The Sun.
London, England, 1824-05-14 00:00:00

fbunded uptin the statements of practical dealers, as well as legal
men, -that it siould-he.ahnost impracticable to prevent thi-s,sort
of jobbing, the interest in it *as's° great ; and the market (as
lOng as the present Corn Law continued) would be 'constantly
(he 'thought) kept •for the six weeks previous to the taking the
averages, in a • State of feVer 'and uncertainty, most prejudicial
both to the grower, .the consumer, and the regular trader. A
general disposition athong thoSe who were most interested' in
the state of the Corn Laws, to belieVe that they required revi-
sion, would be the readiest mode of checking the deceptive Fear_
gain's complainer] of and he had felt great pleasure on seeing a
p'etition from .a' part of the empire peculiarly alive to 'ow -merits
of the subject, requesting Parliament to adopt the system of
free importation,' guarded by a sufficient Protecting (Isar, is
preference to the la* at present in operetidn.
On the suggestion Of Mr. PEEL, the motion was withdrawn.
Punic CLERKS.
Mr. S. WORTLEY rose to present a petition front the
Clerks of the -Public Offniesi nomplainnig that they weresuf,
Perin(; front a tax which applied to no other class of his Ma-
jesty a subjects. They referred to the Act of 1822, by which
they were compelled to pay five per cent. upon their income
towards providing a Superannuation Fund. They stated, that
the House had passed the act under erroneous impressions, and
prayed that it might be repealed. lie thought the petitioners
were making no idle appeal. to the House, am that their case
ought to be favourably considered. The Ilan. Member. re-
ferred to the letter of Lord Sithuouth, protesting against the
measure, and which he thought did that Noble Lord the
greatest honour. He had further hopes that the application of
the petitioners would be attended to, because the Right Hon.
Secretary for Forein'm Affairs did also protest against the MCA.:
sure in much more forcible language than he could use. He
thought such a measure was not worthy of a great country
who ought liberally to reward its public servants, and that its
was highly impolitic. He took shame to himself for not
having given his strong opposition to the Bill when it was
before the House of Commons. He should bring up the Peti-
,tion, and earnestly recommended it to the attention of his
Right Hon. Friend.
Air. CALCRAFT had nothing to reproach himself with
.upon this subject, because Ile opposed the measure when it
was before the House. He took exactly the same view of it as
the Hon. Member did now, and thought it a great hardship
'upon that highly meritorious; and hardly sufficiently paid class
of. persons.
-Mr. Secretary CANNING remembered that be did object to
this measure when out of office, because he thought it unwise-
and unjust. He still was of that opinion. Ile thought it un•
wise, because it altered the relation in which these officers
stood with regard to the Crown ; unjust, because it imposed a
tax upon a particular class of persons. The House had no
more right to select the Clerks of the Public Offices for such a
tax, than the Officers of the Army or Navy. But the case was
now come to a very different state—the mischief was done,
Ile could only say that, as an individual, he held the same
uPinions as when he opposed the Bill. Taken by surprise as
he now was, lie was not prepared to say what course should be
pursued.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER was not sur-
prised that his Right Hon. Friend should retain his opinions
upon this matter. He supported it himself at the time, but
certainly not without that pain to his own feelings which every
one must feel, at curtailing the comforts of a large and meri-
torious body of men. The Right Hon. Gentleman took a view
of the state of public officers, and the means by which officers
were formerly made. The system of fees had been nearly done
away with, .and the evils. which arose out of the facility for
granting superannuations and retired allowances had called
for the attention of Parliament, and the Acts now complained
of were the consequence of various investigations by Vain-.
mittees. Undoubtedly a sacrifice was required by this mea-
sure, but lie could not help thinking it gave them a quid pro
quo in strengthening their claim to retired allowances. Neither
could he allow that the principle of the measure applied exclu.,
sively to the parties.. The seamen in our navy were required
to give part of their pay to Greenwich Hospital, by which they
acquired a claim for support upon that Institution under par.,
ticular circumstances. He certainly was not surprised that
those who were obliged to contribute to the fund, or that his
Hon. Friend should feel differently upon the question than
those who were responsible for the expenditure of the public
money. He could only say that he did not feel disposed to in -
troduce any change himself.
Mr. F. BUXTON said, that he had some time ago been ap-
plied to.by Some Gentle Men in the Public Offices, desiring that
he would make himself master of their situations. He con-
sented to do so, but certainly with the feeling that he should
find them most liberally dealt with. The result was, however,
that he now believed there was no class of men in the kingdom
who had more just cause of -complaint. A contract had been
entered into with them, that their salaries should be continued
to them for life, or as long as they perthrmed their duty ; yet
since that time they had suffered a reduction of 25 per cent.,
and then this further'reduction waS made an 1822. Ile certainly
hoped that upon public grounds the House would remove this
unjust oppression from the Petitioners.

Mr Secretary PEEL_a gi e ed innbtceiaeolniiiln: isetkuirdaea,tutri
oAelntliasaotnilil.ntbi
alluded
leen, said ai d of the
diligence, ability, and integrity of those who held the subordi-
nate situations in the public offices. He was therefore disposed
to give this petition the most unprejudiced consideration... Ijie
was peculiarly situated towards the measure of 1822, for when
he came into office the plan was already decided upon, and lie
saw no groUnd upon which he could claim an exemption from
his own office when it was to be applied to all the rest. tut
the House must recollect that this was its own measure, and
that it had been forced upon the Government. If something
should be proposed to relieve the petitioners he was willing
and desirous to give it a most unprejudiced consideration.
Mr. GRENIELL bore testimony to the zeal displayed by
all Public Officers, from the highesk offices to the lowest, in the
discharge of the public business, and said he thought they were
not adequately paid.
Mr. NVATSON TAYLOR made some observations to the
same effect as those which fell from the last speaker, whick were
not distinctly audible in the gallery.
Mr. H. SUMNER considered this to be most strictly the
measure of the House, and he hoped, after what had fallen from
his Right lion. Friends, steps would be taken to remove so pal-
pable an injustice.
Mr. HUME thought that the House had run away from the
. question, and that it deserved a closer attention. He referred
to the system which preceded the present, with regard to the
regulation of public offices, and maintained that something was
necessary to be done for the protection of the public against
the abuses of retired pensions and superannuations when this
measure was devised. In one department alone, the Customs,
the superannuations, and retired allowances, increased in one
year from 10,000. t 680,0001. . It was this which called the at-
tention of Parliament to the subject, and out of the inquiries
subsequently made, this measure arose. The House hail run
away from the question in assuming that this was a tax ; they
seemed to forget that it was a contribution which no one could
tontineperso ns
tihnaank malting
tga
xi t. ; and, ,wiins
hfact,
everyit
of the. public offics,
tion to be made for the petitioners, and particularly tiithe
wacsonmsiotlrera-e of
theo v e d lower
from offices
the
risen
ifsiaCealT nliieeten);:. robrreri.
pnrueemiib)ielte-oifndeciding persons) utsv"erec
edniejonyatubtriet ofth ae
ilaHleaegertudit°e-r lwaul
tsoittoroenkdsi etnthehgaet ethlHede nreol
ncusrsaeiejmnldw
eodu
seriouswould n o t
his Right Hon. Friends, that he shoult. e
lion.
men b r
some observationa that had fallen fro, n
Mr. II USKI SS 0 N so filleysircai
egenrrateesd:aintne,
iAncomplete to
in which IA
the subject
Aberdeen. The Right Hon. 6
the Customs.
of the great increase in the P
business was carried on•
This arose out of the very
t to the labour
to by the
„, age and infirmity had rendered so feehle
thenemployed, Wilt
and of the consequentlya e
required. It 'asto be wholly o , •
to rein place efficient persOna'in
found necessary ove these and was
the • •
their stead ; u
i',eral' Of the zeal and assitlu•t • ' '
i y•displayed by those
Hon., m ei--- now carried onthe'
Gentlemen who
laborious business of the
. offices, none could so well judge (and he was sure none
public highly appreciate it as
could more
• - with them.. ___ ), those who were in daily
unication i em. He was convinced that nothing
comln ~ hence arose
which the House could' do would diminish that faithful dis-
charge of their duty ; but undoubtedly any act of kindness
would operate as a fresh stimulus to their exertions.
Sir F. OMMANNEY supported theofthe petition.
Sir T. ACKLAND was favourably prayer(isosed
tci tt.e
prayer of the petitioners, but he hopd the Hon. Member . . for
Yorkshire would give them a further •
opportunity of discussing
it, by introducing a Bill on the subject.o -
Sir T. BARING had hopedthe • •
that petition would have
been received with unanimous favour by Tl'
the House. , The
Hon. Member had said that •
it was not a tax, but a tontine, in