The Sun.
London, England, 1817-03-01 00:00:00

SATURDAY. MARCH 1, 1817.

pay in lu•oportion to their emoluments. Were a
getteral Property Tax enacted he should not object ;
but to this' partial and individual mode of taxation
he had the strongest objection. Why should ate
person who- devoted his •titne and. tabour to the
public service, more than any other, pay a part
of their properties ? Why should not others,
such as great cotton-manufacturers, or great mer-
cantile men, be as well called upon, persons who
hove made millions of money ? Why should, for
instance, his ilajesty's first Minister, who could
not part -with a single shilling of his inadequate
cmolumenti, and who was obliged to spend, in
s:ipport of the rank and dignity of the situation,
much more than it yielded to him Let time his-
tory of the times be looked to for proofs of his as•
sertion. Mat did the Duke of Newcastle, who
was long in that situation, gain by his being in
(he public service'? Nothing.. On the contrary,
he greatly ilium' his private fortune, which, on
Ais ce•as much less than it was on his
coming into the public service. The great horti
Chatham was also a long time in the public service,
and totally unable to realize any property. In
the case of Lord. North, who was long at the bead
of affairs, it was the same; instead of improving,
he greatly injured his private fortune by the pub-
lic service. In the case of another person, for

whose tummy he hut the highest aireetion and
respect, and with whose flierniship lie was tong
honoured, the late Mr. Pitt, when it was pro-

poied to him to take a high public office, he was
rapidly rising in his profession. His friendship,
liotever, -induced him (Lnr*l R.) to remonstrate

with that great man on the occasion. lle repre-
sent etl to hint the brilliancy of his professional
prospects, and the certainty there was, by his
continuanee, of his realising an independent for-
tune. The answer was, that his advice came too
late—the arrangements were Made, and he could
not retract. What was the consegnence in thecase
of Mr. Pitt Ile ruined his health in the anxi-
ous and p?revering discharge of his public ditty
—he died a beggar, and all they gave him was
a public funeral. Was it just, then, to hold
out persons holding public offices, to be thus ex-
clusively taxed, or to an invidious alternative. For
many years lie. laboured himself in public situa-
tions, and the Noble and Learned Lord knew
that he lust considerably by holding public offices.
A Noble and Learned Lortl, not then in hia•phice,
had held the office ot. Chancellor for little more
than 12 months; before that time his professional

practice was extensive and lucrative ; be of course
gave it up ; at the end of the term mentioned the
office was taken from. him, and lie received an an-
nuity, whic;► was but a very slight compensation
for what he had relinquished ; in fact.it was not

equal to the one half:, %%That pretence was there
forealling upon that Noble Lord to diminish the
inadeptate compensation which he so received i
Persons in the situations to which he referred

should not be held up in such a way to the public.
Uc coulu not find words to express his repugnance

at the idea. Why, for instance, should the Noble
and Learned Lord near him be called upon to
pay an extraordinary tax more than other in-
dividuals ? His time and exertions spent in
the public str;vie.e.were very inadequately paid for
by the emoltkments of his office. It was his in-
tention, with *view to Ow strong and rooted ob-
jection he entertained to the Bill, to move the

. . _
omission of certain words in the clause. He was
persuaded, that as a voluntary contribution, the
obnoxious proviso would never produce any thing
worth the acceptance of the public. He should
like to know from the First Lord of the 'lreasnry,
what. e, imagined t hese contributions would ato orin t
t0.„.0r whether he thought it would be any thing
worth reckoning upon. It may be objected to
him.that,the measure originated in another house
but he thought in reality it was produced by cla-
mour. Let their Lordships seriously consider the
possible consequences of their yielding to cla-
mour. For his .part, he regarded it generally as
the first stage of confiscation. Let t hem consider
its progress and termination in a neighbouring
country., The progress of clamour went onT there
till it involved tl►e confiscation of half the pro-
perty of the country. In the case before them,
were the .clauses taken literally, even the public

funds were li►►ble. 'With a view, therefore, of
doing away those, various objections, he would
move the omission of those words, the coutinn•
snee of which lie could not but deem as most

dangeroosly obnoxious, The Noble and Lithrne
Laid then moved his proposed omissions, by wu

of Amendment.

The Earl of LIVERPOOL observed, with refet-
ence to what had fallen Irmo his Noble and Learned
Friend, that in a fair and proper consideration of
the measure before their Lordships, a due regartl
should be •had to.the extraordinary circtimstant.es
under which it was proposed. The principle of
the t=asure, however, had been repeatedly recog,
nized and acted upon in the course of the-varit►ns
wars. which had occurred from the period of the
Revnlution to the resent. In the Rebellion 'of
WC) particularly, 'a measure of a similar nature
was recurred to ; and, in the subsequent war,.
which was called the Seven Years' War, money
was raised by a tax laid specifically upon the pro-
ceeds of- all public offices. In two distinct in-
stances -in the course of the late war, mid
during the Administration of Mr. Pitt, voluntary
contributions were legalized in the same way. The
ureasure-so,nutch,complained of by his Noble and
Learned Trientiwas therefore neither new in prin-
ciple nor. in practice. Under ordinary circtn,
stances, he would admit, that-ft-great deal of What
was urged in the way of objection would have
notch ►weight. At the same time he must say,
that in extraord►nary circumstances, a measure of
the kind may be highlrbencticial and expedient ;
and farther, he had to observe that it was no ques-
tion with him, whether under any Interpretation

[PRIC I,‘ SEVENI.LSOII.

of the words, the ‘Toloritary Contribution)! (1e..,
signated in the chose, • could apply to the public
fonds. It was considered with refererence
to the noble sacrifice made by an illustrious
Personage, io giving np so much of his income
trout the -branch of the Civil List,- which was
particairly applicable to the splendour oc
the Sovereign, that many other classes of I. s
Majesty's s,ubjecrs, who herd situations of online
emolument, should he afforded an opportunity of
voluntarily, and according to their individual dis-
cretion, of coop:lb...Wog 0 portion of t!iose emo-
Inments to..ards the relief of the public necessi-
ties. Ile could not think that the exercise id the
discretion' of indivaluels. could be liable to those
sort of reflections which his Noble and Learned
Friend seemed to think. 'the sacrifice math- by
the Illustrious Personage, when the various cir-
cumstances of the case were considered, must be
regarded as of considerable magnitude, and -pro-
pomonahly laudable ; and it was therefore,
view he had stated, deemed expedient to legalize,
in this way, the contributions of piddle indivi-
duals in the service of the State. The measure
was not adopted so much with a .view to the pe-
cuniary amount of its produce, but rather with a
view to its being a clear manifestation on the tart
of the Crown and the Executive Government, of
their feelings and inclination with respect. to the
situation of the country. The principle of the
clause in question was, l.e repeated, neither in
principal nor in practice, new to the Parliament
or the country, nor did he think the measure in
its operation and effects liable to these objections
which his Honourable and Learned Friend sups
posed. lie therefore would vote for the Bill as
sent up to, their Lordships from the other House.
Lord HOLLAND was anxious to say a few words
on the present occasion. He would support the
amendment, but on grounds very different from
those on which the Noble and Learned Lord
urged it. He also regarded the measure asfoolislt
in some poitits of view and.michievous in others.
It was not, he must contend, from useful and
efficient phlic offices that the country required
any sacrifices to be made, but from those- which.
were evidently useless, and in which no public
service was :performed. In the latter case the
people expected the strictest economy. In gene-
ral taxes laid upon public offices were a species of
delusion, as the deduction was almost always
made .up to the possessors in some way or other.
These offices which effectuated little or no set...
vices to the State, as many of those attached to
the Court were such as the public would exact
the "most scrupulous economy from. Several .of
the Court Offices may, he thought, in times like
the present, be filled gratuitously, for which there
was a striking precedent on an occasion when it
was known. that the
.circumstances of the present
.Ruler of the Country were in a state of much ems,
harrassinment. On that occasion many of the noble

and respec:able persons attached to his Royal
Highness, served in his Court without-salaries..
Something of the kind now, he thought, should
take place, and the holders ot such offices as he
alluded to should till them gratuitously, until the
revenue and the expenditure ot the country should
be equal. The efficient offices, in many eases,,.
were tar from being overpaid, and in such cases,
he was of.opinion, the country would lather sea
the emoluments increased than diminished it) any
respect. Considering the question in these points
of view, he certainly cuit;tl not approve the clause
then under consideration.
The qtrestion was
.then put, when time clause, as
originally proposed, was agreed to by the Com-
mittee; and the lionse resuming, the Bill was
reported without any. amendment.
Lard 1-10t.LAND presented several Petitions from

dint:tent Scots Burghs, on the subject of Ecorto.
my and Reform, but more especially praying for
the latter, which were read, and, after a few
words between 't'scouttt MELVILLE and the Noble
Baron, in the way of explanation with respect to
one or two of them, were ordered to lie on the
table.---Adjourned till 4i-morrow.