The Sun.
London, England, 1830-03-16 00:00:00

with all eiaet-iitv, that I laia.. la!-aatael ie 4i eat neatly to
st•lt•ct the course wlti eh 1 theitgat meat cotalticive to the
public good, and that I h ive endeavoured, in the applica-
tion of these means placed in my power, to give relief in
that (rat ter where I l:new the greatest tlistress to prevail ;
and that 1 have exercised the discretion reposed in me in
• that manner which I conceived to he most conducive to
the comfort and happiness of the labouring classes of the
people.—( Heir. ) —lf I should be disappointed in the
effects 1 anticipate from tleit selection; if the revenue, in-
!stead of being lienefited, should be injured, I shall still
have the eetiefietien of feeling that my intentions were
goo I, and that I erred with rei earnest desire to relieve.
I do not think, however, that we shall fail ; I see in the
darkeese that has lately surrounded us a ray of light. I
think tbet there is even now a prospect of our emerging
!.'°llC the clouds of misery and distress, by which we have
beep enveloped, into a state approaching to something of
grolter happiness and prosperity; but it I shall unhappily
he: tlieappointed in that expectstion, I shall deplore, but
net regret, my error. I shall rejoice that I have made an
ftttt•nipt to relieve those classes which have been suffering
much from distress ; and I shall be well content to ite-
tda'sce in the obloquy of having made a Nee calculation.
The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded, amidst loud and
*enteral cheers, by moving the usual resolution.—[Our re-
Para of his speech will, we trust-, he found tolerably cor-
lea in substance and in language; but the Right Hon.
Oentleman, from the weakness, we presume, of recent in-
disposition, dropped his voice at the conclusion of his sen-
tences, in a manner which made it extremely difficult at
times to conjecture what was intended to be conveyed to
ti-e Committee.]
Mr. A. BARING rose amidst great :noise in the House,
and in the Gallery, from the retirement, of both Members
and strangers. We understood him to, commence by say-
ing. that no Minister ever came down to that House to
declare his intention to relieve the b urthens of the people
ueder eircumstanees which repaired such an announcement
more strang iv than those which at tended the Right Hon.
Gent., an diet no: Chancellor eve did so without being
bailed by the ~applause of the Ha use and the people. He
was sorry to• sav, however, that 'he did not agree with the
Right Hon. Getata in his opinic ,n, that the distress was
much diminished; and althoue ,h he rejoiced in common
with the House at the prospect- of a reduction of taxation,
he could not give his unqualified ascent to some of the
statements of the Ri'ght Flon Gel. on ttae subject of the
Ways and Means, nor to %be course which he intimated
his intention to adopt w i en reference ro the public funds.
He thought that the Rie tut
clearly the supplies fro Hon. had not stated very
am which he intended to draw the
means of these rednct
,ens, nor the situation of the public
ioncome on whirls he proposed that his reductions should
oPerate. The Rie el
at Hon. Gent. proposes reductions ce
taxation to the exte` at of 3,400,000/. His surplus is made by
0(2,667,0001. sin
expenditure of plus of the income of the year oveaa 'the
110,0001. which he anticipates from
the Stamp D atiee, and of 330,0001. from Sprits.—
The whole
aurplus might be taken, perhaps, in
round number rs,
to be 3,070,000/. ; and the reduction of
taxation toae 3,400,000/. ;so that there remained about
330,000/., looking at the case according to figures, to be '
accounted for in some other way. There was, in fact, deficiency to that stastonnt not provided for. He did a
,eth his
not
quarrel with the Yatight Hon. Gent. for putting fe
vision of better day s, and his hopes that the cloeds
would
be dispelled whic/ t now hung over our Mu'
..try
and our
commerce; but !,t was right to say, that ir
a figures—laying
aside the anticipations of fancied prosraerity—there would
be a provided fancy to the amount he stated,
wholly
uo..
The CHA.7 aICELLOR of. the EXCHEQUER did not
quite agree ut the ca.cadatton put forth by the Honourable
11 ember fir Callington as the result of his statements.
When the don. Gent. raid that he calculated the Spirit
Dntiee at 330,000/. or perhaps 400,0001., the Hon. Gent.
theuld rec •ollect that lie made that calculation for the por-
tif hlaa °f th e present year which was still to come ; and that
had' made his 'calculations for the whole year, and in-
cluded ate portion of the next year, to make up for that
which was Passed of the present, he should be more accu-
rate if he toaated. the Stamps at 200,0001. and the Spirits
at 450,000/. The Hon. Member would also give him
leave to say. =that when he calculated an increase of reve-
nue from the augmentation of the Excise Duties, although
he did °t he
the amount, he might, as a consequent of
the repeal of the tax on beer, have stated the increase on
malt as 4 positive increase, which would have been a com-
pensation a although. he had not brought it formally into
the am- ,ant.-..-( Hear, hear.)
Mc, . BARING said they were then come to this, that
after all that had been said of a surplus of revenue over
"Pe,- aditure, in order to supply the demands of the Sinking
Fun
j d, all surplus for that purpose was now disposed of,
and • it was reserved for the Right Hon. Gentleman to
131.d0 all that had been done by his predecessors; and
Ittaying his hand on the only surplus which they had, to
declare that all hopes of a surplus, to be applicable to the
-rvilietion of the-public debt, were to he derived from some
?sanguine expectations of a future, though distant, improve-
talent of the revenue. He denied, however, that the public
`creditor -would be affected in his sense of security by any
'thing which had been done. There was in the people of
this cosautry a sound sense and right feeling, and such a
ilmin4le of good faith, that no acts of the Government could
'iiatke-, their sense of security ; but Le would ask at, the
'-aaire time if all hope of repaying that debt through the
imeans of a sinking fund was at an end, whether they were
llta go on for ever without making an effort to get rid of
'the load which weighed down the energies of the country ?
If any gentleman indulged himself with the vision of any fu-
ture prosperity ever enabling them to get rid of that debt,llll
-he could say was, that he would be lamentably disappointed.
Ile repeated that, as far as figures went, there was not any
."I.t'Pli'.sebut a deficiency unprovirled for; and he must say
it.'svas singularly unfortunate that measures of finance,
vdidly brought forward for the improvement of public
eanti: should have the contrary effect, by showing that the
devised to support it had failed, and that the Govern-
ment, as
far from
meat ,o-the Possessing a surplus revenue for the pay-
meat,
creditor, were actually unable to meet the
*hole qefi
einnoY. He did not mean to say that this was cal-
the I. tO excite the slightest feeling:l of apprehension in
netul'44'"t of the public creditor; but this he would con-
e--tisat the means of providing for the exigencies of
,b,y
(sorrowing front the capitalists were at an end,
emit le
ahe funding system was at an end, and that it
ava oneld he impossible to find the means of providing for
slue:tire exigencies• in that way, unless by an act of the
Profligate dishonesty towards the present public ere-
eittor. lie repeated, that the decision of that night would
'go to establish that point beyond question, and almost
beyond recal. Mr. Pitt, at the time he prepared the
establishment of the Sinking Fund, declared, that " that
food at any time or on any pretence to be diverted from
lite proper object, would be to ruin, defeat, and overturn the
'whole of his plan. He hoped, therefore, when the bill he
should introduceshould into law, that House would
pass a
hold itself solemnly pledged not to listen to a proposal
foe its repeal on any pretence whatever." These were
The words of Mr. Pitt ; and yet they had lived to tee
the time when a' Minister appears in that House, and
'her frittering away on one pretence or other all the bene-
C!lts which were hoped to be drawn from the Sinking
'uid, he finally proposes to sweep away altogether the in-
leerne laid by for its maintenance. He was convinced that
deans would and should have been found to support this
,sad; but if they were to adopt the policy expounded in the
arket-places--if they were not to look at the consequences
:a_being compelled to go to war, but, on the contrary, to
-9, the reet d f a cme in•
the r-
imen a ion n
d hi with
p am
h:es, and actm accordings to the political wisdom to be
,at Penenden-heath, or in the Market-place of
atimsfard; then he would say that the credit, the
nittiantr, the interests, and the power of this country must
titl'atelY sink with the weakness which made them listen
oe Pit suggestions. lie bad always thought favourably
art,:r• Pitt. He had always admired his domestic policy
rts.pteeeer he mit be disposed to say of his conduct with
, et to our foreignl t. • but when he was taunted
re a sons,
wtta
ea !
to be 4i etnning the Sinking Fund of Mr. Pitt, it ought
Pond, .collectedr he did not condemn the Sinking
not a the abuses of the Sinkieg Fund. He did
Fand.;ado fault with the real, but the sham Sinking
'elan sq.
.11d b could scarcely conceive
any thing. la he conferse e
and the
ha°untrY TI • • te consequence of the clause
of Me. p„ • us was
ne nor having been Acted on during the war. He
looked blamed
the
plan of Mr. Pitt; lie had always
the c on it- as the only means of saving the country from
the a °l:sequences of its debt—and had complained not that
at; ern was followed up, but that it was abandoned.--
s.
0. Pitt determined that whenever the Sinking Fund fell
talszartti the deficiency was to be supplied by an increase of
that and Ile (Mr. Baring) was thoroughly satisfied
sinkinthat plan had been strictly followed up, and if the
{ablelCi.Pund of five millions, once proposed to be invic-
the dUP to that. hour been maintained inviolable,
ing theHo'n'e Would not at that moment be consider-
of the CPriety of it plan for reducing the interest
any other Per Cents. or the Three per Cents. or
abled to irtrek, but that they would have been
into Auce the whole •debt at that moment into
was Znr„tthi".—(Cries of Hear, hear, hear. )
to reduce the po.— Opinion He thought that the proposal
from the mouth 4neflr Cents. came with a very bad grace
hope of Paying
aa Minister who acknowledged that the
tunny abandoned nY Portion of the debt was almoet vie-
; and although, if it suited him to hold