Star.
London, England, 1822-02-28 00:00:00

tronage. This was the amount of the benefite.for,
.which, in return, we were.to pay 49,0001.
He would ask, was anything•equal to this; and Ate
Mink ers to be allowed to entrench. themselves by
Bill after Bill against all encroachment ?—(Heer).
But he thought this same Comrttitteb of Manta had
been making a little free with the satiate of Anne,
which deviated that a Member of that House should
vacate his seat by accepting a pensionfrom the Crown.
The accepting of a pension under this Bill would not,
he thought, vacate a Member's seat; and, if he was
right, this Bill was in that respect a repeal of the
Statate of Anne. Mr. Yorke, who.same years ago
vacated his seat under the Act of Anne, by taking a
iiension, and who lost his election afterwards, muss
'surely regret that he had not lived under the reign
cof the Hon. Member for Corfe Castle—(Laiighter).
gn that case he would not have vacated his seat, and
Could not have lost his subsequent election. But the
new dynasty had not then taken place. Nothing, he.
(Mr. Creevey) thought was so dangerous to the coun-
try as a Finance Committee; for they did that which
Ministers would not do themselves. He was quite
sure, for instance, that the Noble Marquis would
never have comedown to that House with a Message
from the Crdwn, stating " that his Majesty was most
desirous to see a retrenchment in the public expendi-
ture; hut he hoped the House would not forget high
and efficient public men just to give them a little
corner in the Bill"—(Leughter).--Had the Noble
Marquis done this, he never could have shone again.
No ; it was the Finance Committee that had done the
present thing—(A laugh).—These pensions, however,
were now given away without consulting the King.
They originated with the Ministers, were given away
amongst themselves, and altogether in a manner in.
suiting to his Majesty. Thus the country might say
with safety, that the Ministers formei a Corporation
of themselves, when the regular course of the Mo-
narchy was departed from. Before the time of the
Bill, the regular way of granting pensions was by
a communication from the Crown to that House.—
In 1752, when the Act which was called the Civil
List Act was passed, it was preceded by a Message
from the Throne, stating that it was his Majesty's
wish that certain debts which were to be liquidated,
should be provided for, if possible, without laying
any new burdens en the people. How much more
gracious his Majesty was than his Ministers—(Laugh•
ter).—When they had to state the existence of debt,
and to call for means of providing for its payment,
there was nothing of regret in the communication,
which was barely confined to the fact of so much
money being wanted. This Act was for the purpose
of diminishing certain pensions, and abolishing places,
and then, forty years afterwards, when they had
£600,000,000 more of debt, they had a new Act for
establishing more places and pensions. By this new
Act, the Gentlemen over the way had the power of
disposing of #:42,000 in pensions to whom they pleased.
There was another Act for the regulation of the Au-
dit Ors of the Exchequer, and the Tellers, but three of
these places, as they still remained, were worth more
Than all the reductions cif the Finance Committee put
together. But he might be told these were patent
places, granted is lien of compensation for services.
He recognised the principle of bestowing compensa-
tion upon Clerks, but he never could acknowledge
the justice of a plan of compensation for public men.
And to COme at this time of day, in the face of the
recommendation of the Finance Committee, to abolish
sinecure places, was a most abominable outrage.—
He (Mr. Creevey) wished to see the power of re-
warding the servants of the Crown in the hands of the
Throne, which was the constitutional and safer way.
Ever since I 791, they had been nibbling at this power,
till at length Ministers had got it safe in their own
keeping, and- he feared they would retain it till the!
House was reformed. When that happened, he was
sure this odious Bill, so calculated to degrade public
men, would be among the first repealed. He was for
the power going back to the Monarchy without the
interference of the new dynasty. For that purpose
he would very shortly move to repeal the Act, though,
he did not mean to ask that in the first instance. His
present object was to let the House into a knowledge
4f the nature of the Act, not to take them by surprise;
and in order the snore amply to enlighten them with
respect to the nature of it, he should move for infor-
mation as to the application of the povier of granting
pensions under this Bill, and of the amount of the
money saved by the Abolition and Regulation Act
alluded to. He wished that the House might see
whether the Public had picked up a few pounds or
not of this transposition. The Hon. Member then
submitted two Resolutions to the following effect :

First, a That there be laid before the House an account dial
the profits which have accrued to the Public from the abolition
of axes, or the regulation of fabrics, by virtue of the different
Acts of the 57th of his late Majesty, cap. 60, 61, 62, 63, 64, 67,
and 64, specifying how much in the respective offices."
Secondly, That there be laid before this House an account
of,all the warrants granting pensions that have been signed by
Ns Majesty in pursuance et those Acts."
Mr. BANKES began by observing, that after the
laboured invectives—(Chars)—which the Hon. Gen-
tleman had bestowed on the Act of the 57th of his

late Majesty ; after hearing the principle of it stig-
matized by him as a most abominable outrage—
(//ear),—the House would, perhaps, be surprized to
hear, what it appeared the Hon. Gentleman himself
had forgotten, ♦iz. that the principle of the Bill he
and other Hon. Members who sat near him had as-
sented to, and supported as much as the Chairntan
of the Committee, or the Noble Lord who intro-
duced it—(Cheers).--That he might convince the'
House of the truth of his assertions as he went on,
he would take the liberty of reading the Resolution
which the House had come to ou the 31st of Mel.,
1810. Debates had taken place upon several resole--
tions emanating from the Report which arose.out of
the substance of the resolutions of the Committee
of which he (Mr. Bankes) had been chairman in
1803. One set of resolutions had been proposed bt '
Mr. Henry Martin, another by Mr. Percival, another
set by himself, and also one by the Hos. Baronet
who was Member for Waterford (Sir J.. Newport).
On the day to which he referred, a divisiisn bad al.
ready taken place, and the resolution was, " Tat
the House do agree to the resolution of the Commit-
tee so amended." The resolution of the Committee
wm, . That for this purpose, in addition to- the
ts.ei island effective means which Parliament has taken
(or the abolition of sinecure offices, it is expedient,