Star.
London, England, 1819-06-08 00:00:00

duty to his Constituents in particular, and. to the Ern- progress as to the Bank, an actual tax to a consideras
pire in general?—(Hear, hear' hear)—The Noble ble amount would be imposed on the publie. It was
Lord then proceeded to defend the conduct of the agreed that the Bank should resume Cash Payments,
Administration, as related to the Committee of Fi- and it was also generally allowed that this would
nance, who, he contended, had never relaxed in cause a depreciation in the price of all kinds of com-
their efforts. The Right Hon. Gentleman had de. modities, of rents, of labour, &c. of at least five per
dared Ministers unworthy of the confidence of the cent. perhaps 10 per cent. and thus nine-tenths of the,
country. If they were so, he called on the House people would be rendered less able to pay their taxes
to declare it, and t. rup to the foot of the Throne than they now are. Yet, at this time, when the cur-
and declare that opinion—(Hear, hear).—lt was their rency of the country was about to suffer this flues
duty, as guardians of the public interests, to do so, tuation, the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposed'
and he called on them to discharge their duty. He to lay on taxes, all of them money, and not 4d ea-
was convinced that the Administration, of which he &rein duties ; for this reason he considered this as
formed a part, would not be so base or so degraded the most improper time of imposing new taxes.
as to hold their situations after they had lost the con- It had been charged on his Right Honourable
fidence of the country—(Hear, hear).—But if the Friend; that he had made his charge general, and
country continued to give Ministers their confidence, had adduced no particular instance. He denied the
they must also give them the means to meet the dif- charge on the part of his Right Hon. Friend. His
ficulties which they had to encounter—(llear, hear). Right Hon. Friend had pointed out the expense of
The Right Honourable Gentleman had alsh accused collecting the Revenue. And here he wished to ask,
his Right Honourable Friend of intending to break whether the Excise Office had mit offered to collect
faith with the public creditor, by an invasion of the the Duties at an expense of only 5 per cent. which
Sinking Fund as established by Mr. I'itt. He denied last year cost 13i to the Public—(lfear, hear).—He
that his Right Hon. Friend had any such intention, was persuaded a saving of £500,000 might annually
or would ever snake such a proposition. The Right be made to the Public on this head. He must also
Honourable Gentleman had also repeatedly adverted allude to the offices paid by poundage, these amoun-
to what had been said by him (Lord Castlereagh) on ted to about £120,000 a-year, and gave Ministers a
a former night respecting the surplus of £2,000,000. patronage they ought not to possess. lie alluded to
He was still prepared to argue that subject with the the Distributors of Stamps, the Collectors of Asses-
Right Honourable Gentleman, and to maintain that sed Taxes, and the Collectors of the Land Tax. He
'there was, that surplus still. He contended that some- was persuaded that two-thirds of this sum might
thing more ought to be done, and greater exertions well be saved ; but he knew the Noble Lord could
now made in a time of peace, to prepare the country not carry these things into effect—he could not—he
to meet any future war: and this was one ground dared not. The Noble Lord might vapour about
for the proposition, that a surplus of five millions was his major ities ; but he could not, he dared not do his
necessary. Adverting to the Consolidated Fund, and duty : if he did, he would fear to meet his Clerks in
what had been said on that subject, he contended office, mho supported him here and elsewhere—
that that branch of our financial system had never (Hear, hear)?—And why, because he did not possess
been in a more flourishing state; but the burthens that which alone could enable him to do his duty—
upon it were also greater than they had ever formerly the confidence and love of his country—(Hear, hear,
been; that Fund wanted also more substantial sup- hear).—The Noble Lord might talk of the 350 Gen-
port ; and he should be prepared to state, that this tlemen who supported him on a party question, and
country would be in a proud financial state indeed, endeavour to induce them to believe they were now'
even with a clear Sinking Fund of eight millions; also bound to support him—(Hear, hear, hcar+—
how much more so then must it be, when it was But he warned the Noble Lord this majority was an
considered that the high-minded people of this coun- uncertain one, on which he would find he could not
try, should they receive insult from any foreign depend. He had artfully attempted to persuade thoso
Power, had a fund of upwards of fifteen millions Gentlemen, that unless they supported his Majesty's
annual in reserve which they could immediately ap- Ministers, as they were now bound to do, their for-
propriate to the public servive. This country had mer vote intlieir favour was a mere mockery. But
indeed shewed what exertion it could make when, he (Mr. Brougham) would ask them whether the,
on the return of Bonaparte from Elba, the House people 'could now pay more taxes? Whether'their.
had (in less time than the present discussion had taken constituents were in a condition that would render
up) given to government a renewal of the Property- the imposition of fresh burthens short of injustice and
Tax, to furnish a fund for carrying on the new War. cruelty? Or whether the circumstances ofthe country.
The Noble Lord defended the proposition made to did not forbid instead a encouraging the attempt?
the House by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.— (Hear, hear.) the Noble bard had boasted of our
The Right Honourable Gentleman had called the resources, and said, the Property-tax would in an
present a wretched Administration, because they had instant give us 15 millions. True it was, the Pro-
not at an earlier period of the Session laid the state of perty-tax would give us 15 millions, but it would
the financial difficulties of the country before Parlia- only give us that sum if we now husbanded our re-
ment. He had repeatedly declared to the House that sources, spared the people, and preserved their confi-
the difficulties were great, and he had always expec- dente in the Government and the House undiminished:
ted and anticipated the necessity there would be of Mr. HUSKISSON defended the conduct of the'
laying the whole before Parliament and the country. Chancellor of the Exchequer, who, he, said, had acted
He was free to confess, this was not the period he wisely in groundinithe Resolutions he had proposed
weufd have selected—he would rather have delayed on the plea of necessity ; and he trusted as such it would
it till the beginning of the next Session—but circum- have been met in a manly manner by the Gentlemen
stances had arisen which had rendered the delay im- opposite. It was, perhaps, prudent at the termina;
possible. The House would be aware to what he al- , tion of the war, to apply palliatives, and to lessen
luded. The Inquiry into the Affairs of' the Bank had the burthens of taxation as much as possible ; but it
brought the whole subject of Finance under discus- would he impolitic and unbecoming the spirit of this
sion ; and that having occurred, he thought it hotter great Nation to continue such a system. We were
to submit the whole subject to discussion, than to al- called upon, both by interest and honour, to make
low the Session to terminate and Parliament to sepa- the proposed exertion. The Powers on the Continent
rate, leaving the public mind in a feverish state—to I were making such exertions. Prussia, Austria, Ame-
discuss in Parochial and County Meetings, whether rica, and France, had all established Sinking Funds.
there should or not be any new Tax? The only quesslThe latter Power; notwithstanding all the exertions
tion now was, whether the country was called on to and sacrifices which she had been called on to make,
make any exertion? and whether any time more pro- had this year set apart a Sinking Fund equal in
per than the present could be found for that exeraion?! amoeht to one per cent. on her whole debt ; whilst
He trusted the House would this night decide that all we were now required by his Right Hon. Friend
question, and that the decision would be similar to to do was to make our Sinking Fund bear little
that on a former night, when the question was— 'snore than one half that proportion to our debt.—
whither the Right Honourable Gentleman and his The Right Honourable Gentleman also contended,
friends, or the present servants of the Crown, should that the Consolidated 'Fund called in an eminent de-
in future deserve the public confidence—(Hear, hear)? gree for support ; since the consolidation of the two
Mr. BROUGHAM was ,certain no one, hearing Revenues of England and Ireland, it had become uri'
only the Noble Lord's speech, could form any idea equal to its object. Previous to the termination, of
of that made by his much misrepresented Right Ho- the war there was generally a surplus of upwards of
nourable Friend. By the Noble Lord's speech it three millions ; in the last two years there had been
would appear, that his Right Honourable Friend had a deficiency of one million eight hundred thousand
said he did not object to taxes, but only to the Noble pounds. The additional burthen thrown on the Fund
Lord's imposing them, but that he, and not the Noble by the consolidation of the two Revenues, was one
Lord, should put his hand in the people's pockets. million six hundred thousand pounds annually, an 4
Had his Right Honourable Friend said any such for this no provision had been made by Parliament ;
thing ?—No. His Right Honourable Friend had, in- and we had for the last two years depended on the
deed, said, taxation might be desirable at a future Bank of England to advance the' sum deficient, end
period, when the country should have recovered a pahlic credit had in consequence depended an the
little from it's overwhelming difficulties. The Noble Directors of die Bank of England, a state of things
Lord now proposed to burst in on the people, still inconsistent, and not to be reconciled with the
suffering, and only beginning to recover, and to have honour of this great Empire. The power of the
a prospect of enjoying that peace they had purchased country lay in the establishment of the Sinking Fund
with their treasure and their blood, with new taxes, in 1786. It was' the duty of Parliament to male
He could not refrain from declaring his opinion, that provision for a diminution of the public burthent
this proposition was not only indecent but atrocious. in peace, and also to meet the exigencies of war—
. The Noble Lord had also accused his Right Hon. Though two great armaments were gtted oat from
Friend of wishing to raise a clamour against the 1786 to 1792, yet in the latter year Mr. Pitt came
Chancellor of the Exchequer, char ging him with a down to Parliament with a proposal for the remission
breach of faith with the public creditor. His Right Of taxes. The first tax was an Assessed Tax on Fe.
Honourable Friend had made no such attempt. Yet male Servants; the second, on Carts and Waggons ;
there had been an invasion of the Sinking Fund, as the third was a Tax on Cottages, w hich he hoped never
it had been established by Mr. Pitt, subsequently, in- to see revived ; and the fyi th, WAS a Tax of a half-
deed, altered by Lord Sidmouth in 1802, and after- penny on Tallow Candles. The country must look to
wards again by the Noble Lord in 1813. The Sink- the means of meeting a foreign war should it unfortu-
ing Fund ought now to have been '2l millions, in- nately arise. By the resumption of Cash Payments
stead of which it was now proposed to make a fund by the Bank of England, and the other measares for
of five millions. Was not this a breach of faith with the strengthening public credit, the best provision
the public creditor ? He did not complain of it ; would be made for the, peace and prosperity of the
nor did he wish the public creditor to consider it as country. 'He looked, .with confidence to the time
a matter of complaint. It was one arising out of ni- when the Sinking Fund would be in the proportion
cessity—Thenecessity of paying our Army and Navy, of one per cent. to the National Debt. There was no
&c.
Sm. it was a breach rendered necessary by circum- breach of public faith in the proposed application of
stances. But he must take care, as far as his voice the Sinking Fund. In time of war, more was to be
would go, to prevent a breach of faith with the ye°. borrowed than was redeemed, and in peace more
ple, by imposing taxes they were not able to pay. He would be redeemed than borrowed. In answer to a
thought only two causes could operate to justify the question from an Honourable and Learned Gentle-
imposition of new taxes. These were the preservation man, he would state, that the Loan of the
of national honour, or the breaking out of a new war. providedwouldabbechada
remissionfor from the Taxes of
In his opinion the people ought to be allowed to re. The Public
cruit their own Coffers before, for the sake of Stock- lions of Taxes,andhesnecs. hence hadlt
banadinba
ceiees
brokers, any attempt was made to recruit the coffers• pay the proposed la
of the State. The Honourable Gentleman then pro- collect theraCurstsnamvsinbgy
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cimeepdmedperto
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could that
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new taxes, since, by the operation of the plan now in the ham oppressive consequences, and

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