The National Register. — London, England, 1816-05-05 00:00:00

~. ~.. f. ." . 1 :14 4 1 : : ~• . . ..,. Mr. W EST EkN thought that the Committee hail not Mien the luiliject that extended investigation w hick it deserved. • Utley , li .il not examined one wool-grower—hut they had received the I videnci- of wool-staplers, and others, who were interested lii permitting the laws to remain us they were at present. Mr. linotentsi asked, what did the Report disclose? A fart which no person had ever denied ; namely, that the agri cultural distress was not occasioned by the low p r ivy, 0 1' %%00 1, But, who had ever said it was so occasioned ? %Vim hail es er dreamt of such an assertion ? On the contrary, those who con sidered the agricultural qiiestion had uniformly ittreed in stat ing, that were it not for the high prier which wool brought during the last ten years, the agricultural dist reo-es would has e been ten times greater than they were. But then there was another consideretion—Wasthis high price likely to continue? Orders for clothing 100 or 150.000 men were now executing in the Yorkshire market, and certainly influenced the. pike When those orders were finished, could any person suppose that the high price, by which whole districts had been literally kept alive, wider the pressure of geneial agricultural distress, would continue so favourable to those counties as they hail pre viously been ? Or were they not rather to believe, that, by and by, the price of that article would fall, in proportion as every other species of produce was reduced in %alms? Important as this branch of the subject was, they had not investigated it at all. They had not, in the course of their impartial consider ation of this subject, examined a single wool-grower—the whole evidence was that of wool-staplers and woollen manufacturers. — This was acting in a manner wholly ex-part , !. His reason fur stating his sentiments at the present moment was, because, from the manner in which the Report was drawn up, he felt a strong disposition to prevent its being laid on the table: in (seder, if the forms of the House would permit, to have it re fereed back to the Committee,to euablc them to discharge inure filly the duty that had been confided to them. Mr. CALCRAFT considered the present discussion irregular, because the merits of the Report sere not vet before the House. His Learned Friend (Mr. Broagliam) had held ex traordinary language, as to the conduct of the Committee, and had laid down extraordinary rules for the guidance of Com mittees in general.—He said, a Committee ought to examine, I no matter whether such an examination appeared to be neces sary or not, every part of every subject referred to them. He, on the contrary, would maintain, that there was a discretion given to every Committee, to investigate a subject as tar as, in their own judgments, they might deem necessarry, and they were not bound to proceed an inch further. lie was con vinced, when the. House saw the Report, and the evidence on which it was founded, which his Learned Friend treated as if it were. no evidence, they would be of opinion, that the Com mittee had encouraged It just and fair investigation of the sub ject, and had gone as far as the necessity of the case scemud.to require. Before he, went into that Committee, he felt strongly against the agitation of the question at all ; and what was dis closed, in the course of the inquiry, rendered his opinion, that this was the worst moment that could possibly be selected for disturbing the system by which tne woollen trade was regu- , hated, still more decided. Lord Mitroo concurred in a great part of what had fallen from the Hon. Gentleman who had las: spoken. Mr. BROoKE coincided in the opinion of the Committee. No necessity existed fur altering the laws relating to the wool len trade. Mr. THOMPSON applauded the conduct of the Committee in making a speedy report, which would tend to allay the agita-. lion created throughout the country, by the consideration of the question. Tbefeltassciatiot of the EXcHSQUER considered the present discussion as extremely . premature. It was an extraordinary course of proceeding to debate on the contents of a Report, of -which, not having been . received, the House could _know nothing. Sir JAMES GRAHAM (Wended the course adopted. by the Committee. On the first day of their meeting, it was dis tinctly stated, that the wool-growers should come forward to shew she necessity of an alteration in the law, but: ot oue of them appeared. It was then suggested -by Gentlemen who sow found -fault with the proceedings cf the Committee, that the wool-staplers would be the best evidence. They were accordingly called in and examined ; and nothing was yet offered, in contravention of their evidence. It was, therefore, an attempt te impose on the House, to ambit, that no evidence was before the Committee. Sir J. riVWPoRT said, that no evidence, on the part of the -agriculturalists, NA ?Le examined. Lori SIYNI.EY said, the Committeewas in existence before Easter; and, conseqnently, it was in the power of the agricul turaliste to adduce any evidence they might think propel-. It was not a question with respect merely to agriculture, but one of general policy—and the Committee felt it to be their duty to enquireliew far, by an alteration in the woollen laws, the country cenid be benefited. They found, so far from the growers of wool suffering any distress under the presentsystem, that they-.ere all perfectly satisfied with their price., which -were higher uow than they had been for many years. No case laving bean made out, to shew that the agrienlturalistv had a right to complain of Me present prices of wool, the Committee thought it was most prudent not to meddle with the existing Laws, and to close their proceedings as soon as possible : lest by an injudicious interfezenen they might seriously injure the -woollen trade. Mr. Finuastv was of opinion that the Committee acted Aproperly iu closing their proceedings as men as possible. The Report was then brought up, and the Resolution was ;seed as follows: — "Resolved—That-it is the npinias of this Committee, found td on the examination of evidence relative to the prices-of British wool, that no part of the agricultural distresses arise from the inadequacy of those prices—and therefore it is not expedient to make any alteratiou in the laws relating to the woollen trade." On the question "that this Report be laidwn the table," Mr. TR ORN7/01 , 4 said, when lie was appointed on the Coot s, he was anxious to place a small additional duty on the rtation of foreign wool ; but the evidence which had been ax, 'tied entirely altered his view on the subject. ax. h ...y. Lewis said, he had, in the Committee, preposeelea duty ot 3d. per lb. on.foreign wool imported. This being dis tinctly negatived, he eonceis ed it was lately useless fur him to nose any proposition of a stuffier nieure. Mr. KIRK GH all said,the Report appeared to him to he of ' NO little value, that he- doubted whether it was worth the usual expense of printing.—lt consisted of a truism, and a sea squinty. First, it set forth, that the agricultui al diattes..e,, were not occasioned by the prices of 'wool—no person hutting seer said Cny were—it being aereen en ell hands, that they , afforded retit„f t tiosttad of doing iroary; and then an inferencit_ was draw% Allah was any thing.ranseuthano 'reinitiate de.' auction—namelpi,that, beta'. ,e,..at Iheii. - es, , , , nt tirtrit, elk' penile of went "reps—Whew, there was, then-tum o r° aexessitystor Mokitignwielseretiou in the moollati laws. 'l'le legi.4.te wader 1 he prelS of-ditficulties WM ntranteill<Wltielt wet the uuky.. THE' NATIONAL REGISTER. • objection that could or uttered against a revision of the IRMO laws)—but now, when the mai ket was in a tlouri.hiig stale. was the prorer time for •remedv ing any defect in the woollen laws. instead of waiting until the trade Was depressed. • After a few observations from NI r.• Thornton, laird Lascelles, Lord Milton, and Mr. Calcraft, the Report wills its Appendix were ord!..ed to lie on the table, and to be printed. sir M. Itini.Ev desired to be informt (I, respecting the ac cnracy of a statement that• came to his knowledge—mutely, whether several officers vonnecttal with the Ito itisli army now stationed in I•'rOIR7I . , had wit received very extended leave of absence, inconsistent wits their professional duty. In one instance, lie understood that some gentlemen were permitted to go to College to prosecute their studies; whilst another, a Major, was actually now engaged iu the attar of Europe, in company with a young Nobleman. Lord PALMERSTON said, that the power of giving leave of absence was nut connected vs ith his departmenti.consequent ly he could not answer directly to the proposed questiou. Perhaps, however, when the Hon. Baronet spoke of some gen tlemen being permitted to prosecute their stwiiea at College— he meant the Military College. Sir M. !Wary replied, that he distinctly understood that some had gone to the University of Oxford, and others to CAM bridge, Mt. PEEL observed, that the discussion on a former evening, relative to the office of the Clerk of the Pleas of the Exchequer in Ireland, having apprised the House of the object of the :measure he intended to introduce for regulating it, it was un necessary for him to enter into a detailed statement respecting it. It was x matter of notoriety, that the office had become vacant bydhe death of the Ead of Buckinghamshire; and that the House had previously resolved, on such an event, to make that office a subject of inquiry. When the Earl of Bucking hamshire died, ninny questions bad been put in that House re lative to the intentions of the Irish Government respecting the office ; .and lie (Mr. Peel) had distinctly stated, that lie would immediately carry into effect the a ishes of the House. Since that time the Chief Baron of the Court of Exchequer in Ireland had arrogated the power of Dominating to the office; the principal and deputies were sworn in, in the Court of Ex chequer, and were now actually in office. He did not mean to interfere-in the question by legislative measures, but should leave it to be tried by the proper tribunal, the courts of law. As, however, great dehas' must arise in determining the ques tion, as the emoluments of the offices were vi Ey great, and the le gality of the fees extremely-doubtful, it became a question, how the profits should in the interim be disposed of. If the Crown were to appoint a person to the office, as that per son could be named for the sole purpose of trying the right, he ought to receive none- of the fees. There might, however, be no necessity for such an appointment ; as proceedings had been instituted against the Chief' Baron's appointment, to decide the right as soon as possible. His object then was, to impound the fees of the offices, and to compel the persona to account for them every quarter; leaving to• the i rish Govern ment a discretionary power of making any compensaf they might think prope r to those who fulfil the duties of the offices. He was aware that a question might arise as to the propriety of ioterfering with a vested right—( Cries of No, No! )-- but us the legality of the fees was very questionable, he dial not think that such an objection could be made in the present Metallic.. The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving for leas e to bring in a Bill for securing the profits of the office of Clerk of the Pleas of the Exchequer in leeland, while the right of the possession was litigataal ; which, after some discussion, was granted.—tedjourned. TUESDAY. APRIL 30. Sir F. BORDETT presented apetition from 10,800 inhabitants of Bristol, praying tbr Parliameotary Reform; the petition was ordered to lie on the table, but no observations whatever were made upon it. A conversation arose upon the proicetod Waterloo Mo'ai ment. the probable expenee of which was enquired by Mr. Tierney. The CHANCELLOR Of lha• EXCHEQUER was unalalle to say what would be the amount of expencc, as at present the de sign even was not determined upon ; but as far as private opi nion went, the stun was likely to be from 3 to 400,0001. Mr, TIERNEY thought that if ouly a couple of columns were to be raised, one for Waterloo, and thy ether fur Trafalgar, 400,0001. would be sufficient. Mr. HAMMERALEY recommended the building of a Cathe dral.—The subject here dropped. LORD COCHRANE'S CHARGES AGAINST LORD EL. LENBOROUGH. Lord COOHRANE moved, that the charges which he had pre sented to the House against the Lewd Chief Justice of the King's Bench be taken into consideration by a Committee of the whole House. He observed, that this was a question which was not to be decided by ingenious arguments or elo quent reasoning, bat simply, upon a plain concatenation of tacts ; and the House owed it in justice to the parties immedi ately implicated, to give it the most serious and patient inves tigation. He declared himself able to prove escry charge by such evidence as could not be resisted. He would prove, that injustice was done to him on the trial ; and again, in the re fusal of the Court to grant a new trial, when he ariged that several facts, most important in themselves, WCAT not produced in Court when the cause was tried. He wn moved—" That the articles of charges against the Lord Chief Justice of the King's/tench, of partiality, misrepresentation, injustice, and oppression, in the trial of. Lord Cochraue, be referred to a Committee oldie whole House." Mr. LAW (son of Lord lillenbormigh), in opposing the mo tion, contended, that, notwithstanding the long atteution which the Noble Lord had been paying to this subject, and in spite of all his glosses, there was nut one colourable charge among them all. He would not insult the House by a lonq exatnism tion of the imputations against the Noble Judge. Ihe motion could not be :seceded to, unless the House were disposed to protect fraud and legalize conspiracy. lie would leave the character of the Chief Justice with confidence to the House, trusting dust it would give the negative of indignation to the motion. Mr. Ponsorsne na:oL on a fortune occasion he had thought the facts connected with this business nut AllffitieN to j•pitif the expulsion of the Noble Lord from that House, snit he still tl:el44lit no. Bus these , considerations were:art connected %s the present question, which was a incition on the imputed conduct of the Lord Justice of the King's 'Stock. lie could find no ground for the present The Attorney and Sulk itor GelletiLS also opposed the eiu tion at considerable . . . . . . 4ir F. Bt, it nLA T was of opinion, that sufficient ground esirti .i for entertairiing the.cbargeit. i n Mr. BAKIIANII espreaest au opinion that the lions.. would INA receive 'lee t large', yet he liclie..e.l the. liaint. f '. halo s l a t. He had 'always entertained that loftier, main( .wag La: o asr..4l to itisLe him t'.:tengt, it. si sarisittai.tpc I/oust reit:sled tits sootitist itave.7l-.4,A•A MAY 5. •.stutl merely of the Non's. Lord and .J,l F. rot , ie;t, a.. I the Noes of 87 and. on the motion of Mr. Pousonby, it was re solved to expunge th- Artielt s of Charge t our the Journals ; Lord Cochran•, on this motion, observed, that, as none of his charges were retitled, posterity would judlre of them, lode, pendent of the opinion of that Huu•r; and hr piedgod himself to bring the haunt:es forward year after year, and ots-all occa sions. WEDNEIDAY, MAY 1. Sc•cr:il imAitions were premente . d against the Leather Tax; MAO from Ili, Land•om tiers in respect to agrienitttral ili+tre, s; and front time County of Cssea r against the Insolvent Debtons' Act. Mr. I..sm es.Tos stated his intention to brio:: the subject of Lotteries before the consitleratian of Parliament. Mr. C. WaNtolt Submitted a motion to the !louse. whether the appointment of Sir T. Thompson to the Treasurership of Greenwich Hospital vacated his seat in Parliament.—Mr. Bankes moved the previous question; which was carried on a divisicui, d.; against 17. BANK RESTRICTION. Mr. Hoiden moved for a Select Committee to he appointed, to inquire into the necessity of renewing the Bill fur chnkinsiug the • .strictions on the cash payments by the Bank of Engiead. The Hon.Gentlassaii observed, that the understanding come to, in respect to the Bank of England, was. that on the restoration of peace, cash payments should. immedi itelv be resumed. In stead of:this, the Mt. Hon. Gentleman had desired the renewal `of the Bill fur two years ; fists giving a doubt of his sincerity with respect to the pledge held out previous to the terminatiou of the war. It was now, for the first time in a period of peace, proposed to continue the restriction for two years. It could not be denied, that a great redoction had taken place during the last year in the circulation of paper. This had in a grrivt mea sure arisen from the agricultural distress, the reduction ofeumary banks, and country bank paper; besides which, it also appear ed, from the papers before the House, that a reduction had taken place in the circulation of Bank of England paper. These, he contended, were circumstances favourable to a return of cash payments. The inconvenience which had occurred from a continuance of the restrictions dining a time of war had beers great ; but what would be the effects of continuing them in time of peace, .and destroyissrobe standard for appreciating the va lue of money ? The inconvenience would amount to the greatest evil to the agriculturist, who was ruined by athictuation of price and value, which must always be the resolt of a paper circula tion. Gold had now fallen to uear the Mint price. There was no importation of corn—no exchanges against us ; and therefore no time more favourable for the proposition could ever in his opinion exist. As to the best mode of resuming these payments, 1w would suggest that the Bank should pay their different de scriptions of notes In cash at different times ; for instance, that after the Ist of January next, the Bank should pay all notes of one pound in cash ; six mouths after, their two-pound notes ; and at a period of six months after, five-pound notes, and so on. One other subject he bad to advert to, and that was the state of the silver coinage ; but unless the standard value of the circu lating medium was rendered stationary, it would be iu vain to issue any new silver coinage. The Hon. Gentleman observed, it would be idle fur the House to attempt to deceive itself—if the measure now proposed were not carried, cash payments would never be resumed. He would, therefore, now move for "a Committee to enquire into the expediency of resuming cash payments by the Bank, and the best mode of doing so. Mr. VANSIrr4RT could not agree, that an extension of re• striation now would be extension for ever. It wordii.be neces sary that the !tank should have time to prepare for the resump tion of their cash.payments; and that they should, previous to commencing cash-payments generally, make such issues aerials as might in some degree satisfy the desire of the public kw gold. Asiother precaution would also be necessary; namely, to extend for some time protection to the Batik of Eugland notes in the payment* of Goverffinevot. With respect to tilt:argument which had been advanced- by the lion. Gentleman, that the price of the Articles of life bad been raised by the increase of paper cir culation, in his opinion, the contrary was the fact, and that the • rise of price had increased the circulation. It was the decrease of price which had decreased the circulation of country bank paper. The Rt. Hon. Gentleman then contended, that the price of corn did not, as haul been contended, operate to affect the price of gold ;since at one period of last winter, when cern was falling in value, gold was rising in price. With respect to extending the period oleic restriction for two years, he consi dered it would be better to propo s e two years with some degree of certainty, than one year with no certa;tity.; especially as the Bullion Committee had named two years after a peace, as the earliest probable time at which such a measure could be safely adopted. Upon those grosuids he opposed the appointment of a Committee. Mr. Msystma declared it to be the most anxious wish of the Bank Directors to be enabled to return to, cash-parlor nts ; yet they were friendly to this Bill, became they could nut give any security for resuming them in less than two yearg. The House then divided—For the motion 73—Against it 146 Majority against the motion 73—Adjourned till Friday. FRIDAY, MAY 3. Mr. BitovanAftuasid, he understood that in March, MaY• and August, of the last year, circular letters wer e sent roun d to the'Sursetors of Taxes, directing them to send complete copies of the returns of every person to the Assessed and Pro perty Taxes to the Board of Taxes. What was the ob ject of this order lie could not say ; but h e h a d s i nce been informed, that another circular wail sent, on the 19th of April last, nem! a month after the tax had died by a decision of that House, re quiring anothor, similar full and ample return. This could answer no other purpose than to. expose the private affairs of individuals. Ilse Hon. Gnu. then moved for copies of all cir culars written by the Board of Taxes in March, May, and August, 1815 ; and in April lOU, to the Surveyors oh. Taxes in the different districts. Mr. VANUTTAUT liail no objection to the motion ; the Hon. Gent. must be aware that these returns were necessary to re gulate the business of the Office. Mr. Bitola:H.4.X could not consider thou necessary, !Wept ti• a record to be kept in the Tax-office, open to all the ks in that oilive, of what was the property of every onto in the kingdom in the year Ishii. Impressed with that ()pluton, he should on ao early day 'uoatit a 'notion to thi itoie.e, the pur port of which wsuld be, that all these impels &tmid be destroy ed as etb ettially and as speed ly as possitde.—lhe motion wait • boa agreed to. ADDRESS TO THE PRINCE REGENT. Lord C tsTLICREAGit gave notice. that he should an Thurs day mole a vougritulatory Address. to the Prince Warta on the marriage of his daughter. • Mt. U.IV v Nor; thought should have been movt,i iwtahler. THE CAll. LISI'. •Lord C IVTLEIMAGH tl;e at;.!: • e P n fes 'in:o lorther eon. leratitn the Re:..‘rt I Nat:e j.,rd cu... red ittifi x va. •s • , • c. it... •I .eg gotetitbelorinatinauf ry.:Le • 1 1 ••,