The National Register. — London, England, 1816-02-04 00:00:00

~ i le Tlit NATIONAL REGISTER. 9t6 said, and all the press has said for the last twelve months, is false, we must at present suspend our faith, and await the further progress of the session, till we read the various petitions which we are assured will be carried up against the continuance of the PROPERTY TAX. " The arvEticu of the United Kingdom is in a flourishing condition." This is a very ambiguous phrase. The revenue of a kingdom may mean the income of the united people; the rent of the landlords ; the earnings of the labourer, the me chanic, and the farmer, with die profits of the shopkeeper and the merchant. In this sense it would be tautology to speak of revenue, unless revenue means rent, and the agricultural class is to be considered also as remarkable for its prosperity. In truth, the revenue of the United Kingdom being in a flourish ing condition, means that the taxes are very high, the burthens of the people enormous, and yet they arc paid %vial great punc tuality, and apparently with much facility. On this subject we cannot question the accuracy of Ministers. There is, how ever, generally some difference between the Speech at the be ginning and the estimate at the cud of the session, and till then we may defer our comments. The Speech concludes with professing, that the Regent will concur in measures of economy; but we beg our readeis to note, that it is with a saving clause, which ought not to permit them to elevate their hopes too much, since, the economy which is promised must be "consistent with the se curity of the country," and "with that station ..Bich we occupy in Europe." We noticed this, in answer to the extravagant views of eco• nomy indulged by the Edinburgh Reviewers ; and we are per suaded, that, when we have attained a high rank amongst the Powers of Europe, if we wish to maintain it, ccdnwny is im possib!e. We must look to sonic means of supply, lather than to the hope of retrenchment. We think that, for a time at kast, those means are at hand; and if they ale not seized, we doubt not of the consequences. We shall explain ourselves here after. Before we dismiss the subject, it is neces ary to tr , tice two little circumstances in the debate. Upon the head of Taxes, Mr. VANSITTART avowed that it was his intention to continue the War • Tax on Malt, and, make the Income Tax permanent at five per cent. Lord CAST I. ER EAGH also stated that there Lis been a failure in the Customs, but that the whole increase of the produce of taxes has been 1,500,0001.; and that the increase of the exports in the year 1815, compared with that of 1814, is 5,300,0001. We think we can perceive in this the foundation of the different views which we take of the commerce of the country, fiom that which is taken by the Ministers. In oar observations on the AMERICAN treaty ofvommerce, we told our readers that we thought very little of these accounts of exports and imports, and a little investigation would shew how fillacious they are. For instance, in the }ear 1815, we made during three months, most enormous warlike exertion. 'rids created a great ex pense in pay of troops, and hiring of Continental Vniees, in other words, in subsidies. Our troops have remained in France to a very late period, and our gentr} have flocked thither in crowds to seekcheap living, relief from their duns, and in many in stances. that they might avoid witnc!.:,ing the distress of their te nantry. For all these purpose., remittances are made. Bills ale dray %.ed there, and sent over to, purchal,e COB- ly j (ma they be paid. I'w - the voipense FEB. 4.- of private families, we are assured, 50,0001. is drawn daily. We recollect, also, that a great quantity of booded goods, which had been kept for want of purcl , aters, was fo,ced sud denly into the foreign market, by the Ministers imperatively calling on the Me...chants to pay the duties, and refusing to give longer credit. This will raise our exports vefy high, and as Ministers are apt to consider fliports nothing, ex cept fur the taxes they produce, when Lord CASTLEREAGH speaks of commercial prosperity, he only means that the exports arc large ; whereas when we use the same phrase, we undeistand that traders arc getting rich, and thew Ri tain receiving a profitable return, by some valuable import for every bale of goods which she sells. By comotercial dis tress, on the other hand, we mean bankruptcies, composition with erediturs, losses by bad debts, trade without profit, goods purchased at a high price and sold at a low one, rapid diminution of capital, scarcity of money from the withdrawing of discounts by bankers ; and all these things, we say, have increased, are increasing, and must be diminished; or the produce of the taxes will speedily fail. The rest of the Speech is conceived in terms too plain to need a comment ; anc', we are assured, will be echoed back by every voice in the United Kingdom with as much zeal and sits cerity, as by any one Member in either [louse of Parliameut IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS. THURSDAY, Fro. 1. Tins being the day appointed for the' meeting of Parliament, the two Houses met, and, in the absence of the Prince Regent, the Scion was opened by Commissioners. The House of Commons having been summoned, the Speak er, attended by a number of Members, proceeded up to the bar, when the following Speech, in the name of the Prince Regent, was delivered by the Lord Chan cellor, as the Chief Commissioner. MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN, We are commanded by his Royal Highness the Prince Regent to express to you his deep regret at the continuance of his Majesty's \lamented indisposition. The Prince Regent directs us to acquaint von, that he has had the greatest satisfaction in calling you together, under circum stances which enable him to announce to you the restoration of peace throughout Europe. The splendid and decisive successes obta!ned by his Majesty's arms, and those of his Allies, had led, at an early period of the campaign, to the re-establishment of the authority of his Most Christian Majesty in the capital of his dominions ; and it has been since that time his Royal Highness's most earnest endeavour to promote such arrangements as appeared to him best calculated to provide for the lasting repose and security .of Europe. In the adjustment of these arrangements it was natural to expect that many difficulties would occur ; but the Prince Regent trusts it will be found that, by moderation and &Julius, they have been eth.ctually surmounted. To the intimate union which has happily subsisted between the, Allied Powers, the Nations of the Continent have twice owed their deliverance. 'His Royal Highness has no doubt that you w;11 be sensible of the “reat importance of maintaining in its full force that alliance, from which so many advantages have already been derived, and which affords the best prospect of the continuance of peace. The Prince Regent has directed copies of the sevoral Treaties and Conventions which have been concluded to be laid before you. The extraordinary situation in which the Powers of Europe have been placed, front the circumstanoes which have attended the French Revolution, and more especially in consequence oithe events of last year, has induced the Allies to adopt precautionary measures,which they consider as indispensably necessary for the pausal security. As his Royal Highness has eonctrated in these measures, from a rawn in France, negociate mai. In this ntauper on! C,.\ .. (.: t/ - ,,,frr: "~ ..-.., v.*,.. re ; * , " I , .'", • . ~,,d , \*.t' \ Z,..' -. • ....; • 1 1. 1111 4 " ''.•