The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1805-02-20 00:00:00

.e Bill on the tame day. He was, at certain standing orders of their ,teat against a Bill going through v.-. stages oil the same day. He would, .e, ?noire that the Standing Orders, No. 26 . 35, be take , i into consideration on Thursday ,c, for the purpose of their being suspended, as n- as relates to the Irish Habeas Corpus . AR Sus elision Bill. the questions were pnt on his Lordship's Mo tions for the Bill being read a second time orfThurs. day, and the standistff orders in question being taken into consideration on the same day, which were ordered accordingly, as WAS also a third Motion for the printing of the Bill. Their Lordships then adjourned pro Anna till to for the purpose of attending Divine ser vice, hut virtually till Thursday, for which day all the Orders were fixed. ---eneesm— HOUSE OF COMMONS. Mr. STURGI• SS HOUR N 1. .. moved that the account re sented of the qoaritity of hop, grown in the county of Sussex in the year Inna be printed ; which wet agreed ht. The Army Extratirditiaries acre also, on the Motion of Mr. CALCRAFT, ordered to be printed Mr. GILES moved, that there be laid before the House an account of the number of effective men recruit. d for the ser vice of the United Kingdom store the Ist of J tale la,t, as far as the same could be mart. up, together with the letters of ser vice, and mode in which they were recruited, and distinguishing the cavalry from the infantry, and the Supplementary batta lions, which was wort in . Mr. BROOKE mewed that the following Papers be laid before the House : C,:pies of any accou n ts received respecting the number of passengers taken on board the Spanish frigates detained of Cadiz on the 12th of Hoven:Met • and also of el • toe passengers captured in other Spanish vesmis previously t'. the wan being declared ; haw t, and the names of those who belonged to the .111111 or navy o' S ; ..in. Conies of the instroctions sent to the British Officers for the detention of such ve.sels-..and An aeon:tit of the private property taken belo.igirig to the said passengers, ant any orders given fur the restitution of it Arvid to. MIDULESEX ELECTION. This being the day appointed to tty the merits of a Petition from certain Electors of the comity of hltehtlewex, complainsur s that on the last day of the poll for the late Hestion, their votes had been taken anti approved of by the then Sheri s of the county, end the day atterviarrt. expunged on the declaration of the numbets ; the fiellowihig names were returned on the re ductal list, and, as usual, sweat st the Tattle : Lord Viscount MatseaM, Ciairnian. R. S Ainslie, Esq Grate Mutdauet, Esq. Lord Viscount Fitaltarris, H Chopliane Esq. 1... Spencer Smith, C. Montague Ormsby, Sir Robert Poole, Bart. His,. Arch Hutchinson, Charles Uuneomhe, Esq. H. Ayre, .1. H. Williams, Esq. ' • - - _ mosithrots. The Hon. St. Aide-w St. Jo ~t, fur the Pt titlrt Trottel. Greve, Esq. ha the Stung M •maer. IRISH HABEAS CORPUS SUSPENSION. Sir EVAN NEPEAN move•l the orslrr of the day for the third reading of the Irish Habeas Cor pus Suspension Bill ; when Mr. MARTIN (of Galway) immediately rose, and observed, that, as a Representative of that part of the United Kingdom, which was to be peculiarly affefted by this measure, when he found himself called upon to pass so hard and oppressive a bill, without any preliminary inquiry, or any good rea son, beyond the alleged one of public notoriety, ' stated fur it— he felt it a duty he owed to his Con stituents at large , 1.1 htis best endeavours to ascer tain what tae reastllis were which inoduced it ; or whether any circumstances were now in existence, which had any resemblance to what was sometimes called the rebellion, on the '2.3d of July. 1802. The objea of the amendment he had to propose was to make it requisite for those, who said the ne cessity for this measure was not , riots, to state fairly what their reasons were for thinking so. The SPEAKER here inlet witted use lion. Gent. observing, that no amendment could be propo.el in the Bill, till another question was put, atter the or der of the day. Lord HENRY PE! TN' said, he did met rise to occupy the attention of the House any trU tE , r, than by adverting to a precedent for s similar pr , ce: quoted by a Learned Gentleman (Mr. Wed) on a former day, when he said, that the I laheas Cotpus AO had been suspended here in 172 i, svirhont any inquiry respelling the existence of any necessity for it having been instituted by Parliament Having since had time to examine into the pounds of that assertion, hr thougitt it right to shew, though he did not see the Learned and Hon. Gentleman then in his place, that the two cans 11101 e no analogy whatever to each other. Previously to the Suspen sion having been adopted in the >ear 17:2, the speech made by His Majesty to His Parliament, from the Throne, said so much of the existing con spiracy. that it composed two-thirds of the whole of it. let when, even on the spur of the occasion, Sir Robert Walpole, who was then Minister, ven tured to propose the measure, he &swiftly pledged himself, that he should afterwards move tor a Com .— mince to inquire into the existence of the conspiracy. A committee was accordingly appointed, in about a mouth afterwards, for that purpose, which, upon due inquiry, finding that the conspiracy did really exist, laid a sufficient ground for confirming the suspension. Afting, therefore, in conformity with that precedent, he wished to know, whether, if this boil were suffered to pass, the present Ministers would pledge themselves that there should be a subsequent inquiry ? No answer having been given to this question, the order of the day was agreed to ; and, on the ques tion being put, that the bill be now read a third time Mr. IA ARTIN again addressed the House: bas said that it was impossible this measure could ever produce the effeft for which it was intended, unless st was made to extend its influence generally amongst all the people of th► United Kingdom. The sill provided, that persons, who had committed aas of season in Ireland, should be arrested on coming to this country ; but it made no provision, nor applied any remedy at all against such persons who, after meditating treason and rebellion in Ireland, should come over here to carry on a correspondent:, and promote their plans more mischievously, and, per haps, more effeftually, than t::ey could do at home. Persons of that description were altogether dime eithaite by the present Bill, and, in order to remedy that treat Me& he should propose an amendment, which should extend the benefits and blessings of the ptesent A a to the people of Great Britain; for, in his opinion, it would be great partiality to give exclusively such enviable advantages to the people of Ireland. Now that the countries were united, and, as it were, identified, they might, be ironically remarked, to be in future governed by the same laws, and have a fair and equal measure dealt to them. For the purpose, theref , re, of granting equal security to Great Britain as to Ireland, he should move, as an amendment, that words to the following effeet be inserted :—" When as it is that divers persons notoriously carry on a traitorous and rebellious correspondence between Great Britain and Ireland, be it therefore enacted, that all such persons shall, in Great Britain, be also subjected to the provisions of this Bill." ' This amendment !eat negatived in:tenor, and the Bill read a third time, and passed. REPORT OF TUE BUDGET. Mr. A aviation' brought up the Report of the Committee of Ways and Means yesterday, when some of the Resolutions being agreed to ; Mr. FOX wished for more information in respect to the bonus to be allowed, as the Right Hon. Gent. had said very little on that subjed yesterday. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER restated the amount of the bonus, and explained, that only a few of the subscribers could probably avail themselves of it, as it was only given to those who might be able to pay their instalments before hand. Mr. FOX wished also to know whether, as the Property Tax was to extend to those who possessed money in the funds, those would not he exempted from the duty in that past of it which they might be induced to lend to the public? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied, that the holders of the Loan, when their instalments should be paid up, would be entitled to the premium of 51. per Cent now paid upon the Omnium ; but that as soon as their scrip should be transferred into stock, the Property Tax would then immediately apply. What he meant was shortly, that they would be liable to the Tax as soon as they were entitled to a dividend, and that its ope ration would then apply, but not before, to the mo ney, during the time that it was floating. Mr. JOHNSTONF said, that he could not, nul -1 sistendy with the duty which he owed to the public, I suffer those resolutions to pass. without artiniAdveirt- P ing on the strange prii-edent about to be established, of srosing away the public money thus early in the session, and without being in possession of the pa pen, which were direfted by Aft of Pat liament to be laid before the House, on or before the 27th of of March. The House was as yet without any regular account of the public revenue, or disburse ments. It was also in a similar situation, with re sped to the distribution paper, the accounts of the deficiency in the produce of the consolidated fund, Rnti the navy debt; and all this while the sum of 44,000,0001. was required for the separate charges upon England, for the present year. Another to pic to which he wished to draw the attention of the House was, that even upon the chewing of the Ministers themselves, the revenues of the East In dia Company were, by Alf of Parliament, obliged to contribute 500,000 L annually, towards the Na. tional Resources; and yet, notwithstanding this obligation, aid after it had been voted that there was a surplus of one million, in the revenue of the Company, in the course of last year, the House, instead of deriving any addition from this sot Om., found itself called upon for the sum of one million, said to be doe to the Company. He thought this a subjeCt, on which a Committee of Inquiry ought to be appointed by the House. There was another of these resolutions, to which, asaffain now stood, he could give no countenance or encourage:, ent what ever ; he meant the suns of five millions for conti nental purposes. lie was ready to admit, that no man could be worthy of a seat in that [loose, who could wish this island to be insulated in its interests and connediuns, from the powers on the Continent. or who would not be desirous of contributing all in his power to diminish the preponderating influence of France upon the greater part of Europe, which he could not consider otherwise than as one family. He would, theref re, chearfolly giant any sum, which was likely to be applied with any effect to the diminntion of the enormous power of the enemy ; hut, before he voted such a ram as this, he should exited to see some prospeft of accom plishing his (shied, by the co-operation of those powers bordering on France, such as Austria and Prussia ; hut, without this aid, he could anti cipate very hale effed from powers so remote from it as Rassia and Sweden. To cape& a re &ldiots of the power of France, by means of such allies, would be as wild and romantic as the mea sures said to he taken by some of the agents of Eng land, who .attempted to accomplish their purpose by the force of two bottles of sympathetic ink, and the sum of so° guineas. He also thought it a very strong rneasnie in the present Minister, to encrease the duty on an article so indispensably necessary as salt, to the people of the country, and so expensive in its colledion, after his predecessor promised, in the last Sessions of Parliament, a repeal of all the duties hitherto imposed upon it. Having . further stated some objedions to encretsed duties upon horses used in agriculture, he expressed his hopes that the House would pardon him for saying any thing that personally regarded himself ; but he was very desirous of reminding them, that, in the view taken of the finances of the country last year, when it was said. that the war this year would cost no more additionally than what would be covered by the operation of the Sinking Fund, namely, 42,000,0001. he asserted, that the expenditure would not fall short of 42,000,0001. ; an assertion which was now completely verified. Mr. FRANCIS recalled the attention of the House to the Act of 17os, by which the East India Company was bound to furnishthe sum of 500,0001. in aid of the revenues of this country. This con tribution had never been furnished by the Com pany but once ; and now, instead of receiving it, this country was called upon to pay out of its own finances, by way of debt, to the Company. This was done at the time when the finances of the Com pany were represented to be in a most flourishing condition. He would not take upon him to assert, that the debt now in question was not really due : even supposing it was so, he maintained that the arrears due by the Company, since the year 1,793. should be set off against the present demand. /le contended, that the House had no right to pay this debt, for the existence of which they had no more than the word of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, without any Parliamentary evidence of it being laid before them. If the statement given in the course of last Session was staidly true, and that in reality the Company's debt from the country was nearly liquidated, then the legal consequence ought to he, that the sum now required to be advanced should he deduNd, in order that the debt, now so near liquidation, should be finally eitingitished. He, therefore, wished to know whether this sum was meant in liquidation of the former debt ? The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER declared himself rather unprepared for giving the Hon. Gentleman a satisfactory answer; bat he cer tainly did not propose to vote this sum without re serve, or without subjecting the Company to be call ed to an account for what may be due from its reve nues to this country. The vote now called for had no relation to, much less did it annul, any prior en gagement ; but both the Hon. Gentlemen were mistaken as to the purport of the Act of 1793, which enjoined, that, after the Company should pay its dividends and expences, and have a surplus to a certain amount, then out of that surplus, it was to contribute half a million towards the general finances of the country, and be at liberty to apply the re mainder to the increase of its dividends. This sub jea would best be referred to a future discussion, when the state of the East India finances should be brought before them ; but it surely would be allow ed, that the revenue and resources of the Company may be very prosperous, and yet, by the interven tion of two or three unexpected wars, Ise tendered inapplicable to the aid of the national revenue. Mr. JOI-INSTONE agreed, that the Company may have a just claim upon the public I but what he complained of was, that after, declaring that they had a surplus of a million, instead of paying out of it what they owed to the country, the House should be called upon to discharge an old debt to them: The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER explained, that the surplus so often mentioned was only stated to arise out of the territorial revenues of the Company, of which Parliament had no right to claim any share, until it was brought home by in vestments, and all the charges on it paid. That in deed may be made the subject of a future claim ; but as to the territorial revenue, Parliament had no 71mmedsrite right to interfere with it. Mr. CALCRAF C objected to the duty on salt, as pre , sing most severely on the lower orders of the people, who were the least able to bear such pres sure. lie also found fault with the duty on horses used in agricultnre, as it would he a very great hard ship on the farmers, and could not fail to raise the price of the first wide of necessity, hirAci. He hoped, therefore, the Right honourable Gentleman would reconsider the subject, and that he would give up the salt tax altogether, as well as modify the other. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, he had already given the salt tax the fullest consideration, and that he should certainly persist in it. as he was certain it was not liable to the objec tions which the Hon. Gentleman who spoke last had urged against it. Mr. SHERIDAN expressed his regret at hearing the Right Hon. Gentleman, in such a firm and po sitive tone, declare his determination to persit in a tax which, he agreed with his Hon. Friend near him, would bear so hard on the lower orders of the people. Nay, he insisted that there did not exist a tax which would so grievously oppress them ; for it affected bacon, pork, butter, and even potatoes, which were all articles of necessity, on which they chiefly lived. In particular, the last article, which of late years had become so generally the food of the lower orders, and which were absolutely not wholesome without salt. He perfectly coincided in opinion with his Honourable Friend near him (Mr. John stone), that it was rather sin prising to see this tax on salt brought forward at the present moment, when a Committee of the House, who had well con sidered the subjeel, had reported, some years ago, that the whole of the duties on salt ought to be abo lished ; and the predecessor of the Right Honoura ble Gentleman in office had declared his intention of acting according to the spirit of that report. The Right Honourable Gentleman pretended to enter tain the highest respeft for the charaaer of his Right Honourable predecessor; yet he thought his bringing forward this tax now, after what the other had de clared, was a kind of trepanning those who are nu nulatiurers of the article. who had heels tempted to renew their works. He appealed to a Right Hon. Gentleman opposite (Mr. Rose), to say whether that had not been the ease in his neighbourhood at Lymington, in Hampshire, where the SALE lIVOIks had been repaired at a great expence, under the id&.t the duties were to be wholly taken of, instead of which a duty of SO per cent. was to be added? He thought this a great injustice, and he, for one, pledged him self to oppose the tax in every stage. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER owned he h id A very great respell for the chars her of the Right Honourable Gentleman alluded to by the Honourable Member who spoke lost, and, as a proof of it, he should give an instance by reverting o his condua. I'he Report mentioned by these Honourable Members was made in 1801, and has lain on the Table, and never been aged on either by the Right Honourable Gentleman his predecessor, nor ever mentioned before by the Honourable Gen tleman who had just sat down, though he had been in the House all that time. He insisted, that both the Honourable Members who had spoken against this tax were mistaken as to its operation $ for, con sidering how small a proportion fell on the lower orders of the people, he did not think there was a single article of general consumption that could he found better adapted to the purpose of raising a large sum of money with so little pressure and in convenience to the mass of the people. Mr. EGERTON said, it always gave him pain to be obliged to say any thing against the taxes proposed for raising the necessary supplies ; but, as the representative of the county of Chester, he could not avoid saying, that that county would feel the weight and burden of this tax in a very severe and exemplary degree indeed, as there were more salt works there than in any other county ; and he hoped, therefore, that if the Right Hon. Gentleman did not agree to give up the tax altogether, be would, at least, devise some means of alleviating its pressure, in regard to that particular county. Mr. KINNAIRI) said, that, after what had been urged by the Hon. Gentleman in favour of the county he represented. he had waited some mo ments, in hopes some Gentleman equally patriotic would rise and speak in favour of the poor people I of the North, particularly those who live in the ',Highlands. He was about to mention the fi,h- cries, but it was intimated to him across the tatte that the fisheries were exempted. He desist: d ac cordingly from that part of the sullied ; fits. insisted that his Hon. Friend near him (Mr. She:lday) was perfeelly corred in his statement, that it would hear with the most grievous pressure on the lower or d er of the people; and be contended that it would greatly add to that discontent which they already felt against the war. Mr. ROSE said, that in all cases since a tax yea.; first imposed on salt, the fisheries had hero formly exempted, and every atlditioaal ditty was rather a benefit than a disadvantage to the-rt. In an swer to what was said by Sheridan, he sant he believed no person in his neig hbourhood had a . pended money in repairing salt works under any idea of the whole duties being taken off. He thought the Honourable Gentlemen who found fault with this tax were very much mistaken in regard to is operation, and particularly so as to the es - pence of collecting the duties ever since the duty had been transferred to the Excise, the charge of colleen bad not amounted to more than 20,0001. a year Mr. CALCRAF 1' said, he understood, that, in 1798, the expences of colleßing dwv amnuated to upwards of 100,0001. a year, Ve1:14.:: was more that 10 per cent. Mr. JOHNSEONr and the CH ANC El Los of Ole Exert eir es. severally explained. The Resolutions were then severally read and agreed to. On the question that Bills be brought in on the first and second ; Sir R. BUXTON said, he was always sorry to oppose the taxes, but he could not sit silent, aid suffer one of thorn, in particular, to pass, aithout making some observations, or oljeßions ; he meant the tax on horses used for the purposes of apical tore. He thought it was a very heavy and burden some tax, and that it was also a highly imp, lere one, for it will forte the farmer of arable land to use fewer horses, and, by that means, their hind would lot be so well cilltivated. Ile thought also th t while they were taxing their constituent, loon tear to year, they should on their own p 'lts ;Lo l a of easing them as much as possible, by pa , that wth some of their own privileges, and would throlo e propose that they should give up that of fro Lag letters. He denied that the people weie discont-uo ed with the war ; on the control y, he helieved the never was a war so popular ; this was among ail descriptions of persons throughout the country. Mr. WINDH A M requestedthat the Hon. Bai slier would not think of proposing to the House to pan with the privilege of franking. as it uould 'Ca matter so to it its amount, that it wuul.l be little or an benefit to the public in the way ef He considered the privilege in itself as a Lind of feather in the cap of the members of that House, by which they were enabled to oblige their frierds and all descriptions of persons. That it was a power vested in them for the most useful and W.-, purpcses; was of infinite advantage to the intereu of literature, and was the means of carrying on the most pleasing and useful corr:spondences. which would never perhaps have existed, had it not bees for the facilities given to them by means of this privilege. As the benefit to the pubic would. its tact, be also very small, he hoped the Hon. Batoact would give up all further idea of abolishing it. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUEM` coincided entirely in opinion with the Right Hon. Gentleman who spoke last, and thought this prvi leoe of the highest importance to the interests of the public, who would be really injured by its being abolished, especially as it would amount ri, a ., mare than 40,0001. which was a mere rifle. With respeet to what the Hormui able Baronet had stated as an ohjen to the duty on horses used in aviculture, he could tot suppose that any farmer would, on that account, use a house the less; and, as to the other point alluded to by the Hon. Ba ronet. he could not allow that they did not tax them selves, for he could appeal to the whole system of taxation to shew, that the greatest part was paid the higher classes of the community, and nut by the lower orders. Sir R. Buavott explained. Mr. H. LASCI.LLES hoped the Hon. Gentle man would take some further time to consider ua s. me of these taxes. He agreed with the Hon. Ba ronet who had just sat down, as to the duty ea, horses used in agricultwe, and, that it would prove a great check to it. liereferred to what passed lam so,sion ou the Corn Bill, and begged the Howe to remember, that it was then held lot th as necessary to encourage the farmers to grow as much corn m possible ; and this tax would, he feared, operate con trary to that desirable purpose. Mr. FULLER spoke shortly against the sat e tax, but in so low a tune we could not hear him - tinftly ; we understood him to say, heweve th t he th iught the farmers would evade the tax by ear playing oxen. Bias were then ordered to be brought in on the several resolutions. Mt. WINDHAM said, that not seeing the Se cretary at War in his place, he would just obseisie to Ministers, that, in a return madeof men raisiot in the county of Surny, under the Defence Aft. We number was 6! or 63. He understood this Was a mistake, and the number not so many. He tine 1- ticr,ed, therefore, the circumstance, that the error might be ree,tified before Thursday evening. Lora NI Alt SHAM brought up a report from the Committee on the Middlesex EleCtion, and obtarte/ the leave of the House. that the said Committee should adjourn to Thursday, Wednesday being ap pointed tor a solemn fast. Mr. WILBERFORCE brought up the Balk the Abolition of the Slave Trade, which was reads first time, anal ordered to be read a second Una to Thursday se'nuight. ELECTION. On the Order of the Day being read for toil into consideration the adjourned debate on the Mid dlesex Eloftion; Mr. SHERIDAN stated, that the Sheriffs wishol to have a little further time allowed them, and as Friday would be too early a day, he would have proposed Monday ; but, understanding there were to be some royal festivities at Windsor, ou that day. from which he should be sot ry to prevent any Meg" bee of that House attending, he proposed to fix filar Tuesday next, which vas ordered accordingly. The Qaarantine Bill was reeetnautted. tan Clauses added, and the report ordered to be nom% on 'Fbursday.—Adjourned to Tbursday. :-- Jeayed b tzmigv 2, l wbroroll irEr 2 -"r" 9111. We Awe N I pr•eh4 Gore same rmv; pac • vari . to HZ! the rel very ma c , gran hiely a ers in reign of mei Corsica his de prisone pledge whom native an atte E:pea 'von t - rid soi Is now the vi, same I 'he 000 . Wi ; r} Torvera prucee4 Sunda, and 1 Yell btuine Lar co' . A le the do station lard, hire I days. 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