The Sun. — London, England, 1829-05-12 00:00:00

members of Parliament, which was read a Gait, and ordered to be .read a second time on . Friday. JUSTICES OF THE PEACE BILL. Mr. PEEL, on rising to move the Order of the Day for the House to resolve itself into a Committee on the above Bill, observed, that he had received a great number of communications on the subject front various parts of the country. Some of these contained valuable suggestions, by adopting which the Bill would be materially improved. He there fore proposed, in the course of the present session, to make the Bill as perfect as possible, and to allow it to stand over till next session, itt order that it might during the recess receive the attention which it merited.—( Hear.) Mr. HEATHCOTE recommended the R;ght Hon. Gentleman to introduce a clause to abolish the practice of justices' clerks receiving fees in as sault cases. _ Mr. F. LEWIS suggested that a clause should be introduced respecting magistrates in local juris dictions ; or, if that were found inconvenient, a se psrate Bill could be introduced on that subject. S'r R. HERON objected to the fees which per sons charged with assaults were compelled to pay. Mr. PEEL, in explanation, said, that he would not pronounce any opinion at present on the sug gestion of his Right Hon. Friend, but he doubted whether what he proposed should not be made the subject of a separate Act MONCK suggested that (as we understood him) some fixed salary shold be allowed to Magis trates' clerks, instead of fees. Sir E. KIN ATCHBULL expressed his concur rence in the postponement of the Bill. After a few words from Mr. PEEL, Sir JOHN WROT'rg.SLEY, and Lord W. POWLETT, the Bill was then ordered to he committed for Friday week. EAST RETFOrtD. Mr. G. LAMB wished to know from his Hon. Friend the Member for Hertford (Mr. N. Calvert), v'hether it was his intention to press the motion, of he had given notice, respecting the extension of the franchise from East Rexford to Bassetlaw; because, unless it was considered that Parliament woitA sit long enough to pass any measure which he had in contemplation to bring in, he would beg to suggest to him that it would be much better to postomie it altogether to tho next Session.—( Hear.) Mr. N. CALL AFT was inclined to adopt the snggestion of his Hon. Friend, if such appeared to be the opinion of the House. Mr. PEEL was of opinion that there would not be lime during the present Session for carrying through any measure with respect to this borough, or if there might be time in this, there would nut be in the other House. In that case he thought discussion of the subject would be an unnecessary waste of time. He therefore joined his wish to that of others that the measure might- be postponed to next Session. Mr. N. CALVERT said, that under these cir cumstances he had no objection to postpone his mo tion, at the same time giving notice that he would tiring it forward at an early period next Session, Mr. TENNYSON hoped it would not be under stood that this arrangement would leave open the question of the new writ ; for certainly if it should he moved this Session, he should oppose it. Dr. PHILLI3IORE thought that some under statinire should be come to as to that p oint. The Order of the DI for renewing the adjourned debate on the question was then discharged, and fixed for that day two months. REPORT OF WAYS AND MEANS, On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the EV. , enPot:ER, the report of ways and means was brought up. Lord ALTHORP could by no means concur in ' the bargain which had been made by the Right Hon. Gentleman as to the funding of Exchequer Bilk, for he looked upon it as a part of the old, and he had hoped exploded, system,—that of borrowing money to pay it away. The borrowing money to purchase stock was, he thought so evidently impoli tic, that he thought no difference of opinion could exist upon it. If there was un)i: surplus revenue, he thought the more simple and more advantageous wry to apply it would be to withdraw as many -Ex eiteeitter Bills as the surplto; would cover. On the principle of this funding, then, he differed wholly from the Right Hon. Gent. He also differed from him as to allowing the premium on the Bills. fliM ever, though he disproved of the bargain, he would not apply to it the term " profligate," for certainly it (lid not deserve it,—nor should be, if the House diivided on it, give his vote for its rejection. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER, if he could not convince the Noble Lord that the bargain was one advantageous for the public, could but acknowledge the candid and liberal feeling in which he had stated his objections to it, The bar gain, he contended, was a benefit to the public, It was doing no more on the part of the country, than en individual would do, who, having a number of hills outstanding and payable on demand, should give for them a mortgage on his property. The debt in either case wag not paid, but its nature w4s ebangeo. If any apprehensions existed at having so large a sum outstanding payable on demand, that apprehension would be removed by this operation of funding, and in the way in which it was done the country, he would contend, was a gainer; fc,r if, through the increased prosperity of the country, the stock which he had purchased for those bills, should rise, we should have at some future time, to pay 3,600,000/. for it, instead of the 3,000,000/. we now paid ; while we could at any time redeem the three millions of Exchequer Bills for their nominal amount. So that if the country, as there was ma. son to hope, should become prosperous, we should have saved by the transaction the sum f 600,0001. So much, then, for the general principle of the mea sure. Now, as to the payment of the premium, there was, he thought, some misapprehension with respect to it. We were exchanging one kind of security for another, and he thought it but fair to set off the premium in the one case against that in the other. - Sir J. WROTTESLEY concurred in the prin ciple of exchanging unfunded for funded debt, and also in the propriety of allowing the premium, as a reliance on the good faith of Government rendered those securities so valuable. It was not enough for him to be told by the Right Hon. Gentleman oppo site, that the estimates had been reduced. He would go much further;—he would say, that the Treasury was imperiously called upon to make a reduction of every species of expense, which they were not in a I situation to prove was absolutely necessary for the service of the public. With regard to the Commis sioters of the Sinking Fund, he would only say that to him it appeared that those gentlemen, with all their establishment of clerks, &c. &c. were all un necessarv.—(Hear.) Mr. MABERLY said, that there were two hues- 1 tions on this subject which the House was bound to consider :—first, is it expedient to reduce the un funded debt,—and secondly, if it be expedient, has it been reduced at present in the best manner ? The rime for reducing the unfunded debt had been too long deferred : it should have begun sooner, and therefore he was of opinion that the first question must be answered, by stating that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had acted upon a right and sound policy in determining to reduce it. The next question was, had he set about reducing it in the best way ? The Finance Committee had said that the unfunded debt ought to be reduced, and he imagined that the /tight Hon. Gentleman had in tended to reduce it last year, by applying to it the surplus. To his great surprise he found that the Right Hon. Gentleman had not reduced it last year, by the surplus; but that he had applied it in a manner that was most expensive and injurious to the public. He applied 3,441,0001. to the redemp tion of 3 per Cents, by which he purchased an an- Joky of 124,0001. odd. If he had applied the same stint to the redemption of the 3i. per Cents., he ‘vould have made a bargain much more advantageous so the public. On that abstract, question arose the iii;eston as to what had been the loss to the .public le hum applyii:g the same sum to the redemption of the 3-1- per Cents. It appeared by the papers re turned by Alr. Irons, that by the misapplication which the Right Hon. Gentleman had sanctioned, there had been a loss to the public of 7,346/. of an nuity. Multiply this by 25 years purchase, and, you get the exact loss, which is 183,650/. He left it to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and to his._ Right Hon. Friend the Master of the Mint, to con tradict that assertion if they could. He would now show what had been lost altogether by that impolitic arrangement. Between the sth of January, 1828, and the sth-of April, 1829, the Right Hon. Gentle man opposite, had reduced 12,498/. of annuity. If he had laid out the same sum in the 31- per Cents., he would have been able to redeem 13,130/. of an nuity. The Right Hon. Gentleman had therefore lost the country the opportunity of redeeming 6301. of annuity ; multiply that by 25 years' purchase, and you find the amount of that loss is 15,8004; thus making an entire loss of 198,450/., which the Right I lon. Gent. had thrown away in the year and a quarter which intervened between the sth of January, 1828, ' and the sth of April, 1829. He expected that his Right Hon. Friend the Master of the Mint would say, that if the Government had followed the plan which he (Mr. Maberly) ventured to recommend, the Three and a half per Cents. would have risen, and that consequently the saving would not have been so mush. He had no doubt but that the Three and a half per Cents. would have got up, but there would have been an advantage even in that. One great advantage in the redemption of the debt was, that it enabled you to effect a reduction of interest upon it. Till your Three and a half per Cents, are at par, it will be impossible for you to attempt to reduce your Four per Cents.; so that, even if your Three and a half per Cents. had risen, the Right Hon. Gentleman would have brought his reduction of the Four per Cents. to a nearer point. Then came this transaction. The Right Hon. Gentle man stated that he had a surplus of 3,000,000/. odd, —then let us consider whether it has not been well applied or not. He contended that lie had caused the country a loss of 435,000/. ; and if the House would listen to a few figures, he would endeavour to prove it. By these papers it would be seen, and he had moved for them because he was anxious to know at what price the Government had purchased every 10s. of annuity in the Three per Cents.,—that it had purchased them at 141. 9s. 11d. If that was the average price of every 10s. of annuity they purchased, he should say that that was the ac tual price at which they had been redeeming it. It was then worth while to see at what price the Government had been selling on the other hand every 10g. of annuity. They had sold it for 121. 10s., thus leaving a loss of I/. 16s. Bd. (so the Hon. Member said) on every 10s. of an nuity. To see what this loss was in every 100/. he multiplied it by 8, and it brought the loss to 14/. 9s. Bd. (so the Hon. Member again said) in every 100/. When he looked at this eeormous loss, he doubted the correctness of his own calculation. If he fol lowed up his calculations, by calculating the loss on the surplus of 3,000,000/. odd, which had been tip . plied to the purchase of stock last year by the Go vernment, he found the loss to amount to upwards of 435,000/. Add to this the 200,0001. which had been lost as lie had before stated, and you got a total loss to the public of 635,0001. Here, then, were facts, which he called upon the Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite to deny if they could. He con sidered them as making out against the Right lion. Gentleman a great misapplication of the public funds. The great question connected with this subject he considered to be this,—shall the Government con tin to this error of being at once the buyer and the seller of stock ? He held at that moment in his hand a paper, which proved that they had lost twenty-seven million pounds by pursuing that system. Dr. Ilamiltoe, that great financial au thority, what said he to it ? By this system, said he, your loss will at the end amount to 30 millions. The paper to which he referred proved the asser tion of Dr. Hamilton. The Finance ComMittee were most anxious to gat rid of this system ; and he hoped that by the assistance of Parliament they would get rid of it. The Chancellor of the Etcher suer, however, continued this unprofitable transac non, What the Right Hon. Gentleman might have to say in its defence, he could not of course know ; but all practical people were usable to conceive why he should not go into the market and buy up Ex chequer Bills with his own money. He wished pare ticularly to impress on the attention of the House, that the irtighe Hon. Gentleman had sold every 10s. of annuity at 12/. 10., and had purchased it at ' 14/. 9s. lid., leaving a loss of 11. 15s, Sd. against himself on every 10/., or a loss of 14/. odd on every 100/. How this arrangement was to be got rid of he knew not, His Right Hon. Friend, the Master of the Mint, might be in possession of some state ments to prove him in error. If his Right lion. Friend should by those statements satisfy him that he was in the wrong, he would willingly get up in his place to :ray so, and to give his Right Hon. Friend the credit of exposing the fallacy of which he had been unintentionally guilty. Ile was inclined, however, to believe that he had been guilty cf no mistake in saying that the Right Hon. Gentleman had lost 2thi,0091, in the last year and a quarter, and 630,0001. altogether, by this misapplication of the public money. How ive were to reduce the taxes with such misappropriation of our eesottreq, gotalti not discover. He thought that the - Right Hon. Geotleman should apply all his surplus to the !' reduction of the unfunded debt; for if war, or ru-1 mour of war, should come on, Cho Right Hon. Gen tleman would fiud the country endenge•eed by his endeavouring to pass off the unfunded debt at suit a time, He would ask the Right Hon. Gentleman why he sliwid not appriate 10,000,000/. to the re duction of the unfund.ed debt, as well as that of the funded debt. rhe Right Hers. Gentleman should reduce the unfunded debt, for he must be aware that the unfunded debt was an easy but a dangerous mode of reieing money. Mr. HERMES said ? his Hon. Friend the Mem ber for Abingdon had advanced very strong reasons Mg his Right Hon. Friend should reduce the up : - funded debt and he should have expected from his Hon. Friend's reasiziig that he would rather have blamed his Right Hon. Frie4d for doing too little than for 'doing too much. He was ceit44: that on many prOyions occasions his Hon. Friend had urged upon 'oveena tit the propriety of converting into fixed debt the floating debt of the country. He thought that no man who gie4&:dered the rela tive advantage of the two sorts of debt, couid hesi tate to join ip that proposition, if he took into con- 1 sideration that a c ertai n quantity of unfunded debt might remain with propriety, the danger of it con sisting entirely in its excess. When tie late Mr. Canning said that he should refrain (rpm any Gnarl- cia). operation for raising money for the service of the yeatr, eed that he should provide money for the exigencies of the etets hy adding to the unfunded debt, he said that it would ce ,t) - !e duty of himself or of some future Chancellor of the Ex.c.beaqor to look for an occasion to reduce the amount of that debt wilireb - he was then preparing to extend. In compliance with elixt proposition, which appeared to meet the general approbation r e f the House, his Right Hon. Friend availed hitnself of his pre.,7,ent plan. An Hon. Vert. on the other side of the House had pointed out to his Right Hon. Friend another fuh - d - to which he said that the Right Pon. Gentleman might have resorted to discharge these Exchequer Bills ; but the Hon. Baronet did not appear to beo.r jo mind that this proceeding had not been produced by the application of reone.e, el.s there was no money, it was necessary to negotiate with the holders of these -securities -io obtain their consent to trettsfe: their debt from that species of security to another. He wished to remind the House that the party who held U.a Exchequer Bill, by entering ipto this ar rangement, gave up an advantage which he enjoyed tit present—,namely, the right of having his money paid whenever he pleased. When he had an Ex chequer Bill he had the acknowledgment of a debt from the State, which he. had a right to have paid at his own option. When he agreed to receive so much stock for it, he then became a creditor of the State, to be paid no longer at his own option, but at the option of Government. The Hon. Baronet had likewise said, that in this proceeding for the con traction of the unfunded debt we should have ap. plied to the Bunk, but without the application of money the Bank could do nothing. The operation. of ins Right Hon. Friend's plan would give him an, opportunity of going much further than gentlemen anticipated on the former night. Their plan went, to the gradual application of a sum of money to-re duce the amount of the unfunded debt in a long course of years ; his Right Hon. Friend bad con tracted that a sum of money should be applied to it alone, and had thus enabled himself to go further, if he pleased, on any future occasion. Therefore it was that he thought that his Right lion. Friend stood upon a better principle than they did. In reply to the suggestions which had been made respecting the Bank, it was only right to say, that if we had raised money in the market to pay off Exchequer Bills, it would have been impolitic in Government, under present circumstances, to hive applied those funds to the discharge of the Exchequer Bills in the hands of the Bank. In the sweeping condemnation of his Right Hon. Friend's financial system, the House would observe, that all the calculations of the opponents proceeded on mere arithmetical points, which might be accu rate enough in the statement on paper, but were drawn up entirely without reference to the policy of enforcing or following up such calculations. But there were other considerations to which it behoved a finance minister not to turn an indifferent ear. How came it that in similar cases the predecessors of his Right lion. Friend, as Chancellors of the Exchequer, had pursued exactly the same course as to the stock in which the redemption of annuity had been made? Why had they purchased into the 3 per Cents. in preference to the 4 or 5 per Cents., as recommended by the lion. Member, not for the first time certainly ? Because the commis sioners for the reduction of the national debt always bore in mind that the public had contracted 1001. of debt in times of distress in the 3 per Cents, on an advance of 601, or thereabouts. Nor did they lose sight either of the fact that the highest priced stock was that which was liable to the greatest con tingent loss. In all cases of reduction of interest on stock, or substitution of stock, a bonus was neces sarily given to tempt the stock-holder to subscribe to the newly created stock. The present bonus, although asserted so roundly to be an injudicious one, was the lowest bonus ever offered in a similar transaction relative to the funding of Exchequer Bills. The profit, in fact, on the sale of this stock, to the amount of 3,000,0001., was 96,0001., all whieh would redound to the advantage of the public. Mr. POULETT THOMSON was surprised to find his Hon. Friend's sentiments had been so far misrepresented during the debate. His Hen. Friend had, throughout his speech, argued the ne cessity of getting rid of the funded debt; but he had at the same time objected, and in his mind very properly, to the mode in which it had been at tempted to.be got rid of in the present instance. It was clear our situation was very different now, in a financial point of view, from what it was when it had been the habit to give a bonus on a transaction of this nature. Then our situation was one of such pecuniary embarrassment, that we could not get money without giving a bonus; but in the present instance no such necessity existed, for we had actu ally the money in the treasury, and it might have been directly employed in extinguishing the debt on much more advantageous terms to the public. • Mr. WARD observed that it was not to be in ferred that the terms were unfavourable, because 18,000,0001. had been subscribed, when only 3,000,0001. were wanted; for although it had been known for some time that a funding would take place, the extent was not known ; and when it be came known that only 3,000,0001. were required, many persons found themselves over prepared.— These persons finding the terms beneficial, in order to obtain the largest proportion, subscribed for four or five times the amount they would have taken. — (Hear.)-,,The whole amount of Exchequer Bills was 28,000,0001. only ; and taking into consideration that a large quantity was trust property, and that an enormous proportion was in the possession of the. Bank of England, he doubted whether 25,000,000 of Exchequer Bills were really available. With re spect to the sinking fund, he thought it was hard that the British fundholder should be placed in a worse situation than those of Prussia, France, and America. It was part of the contract with the Bri tish fundholder, that a provision should be made for the gradual extinction of the debt. But the sinking fund had been gradually curtailed, and it was doubt ful whether the fund of 3,000,0001. was to be left. In other respects he concurred with the Right Hon. Gent, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, and hoped that he. would persevere in his present plan of giving a plain story, and that he would not be led to adopt changes merely because they were changes. (Hear.) Mr. HUSKISSON concurred in opinion with those Hon. Members who had not despaired of the resources of the country; and he agreed in the con cluding serithrieut of the Hon. Member for Dover (Mr. Thomson), that Ministers had no other mo.= tives, whatever animadversions might be cast upon them, than to consult what in their view appeared to !oe the best interests of the country. The pre sent seemed to he a renewal of the debate on Friday. It had been stated, that as there was 4 4.:,l7phis of 3,000,0001., instead of funding Exchequer Bills to that amouut, the surplus should have been applied to the extinction of so much of the unfunded debt. Looping at the facts, if it be true that Exchequer Bills were selling in the poblic. market of the country at a premium of from 50s. to 705., and sometimes 755.; if it be true that the interest is Os. per cent., and if it be also true that the law authorised the purchase of these bills by Government at par, he could curly say tlint it was a strange anomaly that any persons should be found who would give a PFF7 mium of 60s. for a security payable at the end of the year. The purchasers of the Exchequer Bills must have had in view the invariable practice. He admi;tcd that if Government had paid off any of these bills at pax, he holders would have had no remedy at law; but would it have been fair deEpling The holders would have considered themselves hardly dealt with; and, leaving out of consideration Moral oblgations, it was not consistent with the character of a country which prided itself upon its strict honour and integrity to 'descend to such act ; and if it were done, the consequence would be t , t some future time we should repent it.— (Heai.)--He could not therefore concur in the opi nion that Government would have done wisely to select any particular bills to be paid off at par;' but Government, in his opinion, might have taken ano ther course. A large quantity of Exchequer Bills had been issued without premium, and were held by the Bank of England, and the purchase of these would have reduced the unfunded debt without in flicting any injustice.—(Hear.)—He (Mr. Hus kison) had frequently expressed in the House his Conviction 4f Op expediency and the importance of reducing the amount of the oufunded debt in the hands of the Bank; and though the Hon. Ivienitier for the Bank—(A laugh)—the lion. Member for the city of• London, who is a Director of the Bank, had eont,sntled that no inconvenience accrued from this large amount o; the unfunded debt remaining in the hands of the Bank; except in the case of a panic—(Hear, hear) —he begged to say that thiS said he had stated that no inconve wos a fearful ex ce p tion. Mr. WAR D i nience had arisen froro the unfunded debt altoge ther; not with reference to that port* of it in the hands of the Bank in particular. Mr. fIUSKISSPN continued :—lt was a cities , - ' tion how far the qua ntit y of u n f unded debt was the cause of the panial—how far the numb er o f E xc h e: quer Bills carried into the market had produced that effect. During tile iqier no regard had been paid to the issue of Exchequer Bills ; but if we continued the same disregard, the country might be involved in enormous difficulties. He therefore was prepared to see as large a reduction of Exchequer Bills as the ~, . ". surplus admitted'; but if . it was proposed, as from the intimation which had been given to the House he concluded it was the intention to do, to make, at a future period, a' stilt:further diminution of the un funded debt, he theitightit should be done by ten ders and competition.::' He was aware that the Right Hon. Gentleman - haddorte. cal former or casions, but there was ,a great 4jffere.oo the cir cinnstances the c 'ountry, inebet)o7tertifs might have beedobtaine3 from the eae•eiriesi.iif competi tion, if there had been a free bidding. He (Mr. Huskisson) had been told that more than one tender had been made of more than the 3,000,0001. He wished to say one word upon another topic,—the purchase by the Commissioners of , the sinking fund in the Three per Cents., instead of the Three and a Half per Cents. As a member of the Finance Committee, he (Mr. Huskission) had suggested the purchase in the Three and a Half per Cents., in stead of the Three per Cents., and he did so on the ground of the superior advantage which would be gained by the public. The natiooal debt was not so much a debt as a great public annuity; and it became, therefore, expedient to reduce the annual. charge as much as possible. The Right Hon. Gen.. tleman then pointed out, by a variety of calculations, the loss sustained by the public from purchasing in the Three per Cents. instead of the Three and a Half per Cents. The holders of the Three per Cents. were not desirous to see those funds reduced ; and taking the average price at 75, when he now found them at 87, he could not contemplate the re duction of interest but as very remote. He would recommend that the surplus revenue should be em p)oyed for a given period in reducing the quantity of unfunded debt in the hands of the Bank of England. Mr. BARING considered that there could not be any dissent from the principles just asserted by the Right Hon. Member for Liverpool. The question appeared to him less one of public faith than of public interest, and he therefore agreed with those who contended that the 3,000,0001. Exchequerßills 4hich Mr. Canning had issued, and for which he had received 31. 10s. premium per cent., should not be fimded above par. And for this simple reason, sup- Posing there were no other—the present holders and the original purchasers are not the same persons, the bills having frequently changed hands, like all other Government securities in the money market. He also thought it would be wise policy to take up the deficiency bills as well as the Exchequer Bills at par, and thus save the public the bonus at present paid the one, and the 31. 10s. premium paid on the other. He did not consider that the effect on the currency would be such as the Right Hon. Master of the Mint had asserted, if the Government had oaken up the Exchequerßills of which the Bank were the holders at par, instead of those floating in the money-market. In his mind ;t would occasion no difference in the amount, and thence in the value of the currency ; and all the inconvenience would arise from the public misconceiving the effect of such a proceeding, to be occasioned by the withdrawal of the small note currency, arid thus inflame the preju dice against a return to cask payments. With re spect to purchasing in the Three and a half instead of the Three per Cents., he really could not see the sacrifice of the public money which some Honourable Members declared to have arisen from the Government's selecting the latter ; because the effect of such selection would be to, in a very short time, bring the two prices to a relative level. With respect to the general question, of the impolicy of keeping up a large amount of unfunded debt, he agreed with those who entertained apprehensions from the present large amount. The subject was one of great importance, not only in its bearings on our finances, but the in ternal and external political relations of the country, and therefore could not be too deliberately investi gated by the legislature. In this investigation no precedent should be taken from our financial pro ceedings in the late long and expensive tsar, when, owing to the Batik Restriction Act, a system of ruinous extravagance and profusion was pursued by every successive Chancellor of the Exchequer. He lamented, that since that most mischievous Act had been repealed, . the country had not been more ena bled than it had been to apply itself to the redue, tion of the debt which it had Incurred during the war; bat much of this was owing to the mock Sink ing Fund with which the Government had been for years pretending to reduce the debt with one hand, while they were actually adding to it with the other. But he was glad that this pretended sinking fund system was about to be abandoned. Had Mr. Pitt's plan of a sinking fund been acted upon with the amendment clause proposed by Mr. Fox, the real proportion between the debt we were incurring, and the taxes which we were levying to meet that debt, would be clearly shown, and'the extraordinary pro fusion arid waste of the public money which the war system of finances necessarily occasioned, materially checked, if not rendered wholly impossible. Mr. J. MARTIN could not admit that the loss to the public which the present system of taking up Exchequer Bills at a premium produced, was so great as Hon. Members had asserted. Mr. WARBURTON entirely Concurred with what had fallen from the Hon. Member for Abing , den as to the anneal loss produced by Government purchasing in the Three per Cents., on their fun:ling Exchequer Bills to the same amount. After a few words from Sir J. WROTTESLEY and Mr. MABERLY, the report was received,—the seve ral resolutions read and agreed to, and a Bill founded on them ordered to be brought in. On the motion of the CHANCELLOR of the Ex- CHEQUER, the report of the Committee on the , Sink ing Funds Acts was received; the resolutions read and agreed to; and a Bill founded on them ordered to be brought in, The Metropolis Roads Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed on Friday next, on the motion of Mr. G. DAWSON. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved the third reading of the Clerk of the Pleas (Ireland) Bill Mr. MOORE opposed the motion on the part of two petitioners against the Bill. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER opposed the motion. After a few words from Mr. A. DAwsoN in sop: portof the claims, and from Mr. SUGDEN against it, the gallery was cleared for a division, but the mo tion was ultimately negatived without a division, and the Bill was read a third time and passed. IRISH FISHERIES. Mr. A. DAWSON moved the second reading of the Irish Fisheries Bill. Sir A. CHICIIE TER took that :opportunity to observe, that Government ought, by every means in its . power, to foster; protect, and extend those fisheries._ The Bill was read a second time, and ordered to be committed to-morrow. LIFE ANNUITIES' BILL. Upon the Motion for receiving the Report of dic Committee on the Life Annuities' Bill; Mr. JOHN WOOD said, he was anxious to take that opportunity of calling the attention cf the H ouse , and particularly of the Noble Lord opposite, w ho held the of of Commissioner of Woods and Forests, to a Clause in a Riff now pending, entitled, A Bill to Consolidate and Amend the Laws relat ing to the I‘lanager neut an d I mprovement o f hi s MajestysWoods, Forests, Parks and Cha , es, of the Land Revenue cf the Crown, within the Survey of the Exchequer of England, and of the Laud Revenue of Ireland; and for extending certain provisions relating to - the same to the Lies of Man and Alderney." In that Bill, which he under stood was to be brought under the consideration of the I louse to-morrow (this day), there was the fol lowing passage... In the next place, so much of the moneys to arise from the said annual income as the Lord Nigh Treasurer, or the Commissioners of hi s Najcsty's Treasury fbr the time being, shall, from time to ante, think proper, shall be applied to wards the payment and discharge of Me costs, charges, a nd expences of the repairs, alterations, and improve ments of Ruckingham•house, and the buildings, offices, and grounds appertaining - and belonrio ) ' -.., • • .%-.4... . , • . • IN:4k •, , ... 4 , % a , thereto, :Teed to - the aPprwationNforesaid." Now this, he considered a most unfair , and improper clause. - The SPEAKER told the HOU,:Meniber, that it was altogether irregular to allude, Upon ,the discus sion of one question, to another which was fixed for a future evening. Mr. JOHN WOOD thought, that upon a ques tion of Finance, it was competent to any Member to make any observation, or ask any question. Mr. GORDON thought the matter_urged. by the. Hon. Member for Preston worthy the serious -con sideration of the House. The Report was then agreed to. GREENWICH OUT-PENSIONS BILL. Mr. A. DAWSON moved the Order of the Day for the House going into a committee on the above BM. The Bill went through the committee.—Re pOrt to-morrow. MURDEROUS ATTEMPTS' (SCOTLAND) BILL. On the motion of the LORD-ADVOCATH of SCOT tbe above Bill went through the committee. - 1 -Report to-morrow. TAILZIES (SCOTLAND) REGULATION BILL. On the motion of Mr. KENNEDY, the above Bill was re-committed. Mr. SUGDEN felt objections to some clauses of these Bills, but more particularly to the machinery of them, which would be a most fruitful source of Mr. FERGUSSON voted for these Bills because he conceived that they applied, not to the Act of 1685, but to the aberrations from that Act ; and that they put the people in the same situation in which they were under the Act of 1685. After a few words from the Lord Advocate, Mr. R. Grant, Sir C. Forbes, Mr. Fergusson, and Mr. Kennedy, the House resumed, and the Chairman reported progress, and asked leave to ait again to morrow (this day), which was granted. The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the House adjourned at Half-past One. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. FRENCH PAPERS. (From the Messager des Chambres, May 9. ) PARIS, MAY B.—On the massacre of the Rus sian Legation at Teheran, a great deal has been said, respecting which we had only incomplete or inaccu rate details. We have received by an extraordinary channel a letter from St. Petersicirgh, which fur nishes us with information on the subject, which we warrant to be authentic. " ST. PETERSBURGII, APRIL 20.—You are already informed of the details of the catastrophe, of which the Minister and officers of the Imperial Legation at Teheran have been the victims. Hitherto there is every reason to believe that the Persian Government had no part in it. Filled with consternation by this horrible crime, it eagerly offers the most extensive satisfaction. A person in the confidence of Abbas Mirza bad been sent to General Paskewitsch at Tails, to be the bearer of the first expression of his regret; and one of that person's sons will speedily follow with a similar mission. The honourable con duct of the British Legation at Tauris on this occa sion is worthy of the great Monarch and the great Power which it has the honour to represent. As soon as Mr. Macdonald, the English Envoy at Tau ris, was informed of this melancholy event, he sent to Mirza Hassan Khan, the Schah's Minister of Foreign Affairs, a despatch of which the following are the principal points. He observes that, in consequence of this catastrophe, all confidence is destroyed, and that it would be in vain to pretend that the repre sentative of any Power can henceforth think himself safe in Persia; that it is not enough that the Go vernment disavows proceedings, the consequences of which, perhaps, it tears itself, but that it must offer complete satisfaction ; that the instigators of the massacre, and those who perpetrated it, must be given up, wherever they may be; that no rank ought to protect them, no sanctuary serve them as an asy lum, no subterfuge be employed to screen them from the punishment which they have merited; and that if the Government is not able to clear itself com pletely from the suspicion of any participation whut ever in the crime which has just been committed, not only Russia, but the whole civilized world, will become its enemy. It is Captain Macdonald, brother to the Envoy, who has been sent with this note to Teheran. He had orders to take under his special protection the officers and individuals of the Russian Legation, who had survived the massacre, and to conduct them to Tauris. He has besides declared, that the slightest insult or violence towc.rds them would cause him, and the British subjects placed under his orders, im mediately to quit the Persian territory. " All the members of the English Legation, as well as the subjects of his Britannic Majesty at Tauris, have gone into mourning for three months, as a mark of their profound affliction at the sad event which has taken place." The arrival of a courier from Vienna, with des patches for the Ambassador, was spoken of to-day on 'Change. We are able to state that up to the mo - went when we are sending our Paper to the press, no courier had yet arrived at Paris. (The Gazette de France, dated Sunday, and )lfoniteur of Saturday, contain no farther news.) FRENCH FUNDS.—PARIS, MAT 9.—Five per Cents. 1081. 10c. 108 f. sc. ; Three per Cents. 79f. 10e. 79f. 79f. 10c.; Bank Stock, 1,8621. Loc. ; Naples Stock, 871. ; Royal Spanish Loan, 79if. ; Elaytian Loan, 4651. change on London, one month, 25f. 40c.; three months, 251. 25c —Cours Authentique. TELEGRAPHIC COURTSHIP.—Last week the young girl who manages the signals at one of the tele vaphic stations (Bidstone, we believe) had the following query put to her by signal :—" How do you do my dear ?" To this she immediately replied, adopting the same mode of communication, " Mind your own business, Sir, and don't be ogling the giris."— Sheffield Paper. It is stated in the last mumber ottlie Journal des Connaissances Usuellee, that a bladder filled with rectified essence of turpentine, closely tied, and placed in the cup board in which are stuffed animals or birds, will effectually secure them from the ravages of insects. The smell of the turpentine, evaporating through the bladder, destroys any insects which may all odY exist, and will prevent the ap prolch or production of others. —Literary Gazette: GLASGOW.—On Tuesday a numerous and highly respectable meeting of the Merchants, Bankers, Manufacturers, and other inhabitants of this city, was held in the Town flail, for the purpose of petitioning Parliament against any renewal of the East India Com pany's commercial monopoly of the trade to India and China. A short time ago two persons of East Far leigh und9rtook each to eat a pound of raw pork, which feat they performed in about twelve minutes. One of the same chaw-bacons afterwards drank two pots of beer in IA secondg. —Kentish Gazette. RUSTIC PUMP IN WINDSOR FOREST, AND MIXERAL SeitiNG.—We have great pleasure in informing the public, that the mineral springs, lately discovered in Windsor Forest, will shortly be opened for general use.— TVindsor Express. Such a day as last Sunday has not been wit ne4t.4 for many months, spring haying on that day burst upon us in all its splendour, accompanied by the warmth of summer. The weather, which underwent a sensible im provement since the change of the moon, has been parti cularly warm and showery the two last days, and vegetal tion is making rapid progress. The cuckoo was h ear d this forenoon in the neighbourhood of the Woodlands, two miles westward of this town.—Perth Courier. On Saturday afternoon a very singular docu muit was posted on the west door of St. Dunstan's church. It purported to he signed by the Registrar of the Eccle siastical Court of London, and it stated that a Learned King's Counsel , who is not now in Parliament, but who f s ur nr as a separate ril 'sarsaot, had agree to a ll ow to hi s w if e a cer t a i n u e maintenance, and that that sum was un paid and in arrear. It then went on to state, that as the Learned Gentleman had absconded, it was ordered by the Ecclesiastical Court that the process against him should be affixed to the doors of St. Dunstan's Church, and the Temple Church, and also on the door of the Learned Gen• tletuan's chambers, COMMON covnlL. , d Yesterday a Court Of.Conniion . Cctme, ll ) wf s "..,_ , -44 at Guildhall,, 'After . the_ minutes a ihelst a,,, , v0 had.been read, Mr. DIXON rose to ask whether' the. gitelle specting the ward ofVintry was yet eittlir, o4 ' ward had been now for a very, long ' Alderman. He alsOwished to knovr,-w)40 20 k-V intended to replace .the which had been taken down, An the Exc - London. • Mr. R.JONES stated, that it was intendedoll 11 to place a statue of the late King in -the-Exel executed in Portland stone, by an eminent The LORD MAYOR stated, that with the first question which had been aaked,,he.*_.N,.. inform the Hon. Member that the.CorporitAro' London and Mr. Sheriff Winch es tei.had sire a e-t refer to arb;tration the legality o f cer t a in votesgi,T- or at the Vintry ward election; and he believed T he that the subject was in a course of settlement', r Lord Mayor also stated that h e h a d rece ived 9 A"":„ from the Duke of Wellingt o n, expressing. I' m .— on knowledgment of the honour the Court of C° 11)- 1 ; Council had conferred on him by thei r vo te of tharl..!' He must also state, that the reason why this letn t . dated the 3d of March, did n o t reach his earlier was, that the letter was by some mistalciP! l ., - to Strathfieldsaye, in a parc e l whi c h'remained " opened. • .r The letter was then read : it was in the follow, 1 *•• terms:— " TO THE toga) MAYOR. ed " had the honour of rec e ivi ng y our l e tter of the - inst., conveying the approbation of the Court of Coulow a Council, in London, of the conduct of Mr. Peel and al' self, for the advice which we thought it our duty to gio to his Majesty. I beg that your Lordship will wake best acknowledgements to the Common Council for th i. expression of their approbation. lam very sensible old': kindness of your Lordship's communication to me, an d hare the honour to be, yours, tcc. " WELLINGTON. " The letter was ordered to be entered on tll e minutes. SPITALFIELDS WEAVERS. T Mr. DIXON begged leave to withdraw a moton' of which he bad given notice, that the Court should grant a certain sum of money in aid of the coin'!" butions now raising for the benefit of the Spital fields weavers. His reason for withdrawing the mo tion was the occurrence of riots which had been committed by that body of persons. He begged tc ! ask the Lord Mayor whether there was not a sP e. - cific rate of wages, by law established, for the rep lation of the prices of the Spitalfields weavers? • The LORD was replied that such a law In' w existed, but as at present repealed. Mr. GALLOWAY, for one, gave his assent to t il u e : . withdrawal of the motion. H e cer t a i n ly thoug`',:e that the Court ought t o b e a li ve to t h e su ffering '- the industrious part of the community, but if al' rests body as s f ther oengage peaogpelei in acts eftasr of violence mistook th a e s i r aolowenanin,t,et obtaining redress, it was hi s o pi n i on t h at they nuri, to be taught that .that C our t di scountenan ced Fu c " a course of proceeding. If a different line of O il ; duct had been pursued by the Spitalfields wea ver ; than that which they had a d o pt e d, h e s hould P% considered it his duty to h ave d one every thing in 13 ,.'" power in that Court and e l sew h ere to a fford th e that assistance of which th e y s t oo d i n nee d, in c° :l sequence of the pressu re o f th e t i mes . He h° ll-,11 0 . that the course which the Court would adoPg y the present occasion wou ld operate as a salu t , r f t lesson to the working classes of the commuility would, he trusted, make them understand that Or e l. never could obtain redress by committing acts violence or destroying the property of individualS;7 and that whenever they resorted to such they did themselves the greatest mischief. Mr. DIXON said, he hoped it would be under"! stood that he only suspended the m otion u rder' .. that he might, when lie thought fir, renew it. The LORD MAYOR expressed his concurrence fri, what had fallen from Mr. Galloway. The distreinji, which had prevailed for the last six months aniel:' the silk-weavers had been the occasion of isubieOr k s tions being raised to relieve it. Very large n 4" ". stt money had been transmitted through his bandaln.C..' the relief of the Spital fi elds weavers; and.eyedl the very day when those out-breakings . which 11 °. lately taken place commenced, 2001. was sent to-h i c ll3 by certain individuals in the city of Durbasn. mentioned this circumstance in corifirniarionpf.whO'' It w" very had just been stated by Mr. Galloway. desirable that that Corporation, and every- P u blic body, should cot fie forward with ' assistance, NYBe"_, industrioua-:4 misfortune and distress overtook the artisan; at the same time -they ought to disconitte nonce him and leave him to his own means wherilnL,! took the law into his own hands, and atteMistea, destroy the very means by which he might Olit 80 ? - for the future a livelihood for hiinself and hia'taii.tfo. He would inform the Court of a circumstance' had been mentioned to him, and which heha(tfr,l', o good reasons for believing—namely, that 's ° ,-i t condtitt those looms which were destroyed on Tue 0 4 49 ;;;;0 -were were actually producing to the owner's :from.. 28s. a week; thus affording . thein the Ines l , l , B - s ; competent maintenance. He therefore. thoug ht .t the outrages which had been committed., by. t o Spitalfields weavers, constituted a most ser , offence.—(Hear, hear.) eL h so N ro lr a . ei S t T a E s P fr ti o E n N i s 2 o s st s. neymen in the present depressed state a the 01 earned t te h d e t fact byo trade. , The LORD MAYOR informed the Court, that., tj had re c eived his information from a very' exten gl silk-manufacturer. sa t o id 28hse. doubted was au Mr. GALLOWAY said, that the Court did no e s: t fess to give a n y opi n i o n w h e th er t h e silk-. n; was overpaid or underpaid, but it declared that l ', 7 ;v' lence was not the proper means o f o btaining re':,," What would be the conseq uence o f the outraF; committed by the Spitalfields weavers ? would have the effect of driving away the silk Wl' a. from Spitalfields. The motion was then withdrawn. Mr. TICKNER presented a petition from. Mr. 1 4 1; bert Gloster, praying the Court to take into ali o consideration a plan he proposed for erecting a °l is t a pier attached to the New London-bridge, to se t for the landing of passengers from steamboats . re j The petition, together with a model, w as reser . to the London bridge Committee. d. The Court, after considering various order', journed at half-past two o'clock. IMPORTANT ARRESTS.—We have recei f f 7 intelligence of the arrest on Wednesday night And Tb4;o d . day morning of twenty-one persons in the neighho urP d of Doneraile, by the Police of the Baronies of Ferrne/t, eI Orrery and Kilmore, under a warrant from the Elqh,;(l.: KINGSTON. The offence with which they were eh"; t he was deemed of such importance, that a Meeting ," i° Magistratei was held on Thursday, and they remain t o deliberation to a late hour, when it was decided °t o o adjourn it until to-day, when the Noble Lord on warrant they were eipprehended will give his atten d We have heard of the crime with which those person' !/. charged, which is of a very serious nature—but a s the Irjls; vestigation was strictly private, being confined to t Magistrates, and the Police being enjoined to Secrecy, /0 do not feel at liberty to enter further into the subje ct u° the investigation shall have closed.—cork ConstiiNtioli• 011 Great alarm was excited in Newington Friday evening, in consequence of a report that two drew had been kidnapped. The children, it appeared, 1161, been placed to nurse with an old woman named Fit. 41,5,%; residing in Market-street, and on Friday morning. " I V had been prepared to meet their father, who geu er : t o , came on that day to see them. They wer e 'Jere go out for a walk, and did not return by the time .074 father came to see them. However, about half-pas.t Og r i o'clock in the evening they were brought homen i o, '- respectable young lady residing at Kennington, and " whs .: found them wandering alone in the Brixton-road. ' -0, children stated that they had been enticed by a man into. chaise-cart, who drove them as far as Brixt on-coulPI:, when they were frightened and cried out , - an d the gl4;'; a pparently afraid of being arrested, instantly ea t d o wn, and galloped back to town.