The Sun.
London, England, 1821-06-19 00:00:00

LONDON BRIDGE.

Mr. H. SUMNER, seeing an Hon. Alderman in his place,-
iyho had served on the Committee appointed to- consider. of the
means of improving the Navigation of the Thames, WlShed to
ask him a question. lie understood it was the opinion of the
Committee, that the inconvenience could only be removed by
the total destruction of the present Bridge, and the erection of
a new one. • Before this plan could be• carried into effect, it
would be necessary that several houses should be pulled down,
preparatory to the erection of a temporary bridge. On this sub-
ject, certain notices were necessary to prevent the defeat of the
measure from a technical objection, founded on the Standing.
Ord:rs of that House. He wished to know if the Hon. Alder-
man could take upon himself to state that the necessary notices
had or would be given ?
Mr. Alderman WOOD said, it was impossible for him 'to
give the answer which the Hon. Gentleman could wish to re-
ceive, and' which he could wish to offer. There had been no
time for the Corporation to determine en the propositiOn for
erecting a new bridge since the Committee had come to their
decision. Some of the Members of that House were of opinion
that it would- be better-to build a new bridge than to attempt
any repair of the old-one. -He had reason to hope the Corpora-
tion would be of the same opinion with the Committee of , that
House, which he hoped would be the opinion of the House it-
self. He would do every thing in his power to promote the ob-
ject. in view, and to procure the •erection of a new bridge, as it
was his opinion that there .was property 'enough to raise a suf-
ficient sum of money to meet the expense, without subjecting
the country to any new impost. In the Committee, fifteen out
of sixteen had been favourable.to the erection of a new bridge.

HUSBANDRY HORSE TAX REPEAL BILL.
Mr. CURWEN moved the Order of .the Day for
the House going into a Committee upon the
above Bill. He had to state. to the House that
although the
.11in. had met Ntith oppoSition in a
previous stage, he had -learnt with the greatest
satisfaction that that opposition would be no ton—
ger continued. It had been exceedingly gratify-
ing to him, and he was sure it must be equally so.
to the public, to witness the handsome manner in
which the Noble Marquess opposite had acceded
to, the opinion of the House.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER f(sit him-
self compelled to submit to the decision of a ma-
jority of the House. lk bad reserved his assent
to the Bill at first, in order to aKertain that the
majcrity really was in favour of its repeal ; and
from what he had' heard since the debate took
place, he had -21 Q longer poytic.Abt *Am that

subject. That being the case it was not for him
to set up his individual opinion, notwithstanding
the' i'espectable manner in which it was supported
-against that of -a
.substantial majority, and he
should therefore •no longer oppose the repeal of
the Bill. lie sincerely hoped that the measure
would be found to afford that degree of .relief
and to produce all those beneficial results, which
the lion.. Mover atiticipated from it ; Antrif it
did, he should never. regret having• given up the
tax, although,, he, felt at present :that they were
making. a very great sacrifice to the' general inte-
rests 'of the country by so doing. .
Mr. Butc4 felt his thanks to be. dtie to his,
Hon,Yrieud who had brOught forward this mea-
sure, although he could not say as much with re-
gard to some Gentlemen opposite, who had given
it their Support.; They had voted for-all the es-
timates brought in by Ministers, and opposed
everyrproPositiOn._ for reducing them; and it did
appear somewhat inconsistent, if not unjust, for
them
.to turn round after voting the supplies, and'
refuse the means of raising them. It appeared'
that Ministers, according to their own declara-
tions; had brought,in their Estimates upon the
lowest possible scale. Now, if this were the
case, the consequence must be, that some new
tax must be in the contemplation of the Right
Hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer to make
up the deficiency. This would evidently render
the "endeavour to , afford relief . by repealing the,
tax quite abortive ; it would be only shifting the
burthen from the shoulders of one class to those
Of another, 'Who -Might be still less able to bear
it. If he had been aware that such a course as'
this was to have been pUrSued, however unusual'
a thing it thight be, he should certainly have been
found voting with Ministers for the continuation
.of the tax. • ' '

The Marquis of LONDONDERRY was anxious to.l
avow to the.llouse that had he not been absent,
on account of indisposition, from the late discus-
sion upon this subject,. he should have .felt it his
duty to have impressed in the strongest poisible
manner his sense of the importance of the tax,
and of its urgent necessity, in the present situa-
tion of the country. At the same time,. he must
now fairly own, that the sentiments expressed by
the House, together with the amount of the tax,
and other considerations arising out of the pecu-
liar preSsure of the. existing distress upon the
agricultural interests, had led him to. look at the
loss of the tax with less regret or apprehension.
To suppose, however, that the repeal would
afford any. general substantial relief.to that inte-
rest, would be quite fallacious. But if it should
,be- considered as a matter of sympathy with
their distress, and as an earnest of what the Le-
gislature were disposed to do for affording sub,.
stantial relief, if it lay in. their poi er, he should
be mainly. reconciled to the other disadvantages
which might arise from it. It was by no means
'an event which had never occupied the attention
of his Majesty's Government. He spoke in the'
hearing of many Members of the Agricultural
Committee, in which he had lately spent a large
portion of his time, and they would. be aware that
he had not unfrequentiv mentioned that a state
of things might 'occur which. might induce• them
to reconsider the subject, to see if proper grounds
could be made out for the repeal of the taxi, It
had, however, proceeded from that House before
his Majesty could have an opportunity for
that reconsideration. There was an earnest de-
sire on all sides, and in the Agricultural Com-
mittee he was sure that all parties had united in
that desire, to afford what relief could be af-
forded consistently with the general welfare
of the country. He hoped the country would
receivc.the repeal of this tax as a pledge of that
disposition. And if any relief would arise from
it, tirxerds that most valuable class, the Agricul-
turists, it 'would be a great source ..of consolation
for .parting with the benefits whiCh must have
arisen from the continuation .of the tax. With
respect to the inquiry of the
.Roil. Member oppo-
site as to the intention of propoSitig any fresh tax
in lieu of it, his Right lion. Friend:certainly had
the power of exercising his discretiOn iu proposing
any new tax to the House. However, he could
no dotibt relieve the Hon. Member's anxiety
upon that head, as this would undoubtedly be a
boon totTn public,. inaccompanied by any thing
which would be likely to counteract its effects.
—(Hear, hear, hear !)—lle should make no fur-
ther observitions on the subject, as his Right
:Hon. Friend had borne the brunt of the action,
' and would continue his attention to the progress
of the Bill. He trusted that when his Right
lion. Friend, in the next Session, should bring,
forward his statements ()Nile economical arrange-
ments and exertions of the Government, that the
House would bear in- mind that this tax had been
given up from a revenue by no means too abund-
ant
for the necessities of the State, and that with-
out any provision being made for the deficiency
thereby created.
MR. BARING expressed his hope, that after
the repeal of this Tax, the Agriculturists would
not turn round to claim other concessions, and 'to
say-that nothing had been given, up to them.—
(Hear, hear!)—llon. Members who -supported
this repeal•ought to have shew.n their disposition.
to relieve the general distress of the country,
by supporting the various propositions of the
lion. Member for Aberdeen, for reducing the
oUn'ecesaary establishments which were kept up.
It was only by general economy, and by an equal
System of retrenchment, that that distress could
be relieved. The Right Hon. Gentleman the
Chancellor of the Exchequer had brought his de-
f eat upon himself, by too great boasting of the
state of the finances yf the country. It was' his
holding out the idea of a real Sinking Fund, ot
4,000,0001. when no such thing existed, that had'

Coronet WOOD sal'', by the Bill, that only
horse.; used for purpOieSof htisbandry were to be
excepted from the'opetatiOn of 'the tax. Now
re Were great numbers of very poor-krsons in
Wales who gOt their livelihood by carrying ore
froth the pits mouth with horses which were their
only property. lie bertainly hoped that the 'ex-
ceptions would be'extended to them, as it Would
be'relieving a very honest and induitrious class
Of persons from a pressure which-was Very heavy
Upon "them.
Mr; S. WORTLEY said, that he had been pre-
vented from attending the House upon* the re-
cent discussions upon • this Bill,- but if he had
been present he; should have most heartily given
his vote in favour of the repeal. At the same
time he did not think himself liable to the charge
of inconsistency which had been made against
those who voted for the Estimates and not for the
tax. The Hon. Member for Aberdeen made his
propositions to the House founded upon his own
statements, which were contradicted by his Ma-
jesty's Ministers. Now here were two parties
whose Statements were opposed to each other ;
and he.(Mr. S.-Wortley) and his friends had been
in the habit of - giving their confidence to Minis-
ters: This he took to be a very different case to
the repeal of the Husbandry Horse Tak,. where
every man exercised his own judgment as to its
necessity or other Wise. • * •
Lord Murci.a. did not know whether his Hon.
Friend spoke for-himself only in the explanation
which be had just given, or whether he spoke as
the organ of any party or corporation. That ex-
planation was certainly fair as applicable to
buthe could not see how it applied to other.
Gentlemen around his• Hon. Friend, who bad said.
that the exertions of the Hon. Member for Aber-
deen would be- productive of much good. If
those Gentlemen had voted for the repositions
-of that Hon.-Member in the early part:df the
Session, instead of coining down now at the lat-
ter end of it to bestow a few Words of commen-
dation upon his efforts, they would have rendered
him' the Means of doing still more OA than they
had now-tongive him credit for: He did- not at ail
agree with the Hon. Member for Taunton, that
the. credit of the country would be"impaired by
the taking ca of this tax because he was vpi-
lion that this reduction of half a million of rel 0--
nue would be productive of half a million of
economy in the general expenditure. He should
not be amongst those who would hereafter say,
that this was no boon, and that nothing bleu
granted to the -landed interests. He must, how-
ever, observe, that the agriculturist woulCon!y
experience a-temporary benefit by the repeal of
the tax. it would operate as a benefit towards
him forfora Ofort period, 'until 'an equalization of
the capital of the country should be krought
about, and then it would act as a general:Ai:2i-
nution of the pressure upon the country; t.
had, upon previous occasions, mentioned his d(--

•
termination to bring forward the subject of re-
pealing another tax, which he should not now -be
able to 'do substantially, and he should therefore
decline it altogether for the Session. The landed
interest could hot now complain that they were
not represented in that House. And when'any
future corruptions in the representation shbuld
come to be reformed, he trusted that Parliament
would bear in mind the repeal of the Husbandry
Horse Tax, and the manner in which that repeal
was accomplished. • In another Session, he wciuld
pat it 'to the Hon. Members-who voted, for this
Bill, whether something ought not •to be done
for the 'manufacturing interests. It was neces-;
sary to do this in order to prove to thein
that they were not less the objects of the
care 'of Parliament than the' • agriculterists.
With respect to that manufacture with which
he wa-s particularly connected, he'- contended
that it would be an act of policy ,to grant
it some relief and protection. They Might
not to abandon a manufacture which was so' an-
cient in the country, and which had beep so
valued by their ancestors, to be the prey of every
Chancellor of the Exchequer who might think
proper to impose taxes upon it.' lie did not
think they were much indebted to Alinisters.for
the abandonment of this tax. • The' Right lion.
Gentleman thought the sense of - the -House had
not been decidedly ascertained by-the first divi-
sion. Now he was at a loss to know- by what
'Parliarhentary vroceeding the Riglit Hon. Gent.
had since ascertained that sense to btrderideilly
against the tax. Perhaps there •had been thime
meetings or representations from great men: in
'power, by means of which it was very easy to
conceive that the Right Hon. Gentleman Wa:.l.sa-
tisfied of the hopelessness of his cause. This
would be the more apparent if they rooked at the
composition of the majority and the minority
upon the !ate decision.' HoWever he rejoiced
extremely that the tax was to be repealed,' and
he trusted' that in the ne'xt'S6ssinn 'something
would be done to relieve the manufaCturi:ig in-
terests. •

Mr. Gooon said, that the Noble Lord s!.e.rned
to have appliod some of the remarks in 'the
earlier parts of his speech to him in c.ohse-
quence of what he had said.of the actki.ty and
industry of the Hon. Member for Aberdeen. ,:lie
sLill thought thz.: hey or ani other Uon..Meniber