Star.
London, England, 1822-05-17 00:00:00

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perhaps, tektbe flues. ,
hOWIIIOI _
imel
liniment be sit_w thisall—(Heies )
Colonel itACIWELL hoped tit. It" . bet
Gurney) t 0 meta to impute styb ame
Member wayfor going to the so IPit," •
had stated whit hif bbiect was for icing there.
Mr. It. MARTIN said he should not like to' .
sent at any of the combats which took place at the
" Pit." He went there on a Sunday; but he saw the
ani in all which were destined to take part in theconfii cts.
The Petition wee than read, and ordered to be printed.
N. lONIAN ISLANDS.
Sir ROBERT WILSON, seeing the Honourable
Secretary for the Colonial Department in his place,
wished to put a question to him, the answer to which
might prevent a very painful proceeding, and do jus-
tice to a calumniated individual, as well as remove a
discredit from the national character. It would be
recollected .that his Hon. Friend, the Member for
Montrose, or Aberdeen, in his motion the other night,
stated that a Petition, framed according to the Ith
Article of the Constitution of the lonian Islands, had
been seized while in a course of signature, and that
those who signed it had some of them suffered. the
confiscation of eseir property, and others; having left
the country, were unable to return. The Honourable
Secretary said, in reply to this, that the contents of
the Petition wire treasonable and seditious. Now he
(Sir Robert Wilson) had seen what he was informed
to be a copy of the Petition, and so different was its
character from the above description, that he could
not but conceive that he had not seen a faithful copy.
He therefore wished to ask, whether the Honourable
Secretary would agree to a motion for layinian au-
thentic copy of the Petition before the House ? and
also to inform him, whether any persons implicated
in the transaction were now confined, and prevented
from returning to their country ?
Mr. WILMOT said, he should feel it his duty to
resist the production of the document without other
accompanying ones to explain it. It was his intention
to move for the Return in conjunction with others
which he deemed necessary. With respect to the
latter part of the Hon. Member's inquiry, he knew
nothing of the circumstances alluded to.
WEST INDIA INTERCOURSE BILL.

Mr. ELLICE wished to ask the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman whom he saw opposite, the President of the
Board of Trade, whether he meant that the Bill for,
regulating the Intercourse between the West India
Islands and America, should come on to-morrow ?
The Hon. F. ROBINSON said, that he hoped to
bring forward the Bill to-morrow. The only thing
which stood before it was the motion of the Honour-
able Member for Hull, for the repeal of the Tax on
Candles, and as that woull probably not take long
in discussion, he hoped the other subject would come
before the House. It certainly was his most anxious
wish that it should do so.

thing
Mr. WILMOT said, that the act of Sir T.
land was one to be sanctioned or not by the Govern-
ment, just as they thought proper. But this was
raising a great political question, which could not
then be discussed.
AGRICULTURAL DISTRESS.
Mr.CURTEIS presented a Petition from the Select
Vestry and-Occupiers of Land in the Pirish of May-.
field, complaining of Agricultural Distress.' The Hon.
Member commented upon the subject of the Petition,
and said that no relief could be expected from the,
measures now before the House. There were the two
Parties in that House, and they both deserted the in-
terests of the agriculturists. The Ministers, and those
who supported them, were ready to sacrifice the
landed interests to political economy, manufactures,
and Commerce; and the Opposition would sacrifice
them to populerity,:lvikci the cry of cheap bread and
low prices. He hoped that the country Gentlemen
would unite, and form a party for the protection of
their own interests. •
Sir JOHN SHELLEY was sorry to be obliged to
confirm the complaints of the Petitioners. He was of
opinion there were no other immediate means of of-'
fording relief than a reduction of the Salt Tax and
the Leather Tax.
Mr. JENKINSON attributed the distress of the
Petitioners to the mal-administration of the Poor
Laws. He thought this was the grand evil that pro-
duced all the difficulties of the country, and he hoped
the House would meet. it openly, for they must do so
I sooner or later.
Mr. LO,:KHART contended that the system of
the Poor Laws must be revised. The present distress
must have a remedy, or the consequences would be
dreadful. The existing suffering was but a spasm of
a body just beginning to shew the incipient symptoms
of a disease which must end in its dissolution amidst
the most agonising convulsions.
Mr. C. HUTCHINSON explained some remarks
that had fallen from him upon a former occasion.—
No man was more ready than he to sympathise with
the distress of the English farmer, and no man would
go greater lengths to afford him relief. But what he
deprecated was, the mixing up relief to England,
when the miseries and the sufferings of Ireland was
the question before the House. When the Hon. Mem-
ber who presented the Petition talked of the suffer-
ings of England, he had no conception of those with
which Ireland was afflicted ; and when he compared
them together, he compared two things that were
totally dissimilar. If the Hon. Gentleman's consti-
Went: suffered what the peasants of the south and
west of Ireland did, even in a time of their prosperity,
he was convinced that not all the force in England
would keep them quiet.
Alter a few words from Mr. CurrEts'the Petition
was ordered to be printed.
ABSENTEES.

Sir T. LETHBRIDGE then rose to present a Pe-
tition, of which he had given notice, from the County
of Somerset, signed by about 600 persons, residing
in the neighbourhood of Bath: The subject of the
Petition had excited a great deal of attention in that
quarter, and he was anxious to press it upon the at-
tention of his Majesty's Ministers. He did not expect
that the Petition would. excite the displeasure of the
Chancellor of the Exchetuff, for it prged for some
additional taxes. The Petitl4lers were persons who
bad deeply participated in the; distress which affected
the country, and they looked 'to the matter of which
they now complained as one of the collateral causes
of that distress. The tax which they prayed for was
one upon Absentees. They stated, that many per-
sons of high rank and fortune had gone to the Con-
tinent to take up their residence. In Paris, they cal-
culated that there were now ten thousand families
from the different parts of England. These -they
supposed to consist, upon an average, of five indivi-
duals, each of whom would expend one guinea per
day; that was 50,000 guineas a day for the whole,
$50,000 guineas a week, and 18,200,000 guineas in
a year. This was only in Paris; and the other towns
of France and. the Continent were filled in a similar
proportion. In Brussels, they had the testimony d
the Noble Marquis, in that able and enlightened
speech which he delivered last night, that the Eng-
lish were so numerous as to give the appearance of an
English population to the streets. And this was
urged as a reason for our high expenditure for Foreign
Ambassadors. The Petitioners also complained of
the practice of sending the youth of both sexes to the
Continent for their education; thereby injuiing our'
national seminaries, destroying the national charac-
ter, and, as in one recent and lamentable instance,
undermining the faith of the Established Religion of
the country. They prayed that the House would be
pleased to lay a tax upon the property or income of
all absentees, to such an extent as shall make them
fully share the taxation and burdens of the country.
They also prayed that the House would prevent the
payment of all Of of the Army and Navy, pen-
sioners, or annuitants, while they were out of the
country. He was aware that there was a bonus for
going to other countries in the cheapness of living,
and the difference of the Exchanges was 25 or 26 per,
cent. in their favour—(No, no).—He believed it was
nearly as much, if not quite that—(No).--But for his
own part he would rather live in this country with
fifty pounds a-year, thin in any other with a much
larger income. He hoped that his Majesty's Ministers,
would turn their attention to this subject, and he was
sure that no tax could be so popular as this, because
it woull press upon the rich alone. The distress of
the Petitioners they believed to be increased by this
cause, and he was sorry that nothing had yet been
done to afford relief. He would not believe that there
were no means of affording it, but he was sure the
Ministers had not given their minds properly 'to the
subject.--(//ear.)--If something were not done, it
was impossible to calculate* what consequences might
ensue.—He moved that the• Petition be brought
Mr. RICAIIDO objected to the prayer of the Pe-
titioners. He would. first set the Hon. Baronet right
as to the exchanges—(Hear, hear).—So far from there
being a difference of 26 per cent. 'they were nearly
at par: Indeed they must be,• as we were now re-
turnedlici a metallic c'utienci, for with that the•ex.
cLange% could never vary beyond a very triflidg kW.

ii ie
bet
Baronet
at the same
which offered
people going
Hon. Baronet,
making necessaries of life and the
price of labour :a excessively dear, as to drive people
to countries where they could be obtained cheaper....
Besides the Corn Laws, there was another branch of
our policy which assisted in producing the evil corn.
plained of by the Petitioners. He was conainced that
this might be the cheapest country of all others to
live in, and that the capital of the whole world would
flow into it, instead of ours going out, if we acted
upon sound principles of legislation. In addition to
the system of our Corn Laws, he meant the sweat
of Loans, and the enormous National Debt we had
accumulated. He might be accused of wildalieories,
but he saw no reason why the National Debt might
not be got rid of by a fair contribution of the rt,,,
perty of the country—( Hear, heer).—He meant
from the funded interests, as well as all others—.
(Hear, heetr).—lf this .were done, he was persuaded
the country would rise to a state of prosperity far be-
lend what their imaginations could conceive.
Mr. DENNIS BROWN concurred in the prayer
of the Petition. He thought absentees were the chief
cause of the present mischiefs in Ireland; and it seas
not the least of the hardship, that the weight of the
taxes fell upon residents, and that the exemptions
were generally in favour of absentees. He coed
upon those whose duty it was to watch over the in.
terests of the Empire, to briig forward some specif.c
measure on the subject.
Mr. H.GURNEY said, he thought the Chancellor
of the Exchequer would Sad it difficult to assess the
tax proposed by the Hon. Baronet—(A laugh ).
He (Mr. Gurney) thought there should be general
freedom of egress and regress for all his Majesty's
subjects, without distinction ; and especially he con-
demned any distinction which gave a preference to
the rich over the poor—( Hear, hear).—He made
this observation in consequence of several labouring
artisans having been recently apprehended at Dover,
brought up to Bow-street, and committed to pliant
for want of bail, merely because they wished to go
to Paris, and settle in the way of their business. He
thought the law in this case was extremely hard,
and he trusted it would be altered. It would be
easily inferred that he did not approve of the sug-
gestion of the Hon. Baronet, and that he thought
there should be no restriction whatever.
Mr. DICKINSON thought emigration ought to be
discouraged. History had shewn the mischief which
emigrants occasioned the country they left. Emigra-
tion had always been a cause of distress to the country
from whence it flowed, and a source of wealth to
other countries. He wished he could lemind the
persons who left the country in this time of distress,
of the patriotic feeling of a Persian Ambassador,
who brought to Europe a piece of hi; own native
1 earth, that he might recollect every day to do some-
thing for the benefit of Persia—(Hear).—The Eng-
lishmen who resided abroad at this time (said Mr.
Dickenson) should recollect that in every act of their
lives they were doing something to the injury of
England.7-(Hear, Hear)—He would address to them
the celebrated maxim of antiquity-
-o.Spartamnactus es, hanc exorna Herr.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER sail
he should not have addressed the House on the pie-
Ivent occasion, did he not fear that the total silence of
Ministers on the subject would lead to a belief that
they disregarded the complaints alluded to by the
Petition. Thel'a was, however, considerable diffi; ulty
in the way of carrying the•suggestion of the Hrr.
Baronet into effect; indeed, he trusted the lin BA-
lonet-would give him credit for having exerted him-
self as much as possible in the way of taxation—
(A laugh).—He had always thOught that a tax upon
absentees would be a very popular tai; but he never
could think of one which was unobjectionable, eind
at the same time practicable. With respect to the
observations of a Right Honourable Member IMr.
D. Brown) as to Irish absentees, he thought the Right
Hon. Gentleman must be mistaken with regard_ to
the operation of the law, as the taxes paid in thi;
country were heavier in proportion than those paid
In Ireland. Upon the subject genetallv cf loss of
taxes by absentees, he had directed calculations to be
made as accurately as possible upon Returns from
the 'several' Tax Offices; and the result satisfied him
that the loss of taxes from absentees was not more
than C 5,000 a year. Absentees in foreign countries
might in. general be divided into two classes: the
first was composed. of those who travelled for amuse-
ment, and most of them returned in a short titre,
_having kept.on their establishments in their absence;
these, of course, paid taxes, and the loss from them
was little or nothing.' flie second class might be
found of those who lived abroad for purposes of eco-
nomy and for the arrangement of their affairs. In
this class were many noble and respectable indivi-
duals, and it was from the absence of diem that the
loss was principally occasioned. But he would pu:
it to the House whether it would not be most harsh
as well as impolitic to pass any measure seeking to
compel them to return to this country, in which they
had, already found it inconvenient to live?—(Hear,
hear).—Addressing himself to the observation of an
Hon. Member (Mr. Gurney) :especting the law af-
fecting artisans, he had no hesitation in giving it as
his opinion that the industry of British mechanics
ought not to be locked up—(Hear, hear).—As to
those who resided abroad with a view to economy,
he thought that the best way to bring them back
was to induce, rather than compel; :tad that the ia-
ducement would be, the making of the country
comfoi:able and inviting —(Clieers).—Upon general
grounds, he was perfectly satisfied that England, as
a place of residence, would always be preferied ; and
that when prices became equalized the absentees
would return with increased regard for the instits-
'dons and the comforts of their own country.
• Sir' ISAAC COFFIN said, he was convinced that
every half-pay Officer who lived abroad was indo.-ed
to do soby poverty rather than inclination.
Mr. w.,smini said, that after the avowal whica
the Right Hon. Gentleman had made of his opinion
respecting the law which restrained artisans front
leaving the country, he trusted that the Right lion.
Gentleman• would bring in a Bill to remove those
tyrannous restrictions. It. wits moat tyrannical, whets
it poor man attempted to escape ,frons poverty; 10.

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10iwituor via that he
'tome., tie should be entail* tent' if the
)cif Mir..
f. ,o''- 'occasion, that all litoree shipol in Issearttae olthis Petition were ever to be granted. Bunt
ber (Mr. of the Proclamation welitd4se aim d. mole surprised him was, that the lion. Baronet
eto the Mr..IIVME remarkellt Orat lb* lad Hi slik Com 'd 1d support such a proposition, and at the same
after he mistiouer had done this uponfr his own atthoritti 'time *ippon a system of legislature which offered
re. whereas the GovernMent itself would not do such st the greatest possible temptations for people going
i be pre- Minx without an Order in Council. abroad. The system advocated by the Hon. Baronet,
.- _..1.e ATI._ wiLMCIT said. that the act of Sir T. Mait- was that of making the necessaries of life and the