The Sun. — London, England, 1816-05-25 00:00:00

INIPERIAL PAALIAMENT. HOUSE OF LORDS, -FrlnkY, MVY 24. The }louse met at ten o'clock in the morning, and proceeded in appeals. Lord Dalhousie (Earl of 'Dalhousie), Lord Ikleldruin (Bari of Aboyne), and Lord Foxford LEarl of Limeric), were severally introduced by ord DottelaT, of Lochieven (Earl of Morton), and Lord Stewa.rt, of Garlies (Earl of Galloway). Their.patents of 'creation having been read at the 'table, their Lordshipt took the oaths uni their 'scats. The 13th Report respecting the Caledonian Canal Papers, respecting the Military Canal, and also from the Litw u Boar! of Ireland, were pre !mewed, and ordered cb lie on the table. Mrs. Dyott's Marriage Bettlement was likewise laid be. toe the House. The Soap Bill, the Local Militia iiay and. Clothing all, some local private Dill', were brought up from the House of Commons by Mr. Lushington, Sir James Graham, Mr. C, Calvert, Sir J. Boughey, and other Metnbers, and read first time. REVigION l THE STATUTE 4136%. _ This evening being appointed for the Coat:rent" with the Commons on the above subject, shortly - , after five o'clock Mr. Quarme„ Usher of the Black 0.041, opimat ca at the bar, and informed the House, that .Managers appointed by the Commons were then in the Penned Chember, waiting for the de. tired conference with their Lordships. The following Peers were then appointed to manage the conference on the part of the House, via. the Earls Stanhope, Brownlow, HatCo l ll l , laid Darnley ; Viscounts Torrington and 'Mel ville ; the Bishops of Chester end Oxford ; and Barons Kenyon and Redesdale ; and their Lord ships immediately proceeded in the usual form to the Painted Chataber, Un the return of the De . putattoo, Elul Stratum repOrted, that the Managers bad met the Commons in conference in the Painted Chamber, which, on the part of the Commons, was managed by the Right Hon. George Rose, and other', and that their Lordships had commas oicated to the Commons the Resolutions of the House respecting the Revision of the Statute Book, us directed. WEivirrs iktrB,4l - 45 D4rlSunnore ittid,ltheir Lordships would recol lect, that ufew dale ago they had taken into con • siderat ion si Bill of very great iinportance respect ing the uniformity of Weights and Meastires.-;.• Their Lordships had disposed al that Bill as men' of *elm ought to have done, namely, putting , it oil' ill 6 mouths. Yet that proceeding was not in tended to convey their Lortiships* approbation of the present system of Wright* and Measures ; and a Noble Marquis had very properly suggested the pro prietyof appointing a CoMmittee of men tfilcienee minivan. into a proper Standard; be would not have taken this business out of the hands of the-Noble Slarquis (Lansdowne) had it not been perfectly agreeable to him. If his plan should be ultimately adopted, it would be one fouuded on Nature , for a ll others were folly.' lie "hood not i•eeitniniend that the standard should he of the length of 10$ barleycorns; of the depth of so many acorns, or of the breadth of so many horse anginas. Would not foreigners ask, wa.. that standard for acountryla !nous for mathematics, and its knowledge of Nature 'r ftirthe country ilf Newton,litatou,Shopson,Napier and Maclaurin ? lint no such silly plan had ever en. ' sere' his bead, for his plan would be founded On Na• titre. Their Lordships might recollect, when the New Style was introduced in 1752, no objection was made to it, except by some persons, who said that Parliament was . gaing to' rub the country of 11 days; area who did they think those 11 days kkere to be given ro—alsy, to the Hanoverians ! langh)-13ut in some parts of England the old.m'yle was still iu use; but no inconvenience liad'been felt from the gradual introduction of the new style; and Parliatneot might allow the • standard to be introduced gradually, which , would not ptit the public to any particular in convenience. Thera was a very singular thing in the Report of the Committee of the Com- MOOS, that there was a public office in West minster, where they stamped 411 Weights brought to them, whether they were jnat sir not, and they had done so fur malty years. A witness had Weights by him, some too light, and others too heavy, but all stamped without being,, put iota the scale,.for they tSottiti never inspect them. These Weights were matte on purpose to try whether they would stamp them or not. A shOpkeeper, by such means, might be blasted in his character for using light 'i!eiglits, when it was not his but that of this office. In that Report, Pyntessor Playfair bad Stated the French meter to exceed our yards' liythree inches and 38.100 on die contrary, Dr. iVoalacan had gaud it di three inches and 37-100; but that was owing to the inaccuracy of the instrument with which they compared it . He should move fur en Address to the negcnt, that he would order u Committee to be appointed, composed of persons of science, t o ex. amine into the best standard of Weights and Mea sures. Others of the Committee might be Lawyers, if they were thought necessary; and be also thought t hete should be three Members from each House fal Parliament to cons,mmticate with Government „., stud the Legislature. Those should be composed of one from each divisiOn of the United .King. dom. For Ireland, he would propose the Ear) of noss - ; and for Scotland, the Larl - of Aberdeen with such men us Dr. Mutton, Woolaston, Dr. Gregory, and Col. Aludge, of the Royal Military College, at Woolwich ; Dr, Robertson, of Ox ford ; Mr. Vince ) of Cambridge ; and Professor Mayfair, of Edinburgh.-- , -[Lord Kenyon suggest ed, that Uri University of Dubiin should send one.]--Earl Stanhope said, he had oily "tamed those, toshewof what men to would have the Cow- snittec composed. They Might to be melt, too, of aiiiercot opinions; for, if they were ail alone opi won , it would be impossible to arrive tit troth: It was very disagreeable to examine Philosophers iii s kir a manner as to make them eic pose themselves ; but he could assure their Lordships, if it were necessary, it should. he (lone. He had formerly said, in his facetious way, that he would examine the very guts of ther i and he would keep his wiirti. He Oieit itinelard by Ulm , * to the Regent, fhathe woiAil order t a oinfoillee, compased of men of scientific huoi‘ leitge, to be tippninted to enOire" into the boa nie.an'aiif ti o. 'clueing nniformiti` hi:Weights and Measures., . The Earl of Ahlttni4EN tint the Nohle Lnrd deserve' well 6114 country for the pains he bad taken on this .sitbject ; but he trusted that some one more coaliktent . thati him (Lord A.) would be appointed of; the Committee. A Simi. tar enptiry'to the present was in progress, and he hoped that the Committee would go hand-in-hand with that inquiry„ • • The Earl of Ltreneoot, hoped they ‘routd 'pro cm, with caution ; for this was nut alone a qtl6• tion of science; it involved a greatyariety of prim cleat relations between the buyer and the seller, which would yequire the greatest consideration, lle should therefore think, that a portion of the Com• in tee should be made op of men well acquainted with the law relating to buyers and sellers, To the'lnooon. he hild no objection ; but he trusted there would be no other object than the enquiry before them:: Earl STotuota said, the Noble Earl's (Aber &ell) modesty had' matte 'him decline a duly fur whiPb he was'eitrernely well calculated ; and he hoped his triena would, yet be aisle to press him into the public service.-". He bad no knowledge of any enquiry gOing an except by one man, as be had heard, .who had brought .him figures of instruments for breaking stones ; but had de, monstrated to him that they would pot answer the purpoirts at all. R e hoped that mall would not be put uron this Committee. -It would be a mow benchcial thing.if the principal ;attain of Europe would agree in one standard, founded on Nature. For this purpose, they would not be able to name more scientific men in Europe than those 11c had meistivattlite -:fitotion wits then agreed to, nem. dis. The Soap bitty Revulation Bill, the St. James's Poor Bill, and several Bills of a private nature, were brought up from the Commons, and read a first time..—Adjourned till Monday. HOUSE OF COMMONS. Accounts were presented ot Bank-notes issued, and of tolls on the Royal Military Canal. On the motion of Mr. IVROTIESLEY. certain returns of Charitable Donations in England and Wales were ordered. Mr. CVILWEN postpone , ' his motion respecting the Poor Laws till the 28th. Lord J. CAmruELL brought up the Report on the Argyle-roads Bill, which occasioned a consi• derable conversation. Lord COMPTON moved an amendment, to omit an amendment of the Committee, on which there was a division : for the original amendment, Ayes 5O Noe` Minority Afterwards, Lord CoMPTON moved another amendment respecting 'the number of the deciding majority of trustees; and anotherdivision ensued-. 4 55 Ayes Maj?rity —l The eItANCKI.LOR of the FoteitRAWER moved, for a Committee to menage the conference with the Lords. Ordered. The Report was afterwards' Itronght'tip by Mr, Rose : the ohjeet tit the conference 'WWI the Bill for arranging and classifying the Statutes. It was ordered to betaken hue consideration on that day sennight. The Leather Committee Report was received: A Petition wag; received from the Alortiro'se . : Ship.-owners. SOAP BILL. On the question of the third reading of this hi ll, Sir M. W. RIPLRY said, It was in nt,iny respects objectionable ; hut he objected entirely to its principle. Ile had thought, at first that it was only a regulation bill, !intim finingl since that it was a bill for revenue. It would have an injurious ten dency as to the use of kelp for hard snip, whereas the importation of potash from Russia and Ame rica was for the manufacture of soft soap. Mr. Matron Ass asked whether this professed regulation was intended as a financial measure to get 2 or 300,0001./a-year ? The CHANCILLE,Iig of the EXCITECLUBR observed,, that considerations respecting the Whale Fishery bad operated in the origination of the Bill ; hut - ,14 had certainly calculated, on smite augmenta-, lion of revenue. It would probably raise abont - 1.50,0001. a year. The first objections that were made .arose from the contending interests of the 'hard and soft soap.manufacturers ; and a draw. back was proposed fur the snit soup. But it Was, stated, that great inconvenience would be ex a-, rienced by the hard soap-mauufaeturers. 7ritc effects of the tax, which had been sp much feared, would not fall on the whole population at the rate of more than threepence a bead. The price "of soap, be calculated, would rise about 8s: otc9s. p9r cwt. and the whole duty Would be aboat - 30s. per cwt. Mr. Pastime objected to the regulation. Mr. VIJIWIIN believed the calculation would fall short of , the amount, and that the tax would be each on a million of families. lie would not object to any fair plan of taxation ; but, he was convinced this t a x w ou ld f a ll most Imavilf on the lower classes. mr..un . o"votiAs t observed, that by the altera tions, the regulation part of this Bill was drop ped, and the tax part continued. Like other 13108 professing regulations, this WAS iu fact a re venue bill, and was imperceptibly slipped through the House to a certain stage, before people knew the nature of it and so they were prevented from considering their interests properly. The manufacturers, however, could easily combine, and one set get their exemptions, and another their drawbacks and the CUMMITICI'S still had the tax to pay, after the manufacturers were relied from what partienlarly pressed on them. It seemed dm practice of the Treasury never to bring in a Hill of regulation without turning a penny by it. It was said that this tax would amount only to three pence it head on an average, as it would be about four-Pence on the higher, and three-halfpence on the lower classes. But thus MCAStlres striVallreti by degrees; Straw was laid Ott strew; till the last straw broke the mares back: Additional tow tion on soap, t ven at the lowest rare, tuna in crease the price Of labour. HMI tbt Wes op salt , • been begin) . at a bushel, th icz 'could not Lave been borne; but the practice was to begin low, and then to advance, add say it was only 3,1. or 4d. in the increase. lie hoped the House ‘vimid. pause before th e y pass e d a tax 'Bill on an article of necessity, for which the only defence was, that the amount of the Increaie was small. Mr. Ittise nothing was more betietcial to the p'Oblic - ) in n u of taxation, than to avoid taxes atlieles of consumption : but: what was to be cothe cit the revenite, it, all such taxes were . resisted, after the Property-tax bad ceased ? If the revenh Coidd not be supplied ip amore de sirithle way, we iciust be driven to the nedestity of laying on such !axes as the present. The liOn. Mr:Lidu:Tim observed, that it appeared that Gentlemen opposite, finding they could brit, through the assessed takes, or any other assessments, find an equivalent for the Inst Property -tax, were determined to - propose such taxes as 'would make some piciple regret theabo litiott of the Property-tax. He believed, how ever, that it would be found that any Property. tsx Would fall ultimately most severely on the poorer classes. The Bill Was read a third time, and passed. BOARD OF ADMIRALTY. Sir M. W. Runes , wished to ,tsk a question of the Noble Lord. The Member for Monmouth , (ilse Marquis of Worcester) had vacated his seat, on being appointed a Lord of the Admiraltv. He meant no disrespect to the Noble 111,arquis but be,undernOod from tb Army List that be held a Commission as Lieutenant in the ith Dragoons, which regiment was now serving in France. It , was it that he could discharge the duties of both situations. He also thought that the ap pointment to the Admiralty Board was improper aud useless. Was he to retain both situations ? Lord . C,ssTLatss,tox was not able to give pre cise information, as he could not say whet her. the Noble Marqui s had or bad n ot resigned his Com tll6!iioO. Me. host gave . notice of a . motion on Monday for papers respecting the Trinity7honse. BOARD OF CONTI:or.. Lott] Acrnottrq.asked tttpiestio;respecting the vaetkney in the oftici: of President of the iiH,t(l,ol Controidurtn(three months, hod wisbett to know if it wtts"to be tilled rtn ? Lord CAsTLERRALIff Said., • be once held that office for a time, and he knew it to be a most la boilouviittlation. Mr. 13110pc3HAM said, th a t a Not►te Wag Seeretary.of State at one thne, while he held the Presidency of the Board of Control. Was it now intended to consolidate these oltees Lprd CASTLEREAGH SAM, he was convinced that any •individual lrol • ding the office of President of the Board of Control, If he 'eliwie to make him self master of the business, twold find it a most efficient office. The Elon, Mr. LYrrt.sTog moved . lor rt list of 1 4 ersons lieeneed to keep. Lottery-offices for the last two years. Ordered. . ... . Mr. 13R000ttAm moved'. for• Papers relating to the seizure of the, Anoe ordnance tntllliii/Ort. 'Or (ivied. , . . ACiltict L'rtictE. On Mr. V. ricwis' Motion, the House went into7a Committee 09 Agrienitore. Mr. F. tiIMIS Stated 1115' itttelltioll to 1119VC, that the consideration of the first resolution sohtnitted to the Committee he postponed, on account of the tame Of health of his Hon. Friend', the Mem, • bri for Essex (Mr. W es t ern ), w hi c h did not per— •niit hint to attend the House. He should seize this opportunity of !uniting a few observations on the proceedings of the Commitlees. Sitting above Oaks.' They had come, to only .two reiolutions,, and their opinions were rather of a negative na. tore. 'The first was, that the doty • on rape.se e 'd ..-inntl4l be materially increased . The other was of a ditferent kind, and he hoped the noose would act upim it this Sesshin : it went to remove the clinics ou the importation of rape-seed mid rape seed cakes, which amounted to 34 shillings per tun on a quality that sold at 41. ,I'os. per ton. H e concluded by waving the postponement 'of the first resolution. . : ltir. Littpuottatt wished the penalties on the growth of tobacco should hq removed. as' they were merely for the .benefit of the foreign culti vators of .that article in Maryland and Virginia, to the prejudice of Knglith and Irish farmers, It would preferable, to permit, the growt.h . of to. baceo,,,and lay a duty on l im n ae.grow tobacco, as on home.grown barley. From. such a nicastire the revenue wouldrather,gain than lose . Mr. PausTot4 denied the reports tv); 14 1 1 b .a d be en. circulated,. that there was a superOuntlance of corn in the country, 'and litmented the dcprecia thin of the agricnitnral interest.' Lord CASTLRHEAGII/ understood that the inten tion of the Htinontable Gentletnitn.,ovposite (Mr. F. fiewis),..virto to postpone the resolution relative to Wool, and therefore suggested the propriety of the Hon. Member's (Mr. Preston) not introduc inOhe di-eussiou of tri; Corn question to-night. Me. PRI.I.STON eicpretsetl his t - valinss to abstain from entering 'you that part of th i e subject now, tn. co inpliance with the vvish of the Hous e . 'Mr. F. Lewisjotendett to move the postpone ment of the first resolution, not to set the question at rest, hOt merely that it, shoulikhe suspendeil his Honourable FrieH's health would aEoiv him to attend. • The question was put and agreed to. Mr—F. LEWIS then said, that he . had already proposed a resolution to allow 'the free Vtporta 'ion of Wool. xt had, excited much interest, and the measure had been referred to the considera tion of a Committee up stairs, to, inquire into the subject Although partly foiled iu their efforts, they had :procured bqflitiyot informatiOn to in duce him to make an alteraion in the me4sure proposed. It was then, a general, it should now tie a modified resolution that lie should offer, and to this effect that the Exportation of Wool front Great Britain and Ireland he: permitted, butt under regulations that should afford protec tion to-the ',ohm manotatittirer." He then took a view of the present - laws respecting Wool, and contended,that they were founded on a short view of the tinestion. He then stated, that the m whidi had' fake!, place in lite price of 'grain and cattle, had not been aceompauied hy.a: similar rise. in that or Wool, on accomit of the existing pro hibition.- The price of English Woui st this •• ft moment eow t e tlverage ra - ice of 'on in otirr countries of Europe. I n 13;-19 En g li s h Wool soh! for 30 shillings a ton, and wheat was at 45. Per, quarter. The prohibition of the exportation wool was not perfect till 1660, and the effects 0; that measure were described in an able tract pal , • lisped in 1677, under dig title of " Reasons a limited exportation of Wool." Amongst othe • facts, the writer stated the following :—` be • what great hiss our pour con7ltry has experienced. Rotnney Marsh alone contained 122,000 sheep., which when shorn produced 1760 packs of .wool,' which were formerly sold at W. each pack. • lige now foUr or live years' produce reinnins on hawl, and wool is sold at 4d. or sd. per lb.", This prie, heel scarcely been altered since that time. Down to 1780, the pric'e : of long wool, Which wa s the prniltice of Romney Marsh, 541 fur only 4c , per lb. Ever since our prohibitoi t y bites, the price of wool had been higher in foreign parts than iu Eng- • land. lu 1739, English wool sold for 611, per and in France for 10d. A __ccording to Mr. Arthur Young's Travels, when wool was sold for !)(1. in England, its price in France was 14.1. per Ili.; and at the end of the American war, the , same qiumtity of wool itYltich was sold for 51. in Engla nd, would [lave cost 2dl. at Ant•terilani. .The main prop on which our market rested was the sole trade of export. The Hon. Gentleman argued. it considerable length, to skew that there Was no duty so productive as that on our raw silk and, titter many remarks on the necessity of proteciii'g the woollen trade, lie moveil that it be expedient to allow the exportation of wool from Great*; tain and Ireland, under such regulations as protect the home manufacturer. Lord LASCELLES denied that the woollen. tits nufacturers were on the decline, and esserteq thoe; there was no accumulation of kt MA on. 1 1 0' 1, lie contended that no benefit would be derived from putting a duty on e x p o rt s . Lord MILTON was of opinion that to alter the system wmild be attended with danger to corn' Franee pet mit t eft the export ot wo"I , was enabled to ond e i se ll E ng l an d iOlitie goods. The Noble L or d aigoed on these grounds at considerable length, as we torderstood, a r _•fai"" the motion, denying. OA the prosperity of the woollen manufactures festeil on the repeal of thesg laws. TlleitC. • Lord CAgTI.F.I!F.,%G sr ;;bested the dere: ring of the questien till u future period. and ,moved 111 3 the resolutions biz postponed, on the ground tln under all the eimunstattees, it was not expedient to. nuke any alteration in the la..vs at present. A long conversation ensued, in which 3 1 r. Brand, Lord, Castlereagh, Lord , Milton, Lard LaScelles, and &Ir. Baring, participated, which was interrypted by Mr.:lit:roes', who reminded the Rouse, that an understanding had been come to that the motion of , which lie had given notice should ctune on early in the evening. Some dif ference of opinion existed as to the mode in the subject' then wider consideration should b e disposed of. In the end the amendment ‘Fils withdrawn and the motion negatived. On the motion of Mr.F.Lrwts, it wa's o , derm that the House should again resolve itself into a Connnittec on that day week. LIST. Mr, tionornN luotogist up the lim)ort of 0.10. Civil. List Titirtz,;cv wished to call the attention.of., the:House to the .1111 now, before them ; .010 , doing this, as he had already spoke Olt the sell' ject'so often, it would ill become him to take 0 1 ) much of their time on the present occasion. ll°, took a rapid view of the provisions of the Bill no‘ir brought in to remedy those inconVenienees which hail arisen out of the excess of the Civil Lkt toe some years , past, which had rendered frequel!t peals, to roliatnetit necessary: Th e f,, thr e pennure of theCisil List was estimated by self-constitisted Committee, which had, reported on the subject, at 1,339,0001. and of this sno 255,0001. was to be made good by Parliament, as it wai found necessary to receive the Civil Li" revenue from charges to that a mown. N. before such a Bill passed, he thoitOit th! Ilo tt ,e ought either to,pare down the Cis it List as 1111/Cli as pos sible, or to provide that those funds which were. solely ,at the 'command of the Crown should be applied to meet arty future excess that might occur. On the first suggestion he woidd not en large. now, as he co* say no more than lie hail said on the subject,.and the House seemed deter mined to shot its eyes to the tansies which might prevail' in that branch 111 the public expenditure; but oo the second he, thought it his duty t o sub mit tti them a motion. The great obj e c t o f this Bill was . to, simplify the Civil Lit revenues and expemlitare ; that was, to throw its revenues out of consideration, and to call upon Parliament to meet any excess of expenditure. An Officer roc' was Created, on whose exertions Ministers relied much, who was to have a cow-rota over all under the Lord Chamberlain, the Lord S;eward, and the -i'. l ster of the Horse. He did not know who was to have this but this be knew, and the 10 - he >, used knOw it, the poison tilli ng it was to te" Leiv , e ito in;:oine tit 15001. per annum for his trouble, and ills salary WitfLin he given, in the present cilTailuStances ut . the country, to e n oth- cer, for doing that tor which manv—many already paid. Under the three great officers MI had mentioncfl, three persons were employed , M. Mash, Air. Brent, and Mr. Parker, %vh" were able to do all that 'rosiness which it ‘ Ol4 • propOs , ll to turn obey to this new . Gentleman .-- From thi3 ititras clear that the situations of thus' Gentlemen were to become sinecures, or time ocw" office was to be one. He wished to know how . the new of fi cer was to he paid I If be were cm' , played in addition tot he three Gentlemen he had, just named, and there seas no more business to he done by the (Our than ought to have been perforot -, ed by the three, 5001 . t a k en f ro m the salaries Or those Gentlemen wooltliipt make up the 15041; the new Geutleman was to receive. To this art' rangement be did not see that any objection cooltk. in fairnes4 be urged. lie hOped the House woola notrelieVe the Great Offic e rs of the liousehoin! Anil not only theist , Fart d their Secretaries an Clerks also, from the duties attached to their 61" withoul providing that tile new Gentle' mat, should he remunerated by anise whose duties be Was to perform. This new Officer was, h"%v." ever, to pOSSeSS pnli•el's it hic)a the other (jentle' taco had not ; and be PIG 'l'.) supposed Mimi"