The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser. — London, England, 1806-04-01 00:00:00

!~ ~~~ 1 1711 r 'Pie , . • proper to oiler a watt thereon. until they saw, from authority, what the proposed plan was ; what ever it may be deemed poii:ie or expedient to *dope, erns retied to the Volunteer system, he thought' it was proper, under the present eircomstances, that no time should be lost in making such plan known to the public. Having moved for the produelion of his first document, Lord GRENVILLE rose and observed. that he certainly had no objeClion to have as correCt a view eaf the subjeet, to which the Noble Lord alluded. before the House, as was prafticahle ; and he agreed • with him generally, that it was desirable, that Peel. Lament, as soon as was consistent with policy, view ing the magnitude and importance of the subjea, should, as soon as it could, make known its decision upon the subjeCt. With respeCt to what was in tended to be propost;tl by His Majesty's Ministers, the impatience of the public, if any such existed, w till soon be gratified ; bnt the. subjed was obvi ously nee, which should not be Motight forward without due deliberation. With respeft to the Noble Lord's present motion, it seemed to refer to some thing which was at least questionable ; and in its shee •shiye, though lie was nut immediately pre pared es say, be should have, were it persisted in, to oppose it, yet he° would have to address their Lord ships as to the ground upon which he thought it, at least, questionable The N , .tile Lord then advert ed to his sense of what the Alts said was to be considered as an etre:live Volunteer; and with refer. once to which, he seemed to think the motion of the Noliie Lord rather objectionable. Lord Id AWKESBURY explained the objeCt of his motion to be for an account generally of the pie. sent volunteer force, and horn official documents, with the opinions of the InspeCting Officers, as to Will( volunteers were, or were not efficient. He was •o are of the peculiar nature of the case, and that cirtaie returns, in some cases, may not be AC rur.tuly drawn up; hut he thought farther &tett l','-`.ltA may tend to elucidate, what might appear uaaciant in the first instance. The Earl of ROSSLYN made some observe. bons upon the motion, as worded by the Noble Lard, and seemed to entertain similar doubts there with his Noble Friend sear him (Lord Grem ville}; what appeared to him to be aimed at, he thought it impttssilde to attain in the present terms of the motion. The Earl of DARNLEY made a few remarks, as we understood, to the same general effect. Lord HAWEESBU KY spoke in farther expla teflon. After whielt, this pert of the discussion con. eluded, by the Noble Lord's agreeing to alter the language of that part of his mutton, to which as objedlion seemed to be felt. On the question being put thereon, Lord GRENVILLE again arose, and made se . venal observations on the subjeCt if the present Vo lunteer system, under a hich, lie thought, there *fluid by ne means be such an efficient force to be depended on, as would appear in the returns. lin.ler that, a volunteer who had attended a certain num ber of days, was deemed an etlettive volunteer.— The hispeCtors-General were invested with no power to compel the attendance of a volunteer. Such compulsion would. to a cettain degree, militate against the ptinciple of a volanteer sy stein. Wish a military three it was different• Military men truh.l judge. with seme degree of certainty, what are- t ree of discipline would be necessary for such, and how Hear they had attained to it ; and returns could be made accoldiegly. To the objeCtions he £tst held, he did not deem the motion, as altered, to be liable. Lird HAWKESBURY conceived, that a great deal f valuable information open the subj-a, would accrue trout the production of the accounts he pro posed. On the Question btiag put. the accounts were or dered to be laid before the House accordingly ; as were the other documents moved by the Noble Lord. In the enure of a short explanatory conversation of some of these, Lott' GKENVILIS. took atC3- ion to remark, that the Ensiish and Itish Volun teers *ere vety different. COLONIAL INTERCOURSF. :VIM N. AMERICA. Lntil HOLLAND. after adverting to the linen. tion of his Noble Friend. below him, to bring in a Bill relative to this subjeel, made some observations with respell to the magnitude and importance of the subjeft, of which it formed a part. He alluded to the opinions he had thrown nut last Session upon the particular topic to which his Noble Frie nd's Bill proposed to refer, and expressed his op Minn, that further documents steel necessary to bring the true state of the sill+jen before the !louse. His Lordship concluded by moving for a variety of ac counts of that description, as, the Number of Bri tish Ships, the Tonnage thereof, and the Number of Alen, engaged in the 'Trade between Great Britain and the AVIA Indies, &c. from the year 1790 to lani, inclusive ; and several other documents ; which. after a few words horn Lord SHEFFIELD, were ordered to be 'kid bebne the House. The order for summoning their Lordships, upon the notice of Lord AUCKLAND, being read, His Lordship rose, and in a speech of some length, introduced the of which fie had given notice. Ile descr ibed the situation in which the commercial intercourse between the British Welt India Colonies and Islands and the ('nited States of North America stood for a number of years, and the different re rlating Ads which had been chafed from time to time. fie adverted to the necessity which at dif , !Trent times existed, more especially in periods of war, of the British West India Islands being sup plied with lumber and provisions from North America. This necessity had induced the Governors from time to time, to permit the importation of their articles in neutral bottoms, contrary to the provisions cf those Ads, by which it was intended to secure, as far as was predicable. a prr;erence to flattish s 1 iHron{, as wed as to British articles of coalmer e. 'I ois unavoidable condad, on the pit of the Governors, rendered Biils of kdemnitv, wi th vesped to them, necessary. often, that * for se veral years, they became almost annual. In 1801. an At of this kind WAS unaccountaoly omitted; It had not been re o ertol as an Expiring Ad; and. throagh four &Mot-tit Administrations, including the present, the ordinary Ain had not been renewed. The Bill he shouht propu;e that evening, wed.' rediff, among other pains, that onguatm. The tfl`T" Islands were incapable of producing a raflicieney of provisions for themselves. -fly the distrrnsations of Proridenen, in those respeets, it ofted occurred. that countries depend - noon etch other. The °lie& nes, as far as prisAicable, to confine the supply to 4lritish ships ; but the immense distance of the \Vest Indies frnm Great Britain was to he censidered ; besides., it would be harsh, entirely to exclude corn petition in the supply. 'lle Noble Lord entered irito a variety of calculations, to evince the magni tude and importance of the West India commerce to thiscountry, and the gret . t increase of it, within a given number of years. He considered the com mercial interests of North America as closely con flated with those of Great Britain, they should be reciprocally glad of each other's prosperity ; he.de precated all undue jealou_•ies in these points. His Lordship concluded a luminous and atgumentative speech, by presenting a hill to indemnify all per sons permitting the importation or exportation of foreign goods into, or from the British West India Islands, or Islands conquered by His Majesty's arms, &c. in foreign bottom,. The Duke of MONTROSE recapitulated many of the arguments he had used nn the topic last Ses sion. He thought the same ohjeainns against the simply of the Islands in British bottoms. in pe riods of war, did not novr apply, in consequence of the great superiority of our naval strength. He contended, that every fair preference should Ise given to the shipping interest of Great Britain; and the House should consider the very serious evil, which obtained to an alarming degree, of the prac tice of smuggling, which operateJ very injutinusly to the British trade in those seas, partierdatly with reap-er to East India commodities ; and 11r adverted to tie great advantage which a strict and vigilant line of conduct would give us in these respects, by desti'uting the French and Spanish Islands of their supply of Negroes; and hr honed it was meant to uphold the belligerent rights of this coutstry in these respeets. Lord SHEFFIELD observed, he was not pre pared, at present, not being exaftly aware of the line of argument, and cakulation, which the Noble Lord intended to go into ; otherwke, he thought he coulti controvert a great deal of what the Noble Lrrd had advanced.. Lord HOLLAND argued at some length in sop port of the propositions laid down by his No Friend (Lord Auckland.) He contended that the Navigation Aft was founded more with a view to the politica! security. than the commercial aggran disement of Great Britain. The admitted i ecestity, which often existed. of having re: ourse to America for articles of the first necessity, should moderate the high language held by the Noble Doke, and some of those who thought with him. Tie attempt at exclusive supply on the, part of this ccnntry had been productive of the most shocking effefts : in tine year alone, Elute than 16,000 Negroes had perished in the British %Vest India Islathis. The Duke of MON I'IIOSE spoke in explanation, as did Lord AUCKLAND. Lord HOLLAND shortly explained. Lord C:REN VILLE observed, that the present was not the time to form an opinion AS what the country could do in the respels alluded to, in time of peace; and he seemed to think a gram deal of what had been advanced, entirely irrelevant to thx topic re,vilar!y under discussion. The cows t y wis auJct an ~ h lig 'Lion to the Noble Loi,l who had come forward on the present occasion; bat he thought the 1 ll should go farther, •sPith respect o the ;possess to be vested in the Governors ; and, ,•,- stead of going on indcmnifying. from Ite.ir year, it would be more :Advisable to inn, , provision, to enable the Kin: in Council such discretionary power' to the Governors, fro!!s time to time, as occasion sway require. Lord AUCKLAND, Mfarthee cis served, a clause may easily be intrci.'t: , zcd c the Committee, to the eff,Et intimated I,y his Noble Friend ; and in consequence of an observation of the Duke of Montrose, said it yeas his intention to propose to have the Bill printed. The Bill toss then reed a first time, and ordered us be printed. After which the House adjourned till to-morrow. 'must.: OF COMMONS• Sir Snhn Newport (the oew Chancellor of the (raM, Ex chequer), took the oaths and los .cat, for the City of Water fop!. Mr Quartos, the Deputy Tither of the Black Rod, appeartd at the tl r, and gdminnn. d the Eot:se to a osear to the FI ,, UStI of hear tho Royal Afklit given by Cotnonssion to certaot 1 he SPFAKFR; attended by the 11luso, proceeded thither necurdi3 al .d, ott hip retinn, he informed the ekta., that he had :Pero in the Hoase of Peer% and heard the k.yal A*-eot Riven be Cfll/111015.011, to the so,frao,now. ; the IA 4.0001. Exchequer Hdis BM.; and the FelantiT.autprotatto I nil!. The Bast Itarhour hill was read a third till, cod pawl. The Scarborough Harbour aid wo3 toad a first, and eAtered lobe r, ad • seco,d time. Mr. Herbert from the Exchetnier, presented ea the Bar, so Aecoorst of the Suisun remanong in the Exthenurr, nu the Ist ofJaituary, 11106, being ~art of the Draws of Isll and also of stn.la ,ostrs mg had imp paid front the third Lot Reve nue, pursuant to Arldres.es of Rt.t fl'ime, and not made good by Path...meat --Ordessd to lie ins the NV,. Mr. YORKE gave notice, rim he would to-rn , rmw more for a Coos of the Corres.pomknee between the Irish Govero silent and the Paving B.vnd of the City of Dublin. Mr. 11UDDI.E.STOSE gave noire, that he wool I. to. morgw, one for soros radii anal l'aprra relatsvo to Ous:e. Mr. JEVELRY gave outs - e, that he would, on Thoo.d.ty, the 17th of April, bring forward his Charges spasm Lord St Vincent. Sr JOHN NEWPORT niovet! for an account of the mates of EXIMPIWV% 111C10,.1 fi r the Maiiitcoant-e of the Pin• tintaiitCharity Schools, and uther loinstLar Institution; in Ire land, the same as last year.--001. red. He then brought up th,:•ain Va;wei, whirl& wile urdiried to lie trsl the Tatios. Mr. BROOKE said, dot it i. 4 ,1 been his intention to have made a rti,ition no the so bi ect of th, Contract for oundlei log the Nave with beads, of %hid' he 1.1.1 green notice (or this day ; but iisting that his 11.1aje..ty's Nl.noterd bad already adopted measures, and were about to Adopt others, which 'mull! !rowdy the evil he had ha complain of, by benefiting the Coiennal , tert.ts, It would not be necesaary fur him be trouble the Hour* auy further 011 that estbAct. ADMIRAL DUCK WwiTII'S ANNUITY The House resolved itself into a Committee of the whole Houle, on the motion of Lord Henry Petty, to consider of his Majesty's Message, re commending the House to settle an annuity on Sir 3 T. Duckworth, for his late gallant services in the West Indies ; in which it,was resolved, " t!lat the annual sum of 1o0':1. should be granted to him ell ring his life." Tie Report was ordered to be re ceived to-tnorrow. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL rose to aidre‘s the House on a ruhjeff in which, I.e said,hunt:.nity concurred with policy, in, the advancing the primer- I Ales of morality, and thereby brnefuirg the best in terests of the country. At pies , nt, it was laufol for any persons in this country, to supply the cola ides of such powers as are not at war with us, with Negro slaves, brought horn Aitica, in British ships, and with British capital, by which means, those slaves were afterwards, by an easy method, trans ferred (torn those friendly colonies to the colonies of our enemies. He ins . Arced, the islands of Saint Thomas and St. Croix, which were Danish, and front which the consequences would easily be perceived, that they could, by that means, supply the Spanish Islands of Cuba and Martinique, Guadaloupe and &. Domingo, if ever restored to the French, and even while it remained in the hands of its present black rulers. Those,were all our rivals in the West Indies, and every cargo of Negroes sent by British capital to these rival island., added to the naval strength of our enemies. The Americans also, by the possession of their new colony of Louisiana, had the power of raising cotton, and several other articles, raised in our West India Islands. Those colonies which have been taken by His Majesty's arms, if they surrendered at discretion, Elia Ma jesty became the immediate legislator, and might regulate them by his proclamation, but if they sur rendered by compaa, then that compaa must be attended to. An order of Council had heen made, and a proclamation issued, bearing date the 13th August, 1505, for these purposes ; but it would be necessary to pass an as of Parliament, in order to provide for all the circumstances, as it was the in-. tention of Government, unequivocally, to prevent, in forme, the supply of Negroes to neutral islands, by British subjeas. He did intend to have moved for leave to bring in a bill for those purposes to-day. He would, howevzr. at present, .nly move for a Copy of the Proclamation, and make the other hlo . von to-morrow. He therefore moved, T'.aa an InnYnoia Addrett be presenteJ to Ili. Majesty, re questing that ti. wt.!. grariou.ly plea.ed to gil e threctiona, th t there be la ti Wine th.., 11 ntse.• Copy M the Pr,clanla• tie,,, dated A•gu.t 15 ° 1605, la prAihitiug the imputtatunt of Negro Si .se. into the Colonies which hate surrendered to His Maj nity•sarnit during the present war General TAHLETON said, he did not rise to of jest to the Winn, bat lie hoped, when the Bill which the Learned Gentleman had mentioned, was hi might in s sufr,eient time would be given for the merchants ceoterned in the trade, to consider their interests, and to take such measures as might be d.ee.eil necessary. Sir NV. YOUNG said, the island of Tobago had not capitulated, nor been taken, but was given up by the unanimoui voice and consent of the people, and he thdight it ought to he exempted. The ATTORNEY-GENERAL, in answer to General Tarleton, laid, it was not his...intention to hurry the Bill unnecessarily forward. He meant it should be read once before the recess—then printed; and duet ig that interval there would be sufficient rim oar the House, and thJ public, to consider the Bis and to mele themselves fully acquainted with all its provisions. The alotinn vas then agreed to. Lord H. PETTY said, that as there was likely to he a r oweriation of considerable length on the stabled of. further considering the resolittions of the suurni-re,i et Ways and Means, he hoped the Hon. Gentleuten who had given notice of a Motion for lisdia Papers, which stood for this day, would have no objeaien to postpone it till to-morrow. Mr. HUDDLES lONE said, he was perfeflly ready to Pi - oceed with his Motion, and the Papers be 'sad to move foe were so light, that he thought t svould not take up inurh time ; he had, however, .0 4thjeS:on to accommodate the Noble Lord, and •-•ould, accorcii, ply, make its motion to-morrow. M . H. 1 HORN iON sail. he bad also a similar motion in that e.f. his Hon. Friend who spoke last, for a Copy of a Letter from Sir G. Barlow to Lord Lake, which, as more pressing brisines was coming forward, he would also postpone till to mor row. Mr. Vansittatt brought up the Loan 841, which was read a first, and ordered to ►e toad a second time to• morrow. Mr. Hawthorne brought up the Report of the Commiitr , - on the British Fishery Bill ; and, after wards the Report of the 1-ish Treasury Bids Bill, which were severally agreed to, arid both Bills or dered to be read a third time to-morrow. A eleviage from the Lords informed tie Howe, that their Lo!d•htps had agreed to the St. Sepul chre's Workhouse 11.11, without any amendment. Mr. Hutton, from the Navy Pay Office, presented at the Bar an account of the number of Exche quer Bills in the !lands of the Treasuter of the Navv, with their amount, part of the Grants of 1804.—Ordered to he on the table. NIT. PAUL gave notice, that he %suid, to morrow, move An Amen ;meat of an Order. made on one of his former Motions. which would be for some Additional Pipers relative to India. TUE BUDGET. The f louse resolveditseifii - ito a Committee of the whole House, I/nuke ins. further corsair/el:aim tine Resolutions tif the Committee of Ways and Means; in which Mr. FRANCIS rose and said, he h.rd (nand by information out of doors, that the notice he had given of making observatiar.s on the Taxes, had been much mistaken. He assured the Noble Lord (IL Petoy) that in what he was about to deliver, he was not aOnated by any motives of opposition ; on the contrary, he should consider the matter, as the Noble Lord had expressed it, rather in the light of a conversation, in which he should offer his advice, as well as give his opinion, with openness and candour, in doing which, he was solely at-Ne ed by a desire to serve the public He laid it down as a matter, which he had frequently seen proved by experience, that, in all public affairs, these was nothing so easy or so common, as to de wrong at I litsr, nor so difficult as to regain the right path I it was easy to get into labyrinth, hut very difficult to get out again. The relleßions he had to make, he said, were not new: they would have come from him as well last year, or the year before, as now s hot he had then other things which pressed on his attention, and preventes: him from makieg them. lie meant to go into the Ensign t sand the cases he should state, he thought were deserving of set ions consileration. He could assure the Noble Lord, that in what he should say, be meant well to him. and to the public acre ce god therefore the Noble ~~... Lord would do v ell to him With ewite e and 4ttentittn. The Stet poiet *hotted fiance ' , 4 ," 'visited to a pertieular cleft of teen, wea would s:, materially, be might say, giiievott,le ineeme a fis t Property Tal e by which 10. per cent. was to b e on all preperte; above 501. is year, and tea T at - Office was to make the exemptions ; this was, i n 1. 1 mind, a great grievance. - Here is a mare "emitt e d to exemption. and what do you de with I, e t You make him ray the money, in the first itiseien and then he is to gee in the tax-office to get it b e( again. Hp had better give uo the exemption e, gethrr, than be at the trouble of going utter i t: especially if be were a poor man. Suppose a ne e has only eoui a year, he would hate 101. l a pay down for this tax ; he cannot, perhaps, 1 47 down the money; indeed, among men of e e; description, there are very few who coal lay dcrea that sum the moment they were entice teem ; whereas, if the exemrions were then lowed, the corn to be paid might lie within tliese/y e of their ability. He tepeated, the man bad been give up the exemption than go efter it. He knee this by experience ; he bed found it in his own rr more than once, whea he hod occasion to :4t:er.4, to recover surcharges ; and had lost so much L i me that it would have been better tor him to have gives up theenoney ; and it that were the case WWI him; what mast it be with a man, who has a tradete tee low, by the exercise of which he has to 'app :; himself and family ; added to which, the chstee that the tax-gatherer might have lost or embeerlel the money, made it a very serious consideration. The nest point was, there is a great mass of pee nerty which will escape the tax altogether. lie here alluded to the unfunded debt ; that pays 5 per cent. to the helders of the seeittities, which ate floating about from one to another, and no me l e e can be given to the Bank. He asked the Naas Lord whether he had it in view to secure that as, on that partieuler property, or to let it escapee:. tirely ? this would certainly be thought be the case. He had himself, though very ueintentionally, Clno minted a fiend against Government ; he had two Exchequer Bills fur 1001 each, which he had to. tally forgotten, for which he had nut paid, nor ever weeile, unless he could find some proper perseate take it from him. He had conversed with wend persons on the subjesi; who are conversant in it, and from all he could coilea, he understood urfunded propertr would entirely escape the tn. Much had at different times been said of the pros. perity of the nation; hut for his part he could tut conceive any country to be in a state of prosevrite which maintains its poor, not be their Libour, hem by a division of the property of the rich. Wee respeeA to that article Also, he saw great riches is the capital, but was by no means sure the pre vinces don't suffer by it. The history of France gave a striking proof of this, in the time et the Regency of the Duke of Orleans, ween Pea was never known to possess so Much apparee riches as during tee memerable period oldie Mist sissirpi scheme; but the vast quantities pseee then in circulation soon afterwards became depe dated, and lest its value, and down fell the Mites sippi scheme, and the prosperity of i'aris along wits it ; therefore, the riches of the capital was no pod of the national pro‘perity. Ihe slime thing miele happen in London now, as had been the case is Paris then. There was, in this country, a vast cie culetion of pap r ; and. he thought, if a men pand with his laird, or other real property, for the ;seer, be parted with it for a mere chimera. The dale was, in his opinion, fast approaching, and he ser only one remedy for it. He had frequently head this tax reprobated for its dangerous tendency in the House ; and if we are, at this moment, in 4 sum of prosperity in this country, the only remedy thin is fir the danger, ought to be applied, and t he CA of England made to May in specie; without whine eta Charter was, in his opinion. nothing. An eset 01 Pee !anent may proteet them, but it cennot justify es/ it nJ paying. Lacking at the taxes colleefvely, as well rl separately, he objeeled to them. he said, ell In %11, II then adverted to the sinking fund, which lie thecgt 'hewed no marks whatever of genius—it WA* m new invention. Sir R. Walpole, and many ether, had the same idea of a sinking frond, though beget credit to the Right lion. Gentleman, now iso rem for having created it at the critical time he had Joe In this, he said, there wete two things to be cone . dered—the effea and the objet ; the &Teel was oar that it kept the 3 per cents. at 60; if it had so other, he remained to he informed of it. He SAW a other advantage whatever accruing from it. Ds country is taxed to a most enormous amount, an while die fund increases, the taxes increase alit The argument held out by way of censeig;' 117 -" , he said. a most curious one. We fee t ' very well, said the advocates for the fund, v'e" knowledge you must pay snore, but don't !nil that ; the whole mass of the sinking lend stea l nearer the mass of the debt than it did a few ere ago, and therefore be you contented. It will il"t rate most powerfully in a course of time. mean time, however, taxes continue acennet t e: and the people were likely to be crushed by ti - • which ought not to be the case. In csinclasi. thought this would be more fair, more rtst, more merciful. It was we duty of the Chancel- of the Exch.-sitter to relieve the people from then feels of gliev.ms taxeticn ; and it might be des and in his Mel I ought to be done now, when are so enormetis end heavy, he t g thern tiled die aiinking Fuad. We were, with a Sinking Fund of seven tuillious, keopt, funds at 60, as with a fund of eight millions; a' then that one million might be applied towares discharge of the interest of the national deet!..t. to supply the taxes now called for. He view hought, as lel say he was en conversant on this subjeet as he etw have wished; he had passed the last fire sr twenty years in studying the interests of the 0 ," Company. in India, without encourageme nt. , without assistance; he had war Free distni , " - discharged from that, and would in future his time in informing himself niore miuutel) t • interests of this country. Mr. Secretary 'r . o)( began with noticing t servetien of Mr. Francis on the suLine u 1 a emptiens, and allowed they were esceedinge venient ; halt his Hnn. Friend was mistakee• owns, ,I these inennveniences arose from tee • he had m mtioned. He put the case of haviag an annuity of 401. a year from ac- , ' „ man of landed estate, well as (he rake of es • Tr,