The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-05-08 00:00:00

Et, itt w ch e ■hirh angt. I NT v rhich R!C:'i~ arJ the r he it. •tore 'have I Os.; wive. you) I Ow, 111.3 '«a loylKo !3.003 10,C10 Oriel Sp 1)41(3 ~~,~,~ en cm. ntr rr. t , 4: Itly Of iad vi mner Illy err u m. ale par.; oi iR v•it ; • attribuLt t : • cause. lailf .1 .c,[ c)i" t O it,Lj tr.!. H o n. ' be.. • ,ere but „re, ' C _ tti: :. r n 114. "g• h :a Pa, a of I e' , -- ." t. y w ig , Ise, or means of raisin any considerable portion cf the supply within the year. If en, there was an :la7.7 . alarmirtg prospect of the growieg debt, wLch he -:Mated the country would be unable to support.— In the year 1797 the debt of 'lreland was-7.000,0001. and proceeling in the same ratio of increase, in the year 1807 it would be 61 , ,000.00‘.). 'I he disparity would be very striking, if the' increase were com pared with what took place In t..e debt of irrgland since the Union. sVhe a th ri event occurred, the debt of Ireland was only 52,000,000, and this . year it was double. Ile debt of Great Britain was 460.000,0001. and was now no more than .548,000,0001. which the House mtot perceive not to be by any moans in the proportion of 71 to one. which was the quota settled for the cnntribu tints of Ireland. It was therefore the interest of Great Britain, as well as Ireland, to take the best means of keeping down the debt of Ireland ; as when the period of equali,ing the jurist contribution 'haunt arrive, that debt would tall upon the finances of this country. This he only stated at present, for the purpose of chewing the neccssity.of raising a great portion of the expcnce, ha taxes within the Year. In the present year. two were raised for the service of Ireland. by loan, but it moat be remembere A, that one half of it wit supplied by agents going rover there from Br' • h houses, and purchaiidg trans the funds of this country. He congratulated the Right Hon. Bert. ass the eirctunslana s of tbr Irish loan bein,n, raised this year at 7s. per cent. less than the loarli for England. which wits certainly a symptom of the grossing prnsperity of the country. As one means of courinuing and increasing that prosperity, he 4 reciansmend to the hrinistera or that country, to take measures for equalising the exchanee. Much, however. WAS done by the c nduct of the late 74.:ard of Treasury, which left it on the sth of January last, without one farthing of unfunded debt ur Treasury hills unpaid; a circumstance he uclieved which scarcely ever happened in that country be fore. The bad c nsevence complained of. as mitring from the too great issuse of piper, way in some nr-asure rem died y toe conduct of the late Treasury in sen over ulcer Weeps. The quan tity so transmi was to the value of 250 0001. in silt , dte remainder in copper, making in the who!: 531 4391. Bat even that was far from canny sufficient his .fie 'wants of the country. which would .at least recptire a circulation of silver tn the amount of one million Ile had alteady stared, that when the Members of the late Board left the 'treasury. net a farthing remained due to any one pet.ogi ~n the establishment; nor did their Incessant' find any arrears whatever, or any balance due. In the year before that, there was in the hands niche Receiver General a baler% e . of 350,0001. ail of which they tecoverd,eacopt About the sum of 11.0001. It svgs true. however, that they also took off all the erne. lumen's 14afere attached to the office of Teller of the Exchequer, for which et wa, their iutentinn to make a compensation. WILT having recovered from him a baiarce of 150,0001. Such were a part r, the practi cal effects of the new regirlations he inrtochiced into different departments, but they were Mimed in the bud about the chose of the last Sensican, notwith statudieg thatrianereoet material of ttem were stp. - ported by the Comani.sionert of the Costott.t. By the estimate made in last June isesivemonth. he, calculated on an increase in the revenue ntrrtn,ooll:' to which he expected to add 400.0001. by the duffles cn distilleries and malt ; bin as there articles dud not rise in price, the last calculations was not realized. He then entered at large into a just ficatien if the measures adopted in his aerninistrrion, and into tae produce of the varioris tales in different periods ; from which be interred, that in the last year Ind a half there was an increase done million and a half, which would show that the resources of tl:e Irish revenue were not misconceived by him. The Hight Honourable Baronet had stated, that there was of the produce of Last year, 240,0001. remaining in the bands of the collectors, which. however, would be made good ; hat he might also have added, that r'cre was a great defalcation in the (collection itself. J'or instance. the dtitiel on coachrnakers and bra. tiers were nor collected at all, and the smugglingof tobacco in Ireland was too notorious tor him to be under the necesnt r of proving i t. The wine duty also, which in IWO produced a revenue of 200,0001. was is a great measure lost to the public, by allowing merchants to place the cargoes in warehouses, by which they evaded the payment of the duties, at the same ',me that they charged them to their cur , Somers. In proof of this, he said, that eo or .30 tons of wine. were„in one day, taken openly from the.quays in Dublin, without paying any ditty. Great losses were also sustained in the Custom Du by the frauds committed in the importation of d sir, ba: k. and van: us other articles. The arti cle cif wrought iron would require the greatest yr iobince and attention. In the last year, the ditties Arnett:tied c:O• to 53,8001. which was 38,0001 less than what should be expetleJ from the retains of the criantity exported to Ireland from Great lir'. lain only ; so that the mistake or fraud must have occurred titter in the customs of h:teat Britain or Ireland. He then referred to the new taxes proposed this evening, many of which he thought would not prove very produtiee One of these was the additional duty of is. 6d. a hun dred on sugar. That article had been lately subjeated to a high duty, which brought 130.0001. more than the sum at which it was estimated a but, as the country was now overstocked with it. airless it shoald riser in price, the tax would not produce a farthing. The estimate made. that the new duty oat tea, tinder 21. 6d. which had II great ionsurnp bon in trelar,d, would produce only n.OOOl. he thought must be a mistake ; as the duty on the same article. last yea., produced no less a sum than 4510001.; and, on the same scale, this adlitiotal tax ought to yield 70,0001. As to the tax upon printing presses. he did mu well understand what it meant. There was no licence required for any other presses but these of pacer stainers ; which had no relation to any other sant rf printing. A. to the balances in the haaas of the different ColleCors, which were reduced from 443,0001. to 200.0001. he had only to say, that no palm were taken to enforce the recovery of ha lances from the dismissed and deceastol ColleScws ; and Ire tirougll the Right Hon. B.trt. would .find himself deceived, if be relied on the recovery of thou balances as a eery produehre fund • He rhea stated the aware of the improvements be intended _ to propose, had be remained in office. The first was to relieve the Woollen Trade from the diffi culties under which it laboured. In the second place, if the two countries were to be put in all other respects upon the footing of equality, it should extend to the interest of money, whirl' England was at 51. and in Ireland at 61. per cent. and this must he an eternal obstacle to their pos. sessirg an equality of trade. His next olsj-et would be to equaliw the currency of both countries, and give to Irish merchants the same advantages of ware housing and bonding their goods, in the same man ner as was done in England ; with these and SOfile other regulations, he should hope the country would prosper, if it were not kept back by a yea' ly increase of the public debt. Mr. I. CORRY acid, the Right Honourable Gentleman seemed to have ten distinet o b . ;,,,rt s in his -speech ; first, to ethic:lse on the propo;als of the Right Honourable Baronet ; and secondly, to give himself a sort of posthumous budget of what he meant to propose, had he remained in office. If he thought there should he an assimilation of the currency of both countries, why did lie not bring it forward while he remained insar. official 'slittation Why had he not done the sante with regard to the equalisation of interest ? The f4c was, that he . knew io4o he impossible, theußS pethans he might have ri4 s fe some experiment tithe kind, if lie had not been checked and toter' uled by the bodies. our gen'us of that great mew (Mr. Pitt) whose loss he, in common with the majority of the empl oy, must for ever depinre. It was very desirahle, that the /Inure should not be led iiirn any delusion on these stthjefis. It was not the preferable security, but the greater interest to be obtained in Ireland, ' which conveyed to it a considerable porthiu of the capital of this cemiary ; and a bill to equalise the lo wer, in which the 1114 ht klon. in (Mr. ' Foster) was very aaive, had some years Hee been rej-fled, for these reagens, by the Parliatneni of Ireland. The Right Hon. Gentleman also recotto mended to rai,e • great part of the snppiies within the year ; hut he had made that experiment him tell, and the pr °dice of his owe taxes gave nn en conragement to such a proceediag. If he thought it die. *by did he not dnantimselt in theolaist year? He had else said. that it was an unprecedented thing ' to leave the Treasury Board eat Ireland without one shilling of unfunded debt, any Eitclieqtier hills, or any salaries linpatd. This was r teat strange, as, when he succeeded hint (4r. Corry) in office, he found the reastiry in exactly the same si-station ; a ai one of his first m-asitros was to revive 504.0001. or Ezehecieer hills, which he ( Mr. Corry) had paid off. The Right Hon. Gentleman complainedsat too much circulation of paper, but his Bill of .fisst year had innedated Ireland wit'a paper curniticy. It made-very little difference. whether the losfi was male in England or Ireland, as the Et:cit:nor come to t.:te Irish mar ket at any rate, and the stock boldte hi En land receive his interest tic ti Inland. It was also au error to say, that the cr)ileams' ba lances Were 210.0401. when, in fa& they were an nl.'re time 41.4)01. He then said, that he was 'id ling to annfine himself to these stet-meats for the present, hot should enter more at lalAt into the suaikiet, it he should ever hear Mr. Feuer repeat any similar sespresseons., tSt be d;tl Wit,wherein erica, impose to equalise the coin or the interest of money, because the circumstances of the me oient tendert,' it imprafticable, there iaeiug very tittle god or silver in the country. Nit. PARNELL said, that hefted a great dislike to raisirg the supplies only by a loan, because, thotieh the revenues of Ireland had is creased, the expeaditure bad acceded them ; the country , had now rally Orae millions of revenue toouppiy five millions of expenditure. If this system were to con timer, he did not see how it would he pas , ible to provide the supplies for future years. Since the year 1802, there were taxes to supply the interest of 2,1100,0001. and yet the revenue was only beoetitted 50,0001. by them. The increase of the deficiencies of taxes must prove either that the resources of the country were inadequate. or that there was great mismanagement in the collection of them On a conimaison of the exports and impisrts, it should seem, that by the former, the wealth of Ire land was considerably increased of late years ; and the inference was confirmed by the improvements carrying on in buildings. For some time pass, though the export of ankles of food was much diminished, yet the import trade was greatly aug mented; and when a country was enabled to ream its food at home for the consumption of its own inha. Intents, it afforded an indubitable proof of its pros. perity. For these reasons, he was inclined to attri bute the failure of the revenue to mismanagement in the colleaion ; and if the debt of Ireland were suffered to accumulate in the same ratio that it had done for some years past, in fifteen years hence,when, by the Aa of Union, the funds and debts of both countries %sere to be united, the debt of Ireland would amount to 120 millions, which, as that coun try would be unable to pay, must ultimately fall on the finances of Great Britain. Mr. ROSE said, that the failures in Ireland had not amounted to a loss of 50001. upon this country: he had, nevertheless, heard witis pleasure, of the means embraced for preventing their recurrence. The policy of raising the suppiies for the public service, within the year, for which they were appli cable. he thought most salutary and sound: but the Right Hon. Baronet had not proposed to raise more than 6or 700,0001 more than the interest of the debt, and therefore the civil list of Ireland, at Wtll as the navy and army. remained unpoosided for. The equalisation of the currency between this coun try and Ireland, was a very desitable measure, and one which was not now first agitated, but it had beers focnd that many preliminary steps were neces sary to its accomplishment. Mr. LEE thought that, considering the great debt, and the extent of the taxation. the specie of Leland was not sufficient for all the purposes of that country. There was no solid groeni for taking off the resvicti in on the Bank of Ireland, so long as it continued in England. lf, whilst the exchange cootinued at 11 against Ireland, the reurietion were to be removed. there would not, in a short time, b e a guinea left in that country ; and, as lon% as it eon tinned, he thought the small paper currency a nee y sevrieeeent for the common purposes of lit's:, in the markets, and he did not see how it mild be said to fain the course of excba:ige against Ire- -- • land. Some time ago, the exchange was at 17 . I hat now the issue of paper had very much increa cd, ii,, WAS only 11. The English arid Irish guinea and shilling were of the sam-• vane ; it V . :IS in half pence that there was a deficiency ; and by send ing over a larger copper coin, the s olicit of equalising the currency would be answered. — To lower the interest of money in Ireland would' he a most desirable thing ; and the great difficulty alleged to exist in effeCaing it, might be removed. by providing, that all bargains to ba made should be only at an interest of .5 per cent. w!lilst those me isting previous to the passing of an all, might be legalised, until the stipulated period of their expira tion. The Hon. Member thought that the barriers against raising the supplies in Ireland within the year were insurmountable, as the money was so ne cessary to the trades and manufaftures ; and thought that, consider jog the loan of Loser millions,the taxes proposed by the Right lion. Baronet were more mild and moderate than could have been expelled. Mr. ROSE explained. Sir J. NEWPORT said, that heavy taxes could not be imposed upon ire/and at the time a supply Was necessary, consistently with anywise or efficient princ.igiu. This had been strikingly exemplified in the la additional tax uf,:n wine, winch had ope rated so as to rIC7 ;cir:l a d4alcatic!7, in ..he last year. of ;4,00C1. froni a I eVent:l: of about 320,0001. which it had y:eldesl the year before. worilslatrougly ,rove how .delicate and careful the iegistature ought to hi., nix to push taxation to' All a stint, which made induce the consumer . quish . the use of the article entirely.— Net only ;he reduced consumption• of wine. but the increased numher of absentce. from Ireland, were ettributiede to excess'ut taxation. At resuit, he was Tiepin , to state, that it was not necessary t resort to any great increase of the impitits on that coontry as at the end of the last year. there re- Mained 800,0001. due to Ireland, not drawn over Irons England, and which would more than cover the outtanding Treasury bills ; and although he meant sane to give the House a power of calling for .500,00dt. he had reason to believe, that not more than half world he wanted. Mr. GRATTAN Could not entertain the idea of making Ireland bed all her resources in the year for which they were to be applied. Tiro years ago. thisrinciple hail hePn extended to the inflittion of ate additional Itn.Ofttll. a year ; and ii, every 'se cond yrar,dle Minister were to come to Parlialmot, with a new system of taxation, it world alarm the pet*? of Ireland, ant the measures would, in all probahii'ry,entirel;• fail of their objA. However the prosperity of the vottntty might have increased. its • wealth was not such as to encnerage new taxes. The increased wealth arose in part front the issue of paper; but every m•ller was a Maker, and he feared it was a false capital; the aggregate opulence of the country w.tl, however. considerably increasing. The Right lion. Baronet was certainly right nor to precipitate Ireland into the system .raggested ; but it was a discussion not called for now, and he (Mr. Grattan) considered it wrong to introduce any question on Irish affairs, extraneous to that before the tlous► t be would, therefore, at Once, give his a,senr. to the modeler. .411 ~ L ,•• .. i diseir;pn ;ran and sugar. hernieast Mr. Fos r ter. r , Mr. Hose, Sit J. Newport. Mr. Corry, Mr Van,ittast, Lod Henry Potts, and Cord . Castieretgh. Ihe Resolutions were then put and speed en; the report ordered to be received to-n.orroiv, and the Committee to sit again on h inlay At the in Lance of Lord Grry de Hourick. Mr Jeferies consented that the motion of which he had some time since given notice, should stand fir Tuesday nett. Mr. Tit NFX postponed the consideration cf the Treatinz till Monday. • LOTi HENRY PET f Y moved the Order of the Div, for int flier considering, the Property Tax Bill. On the gut. , eirm that it be re-committed, Sir H. !MILDMAY observed. that many Mem bers had been impressed with the belief, that it would not come on that night, and the opinion had b en rather tanftione4 by the Noble Lord hims-if. Lord FIRS RY PE ry repl i ed, that he bud al ways expressed his intention of bringing the cries. lion on then, if the other business before the House would permit him ; at the same time, he had no objedion to meet the desire of the Honourable Ba ronet as far as he could ; to which end, all that he should propose would be, that the Bill should be re-committed. Sir H. MILDMAN said, that, to his certain knowledge, a number of Members had left the House, under the impression he had stated. Mr. WM. smirk' rose.--However much re litaance he •frlt to opposes measure of his Right Hon. Friend (Lord H. Petty). he certainly had great objeBions to this tax ; and he could not but feel for those who brought forinard a Bill.- which he was sure they must condemn. The Property Tax, as it was called. was certainly altered from the Income Tax, hot more in its denomination than in i ts eff e ct ; and he could not hut consider this new name As something like hanging out false colour., to avoid the odium the old tax had acquired, whilst the new one was really almost entirely the same. The principle of disclosure. wilich rendered it so ob jeCtionable, and which only the almost omnipotent power of the Right Hon. Gentleman by whom it was first introduced, could have reconciled the House to, was till a feature of it, and vitiated the whole. But there were other objeEtiont : the tax, he thought. if tolerated at all, oughts to affret more those better aisle to bear it, and less those whose means were moderate. He feared, from whet he had learned, that this was a radical defret. With what propriety could it he called a properf 1 tax ? Cc tIJ trades and professioLs be called a property ? If a man had 5101. a year, which he derived from his business and his industry, should he be taxed for that in the sarne proportion as the man who en joyed $OOl. a-year from fee farm rents ?--The term t• property" was only a disguise, whilst the tax was really one on copied/. The system oh dis closure, detestable in any case, applied principally to those to whom it was most grating and in. jurious ; those who most wished that their concerns should not be known to all the world ; and whilst this continued a commercial country, that was an objection that would also cominue. He knew not ir to what other hands the dutycould be placed, but it was a most unpleasant circumstance, that Government • were obliged to eitplery so many inetwenrs and se'- : yews. who were empowered to inquire iuto the eircirattaaCtit of every man, and often ex rejoin their authority. froth rotatives in which iednitry, zeal, and fidelity, were terms that served only for cloak. With tcspeet to raising the slily to ten p-r cent. he had very little ohjeClion to that, mote than tb i a ha propiation to the a'n' unt iif the tat, nn en cou:agernent was afnirded to attetnpt evasion. It was of Very little conselpi-rice whether it was five or ten per cent. because i, wis known. that the movie; must he taiv i „.l ; Hear ! ! lout the nhj-Rion was, that the tax operatici unjustly, in.. AitTng on Pert! blitheit on the nem who had a il business worth three years' Fire use, and the man who hat a capital worth thirty Yeats' purchase. He wondered how such a rnlasure equld be ated, ar.d much wished the Nnhle Ltrd(Petty) cool VI I in his ingenuity, devise a tax less intiJarnent.illy LoU• jedionahle. Sir ROBERT BUXTON thought the tax unjust. On a former night it had be;n said, that it should i d operate at.e. feed.leas, under which no eiem tom.'" Were to be allowed. The policy of this principle had been formerly confuted, having been &Red epos and relinquished. The Honourable er ar , ,ner par ticularly called the attention of the. House to the situation of country gentlemen of about 10001. a-year, who wool] feel the tax ' e'yoad all navvy" and would be driven by its pressure from Oleic country seats into towns, where they conld . wit b‘ useful in the eminent 'leaf Which the a - Iniquity of their families, and their capacity as magistrates; rendered them in their parishes ; where, by their presence and king residence, they gave to the law :! a Weight which it world not whei wise carry. No men at any time m na warmly supported the war./ or saw moreclearly the n e cessity of its vigo r ous pro.' tuition now, than the Hon. BAI Opt!. ; wi s hed to give all the support in his power 1,, the Ministers, and said thus much now, only with a view el inti- • mating that he had some objeetiors to offer to the tax in a future stage. Sir 11 MILD AY objeceted to the partial ope • ration-of the Bill on the lan ied property of the country. He did:not mean tcl, say that the landed interest were not able to sianport the tax, and much more, if the wisdom of Parliament shoithi deem it • right to inflict it, but it was extri mely- desirable t . that property should be equally assessed The small landed p:omietort, with large families, would feel the Aft with particular seveiity, as 004 • were nn abatements allowed for children. The great variety of etroiroc , s incidental to thtt sunpert and education of large families would, he hopeo b * point these proprietors not tothe House eel( oh* to have abatements extended to. The Hon. e ber pointed cur some other things which he thou required imitrovethent in the Bill, but as they will be repeated in the committee, 'vs abrain at present from following h'ith into all the branches of his speech. Mr. PERCIVAL stated, that he : had always been a !Heed to the :tee, and thrught he shoal.' best ;t•!. evince ius disposition to assist G..yernmert, by stet- 10 : lag that be would ant one moment oppose the Speaker's lensing the Chair, in brder to this import. ant Bill henl direely tiisenned, and passed .into a WWl* Tbs. retwould -fail use evenly and teeth ripen toe yieeple, than any that could possibly be de- Thad for raithle such a sum as it was calculated to prodase. The a:lowence of abatement he thought was a question w. ich deserved to b- well consider ed ; but if the Noble Lord (Petty) found, that any extension of indigence, in that ship-, was really issennipae.bie er r s the ediciency of the Bill, be w sold not pr et• it. Mr. WILBr.RFORCE said, he rose not for the "IMP purpose of coposing the Speaker's lrarir.g the . Chiti7, but to say he should embrace a fu ture opportunity of arguing the necessity of allow ances to persons having large families, It should be remembered. that the hithers of those fami lies had to Moore their lives. as:he only way of pro viding t.ir their widows and duldren. Hr Ciould a lso press upn,n the I louse. in proper time, the situ. aeon of sobalrern officers in the aims , and navy, and 'particularly of clergymen solys;song uom small in comes. mid i 10711 left wit, small provisions. which they could 11 , 1 angmert. He highly approved of the principle of rail ug a great sum within t:te year. to answer foe exigencies of the stare. and that it was that alone which would afford us security in peace, or success in war. Mr. ELLISON made a few observations is fa. your of the tax Mr. 3PENt ER STANHOPE thought, that to admit of no exemptions was a bad principle of tax ation, and that it was neither poli.ic nor humane to allow the tointated amount of thi tax to stand in the way of abatements, in hard cases. He deckled, however, that be had never known a Minister in the ,sitoation of the Noble Lotd (Petty), scho had not *et his fat* against all exemptions. Lord HENRY PET 1 Y said, that the opposi tion which had been that night expressed to the Rill, it was not necessary then to answer. He did not mean to iay that the measure Was the most equal, or the most perfect, that it was possible for human ingenuity to device ; and perbaps a . tax on repital, or a variation of the tax, as applied tp the different spreies ofp-operty,would be prefer:oAl bot, under the present circumstances of the country, it would be wrong to relinquish a iced system, for the sake of embarking into a new and complicated . ; arrangement. The principle of exemption. h e wai l convinced, was one by which the individual gained anal the public lost most ; and, in propor tion as the operation of an aft was simplified. by great and general rules, its pnisloce was secured. lc would hoc. me his duty, however painful, to op pose all exemptions proposed and when Gentle men were sold that by acceding. as he had, to the representation lately made. as far as regarded small annuitants, the loss of the country would be 353,0001. be tinned they o ouid no longer press exemptions, which strock at the root of ti.e sal. Mr. XVILBERFORCE, Mr. ROSE. and Lord HENRY PETTY said a koi words in expLanai.on, after which the Bill went through a Committee, pry farina. Progress was reported. and it was ordered , that the Committee should it agana on blonder I next. Committee ro the F 3 ,11 ler the repeal cf :he AdJition4l Farce Act was p-stpooeS until to-nuat row (this d.O). Adjourned at llalf•patt Verso o'Cleek.