The Sun.
London, England, 1819-05-18 00:00:00

BANK COMMITTEE REPORT.

Lord FOLKESTONK wished to know from the
Right Hon. Member (Mt. Peel) the [-moire of
his intended motion -on Friday. His Lordship
suggesttd, that the Resolutions intended might he
submitted to the House on or heyore'Friday ; or-

itert-d 161)g-rioted ; apd, by affording time for
the consideration of 'the Resblutions, the debate

Might be postponed to some subsequent day. Gen-
tlemen would thus he enabled' to make up their
minds and come down prepared on the. subject.
They would at once be.m4de dequainted with the
specific: Resolutions, and better enabled to dis-
charge their ditty.
-Mr. PEPL, with much politeness, said, that be
had no wish to press or liurq the disenssion of
the intended The subject was of
the very first importance, and :therefore every
Gelitletnan ought to have a reasonable time 'to de-
liberate on the probable result. To' aeefontnndate
Getalenten, he
,(Mr..Peel) hat, no objection to
poitpone the thbate7till Monday. In the mean
`time be would ••Ileavour .to,.ptes'ent a copy of the

Resolutions, perhapS to.-morrow or next day ; at
all events, on or before Frit!_,y. As soon as pre-
sented, an circler livoUld—bt giv.en for their imme-
diate lining ; and, in the course of a few hours,
the Members might be furniShed vi.r.ith copies, in
order that they might come to some conclusion of
the contents, previous to. their attendance- on

-Monday. • . . •
Mr. CALLAGHAN depreeated any further delay,
as dangerous to thelotetests of the country,, , 7
Lard CASTLEREAGH assured the House, that the
delay timid(' not exceed Monday ; and that in the
mean,,time the Resolutions should be, printed, and
distributed among. the Members.
Mr. CALCRAFT requested the Right Hon. Gen'...
*man (Mr.. Peel) to fix the discussion for _?'son-
(lay, 89 the country, till the decision of the house,
would be very much agitated. - - -' -
Mr. Peg!, , repeated what he haul already ad,
vanced, that the delay of the discussion should not
go beytinti-Monday next: ':---. ' -
This 'conversation here ceased. ^ .
CAPTAIN. J. M. HANCHETT, R. N.

Mr. IiF,NN INT called .the attention of the House
to the petition of Captain Johp Martin Hanchett,
of the Royal Navy, staling the numerous
hard-
ships which he endured by .the oppreSsion and
tylaany of those in power. It was petition' of
a very' extraordinary length, which the Hon.
Member said
.he would recommend to be read by
the Clerk, as soon as the House consented to his
presenting it. The Hon. MeMber, before he
brought forward this petition, had questioned the
pet itioner very closely on the allegations which he
adfanced. He had eaotioned him of the great dif.-
ficohy of bringing forward any charges against any
Servants of the Crown, unless he were 4vell found-
ed in his grounds of complaint : and, should be
have the least scruple regarding the truth of the
charges, that he ought to abandon such a pursuit,
as totally unavailable: -Tbe petitioner, notivith-
standiug these cautions, most earnestly enjoined,
assured hint (Mr. Bennet), in the most solemn
manner, of the truth of the'allegations. If, how-
ever, the petition contained any thing deflating
from the troth, the blame must lie at the door of
the petitioner, not at his (Mr. Bennet's). The
petitioner stated, that he was Captain in the
Royal Navy ; that he had beenlappointed Comp-
troller of the Water Guard, or -Revenue Boats
and Vessels, for the prevention of smuggling; and
that, for the sake al electioneering purpoSeS, lie
had been discharged through the influence ot Mr.
LuShington, of the Treasury., who bad sacrificed
him {the petitioner) to gratify sprite of his consti-
!news in Canterbury. These were a few among
the numerous charges. After a variety of le-
mat ks; the Him. Member moved for leave to bring
up the petition. ,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said, that
he regretted much, that a person ;Vito had justly
acquired-the repu'ation ot a very meritorious 0:
ficer when in the Navy, should haye so far dee
rogated from that character as to have reduced
himself: to such mean expedieuts as he had adopt-
'ed. In the situatinn which he had heft! as Comp-
troller of the_Water Guard, be had,- besides per-
., quiiitcs fur official duties, a regular salary of

15001. a year; After he.had enjoyed' this Sitti-
rion about two years,, he had the .(oily to el,Aut
the superannuation settletkeni: Brit this was not
the worst. He hail regularly negociated the
F ale of his place to leis deputy or nest in
succession, who was to have given a very large
sum, provided •he got leave to resign in his
favour. When this information reached the.
Treasury, he -(fhe Chancellor of the Exche-
quer) thought him no longer worthy of remain-
'jog an. Officer Of the Crown ; and t bet efoi-e he
was discharged for having been guilty of corrupt
practices, 'This -was a short statement of the
facts, and might Prove the spiktit -which hail 'in-
stigated the complaints of the. petitioner. For
his part, he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer)
took' upon hiofleis full share of the responsibility
and it pressed to a more ,strict inquiry, be would
cheerfully abide by the cousequencts.

Mr. BeitlTrt•wns-ol' opinion, that the ekplana-.
lion HOW made by the Right Hon. Gentleman,
was a gond reaSon:why, the Petition oughrto be.,
prcsented. The very aelindwledgment of • the of-.
ticer'S dismission was a'sntlicient.ground. for his
preSsing his iikition.' And although 'the Right
Gentleninn •-ha(l- delivered himself with 'au
air of coodbor. it should not prevent him from the
discharge or his duty. The gallant Officer,...notr,
the subject of the petition, aanAted by the, nice
feeling's of a GentiCtitan, naturally spurned at any
thing which affeeted his reputation and he (Mt.
13.) -assured ;the 'House, that the_solemnity of
utterance, and the 'gravity of deportment, of the
Right lion:Gentleman, would not preventßita
from adoptitig the -line of honourable truth, .

Mr. Luitut*OTok believed that the-chief 'diffi-
culty which he had to,- encounter in the present
charge against him Vvas'en eAcuse for the great
lenity which he had shewn to the Petitioner after
the discovery- of his corrupt practices., After the
informationwhich had reached the-Treasury, cor-
roborated by'a variety-of affidavits, he took shame
to himself in not having dismissed the Petitioner
sooner from the service. The place had been re-
•gularly bargained for and sold by the Petitioner;
but rhe.whole transaction, according to, the best
testimony, was ao bein confidence '' onder,the
rose !" The Petitioner had proposed to retire'
upon two-thirds of, his salary, independently -of
what he knew he expected from the sale of his
office. When he applied for his superannuation
settlement, he (Mr. Lushington) told .him, that
as he bad,beeti but. two. years, pnlyin. soffice,,•be
had no claim upon Goveroment, The Law Offi-
cers of the Crown ‘yere, applied to for'their opi-
nions as to the,.propriety or impropriciy of a pro-
secution for his violation of,the, caw., iftjerring to
Mr. Perceval's Aet,„they found that a ptosecution
,would not -.014, because the law expressly stated,
that he whomcgociateil forhimself might escape ;
but that he who should negficiate for the sale, of
place under Govqnineut for aoother, wourd,be-
come liable,to, the pains and penaltiesof this Act.
The4lon. Member also stated., that he had pond
it necessary to watch the,petitioner for a twelve-
month,. and that during that time corrupt prac-
tices had been clearly established against
The Hon, Member: did not 'pretend to say that he
had not as high a regard for his constituents as
any Member of Parliament could
.have; Ont.he
bad never., exercised that regard or par_ti'ality
wrongfully. The petitioner bad brought forward
the names of persons who had never seen Canfer-
cnuseouently, Could have little knowledge
of what passed between him and his constituents ;
and he referred to the Hon.'Member himself '(Mr.
Bennet) whether cr not it would be promoting
the cause of humanity; to support such a petition.;
Sir FRANCIS I.3unnEzr was convinced, that' all
the ayguments Isom the Treasury Bench served to
support the Petition.. With.regardtn the corrupt
practices now spoken of with so much triumph,
let Gentlemen recollect how souse, of their own
Hoiroorable Colleagues. vt ere :situated sorne years
ago. A similar excuse had been given for ,not
prosecutinc, the Nobla fiord on the Treasury
•Bench - (Lord Castlereagh) and his Right Hon.
colleague (Mr. Pereeval), witedit was affir.ined,
that although there was eyidently, a disposition foe
EL corrupt Oct. yet as it had not keen conipleted,
the parties were not liable to the penakles of the,
law. The lion. Baronet saw no more corruption
in the conduct: of .the .Gallant Officer whose case
was now before them,' than that of 'the Noble
Lord and, his Hon. Ftiend ; and if the person re-
commended to succeed the' Vetitioner Wits a tit
persOn for the service, the Hon. Baronet could
tint conceive how any man could assail the Peti-
tionet With corruption. But-at all events the Pe-
tition ought to be received; and not only received,
but acted upon, 7 •
• The Petition having been read,
'Mr. &IN:VET moved that the Petition do lie
upoti the .table; and,be. printed.
Mr.' Lostimdi•ON entered into sonic details to
,vindicate his character, and that of the Officers im-
pliCated in the allegations of the Petition. He
'read several docnrnents and extracts of others,
which satisfactorily proved, that he bad not been.
instigated by electioneering and interested mo-
tives in his conduct towards the Petitioners.--.
With respect to the course -which the Him. Mem-
ber might choose ,to pursue on this occasion, it
was to him matter of complete indifference.
Mr. BRNNET defended the statements made by
Captain. Hanchett, and contended that that Offi-
cer had acted with great disinterestedness. lie
trusted that the House would not suffer itself to
be persitaded by the garbled extracts read by the
Host. Gentleman.
Mr. tirYstki objected to the extreme length of
the Petition.
Sir M. W. RIDLEY thought•that it must 'be left
to l'e!itioners to make their own case as they best
understood. With respect to the present ones-
Owl, he this-tight the explanation of the Hon. Gen-
tleman
,opposite (Mr. Lushington) perftetly,
tisfactor;
_Mr. N. CALVERT objected to printing the Pe-
titiuo, as it, coirtained charges against the charac-
ter of an tion,mrEihte Member, 'which, wilhout
being proved, would thus': be sent forth to the
world with a degree oteatithenticity to which thty
might not be entitled.' ,
Atter a tew words from the CHANCELLOR Of
the EXClisaUsß, Mi.I'ISENNET, and' Mr. LUSH-
, liiGTON4 the question) that the retitioti do lid

isnein the tab'e, was. put and carrled 111 the P,ftir-

ntAtive.

E.I.IINSTAVI.F. ELECTION.

The Repolt of the Barnstaple Bribery Bill
113611;:, brought np, and on the question that
the au entbn furs he ►eats,
Sir ICit.;oN objected to the diffusion of the
elective ft anehise over the neighbouring itundredi,
its instiffic'ent to banish corruption from the bo-
rough. The admission of 900 country electors
would not afford such a !iris.; of virtue as would
purjtN the 400 or 500 'borough voterzz.. lie did
ti rt wish to deprive the Binge,ses of 11.-trustaple
of the' elective franchise altogether, but would
to ish to leave them the right of voting for Knights
of the Shire. He should propose to tray' cr the
•e!ective, franchise to some of tile great cities
which were ,till unrepresented. He urged the
necessity of reform, hut declared that Isis Con-
st\ituents were tint advocates for Uuiversal Suffrage,
but only wistted for those Triennial !laments,
Which had been witlidi awn At a moment of dan-
, ger, and which ought long since to have been re-
stored. lie then moved that the amendment be
read a secoad time this day six months, with the
intention of following up this motion, if it should
be carried, by another, to transfer the elec-
tive franchise to Leeds,leaving the right of voting
for Knights of the Shire to the Barnstaple elec-
tors, and allowittg the Sitting Member to enjoy
Lis seat till the next general election.
Mr. Wywhl defended the 'Bill as it now stood.
Corruption had not infected the whole borough
of Barnstaple, and the innocent should not be pu-
nished for the-guilty. The measure proposed, he
conceived, would answer all the necessities of the

ease.
• Sir J. Newener also approved of the present
Bill, as likely to produce a great practical good.
Mr. MARTIN (of Galway) proposed that the
Bill should.be re-committed, to examine evidence,
nod ascertain bow far corruption bad prevailed
in the borough. , -
Mr. V. BLAKa•objected to the proposed clause.
It did not appear that the whole corporation had
been infected with corruption, and therefore he
would not inflict more severe punishment than
bad been thought necessary in other cases. If the
House would consent to recommit the Bill, he
sconid move the introduction of certain words
which should go to transfer the elective franchise
.tn Gentlemen who had freeholds in the neigii-
-bodrhood, and who were also resident in the bo-
rough.
Mr. Alderman WAITHMAN said, the county of
Devon sent 24 •Menthers to that House, Which
number exceeded that sent to represent 10 or 12
other counties. The county of Middlesex, in-
eluding the cities of London and Westminster, sent
but eight to Parliament. It then appeared to
him, that if there were any disposition in the
House to reform itself, the best course it could
adopt would be, to take the elective franchise
front that place where it had been abused, and
give it to one of those which were at present
wholly unrepresented. He thought the gallant
Officer had not taken exactly the right course,
and was-ankh-nu; that the Bill should be recom-
mitted, es there were a variety of topics con-
nected with this subject which ought to be taken
into consideration' before,the Bill was disposed of
by the House.
Mr. Alderman WOOD animadverted on the alarm
which seemed to, be excited in the opposite side
of the House by every proposition for Reform.
He was sorry so had been said in the course
of the present Session in favour of a Parliamen-
tary Reform, but he hoped the subject would
shortly be taken op in a proper manner. lie
concurred with his' Honourable Friend who bad
just sat down in the view which be took of the
preset)! Bill. •
Lord COMPTON supported the Bill.
HARvaY was of opinion that in that House
the Democratic interest had not that weight which
it ought to have to compete with the united
strength and influence of the Crown, and of the
At istocracy of the Landed Interest of the Coun-
try. He would rather vote for the Bill of the
Noble Lord, though it had not his-entire appro..
' bat ion, than appear to his Constituents, from_ nut
voting for it, to be indifferent about any step
that might seem to lead towards a Parliamentary
Reform. •

Mr. N. CALVERT declared' that the Landed In-
terest had no predominance in that House. He
did not believe that it contained 20 Members that
purely represented the agricuhnral interest, most
of the Members from the agricultural Counties
being in fact returned by the trading interest.
Mr. G. LAMB, feeling the Bill, as originally
framed, was not sufficient to remedy the evil they
were called :upon to correct, considered himself
bound to vote for the motion of the gallant
Officer.
Lord CLIVE defended the Bill at some length,
anti replied to the arguments which bad been
urged against it.
The House divided—
For the Motion
For the Amendment l2
Majority in favour of the

When strangers were re-admitted,
Mr. C. WYNN was on his legs, proposing an
amendment, the object of which was to allow
no freeman of Barnstaple a vote at an election,
who was not resident in the borough.
After a short conversation, in which Mr. BA-
TFICJINT, Mr. DENMAN, Mr. W. COURTENAY, and
Mr. F. Douct.As concurred, Mr. WYNN withdrew
the Amendment.
Mr. V. BLAxa moved as an antenthnent, in-
stead of " ever; freeholalcr," the words " all the
nude inhabitants of Barnstaple." The object of
the [louse was to enlarge the right of voting, and
in Oil', way he thought that which they wished
he most effectually accomplished.
The motion was agreed to.
Another Amendment moved by the same ilip.
Alen,her, which went to exclude persons from
voti,q; at Barnstaple as Freeholders, unless they
were resident in the Borough, was negatived, and
Inc Bill was ordered to be read a third time to-
Anorro,.v.

puBLi:(;ANS LICENCE REGULATION
Llit: of Mr. BBNN tr, the further con-

4411:ration of this Bill was postponed to Friday

next.

POOR LAWS.
Mr. STURGES lit/Unt l!. moved the second read-
ing of the root. Rates Bill.
Mr. CURW ON took ,a review of the former and
the prestfut state of the labouring class, which, lie
contended, was much worse than it had been 30
years ago. The price of all the necessaries of life
more than doubled, and taxation had also
doubled on the labourers ; they are, and they most
he, discontented. It was, he said, impi,ssilde they
could he otherwise, when they looked back to
what they were. lle concluded by moving,
as
an aniendment, that the Bit should be read a se-
cond time on that day six months.
Mr. I'titt.Lies thought, if a law were passed to
fix-the minim,' in of wages, it would have the 'ef-
fect of diminishing the call for labour. The Bill,
however, appeared to him in vat ions respects ob-
jectionable, and he should therefore support the
amendment.
Mr. BRAND took a review of the Poor's Laws,
which he contended were most injurious and un-
wise. • lie said the system of making, by parish
aid, the difference- of the labourer's wages, was
but an inducement to idleness; because, if lie be
the father of a family, and earns 20s. he receives
I Os.. from the parish ; but if he be indolent and
inactive, and emus but 10i. he receives 20s. from
the parish.
Mr. SHEPIMID stated a variety of objections to
the Bill.
D 9. RICARDO opposed the principally on
the ground that it tended much to increase the
population. If at present there existed a difficulty
in supporting the poor, in, what situation would
the country he placed in 20 years hence, when
those children so educated, grew up to manhood ?
The Billivas only the plan of Mr. Owen, in a
worse shape, and carried to a greater extent.
Mr. Colborne, Mr. Conrtenay, Mr. T. Courte-
nay, Mr. Wyna, and Mr. Mansfield, supported
the Bill ; and Lord Milton, Mr. Weston, Mr.
Hume, Mr. Primrose, Mr. Long Wellesley, and
Mr. Alderman Wood, opposed the measure.

Mr. S. BOURNS replied.—The House then di-
vided—
For the motion - 57
Against it ..
Majority --35

The Bill was read a second time, and ordered
to be committed on Wednesday next.—Atijciurned
ac Halt-past One -o'Clock.

PARLIAMENTARY BUSINESS.
NOTICES of MOTIONS, and ORDERS of the DAY, which
now stand in the Order-book of the HOUSE of COMMONS,
for THIS DAY. _

Notices of Motions.

I. Mr. Holme Sumner,—Bill to repeal the several Acts im-
posing Duties on Coals Sea-borne, or carried Coastways.
2. Mr. Tierney,—Committee on the State of the Nation.
S. Mr. Somers (ticks,—Bill to amend and extend the Pro-
visions of the Act [47 Geo. 111. c. 8, s. 2,] for facilitat-
ing Recoveries of Copyhold Tenements.
Orders af.tlie Day.
1. Mary-le-bone Waterworks Bill;--Second Reading.
2. Penryti Bribery Bill;--Witnesses to attend.
3. Barnsley Church Bill;—Second Reading.

THEATRICAL REGISTER.
Performer! Last Night.
TH F.ATRE ROYAL, DRufty-LANE.--The Carib Chief: °meal),
Mr. Kean; Claudine, Mrs. W. West. After which, My
Spouse and I.
Tit SATRE ROYAL, COVENT-GA Rntr4.--The Stranger: the
Stranger, Mr. Voting Mrs. Haller, Miss O'Neill. After
which, Paul and Virginia. To which was added, A Roland
for an Oliver.

PRICE OF STOCKS
THIS PAY AT r vi,F.Lvr. o'cLocx.
Bank Stock ...4374.1 1 Bank Long Ann. 181 11-16ths
3 pet Cent. Red. 7Oil I India Bowls 295. 31s. pr.
S per Cent. Cons. 7lll Each. Bills, 2d Bs. pr.
4 per Cents 594 Ditto Commercial...ANL ths.
S per Ct. N. Ann... 10448 105 Cons. for Account ilig