Star.
London, England, 1823-02-12 00:00:00

OFFICE OF VICE-TREASURER OF IRELAND.

Mr. HUME again rose.to address the Chair, and
adverted to the office of Vice-Treasurer of Ireland,
which, he said, had originally been established from
motives of. economy, at .the time when the two Ei-
chequers of England and Ireland were consolidated.
Few his own part,' be thought that all the business
which appertaiiied tb that office might he transacted
more effectually in London than in Dublin. If
Members would look into the list, they would
.find
not less 'than 296 persons at present dependent on
the Lord Lieutenant. Now there was no necessity
whatever for this body of retainers; for every duty
which devolved on the Lord Lieutenant might be
discharged in the British Metropolis with more ad-
vantage to the Public. He would take an early oc-
casion to call the attention of the House to the de-
tails of the Vice-Treasurer's Office. The individual
at the head of it had been appointed at a high 'so-
lary, which had been afterwards reduced to 2,0001.
He (Mr. Hume) was prepared to shew that we now paid
7,000/. or 'B,OOOl. a year, to keep ep an office which
was of no use whatever. It appeared that the Vice-
Treasurer (Sir George Hill) 414 little or nothing at
the office, for he spent half of his time in the House
of Commons, a quartet of a year in Derry, and about
a month Dublin. The -Honourable Member, in
conclusion, • moved for copies of any correspondence
between the' Chief Secretary for Ireland and the
Ckancellor of the Exchequer, respecting the office of
Vice-Treasurer, and of any warrants issued to him for
the payments of salaries.--nra..'"

Mr. LUSHINGTON moved that part of the Lords Com-
missionen' Report.which related to the intended Reductions in
the ilapenditore tie referradtia a Committee to-sa:crow,.
Mrt HU4IL wished t 5) know whether the items of reduction
were to be kiebefore The House? • - •
* Mr. LUSHINGTMW Said he was &slit ready-to furnish the
goderiary FAtimeter..-01atisit agreed to. • .
Mr. W. SD,lllll.6toved this there be laid before the House

Aenuitt of all rental In itld lama! &afflatus Eichnitter.
frptn tl. Stb Fetntary, down te the latest petiod!uwitick
the sante could be mule out..... Ordered-
. the motion of Mr. Witatos, the West India "Bade litlt -
stssnt,through a Committee of the whole House.—The Report:
was urtiered to be brought up to4norrow.
Mt. HUME gave notterthat he should to-morrow move-thai
there be laid before the House an Account of the Stipends patto
to the Scotch
.Clergy in the xear - •
The house adjourned at a fiiiiriatearrain:
SOUTHWARK REFORM MESTIYO. .

. .
Yerierday, a most nureetotas and respectable Meal:.
ing or the Electors of Sonthiiirk took place at the%
Town Hall, in the BoVongh. -- •
The Hunt BAliiir said, that he Mid issued tiV
pricePt, dilly appreciating the charactet-Of the Elsie- i
tors, and he trusted that none but those Who Cid 4
right to vote would present thernselvei to trams .
the Meeting.
Mr. BLACK addressed the Meeting upon the sub
ject of the present state of the Representa.ven, which;
he said, required the most judicious and fundamental
change. The distresses Of the People would be re-
lieves by the introduction Of a Reform, the very first
effect of which would be a reduction of taxation.—,
The agricultural interests would, together with all
the other interests of the nation, derive immediate.
and deep benefit from such a measure—a measure 1
which was now considered of paramount importance 1
by all the higlr characters whose integrity added 1
to the
weight of rank and titles in the country. He
moved a Petition for a Reform in Parliament, and'
for a Reduction of Taiation. i
Mr. BULLTEN seconded the motion. .
Mr. ECUs did not approve of the Petition in many 1
respects; but, as he admitted the necessity of a Par- $
liamentary Reform, he should not propose any amend- T
went. After some obseriations in favour of a plan
'of Reform, which was generally admitted to be im-.
practicable, and which one of the crowd said would. f
take 150 years to carry into effect, he discontinued f
)his address. .
Mr. A ItROthIMITII spoke strongly in favour of pl. II
. „ , ,I , . . ,
liamentary Reform. It was true that the .agrietaini : 4
interests were suffering severely at
,present; bet 'ha ti
it should be remembered that no portion of thi c 4 - 1
munity profited more by the late war than they It
did—it should be remembereld; too, that the land-
holders had been the main iiipporteri of the pre-' Si.
sent system ; for, with them, while high rtices Con-: a
tinued, everything was thought tight—(Hear, hook '
The primary cause of the present distress mist,
however, be traced to the Funding System. He tad (
often been surprised at hearing drank at Public Meet-
ings, " The principles which placed the.present ra: a
mily on the Throne," without an exception being
taken to that principle which established the Funding vs
System. When the People applied for Reform, they I
were told tbat they ought to reform themselieC n
This was certainly gond advice, but he did not like I
the quarter from which it came. What would dui
think of a man who, while he was picking their r
pockets, should go on preaching sound moral prix: 11
ciples to them? It was something. like the conduct. a
of the three Holy Sovereigns at Verona, who were I
most anxiously' praying for the welfare of Spain! it
a time when they were preparing to enslave liens'b
(Hear, hear).--He did not agree entirelf withwit l:
Petition which had been read.— 4r. lArroiseitif • tig I
11
then read a Petition, differing a little from that or
Mr. Black; but it war not seconded, and waeUltid
mately withdrawn. 9
0
Tine original Petition was then put niuLcarried•i,te
,
Mr. CALVERT said, it was not the practice of lath
years for Members of the Borough to obtrude opii,
coons on subjects discussed by the Electors. WlO
first elected their Representative. he declared thai 11
lapresentatives should always obey their COnstitie •
ents, and he had always dot* so; but at the saute v
time his opinions had .always coincided with the' 2
and never more sincerely than at present. He couldo
not agree with Mr. Ellis, that effectual Reform coubt a
be gained in the manner and time stated: the pert,* 4
who said it wouid take 150 years to act upon thei
plan, might have said it would take 1500—Viol I
laughter).—He could not hope that we were on Ote
eve of Reform, when he looked at the present in t&
ponderance of Boroughniongers, but still he would I
not despair. Mr. Ellis had intimated that he wield
move a distinct proposition for Refbrm. Should that
Gentleman do so, he (Mr. Calvert) would prese it, I
provided it met with the approbation of the 1004
Sir ROBERT WILSON said, he never receieet a
summons to attend a Meeting of his Constittraits, :
1
without feeling the satisfactiOn that he would reeeitie
instructions which would confer honour on his.cel.
league and himself. On this occasion, as on eris 4 •
other, they bad conic to a resolution that would app i
port their high character as an enlightened •bollit!
Electors. It must be most agreeable to their tip*
sentatives' to support every measure calculate ct to
lighten their burdens. The agricultural interests, of •••1
the nation could not be depressed without cautaplit
sympathy amongst the other interests, wric,lr were• '‘
entitled to deep regard. All suffered at present
from an or- ercharged /seal arrangement, but ii-.4a
ductian wiitild be extremely imperfect witlititik,Als
form, for all the distress arose from the 4.040.01
that Reform to which the eyes of all wise and liberal
men were now directed. The 4
R craters ibetlllifia
.ii
their creed on the immutable in; aides of;, laP
ii.
and required the practice of to and. jeSatittee'V
It was no answer that great abuses existed in kelp
times ; that Elizabeth exercised prerogative, and
exercised privilege to return Members to Parlianntito
Here there was no analogy. The difusiots of beg r• .
ledge and wealth created a
,contrast, an the ?rat,
the great promoter of the liberties of reap ad, t
the people in a condition to demand the pritelfaioa
luded to—taught their rights and duties to millientak. •
was their mental eye—called ferdleatetb4c.„:.
rues that would otherwise have lainAlseleu.
rapt part of it had indeed been more .violent mama' •
Spain, than the Press of Franie; but it,bad only'
'dered itself an object of contempt.and•abhortent.o9
everyperson.of reason and justiee. lie felt Rtlg • 4
in stating, and it was repOrted upbn.eitcellent a
: rity, that the corrupt part of the Press 10 irbicit
alluded, had received their dismissal from the Go.
vernineht Offices; and could no longer giererrEllt 10
their cahunn;is against the cause of libeerrellail.
, .
supporters under the sanction of .Mirasters t f^.
If the Houk of Commons were-reel:MO?
..41* ,• ..
tified with the People Ili interest. and 400-14.1* , •
'So many wrongs _benefit unredressell-4-edbldvio boil
wrougs be corturtittiOVilhlitil 411.61 t .oefor

mol Afilialiots,tonfedesited lir hatted of Merty, I
bop mocked' our Ministers arid our • mediation?';
could the King of Franck, t9troliitl drank so deep)
of the cup of misery, unmingled with the fruits of:
diporience—could he attempt to use the power to
Oa he was restored, to crush the liberties of
loin, and insult the Governnient of England, which
sited on resistance to the abuse of power ? But they
kid seen a House of Commons that acquiesced in
itery Measure of Government; but such was the
joonsttous nature of the meditated aggression, and
jo:powerfnl the. reprobation it excited, that Liberty
wiemphed, and Ministers were impelled to its defence
hy a People determined to make every sacrifice for
}be freedom of Spain and Europe—(Cheers).—Our
Oldsters now stood on the height which the support
the People was calculated to give to those in power.
1k might say to France, in the language of our im-
Mortal Poet—
* Pease.be to France, if France that Peace permit;
• If not, bleed France, and Peace ascend-m-lkasen."
r..-lApplauSe).—Hv spoke of France as it was under
glic present Government ; not as the people felt, for
ripeople would not long support a war apinst
edom—(Loud chters).—" If war break nut, said
Robert Wilson, in a most emphatic manner,
a whatever may be the conduct of Ministers,the Mem-
ber for South w ark will find a place in Freedom's liner
(Loud applause).—He was happy that we were in a
situation to conduct a war without the imposition of
new burdens. We had drily to take advantage of the
;pa of the people in favour of it, by i'epealing the
Foreign Enlistment Bill, and sending perhaps thirty
Ships, with two or 3,000 stand of arms, to Spain.—
Thar would be all that would be necessary on the
part of this country to sectwe the blessing of a Re-
presentative Government to Spain, to Portugal, to
Germany, and to Italy—(Loud zho'uts of applau..,e).—
On the question of Reform, the Peition wisely re-
frained from entangling the Electors in a proposal
for any specific plan, which might give room tot ob-
jections to the enemies and the lukewarm friends of
the measure. They had clearly evinced that their
object was to protect their own liberties, and extend
the blessings of freedom to humanity at large.—Here
Sir Robert Wilson concluded, amidst long-continued
and rapturous applause.
Mr. BLACK moved, that the Petition should be
signed by the High Bailiff on behalf of the Meeting,
and that the Members be instructed to present it to
Parl;ament.—Carried unanimously.
The thanks of the Meeting were then voted to Mr.
Calvert and Sir Robert Wilson.
Mr. CALVERT said, he was Most zrateful for such
an expression of their approbation.
Sir ROBERT WILSON said, he received their thanks
with more than ordinary pride, and with deep interest.
He knew the favour would not have been conferred
unless they conceived the duty had been performed.
This acknowledgment he made with great solemnity.
lie might have soon to perform a duty accompanied
with a very painful sacrjfice, but he would confide in
the kindness he had ever experienced at their hands,
and ‘k' As satisfied they would believe that their interests
and approbation would ever be dear to his heart.
Thanks were then moved to the High Bailiff, for
his proper conduct in the Chair. He had not followed
(Mr. CALVERT said) the bad example set in various
places of Chairmen refusing to sign the Petitiohs of
the People—(Loud applause).
The HIGH Baturp, having returned thanks, dis-
solved the Meeting, who gave three cheers for Spain
on separating.. 7- • --,- -. :- ..._ • . • .
... .. . _