The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1819-07-13 00:00:00

EMIGRATION.

The CHANCELLOR of tin. EXCHEQUER said be
had another Address to propose relative to the en-
couragement of settlements in our dependant
colonies. His Majesty's M Misters laving thought
it almost a reproach to the country that so much of
our population should remain at home without the
means of employment, had already made un expert-
ineut in that way on a small scale ; its result hail
been such as to induce a desire that it should be
extended, and it was to attend encouragement said
means fur that purpose he was about to propose a
g.aitt of money by the Houee. The colony which
it had been deemed most prudent to select for the
strut of the experiment was the Cape of Good
Hope. This had been thought preferable to the
British Colonies in North America, because in the
latter place great expenses were to be undergone
before any advantages could be reaped from the
country ; besides, the climate was very unfavourable,
owl the winter most rigorous. But when once the
set►ler wale on the spot in the colony pitched upon, a
prospect of competence., enjovment, and independ-
ence was opened to him, and he was put in a situa-
bole to ensure all these things; so great was the mild-
ness of the climate and the fertility of the soil, that
the emigrant would immediately be enabled to
sustain himself on his arrival. The colony was pe-
culiarly adapted for the management and increase of
sheep, and lie considered our trade would derive
great advantages from the vest growth of sheep,
which, would probably take place there, and front
its forming such a convenient entrepot of com-
merce. 'the spot chosen fur the settlement was on
the south-west coast, near a bay which had good
anchorage and landing, and about thirty miles
distant from a
.good town already built. As he had
mid, an experiment had been already tried on a
small scale, under the direction of the Secretary of

State, of tending out families dvaircus of leaving the
country. paying the expeoses of their passage ; but
they bad been required to make a small advance of
money on setting out. which was repaid them on
their arrival. That precaution ensured the means
of the intlividitalt supporting themsrlvt4 till a re-
turn t.l the cropv. The country produced every
thin;; most valuable in the Torrid and the Temperate
Zone—it bion,:lit f.oth the *int, the olive, and the
mulberry in the greatest abundance, by which it
was reasoirvble to hope the three great brunches of
-isir manufactures would be considerably angmettied
mot improved.—(hear, Gear. Gear)—The peop!e
who vdiould go omit, would find themselves very
soon afier their arrival, from the measures adopted
by Government, iii the posvertion of a competeuce.
—Wear, lie•rr, Gear.)—Torre was no danger of
our lootig the valUtible part of our population, as
the proposed plan comprelfemlvil those only who
were unable to procure the means of employing
themselves at home. Thrown which it was thought
proper to propose granting was one not exceedmg
50,000/. which be thought fully sufficient for the
present. The Right Honourable Gentleman then
moved—
" Thant nu humble Address he presented Pt hi, Royal
it mho. rx the Prince Regent, praying his Royal Highness
to dii ect the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty's Treasury
to ksar from time to time, anal under such reaulatiuns us
to Iltrut may seem expedient, such sum or sums, nut exceed-
hie in the whole 50,0901. sterling, ax they may deem neces-
sary to athirst riiciiiiragement to sorb of his Majesty's sub-
ject. as are drairoies of settling in his Majesty's Colony of
the Cape of Good Hope."

The question having been put.
Mr. 111.:511; said, the project just explained was an
extrrint!y laudable one, hut he was sorry it had
nut been taken up by bis Majesty's Goverisment
sooner. But he thought a material feature of such
a plat) should be to call on the parishes to contribute
to the sending out of able-bodied inhabitants, who
had no emplovinent at home, or no funds to make
the deposit alluded to. He knew that certain per-
sons in the country were of opittiou that this was •
species of trnosportatio.,, but lie did nut by any
means view it in that light. He thought it might
be made the meat a of bringing effectual uid to the
great distress which prevailed in the country. lie
did not approve of the mode in which the sum
proposed was to be expended—if it was to go in
aid, as had been said, of thoae plaweasesl of capital
already, he should consider it as lost.

'Eh; CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER sail, it
certainly was a part of the plan that the parishes
should be assisted in sending out such part of their
population as they could ant bud employment for,
and were willing to emigrate ; but it was 110 t con-
templated to employ any force or compulston with
IDY persons.—(Hear, hear.)
Alderman WOOD said, it appeared strange to
look for ground to be cultivated in foreign lands,
when there was no less a quantity than 80,000 revs
lying waste at Dartmoor, which the Prince Regent
might grant out as lie pleased. Of late very large
coatiacts fur stone had been made, and it appeared
that stone of a most excellent quality, as good,
perhaps, as that at Aberdeen, might be procured at
the place lie had mentioned,.

?.Jr. C. HUTCHINSON agreed with the Honour-
able Member who had spoken list, that there was
much land unemployril iii England, and other
'ruts of our domestic empire, but us that had not
been drawn into use and occupation, he cordially
approved of the spirit of the motion. But lie
knew there were many individuals, particularly in
Ireland, desirous of trying their fortunes in our
foreign settlement►, but destitute of the means of
lodging any deposit. He therefore wished to ask
the Hight Mut. Gentleman, whether there was any
part of his plan destined for the relief of that poor
class of per►ons ? He suggested that one feature of
it should be to make a provision for assisting the
emigration of the distressed manufacturer, trades-
Min, or peasant, who was not iii g condition to
make any pecuniary advance.
The 6IANCEI.LOR of the ExcHHEQvt•.tt replied,
lie had stated his plan in such general terms as to
preclude his going into the details. The Right
lion. Gentleman made Sonic further observations
which were not audible to us.

Mr. W. Wit.mAsts said, that this country pos-
sessed sufficient resources iu herself fur the employ-
'swot of all her population, if they were called into
action. tie contended that a large proportion of
that ',art of it at present living in idleness might
be turned to useful labour, by tilling our waste
lands, and particularly by the culture of flax, after
the model of America, in the 80,600 acres referred
to by the worthy Alderman. That too would add
mud; more materially to our national strength than
the sending out our people to distant clinics.
The motion was then unanimously agreed to.
SIR T. lIISLOP.

Mr. II UME begged to to b;itiiormed by a Right
Hon. Gentleman opposite, whether any further in-
forusati iiii lied been received from India, respecting
the conduct of Sir T. Hislop at the fort of Taluier ?
Mr. CANN !NU replied in the urgitive.
COLLECTION OF THE REVENUE.

Sir 11. PARN said, that in using to move the
Order of the Dot fur rebottling the debate ou his
Resolutions respecting the collection of the Re-
venue, he did nut thiuk it at all necessary to enter
lot° the geuersl subject. It appeared to him that
in the discussion winch hod token place out the Tax
Bills io the course of the present Session, an ad-
mission bad been made by the Right Honourable
Gentleman (we presume the Chancellor of the
Exchequer), that savings to the public might be
made by an improvement in the mode of collect-
ing the revenue ; other Hon. G.tillemen, however,
on the opposite side of the Howie, had afterwards
said, it was in vein fur the country to look for any
considerable alleviation of their burdens by reduc-
twit in the offices under the Government. As he.
however (Sir H. Parnell), haul paid a great deal of
attention to the subject, both then and now, he had
been most decidedly of the opposite opinion, and
had thought, and did think, flint if every depart-
ment of the public service were examined with a
scrutinizing eye, and a sincere desire to practise
economy, reductions would be found practicable
from which would be derived the most material re-
lief, and he had accordingly resolved not to let the
Session pass without presenting his opinions to the
House in the shape of Resolutions. Ile was toe
chord to think the question had been overlooked.
because the Committee of Fimince, in their First
Report of the Session, calculating the amount of
the savings which might be made in IRO, bad mot

•

at all taken into account reductions iu the.,public
offeiii,', Whereas lie was oeopinfon, that if that
system were pursued which was contained in his
Resointions, considerable retrenchureeis might be
made, not in one or two, but in all the establish-
Menlo for conducting the business of the country.
Ile di.! not consider it as chimerical to expect that
saving of 2 per cent. might be effected in the
charge for collecting and expending the reen,,,e,
which would diminish the national ho mans by ~,,e
mdllon two hundred thousand pouuds amorally.
Ile WI. on all occasions, by refer:Mg to whateter
documenta were open to him. eilitenviairril to ohtsaii,
to the beet oaf Isis knowledge, the total extent of the
establishment of each Mee ; but as he had not
access to the papers of the 'Arra. and as such
places were constantly undergoing some wise.
toms, lie could not pledge himself that lie had
nut fallen into some inaccuracies.—(l/essr./7-
There was one of his Resolutions to whit+ he wished
particularly to allude—thut whiell stated the charge
against the public by the Batik. The Resolution
described the net annual profit s.f the Rink
(127.228 i.) to arise from m•tnaeing the public
business, whereas it would he more correct to have
said from managing the !mirk 'lt lit, as that was
almost the only public business performed by that
body. The lion. Baronet then explained certain
minute errors which he had committed in stating
the number of seamen kept no for the current
year, the expenses of a few of the offices, und the
extent oldie Civil List. Ile trusted the I !Arse would
pardon these small inaccuracies, when they recol.
beted the difficulty of the task lie hat undertaken,
without possessing official iutormation.—/Hen►.)—
Nis conviction was, that the I-I...Amore of the fits:lnce,
of this country was such, as not oily to justify, but
imperatively call for every species of retrencluneut.
It was in vain to think of carrying into effect that
retrenchment in the modes that had been attempt.
e(k before; it was to' he bottomed mt new princi-
ples, and innovations were of necessity to he put
to practice in the national establishinesits ; be-
uause, if the House depended on diminishing the
number or salarter of clerks, the benefit result.
nig would be very slight indeed; but if they
set out on deeper principles and more extrud-
ed views, he anticipated the most beneficial con.
s!•quences. It the system of patronage at pre-
sent exercised by Government was still to he left
iii their hands, that economy could not be ex-
peeled which might reasonably be calculated on,
it the machinery and working of all the public
departments were consigned to the officers at
the head of it. It was on these principles he
had been led to introduce his Resolutions; hat
they applied to the appointment of the inferior
officers only, and the mousier in which business was
transacted. Ile did nut feel that he was then called
upon to go into the details of Isis Resolutions,
though he was perfectly ready to do so on a proper
occasion, convinced as he was that lie could support
them if it became necessary, on clear and unde-
niable grounds. The I-lon. Baronet then moved
the first of his Resolution..

Mr. LONG said, that a 4 the Hon. Baronet had
not gone much into the subject, he should not
trouble the House at any length. He was very 6►
from accusing the Hon. Baronet of intentional mis-
representation, seeing as lie did material errors in
his Resolutions ; he thought, oil the contrary, that
he had examined the subject with attention. He
could not, however, avoid complaining that the Hon.
Baronet had miscopied official documents, to which
he, in common with every Member of that House
had access, particularly when lie saw that every news-
paper in the kingdom had published them, and
many of them, relying on the usual accuracy of the
Hon. Baronet, with comments, as if they had been
all perfectly correct. The lion. Baronet had said,
that great savings might be made by alterations in
the mode of collecting the revenue. He (Mr.
Long) should not argue that question with him ;
but lie as.erteil, that no grounds had been laid by
hint to induce the House to ndopt such an opi-
nion. He thought the comparison of the charges
of collecting branches of the revenue completely
different in their nature and produce, was most nu-
just. A circumstance not to be forgotten by the
House, thought it seemed to have been overlooked
by the Hon. But, was, that under the terms, " the
charge for collecting the revenue," were included
many expettsta of a quite different sieture. For
instance, the sum winch was nominally the charge
of collecting the Customs, comprised within it the
expenses of the navigation, the quarantine, and the
warehousing systems. The Hon. Bart. had stated
from a Report of Commissioners of the year 1786,
that " the office rules for transacting public busi-
ness were attended with great intricacy sod per-
plexity, particularly in the Customs, where no less
than twelve single operations were required for the
discharge of a single cargo." But lie should have
recollected, that thirty-three years Itad elapsed since
that period, and that very greet improvements
had been introduced there in the interval. The
Honourable Baronet had also referred to the
Report of 1797, and averred from it " that
a consolidation and simplification of the re-
venue laws would astable the officer to execute his
duly with more promptitude awl earety"—but was
lie not aware that three or four measures cosisoli-
dating these laws had since been poised, and one
in that very Session? The Right Hon. Gentle-
man then expressed his decided dissent from the
Resolution which stated a certain inconvenience
to follow from the authority exercised by the Trea-
sury over the Cummia.ione►s fur auditing the pub-
lie accounts, with regard to all articles of ac-
count, whether of allowance or surcharge; declar-
ed that the transacting of business in his own
office, that of Paytnaster-Getteral, was conduct-
ed in the must simple and eraimmic,tl way tte
could devise; asserted that the establishment for
the current year cost but about 27,900/. which
was only three thousand more than the expellee of
it in the year 1796, though there had :wets a vast
increase of business in various ways. He should
be sorry, however, to be supposed to say, that no
saving in the collection of the revenue wait practi-
cable. To express such an opinion would ill he.
come him, who wes one of a commission appointed
to inquire into sources of ►etreuciimeut ; he thought
otherwise, though he should not venture in what
partieolar mean►. The House would recollect a
Resolution had been passed by it, binding his Ma-
jesty's Ministers to carry retrenchment to the fur-
thest extent they could.
Lord PAILMUSTWiI said, be. eboold embrace that

. .

`.~

opportunity of making a few observations
Resolutions proposed by the Hon. Bart. and also
to stair the Resolution that Government bird ['ozne
to respecting the half.pay officers. It was Ins in.
!tuition to hare proposed a cause to he added to
the Appropriation Act of the present tirsoom, to
alter the torture of the oath such officers are at per.
wit obliged to take on the receipt of their half.
pay ; but front a ttt i t conception as to the proper
time, and absence from town, he had Inst the op.
portunity. „Rut en arrangement had been resolved
on by the treasury, and to the individuals
in-
terested the benefit would be the 'sine tui if his.
intended chose 'had been made part of the law'
Instead Of the former oath the individual wou:if.
henceforth be rimpsired to swear he did tict
any military place, ace. Or employment under
his Nlajesty, except ow the stall, in garrison*, orthr
colonies, the proceeds of which, together with
half-paw. exceeded three times the half-pay of that
office from which his claim was derived. if the
claimant held a civil office, the oath would be, that
the emoluments of it, with his half:pay, did not
exceed four times the amount of the latter. lie
certainly meant to propose a legislative measure on
the subject next Session. With respect to the Re-
solutions, he was sorry the Hon. Paronet had tint
brought up his errors also, because he was sure they
would have gone pari paint with the former. The
Njble Lord then proceeded to point out several nits.
takes and omissions, which he argued Sir H.
had fallen into, respecting the Commander in
Chief's office, and the establishment of Secretary at
War—said it appeared, from one of the Reports of
the Committee of Finance, that the examination of
military accounts in arrear saved the country on an
average eight thousand pounds a year—and lastly.
tnaititained that the consolidation of the (Aces of
Paymaster-General. Treasurer of the Navy, and
Treasurer of the Ordnance, and the other couso.
lidation recommended in the same Resolution, would
put the country to ten times the expense these
offices did separately, mid throw the business trans.
acted at them into a chaos of confusion.

Mr. CALCRAFT said, that notwithstandinz tte
censures which came from the Treasury Ikne,,,
always up in arms against any one that ventured to
name economy, his Hon. Friend (Sir H. Parnell)
was strongly entitled to the praise of the Hothe
and the country. All the main and great facts
Mtated in his Resolutions remained untouched by
the Hight Hon. Gentleman or the Noble Lon!.
The Noble Lord exulted very much at a blunder
which he had charged his Hon. Friend with haviN
made. What was that blunder? It was, that the
salaries in the office of Commander-in-Chief, in
1793, amounted to 413/. instead of 2,0001. which
was the fact. This was the sort of petty cavil which
was raised against hi, Hon. Friend's Resolutions.
His Majesty's Ministers gave the go-by to state-
ments which involved million!, and took great co:-
dit to themselves because they had discovered
trifling mistake made by his lion. Friend in a fo,
hundred pounds. The Noble Lord triumphantly
aimed that his office cost less now than it did iu
170. But his Hon. Friend had rendered this de.
clarions° unnecessary, for he stated, in hi• ripeniro4
speech, that be had been led into an inadvert,iic ,
and with that fairness and candour, which no (;eo.
demon ought to lose sight of, he acknowled4cd e
mistake. The Noble Lod should however recol-
lects that though the business was managed by the
Secretary at War, at an expense of 4,0001. a-year,
there was a Commander-in-Chief', Department.
which cost 14.0001. per annum, that ought to In:
added to it. This was the true way of looking at
the question. But Ministers disliked any thing
that even had the appearance of approaching era.
nomy—so much so, that, in their haste to get rid
of this question, they hid lost their usual adroit.
ness. tVliat his Hon. Friend said, could not he
denied—namely, that there was au excessive ex-
penditure in all the departments of Government,
and, if it were not reduced to a level with former
peace establishments, sound and substantial reasons
ought to be offered in support of such a course.
Ministers exclaimed, " See what we have done, sod
what we are about to do!" But he would call
upon Parliament to look at the state of the country
—at the distresses of the people—at the embarrassed
situation of the resources of the empire.—( Hear.)—
But, when the people requested relief, they were
visited with additional taxation—and this covered
those expenses which it was more pleasant for those
who received a part of this 5,500,000/. per annum
to incur, than to listen to or act upon any propo-
sition for retrenchment and economy, which Gentle-
men on that side of the House, in the conscientious
discharge of their duty, might bring forward. One
of the Gentlemen opposite had said, " Have not
Ministers given you a resolution having economy
fur its object ?" Certainly they had. But what
had they given to the country besides ? Nothing
but extravagance and prolusion.—(Hear, hear.)—
That Resolution was brought in, at the heel of the
Session, and he expected very little benefit from it.
He thought very little, if any thing, of this paper
kite of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. They
were, he supposed, expected to gaze at it, while
the tax-gatherers thrust their hands into the pockets
of the people.—( Hear, hear.)-51uch was said
about this Resolution—but what good had flowed
from it ? It was printed and circulated, and there
the matter rested,

Sir B. MARTIN said. that much of the expend'-
titre which the Hon. Baronet had remarked on, a,
exceeding that of former years, could very easily he
explained. The Resolutions set forth—

That the establishment of the Navy Pay Office
was fixed by au Order of Council, dated 911 s Oc-
tober, 1789, at, exclusive of the salary to the t'
Try of the Navy . . 9,128.
Thai the anon voted for salaries and coutiugeucies
for this office, in the yilsr 1819, is 37,839
That the establishment of the Navy Office amount-
ed to—

la the year 1796
In the year 1819, the sum voted is
Now it was necessary to observe, that most on.
portant duties had, by Act of Parliamen*, been
added to those which were formerly attached to
this office. These duties arose, first, front the al-
lotment system, by which, seamen were enabled to
appropriate part of their pay to the support of their
families. This occasioned a constant recurrence to
accounts. and rendered it necessary to keep up a
correspondence with every town in the kingdom.
Another canoe of additional labour was the Act
which enabled officers. of every description. to call.
quarterly, for a portion of their pay. It was etay
to contrive the difficulties which these too stet►

regulations created. It was, however, but justice
to say, that the allotment system had given the
utmost satisfaction ►o the minds of the seamen.—
Hear, hear.)—It prevented their families from
hecomiug burdensome to their respective parishes,
and was most useful in various points of view. If
the Legislature would remove these two excellent
Acts, such a measure would bring back the office
exactly to what it was in 1796, but it would also,
fie wo well coniinced, be productive of con,ider-
ati!e m'schief. The next held was that of Dock-
here the Resolutions set forth—