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

4 It thee.; when the; Y.:Olen:an, or rolu r person, was called on to !ley the Moll year, he would certainly dedunt from it the property tax ; he lentils' elm be chargeable with it, a'd muff take that mode. The d;ificulties, notwithstanding, were fora r, hie lie wished to abstain from the itemises Pl' them loos., in this particular stage of the business, becaloe the discussion of them %wend come mnre natural's., and with greater propriety, in entering on the details, in various stages of the Bill. It was agreed, en all bends, that erery fecility should he riven to the person entnled to reetnption, and that must be done ny a regular prevision in the Bill. The next print meotiuned by his Honourable Friend was the urfunded Ade, and that was also attended with • ifilficolty. At first view be thought it absurd that such a mass of property should go scot free; but he had reason to believe, front the information he had received on the subjent, that Government would gain as much by the premium; and the interest, as they weuld by the tax. [he most important sub jeet on which his Hnn. Friend had touched, was the sinking fund, and in speaking of that, he had said, " that all Ministers were fond of it." It was, he believed, instituted in the year 178 i, and from the first moment of its being so, he had been an ad %.%7.1te for it, and given it his constant support ; butt hei lion. Friewl would not say lie had done so as a thnioete He was certain that any Administration selettever that bail come in immediately after the American war, would bane had some sinking funs( or other; and that whien was well done, nuglit to he adhered to. He differed with his Hon. Fiend as to a l e efea it had been capable nt, for he seemed to think that keeping the Consols at 60 was no ere.tt adventage; hut he insisted i: was; for if you keep Consols at 61, it saves the money of the people, by lowering the interest, and by that means lessening the effects of taxation. If there were no sinking fund, where would Consols be then ? When you take the average of the enormous loans which have, from time to time, been borrowed, and which brought down Consols to Si or 5,1, you will find the people have the anvantage, and that taxes are far less than they would have been, had not the sinking fund been instituted. If the funds are lower, the interest would be hieher. Some friends of hi., for whose judgment he lied the highest re. speCt, had doubted this ; but all he had heard from them or others on the suhjeet, hid asever produced the smallest doubt in his mind. With resped to where in is to stop. it by no means follows, that becato it you now have eight millions, it moo always go on ; bin, certainly, when it shall stop, was a question which. in time et war, you cannot go into, though it may, and doubtless will, be a fair suojetn of discussion at a Noire period. Ili' Hon. Friend had said, bike away a milli-in, and consols would remain • et 60,f0r they had done SO when it was only seven lious ; true; bat was the debt the same ? no ; and, if it bad, the fag would heve clearly demonstrated hose much his Honorable Friend was mistaken. In considering the finances of a country, people are apt to be too sanguine. We are now, said he, undoubt edly in a situation in which it is necessary to demand great taxes from our constituent:, and ' we have only to hope their fortitude and tience viii be. igloo' to the trial. He would not, he said, go into the argument, how far the only remedy mentioned by his Henourable Friend, was prallicoble at present, ley obliging the Beek to pay in specie. He agreed with him, that tha mea sure would be produelive of great good, and when the subject she:sld come under consideration, he be- I lieved lie should agree with him in opinion. Ile said the Property Tax was very heavy ; he thou g ht so too ; he never was a hien(' to the Pripet ty Tex, and last year had argued against it; but as it was agreed upon by the House, he thought, and said alto. it wottin be better, at once, to come to a certain extent, to which it should go, than to keep enlarging and extending it by regular gradations The present Ministers had conic into the government of the country at a very critical oe. siod ; there were certain !nil established, that wete called War Taxes, and it would he madness in them to attempt to ores turn the system. lie thought it would be right, at the commencement of every war, to state the question of war, and fix the war taxes for four or five years I to tee, by experience, whe ther-they could be diminisOed, or were to be en larged ; and so far as the Property Tax had a ten dency to :5 system of that kind, so far it bad his ap probation. His Noble ln irni, he was certain, had brought it (onward, in its present form, from a tho tough cans lain, that it was most calculated to meet the pressure of the times, in which it had been Isis fortureo at so eatly an age, and surrounded by so many and so great difficulties, to take the ar duous situation he At present so ably tilled ; and he had no doubt but the Hnuse writing consider those ininculties, and use their utmost efforts, joined witle in to enable him to surmonut them. Mr. FRANCIS, in explanation, renewed Hs oh servation of a former night, that even after the Property ax was doubled, there was no security that it would not be gradually iucrca.ed in the next or subsequent years. Mr. HUSKISSON said, that though he slid twit wish to extend this discussion beyond the limits of a conversation, yet he was induced to make some observations on the state cent of the Noble I.d. (H. Petty) on a former night ; and, as he seldom soli. cited the attention of the I lotto., he hoped to he indulged with a patient hearing. It was not his intention to oppose any of the the Ways and Means of the year, and he highly approved of the Noble Lord's pursuing the system firs: adopted by a Hight Hon. Fiiend of his, now no more, that of raising a considerable portion of the Supplies within the year. In the year before toe adoptinn of that plan, the interest of the Loan was til. Iss. tide per cent., and from the rapid ecru ntlation of the public debt, would have continued to isterease,had'not that measure been resorted to ; the leentficial effeett of which were every subsequent year experienced. The Sinking Fun.i also, by its constant operation, was a very powerful tresses of keeping down the interest ; and he deprecated any attempt to divert it from the purposes for which it was origi folly imeeded. It WAS as error to suppose, that the anfondeJ debt et' the country altogether escap ed the operation of the Property Tax. as one hall of it was held by age Bank of England, which was always LIOISSI so deal fully by the public. But uSe principal ehj el hue ben in rising seas. to ...teert to the etetement snide by the Noble Lord in opening the Budget, th;rt he had pro-, aided the sum of II 800,0001. for the arresus . , nrst . provided for i n t h e vote of last year. !'peas certainly implied a charge against I.is Right Hon. Friend, deceased, 21 if by negligence or care looness he h a d e i t h er m ide inod-quore provisions, or that there were deficiencies in the produce of the Ways and Means. Such was, no doubt, the im pression made, and intended to be made on the House ; which injustice to the great man before al holed to, he though: it his duty to remove. It was true. that there WAS in the produce of the Land and Malt, a deficiency of 333,3681.; but as similar deficiencies occurred every year, it was not fair to consider it as pecoliar to the last. The deficiency in the Ordnance,of 561,0001. was alco a thing that must always holinen at the time of proposing the Budvt, unless the accounts could he moths up to, the end of December, which was hitherto found to be im praCticoble. The third article of deficiency was the debt of one million to the East India Company; hut though that debt sets cons:antis , claimed, it was not, he believed, vet ascertained whether it was due or not; as they were still before the Commissionen appoint. ed to enquire into them, and, therefore, could not properly be brought under the heads of the arrears of last year. These ought not, therefore, to be re. presented in the invidious sense, which, though he did not nett e the Noble Lord of using designedly, yet could not have failed to make such an impression on the House. The provision also which was pro posed to be irnade for the family of Lord Nelson, had only one former f x.imple in the history of this country ; and, however desirable the repetition of such exploits may be, was not lilt, ly, perhaps, to oc cur very soon again. The Noble Lord also said, that he contd not state the precise sum to he provided for the subsidies, hut would be content to bite it at one million. This looked as if the 3,500,0001. which remained for that purpose in the Exchequer, had all been expended last year; but the House would te• collat, that when the sum was voted, it was stated to be for subsidies. if wanted, or for any other pur poses the public service might require. Ihe fan WAS, t hot in January lastorhere was upwards of 1,600,0001. of that money remaining in the treasury, and that the rest of it had been otherwise appropriated, so that it could not properly be called an arrear of sub sidy. 'the I tst article he had to advert to in the No ble Lord's speech was what he called the clefi..iency of the Ways and Means last year. He had before admitted, that the land and malt tax had, as usual, holed to produce the sum at which it w as esti mated, but there was no mom to suppose, that all the war taxes would not he realized. Of the sub sidies, the stirs of 1,800,0001. remaining in the Ex chequer, was appiied to the naval service of the year I am; ; or if not the whole, at least a considerable part of it ; and it would have been only candid in the Noble Lord to have stated it in that way. He sail. there was a great degree of intricacy and complexity in the accounts, in the manner they were sometimes atated, which rendered them in a great measure unintelligible to those who did not wish to undergo the dredgery of long and difficult calcola boos. In years of difficolty, it was not untistiol, for the purpose of making up a favourable remit, so as to cover the estimates of supplies, to take the pro. ( - hoe of hve quarters instead of four, which must 1,- very confusing and perplexing ro those who were not extremely wooers:seat with accounts. To ob viate this inconvenience, he would recommend it to His Majesty's Ministers to make up the accounts so as that the remaining grants in the former year should go to the credit of the year following. Such an arrangement would tend to give a more fair and simple satement of the finances of the coanrry ; and he hoped the Noble Lord, upon considero- Lien, would adopt it, otherwise he should feel it his duty to take some future opportunity of submitting a proposition to that effed to the House. The Loyalty Loan, also, which the Noble Lord had thought proper to provide for, was not due till this time. arid ought not, therefore, to he included in the arrears of last ye.sr. Before the Noble Lord•hod taken so much credit to himself, he might have stated to the House, that the large Supply which he moved for the present year, was meant to meet a touch less period of expenditure than the last. It should also be remembered, diet the surplus of the Consolidated Fund for the Net year was 3,059,0001. which would go to make good the deficiencies that occur red. The Noble Lord claimed great favour for him self and his colleagues for the rigid economy with which they intended to administer the finances of the year; but as the supplies now demanded were of such an extent within the year, as it was hoped would last beyond the close of it, he was not justified, if any surplus should arise, to place it altogether to the score of economy. The vote for the service of the navy was this year 600,0001. more than in the lost, besides the million which was placed under the head of subsidy. The vote last year for the army was meant to cover the extraordinories, which then occurred for continental service ; but at p resent , though our future military system Was not yet explained, nor the es:imotes of it laid be fore the House, there WAS a suns of 80400,0001. voted for that service, from which the public only knew, that they were to have eighteen millions four hundred thousand pounds worth of army. These observations. he said, wem, by no means, made for the purposes of opposition, or to thwart the measures of the present Administration ; but were meant only to pay the debt which be thought, in justice, due to the memor y of his Right Honourable departed Friend. He was aware that His Majesty's Government Was placed in a situation of great difficulty, one that ratted for the most streotorus exertions; a situation which required the continuance of the system so beneficially instituted by the late lamented Minister, of raising a consi derable part of the supplies within the year. He hoped, that, in this important crisis. the Ministers of His Majesty could display all the vigour that Ca, suitable to the condition and clionader of this great country ; and he wax convinced the people would sooner suffer whatever burdens it may be necessary to impose upon them, than compromise the honour of the nation, or consent to be the rifled' of that insultirg festive:Hance. which the enemy boasted of she wing towards the once independent powers of the Continent. Lord HENRY PE ITY replied, that though the Honourable tientleman entereJ into diffuw vbsstratiout to inrsiidats what was s uss fi l pj Ile arrears of Lit year, ho , u Sunni:ately fr his cause, furnished etrandant mate' hits for his ost'n refutation. In his st vement, on Friday, of the Supplies slid Ways and !deans of the year. he disclaimed any de. si tle of throwing Meme on the Right Honourable Gentleman, his predecessor, who WAS now no more. Had he been inclined to do so. 'he senold not have gone se fully into the deraiis, item by item, but have mentioned barely the gross sum of five mil lions of arrears, mad have left the House to form its own conclusions on it. He certainly could not blame his predecessor for not providing for the 1,000,0001. to the East India Company, as he could not be certain that it was due at the time; but he un questionably was apprised, that it would have been demanded in the course of the present year, and he had nn hesitation now in saying, that he thought it' mould be necessary, this Session, to propose to the House the payment of that sum. In what he said upon a former occasion, he had omitted to state many iv. tides of the at rears of last year, because he really intend el no attack upon his predecessor ; but if the gentlemen apposite to him were •de:ermined to make an attack for themselves, for the purpose of defending the former Minister, he found it hie duty to meet them on their own ground, and state semts of the sums which remained unprovided for on the sth of January, together a it's the amount of the charges on them, and the assets which remained to defray them. He then stated the ifullowiag de ficiencies: Ways and Means 1.90 4 ,419 A Tieisure Waoant 350,00) Two 'ftraaury Bitl, unionv,:e 1 for l,l '4,7 , 10 Arm Barracks 6/4,0u0 Onloance . 104,1114 9.01,010 Tutal sum, ioc:uMm; thu traet;ous to which Was to he added the sum of 1,009.0001. for subeiches. ' The Homee would recolieft, that rate sum of 3,500,0901.. granted for subsidies, WAS girVl as a vote of credit ; and that it was only owing to the failure of the war, that no more then one million was now demanded. On the contrary, had the war succeeded, and another campaign commenced, by the stipulations of the treaties, the House must have been called upon this year for a vote to a much gre.itCr extent. His Lordship then entered into the detail of a num'ser of items, from which he de. dueed, that the total of the supplies unprovided for towards the services of the last yen', amounted to no less a sum than 7,445,0001.; and, when ene sums unappiied were compared with those unprot icre7l7 , e, the real balance of outstanding a would be found to be 4,793.0001. exclusive of the Army extraordinaries, the account of which had not yet come in. In making his original etetemeet, anti in that which he was now induced to make, lie had no other obj-a, but, without any concealment, to disclose to the public the real state of the finances ; and he was convinced, that if the same duty was to have fallen to the lot of his predeceson he would have found it necessary to have done the same. He had, however, the setisfaehon of stating, that the expences of these subsidies was not likely to occur again ; and that the war, if it should continue for a longer or a shorter period, would be condo/led with equal vigour, hut without the same expellee. The estimates on which he went, nerd those which be found made up before him, for the use of the late Ministers, and in the statement he made, he gave them as he found them. He was exceedingly Ir .ppy in this, as he should be on every other occasion, to do justice to the merit of his predecessot ; and he was free to declare that the system he adopt ed, of the war taxes, was produltive of the greatest advantage to the country. In answer to what WAS said by his Hon. Friend (Mr. Francis) who openel the debate or conversation, he would maintain that the property tax was more fair and equitable than the income, the assessed, or any other of the taxes of tle war. A former Minister, now a Member of the other House of Parliament ( Lord Sidmouth) who found himself under the necessity of reviving the war taxes, was also compelle s to mortgage the re venues of the war taxes for nine year., to pay the prinCipal and interest of the sum. before arising from the income tax, which pro-ceding laid the greend of that on property, which he found it his duty to continue aid encrease. Though he did not then see the Honourable Gentleman (.Ir. Francis) who made several objeetions to the exemptions, as now ' proposed, to the Property Tax, in hie place, he thought it right to mete, that all the .difficulties he mentioned, were rather retrospe4ive than pros ! .peetive. The mode now proposed would remove these exemptions, which afforded the greetest dirt culties ; at the same tone that it retained such as were just and equitable on the lace of them. The annuities, he thought, had a particular claim to exemptions ; as, to use the Hon. Ce: eemen't cwn phrase, it was not in their power to make them selves-whole again. The lion. Gentlemen w t r ue d bins not to be driuded by the apparent affluence which was seen in the metropolis. The admonition he thought, on this occasion, needless ; as the plan he proposed would put those, who could not make themselves whole again, on an equal looting with the opulent, who might have means of doing so and prevent the tax from falling dead upon a fixed and moderate income. Persons of that description, would be entitled to the re -payment of the charge; and when the gill was brought in, it would be found, that the utmost facility would be given for its immediate rect.:very, and without ex pence or loss of time, to the party applying for the exemption All that would be necessary, Was to produce the deeds or will, under which an annuity was held, to the Colleelor of Taxes, or goir.g before a Magistrate, and obtaining a certificate, to be car ried to the Tax Office, where the party would re ceive back his exemption. The next objet of ex emption was the small trades-people. People in large dealings might, by industry, oe extending their business, make themselves whole again; but the eese wan different with the small deakr, whose industry was exhausted, and could not, by any exertions, be rendered more productive. Upon the whole, it was apparent, that the system would go on much better, by getting rid of these complicated enquiries, which were now necessary in many CAS.. S of exemption, and always tended greatly to ember' Ass the Commissioners. Nut •cestig the Hon. Gen:le:min who commenced the debate then its his place, fie should not trouble the House much on what was said relating to the sinking 'mid, and the payment in specie by the Dank ( .41r. Fr4oris, ~~ - 7 7 7: -7,-, • • .lust es he oar Off* so, enifeveretr4l Ate am) on the Oppau'Uln 11,134.) I"Pe Nobie tnen said, that as the Lion. rseetleroeo was pate gessoe s he should fairly observe, !het h'e did not thihe the prospeiite cf the come ry so secure with this rerrie tem of payment, as without it. Ile beßeved t.• e thought rather better of the prosperous terve country, than seemed to be the opinion or eis Hon.. Friend : and he could not assimilate the Ai recc: which pervaded tq the metrepolfi, to any thing like the transient glare of prosperity which etteieled the Mississippi scheme in France. hit was tot rite pared at present to propose ro the House A repeal of the restriaion on the Bank ; but he could assure them. that in every cremation and interoverie between them and the t ;overnment, care would ba taken that the latter would never lose sight of the demands being paid in specie, and that the restric tion should not crettleue one month, or one week, beyond the time that it may be thought necessary to retain it. He could not agree with his Honntrrefile Friend, in thinking that no great herefit was derieerl from the operations of the Sinking Fired, in keeping the Fonds so high as 11. ; as,• by so doing, he felt a great advantage in At di e charge of his duty, in raising the necessary cuppl ti e and was convinced that it would he felt equally advantageous in all (were loans. He could rot consent to apply any of the Sinkirrg Fund now to deti ay the expences of the current year ; a.l he, as wed, he hoped, as all the gentle torn who heard him, mast expeel to elijoy their full income, and the benefits of their stetter, in thirty er fatty years hence, which expeeetion would be feilee, if the Siiiking Fund were now diverted - fir-4i the purposes for which it was orioinally designed. In.ii•penJen;- ly of these coasiJeretiona, such an apogee:jet/ tit it at this ti:ne, wmuli. in his ci - inion. he a bteach of the publie faith, pledged for it. apolicetion to the tote:Mon of the public debt, at o l io that the fund was instituted. It was a proper tegeol to the principle of public Lath. wiled% gave this country so great an advantage. over all othei s ; which. through every stet", fie' served its credit unimpaired ; 'and wei:n weed enable it to preserve its immense resources. . nien paired and untainted, upon any emer if eecy which may hereafter arise. He knew. ard ne telt it wilt peculiar concern, that the burdens he proposed would 'fall heavily on the penl.l•; bet he had the consolation to think, that they would Fell eqnelly ; and, when the Bill came in, he assured the House the: he should be fund perreftiy ready to ages- to any farther ezemptioes tact may Se peorossd, which . were likely to have en coy and beneficial effe3 Laud CAS I'LL :REACH hoped the Hone would indnlge him, he made a few otoervetions ; but, at the same time. he wished it to be generally understood, tl et he did not mean, in the !Wel - vest degree, to em‘iaroos the Ministers To the general principle of the Bitegst, he most completely - sub.:need: his: come of the Texas, he thuoje,ht, might be suhjea to obssreation ; Ltd he was coo. winced the Noble teed who had pr vowel theih, would, at the' proper time, vrillinoly all , e any ne cessary alterations. He was sorry the Noble Lord, in his atatiment, en a former night. had made use of the word arreer ; though, from what he had said on the present debate, he sees convinced, he did not intend to awe, duet theta was awy deficiency in de Ways and Means of the last year; bow iver, if he had nettle use of the word contingencies, bethought it would have been much better. The Noble L ird then went into a long statement of accounts, to •prove the propriety of the money arrangements of Mr. Pitt ; and said, that he oily wished that credit should be givers for the overran now remaining on hands ; and that a balance should be t truA, ' t h e e, no doubt, would be in favour of the Trl-441res of the late Administration. It was evident. 'hat it wae not his intention to throw any obstacles in toe way of the Ministers, or he would nor, %trishaw nbserva tion, have allowed a Loan of 97.060,001:1. es be mode, without kaowing the !adore mouser meets f o r the year were. At present, he thoegot:it necessary to say a•tew weeds on eats he7d; ,11.; ci . faced them, by ceding a pasty?* from Hato - , pre,:edents, by which he ctn.:tired it teas e d, t h at burd ens shoult not be Laid on the peorle. unless it was evident that they wete neceset: y. This principle was now infringed on; as, :,r. this muni.int, Parliament was eeling on th mere dictum of the Noble Lord (Lord flews- Petry), who had said, that he was enallei to stat that the expenses of the army would he nearly same as they were kV rear and tnis, although it was to be quite on a different foot:ng to what V:411 last year. Vs its respeet to the loan neeocieted by the Noble Lord, he was convinced, that the barg its, considering ciicumstences, teas Leneficial to ts e• coustry ; but he was also convinced, that if it heel not been made so soon, it wnn)d have been much more so ; as the first payment ot 2,000,000 W 26 to be made at a time of the year When money would be scarce in the Market. lie would say no 'on:. on the subjeet, but he felt it his duty to point this out to the Hons., as an iriftingement on the general preake, that on any future occasion it should not be submitted to, unless neceseite required it. He to- Lilly disagreed with an Honourable Geneernan who spoke early in the debate (Mr. Francis). that the present state of affairs wore a gloomy as pect ; he locked back with pleasure to the glcrinus Administration of .his Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Piet). At the commencement of it, the tax is were so many burdens,heavily telt by the peopre; M4llUtilain es and commerce had low encreased to such an event. that, though the tares were considerably greater, they were scarcely felt The Noble Lord cow:itel ed, by saying, that there never was a more vigerous Government handed over to a new Ministr,, their that handed over by his Right Hon. Frie n d, an .l b e did the Nobl e L or d (Lord H. Petty) the justice to say, that. in his financial system, he had shoe n an inclination to follow it up ; and, by so doing, to set ve his country. Mr. VANSITTART entered into a short. but circumstantial detailiot the financial system t f leis Noble Friend. He then, after reverting to many of the arguments made use of in the course of tire de bate, pronounced an eulogium on the sy.tcm of war tarts, which, he said, had saved the nation upwards of 50.000,0001. ot debt, sad 3,o(m0ool. or per. magma taxes. Aar. ROSE went over the same argnments w!l;eh ha t bleu before used, with te.pz,ri turward the buJget, balms tus azi.:c4l 1):4:1 bad _