Star.
London, England, 1822-07-03 00:00:00

SMALL. NOTES BILL.

The CHANCELLOU of the EXCIIEQUF.R moved the
Order of the Day for the second reading of the Small Notes Bill.
Mr. JAMES wished to know whether this Bill would have
the effect of ntakie,.l ;:ink notes a legal tender?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER replied iu
the negative.
Lord roz,KsTosr. said, he thought this was a partial re-
Mr. Peers Bill. Its object was to get onopotuid notes
into circulation. The I Tome, by passing it, would incur afresh
all the dangers of multiplied forgeries, and lie therefore trusted
they would palls,- before. they gave their sanction to It.
Ni. Il.\ ler DAVIS defended the Bill.
Mr. JA MES said, he should take the sense of the house on
the second reading of the Bill. He thought it would sanction a
return to evert wing payments in paper.
Mr. CUR WEN boiied his llon. Friend would not do so. Ile
was satisfied the people vefet red paper to gold.
Mr. CA LUBA FT spoke in favour of the Bill.—The House
:hen divided, when th.-re appeared—
For the second reading - - 47
Against it - 4
- —43

The Bill was then read a snond time.

MALT LICKNSES ACT.

Mr. WOI)EIIOUSE called the attention of the
Ilou,e to the duty imposed on Malt Licenses. The
dealers weie, under a new regulation, compelled,
in many cases, to take ont separate licen,es for sepa-
rate buildings. This last regulation had, he thought,
been smuggled through the House, without any no-
tice whatever. The persons suffering under this
grievance had been advi,ed to memorialize the Trea-
sury ; but this was, at the best, an inconvenient re-
medy. Ai for this individual support to Ministers,
he could not suppose that they cared much about it;
but he must be permitted to observe, that that
fe+cnce towards the complaints of those suffering
under taxation, of which he was now stating an in-
stance, could not fail to create a disgust, which, when
it was too late, Ministers would Le very glad to re-
move. Ile moved for leave to bring in a Bill to re-
peal the last additional Duty on Malt Licenses.
Mr. W. SMITH seconded the motion.

Mr. BRIGHT said, that when the Bill in question
was brought lomat d, he (Mr. Bright) had been given
to understand that it contained merely a trifling alte-
ration in the old Bill. He thought the House ought
to consider the case de novo.

Mr. LOCKHART spoke in favour of the motion.
He should next S:!ssion move that a Standing Order
be adopted for the printing of all Bills relative to
Taxation.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
that u hen so much of the time of the House was
taken up in extraneous discustion, it was not a mat-
ter of surpi ize that many Bills passed the House in
silence. The Bill complained of was brought in on
the Ist of April, and did not receive the Royal As-
sent until the middle of May ; but as it had been so
much condemned, he was perfectly willing to have
the particular clause in it repealed—(Hcar, hear).—
He ought, however, to state to the House, that the
custom of making Licenses local as well as personal,
was by no means a new practice. He found at once
a case of this kind, which occurred in 1784.

Mr. WESTERN condemned the Act imposing a
tax of 41. 10s. upon each building in which a Malt-
ster had his malt. It was quite tame it should be re-
pealed, and he was glad a motion for tlst purpose
had been brought forward.
Mr. ROBERT SMITH said, this was an instance
of the many Bills and clauses originating with the
Treasury which were passed through that House
without the knowledge of the parties interested. He
did not mean to defend the inattention of one side of
the House, but he complained of the great attention

which existed on the other side to take advantage .or ,
that inattention.
Mr. LUSHINGTON said, that there never was
an occasion in which observations such as thnse which
had just fallen from the Hon. Member opposite, were
less applicable. He begged to retort on the Hon.
Member for Bristol, that he was the cause of this
Bill passing without notice; for, at his express re-
quest, he had actually postponed the third reading
for a month, in order that he might have an oppor-
tunity of examining it. If there was anything im-
proper in it, therefore, he ought to have informed
the House of it ; but to his (Mr. Lushington's) sur-.
prise, it passed in complete silence.
Mr. BRIGHT explained.
Mr. HUME spoke in favour of the repeal of the
duty, as levied under the provisions of the existtngAct.
After a few words from Mr. BENNIT and Mr. P.
Moons, leave was given to bring in the Bill.
noose AND WINDOW TAX.
Mr. HOBHOUSE said, that in moving for a large
reduction of taxation, he had not come down to the
House with a mere meagre statement of figures; but
he had thought the most proper course would be to
propose it in the shape of Resolutions, tending to the
repeal of the House and Window Tax. These were
very short-and very simple. The first was,
" That the present amount of taxation is so burdensome and
oppressive, that it is incumbent on the House, by everyz means
not detrimental to the State, to endeavour to reduce it.
-7-1-le knew that every wish to reduce taxation had
foil. some time been ascribed to stupidity, ignorance,
and impatience; but he would not go further into
that subject, because his Hon. and Learned Friend
near him had, in the beginning of the Session, very
ably exploded the idea that taxation was necessary to
the prosperity of the nation. It had since been ad-
mitted that the nation might flourish under a reduc-
tion of taxes. In 1820 the Hon. Member for Cum-
berland (Mr. Cur wen) made the first motion for the
repeal of taxes. He moved for and obtained the re-
peal of the Horse Tax, notwithstanding all that was
said by the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the
Noble Marquis opposite—the one declaring that no
Finance Minister could ga on if such a system were
pursued, and the other, that he would resign if it
were persisted in. Next came the motion for the re-
peal- of the Malt Tax, upon which question these
things were repeated ; notwithstanding which, the
Noble Mat quis afterwards came down to the House
and called for a continuance of their confidence by
proposing the repeal of that Tax. He stated these
things merely to shew that whatever the People of
England resolutely raised their voice to obtain, they
would not fail in. They had all heard delivered in
that House, on a former occasion, the strangest no-

tions about the principles of resurrection restoring
the depressed interests of the country to former pro-
sperity; that the distress of the country was to be at-
tributed to the operations of Nature, and Paovr-
DENCE to be looked to as the source of hope and re-
lief. This the Noble Lord called the true nature of
political economy: Nature was to do everything.—
Since the days of his early youth, when he had read
Lucretius, he never heard so much attributed to the
operations of Nature. He thought, when the Noble
Lord was propounding such doctrines, to have heard
him exclaim,

" Rerum primordia pandam,
" Uncle omnes Natura cruet rue, auctet, alatque,
Quove eadem rursum Nature perempta resolvat !"
Extraordinary as that language was, he begged to say
that he did not attribute it to inability in the person
using it; for he knew that Hume had said of a cele-
brated character in the history of this country, that
by splendid talents he had risen from the lowest sta-
tion to be the head of the State, without having at-
tained the power of expressing himself in language
which would not disgrace the meanest peasant in the
country. Ile believed the confusion of language
he had quoted rather arose from the critical situation
of the speaker, than from his inability, unshackled,
to clothe his thoughts in other words. He has, how-
ever, since that period, admitted that taxation, not
belonging to the causes of Nature, might have a
share in operating the distress of the country, for he
had himself proposed a reduction of 1,800,000/. of
taxes. By a calculation which he had made, he found
that from the year 1793 to 1822, a sum of money in
direct taxes had been extorted from the nation equal
to 1,404.,360,7944. This was an immense sum, of
which it was scarcely possible to have a distinct con-
ception, except that, like the Roman Emperor Cali-
gula, they were to wish to wallow in gold. By this
continued draining from taxation, the capital of the
productive classes was taken away, and given to
those who were not connected with them. No one,
he believed, could now be found who did not admit
that this debt was a great national calamity. He
knew that persons might answer him by pointing to
certain signs of wealth. But he should say these were
equivocal, and often the indication of great evils,
arising from the destruction of capital, which was the
necessary consequence of taxation. For his own part,
he did not think that agricultural distress arose from
any thing but low prices. The Landed Gentlemen
would not allow them to keep corn down as low as
it would go; and the only method, therefore, of re-
lieving the country was by reducing taxation. High
taxes produced high prices; and the reason that we
now had high taxes and low prices, was in conse-
quence of the existing glut of farm produce. He
knew very well that great misery must accrue in the
restoration of things to their proper standard. The
poor lands must go out of cultivation, and the last
layer of capital must, in fact, be taken off the land.
It was with a view to the prevention of this misery
that he now came fors% and to propose some mode of
relief, and for that purpose he proposed his first Re.
solution. He knew that there were many arguments
for opposing the reduction of taxation. In time of
war, they were told that they must not take away
the means of contending against a potent enemy; and
in time of peace the maxim was quoted to them—
" :leis perm, pare &Ilan( C and thus, with those who
so reasoned, they must have taxes to perpetuity. He
knew, however, that he should be asked his means of
reducing taxes, and upon that point he would read
his second Resolution. The Hon. Member then read,
u 'That the benefits supposed to be derived from the Sinking
Fund are illusory; and that to impose or continue any additional
burthens upon the People for the support oitit would be unwise
and inexpedient."
—This was the proper fund to apply to for this pur-
pose. In a small State, such a mode.of liquidating
a public debt might avail; hilt in a State like this,
it could never answer the end pro Hear).—
The Sinking Fund was useful to Ministers, by aiding

them to fund. He believed all the nonsense about
compound intetest had been long since exploded, and
with it ooght also to have been the system of a Sink.
ing Fund. The thirty millions to be taken for this
purpose.in a certain number of 'years had much better
remain in the pockets of the People, the best treasury
of the Crown. He contended they had . a right to
the repeal of taxation to the amount of 3,000,0001.
at least, which was the amount at which the Stnking
Fund was rated by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
Besides this, they had a right to a diminution of tax-
ation to the extent of five or six millions, in consider.
atifon of the rise in the value of money from the al.
terarion of the currency. The moderate amount
which he asked, therefore, ought certainly' to be
granted. He knew it might be urged by the Noble
Marquis opposite, that this was ungenerous after
the taxes they had already conceded, and thatit would
interfere with the finance'plan of the Government—.
This he could not help—it was his business to per.
form his duty in obedience to the directions of hi:
constituents. With regard to the choice of this par:
titular tax for repeal, he believed it had long been
desired by the country. It was a kind of Propel t) Tax,
and had been held by Mr. Pitt in the light of a war tax.
It was first levied in commutation for a tax upon tea,
which was taken off. Shortly after this a shop-tax was
proposed, but from the outcry against it was so )1
obliged to be given up, when the amount of it
again levied upon windows. The operation of the
tax was unequal, for by a calculation he had made,
it appeared that upon low rented houses it was at a
higher rate than upon the higher rented. Thus it
pressed hardest on the lower order of housekeei
and was at an average of thirty-six per cent. on all
that kind of property in the country. SLch was the
nature of it, that it was impossible an individual
could escape this tax. Many houses had been built
before the Bill of Assessment was resorted to, and
these contained mote windows than would have heel
thought necessary if they had been built subsequently.
They consequently paid much more in propiatiol
thin others which had been more recently e. e, zed.
The evil effects of this tax might be traced in ;:..t•ry
direction. Numbers of s indows were blocked
and thus houses were made uncomfortable and na-
wholesome ; or in building, fioni the efforts made t,
avoid paying largely to this obnoxious tax,
were rendered damp or exposed to the dr y rot. Many
houses which had been inhabited by persona in ti
reel circumstances, wee abandoned on account c;
the window tax. He knew a case o bete a peesc::
had a house, the rent of which was 5.51 per an!oan-,,
which was augmented to GO/. by the window
The consequence of this was, that nobody won.d
the house. Part of the property was stolen thrt,os'i
its being left unoccupied. A person s% as the,, put
to take care of it, but the tax-gatherer coming lcund
to collect the window duty, the proprietor, ratl:er
than pay it, determined on pulling the house dow.,.
This resolution he carried into effect. The hoir•e,
year before, had been considered woad) £2000.
Pulled down, the materials sold for but £M00: and
thus, through this tax, the proprietor had in one rear
lost £lOOO or £l2OO ! Many disadvantages grew
out of this tax. A house that was considered c,ieop
as to rent, would remain untenanted oil account
the taxes. Its inequality was grievous, and this ine-
quality had been admitted by Mr. Pitt in 1797. Two
houses standing next door to each other, paying the
same rent, would contribute in very different pr ()por-
tions to the Income 'lax. The Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer knew that twenty houses in Tothill-suet;
would pay as much on a cerain number of windows
as twenty houses in Lombard. street ; yet, as there wds
no comparison het i.% een the importance of the trade
carried on in the two places, it was not to be suprosed
the inhabitants were equally able to pay. The sarne
amount being charged on houses differing in value.
took from the owner of one, in a case 5%1,i6
stated, a seventeenth part of his income, while ir“rt
the owner of the other it took but a seven hundredz:i
part of his means. In the metropolis, the 11,1 yis
houses, to enable themselves to pay this tax, let o.!:
part of their houses to lodgers, and squeezed toern-
selves into dal k back rooms !—(Hear, hear).—
The consequence of being thus stilled up was
and often premature death. In Ireland this tax liad
been so injurious that it had been called the fever tax.
Ministers had thought it right to give it up in Ire-
land. He approved of their conduct in this instance,
and felt convinced that no greater relief comd Le
forded to the people of this country than that v.hic:i
would be derived from a repeal of the Window ax.
The tax prevented improvements being tria.te
were necessary for the comforts of the People. A
poor man wished to build a warehouse, which l!e
could have done for ten pounds, but he was pi eseatc,l
from doing so, because had he built one, instead of
paying 6s. for his house of six windows, he must have
paid '2os. to this tax, from the addition of the ware-
house window. The tax he regarded as pressing very
heavily on shopkeepers. Whatever the state of their
trade they were compelled to pay this impost. 1:1:;"
shopkeepers in this country, from the manner in which
the demand for all consumable articles varied, and
declined under the pressure of calamity, could b..
sure of no I eturn, but the return of the ax-gathei ci !
The House had the means of relieving the country
from this impost. It would be asked what he wuuld

substitute for it? This, he niainta:ned, it was not
for him to do, and he might leave that task to ele
Chancellor of the Exchequer. He would, however,
recommend, that the amount of the %Vinuow Tax
should be taken from the Sinking Fui,d--(Hear).—
If this were not done, he was of opinion that a TeJoc-
tion might be made iu the expenditure of the coun-
try, which would admit of being taken off. When In
time of peace,.we had an Army and a Navy hich
cost the annual sum of £15,000,000, er somewhere
thereabouts, he thought he had a light to assume
that very considerable reductions wee practicable.
The Chancellor of the Exchequer seemed to consider
that there were no limits to the power of the people
to pay taxes. It reminded him of an ancient story
told of Themistocles, he believed, who, going to an
island where the people were not more parial to ex-
actions than we were now, told them, to enforce his
demands, that he had brought with him two gods
whip must be obeyed—Force and Aecessity. To this
the people replied, that they had also two god. who
must be opposed to his--Waist and impossibility!
The people of this country had submitted to stealer
btirdens than had ever been imposed on any other
nation ; but he thought he saw now indications of
a determination not to continue to endure taxation

to the same extent. It wai felt both in that House,

and in the country, that Ministers had not done, in
the course of the present Session; what they ought
to have done to relieve the people—(Hear, hear),
For the late scheme which Ministers had brought for-
ward, with respect to the Naval and Military Pen-
sions, he regarded it as a mere juggle, and as being
wholly at variance with those principles to which
they had announced it to be their, determination to
adhere. To what he had already said, in favour of
the repeal of the Window Tax, he begged to add a
quotation from a speech made by the Noble Marquis.
The Noble Lord, on the 3d of April, 1821, had said,
6t if he thought it possible, which he did not, to repeal
taxes to the amount of £2,000,000, he would prefer
rei-ealing the Window Tax to repealing the Malt
Tax." The Malt Tax being given up, it was now,
PI
el ,s' hardly fair to call for the Window Tax to
be given up too ; but if he had shewn, as he thought
he had done, that the amount, which was £2,565,275,
might advantageously be taken from another fund, he
th,ll4ht the country ought to have the relief for which
he contended. He concluded by moving certain Re-
solutions, in substance as follows:
Ist. That it appears to this House, that the present amount
of taxation is so burdensome and oppressive, as to make it the
duty u: this House to adopt every means by which, without de-
triment to the State, that taxation may be reduced.
" 2J. That the benefits supposed to be derived from the esta-
tliNhmeut of a Sinking Fund are illusory ; and that to impose or
continue any additional burdens on the People, for the purpose
of its support, is highly inexpedient and unwise.

" 3d. That the tax levied on windows in Great Britain is un-
just, unequal in its operation, and most tsppresaive, to those espe-
cially who are least able to bear it; and that it appears to this
House, that the said tax should be forthwith and immediately
repraleel."

'The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
that the proposition of the Hon. Gentleman went to
the destruction of the Sinking Fund and the annihi-
lation of public credit—( Ifear ).—lf anything could
make it more inexpedient, or more to be rejected by
that House, it was, that it would be a most unjust
and most faithless departure-from all those pledges
which the House had so recently and so solemnly
_ _

given to the Public. Upon the question of the Sink-
ing fund the House had repeatedly and deliberately
. . . _

de7ided; an as the first Ite%olution of the Hoti.

Gentleman was merely a truism, he should meet it,
as such propositions were usually met, by the pre-
vious question. To the rest he should oppose a most
decided negative. With regard to the practical part
of them, he would admit that the repeal of the Win-
dow Tas would relieve the Public, perhaps, more
than the removal of any other part of the public bur-
then.. It was one of the heaviest of those remaining,
and had been greatly augmented within the last thirty_
year.. It had recently been repealed in Ireland,where
the P.overty Tax, being unknown, the repeal of it
was ult.:cm:Jed with any benefit. She had never
been much subject to the weight of direct taxation.
—The effect of the Union had been to increase non-

residence ; and this was particularly felt in Dublin,
where hooses ~f a superior class were let, in conse-
quence, to tenants of an inferior order. The impo-
verished inhabitants, to avoid the tax, had resorted
to the expedient of stopping the windows, and
thereby had rendered the houses dark and unhealthy.
In Great Britain no such effects had been produced
by the window tax, and the coosequences of taxation
generally had not been to lessen the enjoyments of
the inhabitants, or 'to diminish the consumption of
the country. By the Excise returns, it appeared that
the consumption had increased in all but three dis-
tricts, which were particularly affected by the hop
duty.. He contended that no further considerable re-'
duction of taxation ought to be looked for, and that
the House had shewn every reasonable disposition to
relieve. In the present Session three and a half mil-
lions had been repealed ; and since the war, not less
than seventeen millions; so that the wonder was, not
that so little, but that so much had been done—

. _
(Hear, /.ear).—He was certain that the House would
not attempt to go, in this respect, beyond what was
safe and expedient. The Honourable Gentleman
fancied he had discovered another resource in the.
establishments. It was very easy to say that they
should be further :educed, but it was also nece-

sary to point out how the expense of them could
be diminished. What might be done in future Ses-
sions he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) could
not multi' ate; but in the present, it seemed to him
that the House had gone far enough—(Hear, hear).
—lt ought to be t ecollected, that the charges on the
Consolidated Fund were not at all affected by the re
duction in the price of commodities, and the rest made
but a small part of the national expenditure. To the
lion. Gentleman's allegation of want in the counti y ,
he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) opposed the
simple and undeniable fact that, excepting in the pe-
culiar case of agriculture, there was no general want
in the kingdom—(Hear, hear)—and to his allegation
of the impossibility of paying taxes, he likewise op-
posed the simple and undeniable fact, that the taxes
were paid, and paid without difficulty, because resort
was so rarely had to legal process—(flear, hear).—
Tile House Tax and the Window Tax might be said
to balance each other : the latter certainly pressed
most heavily in the country, and the former most
lightly ; while in London and in large towns the re-
verse was the case. Upon the whole view of the state
of ne realm, he thought it might be fairly asserted,
that no country in Europe had profited so much Icy
the return of peace, for in no country in Europe had
so large a remission of taxation been made. There
was therefore but little reason in the repeated com-
plaints of the extreme weight of the public burdens.
He did not know that the INindow Tax in some sue.
ceeding Session might not fairly come under the view
of Parliament for abolition ; but at present he could
neither approve of the arguments nor of the con-
clusion of the Hon. Gentleman.
Mr. M ABEItLY would never be silent when asper-
sions were thrown on that (the Opposition) side of
the House, like those which had fallen from the
Right Hon. Gentleman. He had accused them of
wishing to overturn public credit: this charge he
would repel. That side of the House had certainly
been very anxious for the reduction of taxation ; but
not to the prejudice of any particular set of men, or
to the injury of the public creditor. They wished, of
the sixty millions taken from the People, that the
public creditor should fit st take out his thirty mil-
lions ; but they complained that the course which had
been taken by the Government was' inconsistent and
unwi e, and that the money which Ministers con-
tended they expended in good government was not
so expended—(llear, hcar).—He 1214111tAilled that

good faith ought to be kept with the public creditor..
Had the battle of Waterloo been lost, where would
his capital have been? Since it was gained, he had
a right to the advantage consequent upon it, as in the
other case he must have sustained the loss. It was
said the people did not complain of the taxes. Why,
this was because they knew it was useless to complain.
What was desired on that side of the House was this,
that more should not be taken from the people than
was necessary. He and those with whom he had the
honour to act, were satisfied that the country might
be better governed, and at less expense. The state
of the country was now such, that taking the average
state of the whole country, he did not believe that
any rent was paid on the soil—(Hear, hear). The
Right Hon. Gentlemen opposite might say " Hear,
hear !" but he (Mr. Maberly) was a farmer, and knew
what he had stated to be correct—(Hear). He be-
lieved that what was paid as rent was in reality capital,
and not, properly speaking, rent. The taxei now paid,
he contended, pressed more heavily on the present
means of the country than the taxes did on its former
income, before they had been taken off to the amount
of £17,000,000. The present expenditure of the coun-
try amounted to £24,000,000. The dead charge, he
admitted, could not be touched, but deducting this
from the total there remained seventeen millions and
a half to work upon, and he had no doubt that if
they went resolutely to work some millions might be
saved. In 1792, the whale expense of the country,
Ireland included, was under eight millions. Take
that, and add the four millions and a half for the
dead charge, and then it would be seen that the
country was governed at an expense of twelve mil-
lions more than was thought necessary in the year
1792. He contended that if the subject were con-
sidered a material reduction might be effected.—
The Right Hon. Gentleman had spoken of the im-
portance of a Sinking Fund : but it appeared from
his own papers that he had only had a Sinking Fund
during the last two years. Since 1792 the real Sink-
ing Fund had only amounted to about £4,000,000.

This was that which they were told was to support
public Credit. Those who sat on that side of the
House sere as anxious for the support of public cre-
dit and for a Sinking Fund as Ministers could be :
but they wished for a real Sinking Fund, and not
such a one as they had hitherto had. They wished for
a red Sinking Fund, ani they had opposed the mea-
sure of the Government which went to destroy that
which.had formerly been established.
Mr. WYNN did not mean. to deny the distress of
the agricultural intere-ts : at the same time, when the

leases of farms had expired, there was generally great
competition for them. Things had in a great measure
been brought back to the state of 1792.
Mr. M A BERLY explained, that lie had spoken of
the average of the whole soil of the kingdom.
Mr. ROBINSON compared the rate of interest
formerly paid on the loans raised for the service of
the country with the higher interest paid for loans
during the last war, and lamented the unfavourable
terms on which the latter had been negociated. He
disapproved of the art angement made in the course
of the present Session, by which the Public Debt
had been augmented, and our burdens put in the
way of descending to posterity, as our ance,tors had
unworthily handed down theirs to us—(Hear, hear).
He looked with much apprehension to the conse-
quences of some of the measures which had been
adcpted, and was of opinion that it was not by a
further reduction of taxation that the difficulties of
the country could be removed.
Mr. HUME did not take the gloomy view of our
situation which had just been taken of it by the Hon.
Gentleman who had sat down. He believed the
resources of the country were sufficient to make it
rise superior to all its difficulties. Let those resources
be properly managed, and this might become the
happiest country in the civil ,zed world. But with this
statement he must couple the declaration, that our
affairs were not so administered as to promise to con-
duct us to such a result. The system acted upon for
the last twenty-five or thirty years had brought the•
country to its present situation. He complained of
the manner in which its finances were managed. The
confusion which prevailed with respect to them, was
strikingly exemplified on the preceding night, %%hen
three or four Gentlemen, who spoke on the Budget,
had all taken different views of that which ought to
have been so plain that no men who had learned the
common rules of arithmetic should be able to differ
about it. He however congratulated the House that,
next year, a new and more simple system- would be
introsiuced, and that what the Right Hon. Gentleman
described to be the sham Sinking Eurrd,would be done
away—(llear, hear ; Laughter ; and cries of " No !")
He would state, from the Chancellor of the Exche-
quer's own words, what a real Sinking Fund meant.
He (Mr. Hume) and his friends had been contending,
that the Right Hon. Gentleman's Sinking Fund was
not a real Sinking Fund ; and the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman himself admitted, this year, that a real Sinking
Fund could only be formed from a surplus over the
expendi.ure. Where was this surplus?—and what
had the Right Hon. Gentleman been doing but lend-
ing himself to a complete humbug, which was a dis.
grace ta the British Parliament—(Hear, and laughter).
He contended that it was as perfect a humbug as ever
was practised on any set of men—(Hear). They
were, he understood, to get rid of it. He hoped such
would prove to be the fact ; and as he had much
rather indulge in pleasing anticipations for the future,
than in melancholy observations on the past,he should
say nothing farther on the subject. On this occasion,
A new light appeared to have broken in on the President
of the Board of Controul, and sorry he was that almost
all the landed Gentlemen had left the House when
the Right Hon. President made his observations.—
When the Hon. Member for Abingdon (Mr. Moberly)
spoke of agricultural distress, the President of the
Board of Controul stood up and declared that there
was no such thing. Why did not the Right Hon.
Gentleman, when the Report of the Agricultural
Committee was laid on the table, and when it ap-
peared from that Report that the rents of the farmers
were paid from the capital, and not from profit—
why did he not then stand up and combat the state-
ments contained in the Report ?—( Hear, hear).—
It often happened that the greatest sinner wished to
appear the greatest saint. This was the case with
the Right Hon. Chancellor• of the Exchequer upon
this subject. He was always trying out against in-
juring public credit, %Ode he had heel.% the greatest
sinner against it that ever sat on the Treasury Bench
--(lfrarjhcar).—The Hon. Member thed proceeded

•
•

. . .
to contend that no gatisfattori reductions bad
made, and that various arrangements might be
in the Army to effect savings. With regard t
tax before the House, that was the tax which
people to live abroad—(Hear, hear).—'The House and
Window Taxes were involuntary taxes, which no man
could avoid but at the expense of his health. If this
measure was good for Ireland, it would be good for
England. He called upon every Member for Ire=
land who voted for the repeal of the Irish Window
Tax, to give his vote for the present motion. If he
did not do so, he was no Irishman —(A laugh).—He
then stated the amount of this tax to have increased
900 per cent. and argued, that as the increase had
been occasioned by the continuance of the war, it
ought in justice to be reduced in time of peace. The
only means of obtaining relief to the Landed Interest
was to reduce general taxation. The repeal of this
Tax would afford much more relief to Landed Gen-
tlemen than the repeal of the Malt Tax, and he
trusted the House would compel Ministers to take it off.
Mr. MONCK contended that the reduction of
taxation, instead of having an injurious operation
upon public credit, would uphold it, and be as bene-
ficial to the fundholder as any other class. He ex-
pressed his intention of giving his strangest support
to the motion.
Mr. DENNIS BROWNE agreed with the Hon.
Member for Montrose, that the taking off the House
and Window Tax would increase the revenue, by in-
ducing the return of absentees to this country ; but
at the same time, he must object to it at the present.
time because the reduction of such an amount of in-
come would go to shake the public credit. •
Mr. CALCRAFT thought this a tax the most de-
sirable of all others to be got rid of, next to that which
he had combated for years, and which he now con-
gratulated the country upon being about to lose. He
thanked his Honourable Friend for the manner in
which he haJ brought forward the motion, and gave
it his hearty support.
Mr. MAXWELL rose amidst loud cries of 44 Ques-
tion I" Being the Representative of a hundred thou-
sand constituents, he trusted that he might receive
the attention of the House for a few minutes. He con-
sidered that Ministers had brought themselves into
great difficulty, by what they called returning to a
ound system of currency. If it were true that the
distress of asricalture was caused by too great an
a'sundance of supply over the demand, it was their
duty to endeavour to increase the demand. The Right
Hon. Gentleman opposite refused to adopt means of
bringing back absentees to this country, when a plan
was recommended for so doing, and said that it would
be a hardship upon those Gentlemen to make them
return. He was therefore bound to reduce the tales
from that enormous amount, which rendered it im-
possible for Gentlemen to live in this country. He
contended that the Army was kept up to an unneces-
sary extent. If it was wanted at all now, it was only
against those Country Gentlemen who had so richly
deserved the distress which now fell upon them. It
certainly was not wanted for the labouring classes,
for they were now well paid and well fed. He thought
the expenditure for the service of the Army might
well be reduced froni £8,000,000 to £5,003,060
and he should therefore support the motion.
HOBrIOUSE replied. He thanked the House
for the indulgence they had granted him, and for the
support which he had received. There was one pot-
don of the House, however, generally known by the
description of Country Geuttemen, who he thought
might at least have expressed the grounds upon
which they did or did not support his motion. He
thought their conduct upon this occasion very likely
to confirm the Public in the suspicion with which it
had been accustomed to regard them. He could not
help contrasting it with the noise and clamour which
they set up, both in and out of that Hotise, upon all
questions which they considered as affecting their
own immediate interests—(Hear, hear).—lle thought
the Right Hon. Chancellor of the Exchequer had not
answered the strongest parts of the argument which
he had submitted to the House.
The House then divided—
For the Motion - . -
Against it - - - -
Majority against the Motion
THE IRISH INSURRECTION ACT.
When strangers were again admitted into the gal
lery. Mr GOULBURN was on his legs, moving for
reave to bring in a Bill for continuing the Irish In-
sur r ection Act. The Hon. Gentleman said, at this
late hour of the night he would refrain from entering
into any statement as to the reasons which operated
with his Majesty's Government to propose a renewal
of this Bill. He would now merely move for leave to
bring in the Bill, and take discussion on a future stage.
Sir R. WILSON was ready to accede to what ap-
peared to be the sense of the House, and reserve what
he had to say on the measure for a future day, en-
tering his protest now, however, against renewing the
Bill altogether.
Lord FOLKESTONE said that he would take the
liberty of now addressing a few words to the House,
as he would not have another opportunity of explain.
ing his sentiments on the proposed measure. lie
would protest against it on the same grounds that he
opposed it at the opening of the Session. The House
had at that time agreed to a Suspension of the Ha-
beas Corpus Act, and to an Insurrection Act, in Ire-
land, solely out of confidence in the Government here
and in the Administration in that country. The for-
mer Act was not called into operation in a single in-
stance. It was, therefore, needless to have passed it,
and although no necessity appeared for its continu-
ance, it still remained on the Statute Book against
the whole of that country—(//ear, hear).—The in-
formation on which the Act was allowed to pass was
vague and indistinct, still it had beep agreed to
solely on the pledge being given that the whole state
of Ireland would be taken into consideration during
the Session. That pledge was still unredeemed by
the Government; and when the subject was taken
up by some Gentleman at his side of the House; it
was negatived by the other—(Hear, hear, hear).—
It had been stated that Ireland was in actual rebelfi
olion, to induce an acquiescence to the measure on the
former occasion; but that assertion was contradicted
materially by the declaration of the Attorney-General
(Mr. Plunkett), who said the country was not in a
state of rebellion, but one of a contemptible conspi-
racy, which, if not attended to, might lead to ulti-
mate danger to the State. In the dispatches from
the Noble Marquis, and in the paper laid on the table,
there was nothing to warrant the House to agree to

- 59
- 146
• --87

S. Which would probably be erne

a long cantinuance:
Mr. GOULBURN interrupted the Noble Lord, to
inform him that the Act was intended to be but for
one year.
Lord FOLKSTONE resumed.—On the shelling
of the Hon. Secretary it was needless to continue it
for a year longer, when, for the five months it was -
in operation, it was found not to be • f any use. A:
great deal had been said of the, benefit, to be con-
ferred on Ireland by the new Government.. He did
not tinierstand the meaning of the expression. The
Lord Lieutenant might have been changed, but were
not the same Noble Lords still at the head of the Ad-
ministration here, who bad for years the-direction of
the policy to be observed to %lads that country ?
There was Lord Liverpool and the Earrpf West.
moreland, as well as the Noble Lord opposite, whir
was bedecked with a blue ribbon given by his Sove-
reign as a reward for his service, to the country. They
were for a longtime acquainted with the evils of that
country, and had the power to have directed a bene-
ficial policy towards it. The disturbances were then
said to have their origin in the subject of tithes, and
that of Caibolic Emancipation. It the lacer was a
cause, what a pretty way were they in.—One half the
Government at one side, and one half at the other
side of the question ! It was quite ludicrous to see the
way things ere carried cr.i. There was a Lord Lieu.
tenant against those claims, with # Secretary favour-
able to them at one time, and at another moment the
Lord Lieutenant in their favour, and the Sect etary in
avowed hostility. After all the professions that had
been made, there was no plan proposed but the pre.
sei,t measure of brute force.

Mr. PLUNKETT would not go into the question;
he would merely explain a misapprehension of the
Noble Lord as to some observations of his on a for-
mer occasion. It was merely in consequence of an
Hon. Member then saying, that there was a religious
war in Iseland, that he had stated that the insurrec-
tionary movements were contemptible. It the Noble
Lord thought there was anything inconsistent with
the declaration of the Administration on the subject,
he had utterly mistaken_his expressions._

After a few wordc from Colonel i3Aewm.t., Mr. Pitt., Mr.
Asaacaosisv, ‘,.r. V. l'iszotaeLn, and Mr. DENMAN, leave was
given to bring in the Rill..
Mr. GOULBUILN said he should take the Bill into consi-
deration on Thursday next.
The Report of the Ways and Means was brought up, and the
Resolutions were agreed to.
The other Orders of the Day were then disposed of, and the
House adjourned at a Quarter to One o'Clock.

According to a Return laid before Parliament, the total
amount of Bank of England Notes in circulation nn the 25th
.of last month, was £16,401,4,;0; of which £13,964,350 was in
Notes of f 5 and upwards; A 1,481,050 in Rink Post Bills ; and
£956,050 in Notes under £5. _

It appears, by a Return to the House of Commons, that during
the last seven years a sum of £38,590 I Ps. Bd. has been paid by
the county of Middlesex, for expenses of witnesses attending to
give evidence at the Old Bailey. In the year 1820, there was
an excess of £l5OO over the general average, owing, we pre-
sume, to the trial of Thistlewoosi and others, which took place
in that year.
The cottage in Kew Gardens, in Which the Royal Party par-
took of an early dinner on Friday, is situated near the Pagoda,
but Is so inclosed by tree, and shrubs, that it is hot perceivable
till a near approach. It is thatched, and has a most delightful
and romantic appearance ; it contains a choice collection of all
Hogarth'icelebrated prints. It is said to have been built forty
or fifty years since by command of the late Kosc. The Duchess
of GLOUCKSTKa, the Princess ALGUSTA, and the Prince and
Princess of DICISMAIM, rode in a carriage from Kew Gardens to
Richmond Gardens. Mr. Arnim, the principal gardener,
was in attendance to conduct the party over the Botanical Gar.
dens, which are supposed IT be the first in the world. Th.: Royal
strangers expressed themselves highly gratified. A little before
five o'clock the Royal party embarked on board the Admiralty
barge for London.
Tuesday se'linight, John SPICay, a fine boy, nine years of
age, bad his right arm torn and shattered, at the New Tay-street
spinning mill, Dundee, in such a manner as-to render immediate
amputation above the elbow necessary. During the operation
he behaved with the utmost composure ; and when the operation
was over, he asked, '• Is it cuttit aff noo?" " Yes, my :.ear, it's
now over." " That's very gude ; that's very gude." Tne boy
was conveyed to the Infirmary, and is doing well. His mother,
a poor widow, has several helpless children to provide for.

THE AMERICAN NOVELIST.—We ate tequested to
state, that new Editions of BROWN'S Tales,
Wieland and Ormond, are now ready for delivery.
A popular Journal makes the following tewarks on
these interesting performances:
BaowN's novels are of a very peculiar kind, and afford a sin.
gular example of the successful application of certain principles
of effect, by which our attention is, at the outset, powerfully
raised, and our sympathy, during the entire progress of the
work, intensely fixed upon persons who are rendered interest-
ing, not so much from their individual qualifications, as from the
strange situations in which a fatal series of untoward accidents
has involved them. This mode of arresting the reader's interest
and curiosity, is more or less adopted in every work of fiction—
but the first time that it was systematically employed as the
main-spring of the interestas the general pervading prin-
ciple of the whole—was in Godwin's " Adventures of Caleb
Williams." Thr peculiarities of that celebrated work form a key
to the prevailing style and manners of Baown. We cannot help
pronouncing them to be a very singular literary curiosity. 'They
are, besides, almost the only American productions art the kind
with which we are acquainted ; and, as nearly all the personages
and events are Americau;•we have considered them as so many
experimental specimens of its native materials of fictitious com-
position—and in this view have found in their perusal a peculiar
source of interest, which has probably been lost upon those
more familiarly conversant with the habits and manners of Ame-
rican society.
A FEW MINUTES ADVICE.—Our Readers xre ina
formed that Mr. HARVEY, 22, Blackfriar's-road, has
published a P,,cket Manual, price Is. by Dr. COOPER,
of the 'Medical Board, containing important informa-
tion on the ',ties Venet ea, and Sexual Debilities, the
consequence of secret errors, as delivered in his Lec-
tures on that subject. The publication points ortt•-.
Ist. The frequency of a certain Disease, its danger

to Society, &c.
2d. Cautions to Patients on their own conduct, and
the best treatment of the different forms of the Dice
ease, with the consequences of improper treatment.
Messrs. COOPER and Co. are consulted daily, by
all ranks of People, at Charlotte House, Great Char-
lotte-street, opposite the Rev. Rowland Hill's Chapel,
Blackfriar's road.

MZCHANICS have Advice Gratis every evening,
from Six till Eight; and on Sunday mornings until
Twelve o'Clock.
__

Ruptures of Thirty Years standing radically cured,
without confinement.
N.B. The Faculty are informed, a Moiety of this
Concern, which has averaged for the List eight years
upwards of £2,500 per Annum, is to be disposed of,
in consequence of Sir FRANCIS DANIEL (the Trea-
surer) retiring into the Country.
For particulars apply to Mr. KEMP, Estate and
House Agent, No. 57, Judd-street, near Brunswick.
square, Kew Road.

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