Star.
London, England, 1822-06-25 00:00:00

an increase oF,the influence of thitCrown? And
wlien they had. seen what bad •httelf been done to-
wards an Officer.on half-pay for conduct opposed to
Ministers when out of eat House—And perhaps in that
House—he Would ask whether a Government possess-
ing such a power of patronage, extending over all
the principal families of the kingdom, without any
controul over its conduct except the vague and un-
definable power of that House,. where the placemen
themselves sat, 'and many ofAse Officers, who were
at the mercy of the same bee: and nod of the Mi-
nister, could be likely to preserve the balance of the
Constitution? There was another head upon which
he would :hew the immense increase of influence
_which the Crown had acquired. The Colonies had
increased from the period with which. he was corn-
piring the present to the number of twenty-nine.
But he would say what the difference of the Colonial
establishments was since the year 1791, when the
permanent establishments were fixed. Twelve Colo-
nies had been added to our possessions since that
time, and merely in taking the Staff appointments in
those Colonies, it would be found that there had
been added 150 places, to be holden at the pleasure
of the Crown. The civil places had increased in
proportion. In •six Colonies the civil places had
been all added since 1791, and upon the whole they
gave en increase of five hundred civil places.—
Since the year 1780 the increase of civil and military
offices together, exclusive of the common regimen-
tal appointments, amounted to 800 and upwards.—
But this was merely upon' the Colonial patronage,
independent of all other great sources arising from
the collection and management of the Revenue.—
This was only an off-set from the main trunk, and it
placed under the unexampled controul of the Crown
an amount of no less than 800 employments. He
would venture to say that if this increase were com-
pared to any which had take place in 1780, even
'from the year 1680, the earliest period at which we
'had colonial possessions of any importance—the lat-
'ter would shrink. into nothing. In this calculation
of the increase of Crown influence he did not include
any patronage of the offices under the East India
Company ; because the Crown certainly did not pos-
sess the. full patronage of those places. But when
he considered that the Company had been brought
much more under the controul of the Executive, by
the regulations made at the time of the American
war, he could not consider it as being entirely inde-
pendent of the Government. The insfease of places
in this department was enormous. Jn the year 1793,
the whole number of appointments, including Cadets
and Assistant Surgeons, was 123. in 18'20, they
amounted to 52/. By the arrangements which had
since been made, giving the Government greater.
power over the department, it had obtained one-1
fourteenth of the patronage. Supposing this to have
existed in 1791, which he believed it did not, the
influence would have been increased from the pro-
portion of nine places to 38, being fourfold. This
patronage of 38 places would seem very little after
the 800 CO which he had alluded. But when it was
considered that these were annual appointments, it
would be seen that they were equal to 400 ordinary
places. Therefore, in the East and West Indies the
amount of the ma,s of new places created since the
year 1780, amounted to 1,200 and odd. But the
grand increase was undoubtedly at home. In the
management and collection of the revenue there was'
an increase of fourfold. In 1780, that expense was
less than a million, whereas it .now amounted to
foul. Another circumstance to which he should
allude as tending materially to extend the influence
of the Crown, was the Debt itself. The interest of
the debt at the time he originally referred to, was
only six millions; and now, including the charge of
management, it was nearly fifty millions. The emo-
luments in the power of the Crown by this vast in-
crease were made to operate in many various ways.
But without going into the particulars of those laws
arising out of the debt, or those arrangements which
behampered and be.et every branch of commerce
itself, it was evident that (justify or excuse it as they
would) the result was to place all traders, without a
single exception, completely under the power of the
Officers of the Crown. A trader might act prudently
or warily in the course of his traffic, but be he ever
so prudent or wary, he could not always avoid the
snares laid by the legislative traps of the revenue.—
Whatever might be his skill, he was most likely to
come in contact with that frightful code which con-
tained so many pits literally yawning to receive him.
This came within the experience of many in that
House; but to gratify the curiosity of those who
might not be acquainted with the subject, he would
illustrate his statement by a few examples. He might
almost take them at random. He would begin with
the revenue laws respecting soap, and he would re-
fer to part of a section in an Act regulating the du-
ties upon that article. It would shew the prying eye,
and the skilful though somewhat rude hand of the
Government. And here he would remark, that the
Excise Laws were generous in one respect, for they
had little to do with fractions. They dealt in penal
round numbers—( A laugh).—He found by the sec-
tion in question, that no maker of soap should, un-
der a penalty of 5001. have any pipe or other con-
veyance for the removal of lees; or use any cock,
crane, syphon, or other means of conveyance of the
lees from the copper. Nay, the lees was forbidden
to perforate—(A laugh),—and the only means of
conveyance allowed by the law was a pump. But
by a singular regard for the soapmaker And his lees,
the former was allowed the privilege of a ladle I
Laughter).—There was a penalty of 5001. imposed
for making a hole in the copper for the purpose he
had mentioned. But this legislation led to a diffi-
culty which was no other than this:—the lees, if not
allowed to escape in some way or other, would ex-
plode and disappoint the imposers of the tax. And
therefore, by a singular degree of accuracy and of
tenderness towards the soapmaker (who was treated
just as a sort of funnel in aid of the Revenue), he
was allowed to make small holes at the head of his
coptler. Notwithstanding the previously exposed
general abhorrence of holes, nature had successfully
advanced her claim, and the soapmaker wasallowed
to bore small holes, one eighth of an inch in dia-
meter—(A laugh),—hut this was only to prevent ex-
plosion—(—Laughter).—lt would be endless to attempt
adducing instances upon all subjects connected with
the Revenue, but he could not refrain from just
mentioning the tax upon Salt ; in the collection of
which there was mere oppression exercised than hod
ever before been invented. The sacred corner-stone