The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-23 00:00:00

PRINCE ALBERT.

Prince Albert's Naturalization Bill was brought i p
from the Commons.

SPAIN.

The Marquis of LONDONDERRY begged to ask
a question of the Noble Viscount opposite relative to
the late Spanish pacification. He desired to know if
the officers in the army of Lord John Hay were
parties to the Bergara Convention, and if the British
Government were party to it ? Secondly, lie wished
to know if the Bergara Convention was in
the possession of the Government, and if it was their
intention to lay the Convention on the table of that
House ? Thirdly, he wished to know if the Noble
Viscount had any information to lay before that Hous-
to show the satisfaction of the Spanish Government and
the Basque Provinces ?
Lord MELBOURNE'S reply was at first totally
inaudible. We, at the close, gathered that he would
have no objection to produce the Convention.
The Marquis of LONDONDERRY said he would
reserve himself till then.
JAMAICA.

On the motion of Lord REDESD ALE certain re-
turns were ordered relative to Jamaica.
BUENOS AYRES.

The Earl of STRANGFORD asked if the Govern-
ment were aware of the late arrival in Paris of a Deputy
from the Government of Monte Video, offering to
place itself under the French Government, as the
lonian Isles were under the British Government.
Lord MELBOURNE was not aware, but would
make inquiries.

FINANCE.
The Earl of RIPON said he was desirous to ask
her Majesty's Government for some information upon a
matter that he regretted to say was not noticed in
her Majesty's Speech. Nothing appeared to him of

greater or more paramount importance than the
question of finance.—(Hear, hear.) He was afraid
that the reason why it was not noticed was in

consequence of the Government being unable to state
anything that might be satisfactory to the Parliament
or the people. He felt so strongly upon the unsatis
factory state of their finances, that he did not feel him-
self justified in withholding what he had to state upon
the subject, or at least by abstaining from giving her

Majesty's Government an opportunity of enlightening the
House upon that subject. He considered that it was
so important a topic as to require any arguments from
him to prove its importance. He thought it quite un-
necessary to waste their Lordships' time in estiblishing
the fact of how much the prosperity, the power, and the

safety of the empire depended upou the wholesome state
of the financial department. Those formidable

oils which result from the opposite state o:

things were already clearly established. These
were truisms which required no demonstration from him.
It was nevertheless at all times the duty of the Legislature

to'give every information of the condition in which the
finances were, and the more so because an unsound and
unsatisfactory arrangement came on by very slow means
Sanguine minds might think these casual accidents, and

that all will become right in time. Those who were
careless and indifferent as to what might happen after
their time, might continue indifferent to this subject ;
and those who knew nothing about it might not feel any
anxiety at all in (a question, of the merits of
which they were ignorant.—(Hear.) But this did
not absolve Parliament from the duty of paying the
most vigilant attention to this important subject.

What he was now about to state was not with the view
of imputing blame to any persons or to any party. He
was net actuated by any hostile spirit against an)
one, but he felt it his bounden duty to state
that he felt persuaded that we were on the verge of an un-
satisfactory and an unsound system of finance, and lie
should be wanting in the execution of his duty if he
did not call the attention of their Lordships to
this subject. He would now state the facts
which had led him to come to so painful a
conclusion. Their Lordships would recollect that
when the Noble Duke (Wellington) behind him was at
the head of the Treasury, certain laws were passed abo-
lishing the system of the Sinking Fund, and pointing
out a new and superior system, which was entitled to
admiration on account of its judicious simplicity. Instead
of giving a grant for the Sinking Fund, whatever
might be the state of the finances, it directed that only
such a sum would be applied in each quarter as
amounted to a quarter of the bona fide surplus
in each antecedent quarter. At that time the sur-
plus was sufficient to enable his Noble Friend to
appropriate a considerable additional sum to the
diminution of taxation. That alteration contemplated
the possibility of there being a surplus, but he felt con-
vinced that his Noble Friend never contemplated that

it should be part of the foundation of the financial sys•
tern of the country that there should not be a bone
fide surplus. He had asked his Noble Friend at the
time of this alteration if he had calculated what
amount of surplus he might then expect, and
if he intended it to be part of his system to have
a surplus, and his Noble Friend had replied, that it was
part of his system. For the five or six years following
this alteration, they had had, with the exception of one
year, a regular surplus, and, according to the
regulations laid down, the surplus was applied
in various ways. They had, at the same
time, the benefit of the surplus for the Sinking Fund,
and the benefit of a considerable reduction of taxation.
But there was now no surplus, and not merely so, but
a considerable difficulty, and what created alarm in his
mind was, that he could not see any prospect of getting
out of the vicious system of borrowing money
during peace, to carry on the expenditure of
the country. It appeared, from papers laid on the table,
of the House—last year the excess of expenditure over
income in the year ending the sth of April, 1838, was
1,420,0001., and in the year ending in April, 1839,
400,0001. being on the whole about 1,900,0001., and, ac-
cording to estimates laid before Parliament last year,
the expenditure would exceed the income of the
Government in the year about to end in April, 900,000/. ;
since then additional expenses had been incurred,
which bad not been calculated, and for the sear ending
the sth April next the surplus expenditure would be
found to have increased not less than one million, so that
for three successive years there was a clear, avowed,
and unmitigated excess of expenditure over in-
come, and he thought he should be able to
show that there were no grounds for supposing
they would be able to extricate themselves from that
perilous system. It would be said these were fanciful
fears of his, that he did not rely on the resources of the
country and the elasticity. of those resources, and their
power to lift it above Its difficulties.—(Hear.) He
to do with them, and was the last person
hoped he did not undervalue their resources,
!r ,ould be shown this expenditure they
so to do, but 1... _ he had had