The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1820-02-25 00:00:00

PRIVII.EGES OF THE HOUSE.

The Earl of LAUDERDALE theft ruse to propose
the Revolutions of which lie had warn notice. He
was happy to say that the question to which he was
about to call their Lordships' attention lay withiu
a very narrow compass; it was so clear, that. as
lie conceived, nothing more was necessary than a
simple rtatentetit, to convince every one of their
Lordships that the act of power on the part of the
other House, of which lie complained, was totally
unprecedented in the history of Parliament, and of
such a nature as to threaten seriously the privileges
of this House, if their Lordships did not interfere.
When lie had yesterday moved that the House
should be summoned for this day, his object was
to afford au opportunity of examining the ques-
tion minutely, and in all its bearings; but its look-
ing into it hini.elf, he had found it to be more
clear than he had at first supposed. The custom
and law of Parliament was, that no sums of public
money could be raised or disposed of without the
consent of the whole Legislature—without the
authority of au Act of Parliament. At the same
time lie perfectly well knew, that after certain
sums had been grouted to the Crown for the
support of the army or sissy, or other branches
of the public service, it had been the practice to
apply parts of them occasionally by Resolutions of
a Committee of Supply; but then these Resolua
firms were always fortified by a subsequent Act of
Parliament : and be apprehended that a Resotutioss
of the Committee of Supply of the other Howie,
if not followed up by an Act of the three branches
of the Legislature, was, on the dissolution of Par-
liament, but as a piece of waste paper; it had no
binding force, and the right and authority to apply
money in a particular manner, arose solely out of
the will of the Legislature, expressed in its common
Act. Hr believed that he liaJ stated the law seminar-
ly, according to Ilatsell. But here were certain
annuities appropriated in particular ways during
the life of the late King, hut which had been di.
retied to expire on his demise ; and the other
House had taken on itself to say, that those pay-
ments ►hould be continued, which the law of the
Lind had pro tttttt need should expire. But in oppo-
sition to this proceeding, lie could produce a Reso-
lution of the House of Commons, passed in the
year 1784, on the apprehension of a dissolution,
which declared, that if any person whatever should
dare to appropriate ally rum of the public money
after a dissolutiou should have taken place, without
an Act of Parliament to authoiire the same. such
person would be guilty of a high crime and misde.
ineanour, and such appropriation would be an in-
fraction of the privileges of Parliament and subversive
of the Constitution. Such was the opinion of the
other Hnu.e thell at that time. Ilia Majesty had
now informed the Parliament, by r Aleasage, that
it was shortly to he dissolved, and called on the
usher House to take such measures as were
indispensably itecrtsur), twirler's the terminatiou of
the present Session, and the assembling of the new
Parliament. The Answer only echoed back the
sentiments of the Message. The House of Com-
mons, therefore, in doing what it hail done, had
acted under the impression that it was to be dia.
solved, and that provision was to be made for the
necessary demands of the public service ; and how
had it made this provision by breaking through
all law, and vetting at defiance all prevalent,
fur they had voted the money required its a Cotn-
inittee of Supply ; and when he found by their votes
that nu Appropriation Act had passed, he was justi-
fied so raying that it was in violation of all prece.

dent, :rod he defied the Noble Lord to pr4duce 441 one
I I instance of it. garnet higig Smokr liar) oceurred in
1807. hut it was without any attempt to eacroach
on their Lordships` in Pell& go•—ifer C7fie is as oer-
fectly different. The line., of Common, now took
oil them to dispense a Orr I law. 0 there grounds
he begged leave to submit Resolutions. But lie
must striven to the snit of dee-price which, jodging
from what had taken ph •c- fast meta, the Noble
Lord (Liverpool) meant to set toil. If he wi.lied to
make his argument good for arty reork, he would
be obliged to say, that this House had, on the pre-
sent occasion, resolved to forego its riwa. privileges,
leave it to the other Effuse to do every there,
and stand Silent mod iv:lie:se issinerses of 110 War.
patters. He had thought ;hilted that his Majesty's
Ministers would have been extremely cautions i's
iatictioning such an exerci-e 01 power, for 'f those
MICI were now crying no sod down through the
country the nostrum's of minted preliensents
universal suffrage, cosh! suer eed is modelling aa
Act of Parliament agreeably to their airtsbna, and
',honoring a twat there. one of their bait steps
I would be to imitate this measure, sod lb declare
that the interference of this Howse its their proceed.
loge was useless. The Noble Earl then read his
Iteariletions. • The fine stated, that the C' minor's
House of Parliament hail voted certain Reece atom.,
and recited the voles objected to in tow Committee
of Supply. The second stated that the House of
Commons had affected to grant in a Cotorsiittee of
Supply expired anassitiee, to be continued for a
certain ileriod, which could only, corroisteutly with
conatitue I princieles mid former 'eeecedents.
be continued by an Act of Parliament. Tee
third imported, that under these circenistances
the House considered it its duty to declare, that
feeling these proceedings to be iecomieteet with
the law and usage of Parliament, and opposed td
their privileges, they were yet induced, to comae.
(poice of the state of public Weisser*, to roiliese
interferiiig in a case which must siotwithstunding
be looked upon as an infraction of the best Kiwi..
pies of the Constitution. The last Resolution, the
Noble Earl lidded, clearly shewrd that lie was not
on this occasion actuate(( by parry spina, or an in-
tentiou to enlists the measures 01 ins Majesty's
Government, but merely Iron a desire that it
might not be drives igloo pr. erilent,
The Resolutions havirig beau read from the
11%04track,
The Earl of LIVERPOOL said, that the Resolu-
tions proposed threw very great cer4sure mi the
House of Commons, viii he was a.rtidrnt that
before adopting them their Lordshras would pause,
at least till they were convinced that any thing had
been done iii the House of Continues which had
not been sanctified by its conduct on many reenter
occasions, and the approbation, if nut express, at
least to be implied from its acqwe-cene, of this
House. He thought that there was iii this
contrary to the practice of that 'terse, or to the
principles of the Constitution, as strii)!iditl at the
Revolution or downwards. He aport:ienried that
there was a clear distinction betweru money to be
raised, and money to be graided his supply. It
was this, that aiuuce the year 1688, 140 money hail
been levied off the public except by authority of
the whole Legislature. To such oil extent was this
principle carried, that it was applied 141 a loan ; for
though that was contracted fur by the First Lord
of the Treasury and the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer, and though the first iii-,444inent was
usually paid within u few days, )et is teas depo-
sited in the Bunk, and 110 ithllliter, he believed,
had ever yet ventured to touch a penny of it, till
its provisions had been sanctioned by Parl'ament.
But with respect to a supply, the practice rasa
extremely different. It bad been Ihr piactire of
every House of Commons for a number of years to
vote sums of money for specific purposes, and
these sums had been appropriated accordingly with-
out any approbation expressed by this House. It
was au invariable practice, and sometimes half the
supplies granted for the year write slisposed of
in that manner, sod without any Act of Par-
liament, and the resolution of the House of
Commons of 1784, quoted by the Ntb!C Lord
(Lauderdale) in support of his 'agorae's,. was. in
fact, a confirmation of the Usage which lie (Lord
Liverpool) was contending fur. For what was its
history ? Every one who had any 'acquaintance
with the political history of this tummy, knew
that at that time it was suppyord to be ti e
object of Ministers to diastase the Parliament.
It was the wish of the majority of tier floatee
of Commons to prevent it. mud therliad irc-
cordingly passed the Iteßdulaini i t question.—
But the very circtonstauce of lion. iiiiaiking it
necessary to adopt such a irreveritive iiirasuir, prov-
ed the preceding usage to have been such as he had
described it. It sheaved their einiviciion, that wets
it mot for their recorded (minim', the public !Imlay
would have been applied after the dissolutiori to
specific uses, as it had been be Mee without the
authority of all Act of Parliament ; it established
that such was the understanding of the Maier of
Commons. From that time to the present the
uniform practice of ralriljlllielit was us lie haul
stated. Certainly an appropriate Act followed ide-
but in 1784 and 1307, 11104111 had
been so appropriated after thr dissolution of
Parliament, and according to the Nolde Lorriat
argumesit, the whole of it stioubl have been
voted over again in the new P.el uncut.--
Where, he asked, was the difterriice of this front
ordinary cases? If the Treasury eNS every Serisieu
empowered to apply money by triter of a Coin.
mine. of Supply, which applicatioos were con.
firmed by au Act at the end of the Session, did it
not come to the same thing whether the Act were
passed at the eed of this Seseiote or of the that of
the new Parliament ? He could not thiuk the ob-
jections of the Noble Lord well founded, at the
same time he was not unwilling to inert any feu
views of the subject. But lie could remedy toe
lieve that the Noble Lord hoped the House would
agree to Resolutions which conveyed so strong mid
direct a censure on the proceedings, iu this respect.