The Sun.
London, England, 1829-05-09 00:00:00

of his indulging Lis disposition ill favour of the people
for he was now and always hail been of opinion, that
without an efficient Sinking Food, the country had no
chance of relief from th:• difficulties which oppressed it.
The Hon. Member for Montrase had oleiereed, that the
plying off the F.xchegivir Bills was attended with a loss,
for they were esehsegina; a debt which bore an interest ,if
3 per cent. dir a debt which pore en interest of 4 per
cent., and at t',i. sues time purchasing this debt at a
premium of 70s, per cent. It must be admitted this was
true, but at the same time there were circumstances con-
necte 1 with the large amount of the Unfunded Debt which
were well worth consideration. In peace this debt might
do no mischief, but if we were to be engaged in a war, the
effect of a great Unfunded Debt might prove ruinous
to the operations of the Government. Under these cir-
cumstances, it was highly expedient to reduce the
amount of the Unfunded Debt; and although the sum
of three millions was small, he thought the effect would
be good, and that the pecuniary sacrifice ought net to he
considered. Upon the subject of the Unfunded Debt,
which consisted of what are called Deficiency Bills of the
debt due. to the Bank and of Exchequer Bills, he had a
suggestion to make, which he thought deserved attention.
By a paper laid on the table it appeared that the sum in
the hands of the Accountant-General of the Court of
Chancery amounted to nearly 40,000.0001. This
money was principally the property of minors and
suitors, and was always invested, according to the inva •
riable rule of the Court, in the Cons didated Three per
Cents., the suitors having no choice of the fund in which
their money was to be invested, although he believed
sometimes, although rarely, the money had been invested
in Exchequer Bills. After the war, and when the Funds
were daily advancing, this system gave satisfaction, because
those who had money in the Court of Chancery made
fortunes by the rise. In the case of the Queensberry pro-
perty, to take an instance, money invested when the
Funds were at 57 and 60, was realised when they were
above 90, increasing the capital two-thirds. This told
well when the Funds were rising ; hut what would be the
consequence or the injustice resulting from a war, which
might reduce the property of those who bought at 95 or
96 down to 56 ? . Without talking of the distress it would
produce to some, many entitled to residues would get no-
thing at all, and it was, therefore, very desirable that,
they stiould now, in the time of peace, take some
steps to put an end to a system of gambling—for
gambling it was, as injurious to minors and to fami-
Ilea as that carried on in a celebrated house in St.
James's-street might be to other persons. Without
meaning the slightest imputation upon the profession, he
did not think it proper that the large sum to which he had
alluded should be under the sole tnansgement of a body of
lawyers only. What he proposed, therefore, was this :
That Government should take the money belonging to the
suitors of the Court of Chancery into its own hands, and
give them a sterdy regular 3 per cent. for it. If any
great alteration should happen to occur in the value of
money, it would then be just that the money should be
advanced to 31 or 4 per cent., according to circumstances.
There would never be backwardness in that respect; en
the contrary, there could he no doubt that there would al-
ways exist a disposition to allow the suitors too much ra-
ther than too little. Thus the suitors would have more
than the ordinary interest on Exchequer Bills; and he
confessed that he could not see any possible harm in taking
in this manner the whole of the 40 millions in question ;
of course keeping a regular account respecting it with all
the various proprietors. The effect of this would lee, to
withdraw so much from the unfunded or floating debt.—
But, as to sweep all this amount of 40 millions away at
once may be attended with sonic inconvenience in the
money market, what he proposed was, that all money
hereafter coming into the Court of Chancery should be so
employed, which, in the course of eight or ten years,
would, in all probability, realise the forty millions in
question. With respect to any scruples that might arise
as to trusting the money of minors and infants to the State,
the fact was, that it was so trusted according to the pre-
sent practice. And if, which God forbid, any thing
should occur to place the debt in a hazardous situation, it
would be much better that this property should lie in the
distinct shape which he recommended than in its present
condition. At present there was also a fund to a large
and unknown amount in the hands of the Court of Chan-
cery, unclaimed by any one. Whatever suing of that na-
ture ought, unquestionably, in his opinion, to be in the
hands of the responsible Government. It was impossible
but that, under the present system, abuses must exist.—
Of one, for instance, he had been apprised by a friend of
his, a banker. The Court of Chancery received the money
of the suitors in various forms. If in Exchequer Bilis, the
Court, instead of keeping the money in that state, received
the amount of the gills and bought Stock with it. By
that means they sacrificed '7os. per cent. of the suitors'
money; and, in the case which his friend had mentioned
to him, the loss exceeded four hundred pounds. He apo-
logised to the Committee for having detained them so
long ; but he had thought it his duty to describe this plan,
which, if the Finance Committee had been revived, he
should have submitted to the consideration of that Com-
mittee; and he recommended the Hon. Gentleman oppo-
site to institute an inquiry into the benefits which might
be derived from its adoption.

Mr. MABERLY had never, until that evening, heard a
Chancellor of the Exchequer describe the supposed ba-
lance of the Sinking Fund in its proper colours. That
which was, in fact, fictitious, had, in all former eases,
been boldly pronounced real. With respect to his Hon.
Friend's (the Member for Callington) eulogy on the Sink-
ing Fund, he (Mr. Maherly) admitted that the principle
of Mr. Pitt's Sinking Fund was excellent; for, on that
principle, the annuities were annuities terminable ; but
afterwards Government laid hold of them, and converted
them into annuities interminable. In the way in which
the Sinking Fund had been actually managed, it had been
proved by accounts for which he had formerly moved,
and which were on the table of the House, that a loss to
the country of no less than 27 millions had arisen from
the various operations of buying and selling. Anson
other causes of this loss, great sums had been sacrificed by
the redemptions having been made in the Three per Cents.
instead of in the Three and a Half. Indeed, the manner
in which Government usually made their money contracts
was injudicious. The system was bad. There ought to
be more of competition. As an instance of the vice of
the present system, it was only necessary to advert to the
operation of this morning, when Government wanting a
subscription of only three millions of Exchequer Bills,
above eighteen millions were offered ; thus showing that
the terms were disadvantageous to the public. There
was another point on which he wished to say a few words.
For whatever might happen to the country, or for what-
ever might require an extensive reduction of taxation,
Government were now solely answerable. The late Mr.
Canning thought it expedient that a Committee should
be appointed to investigate the finances of the country.
In that opinion he (Mr., Maberly) understood at the time
that the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite concurred.
The Committee had, however, no sooner finished
one year's labour (the benefit of which had been rendered
apparent that night in the clear and honest statement
which for the first time had been made in that House by
a Chancellor of the Exchequer), than its existence was
terminated. That Committee had pronounced the Sink-
ing Fund in its present state a fallacy; and now, as if by
magic, the whole House saw that it was a fallacy. Yet,
for how many years had he and same of his friends in
vain endeavoured to impress the House with that fact !
The Committee of Finance had declared, and declared
with the greatest truth, that there could be no sinking
fund except thesurplus of the public income over the pub-
lic expenditure. That was one great advantage which
the country had derived from the appointment of the
Finance Committee. If it had been revived many other
advantages would have been derived from it. It would
have examined into the manner of keeping the public
accounts. It would have suggested alterations in the Ex-
chequer. It would have recommended specific diminu-
tions of the burden of taxation. It would have pared
down all the estimates of the public service. The Go-
vernment, however, had determined that the Committee
should no longer exist. The Government had declared
th it they would do what the Committee would otherwise
have done. If they really did so, they would de-
serve well of their country ; but he confessed
that he was rather sceptical on that point.
He understood the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer to state, that there was a surplus of above three mil-
lions applicable as a Sinking Fund to the reduction of the
debt. He (Mr. Maberly) had no objection to the opera-
tion of a Sinking Fund—except as it was abused—and as
it sametimes induced Ministers to abstain from reducing
the Estimates, and to maintain them at what was properly
the War Establishment. If, in 1517, a searching inquiry
had been made into our financial condition and resources,
he had no doubt that we might have reduced our taxation
three millions a year more than we had done. But we
had not adhered even to the recommendation of the Fi-
nance Committee of that period. By gross mismanage-
ment we had increased our debt, and had imposed on the
country a long-continued and unnecessary taxation. It
ass evident that we could not go on as we were now going
on ; but that we must greatly reduce .beth our taxation
and our establishments. He could •point out two or three
establishments, the consolidation of which Would be at•
teoded with great saving. lie allowed that there was
;rest difficulty attendant on the task of retrenchment; ntir!