Star.
London, England, 1823-03-22 00:00:00

APPEALS. . •
The Ersi of DARNLEY called the attention of the House,
and particularly the attention of the Noble and Learned Lotd
on the Woolsack, to papers which he held in his hand respect-
ing the Appealt. It appeared that 42.1 Appeal causes nn their
table, remain undecided. He gave credit to the Noble and
Learned Lord for diligence, but he thou:lit it was impossible I
for the Noble and Learned Lord to get rid of the aercar in less
than seven years. In the year 1821, 36 causes were-decided.
In 1629, 3i; and p-acoeding in the same ratio, it would take
seven years to get rid of the excess. Under the present State of
their judicial business, he might ash what hope the subjects of
ibis country could have of obtaining justice? It was impossible
without some measure was adopted of a remedial descriptiontant
justice could be done. The Noble Earl observed, by the ratifier
on the table, that the Appeals from Scotland were live to one,
compared with those of +England. To gee rid of the super-
abundance of produce (a laugh) from that part of the United
Kingdom, something must be done. He considered the subject
of greet importance, and expressed a hope that the Noble and
Learned Lord would bring the question under cousideraion.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL said, the papers to which the
Noble Earl had alluded, were laid on the table in consequence
of a motion made by himself, and it was his Intention' after the
recess, to bring the subject before the-House. De did not wish
to discuss the matter on that occasion; but their Lordships must
be aware that in 1813 the subject came under their considers,
lion. The House came to a resolution to sit three Ames a week
ter the purpose of getting rid of, the arrear of Appeals. The
House and the Noble Lori!' on the Woolsack did their duty, yet
soiwY he was to say, that the evil, instead of being diminished.
had been-aggravated. Important, however, as the queirtion of
arrear might be, it was small with reference to another view of
the subject. They bad heard of delay in Chancery. ft was fre-
quently said, that suits did not go on with sufficient dispatch ;
but hcwever that might be, the whole Mat' of the evil was the
increase of Appeals in that House. If they would get rid of the
,Scotch Appeals, the Lord Chancellor would have time to dis-
eisitie the important duties of his Court The Noble Earl had
Ittlly'Stated that the Scotch Appeals were as five to one. From
the nature of Scotch Law, the time taken to decide th...ir causes
exceeded the,time necessary for lunglish or Irish Appeals. He
should feel it his duty to bring the question forward in order to
have Willi! arrangement Made. They could not get rid of the
iiffilatlty without tnaltlnk some ilterittion, which Would put the
buftineos of the Court of Cbancecy and the judicial burl:sees tot
that House in a way.to.aeor4 delay. Eta after the recess the
Noble Earl slid he should call the attention of the House to the
subject, and he coneladed lip moving 6 That the Returns' be
printed fcir the inforrnition•orthdr tordshiPh"—Ordered.
NATIONAL DEBT REDUCTION BILL.
The Earl of fAIVERPOOL enhil,l6n the Order of!
the Day for g?ingllttn 11l Comniittrienn the 'National
Debt• Reduction Bli :not/ hbisereedifittt. hi thttilki
shortie eadearrhif-th ' Ore 'the Ffplikie-Oglft tiOVon-
tet
cur in 'adiiptir'itt.hivp ifelPielif **OR It Was not
his intention 'to Cate %tit leap ;idiientsionieptin 'the
question. ~ The Subjeoo of tie NitiArtflpeist,ritttOrf-
neeted with alitiklitg l'Unti,l* k
1 Oederives.
Ore Parliarnetit ' Thf Noble- Wiii , ; '-chsibes,
ittrotlicat
had arisen; he wright,:lioweliti42teAlKo.k hating
been called by the dory of-tile sitentre held to in-.
tend to the subjectianti•heeifig girfeif Teal the atten-
tion in.his poieer; he liaif 14yer seen any reason to.
alter theopinion he had .feensidon the expediency of
the Sinking Fund. The 'principle Was first adopted in
1786 and 1792, tali( dirrirfg the War' k was found ex-
, pedient3int to eirrfintd e&Ct the provisions of the
Acts upon the subject. • .No persce mold be stir.-
11 prised that in a war which lasted V/ years, carried on
von a scale of eretizatift-utparalieleci, the Govern-,
ment sllould fan in the enjoyment of all the benefit.
to be derived froin the principle of a Sinking Fund.
Without entering into the question of the policy, of
expediency of the war, he might say no person under.
the circumstances of that war, could- expect to carry,
the principle of a Sinking Fund to the full extent—.
It was true that those principles had not been carried:
into execution to the extent they would have been•
under different circumstances, but notwithstanding
all he had heard front high authority in the way of
objection to the measure, lie was still convinced that
this.country owed its means of carrying on the late
wars, to.the endeavour made to give effect to theirri-
, portant principles of a Sinking-hind. It h.* been
!thought desirable to ascertain what was the state of
the country and the Revenue before Pailiament
should come to any settled system. Ile was ready
to admit that the only real Sinking Fund in time of
peace was a dear excess of income oats the expen-
diture. In ti me of war different considerations might
arply, like those on which the 2,kct of 1792 bad mi.
ginallypassed. . lie knee that various opinions pre.
.sailed on the subject. Some maintained that a
Sinking Fund was wise in tinge of peace, but not in
time of war. Others considered it of much greater
importance in war than daring peace. .Without !ri-
tering into the merits of those separate questions, he
' fully admitted the great adirantage of having a real
Sinking Fund during peace, consisting of-an excess
of Revenue taken, not on the produce of one single
year, but on afar average of several years. • hi the
year 181,9 the House of Commons had passed a serie-
of Itesohrtions on which certain.measutes of taxatior,
had been adopted, which formed the basis ef the Ili3
before their Lordships. 'These Ilosolotitros,declaied.,i
that after looking at all ebtreirciarnstanees of the cOuM
try, .it was expedient •that. there 'shenid'Aie it. civet
'Sinking Fund to be apPlidd ..to.tbeliqmiebttion of -the,
.National Debt, of nrideso.thott, figitroillioos; that 'it'
should be allowedtauccoswalatiosill-iishowl+a
to one hundredth part oft Iks4 wiblithaliZi:gi
should teach eight". millions, itigent4l Vo ra.ltiirAft
..aunt to con:Wee vrliiitor Ii watoilifrocM kaki*,
and whether theoesepluosialialaionot leespplied-too'
relief of the. eoentry- frefmr-taeutiOtr." It hitt! •
been resolved; thstkitossaolti be desira
airaogssuest .4ko44l:2bikitteomponied
4k:cleft of actor:whoa rebatiabey shossid.
lanced, and Anit -Se sherultl lee screed '

tvbat the Sinkhig Fund 'vas,
11344-40814401"
• -1 $4.4r• • '
take .4//1,01

now, and was proposed to be carried isuct.effera by
the present Bill, the object cf which was to establish
I a Sinking Rood of five millions, which should-accu-
mulate till they amounted to. one hUMlvedth part of
the National Debt, *hen the surplus should be apa
plied to the relief of the roblic from taxation. This
year there was a surplus of £7,200,000, and the line
of policy in some degree already sanctioned by their
Lordships, had been to repeal taxes to the amount of
two millions two hundred thousand pounds, and to
form a Sinking Fund of the remaining five millions,
according to the Resolutions of the year 1819. . After
having read almost all that had been written on the
sultject, in print and in manuscript, and having heard
the sentiments of the men best able tolorm a right
judgment, his opinion was triode up as to the. prop
pricty of maintaining a Sinking. Fund. Adherence
to it was absohitely necessary, unless it could be sup-
posed th?t this country should never be compelled to
engage is war again. However desirous all must be
to remain in a state of peace as long as it should be
consistent with the honour and safety of the country,
it mtist be evident to every one, that any system of
policy, not grounded on the possibility of future wars,
must rest on a rotten foundation, and prole a most
likely cause of the rise of such wars. Future events
could not be expected to differ much from the past.
They must consist of an alternation of war and peace,
and what would be the situation of this country if it
always increased its debt in time of war, and never
diminished it in time of peace? Such a course must
terminate in her ruin. It would not be effected by
the first, the second, or the third war, but it must
eventually lead to a complete change of property.
Every man of common sense must see that if the
supplies could not be raised within the year during
the war, some provision must be made to clear away
the debt in time of peace. With all the experience
which he had acquired during the last thirty years
which he had been in Parliament, and after taking
every minute view of the subject, he must support
the principle of a Sinking Fund ; not certainly of an
indefinite one, for beyond a certain amount it might .
be attended with evils; but a Sinking Fund restricted
to a limited extent would, he was convinced, be pro-
ductive of great advantages both in peace and war.
It had been a consideration whether war impoverished
a country ; but that consideration was not true as far
as it related to England. Never bad she been .impo•
veril.hed by any war in which •she had possessed the
command of the sea. If a country became the seat
of war, it might be impoverished whilst it lasted.;
but looking at our maritime superiority, it was an nn-
doubted fact that thiecounttry had been enriched by
war. ller wealth in every branch had encreased to an
enormous extent, lot o'er timing the last tar, but
in that of 1756; and whenever she had enjoyed a
maritime• supra iority. For'sver acted es a mighty
stimulus, creating artificial markets and artifieial-ess
pease'. But solicit he said that he did not mean to
assatt.aast wars Were not calamities. .He considered
them ac such, on the coutrarre became of the great
thareges, and revolutions-which they produced in pro-
. party,- in- proportion to their own extent. For there
was not merely a change from- peace to war, but
afterwards one from Warn() peace, and.inthe course
of the last contest hilted been seen that the property
of the Fuudhoklers had been iditninished'nearly one
half. Thic might be partly ascribed-to the measure
by which the Bank stopped- cash payments; hut he
thought it would have happened to nearly the-came
extent, if that measure had not been' adopted. Their
Lordships had also seen Agriculture make during
the last war such fit; ides as it had sever made before,
and rents rise to an elevation which they had never
previously attained. They had since beheld the re-
tro-active principle in full force, and the value of
landed property diminish. He considered a perma-
nent Sinking Fund to a definite extent and likelyto be
maintained a ol.or important measure to prevent the
difficulties and dangers. of those alterations from
peace to war. Sapposiag that aliinking Fund existed,
of sufficient magnitude •to .carry- on the
iexpenses of
an ordinary war, the result would be that thebrealc.
ing out et such a war would be attended with no new
loans, no new -taws,• and no change of property. • If
this utee.4tue of a Sinking Fund to that extent, it
wooldbe espial,/ ante to whatever extent that Sink-
ing Fund might exist; for it-must have the effect of
prnportionahly diminishing the evils of those alterna-
zi,.w;s• lions war to peace. It had been recommended
be the opponents of that system, that five millions-of
t..aes should be taken off during peace, and laid on
„o air, if a new war should arise; but this course
would encrease the evils of the alternation, whilst
rr uch good must be produced by a Sinking Fund,
hick would reduce the debt in time of peace, and
in time of was would lighten its charges. He would
Jot wish, however, that rt should be carried to an in-
efinite extent, oh account of the injurious effect
s hick it might have on the capital-W. the-country ;
and because, if-carried so far, it- would be less likely
tc remain sacred in time of war, whilst, if it- were
smaller, it would be nava- Tbat•was in-fact ;he ori-
ginal principle on which, a Sinking Fund had been
established by Mr. Mt. ; It.ostais Ascended that it
should accumulate -till '-ntmlatsci•four, ionsi,
.tursi,- then Moth:, liew,faeoomtiliMirso wissi -the sum
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