put and agreed to. Adjourned. TUESDAY, MANCH 4. Mr. Rrogden, and other Members from the Commons, brought up the Exchequer Hills' Bill, the Irish Chancellor of the Ex • chequer Bill, the Annual 'runes, and Transfer in Aids Bill, which were read the first time. The Earl of ROSEBERRY presented a petition from Louth. against the Insolvent Debtors' Act.—Laid on the table. On the motion of the Earl of SHAFTESBURY, the house ad journed. WEDNESDAY. MARCH 3. Baron BEXLEY (late Mr. Vansittaro was ir.troduced, and look his seat in the house with the usual form. Ills styporters were Lords Colchester and Maryborough. Lord KENYON presented a . petition from the archilenconry of Leicester aioinst that clause in the Marriage Act which re lates to licenses.—Read, and laid on the table. The Bill for building a bridge over the Severn, at the Haw Passer, was read the second time. The Irish Chancellor of the Exchequer Appointment Bill, the Transfer in Aids Bill, the Exchequer Bills Bill, the Annual I)uties' Bill, and the Lanarkslitie Bill, were read the ',algid time, and cominiv.e.l for to-morrow. Several witnesses were sworn at the bar, rind the house, on the minion of the Earl of Shaftesbury. adjourned. MANCH 6. Lord G. Somerset, and other Members from the Commons, brought up the Marriage Validity Bill. k 4 usal to.—Also the Scotch Creditors Dill, which was read the first time. AIa:MOM/A ALLATING TO iItELAND.EarI DARNLEY said, he did not know whether it was strictly regular to allude to tlfe other hottae of parliament, but as information had been fur— nished the members, he wished to ask the noble earl whether it was his intention to lay on the table those documents received Inan the Irish Government relating to measures in contemplation with regard to Ireland. The Earl of LIVERPOOL said, eritainly there could he no objection to withhold the information communicated to one house loon the other house. MESSAGE 75,0)1 HIS MAJESTY.TIIa Earl of LIVER POOL presented a Message from his Alitiesty. The Message was accoruingly banded to the Lord Chancellor, who read it to the hotc.t. It was in substance as follows: " G. IL—Nis Majesty being infinmed oh chitlins having taken as to the right of the Crown to dispose of copyliold and lease . ' bold grope ty, which his Alt.jesty was entitled to before his accession t t toe Crown, his Majesty recommends the house to take the subject into considerauon, and to make such provision as may semi nett. G. It." On the motion of the Earl of I.IVERPOOI.. the message was ordered to be taken into consideration to-morrow. Adjourned. FRIDAY, MARCII 7. The Royal Assent was given ity Commission to the West India Colonies Bill, the Marnnge Validity Bill, the Annual Ditties and Exchequer Bills Bill. The Commissioners were, the Loud Chancellor, the Earl of Shaftesbury. and Lord Colchester. The Lsturktiliire Roads Bull, the Chancellor of the Exchequer far lrebinirs Bid, and the 'faaritifer in Aids Bill, we.e read the toinl time, and 'tossed. The Marquis of LANSDOWN presented a Petition from Cramartie, praying for relict - tinder Agricultural Distress. The same noble marquis alw presented six Petitions I. cer choses of Protestant lbssemers, praying the 1101111 C to take taut consideration the religious 6ClUllie, tali:1111110d by the peti tionets or, the present forma of marriage. The noble marquis uhs:rsed, that it was the subject of complaint that Jewa and Q takers were relieved from tiwse teitnetions in the marriage aeleitiony to woad' Disaente s were Obliged to conform. The l',:titions were referred to the Conithi.tee appointed to consider the expediency of consohdrung the laws of marriag e. UM' Duxixs.—Nlarquess CAMI)EN present ed several Pe. tition2 from Hop Plancrom SUb,:X, praying to be relieved from 'hi• duties on hops.—The Petitions were read and laid on the table. L.nd C<f LTHORPE presented a Petition from Sotnertetshire, praying for a meanee to facilatat:: the merely of Small Debts.— Lai. • .1 the TUE Kt 1.4.14'S PEO PE Y. —The Nfeszmge from his Majesty, viel e entixt yesterday by the Earl of laverptd, waN read, tor the porfrov: ot being taco low *moderation pursuant to the Order ut 'toe h Ouse. The LORD CIiANCEI.I.OII said, in the absonce of a noble earl who gave 114IUCC to move ties day an Address to his Majtty, in ati,wer to his nowt gracious Message, lie should call upon the r I. , irdsliips to consoler the subject. The object of the Al basic sus to consider the propriety of enabling 1116 Alniewy to dilpose of certain b'r.etto'd, Copyhold. and Leasehold Pro per ). It would be in the r , collecttun ut the 'louse, that by the Joan and 411th ul the late a 'rower v.*, Atbvii to hi s Ah uony divrise it all Louis, eland, Copytuntl, and Leasehold, which had come to not 1,, thllll.l.U.> of the Crown. tin Le, Al.jasiy's aeee.,.•wu L 4) lilt Ltuwo, uuc:i proiwny became jos . , ~,.., . • ti ~: : ~ .. _- - - THE NATIONAL REGISTER ' come, and Parliament were now to consider the ptopriety of enabling his Majesty to dispose of it. The noble and learned lord expressed a hope that no objection would be entertained by their lordships to an Address, to return thanks to his Majesty for his most gracious Message, and to inborn] him that the House would consent to measures necessary to enable his Majesty to die. me of property which he possessed before his Accession to the Crown. _ _ _ Lord ELLENBOROUGIi observed. dudes the Address was a mutter of form, he should say but little on the subject. lie was not friendly to the enactment of a Bill which would enable his Majesty to dispose of property which came to his possession before his accession, to any person. In common cases, where the debts of an individual were paid, the person paying such debts had a lien on the property of the debtor. The Public might have a prior claim to the property in question. The noble lord considered the question one of importance, and when the measure which must follow the Address came before Parliament, his trust was it would not he overlooked. Tho Address was carried MOIL cum.—Adjourned to Monday. HOUSE OF COMMONS. MONDAY, MARCH 3. Sir C. NOEL presented a petition from the " Princes Olive," now confined in the ruler of Ore King's Bench Fabian, praying the interference and protection of that House. •' Her Royal llighness" represented the peculiar bardahips of her case ; of the failnree that had attended her various applications for justice ; of her inability to get due attention paid to her claims and " Itojal Birth ; and of the general calamity that had therefore personally resulted to her.—Head and ordered to be printed. Sir T. LETHBRIDGE postponed from Wednesday to Fri day his motion respecting the state of agriculture. Mr. CURTEIS presented • petition from some place in Sussex, against the Hop Tax. Mr. Alderman WOOD said he thought the Chancellor of the Exchequer would not be induced to attend to this petition. Ply some of the papers be had been erroneously made to say, that he wished the malt duty to he taken off, and lie beer duty continued : the contrary was the faot—lie wished the beer tax to be repealed. That would really aflbrd relief to the agricul turists, as well as to the poorer classes. It WAS the 311 a. beer duty that lie desired to be repealed It hail been rumoured (but the Chanealtor of the Exchequer contemplated the propo sition of a ss. or intermediate duty ; it would do any thing but Alford relief to the barley grower. Mr. LITTLETON said, that such intermediate duty would be useful, as would be the adoption of a portion of the bill for throwing open the trade. Mr? G. BENNET said, that it would be much better to re• move the beer duty altogether, and to impose any duty that might be deemed requisite on the malt. Why should the poor, who bought their beer ready brewed, be exposed to charges from which the rich, red those who brewed for themselves, were exempted' There was at present en inequality of tax ation, pressing heavily on the poor, which ought to be re moved. Mr. LITTLETON remarked, that the duty produced about 2,ooo,o9ol.—Petititioa ordered to he printed. The Scotch Creditors' Bill w. •. through a committee.—Re. port to-morrow. The Lords' Alarriage Act Amendment Bill was read a se. coed time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow. The 20,000,0001. Exchequer Bills Bill, the Transfer of Aide' Bill, &c. were read a 040 time and passed. The 000uuittees of supply of ways and means were pat poned till Wednesday. Mr. G. BENNEI' brought forward this subject, as a matter merely to afford him the opportunity of instituting some in quiry ; he wished to learn something respecting the present state of the Penitentiary, Milbank. There was a great deal of sickness in it ; out of SOO prisoners there were 129 on the sick list ; and there had been some coroner's inquests, and the ver dicts were of a remarkable nature. He should like to have a committee on the subject, to ascertain vihat success had at tended this Parliamentary prison, and to learn what would be a sufficient dietary. He concluded with moving for a copy of the coroner's inquest on Adams, &c. Mr. PEEL was glad that the subject was brought forward. ble was anxious that there there should be the fullest inquiry. The average number of sick were 40 oat of 800; now there were about 130, and the cause was what was generally termed sea scurvy." Inquity was already instituted by Dr*. Latham and Engel. Their report should be laid before the House. The dietary was altered iu July last, but the sickness did col appe , r till January. G. It ENNET was satisfied with the st ps that had hten adopted, but be should not be wholly satisfactory with the opioione of any two physicians, sad acuustouted to attend pri Mr. tIOLFORD was glad that inquiry was to be instituted. Motion withiltawn for the present. ORANGE Soctectrs.—Mr. PLUNKETT referred to a mo tion which stood fur to morrow, regarding secret ►ocieties in Ireland, it would he prejudicial to bring it forward now. As to the constitutional or legal character of those societies, his opinions were well known ; indeed lie believed there was very little difierence nt• opinion un any side of the House. Ile be lieved the motion hunt reference to some devolopement of the societies' principlcs iu recent slrairs, in dressing the statute, and the outrage at the theatre ; and as there was a motion dis • tinctly attacking his recent conduct, respecting which he was to defend himself on a future day--was it fair to involve him in a discussion which world occasion an investigation of his conduct before he was pot on his trial Mr. A BEKCHOMII g Y was ;Uri in --7 setl at the manner in which lie was asked to pompom his ignition. Ile had no disposition to d o any ti l i ng th a t wa s atirsir towards the right hots. gentle. man ; lie hail no desire to invoke the Consideration of recent invents ; he only wished to trace the origin of Orange bodges, end to show that those lodges formed a part of Ow system of the Goverument in Ireland. lie then desired to gain the opi nion of the House expresnive of such fact. It was quite JlB'- 111101 from the right lion. gentleman's cane. As many persons had remained in England on account of bin motion—(mar !)-- he could nit postpone it, except on some solid grounds.— (Hear, berm.) A petition was presented and read from West India mer chants, NC. pralng that the extension of the West India re siiictions might be lollowcd by an equslization of Eut and West India Augar Dustes.—Octlered to he printed. Mc. Al. W IIInIORE then gave notice, that on Wednesday. the 19th, he should move for a committee to laming'. c the whole of this question. . • SoxtNt. Nn.--The House having gone into a Committee on th..! National Debt Reduction Act, The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose to bring forward a sett,. or Resolutions, e‘planabiry of the future views of the Goverument, respectio4 the Sinking Funds, &c. Ile did out anticipate Ciat they would be objected to, bit in ver °auks' it was his duty to go into F011it! expl;maiiims. 1 lie plus for employing the surplus of the revenue towards tile Flynn:in of the debt, had evitt•tieuccd the highest Incise, end it was '•) commendable, Ithongh it might have esposed interruption, difficulty, or counteraction. Because die whole of any object might not he accomplishable, was that any reason for not at tempting in achieve any portion of it ? lle was persuaded that the people were prepared to make sacrifices, if the reasonable ness of (hens were shown, to resist unjust aggressions abroad, or in support the national honour.-- (neer, events as had taken place within the last 30 years were not likely to recur. They baffled the calculations of the wisest, and con founded the precautions of the prudent. The principle of the Sinking Fund was good. Since 1817 there had I een an actual reduction of debt. That could 1101 have been accuniplished without appropriating surplus revenue. There was ■ diminu tion of the funded debt of 19 millions and upwards ; of the unfunded debt four millions and upwards, altogether upwards of 24 millions, being an average reduction of 31, millions a year. His plan was to appropriate the surplus of .1,000,0001. esclusiiely to the porpoises • f the Sinking Fund. instead of per ling payment* to be made thereuut for objects oilier than those of the redemption of portions of the debt : and to permit the interet to remain and accumulate at compound interest. When such interest bail accumulated so as to meet one per cents of the interest of the debt, then it was to be applied so as to enable the further reduction of bites to a corresponding amount.—He concluded with moving the preliminaty reso lution. Mr. HUME decidedly opposed the plan he considered that theplln to be adopted would be to reduce tasatiou. Mr. HAKIM: and Mr. THOMAS WILSON supported the ”stem of a Sinkin. , Fund, u advanta geo u s t o th e country . The WHO MAYOR' hoped the House would pause before they consented to evertun a system which had been solensuly adopted and reputedly recognised by some of the greatest men on hook sides the House which this country ever produced. After a few words from Mr. RICARDO, the resolution way agreed to. On the resolution respecting annuities of half-pay, Mr. lIUME said he would take the sense of the conirnittee, and after some conversation, the committee divided : For the resolution 110—Against it 39—Majority for mi. Meters 71. The several other resolutions were after some conversation agreed to. The Heuse resumed, and the report was ordered to he received to-morrow. The other orders were disposed of, and the House adjourned at Eleven o'clock. TUESDAY, MARCH 4. Pooß LA WS.—Mr. NOLAN obtained leave to bring in a bill for the iimeinlinent of the Poor Laws. It was in principle and its main 'inflict: Lars similar to the hill introduced :tat session; and the reasons which then induced him to bring it forward. and which lie formerly expressed, now operated on him :o propose this measure. lle should postpone the second reading till after the recess. Cot. WOOD said, he had a series of resolutions hereafter to submit to the Hotter respecting the law of settlement. The • bill went to place the lower orders under greater coercion, to induce them not to apply for parochial relief—a proceeding that he could and support. De thought that the House ought not to he passing Acts to limit the advantages of the people, without making any enormity°. He viewed that dm of the people as high spirited, and net so easily to be driven, because, perhaps, they were the highest spirited people in .he world.— Leave given to introduce the hill. • CIVIL LIST.—AIIIDASSADORS.—IIr.LEONARD asked, whe ther there was to be any reduction of the Civil List Expen diture, particularly in that portion of it that regarded the al lowances !,r anoiassatlors Mr. CANNING was not aware of any intention to make such reductions ; he should be better prepared to give an answer on the subject in the course of the session. Mr. LEONARD added, that if no snob reductions were made, be should deem it his duty to call the attention of the House to the subject. On the presentation of the Report respecting the Irish - A ed Taxes, Air CURIVEN said, he should move, that it be an instruc tion to the c 'Dee to remove all the Assessed Taxes on it conages.—Report agreed to. • SCoTell DIsTILLERIEs.—Sir R. FERGUSON asked when the proposed alteration of the duties was likely to take place I it was of much importance to the distiller. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, certainly not before October. ASSESbUD TAXES PETITION.—Mr. 110BHOUSE presented a petition from many most respectable householders in St. Ann's, Westminster, praying for the repeal of the whole (lithe Assessed Tests, and against the proposed appropriation of the Sinking Fund. Ike petitioners state, that it was a breach of faith with the public debtor to require him to pay for more than the current expeuditure and the interest of the debt.— (Ilear.)---The new Sinkimms Fund Scheme was as much a de lusion as the plans that had preceded it. Ile should hereafter move the reduction of the whole of the House and Window Tax.---(Hear, :sear.) Mr. MAXWELL expressed the hope that the Cottage Tax might be reduced ; it was an odious and unpopular tax. Mr. HOILHOUSE asked whether the Sinking Fund Rill was to be pressed forward now? if lime were given, there would be petitions against it. If it passed, how could the House propose the further reduction of taxes? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER did not see any reason for delaying such bill. It could go to a committee, and there alterations might be proposed; if 5,000,0001, were deemed too much, 2,009,0001. anightle named , the resolution could be postponed till Thureuay.—Petition ordered to be printed. TYTIDS.--IRELAND.—Mr. HUME brought forward his pre mised motion. If the Ministers bad been desirous to bring forward any plan, they had had ample opportunity. There was much error as to what was meant by the church. They beard muds about church and state. Some considered the clergymen to constitute the church, hut St. Paul deemed the congregation, those who were assembled together, amid who were of the same opinion, to be the church. That construc tion he deemed to be correct ; but its messing was much per verted. The church, in fact, was the creation of the law. The church properly, at least three-fourths of it, were given fur the purpose of dmarity ; and Utile laws could not deal With such, how came it that the Protestammts now enjoyed what the Catholics load possessed t And if such property were like pri vate property, held in perpetuity. how was it that the Bishop of Cloglier had been deptived of his station and emoluments ? If the bishops and clergy did not perform the duties assigned to them, they might be deprived of their emoluments, for such things had been. They had what was culled the core of souls ;" but how could they take care of time souls of their docks, when they were absent at Bath, Chelteritmans, Rome, end all putts of the world ? sod were time House to golfer such abut t Ile saw nothing in the case which ought to prevent time House limn meddling with it. Time property had been bet apart to maintain the established religion, and it was the duty J I' i f ii