Star.
London, England, 1823-06-12 00:00:00

article-. At the time when the Bill era: passed the
probable conseqltences to theincOme aid to the tax-
ation of the country were not considered. If he could
thew to the. House full' and 'reasonable grounds to
prove that there had been a misapprehension enter-
tained at the period when the Bill: was passed, he
abooght he shook( have made out a case fire inquiry.
He thought the jealousy with which svery.Money
Bill was very prepeily regarded by that House ought,
to becionsistent, and applied to every attempt to bur-
'then the people by increasing the taxation. The ef-
drect of the Bill of 1819 was to load the country in
such a manner, and to such an oppressive extent,
that the income tax of ten per cent. ought, in com-
parison with it, to be considered as a boon. In the
Report of the Committee of 1819, the amount of the
debt or the taxation of the country had not been eon-
.sidereci ; nor the effect- likely to be produced upon
them by the Bill. The Committee did not inquire into.
the real value of the currency; it seems to have had
no other object in consideration than the price of gold;
and that because the difference in the value between
paper and gold was supposed to be five per cent.
tonsequently the effect to be produced by the Bill
upon the prices of commodities wouldhe also five per
&nt. He 'thought his Honourable Friend, the Mem-
ber for Portarlington, was wrong in asserting that the
difference in the price of produce would be only equal
to that of the two species 'of currency, paper and.
gold.. • •The Honourable Gentleman, in 1819, did
not seem to have considered himselt bound to exa-
mine into the prices of certain commodities, as coo-
pared,,with those of other commodities. The Right
Honourable Gentleman opposite (Nit.. Peel) main-
tained, that the price of labour formed the best cri-
terion by which to estimate the value of the currency.
The Honourable Gentleman next referred to the opi-
nion of the late Mr. Horner on the subject of the
currency, and proceeded to read an account of the
comparative prices' of. wheat at different periods.—
From the year.l77l-to the year 1785, the price was
4.65. per quarter. From 1786 to 1787, the price was
525. He found that, from the year 1762 to 1792, the
ounce of gold had been worth ES lis. 10J. and that
it had commanded fifteen bushels of wheat. From
1792 to 1797, the price of gold had increased, and
the ounce had only fetched ten bushels. From 1797
to 1802, another period of five years, the price of
the ounce of gold had reached £4 17s. 10d. and it
had only commanded seven bushels ; from 1802 to
1807, it- had fetched eight bushels; from 1807 to
1812, six bushels; and from 1812 to 1817, it had
produced seven bushels. 'lt was clear, that the de-
precietioa in the value of the currency had kept pace
with-the increase- of the-debt of the country. The
object of the motion which he was about to propose,
was the. establishment of a Committee, to consider
the change in the value of the currency from 1793,
the amount of debt and taxation, and the conse,
quetices produced thereby on the monied income of
the country, and .onmoney contracts between indi-
viduals. The list point was one of great impOrtince.
When they conidered - the different charges which
had -been made uproi• private estates, and the neces-
'sity of irieeti.Cg those change's in a currency reduced
one half, they would -find reason -to fear that the
landed proprietors ot England would be reduced to
paupers. Instead of a robust and contented tent&
try, they would have only a race of smock-fildttekt
farmers, and a peasantry fed upon potatoes. That
was the state which the country was coming to. No!
thing was so much to be depreeated.as a potatoe-fed
population. 'lt was not solely agriculture that had
suffered from the change in the value of, the cur-
rency, for every class ot the community had felt its
effects. If some particular classes had not yet felt
the same' degree of pressure as the agriculturists, let
them not suppose that they were exempt.. Their time
would come at last. Let.them suppose that a season
of scarcity would arrive, and their they would see to
what an extent the other classes of society would be
oppressed by that operation which had hitherto been
confined almost exclusively to. landholders. It was
unquestionable that the price of agricultural 'about
had sunk with the price of grain. He was au ale that
the wages of the manufacturing towns had not de-
creased in the same proportion ; but a period would
soon arrive when their depression would be al, great
as the wages of agricultural labourers. But he would
not press that argument further. He could not help
thinking, that it was impossible for any Gentleman to
contend, that the Act of 1819 had not been passed
under a misapprehension. He thought that no Gen-
tleman who had supported the Bill would get up and
says that he had not been mistaken in his judgment
as to its effect.. Would it be said that this country,
after a war of so many years, could maintain the
currency as it now stood? Would it be said that
the people could sustain additional burdens? When
they looked back to the years of the war, they would
find that; at its most expensive period, this country
had not felt a heavier degree of taxation than it en-
dured at the present moment. They would find, that
in three of the most expensive years; the .annual-
charge had amounted to sixty-foul millions, and that
in three subsequent years it had amounted to eighty-
four millious; and if they tool( into consideration the
price of gold-at that period, they would find that the
rate of •tasation, as compared with the present, had
ire the former instance been only fifty-six millions, and
lin the latter DOtARDC than sixty millions. But would
any Gentleman say, that this country could again sus-
tain 'a war at the annual charge of seventy-four mil-
liana, at the present price of the currency? That was a
proposition which he thought no one could venture
to make.' But that seventy-four millions, when con-
sidered, with reference to the price of gold at that pe-
riod, had, in fact, only been a charge of fiftyreight
millions. He(Mes WesternLanticiputed that an ar-
gument would be attempted to be raised on the price
of corn at .the present time. But the average pried
of corn, up to the 17th 'of May of the.premat year',
had never exceeded 465. It might increase, but it
would never exceed the price previous to the year
11793.. They would find that the prices of the pre-
sent year had not been equal to those of other years
i• the war: fer instance, of 1817 or 1818; sad.
therefore.. no inference could be drawn from the
present price, except that. which he sought to drew,
siacis
vii. that the prices would uniformly continue with*
the, range which existed previous to the war.-1
The restoration of the currency it. 1819 had been in
fact the estalliishnsent of a new currency. They
ought not td measure the twenty-two years during
which iliat currency had been suspended by the num.]
ber of years which had elapsed, but by the transac-