The Sun. — London, England, 1817-03-08 00:00:00

in enitseilnenre of pe ne t. regulation, wiiichlit&ted the ntutA•o• of Acting Pnr , ters on halt-pay, he wis left too. Ile thurefOre prityill to be restorol to his rank, in order to enjoy the benefit Of the Mr, Cao KER was desirous of explaining---ibe grountlA of the present case. It was not hung sine. , there had been only one warrant officer in every ship. 111 the course of t however, the number of pursers had exceeded th a t of ships.-- They were then home on the the' k at Is. a-day. but this had been toond inadequate for their C•ipport, tht Boort' of Admiralty had recantint tided that halt-pay should he given to intrSerb ; brit- in older to consult economy, it hail been ordered that no More pursers should be made than there were ships in the navy on the old establi!.lonent. The petitioner had unfortunately fallen under the oputatiun of that regulation, and could not be promoted until the number of pursers on halt•pay 4hould have been brought down. Mr. Cuuwem undcrstood that there %vete not more than ahont t‘venty intik iduals in the same tinfortun.ite situation as the petitioner. Relief might therefore be extended to them without committing a very considerable breach ut eco- moiny. Nlr. Ccio - KEtt believed that there were several hundreds of individuals in the sttttte sitfintioll ss the petitioner, tiho would come on half-pay if the door was once thrown.open.. lie loot no ob jection, however, to receiving the petition. l'he petition was then read, and ordered to lie on the table. irrNmicu commirrEE, Mr. CALCIIArr rose, at the desire of 44 Right Fliend (Mr. Tieroey), to state on his he- "half, that on ateonni 'of health he wits pre "vpited from being, able to continue to attend the sittings of the Finance Committee. HP was also desired to assure the noose, that it was only on account of ill health, and by the advice of his physician, that his Right lion Friend wac pre vented trout attending; end that, if his he a lth was restored," Ire resume his seat in the 'Committee. LCird CASTLEREOII hiving expressed his regret at the calm; of the ;+hseuce lbl the Right lion. Geotlemlo from the Committee, proposed that in his place the name of the lion, Gentleman (Mr. leraft) should be added to the Flounce Com mittee. Mr. 13K!►t.'atl.%M hoped that the Noble Lord, As Member of the Committee, would have no oh. tctiots to state to the house tvbitt progress eel) made by the Commitier, and when its Re port might he expected to be presetitett to the 'noose, Lord CASTLEREAGH replied, that the Report 'was now drawing up, but that he did not expect that it could he presented to the House before the DiWet reCeSB. M CALCRACT exnrehsed bis sense of the honour that had been conic, red on dm by adding his n+t me to the Committee, .and promised to give bib attention to the business committed to their charge. LOOfl LAWS. Mr. CAI CRAFT then rose to present to the Muse petitions Irom the inhabitants of two ditie. tent pnrishe4 in the county of Dorset, complain ing 01 the excessive pressure of the Poor Rates, and praying for spine alteration in the Poor L a ws, tie begged the. attention of,the Noble Lord op posite (Castlereagh) to the 'statement contained in these petitions. One of them from the parish olLankley stated, that that parish contained 575 inh a bitants, of wlrmu 419 at this moment are re- cciving parochial aid : that the poorldtes in that parish amounted to 18s. or 19s. for every pound sterling of rack-rent ; and that the funds would be, at the present rate of distribution, exhauited sty the, 22 d of this month. The other petition was from the parish of Swatiney, which contain ed a greater number of inhabitants than the other, . and it .stated that in it the poor-rates amounted to a guinea on the pound sterling of rack-tent. lie knew that the facts stated in their petitions me true, because they had come tinder his•own observation, as the parishes were in his neigh botwhood. The inhabitants of these two pa. Fishes were principally engaged' in the stone trade, the 'lute total stagnation ot which had been the cause of their present distress. The peti tioners had not yet been compelled to have 're. Conse to a rate, in aid, owing to the liberality of the Gentlemen in their neighbourhood, at. •the bead of whom, he was happy to mention, was Lord Rldon. But as there was every probability that they would ultimately be obliged to have re course to a rate, its aid, he submitted the pro priety ot the tononittee now sitting on the Poor LAWS, adopting some measure to taillitate rates in aid. It was quite evident that some great al teration was necessary in the present system of the Poor Laws, anti he saw no more effeettial.way than by making tine holders of Footled Property contribute towards the antintensnee.ot the Poor. There was no reason why the -utmost publicity should not he given' to the names of persons ,pos. soft(' of t'untied properly ; and if this were clone it %% Auld then be very cal in every parish to sad ' die the hittahitant4 o f it who pusseseed funded property with their share VI - the poor-rates. — lie then moved that the Petitions be brought up. Lord COTLICTIEAGH thought the cases of the pe titioners worthy of attention. But he thought it worthy of notice, that throughout the kingdom a great proportion of the expence of labour appeared ;tot tittiler the brad of labour, but ttuile'r the bead of poor rates; because the farmer gene. rally acted on a .very false principle, by com promising the poor rates, by accepting the In. bour of paupers, whose wages to the whole amount were thus said to be poor rates.- it must not therefore be supposed, that when it was stated that the annual amount of the poor raw hod started from three millions to seven millions, that the numher of paupers bad increased in the, same proportion ; for the fact was, that a great part of the money laid out on the wages of labour Was disguised snider the name of poor rates. At the same time, be did not menu to say that this Inade'it at all less necessary to provide, if possible, tome remedy for the heavy pressure of the poor rates-; uuly it was treees , lary to correct what was likely to produce a false intpressiou as to the real amount of the poor rates.-- (Hear, hear !) Mr. CALCRAFT dxfilaitied. fie agreed perfectly that, in agricultural districts, a great proportiOn of money laid 60 in t'l.e triages or tahnin'' Vt'Ai I lit under the head of poor rates. But that did I , ot apply to, the pe:itiotter.„ HS they ,ver:i 'riot en gageti itt agriculture, hut in the Stunt Trade, whieb was now in is complete state of stagnation, Mr. C 1.1 k WEN admitted, that in miny countiet the pernicious pruetiee of mixing up the wages of labour and the poor rates prevailed ; but he did not believe that it was by any means general.— The distress occasioned by the Poor La ws Was now come to such a pitch, that it %you'd be im possible for the house to separate without adopt ing some tnetistire to m'tigate it ; and for tilk purpose he had always: been of opinion that the otiott equitable mode. w4s:to, , conie upon the fund holder, and make him contribute Ilia share. ;11e, for one, hoped that the distress would only be temporaty ; but in the mean time was abso lutely.itecessary fah the House to du something to relieve it. Lord COCItRANg a stated as fact, that at Man chester a weaver, who some years ago received twenty-nine shillings for weaving a piece of cloth of a certain size, now earned only seven shillings by weaving a piece of the sante size and that the seven Shillings which he now canted. was entirely spent on coals, candles, and the paste used' for dressing the cloth. These sevens shillings were paid out of the Poor -rates, %Odell were contributed entirely by the landed proOrietOr. The conse quence WaS, that when cloth manufactured at this !trice was exported to the American market, a he-try ditty cease laid upionit. This completely shewed that the Interest, of 1110404 d proprietor was sacrificed to benefit the litslder. of stock. This was a system , that could not Ifiast. If a diminu tion of the value of funded prOpertyi'proportioned to that in the value of landed property., was: not made, all our foreign commerce Would be carried on in a way detrimental to the nation. Ile was convinced that no legislative enactment conic! re lieve the country trout the pressure of the Poor rates, tor it %vas not lobe supposed that poor crea tures s could get no work Ov'employment, and who were not relieved, were to lie down in the .ditches and starve. If the preseta system went .the whole landed property in the kingdom would be laid at the nt'.!rcy of the dealers in paper ntooey. A Memutta tinder the Gallery was of opinion, that many advantages might be attained, it there were a inure economical distribution, than had hitherto been effected, of the funde levied for the use of the poor. In the year 1815 there appeared among the charges of Overseers 'the slim of 300,0001. expended - in — lttigatitrglihrf differences arising between parishes iu cases 'of transferring paupers. Sir C. Bunn p 1.1. contended for the inviolability Of folioed property, which he said was secured by the faith of the Ndtion, and recommended an in creased eircutating medium of about two minions, which, its his mind, would considers 44 increase the energies of the country. Mr. LocKliAtit was of opinion that (*muted pro perty ought to contribute to the support of rite poor, but this consideration he should leave to the good sense of the footled proprietors themselves, who would, no doubt, be deeply impressvd with the expediency of the measure, as absolutely ne cessary towards the general security. Sir Oswomn Mnstav agreed with ,the Noble Lord (Cochrane) that landed property `lead suf fered a great depreciation, aliLl that the poor rates fell proportionably heavy upiot it ;: but he denied that the pout- rates were „paid exclusively by the lauded interest, for the manufacturing classes paid a large proportion of it. Mr. IlaouonAst observed, that the proposition of the Noble Lord differed from that of the Hon. Baronet only as secret fraud differed from open violence. The one directly assailed the property at the funded proprietors, the other did it more covertly. Another opportunity would come for discussing this question, but lie could not avoid stating as an instance of very urgent distress, that the average wages in Lancashire were three and four shillings a week. From the numerous com munications he had from different parts of the country, and personal conferences with sunny in telligent persons, he was convinced that the Hollis had no conception of the wholly unex allotted 'pressure endured 'by theoubs'opy persons engaged in manufactures. 'llte petitions were read and laid on the table. PETITION FROM HOW! Lord FoLLsToNst rose to presenta petition front the Inhabitants of Orshain, complaining of the distresses of the times, and praying for Reform and Retrenchment, HMI that no measure against the liberty of the subject might be, sanctioned by that House. His Lordship stated, that this pe. tition had been transmitted to hint,.occompuoieri by a, letter, which stated that it had been agreed to at a numetous, and respectable meeting of the inhabitants of Horsham, and that the proceedi ngs at the meeting had been orderly and decorous; that the Mayor of the Town had been applied to for the use el the town-hall, whieh he had re- riS. The petition was then brought Hp turd read, Sir Ilmorthr: Snoto.kot r.:34".4 . * Is+ WOrth very low tone. We understonilf;lia Ito say, il i a the prociedings of the meeting-were lorderly, and the persons who composed it respectable. Ur. IIUkST said, be was instructed to ,state that it was true that the Mayor of Horsham had re• fused the use of the Town Hall'for this meeting. A requisition signed by the proper number householders had, in the first instance, been pre sentad to the Mayorovhn thereripon, finding no. thing improper in the terms of the requkition, had consented to allow the meeting to assertible in the Town Hall. But ofterworols'a clause was added to the requisition, which was placarded about the town, inviting " all labourers, me. ebonies, and apprentices, to join the meeting, as the paid taxes for coals' and . eandles ;", upon which the Mayor refused to allow the meeting to assemble in the Town Hall, He (Mr.' If) had also to observe a fact respecaug-this -petition, oit which he would wi,l) to hear err opillitut of the Chair,' namely, that macula the iiguatnre's to the pet idon, there were 20 or 30 names signed by the same hind. •As to what bath been Said about - the orderly conduct - of the meet lug,' he could only say, :hat a large blue flag bait been displayed at it, and fixed up during the continuance of the aasemblage. He was tegitested . ois behalf et'"the ivlible of the Lklagistrattt Olaf tici;:idetnal;o,.il tt3 disq%:) . .‘ the r t tiu iom and a ll tl.e SelliiioClOS it COW/third. he SI'VAKF.R.-111 answer to the question of the Honotirahle Member as to the point of ,ortitr re specting the signature of Petitions, 11 littve tt, •tate, that it is theatticient and established rule of this Mime. that every'Petition simian be signed by the l'etitioner.• if this is not complied yt it will be•contrary to the rules of the liou‘e to re ceive such at Petition. Alter - some fle.nitory con versa( ion, the Petition WfiS unit: red to lie on the tithle. Lord PoutsToNE presented Petition from the Inhahitaots of NetOntry, Iterks, praying that the [louse Will not abridge the rights ot the people. !lead, and ordered to lie on the table.. lIOUSE OF CORRECTION. Mr. 111 , ,NNETT rose to move for a return of the number of persons at present confined in Cold-' bath• fields prison, tinder the 39th and 40th of the King. lie made this motion upon information that sonic of them were in a very deplorable con dition, without medical assistance, or the neces sary comforts of life. - His information applied to six persons now in confinement under an old sus pension Act . . He alluded particularly to the treat ment-of thwelder Evans, who was confined in the same cell with a common thief; whilst his son, who had been removed from another gaol, was shut up in the foul ward of the hospital, exposed to disease and contagion, and was not suffered to have any cominonication with the father. lie did not mean . to acc use Ministers tit any thing farther than neglect ; and to remind them that, although it might be improper for an Individual to .he at large, he was innocent in law until convict ed anon tint! ; that all unnecessary rigour,. therefore, Mast be had not been to the prison himself to ascertain • the facts, for in these times it behoved a man to be cautious in his proceedings.—(Hear !)—He had teason, how ever, to helieVe that his intortuatiOn was correct. Lord tASTLEREAbIi said, the Honour:11)1e Gen .tleman had stated circumstances undoubtedly cal culated to affect the feelings of the House ; but he apprehended that he could have no-objectio n to .withdraw his motion, and enter -notice of it, that Ministers might he enabled 1 . 0 nicer it with a knowledge of facts 41n their part. • The Honour able Gentleman admitted that he hail no infor ma:iou on the subject but what he derived from others. Ile took this opportunity of animadvirt ing on the practice of moving for papers at a. late hour of the night, as extreinely inconvenient ; the produetion of -them bekg sometimes 'made in a vet y voluminous shape, to the great interruption of oflieiul business, and the incurring a he ivy puhlic expence. Sir F. LuRDETT observed, that the chos., wli ich he had proposed, to prevent ablises of this in the last Bill had been rejected ms eeknveying utl imputation on hi.. I\l3,jesty's Government. 11:e had nn dniihr his lionotirohle - Pi ie n would trkildri , ,v his Motion 114 the present, although lie did not think it too much to suppose ti nit Aliniste'rs should be.already provided vt ith the repiisite infurtua tion. B. BATITVIUT expressetl his conviction, that at the proper time the chsrges . would prove to be utterly tinfonntled. Ile had liven present at several examinations of the person's in - question ; they were always 'asked whether they 'had any complaint to, make respecting the treatment they received, to which they always anstvered, that they had not. it wa:tto the imprittonmettt only, and not to the tootle of it, they had any objections to make. The twb Ekalls'S had been brought to the same prison, in order that the wife of the one, and mother of the other, might have access to each. The younger Evans had applies! for books, and these had been allowed to him. With regard to the person in Wiltiie society the eider was confined, he knew nothing of his ehaeacter its a thief. Mr. BEN NETT explained, 411t1 withdrew his mo lion for the present. Mr. BE 'NETT then moved for a return of the effective military strength of the country in rank and file and non-con►mis6iontd officers, on the Ist January last ; after a few words from Lord PALMERSTON, teas ordered. Sir F. BnainTr presented a Periticin Irnm Bel fast, in favour of a Reform in the represeutat ion of the People. General M ITCIIELL did not object to the peti tion lying on the table.; but thought it right to state some of the circumstances under which.it was voted, in order to show that it was not the peti tion of the loyal inhabitantiof•that town; Sir F. Buancr-r understood, tildf t h e represen tation of Belfast, considering. the wealth' and pulation . of that place-, was extrenrely tkefectiVe ; that it was, in fact, oilmen borough in the ilis posal of the Marquis of Donegal, whose represen.; tative the Hon. General, was. • Gener a l IthrollE LL declared, that he never had seen the Marquis of Mr. A RBUTH NOT presented accounts of the out standing Exchequer Bills under the? 25th of • the King,. and of tke.sP.O . Auttuities: under, ti r e 37tIt'of the King. Ho then moved - for a return r f the am ount o f t h e unfunded debt on the s th - of jam!) last. Sir F. BURDETT postponed his notice-for the rcstimptinn of the debate on Reform Petitions till Wednesday- next.. The Committees ,of Supply. and of Ways an-d 41-earts.were ordered for Monday. Laid CAfiTLEREAGII, in candifersttion .of the state of the House, agreed to Put Olt * the conzti deration of the report on the Seditiotti'Meetings Bill' ilt 'Mouthy next. The report of the Committee •of Supply was brought up, and the - resolutions read a first time. The ,Committee on the. Mad-houses Bill was postponed till Wednesday. 'flue Indettiniiy Bill (Vii read a second time, and ordered to be conynitted on Monday.—Adjournetl. Tif ft 500 Mats MATCH tN 1-lErtis..--Lientenant YANom.r., completed '417 miles in tour days, .41 Thursday night nt nine o'clock ; but lie had evi tivrtly oirerwot ked himself. lie felt` the fatigue very much, and was somewhat lame, lie has How 283 miles to perform in six_ days, anti he is hacked'atevert to win. He does from five LO.six mites an hour when at work. J. 13, err i,..r.1 Tit - 6ts t t'itlcii. The annexel l'Atraet 4 the 100 0 ail CAPPER• Esq. Superlistetnisnt 00100 and Vessels for the Confinement o f 011 . 0 1 sentence of Transportation, 10 Pn 1511,) : dated It3:h January, 1817, %*ill b e rtlc i ,„ ll satisfaction, from the very 004001 which has been evinced by the 1114 uf sneers, and is highly creditable nut ‘ 4lll ' excellent regulations and adoptions of di ll tary of State fur the Home stir equally 3n to the Superinterniast id il l O l (filmic Officers : . . i - glth I "MY Loma --Having , sin ce `, i .: i of making my Report to your Ler4ll4o last, frequently inspected tlic seter el :H played for the confinemsnt 010111::: sentence of transportation at the dl I now lay before your Lordship,sfettn which I mitt will meet with ya eri° 7 7 . probation. " The Prisoners confined on betor do i . 11 5 hulk at Portsmouth have,, it in a very becoming manner, 10.11 Z Extract of a Letter from the !100°,71 GREY, Commissioner et, that,to,;., , with a certificate o f the Ofi,eeri dt . of their orderly behavinnr wheo I A shore. The observations made 11 1'1 On the conduct of the becers bel e ' ) !'r Captivity are faithfully repreaeatedi l' Chaplain's Report on the state o'f i'4e. morals, and also abstracts of the P r 4: ..i....b00d0w in the Schools in the ship. la" 1 A l uced by this part o f the igiteners'' eke /t; d when on board, are such as to,ai : 1 0 1 lary for me to ente r into any ife til ''' i ii l y:::t r l t r i L w o h r i t c l i s i hi l p hi n a ;o e t:t t hi 7rsit°lhnisecit4ll:sll4j ; : throughout heai : l' o f th the c Pr lastisu;etalr avteirli°grtll::;;;; " On board the Justitia hulke " 9 i dil older : , and regularity has co ntiaar ili t ti ficur s have been attentive to the ir ilui:11.10 treated the prisoners with ro : 0 , 1 0 this ship the ptisoncts tnanifestaies°ooo with other parts of the Estsblio. I mil , A fir' themstlves in learning, OA ‘` l3e- .. :fiti upon all occasions cxrrttd theoliel";ioii on the %roil, s ollottrn to 001414 i Dc apartment. The Surgeon .•, ,•, 0 1 r ow rtt tr t t ol o inei l y it i t %l le ) sr at h g e oe e t t l : leH i titipy i i t i: r w, e , t ini t: e :: : a co t i ) ft l i y cou l u i t o i t t i :: ` : ,,,, . , !_ i 10,i 1 ~..4. doling that t line being ah 4lll4 ,:po .i i ll' n `` At Sheerness there ore °C17 0 40 014 ►chitin tiun and Lietkroph,in hi' lli° 11° ° , o t the Same plan, into ilici,inOs-9/_,llite each ship, the latter vessel coutsialow E'tahli•lintent, removed frog i;s 14 10 14 11 The Pt iso tiers have been co un der tip the public works carrying on 1° , 44 ,0 01 of the Navy Board, and the ° r `. ll,t i , t i 0 i attentive to their respective o' 10 10, the Prisoners' morals on hoard thertboi, represented in the Chaplains rtert, .mitebbeeeaullosi::::,lntiottitirlb;eirovet,hetlitratce 4 0 11 ti;" 7 " tf among the rrisoners. by illrl " The provisions supplied -, , 1 1 1 0 0 ' have been of a very good tptality,*ttobio cent ion, on l y upon , „„ c o r two oa t vio la the bread, which latterly 1 )"' /I° l4 1 01 41 ; the .causc of w hich most be b eekit propjillo but so long as the prisoners . e p iii bread of twin' quality vvitli teat eh Ifrj : 1 is the ° l :a oil troops of the line (Will" PIP I. " be no. reasonable ground for °lll' b P e a l g r i ' t a . l . t . ) repotting to Y"" li. ' llisilIPIIP°111111:1 i‘h),,,i,lie..tisrki..ielli, : .,c io f ur of the yrisul' e r " ibillt'l.fil' °4rl L I • --'ent, I can with great trdth 6.e0 ,il7llshiP thlt their couthict bits 1 0/ ft{ • "4"nt i.a..x, of ',owned %fkg of Sent to .' ) the hulks this 13“ year ("lin,Afe ; dit o ) rely tipprarett habits) li"ii tote Ili to have expected otherwise ; I Ail° lobill °great inettsure to thoSe of vic'w'll,g/tAll s re rp w ell by a ma im it} c',4 ortlerlYfoito) C omas, who have (to say th e l e ' 3't v n VI 100 - ' 1 out ward sign of reforroar roorly The health of die ri4"t 1 i$ t or' I . rist"gly good, rart.;colurly wl' ell ! f osot to what a state of tfcbil!tyaofi distso4 convicts are brought to the lO W ' .' be, " I have the honoor I° df My Dortl, obe die "Tour LorAllipl 104 00i) 'OOOll Ser ce Copy of the Report of c: hjef:4:ll7:av'° . 1 ' t I l i ' ► s . C 4 .......... ~ o f i.- ,) Hulk to J • o „ the b t ' 0. Ca Pre a • and : Religion on board. ' ,tllct'' g f The 1 diticliP; , Of great ativantageln, 0000 into classes ab'cordi4 to their