The Sun.
London, England, 1806-04-01 00:00:00

'.:6ling the ArnericAns, who, he thought shinild be of Countries at: war vVitli -hith by. British subjeas'j,
p
tre:ited with very different sentiments. , but ,the law did not etiable him to prohibit such'i
Lord GREIVILLE agreed that the Bill should potation: into South ,An*rica, aik'd • her n'eatraV
lia;e a prospedi,ve tendency. Perhaps the best Way ; Islan4, frOrn-WhiCh tfke.Wes migllt fje. sent to the
would 132:,t0 vest a power in his I\ lajesty in Council , Spanish Colonies, Guadaloupe, Martinique, and-to
to authorise. the Governors of our West India Islands i Sr. Domingo, if it should ever again come under the,
to open the Ports in: their respedive Islands, -iind -not ,
'power of France. Every cargo of Slaves imported '
beyi,frited by the period announced in their-Pro= in a cOlony ten(jed. to increase the maritime<strength
to
clamations. .It was difficult to say what it might be of its Mother' country ; and it. had- been the opinioii
prokr to do-in times of-peace -; but no. ciii'e'-'ciikriel-i 'of..a- very gallants Officer, that the Colony of St.
doubt of the advantages which -resulted ire - tithe of Domingo was the-greatest source of the maritime
ar ;' they were not only great, but. of indislien t.
sibie .strengilvot. Fiance. ' The lionse 'would be aware of
,
&essity.lhe necessity of preventing_the importation of Slaves
Lord SHEFFIELD said a few words reSpeaing, tiy British subjeas to neutral Settlements. This
the Mo6on.he had submitted on thiS subject last was the
,objed of his Bill; in which he proposed to
Session to the House,- and contended that it was &ft.: . tnake reference, fOr the pUrposeof giving more effed
ferent in many respeds from_ the Paper on the Table, to His Majesty's Proclamation in Council, of the
to which .a Noble Lord (Holland) had alluded, - l.th 'of August 1603, which: applied to some, but
The Duke of MoNTRosE said a few words in ex' i not to all the parts to which his. Bill was proposed
planation ;after which the Motion was agreedto.— to extend. After a few other.qbservations ou ,the
Adjourned. , subject, the Learned Gentleman moved, "for leave
,
. to bring,in a Bill, to give more effed to His Maje5.......:—........
.......:—........
- ' ty's Proclamation in
_Council, dated. 15th August,
_ - _ _.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

_ •
1805, &c. and to prevent the importation of Slaves,
into th' Colonies of any Foreign Power in British
Ships."
The
.SPEAKER adverting to the irregularity of,
referring to a document not bore the House,' re-
commended to the Learned Gentleman to confine
his Motion to the latter member of it, whereby he
might afterwards have an opportimity of moving for
the produetion of the Proclamation, when it might
be referred to the Committee on the Bill, and an
instriitiOn given to the Committee to make provi-
sion therein pursuant thereto.
Mr. Secretary FOX rose , merely to ask,
,wlie-
ther His Majesty's PrOclamation was not a public'
Aft, which might regularly be referred to-? • •
PERCEVAL thought it was not such a pub-
lie MA as could be referred to. Proclamation,
though binding on a part, was not-binding on the
whole of His Majesty's sublets.
• The ArrOitz•lilt GEf;"ERAI. then withdrew his
original Motion, whi6h he noticed for to-morrow,
and moved that an addresS- be presented to His
Majesty for the produ6tion of a copy of his Procla-
mation. •
General T4RLETON hoped, as the measure
might be prejudicial to his' constituents, that suffi-
cient time Would be allowed in its progress for taking
the sense of the Merchants of the Kingdom upon

:MONDAY, I%IA,RcH 31.

The SPEAKER, accompanied by, many Members,
attended in the Flouse of Peers, pursuant to a Message
by the Black Rod; where the itoyal Assent was given
by k...Jrainissioi) to tne 10,500,0001, the 1,500,0001.
Exchequer Bills, and the Felons'. Transportation
Bills.
Sir Jomsr Npwrowr took the oaths and his seat,
on his re-ele6,tion for Waterford.
MATTI-0,0,ws -presented a Petition frofn the,
Debtors confined in the,,Gaol of Hereford.—Ordered
to lie on the Table.
On the Motion of Mr. BAI 11URST, ,the Bristol
Harbour Bill, was read a third time, and passed.
A Person from the Exchequer presented an Ac-
count of the Sums that re►nained in the Exchequer
on the sth of, January, 1806, out of the Grants for
the service. of the year 1805. Also of the. Sums that
had been issued by his Majesty, pursuant to Addresses
of that House, which had not been made goOd by
Parliament.—Ordered to lie on the Table

its merits.
Sir WILLIAM YOUNG and Alderman PRIN-:
SEP respeetively'expressed their .hopes, that the
prohibition would not be extended to, the Islands,
captured- since the commencement of the War, the
iuliabitants of which had thrown themselves with
exultation a second time under our prote&ion.
In reply to General Tarleton, the ArioRNEY
_GA7
NERAL observed, that he ptoposed to bring in a Bill
and have it read a first time and printed, and then
that it' should lie over till after the recess, which
would afford all parties full tune to consider its pro-
visions.

piC•4aglit it w.ss the
,duly of a ChanCellor ot the Ex-
;c4quer! to listen 'with attention to, every ,
'S(rift'bbriefit to ht be • derived, from even the sug-
gestioitsis of the ignorant. There were two points
whith lie wished to call the attention •of the
,Noble'Lord in the first instance. Afterwards, he
proposed to state his opinion. More at large. The
first 'point -was that T;art'of the Noble 'Lord's-speech;
in which he stated that it: was proposed that all in-
come-above 501. a year should pay t 0 per cent. and
that the exemptiOns.were afterwards to be re-paid.—=
To this alteration he objeeted. He could see no good•
reason for making'the.individual -entitled .to the-ex=
emption, pay the full 1 o per cent. and put him after
wards to the trouble and' expellee' of seeking. for
the re-payment. No poor' man could aftbrd to lay
down the whole duty, and he could not consider
a person having only 1001. per annum,. any other,
than a poor man. If persons were obliged to
pay the tax at first,. and afterwards left to reclaim
the amount of the exemptions, it would in many-
cases be better -to' forego the' exemptions altoge-
ther: He could himself from experience state the
difficulties and incpnveniencies arising. from being
, obliged to go long distances for such purposes, hav-
ing been sometimes ekpOsed -to the trouble-and-vexa.-
tiou of atteedingtOget a surcharge-reduced. But he
should ask whether the tax.--gatherer. was .to, keep,
the money ? If he was' to make the re-payment;
he ought ,to have sonie friend to enable him to
make 'the re-payment. This would be contrary
to the constitutional -,princii3le of leaving the pub-
lic money bit- as short -a- time as possible in the
bands of the ColleaOrs. This would -lead- to se-
rious consequences; but he trusted the Noble Lord
'wOuld devise softie remedy. The next consideration
he had to advert to, was founded on the explanation
of the Noble Lord. on a former
.night, if he under-
stood iv righiL.', By this -it appeared that a great mass
of property.would escape the tax. By the, arrange-
ment with the Bank the tax wouldbe secured-on the
funded debt 5- but the unfunded debt, amounting to
26,000,001. and bearing an interest of 5 per cent,
such as Exchequer Bills, would escapeit. To_ilhis.- •
trate this the Hon. Gentlyman stated an' uninten-
tional fraud committed by himself, in not being aware
of his having two Elchequer Bills 'of l 'withPut,
, inclaling the interest upon them in his income.—
, He believed therefOre the whole of the unfunded,
debt would escape the tax. It had been imputed to
the Noble Lord that he threw a gloom over the
finances of the Country :- tbis he did not think any
thing said by -the Noble Lord would warrant :.but
' he was convinced that: if that had been the
case it would have more nearly corresponded
with'-the real situation of the Country. He could
not conceive that to be a. flourishing condition;
of t Country to which the following features tielong-
ed : He could not consider. any Country as flourish-,‘
ing, where the poor were supported, not by labour,-
but by a drain of six millions from the public income
of the Country. In-London, he admitted, that there
'never had been a greater appearance- of luxury,
wealth, and abundance, than at present. But whilst
the Capital displayed wealth, he feared that the Pro- .
vines suffered. • Paris had- never exhibited more ap-
pearance of wealth and luxury than under, the Re-
gency of the Duke "of Orleans, the year before the
Mississippi Scheme. The stock of that speculation
suddenly fell, and all France and Paris sunk with it.
The expanses he saw about him were not to him
a proof of the prosperity of the Country. London was ,
wealthy now, as Paris in the other instance,'by thecir-
culation pf paper, which is and may be precarious in
value. No man can be srire of his property whilst liable
to the Property Tax, first gradtally laid on, and now
per saltunz. No Man could be sure of his property
:if he exchanged real property,for a bit of men—.
From the ruin that was impending, there was.
. but one remedy to save the Country : if the re-
medy could not, be applied, they ought' not to hear
more of the prosperity of the Country. He had heard
this evil strongly reprobated, as laying every man's
property at the mercy Of Government. The remedy
was, to oblige the Bank of England to pay its notes
in specie. :The Bank had an- A& of Parliament to:.
1
restria, these issues ; but though the LegiSlatuie
was omnipotent, there were things it was not corn-.
petent to do, such as, to oblige a man to sell his solid
property for a scrsp of, paper. He now came to
the taxes, and it was not to any single one he
felt an onjeaion, but to' thern• all in a mass--
(a laugh)--at least , such as are proposed to cover
the interest of the Loan. As to the Sinking Fund,
he had heard it much praised, but it 'appeared to him
that no genius was necessary to establish that system.
Robert Walpole, and others, had a&ed. on
the principle ; but the Right Hon. Gentleman Who-
commenced the -present system had given it a:vigor-
bus effeet.
..,There were two things to be considered
in it, the effea and the objea. 'What had been the
effea of this enormous -power in the hands of Go-
vernment or of Parliament ? To keep the Three per
Cents. at Go. If it had produci:d any other elfea, he ,
vas yet to be informed. It now amounted to eight
millions, and yet the Country had derived. no relief
froth it not if single tax had been 'repealed. If he
was to be asked, what he was the het ter'for the Sink:-
ing-Fund, he ?ould only say, .that it bore a•nedrer
proportion to the amount of the debt than it did two
'or three years since. All .Ministers Were fond of
this Fund. It -was certainly right to take measures
to support the -Public Credit, but it was also right,
,that the .people should derive some sensible, some
aaual, some! tangible benefit from the Fund. Hist
opinion was, that if not the Wholp, at least some part;
of, it, ought to be applied to the relief of the people.
He thought the whole of the. interest of this year's.
Loan ought to be .defrayed out of it. If it- Could be'
proved that a necessity existed for continuing the,
present application, there would be an end. of all ar--
•gument. He was of opinion)._ that if the 'Sinking
'Fund were to be Seven millions instead -of eight; it
Would equally •keep the 3 per cents. at' do. The
fund redeemed, he. thought, ought to -be applied to
the public•Bervice, ife had- tints stated all :he had;
to- sae on the subjea ; 'and lie bad only to repeat.
what he had before asserted, that he was not influ-
enced by any wish to throw any embarrassment in
the way of his Noble Friend, or to impede the pub-
lic 'service. His :chief attention had been, for a
considerable time. pzlst, dircaed to atlotlar subjeci
For twenty. yeftrs •he had'devoted his whole applica-
tion to -that ob;etit,' and without any encouragement,
Hereafter-he i;lionl-a, apply_ his faculties, feeble as he
Rimitted them to be; 'to , objeas, of iliteinal policy

'.inc.l interest.
Si.a.Tetary FOX was desirous of saying a few

VOri do sorhergeraeal pointS that has been tecelhal
uphn by his lion. I..rieltd:" As to the more or less,
that he might Wve.ao say with or without encourage-
ment, it was not easy to- determine. He concurred
in much of what had fallen from his Hon. Friend in
the early part of his speech. He was ready to admit
that he thought the provision respecting the exert p-
- tionsproduaive of many inconvenience ; but if that
was not now for the first time intacalticeal,,but exist-7 •.
ed under the. Property Tax Aft; it was not to be
int-
pitted to a-clef:ea.-tin the. aystem of his-Noble Friend:
There were some small annuities which would be
empted., andlathers .that Would be entitled to an-ex-
emption only in part. On examination, it wquld
found that the arranzmenl proposed was not to very ,
obje&iuuable. For ate illustration, he shouldaeon-
; sider only thoSe who were exempted-altogether: a
per Son, for instance, may lie in possession Of an
nuity granted by a Nobleman-or Gentleman of for-
tune ; it is only proposed- that the -amount of the
duty shall be dednatein- the first itistance by the
person who pays it,
.and the annuitant awill:after-
, wards beallowed the full henefit ofthe exemptions be-
longing to his conditione'The prevision only required
that the.grantora of the.annuities,. which most of the
nobility or menof great. property usually were, should
keep back the-amount of the duty. -The Duke of
Bedford and Earl Spencer, as will as others, had
many such annuities2o pay. He had an opportunity.
of being acquainted'with‘the difficulties that arose out
of the manner of allowhigthe exemptions from-per-
sonal obserwatiptis,: and, had, stated the matter to the
Chancellor of the L'Xchequer last year. It often
happened,-that pOor persons, -.widows, and others,
possessed. of small annuities, being entitled to ,
emptions, had to incur reach trouble and expence •
in procuring their exemptions. He should abstain,
however, from pursuing this subjea further. His
Noble Friend,..hp .Was Sure, would give the subje6t
his - whole attention, and proviela a remedy. 7—
It, was a sUbjea; which, in a great measure, be-
longed to the consideration *of the Bill in; detail.
And when that subject shonld be under discus-
sion-, no: Gentleman could confer a greater or Mere •
essential benefit •on his Ceuntry than. by attend-
ing and giving the aid of his advice, in order tol-ra',er
the exemptions as little-liable to trouble or expence -
as possible. The next thing his Hon. Friend had
'touched upon Was the Unfunded Debt. The first
impression on his own mind had been the same as
that of his Hon. Friend. But first impressions were
often wrong. At first view it would appear, eatraor-
dinary thatan income of a million• should be-exempt
from the tax. -But on consideration he thotight
The-Usrtfuntied_Dabt might be exempted froM the
tax without inconvenience or loss. Exchequer Bills
were liable to beat- a discount or premium., I,beir
being exempt frOna the tax of etaurse -was .prOdoaive
.of an advantage to, the 'Public, es the Government
could dispose of ftlieni at -higher rate. - His fir it
view had leaned to the opinion-entertaioed by the
HoneGentletnan ; but -on consulting with persons .
.better acquainted with the subjer..4,he was convinced
that Exchequer Bills might be eXeltipied from thetax
without any inconvenienee orldss. • The next sub-
ject alluded to by the Hon. Gentleman was one of
the highest importance,• namely, the Sinking Fund.
His Honourable Friend had aaid, that all lkiinisterse
were 'fond 'of it. It was -well lit-tow4u to his Hon.
Friend, however, that ever- since itofirst establish-a
meat he had been a.friend:tO it. As to the merit of
the measure, God forbid. that !he should dispute ie.
with any man;' 'When-' it was considered what -vast
additions had then recently been made to. the public'
debt, it would not be doubted that coy
ticitiiittt t;
tion must, after the American War, haveresorted to‘
some such system. Bet ;when a man' had dote a
thing, and done it well, lie ..outb,t_ to
.allowed for
he was justly entitled. too, for having
av
done. The Hon. Gentleman_ had said that the only
effe&of the Sinking Fund had been to keep the three
per cents. at 00 ; if it had done no more, that wa's,
an essential advantage; it had kept up erep,diroinish-
ed taxation, lightened the burthens of the people.
sides,whatever k ceps down the interest ofmoneymuste
in a Commercial .Nation, be of infinite:service. The
Hon. Gentletnan,will be sensible of this from .a.little
refleaion. It is a matter of calculation, and may
easily be brought to the result. If he Were to take
into his consideration the vast loans that had been
negociated during last ware and reffea what would,
have been the value. of the three per cents. with.
out ti, Sinking Fund, -be woad be sensible of this.
Without a 'Sinking Tnhd 'they would have been
aown 'at 50, or suppose that too low, at 54 or
55, and on such. enormous loans, .What Would
have been Jost both in capital and interest to the
public ? He was aware that many great and
able
.persOns. amongst his friends /differed with
hint on this subject, but whatever respect
hs
might have for their opinions, they had neither
convinced Min nor excited .any doubt in his. mad.
lit the latter' part of his, speech, his HonaTriend had
tonched.upon a Most important subjea, which it was
not then a proper time to discuss. It might, and
would, however, hereafter be a fit sue jeet for' chn-
sideratidn. lTd Was certain that the Might- Hon.
-Gentleman who established the system had some
such period in his contemplation at some future day.
Whilst in a state of War, the subject could net
-well be discussed .by them. When
,the- conntry
should be in a situation of greater prosperity, in
the enjoyment of Peace, it might be proper, on It
consideration of the state of the, Debt, of the ampiant
of the ,Sinking Fund, and of the other eircum-
- stakes of the Country, to fix some balite_ after
Which the progress of the Fund should be-applied
to the reduction of the public burthens. . Another
argument, of the Honourable Gentleman, which
was not distinguished - for his • . usual • accuracy,
was that apart of the Sinking Fund might be applied
to the service ofthe present year. • Why, heargued,
should the Ifutid be continued-at eight millions, awhile
at seven millions it' would and had. heihre ,kept
the 3 per cents. at. (in ? But was the, debt thosame
at the time when the Fund at. seven millions kept
the 3 per cents. at do ? It was hiaopinion, that ifany
part of the Sinking Fund should be diverted from its
present application; the: a per.eentseeo'aid nql4,!, kept
up to their present value. In general (hey ',were,
disposed to indulge in great exoltation, w hen' on the
subjea.of our Finances. For. his own, part, he ;was
not disposed to give way to !such -feelings. He was
sei6ible that beir situation was one of great.ditlicul-
ty.. They were in a situation te,suiler hem y burthens
themselves, and to impose thein upon ()Wets. ,as to
wilat his Honeura Ole Frielai had said wee e.
sion tor the pour, he thought it a sac, et