The Sun. — London, England, 1812-05-21 00:00:00

1111P1 RLII, P EA-2, HOUSE OF PEERS. WEDNESDAY, MAY 20. THE ROYAL. ASSENT Was given by. Commission to torty•three the far greater part of which were of a private or local descrii , tion ;-='-antong the' public Ads were the Irish It bacco Daty Regulation, the Wrought Plate Doty Drawback, and the Scots Customs Officers Snperannnation, Bilis. The Lords CommiSsionera mere the Lord.Chabcellor, the Earl of Buckingham shire, and - Lord Walsingharn. Earl STAtiIIUP , E said, that the Committee on a m• at important Bill, - stood for Friday next.,; name ly; that for bttter.ing the condition of the. peasantry and tenantry of Great Biitain and Ireland. lie howe.er wished to have that stage of the 8 , 1 l post poned, and would therefore move to discharge 'the order, with a view of renewing the same for that day se'nnight. The Noble Earl having so moved, it was o:dered . accordingly, and that the Lords be sutrunoued for Friday, the 2gth inst. ORDERS IN COUNCIL. Lord SITEPTIZLD presented a IDI,i1;011 from the Merchants, Ship-Owners, and Traders of London, Nibich, he observed carne from the - most tespettable houses in the City, and, of the oldesr establish ments. It prayed that those just and necessary re— taliatory measures, the Orders in Council, might not be repealed, and expresSed a belief that the great body of the merchants of the empire enter tained tk same opinioti. His Lordship added, that he entirely concurred in the opinions and ob servations stated in the Petition, which he desired might be read, for it was deserving the most se rious attention of the House. The Petition was then read, and, on his Lordship's motion, ordered to lie ott the Table. Their Lordships shortly after resolved into a Com mittee on the Orders in Council, and proceeded to examine witnesses with resped to the allegations in the variowl petitions.. Mr. FiNDLAy,Chairman of the Chamber of,Com rnerce, at GI- , sgow was then introduced to the .Bar, and - his examination was continued at considerable length ; the , qtie.stions were mostly proposed by the Oppos , tion Peers. About seven o'clock - it was proposed by one of their Lordships to adjourn the further examination to anal her day. The Earl of LAUDERDALE combated such a pro ceedittg—declaring his opinion of the state of the manufacturing interests to be such, that the House would not do its duty to.the public, if they did not proceed without the least possible delay in the ex amination, with a view to the eventual doing away at a system - which had produced such 'calamity and distress. Lail, BATHURST argued, that it did not ,appear such a conclusion would by , any means follow, or that the dtstress experienced in some of the mann faCturing districas proceeded' from the measures in question ; that wontd be a subject of future consi deration, from a review of the whole of the evidence given-befote the Committee. As to the immediate proceeding,-he was induced to urge that of adjourn ing under the particular circumstances of Cie case, as he had, that evening, to attend to another public business of considerable- importance. The Earl of LAUDERDALE, on this 'intimation, no loiter opposed, and the House immediately re- surned. - The Earl of ROSSLYN presented a petition in the absence of a Noble Marquis, from the Stafford Potte ies, the. prayer of which (as we could colle&) was against the Orders in Council.—Ordered to lie on tht table. t The Bills before 'their Lordships being forward ed, an adjournment,' for the purpose of proceeding with the examination, till one o'clock tomorrow, took , place. HOUSE OF COMMONS. WEDNESDAY, 'MAY 20. The SPEAK4R tvai summoned to the House of Lords. On his return he stated the Royal Assent to hsve been given, by commission, to the Irish T6bacco Dwy and Customs Superannuation Bills. NEW WRITS. A new writ was ordered for Northampton, in the room of the Right Hon. Spencer Perceval, de ceased. Mr. WHARTON moved 3 newwrit for the borough of Old Sarum, in the room, of Mr. Nicholas-Vansit tart, who since his eleaion h3duccepted ilie,ntEce of a Commissioner of the Treasury and Chancellor of the Exchequer, THE ADMINISTRATION. • u , Mr, STEWART WORTLEY, *JS h e u n d erstood that his_Majesty's present Ministeri.meant to form an Administration among themselves, gave notice that , he sh - ould to morrow move an Addiess to the Prince Regent, praying him :o take such measures as would enable him to form. a strong Adminihttation. The Committees on the Manure Carriage, and Publicans Bills were postpuned to Tuesday.' - Gun. FERGUSSON presented a Petition from Dow ferruline, lgainst the Orders in Council, • Ord,re,l to lie on the table. Lord Viscount JOSCELYN brOught down the An swer of the Prince Regent to the Address of thi3 House, prlying that he wquld order a 'monument to be erected to the memory of Mr. Perceval, which stated that his Royal Eighness would order a menuMent to beerecled according to , the wishes KA the House. Mr. BROUGHAM presented a Petition from Paisley, sigaihst the Orders in Council. Ordered to lie on the t4bi.e. Mr. WHITBREAD vstponed his notice of motion respraing the Toleration Mt, in consequence of the absence of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, until this day fortnight, and alio his notice on the correspondence of Sir James Craig and Mr. Henry, until Tuesday, the 27 t h inst. _ . Gen. TA u ETO N wished to know when the Army Extroordinaries were to be moved ? Mr. LONG replied, not till after the Chancellor oi . the Exchequer bad taken h;'S seat. LONDON: *Pri n t e d by "THOMAS WOOD, of No. 35, Maiden - lane. Cavern-garden ; and Published by WI 1 LIAM% ARMtGER SCR) PPS, South .lotto: ..strect (;r)svet , or.squarc, _ At the SU N OFFicE, No, 112, Strand, *here laverlisemerits, Orders forthe taper, letters tar the Editor_ Stn_ (tost-taitl). mu s t be addressed_ BELLINGHAM. Lora G. L. G ... owr.a i.e L (0 move for the copy of a letter, written -by himself, and dated the 19th May, 381.0. aVressed to Lord 'Castlereagh, upon the st4ect of the claims of the, late John Belling ham. The Noble Lord observed, that this letter would contain a statetnent of all the circumstances of the case of this person, As. connected with his transa6ti;)tls in Russia, so far as those circumstances had 'occurred to the Noble Lord's recollection. It was desirable that no deiay should arise in produc. ing the Paper, - after the manner in which this per son had treoted Sir Stephen Shairpe, who, on all occasions, bad evinced :his readiness to assist his countrytn•en in Russia, not only with his ad. ice, but ju a pecuniary point of view. The letter also be came necessary, after the gross and strong accusa tions of neglect of duty, which he had brought against the Noble Lord in his .diplomatic capa9ity. It was due to the charailer of the British Govern ment, also, and more particularly, to the memory of Mrqerceval., that a statement of 'the real cir eumstaaes of the case should be laid before the House. The Noble Lord moved an Address to his Royal Highness far a, copy of the letter, Lord CASTLEREAGH had no objection to the pro duction of the Piper : on the contrary, he thought it an act of justice to the Noble Lord ) that it should be laid before the House. The motion was then agreed to, Mr. CANNING presented a Petition Irani certain Ship Owners of South Shields, against the Orders in. Council, stating that they had suffered 'great losses, in consequence of the License Trade. The Petition was referred to the Committee. Ihe Right Honourable Gentleman presented an- . other Petition from the same place, in favour of the Orders in Council. it so hippened, he observed, that these two Petitions comprised his own seotr menisupon the subject: namely, that the Orders were necessary for the proteCtion of the commerce of the country; but that a,yariation from the origi nal intention, by the granting of licenses;was detri mental to the system. The Petition was referred to the, same Com mittee. THE FAIIILY•OF THE LATE MR. PORCEVAL. On bringing up the Report of.the Commitiee, on the Prince Regent's Message, for 'making provision for the Family of the late Mr. Perceval, Mr. WHITBRSID renewed his objections t to the third Resolution tor granting an income to Mr Per cev,ll's eldest son, as 'pledging the Hoirs.e to an ac knowledgment of the publicservices of the lamented Minister, which services he denied to be benvticial to the country. He contended, that sufficient coni pensation had been voted without this sum, and stated that he should divide the House upon the grant. - Sir JOHN NICHOLL panegyrised, the • services of his late Right Hon. Friend, and thought' this Vote had nothing to do with his poliiical condua. His public, virtues had been admitted on all hands; his diligence in business, his temper in debate, his manly integrity ; to which he mght add, that he never knew a htiman being pcissessing so small .a -portion of the infirmities of human natufe. The provision hardly, he conceived, came up to what the nation owed to Mr. P.'s family, in cold justice. The liberality of Parliament would have the effea of making future Ministers zealous in' the discha'ge of their public,duties, by shewing that their families were, in the event of their decease, under the pro tedion of, and adopted, by the country. [The Debate, which Continued for some time, afforded nothing new.] Sir. J. NEWPORT opposed the Grant on the same ground as Mr. Whitbread. Mr. BARHAM supported it, convinced that the House were only. discharging a debt due from the country to the family of the late Mr. Perceval, He put the case, that a steward to a ,, y one Gentleman having lost his life in his service. whether that Gen tleman would not consider himself hound to provide for his family ? He, trusted there was not a M,:mber present who did not feel the claim. - Sir' FRANCIS BVRDETT' Could not consent to vote the public money in this cases because he' thought the late Mr. Perceval had no claims, in his public capacity, upon the country. Lord JocEivN defended the grant on the basis of public principles. • Mr. HUSKISSON supported it, and re-stated his for mer arguments. Mr.HoLmE SUMNER also supported it, arid con tended, that the family were entitled to 30001.-a year, as the House had.come to a resolution lately, providing that.sum for the benefit of any Minister aftrw five years service, and Mr. Perceval had been Minister that time. The House then divided on the grant. Ayes s 171 Noes Msjority . The House then went ii.to a Committee on lie Poi' ions respe&ing the Orders in Council, and heard evidence.—Adjourned., TnE LATE MR, PBRCEVAL..--It is a fa& which ought •not to pass unnoticed, and which particularly deserves the notice of those persons, if such there really be, who have displayed exultation at the tragical event which has plunged the nation at large in horror and aflliaion ; that the late Mr, Perceval, before.he came into administration,. while he was labouring at the Bar for a numerous family, and when be resided in Lincoln's Inn-fields, aaually gave to Mr. AitiFitaitt, Clerk of the Parish, an unlimited order to relieve all 'distressed families, with a stria injunaion that the hand from which -this boUnty proceeded should 'be unknown: Thus did this 'truly' benevolent charaaer appropriate a' large sum per annum, out of the earnings of a labo rious proftission, towards the relief of that class of society, in which it is said, but who can believe the assertion there are some individuals who rejoice at this foul and atrocious murder. So anxious were many persdns to possess some of the relics of BellinBham, that the Executioner has .sold the great coat in which the unhappy man I,Nr z ,s Jung for 101. The other parts of his dress ha►e, we undetssand, been . bought .at a price equally ex. orbitant.' MINUTES OF EVIDENCE, TAKEN BEFORE THE COMMITTEE OF THE WHOLE HOUSE, TO WHOM IT WAS REFERRED, TO CONSI DER OF T•HE SEVERAL PETITIONS, WHICH HAVE -BEEN PRESENTED TO THE HOUSE OF COMMONS, IN THIS SESSION OF PARLIAMENT, AG4INST THU ORDERS IN:COUNCIL. Nlt•rcurij, 29 die April's, 18 12. THOMAS IjABING'I'ON, Esq. in the Chair. Mr. WILLIA.Da WHlTEuousu called in and examined. [Continued from our Paper of yesterday.] • How many do you employ now ?; , --Frotn five to seven hundred. When did you begin to turn off your hands ? About six months ago. During the six months previous to your turning off those hands, did you employ your whole hands at full' wages?—Yes. Has ydur stock during that time been accumu lating or diminishing ?—Continnallyaccumulating. Has the employment of hands during thit lime, under this accumulation of your stock, been ptoduc five of considerable eXpense to you ?--Yes, very considerable. If matters should go on as they are at present, and your stock" should - still accumulate, will you' continue to' employ' the sane number of hands you ,have at present ?—No. Du you know how many 'persons may bentnploy ed in the nail manufaeiure in/general in Btrining hatn and its neighbourhood ?—Birmingharn is' of very little consideration in the nail trade ; there are' but two or three principal manufaEtures there; Dudley is the chief place,. West. Bromwich. and Slourbridge are the others, and there is one con siderable naar!ufatitory in Birmingham, but they emplciy most of their houses at five or ~six miles distance. How many in this manufactore may . be employ pioyed ?—At our general meeting, held in January, it was ascertained pretty nearly, that when !kade was in its flourishing, state, we employed from twenty•five to ,thirty thousaoci people in the nail trade. Do you mean a general meeting',•held at some stated times, of the pons in that line of trade ? The manufaciturers in that line of trade call quarter ly meetings four times a year. And this was the result of their inquiries at this general areeting ?—Yes. Where was this meeting held ?---At the hotel in Dudley, in January last. The result of that inquiry was, that in flourishing states of the nail trade, the number employed was fro - m twenty-five to thirty thousand ?—Yes. What proportio'n of that number may be now employed in the nail trade should think from two-thirds. to three-fourths of them may be em ployed. Of those two-thirds or three-fourths who are still employed in the trade, du ,the persons receive the full wages ?=-Yes, but not so much wages as they did six months ago, the price of labour was reduced last January. in what proportion were the wages reduccd - ? About from 71 to to per cent. Flad_thoLe wages been previously reduced at all before that time —No, they were advanced in the early part of the year , 1 tO. What are the usual hours of working in the.nAil trade ?—lt rtquirts them to work from five or six in.the mornivg, to . eleven ortwelyeat,night. . To earn what wages ?—To earn at the average no more than twelve-shillings, eight, ten, twelve, or ~ fourteen ; some sixteen, but they must work very hard indeed to get that. Do you mean that number of shillings by the week ?—No, they will none of them work by the weels, nor are the.nail manufaaurers employed in the same way_ as other manufacturers ; we deliver out bundles of iron, and-they take it to their shops, and whatever they bring returned-in a manufaaered state, we pay by the piece, not by the hour. Then when' you say, that persons in that work • now earn at an average not more than twelve shil lings, what do you mean be earning twelve shil lings?--They must work very- hard to earn twelve shillings'; many do not earn seven or eight,- work ing at their own time ; they may work . half the day, three . quarters of the day, or the whole day. D- you mean twelve shillings for a weeks wages Yes, twelve shillings for the week. ' What may be their wages by the week, at a time when the nil trade is flourishing, and the men in full employment ?—The difference would have been about two or three shillings a week, for those in full employ. What do you state as the highest wages of per sons, in the flourishing state of the nail trade ? They must work very. hard now to ' get 12 or 14 shillings, and when wo gave them the other price,. which was from seven and a half to - .ten per cent. higher, for there was a difference in pricei,.some sorts were, reduced seven and a half, and some tcn per cent. and t har person who might gain twelve shillings a week now, Might have-gained thirteen or fourteen, anti those who gain ten shillings, might have gained twelve before. Do you mean to say, that the highest wages given in the nail trade a . wnot more than thirteen or fourteen shillings ?—No; .1 have known men earn eighteen shillings, or twenty shillings, but that was when they were working for a wager, and we do not wish our men to work in that way ; a man might get now twenty shillings, but liemould not get it in the regular way, he must work without taking his regular meals to get-more than twelve or fourteen. shillings. ,Six bears ago, what was the utmost that a work man could earn for his wages in a week ?—Sixteen or seventeen shiilings. Five.yfars ago, what was the utmost ?-There was no difference from the 12111 of February, 1800, 1 to August, 18 10, nor no deviation again from that to the last January, when we reduced them to the former,price.' Then the falling off of the wages since August, 1810, has been from seven and a half to ten per cent ?--Yes. Are you to be understood. iha► you are keeping on the hands you now employ, in the expectation of the trade reviving ?-. : Yes. • Do you know whether ihe number of poor in the town of Wa r t Bromwich has ire . rased within the last months ?—They have tint, n o t so much as I should have supposed from the d i ff erence w hands we have employed, and I believe that :some other manufaaturers have continued less than %.1 e have ourselves, and I am pretty confident of that, . _ Why relief is providel for the pcor turned out of work in the town of West Brortiwich ?---That I am at a loss to tell, myself ; many have gone for 'sol , diers, no doubt, a6d many gone into the poor-.house,. but what has become of the rest I cannot tell ; wt do not employ tnore'than six or seven butlderrd pair Of hands, though perhans other mannfatiurers have not made so large a difference as'outs:ilves; for .it - 6 were very much the foreign and export trade, anii others who were in the home trade.have not. turned o ff so, man y pel haps.._ • Are there many friendly societies in West Broni: , wich 1—,4\70 ;, I do nut know of one. Do you know anything of the state of the ex• port trade, within the last eighteen months I—Yes; we have exported a little ourselves ; u e exported d little, in the early part of 1810 to 4merica selveq. • Wii bin the last, eighteen months do you' knot, any thing of the export trade ?—We have sent note • to America since tha►. Have you sent any of your articles to any,othet part since that ?---Yes, to South America. To any considerable amount ?—Yes. Have you received payment ?—We have received payment for a considerable part, and' We bavie some few - "thousand ,pout:ds owing for, the cargoes for, which have arrived in When did you send these.articles to South Ame rica ?—About the end of ,180 g and early in 1810. During the last eighteen months, that is dur ing the year 1811, from the beginning of the year 1811 downwards, have you sent any of your articles to South America I—ln the early part of 1811, op to the month of April, we - 'sent some, that is, about twelve 'months ago, in January, February. March and April, the principal part of those cargoes went out. Since the month of February 1811, have yon sent any of your articles to North America —(*)ne single lot only, I believe. Was that to the United States, or to Canada To the United States; Since the same period, down to the month of April of the same year, you exported something to South America ?—Yes. Did you expbrt any thing considerable 19:4ween the month of February and the mon'h of Atm] to South America ?.—Yes, a few thousand potinctti. Since the month of February,. 181 I , have you exported as much to South America as you were formerly in the pratiice of exporting to North Ame rica in the same period ?—NO. Have you exported any thing to Heligoland from that, time ?— , No. Malta ?—No. To any part' of the Continent ?'—:The Continent does not take nails ; they mannfaaere 62tis. Then the defalcation in your tfade,„of which yoo have spoken, h. - is arisen /entirely from the Loss of 'our export to Nort 7 l America ?—Yes. .Do you know any thing resneitticg thse sate of the homey market during that period, which enabifs you to say there" has been a fallim , off of that not" ket ?—I cannot say there liar b-en a falling or -Of that ; but as I hare been mere particularly concern' ed in the export trade than the home consumptive , it has been a considerable injury to vur house, 35 well as some others, not having the export to Ame rica ; those who had' used to export their goods to America are obijged to sell them for home con sumption, and one clashes against .kke other, and • that reduces the article to a very low pitch. Do you know of any orders having been received from North Ame,rica for goods to be shipped ?-"P There are very considerable orders in this countrY• At what, time ate those orders •desired to be exe cuted i—lmmediately on their knowing that there would be regular. interc ourse b etween t h e t`h ll \ countries, that it Would be sate to send ; there are itfimense orders on this side of the water that wot" .. .• be attended to immediately. • Would you, on the restoration of that intetcour 4 ' take back the hands you, have turned out of ee ployment ?—Yes, we could keep them in full c` f " ploy. Do you know any thing of, the behaviour or ( - 1 5 rneanour of the workmen who have been ttn-•d-° out of employ within the last twelve months; I ' l4 it been peaceable and orderly ?—Yes, hitherto thd have been peaceable and orderly. • Till within the last fortnight or three ‘ireeks • oi Yes, in faa they have been discontented for ses l , Months, but you may naturally suppose, earning,:o o small wages as they do, they have not tnuch fil- 211 for riot, or any thing of that. kind ; they are not at .0 disposed to enter into a riotous spirit. Do you reColleSt the scarcity in 1800 end 18 • „ o t , in that part of the country ?—I do„tod-I was ° ‘ , l In America to sell my nails and get . a trade I 0 been twice in 'America. • ( 'To be continued.)' BIRTII3. • • i" On WednesOay the t3 th in s t. a t Brackley, itl . N ( '" la rn tonshire, Mrs. Woodman, the wife of the Rev. Woodman, last of that place, of a Daughter. !Ars , On Tuesday .at Caciogan Terrace, Sloane-street, do Robertson, _wife of D.'lloberison, Esi.j. or a Son, ' ol° a few hours afterwards. ot The same day, the Lady of the Hon. Windham .V"i n ' a Son'''and Heir. of On the 19th inst. the LrKiy of I. R. Grossett, -EA , Lacock Abbey, of a Dnight:A - . • , hi/MK/PD. Yesterday, at the Palace, Lambeth, Robert Nlssa u sut Sutt° wor'; -Esq. to Mary Geory,iana, daukhter of I. Manners R.-- e .id Esq. of Belham, Nottinghamshire. On Saturday-last, at Henley-upon-Thames, Mr. &N. -- . i, Moser, of Peter's-hill, Upper Thames-street, to Mis s Hams, of Henley. __..--------4 DIED. liner Lately, at Launceston, in Cornwall, Mr. Dav id Pa, et. brother of the late Almxander l'altffer, of St. faines's - s. 6 e t o f On the t ith inst. at Mclksh a rn,.Anna 'C'' Edward Poo.e Lsq. of Wtdriampton, Wilts. • viol' Wedneschy the 13th inst. at Reigrave,Terra ce, itco, Paul t :Arrington Parris, of the I sl3nd of Baitiadoe.l : 001 , 'On Tuesday morning, at Overton, Hants, Mrs /I swi, late ot Woodford, ged . bar d The saine nr,•ning, Hugh,ithe infant son of Peter 10- floa!e, Esq. HIGH WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE "1 .0-1 1(".- R W. f . c . Morning, 17 min. arter ts. ; Evening, 4 1 tn:ri.