The National Register.
London, England, 1816-03-18 00:00:00

tn.

PRICE Sid.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, MONDAY, MARCM 11.
The Martinis of Anglesey took the oaths and his seat.
Several Petitions were presented against the Property-tai
and the Insolvent Debtors' Act.
The Lord Chancellor laid on the table • draft of a Rill for
embodying all the Acts imposing the punishment of the Pillory
into one Bill.—Adjourned.

TUESDAY, MARCH t 2.
Many Petitions were presented against the Property Tax ;
and one, 25 yards in length, and filled with two columns of
names, from the Freeholders of Staffordshire, against that and
thisStantling Army.
STATE OF THE NATION.
The fluke of Moroni) acknowledged the indulgence of-tlaw
Home in his late indisposition, and assured them that nothing
but a strong sense of duty would have urged hint to bring this
motion forward. If he should be able to prevail on them to
go into a Committee, he would ask them to look at the proposed
standing army, and to say if many reductions might not be
made which must be beneficial iu a financial point of view.
With all the means placed in the power of Ministers to termi-
nate the war, by a wise and secure peace • it would be for the
House to decide whether that termination had been given be
them to the war, or not. If they had done so, he would afford
them his feeble praise; but if not, as far as he could, he would
raise his feeble %Mee . t them. He then noticed the ap-
plication of 23,000 wen for the service 'of Great Britain, having
at the same time a force of 30,000 inen disposable in F
and he would ask if such a force was necessary at Isome.e
amount of force proposed for our new colonies Was also, in bb :
opinion, far too large. He could not conceive how 25.000 m i
was necessary for Ireland. But, in his opinion, Ireland bad i
been too long treated as a conquered country. In his epi. r
nion, it was necessary to take some steps to conciliate the
people of Ireland; and above all, to give her Catholic isdiabi.
tants their due and equal rights in the ConititutMn. It had r
been said, that they were too furious to be admitted into the
Constitution. But if they had felt their degradation strongly,
they had also approached that Bar with Petitions, mild, but
firm. He noticed the taxation proposed to meet that establish.
meat; and, in doing so, be quoted the opinion of a Noble Ws-
quirt near him (Lansdowne), that those taxes suariantosi to ow.
half of the seinel income of the country. It would therefore
appear that we were at the se phis ultra of taxation. especially
when they ennsidered the distressed state of the country. Pe-
titions were pouring in from all parts against the property tax.
and be could not but wonder at the pertinacity of the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer in persisting to press the continuance
of this tax.. In the reign of Henry IV. this tax was proposed,
bat afterwards the Parliament ordered all trace of it to be de-
stroyed, for fear it should he drawn into precedent; and shisidill
it be said that their ancestors were more jealous of their liber-
ties and property than we were 1 He noticed the distremsd
state of agriculture, in consequence of n-hich almost colic-half
the farmers in the country were bankrupts or in jail. His
Grace again adverted to the state of Ireland, and called on the
House to go into a Committee, for the purpose of ex • •
into the evils which weighed so heavily an that country.- Ra
was sure that from such an enquiry the greatest benefits might
lie expected; and lie called on them to reduce the establish-
ments in every part, thr the purpose of alleviating the distresses
of the country. He then moved, That the House should re-
solve itself into a Conunittee nu the State of the Nation.

The Duke of Sussex rose to second the motion; and doing
so he drew the attention of the House to the external state of
our policy, and that which applied to our internal :tentage-
mlts. Our difficulties, no doubt, arose frota the bag psis.
tracted war in which we were so lately engaged, but gm
difficulties under which we now laboured, in his opinion, were,
that the star had not been teraduated by the attainment piths
objects fur which we had carried it en. If the battle of Water-
loo had conquered us a secure and permanent peace. then we
had attained the object for which the war was earned on; but
his opinion was, that we were by no means restored to that
state of security ur permanency ill peace. lie doubted that at
present we had not been able to return to that flourishing state
of manufactures and commerce as before the war of the Re-
volution, or even at the peace of Amiens. The high state of
our taxation neither allowed us to 'mar use of such good ma-
tt rids, nor to make oar tcorknuuuhip so 2.llhitUlltini as former-
ly. For this reason the manufacturers abroad were able to
sell equally excellent manufactures at 25 per cent. cheaper
than we could afford to sell our.. At ;101110 too, the farmer
could not afford to pay so much for articles for the ornament of
his own family. lie next noticed the large standing force of
the country ; and if that force was to be kept up to maintain a
Government in another country, he could not consider such a
Government as a free agent in any treaty of peace it might sign
with us or our Allies; neither could lie consider any Govan-
mod as a proper one which did not exist in the affect and
confidence of the people over whian it ruled. He wall of *pi.
Mon, that we ought to consider ourselves as an insuha howl r; •
and witbont interfering with the babitice of nirope, we should
he able t throw greater weight into any scale which it might bee
our interest to preponderate. For this reason, he thought a
' naval force might rather be kept up than a military one; bolls
because it was more calculated to protect ourself es, and also
' because a military force was a subject of jealousy to every
Engl.sh usu. It the hour of danger assailed us at
e had g0.,i1 worlinea and faithful citizens who would comet
force id and protect their country yet when the danger
shoeld subside, they would return to their oectipatious; but he
was afraid that men bred 'iti to the trade of soldiers were nit,
suited for the social duties of citizen,. For his part lie looked
at the proceedings of the Congress with great jealously, when
he considered that, though they were unanimous /et the alai-
. Ile of the Slave Trade, yet they thought nothing of dividing
their countries into military establishments and positiona..
The Farl of .linatlakEN opposed the motion. They most all
agree that some yeace establialuneut was accessary a, and Lary

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timid not argue on it until it should be proposed to the House
what that establishment was to consist of. There existed such
a spirit of political inquiry and research in this eountry, as
would prevent danger suiting from any standing army that
could be kept up by us, It was true that Napoleon was in our
power, and his arnuesavere destroyed ; yet 'het a still misted
the instrumeuts of his prower-a-namely, a spirit of rapine and
disorder,HßMg the French people. At the same time, he con-
sidered that we had every prospect, from our alliance with the
four great powers. of being able to maintain ourselves in secu-
rity and pears.. Bid, as to preserve ourselves in that state
was our greatest object, we ought to omit nothing withal
wand teud to secure the peace and happiness of our own
country. As to Ireland, he considered the evils antler which
it laboured as originating in ignorance and poverty; and that,
to correet them, they should begin by imtruction, and nut by
agreeing to the Committee proposed by the Noble Duke.
The Lad ofLimaniec *ought, that in disenasiug this sub-
ject it would be better to abstain front mentioning the state of
Ireland; tar the treatment of that country far centuries had re-
duced her to a state too painful to be frittered awey in party
questions iu that House. lie could not, however, nerve with
the Noble Duke that Ireland had hero treef d us a coilqut
conutry, unit ss the protectien afforded to the loyal and :iober-
minded could be called so. A arca t evil under which the Irish
peasantry laboured was, that it they were Catholics they had
to pay two classes of Pastors, both Catholics and Protestants.
The fault was not in the present, or the former, al ina-try ; last
had been increasing for a century and more. The evils of Ire-
land hail increased since the Revolution of 1088; after which,
she was governed by a set of ignorant meta who paid no
atteu-
thin to her interests, and only minim(' to domineer over her.
But after the volameers rose eor its prott ction, when the fleets
of France and Spain rode tclumphaut in the eheintel, this coun-
try most liberally gave to Irt laud her cmomeree. But since
the Chitin, the interest of the debt of Ireland had exceeded the
amount of her income. 'I his had tidy( n away much of the po-
pulation, and had Mimed :hat country severely, by withdraw-
ing from it some of its most powerful lauded proprietors. Let
this country not neglect Ireland; but look to her as its first
bulwark in the hour of danger and diffienity.
The Marquis of Be etts maw( considered diet the speech of
the Noble Lord who adtlll,,SS,2ll them last, contained in itself
the strongest reasons for at:teeing to go into the proposed Com-
mittee. If after that speech they refused to inquire into the
state of Ireland, it won'd be to hold out to the population of
that country that for ever she should be kept down by the mi-
litary force of Cheat Britain. In 1782 we cotrusted the pro-
tection of Ireland to her own volunteers ; and what was the
reason why we could not trust to the population of that tom-
try But tha people of both countries had been insulted by
brine told that the war had ceased, bat that nu decrease of their
hurthens was to be the 1-onset-menet.. This, and the main-
tenance of a large standing army, were also sufficient reasons
fur eaablishing time entails y sought for into the state of our ex-
ternal and internal policy. He wished to know why now, con-
trary to all former experience, peace should nut be the har-
binger of economy ? It was because a nularay system of des-
potism was intended to be nursed upon this country. In a
work published by the Librarian to the Regent, called a life
of James 11. there was a document pdrportiug to be the ad-
vice of that weak Monarch to his son; he stated that the. Ha-
beas Corpus Act was inconvenient to a Sovereign, as it obliged
him to heat the expense of maintaining a large standing army to
keep the people in order. It was somewhat singular that simi-
lar sentiments appeared to be entertained at ',result. The
econstry was told by Ministers, that we were How at profound
peace, why then were we deprived of the benefit of such a
state? He considered that the enquiry called for by the Noble
Duke ought to be acceded to by the House.
Lord BLESSINGTON approves) of the system, not considering
it permanent—it was necessary to have a large Military Esta-
blishment in the rresent state of the Continent : to apprehend
danger lo the Constitution from having 150,000 men in arms
was throwing a scandal on the army. lt ith respect to the
state of Ireland, he thonelit the ap;ueintnient of 25,00 G men
there was sufficieet for its safety. He had every reason to
hope, that when a state of proloand peace should have pro-
duced a return of the blessines attendant on it, Ireland second
experience come of those blessings, and be relieved of part of
thy horthens which at present press so heavy on the people.
Earl BATHURST CORO nut rue any practiced good to be pro-
duced by ening into a Committee. As to the agricultural dis-
tress ot the country, it was the same after the American war.
In proportion to the length of the war, and the exteat of our
exertions, distress of various kinds mast press on those who
have borne largely of those burdens. But he was convinced
that in a short tune our agricultural produce wonid arrive at
its fair proportion of price; and he contended, that it was not
the taxes alone which had brought embarrassment and distress
on the firmer. Next year we should have to pay seven millions
and a ha l less than last year. Would any one then say that
our burtlums were not dt•ereasine? Out of demo seven mil-
liens aad a half three millions would be taken cal the agrieul-
toted interest.

The Earl of CA ITNARVON contended, that the House should
not be led away by the specious argument that the examina-
tion of the esti rnal and internal situation of the country should
be le f. to his Majesty's Ministers. Had Ministers aver applied
their attention 11l such a subject? Our gracious Regent had
indeed in his speech recommended economy, but had his Mi-
xisters shenn any wish to adopt that recommendation? In-
stead of that, they had promised to visit our poverty with a
continuance of the Property-tax, nod of a large army.
X.-..•xt to the heavy loud or taxation, he considered that the nevi•
cultural distress of the coentu depended un the low state of
the currency, owing to the excessive issues of private banlss
throughout the country. Even that branch of tiea subject he
thunget called loudly on the House to go into this Commit tee
of Enquiry, The Noble Load thatinusl) had recommenden
our keeping up a large force for the purpose of preserving the
balance of power: hut the Noble Ellll should liave recollected
Cie perm& of William and Anne, when we returned with
pc nee to our insular pulley ; but wheieve r a new war arose we.
were the more ready to throw our weirht into the scale of that
portion of continental Europe with which we pleased to take a
part. Power fur repelli..g eLoger and difLeulty came fron.
the people; and, with the return of peace, such power ought
always to return to the people. He instanced the danger ct '
maintaining a standing! RI my, from the power which Cromwell
obtained through a enn.lar hotly. Our ancestors were jealous
ofa standing army, nod so omriit we to be ; the more so, be-
cause if our army were kept fii e years he France, it would be
no more lik c a Rriti,b army than an army of Russians would be.
Pe would go the length of saying, that be believed there never
was an Administration that dared to insult the country with
',reposing such au unnecessary establ.shment and so enormous
L ta7.ation for a period of peace. Every thing called loudly
the House to go into a Committee of Enquiry; and it was
d;r: to tie people to proceed to alleviate their burthens.
The Earl of WESTMonrIAND dissented from the modon.
Lad IL+ Rh LLY said, that their Lordships could nut but con-