The Sun. — London, England, 1822-02-16 00:00:00

limited. He had caused estimates to be made of the consumption of malt for the last thirty years, by which it appeared there had been no diminution of consequence ; and the House would observe it was rather a whimsical circumstance that the least quantity of malt was consumed when the taxes were the least. For the three years ending 1701, the number of quarters that raid duty were. '27,001400, and for each suc ceeding term of three years as follows : Qrs. Qrs: • Qrs. Qrs. 20000,000 1 21,000,000 1 24,000,000 23,000,60 59,000,000 23,000,000 22,000,000 24,000,000 For the three years ending 1821, 28,697,000. It was evident, therefore, that there was no di winution, although there had not been an increase proportioned . to the increased population. The reasonAof this, however, was explained by a re - - ference to the increased consumption of tea by those classes who formerly indulged much in the use of beer.—(Hear, hear !)—fie assured the Eon. and Learned Gentleman he was not going IV argue the matter of beer versus tea, or tea versus beer, as to their respective merits; but he I - would produce a similar calculation with regard to the consumption of that article, in support of 11 - ;hat be had advanced. The calculation corn .• ..r.P.enced at, and covered the same period, and the :sums represented the consumption for a similar liegiod of three years. It would be borne in .mind that the. duty upon tea in the year Mit .was 13/.lor, per cent.- The consumption for the ~farst and following term of three years were-- lbs. 11)3. lbs. lbs. 17,000,000 1 , 24,000,000 I 20,000,000 I 93,000,000 19,000 000 • 20,000,000 I 90,000,000 I 21,000,000 20,000,000. Fer the three vearsentli!bg 1821, 22061,000 it - , - ;as now liable to a duty of nearly 100 per ..cy.nt. co that it appeared that this impoverished ~sountry, suffering tinder the evils of over-popu lation, had chosen to consume nearly one-sixth more of tea at a duty of one hundred per cent. than they had done when it only si,;ported a ,ax of 131. They had voluntarily subjected . themselves to a tax which they might .have es caped.—(Hear.)--He did not mean to stop here shewing the growth of comfort amongst all classes of the community ; and probably it would be gratifying to the Hon. and Learned „Gentleman to learn that a considerable increase of cltanliness had taken place. Not only was „there a great augmentation under the head of ,ricks to build with, but on the article of soap, the quantity was doubled.—(Hear.)--He would not go on, however, through the long list of ex ci4eable articles which exhibited the same satis factory alteration, not wishing unnecessarily to take up the time of the House. But he could not _refrain from bringing before them one ether do current which spoke volumes on the same sub ject. it went to prove~ indisputably that the dis tress, of the country was not so pregnant and ir remediable as had been assiduously represented. ..ittld he must here say, that he knew no greater cruelty than when the people were suffering frarn.causes which could not The controlled, to preach up to them false doctrines, the only effect of which must be tO;plunge them deeper in deipond.ency.—(Hear, hear !)—He . begged to be understood as pointing at the pernicious doctrines of the _Honourable and Learned Gen tleman opposite (11' r. such was not the language of real friendship—(Cheers.)—The do cument he spoke of was one which compared' the Excise collections of the whole kingdom for the last year with the preceding. By this would be seen the working of the Excise Laws over the whale surface of Great Britain, by which six teen millions and a half were brought in. The number of Excise collections was 59, and on a re venue of sixteen millions and a half, there was a gross increase in the majority of the collections 000/. last year over the preceding. There was, it was true, a decrease in some few collec tions, amounting to 125,000:. leaving a net in crease of about 1,400,0001., or between nine and ten per cent. on the Excise collections of the kingdom.—(Hear!)--But even this falling off could be accounted for locally, and in no way went to affect those general principles of resur rection and prosperity, which if the House - would but support, as it was their duty to do, would, by their natural progress, restore all things to the state they had left.-,-(Hear, hear !) —Of this number of collections, fifty-nine, there were only six collections which exhibited any diminution of Excise duty, and only two of any amount. Two or three were to the amount Of ,only 4,000/. or 3,0001. and it was but in the clleCtion of Canterbury, Sussex, and Worcester that the remaining material part of the diminu tion proceeded from—and this the failure in the Hop Duty would at once explain.—(Hear, hear !) —lie .was happy then to be able to relieve the House on this branch by sheaving them that the set-off against the universal prosperity of the kingdom was of so inconsiderable . a nature. On the revenue . proceeding ,from this source, there was a proof of its exceeding other years by at leaft one million. That the commerce of the . wascountry largely and rapidly increasing, he w4s able to state from official returns. Thus the 'returns fo r the . year ending October, 1819, arlio.unted to 37,590,000/. ;, for 1820, :38,272,0001. and for 1821, 42,747,0001.. an increase of 4;400,000/. over. the last year, and nearly six millions, over the, antecedent. So that under all that preSsnre which he admitted to exist, com merce was largely and steadily growing, and all articles of ordinary. consumption exhibited, an in cf•ease,w no, was universally distributed through ou_t ,the whole kingdom.—(Hear, hear !)—Before he came to what was the most important duty he should have to perform, viz. to lay before the HoUse a view of. what he conceived was actually the.financial state of the country, he would make a:few preliminary observations, which would tend to • s',.orten the road betwixt the Honourabl e and' Learned Gentleman opposite (Mr. Brougham) and 'himself. lie believed that Honourable Gentleman .had endeavoured to show that the rechiction of taxes alone, of course not refus ing credit to the favourable operations of nature, could reduce the agricultural distresses. He loikked to. the repeal of taxes as anxiously. as the Hon. Gontlernau, ,but he would state the general view . he. took of that.question,, which l e d hi m t o deny ,that relief to the agriculturist could effec tually be given in the repeal of taxation.. Even I if they swept 'away the whOle mass of taxes ; which affected the agriculturist, it would not re lieve him from the pressure of burdens under hich he now suffered.—(Cheers from the Op position.)—He would remain under the pressure of the same evils if no taxation fell on him at all. The result to which those who examined this question would be led was, he believed, that the amount of taxes which could by possibility bear on the cultivator of the land in his double capa city of consumer and grower, was not more than one-seventh part of the landlord's rent. But to avoid all controversy, he was willing to tale it at one-fifth of the rent. Now, if the taxes bore the proportion of one-fifth to the landlord's rent, and that rent held the proportion of one-fourth to the value of the produce of the soil, the taxes which bore on the cultivator were one-twentieth part of the value of that produce, or five per cent. on the whole. Then he asked, how could any relief, if it was in the power of Parliament to administer to the extent of five per cent., have to do with the distress complained of ?—(Hear !) —But even supposing that they were in a state to afford this relief of five per cent. on the income of the land, which was equal to a remission of . seven or eight millions of taxes, it was not too much to assume that from the numerous channels • through which it must pass, not above one half would reach the pockets of the real cultivator.— The State must therefore make a sacrifice of 16 or seventeen millions, or not give relief to the extent of Eve per cent. But it was plain the difference to the farmer would not be so mate rial as to deserve this sacrifice. He must look for relief, not to the repeal of taxation, but to the • great law of nature. He repeated that it was not taxation that affected the farrner—Mark-lane in fluenced him more. Taxation was but a corner of the question, and that he had demonstratedly . shewn. His view of this was supported by the . assertion of the • Hon. and Learned Gentleman (Mr. B.), that even if the landlord gave up the whole of his rent it would not assist the farmer. Was it not therefore an insult to the common sense of the country to say, in the same breath, that the reduction of taxation could alone re lieve him ? He knew it would be said, " where is relief to come frcm ?" His answer was, where it always does come from"—capital was never long unproductive. The laws of political eco nomy offered the farmers a better source of hope than the confiscation of taxes—they Were in the hands of Providence and would be relieved by the due course of Natere. What state were the manufactures in two years ago ?—lf the farmer was ignorant of his true interests—c,f the principles of political economy ; and even could Parliament be so infatuated as to remove him from the class of contributors to the State, it would not fructify to him. The benefit intended to be given to• him would be taken from him, by an in crease of the produce, when it would be taken by the landlord; or he would lose it in the cons cession of that price which he now demanded.— And this would be the punishment of Parliament and the Agriculturist, for yielding to the delusive misrepresentation of relief accruing from excep tion from taxation, and hoping to take this, or any other class, out of the operation of the laws of nature.--(Hear, hear o—He would next, as clearly and shortly as possible, put the House in possession of the view which his Majesty's Mini sters took of the financial state of the country, and the means they looked forward to of making it tend to the general prosperity. And it would be satisfactory to the House to know, that up to the latest period, the Revenue continued to show an increase on a corresponding quarter last year.— Up to the 13th of February, being five weeks of the present quarter, there was an increase of 202,0001.—(Hear, hear!)—The best course he could take to put the House in full possession of the views of Government, would be, by first ap prising them of the extent of reduction they had been able to make since Parliament last met—to she w, under the system of reduction, what would be the state of the income and expenditure, and what actisal surplus had been realised ; and that would lead him to the question, of what would be the best application of the means thus derived for the interests of the country ? He would make his statements in round numbers, for al though it was his intention soon to move for the estimates of the different branches to be laid before the House, he thought he could not too soon let them know his general idea on this interesting and important subject.—(Hear O— ne should state what it was intended to call upon the House to vote as the supplies for the year, and the amounts under the different heads might then be compared with former years, giving a clear insight of the course they were pursuing. Thus the estimate of supply that would be required for the army, •ordinary and extraordinaries, was 7,748,0001. Last year it was 8,736,0001. being a diminution of nearly a million.—(Hear, hear'.) The Navy Estimates, last year, amounted to 6,382,0001.; this year it would be 5,500,000/. making a diminution of 800,0001.—(Hear.) — The Ordnance, last year, was 1,094,0001.; this year it would be 1,200,000/. ; but it would be recollected that last year considerable aid was derived in this department from, the sale of stores, which circumstance, taken into calcula tion, showed a real diminution equal to 100,0001. The Miscellaneous Estimates for last year were 1,800,000/. ; this year they would amount to 1,700,0001. The interest of Exchequer Bills, which was last 1,386,000/. would be 1,290,000/. —Thus the total supply for last year; was 19,398,0001., for' this 17,438,000/., making a clear reduction of 1,950,0001. This was the actual reduction, exclusive of 80,0001. transferred to the Navy Estimates, instead of being sup ported from other sources. The Estimates for 1820 amounted to 21,083,9001., compared' with, which, the reduction in the present year was 3,355,0001. Comparing the aggregate of the Army, Navy, Ordnance, and Miscellaneous Estimates of the present year with the amount fixed by the Finance, Committee-of 1819, it appeared to be 1,107,0001. There was a saving ,of nearly two million over last year, and 3,600,000/. over the year 1820. He would point.the attention of the. House to what proportion this two millions was a saving of. There were fire millions connected:with the army over which Government had no controul, and which, therefore, leaving a dead weight, the whole amount under the power of Government must be taken at thirteen millions, making the saving of two millions 1-6th or 1-7th of the whole.—(hear!)—having presented to the mind of the House what the true Estimates of the year were, he ought to state, on the other hand, that there would be two extraordinary charges this year. One would be on account of the disturb ances in Ireland, for which it was intended to present a distinct Estimate, to the amount of 350,000/. ; and the second was a grant proposed to be made for Greenwich Hospital of 320,0001. These would not, however, long continue to ob scure the estimates. The disturbances of Ire land, he was happy to say, would, according to every appearance, be confined within a very li mited period, and it was in the contemplation of the Noble Lord at the head of the Admiralty to absorb the charge for Greenwich Hospital into the body of the Estimates. He should have stated that this sum for Greenwich became chargeable from the cessation of those sources of revenue which accrued to it during the war. The Noble Marquis then proceeded to call the attention of the House to the state of the income and expenditure, and to shew the surplus of the former, having first directed the Clerk to read a Resolution to which the House had come, founded upon the Report of the Finance Committee of 1819. The Resolution declared that it was necessary to have a clear Sinking Fund to the amount of five mil lions ; and that in order to establish that, it was necessary to raise three millions of additional taxes. The Noble Marquis observed, that it was in pursuance of the wise principle laid down in this Resolution, that his Majesty's Ministers had acted in all that they had done, with a reference to the finance of the country. In the statement he was about to make, he should take the re venue of last year for the basis of his calculations. The income for 1821 was 55,997,000/. Adding to this, however, the extraordinaries which oc curred during the last year, and which would not occur again, viz. the transfer of the Customs and Excise coast blockade to the Navy, 80,0001., l and the reductions in offices and superannuation, &c. amounting to 150,0001., together 230,0001., there appeared an income of 56,227,0001. But then the Horse Tax being equal to 480,0001., which was given up last year, and a payment of French indemnities, 300,0031., which, to the honour of France, had been paid, making 600,0001. on that score ; and 219,0001. for public work, together amounting to 999,0001., were to be deducted from the sum of 56,227,0001. This left a clear Revenue of 55,228,0001. Of the Expenditure there were permanent and other charges on the Consolidated Fund, amounting to 31,650,0001. The interest on Exchequer Bills was 1,500,0001. and the Estimates of the Army, Navy, Ordnance, and Greenwich Hospital, as before stated, made a total expenditure, exclu sive of extraordinaries, of 49,618,0001. and with the addition of 350,0001.f0r Ireland, 49,968,0001. deducting therefore the expenditure 49,968,0001. from the total income 55,228,0001., there re mained a clear surplus of revenue of 5,260,0001. covering both the extraordinary and ordinary ex penses of the year. On this subject he should mselse no other observation than as regarded India, with respect to which he expected to be able to prevail on the Company to admit a participation in some charges which had hither to fallen wholly upon this country. The East India Company supported a body of 23,000 troops which this country afforded them an nually, but they did not bear any part in sup porting the Invalids they sent home from that coun try. It was evidently just that they should do this, and although he had not yet been success ful, he could never believe he should long con tinue otherwise. He was sure that honourable body would feel too much pleasure in contribut ing to the burthens of the State during the pre sent distressed state of the country, to persevere much longer in refusing to admit their just claim. Reviewing the statement he had just laid before the House, he thought he should not do justice to the House, nor ,to his Right Hon. Friend (the Chancellor of the Exchequer,) if he did not con gratulate them on the proud eminence on which they stood. In compliance with the resolution they had just heard read, notwithstanding the pres sure of distress on the Country, his Right Hon. Friend was able to present Parliament a clear, undisputed, serviceable surplus revenue of five millions. He had the gratification and the proud honour, as the Finance Minister of the Country, after having carried it through difficulties of finance unexampled in this or any other country, to be able not only to equalize the expenditure, but to realise a credit, founded on a clear basis of five millions surplus, —as it rested with Parliament to use this great instrument to regenerate the prosperity of the nation.—(Hear, hear !)—lt would now be for them to consider the policy of the proposition of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman opposite (Mr. Brougham) with regard to the Sinking Fund. To do this, in his opinion, would be to do away with that which had been their mainstay in difficulty ; at once to dry up the sources of public and pri vate prosperity. Whether they would chuse to apply this 'surplus to support the principles al ready laid down and acted upon, appropriate it to the reduction of taxation, or draw further NOM those resources which the country, not withstanding taxation, possessed, it would be for the House to decide.' - The principal object which his Majesty's Ministers bad always kept in view was, to support the, high credit of the country ; and-theY confidently looked forward to diminish ing.the buithens of the country by reducing, the high rate of interest. He was happy to state that there was a fund of 155,000,000/. in the - 5 per. Cents, and no less than 75,000,000/. in the 4 per Cents. The combined interest of these two great masses amounted to 10,700,0001. an nually. Acting upon the great principle of sup. porting the public credit, if the situation of the market should'once bring the Three per Cent. Stock to such a point as to render it eligible to reduce ctuccet,he higher StdclCto the level of three . it }vas , their intention, da to so, by 10110 -eansiderable ,saving .would be 'effecte d. That they ought not to despair of this, he called upon the House to recollect, that six years after Mr. Pitt created his Sinking Fund, the three per cents., which were as low as 58, rose to 97 and a fraction ; and he did not expect any great in terval would elapse before they should be able, if not to lower it to three per cent., at least to bring it nearer to the measure. If this were ac complished, there would be a saving of interest, and a consequent increase in the Revenue, of 3,700,0001. No reduction of this kind, however, could take place, so long as the credit of the country did not continue to remain unshaken, as to the honour of the Legislature in main taining those principles upon which the pros perity of the country was founded. Those who knew any thing of the landed interest would know how little it would serve them to destroy their faith in the national credit. If this were not maintained the interest never would go below the usual rate, and certainly nothing could be more beneficial to the landed interest than the facility of obtaining money at low interest, in every de partment of industry.—(Hear, hear, hear !)—He conjured the House to consider what they bad already had the manliness to face, and if the moral principle was still strong by means of which they had re-established the monied standard, from which he hoped the country would never again depart—(Hear, hear !)—he called upon them with unerring hand to establish the stand ard of public prosperity.—(Hear !)—Standing upon that five millions of surplus, he had to state that it was the intention of his Majesty's Govern ment to enter into negociations for the reduction of the higher rate of interest.—(Hear!)—Ob serve, necessity was all that was urged by the Hon. and Learned Gentleman, as a ground for sacrificing the national faith. Necessity was the tyrant's plea, and whether it peeped from under the gown of a professional Gentleman, or came from the mouth of a Conqueror, was equally ob noxious to the principles of honour and morality, and he viewed it with equal horror.—(Hear, hear, hear!)—lt was not the intention of Go vernment to annex conditions to this negotia tion, which should have the effect of fettering Par liament in carrying it further. He had a right to assume that after securing the five millions and the reduction of the 4 per cents. there would be 1,400,000/. which it would remain for the conside ration of Parliament to apply towards the relief of the country. If Parliament shewed a disposition to sympathise with the country, they would give the whole of it towards the relief of the pub lic, and not divide it with the Sinking Fund. If it were the pleasure of Parliament to apply , it to the direct relief of the subject by a remit tance of taxation, it would then become a ques tion as to where to direct the reduction. It being thus considered as a dry question of finan cial .policy, after the most anxious and mature deliberation, he was of opinion, that as the Malt Duty was the last laid on, and amongst those about which there were much anxiety in the country, as it was considered a tax affecting par ticularly the agricultural interest, and as it would be the best pledge they could give of the sym pathy in the sufferings of the people, that would be the best remitted.—(Hear, bear!)—lt was therefore the intention of his Right Hon. Friend (the Chancellor of the Exchequer), when the an nual Malt Tax came before the House, to move that the world Malt he struck out, which would have the effect of taking off the duty of one shil ling a bushel on that article, and accomplish •a relief from taxation to the amount of nearly 1,500,000/. exclusive of Ireland, according to the working of the tax.—(Hear.)—Next Session it was anticipated there would be a further re mission of taxes, to the amount, of a million.— (Hear.)—He . hoped the House- would forgive him, if he ventured to go one step further in tracing the progress of the system, supposing, of course, that they would not, with a suicidal hand, destroy it themselves before it had scope to work. Always allowing for the intervention of unforeseen events, the prospect before them promised a further annual relief from taxation of better than half a million, exclusive of the pros pect of redeeming the Four and Five per Cents. The million to be remitted next year would be partly made up by the saving of the extraor dinary charges this year for Greenwich Hospital i and Ireland. As far as he could imagine, in the next six years they would be able to remit to the amount of seven millions in annual taxes, and they will have reduced the debt by five millions a year, being 30 millions sterling on the whole. By the course which he suggested, great advan tages would be derived from the application of the Sinking Fund, which would be lost with that of 'the Sinking Fund itself, if the plan of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman were adopted. — By diminishing the Five per Cents. great relief would be afforded to the country, and it was in tended Co afford immediate relief, as he had al ready stated, by repealing the Additional Malt Duty, amounting to about 1,500,0001. Having given the House a. general statement of •the finanCial situation of the country, having stated the amount of the income and expenditure, and the measures which, according to the view of his Majesty's Government, would be most like ly to fructify and benefit the nation, not at the expense of the credit and character of the State, but in a manner perfectly consistent with that good faith which it had ever been the policy of Ministers to preserve inviolate, he would contend that the measures they suggested would afford more copious relief than could be ob tained from any of the destructive projects of the Hon. and Learned Gentleman. But he should not do his duty if he were not to direct the attention of the House to those collateral means which might be found to improve the position of the country on, a sound and solid system, which, improving it in all its branches, would not fail to accelerate the arrival of that day which would afford efficient relief to the Agricultural Interest. This brought him to a subject that he knew to be one of anxious interest both in that House and out. of doors, the currency of the country. Scarcely a Petition had been laid upon their table which did 'not contain some sugges tion on' the alteration of the currency, which was referred to .- as one of _the causes of the piTeseitt . disiress.•' 'On thi s subjeCt he went along with the Hon. Baronet opposite ; and he . now desired to enter his protest—his most so* lemn and unqualified protest, against doing any thine. that might tend in the smallest degree to shake that system, which, so much to the honour of Parliament, and so much to the honour of the moral character of the country, had been re established and consecrated by the Bill brought in by his Right Hon. Friend (Mr. Peel). — Though there might have been some shades of difference between his opinion and that of the Right Hon. Gentleman at the time, as to the particular circumstances under which the Bill should be introduced, and the grounds by which the measure should be accompanied, no mart could be more awake to the importance of re storing our currency than he was, and no man could feel more strongly than he did that the decision to which Parliament had come ought never to be shaken or set aside under any cir * cumstances. Feeling thus, if there w ere an y thing in that w hi c h he had now to propound that could be mistaken for an attempt to prevail on the House to lay a sacrilegious hand on that sacred measure, he was anxious to make it known that he would be the last to give his sanction to such a proceeding. But he felt that that which he had to suggest had in reality nothing to do with the currency of the country, when he stated it to be the opinion of -the Government that great relief might be afforded by an arrangement which would, in a slight degree augment the unfunded. debt. The House, who knew the amount of the unfunded debt, would see that that to which he alluded was not to be resorted to for the accom modation of the Government. It mattered nothing to his Right llonourable Friend whether he ob tained 4,000,0001. from the Bank or not with the object which he had in view, and God knew it was not contemplated with a view of favouring the Bank. He felt that it might be of some im portance to the Bank that he should state this, and that he should also state it to be his belief that the Bank might have refused that which in the present instance they were ready to do, if it had been solicited as an accommoda tion to the Minister. He had to announce that the Bank had consented to advance on Exchequer Bills, issued at an interest of 3 per cent., a sum not exceeding 4,000,000/. to be repaid by instal ments, and to be liable to be called in at a short notice. Circumstanced as the Bank was, it was nothing to their discredit that they coupled the condition he had just stated with the meditated advance. They had been called upon by Par liament to execute a very important measure, respecting the practicability of which much doubt had existed. It had been feared that sufficient gold not be procured to meet the demand that would be made for it, the moment cash payments were resumed. Under these circumstances, they were justified in acting now as they had done before, in such a manner as to be prepared to meet the demand that might be made at all points. Their conduct merited no re proach. -Though they had demanded payment of 10,000,000/. due from the public to them, and though in the opinion of the Government making such demand, they carried their pretensions fur ther than was necessary, it was felt that n hen so arduous a duty as that of restoring the ancient currency of the country was imposed on them, they owed it to themselves to demand that every security should be afforded to enable them to perform the task which they had a right to` claim. It was most gratifying to witness the result, when they saw that the mighty change had been. effected, not without producing considerable pressure certainly, but without being attended. with any popular convulsion; but above all it was gratifying find that there was such a dispo position in the country to use paper ; so far were the people from being disposed to call for gold in preference to paper : so high was the public credit, that he believed he was correct when he stated that wherever gold had been sent to the provinces, it had manifested a disposition. to return it. That inordinate desire to possess gold, which had been apprehended, was not found to exist, and paper in many—in most instances, seemed to be preferred. He. had thought it right to say thus much, in justifi cation of the Government and the Bank, and in explanation of the circumstances under which it was proposed to make a slight addition to the Unfunded Debt, in order to relieve the Agricul tural interest, by an issue of Exchequer Bills to be called in at a short notice. He thought it must be seen that the very nature of the measure was such as to afford a hope that it would meet the difficulty with effect. If any man traced the course of the exchanges, he would see that for some time past such a stream, he might say such a torrent of gold had poured in upon us, that there was more danger of the exchanges being unfixed by the momentum of this rapid influx, than by almost any other circumstance at present to be anticipated' More gold had come into the country than at any former time, and this was the more remarkable, seeing the operation this country had sustained with respect to its currency was co-incident with similar measures in other parts. The gene ral standard of the world was much above its or dinary level, and he would therefore contend that the measure now suggested would be most salu tary in its effects, even if the 4,000,0001. of Ex chequer Bills came into general circulation. It would indeed not only feed the circulation-e-and it was always to be remembered, that this would take place under the controul of our existing gold standard, but it must facilitate all the money transactions of the country, and especi ally those in which the Government were likely soon to be engaged, with a view of reducing the five per cents. The measure then would prove one of relief to the agricultural classes, and do good in various ways, without endanger ing any one of the great interests of the coun try. The Hon. and Learned Gentleman, on a former night, had very broadly laid down his po sitions, that nothing but a diminution of taxation could relieve the country, and he had ee,pecially called on the House to set their faces against any proposition for affording relief to the a gricultural classes by means of a loan. He (the Marquis of Londonderry) did not mean to conteir d against the Hon. and Learned Gent. that to res art to a loan was consistent with the ordinary man il l of affairs in a community like that o f thi s country t... Such a mea- --