The Sun.
London, England, 1819-02-02 00:00:00

NAVY ESTIMATES.

Sir G. WARRRNDER should only state, in moving.
tbe Estimates for the Navy, that the number of
seamen would be the same as last year ; yet a con-
siderable saving bad taken. place in that branch of
the public expenditurei and that saving had been
effected by placing the whole of the Naval Force
kept up in a state of activity. which supplied the
deficiency of numbers and rendered their increase
unnecessary. • lie then moved, that a force not
exceeding 20,000 men, including 6,000 marines,
be employed in his Majesty's sea service' for thir-
teen lunar months, commencing on the Ist of
January, 1819.
Mr. ROBART3 did not mean' to oppose the Re-
solution, hut should take this opportunity of in-
quiring whether any measure was in contempla-
tion to diminish, if not remove altogether, the
evils of impressment ? He considered the present
period most propitious fot.sneh an improvement.
Sir G. WARRENDBR admitted that the' question
was one of great importance, but it also teas one
on, which the lion. Member could not expect him
to give any other answer, than that it was a point
on which Government were willing to do all in
their power, but without encouraging the least
expectation that it was possible to dispense with
an ancient system, the benefits of which suffi-
ciently overbalsnced its evils.' Effective measures,
however, had been taken to ameliorate the condi-
tion of the sailors, and Among the rest a registry
of seamen had been adopted, which gave the
means of easily assembling a better kind of force
than formerly.- He then proposed the following
'grants, which were agrieed to :
For wages for 20,000 men for a year, at 21. 3s. 6d. a month,'
prr man
For,vietunlling the said force for the same period,
at 21. 3s. 4d. a month per man • . L. 410,000
For clothing and wear and tear, and 91,0001. for
ordnance on buardthe ships kept on actual service L. 532,000
ARMY ESTIMATES.

Lord PALMRRSTON intended to apply at pre-
sent for only' one million on account of the Army
Estimates, the whole of which would probably be
found not much to exceed, if they did at all, the
sum of three millions. . lic then proposed a grant
of 1,000,000/. on account, for defraying the
charge of the land service at home and abroad,
With the exceptions of the regiments serving in
the Mediterranean anil the East Indies.

Mr. CALCRAFT would not oppose the grant, but
would be glad to -know how the Noble Lord had
proceeded when his vote wa3 exhausted, which
must have been on the 25th of December last, and
how be had been enabled to continue to pay the
army without the aid of Parliimcnt ? The vote
ended nn the 25th of December 1818, and we were
now in February 1819 ; so that more than a month
had elapsed since the last grant must have become
exhausted.

The CHANCELLOR of the 'EXCHEQUER rose
to answer the Honourable Gentleman, as his
question applied to every other brt.neh of the
public service, as well as to the payment of
the Army. Although the year for which the
grant had been made had expired, yet the whole
of the money had not then been expended; and
as long as any of the sups granted, whether for
the army, the navy, or the ordnance, or any
other department, were not entirely applied, the
Executive Government took upon itself to apply
them to the particular services fur which ti,cy

had been voted, till fresh supplies had,,been oh.
tained. In fact, most of the services were Paid,
not prospectively, but retrospectively, so that at
the end of the year there were various surphissee
applicable to their respective departments. Thus,
the grant for 1818 had commenced in December,
but had not begun to be issued till the middle of
February. He'could see-no irregulatity in the
course pursued.—The grant was then agreed. to.

EXCHEQUER BILLS AND THE BANK.
The CHANCELLOR of thC.'- EXCHEQUER moved
that a sum not exceeding 24,924,3001. be granted
to his Majesty to pay off and discharge the Ex-
chequer Bills issued under two Acts of the.
last Parliament, authorisin,.; the emission 'of
11,000,0001, and 34,000,0001. in Exchequer Bills.
Mr. GRENFELL should seize this opportunity of
inquiring whether the Right lion. Gentleman bad
entered into any arrangement with the Bank te-
specting the loan of three millions without jute- ,
rest, made by the Batik in former years to the
Government, in consideration of the balances of
public money which remained in their 'hands.—
This was a fact known of all. lie believed
that that arrangement had ceased last April,
so that instead of deriving any advantage'
from the accumulation of public Money in
ithe bands of the Bank, the Country paid
to that establishment tour per cent. interest on
those three millions, or 120,0001. per annum,
whilst the Bank held an enormous mass of public
property, totally unproductive to the public, but
not so to its holders ! He should ,take another
occasion of calling the attention of the House to
so important a subject, unless the Rittht lion.
Gentleman should be able to state that some ar-
rangement %vas now neguciating betw6en the
Bank and. the Government to remove so just a
ground of complaint.
. _ _

The CHANCELLOR of the ExcHEOnER had not
thought it nrcessary to enter into an explanation
on this point, as the period when the transactions
of the Government with the Bank were to conic
before the House was so close at hand. With
respect to the three millions advanced by the
Bank, and _continued since last April by Act of
Parliament at 41 per cent. interest, anti the ba-
lances of publie money, both had been a subject
of discussion between his Majesty's Government
and the Sank. Propositions had been made for
applying the whole of the latter to the public ser-
vice. But those balances themselves had been
greatly diminished by the reduction of the pub-
lic expenditure and other causes. They (lid
not amount last year to more than one halt what
they had been at periods to which the Hon. Gen-
tleman had alluded. As to the three millions in
question, no interest had yet been paid upon
them, and whether some arrangement could be
made of a retrospective nature remained to be
ascertained. He should now repeat the answer
which he had given to the Hon. Gentleman who
had put him in mind of the sepayment of the eight
millions due to the Bank, as that answer seemed
not to have been correctly understood in some of
the public prints. lilhat he had sated was, that
out of the eight millions five hail already been
paid,,and three remained, but provision had been
made for those by Parliament on the revenue of
the year.

GRENFELL expressed his satisfaction at the
intelligence given by the Right Hon. G'entlernan

'Tie CHANCELLOR Of the ESCHEQUER 'MCI al-
ways expressed his.readiness to take up the sub-
ject of the balances of public money, but he could
Dot do it without the concurrence of the Bank,
who, on the present occasion, he was happy to be
able to state, had volunteered their aid.

Mr. GRENFELL was OA that his object bad been
ttaincti• any how.

Mr. P. MoOtte repeated his former argument,
that the three millions -lent by the Bank without
interest were taken out of-the public money, since
they were lent on condition that the balances
of public money, amounting to no less than
eleven millions, should he lett in the hands of the
Bank. The Chancellor of the .Exchequer had
now shown what use could be.made of those ha- •
lances. He had shewn that what was deficient
in one department was paid out of the surplus
of another.—(No, no, from the Chancellor of
the Exchequer and various parts of the Honse.)—
But.instead of issuing five millions for the service
of the Army, why did he not take them front those
balances ? He was glad, however, that his Ma-
jesty's Exchequer seemed to have at last come to
their senses, and to have commenced to make a
proper and economical use of the grants made by
the House, always liberally, and often profusely.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER wished to
correct a misapprehension which the Hon. Gentle-
man seemed to have made. He (the Chancellor
of the Exchequer) had never said that the surplus
of one department had been applied to the service
of another. However proper or economical such
a plan might be, it would not be authorised, and
he should therefore consider it a breach of his .
duty. All that the Executive Government had
considered itself at liberty to do, was to apply any
part of the sums granted by Parliament for any
service, and which might remain unexhaested, to
that partieular service, beyond the time for which
it had been voted.
'Tie
House Resolution was then agreed to. The
House resumed, and the Report was ordered to be
brought up to-morrow.
Mr. Mannox was understood to postpone his
motion relative to the Game Laws in Wales till
to•morrow.