The Sun.
London, England, 1830-02-20 00:00:00

WAYS AND MEANS.

The House, upon the motion of the CHANCELLOR
of the EXCHEQUER, resolved itself into a Committee of
the whole House upon the Ways and Means.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER then
moved—first, " That, in order to make good the Supply
voted to his Majesty, the sum of 2,500,0001. now re-
m.silling in the Exchequer over and above the expenditure
for 1829, should he applied to the service of the year
1830 ;" and, secondly, " That, in order to make good the
said Supply, a sum of 4,000,0001. should be applied out
of toe Consolidrted Fund to the service of the year 1e330."
The Motions were passed and Vie Report was ordered
to he received on Monday next.
;,:).JAKER resumed the Chair.
COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY•

'.1.0 'i:AL-CELLOR of the EXCHEQUER rose, at
C- it ;n)ving that the House do resolve itself into a
of the whole House to take into consideration
t;:e '.aupplies for the present year, he should take the op-
portunity of redeeming the pledge he had given a few
nights ego, li.at be would avail himself of this occa.icn of
stating the stint total of these reductions which it WAS the
intention of his Majeaty'a Government to make upon the
Estimates. The House would thus have before them the
while of the documents and explanations, before they came
to any consideration of the details. The course he now in-
tended to pursue was in some respects different from other
practices when tlo se subjects had been brought forward in
former years. He was not aware, however, that this course
would be attended by any difficulties; but he would solicit
the indulgence of the House, if upon a future presentation
of other Estimates he hsould be found to vary front the
statements he should make upon the present occasion. He
c old underta:e to say that whatever variation there
be in the statements, tie reduction would not be found t.
be less than that at which he should state it ; for it ba.l
al-' tys been Lis principle not to attempt to exaggerate the
difficulties of the country, not to paint in false colours the
prospects of relief. The path he had now taken would be
found acceptable to the House; for it would be found not
to occupy much of the time of the House. In stating the
amount of reductions, he should have to deal with
several facts ; but he should abstain front involved
statement., for such topics were fitter for consi-
deration hereafter, and they would he better explained by
his Hon. Friend near him. He should beg leave to make
one or two observations to the House before be came to
state the naked fact. In judging of the extent of the re-
ductions, which it hail been the object of hie Majesty's
Govei nment to take, he trusted that the House would
bear in mind the amount of the expenditure in which that
reduction was to be made, snd reflect that it was not to
be considered in the light of a reduction upon the estimate
of the preceding year. He trusted that gentlemen would
see that the estimates were not formed immediately after
years of continued and increasing expenditure, but that
they were presented to the House after successive periods
of reduction and retrenchment.—(A laugh.)—The House
would not forget that the estimates for the year 1629 were
less by neatly 200,000/. than those of the year preceding,
and that the estimates of that year were less by ahout
500,000/. than those of the year before, making, in the
two years, a total diminution of 70C,000/. He would
beg leave to make One more observation, that in forming
an opinion of the value and amount of the reductions, he
hoped the House would not view those reductions with re-
ference to the whole amount of the annual estimates._
The total amount of the last estimate was 17,600,0001. ;
but if the House imagined that that was the sum upon
which the reduction was effected, they would form an er-
roneous calculation, and he 1.0 to an exaggerated idea of
what the Government was aide to perform. Of that
17,600,0001. it was in the knowledge of every man that
heard Lim that the great part of that expenditure was for
serricea long gone by, and the remuneration of which could
not be diminished consistently with the honour and faith
of the count; v, or without a breath of the hontair and a
departure front the justice which at all times had distin-
guished the character of the House of Cominotc—(A
laugh.)—With these preliminary observations he would
proceed to a statement of the several Estimates in dated,
and to the several reductions which it had been found prac-
ticable for his Majesty's Government to make. lie could
assure the House that it had been the anxious de-
sire of Goren:it:cot to make every possible diminution
in the expenditure, compatible with the maintenance of
those establishments which this country wes bound
to maintain. He had first to state a reduction of above
213,0001. on an Estimate which had amounted in the last
year to 6,300,0001 , and which was now reduced to only
6,100,000/. He stated the sums in round numbers, The
Army Extraordinaries were next to be considered. It bad
been found poosible by watchful superintendence to effect a
sasing of Ibo,ooo/. With respect to the Militia, or.the
third military vote, it ,had been 62und by the correct in-
vestigation of the Right Don. Gentleman who filed the
effice of the Secretary at War, that a reduction of above
sixty-five thoustand pounds might be effected without any
injury whatever to the public service. To complete the
Army Votes, he had now only to allude to the reduction
of the Commissariat. The Estimates of this service for
the present year, he was happy to say, showed a reduction-
of nearly twenty-five thousand pounds. The total reduc-
tion upon the Army Grants would therefore be found to
amount to 433,146/. This, he trusted, wauhl evince to
the House the desire of his Majesty's Government to effect
every economical arrangement, and to reduce the establish-
ments of the country to as low a st indard as was consistet.t
with her honour and security. These reductions would
leave the whole of the sums to he voted at 1,316,000/,
which was the total amount of the grant for the Army.
When this was compared to the vote of the preceding year,
he trusted that it would prove satisfactory to the House.
ietleed the House would find the Estimate less than any
that had been voted since the year 1794 Whether the
period bad been one of war or peace, the Estimates of tl e
present year 'mete lower than at any former year. •
Here Sir HENRY HARDINGE interposed, and spoke
to the Gentleman.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER conti-
nued :—His Hon. Fiiend slid that the coeiparisen was
with 1801, and nut with 1791; and even if his Hon.
Friend were right, it wts e:itremely te,ti,netory to find
that the estimates were non, lower than tiny had been fcr
twenty-six years. The next vote was for the Ordnance.
If there was any one me or grant of service more than
• soother, which had engaged the attention of Government
re ezence to the reduction of exi:enditure, it was this.
On this, however, the amount of reduction would be
leund to be less, and it was limited to 29,000/. The
next charge to which he would call the attention of
the House was the Navy; and upon this branch of
the public service it would be found that a very -con-
siderable reduction of expenditure had taken place. The
savings on the estimates amounted to 273,0001., within
a few pounds. With reference to the Mi,•cellaneons Esti-.
mates, }wimps it wait wore d &mit to Mole reductiens,..