Star.
London, England, 1821-06-02 00:00:00

21,033,688 • 19,311,200
iry reduction of Unfunded De
9,000,000 Irish Treasury Bills - 500,000
Bilk for R►lic Works 606,400,

706.400

50,043,61111 20,018:20:
Granted fur
WAYS AND MRANS. Estisnatehe
1820. 1421.
3,000,000 Annual Taxes - - - 4,000
2,500,000 (Rada Duties) Tea Duties - _
240,000 Lottery . -
Cte,ooo Old &ores

1,500,000
200,000
163,400

Surplus of Pecuniary Indemnity, pay-
able by the French Government 500,000
199,000 Exchequer Bills for Public Works repaid 125,000
Surplus Ways and Means, 1520 • 91,630
.4111•••11.11•1•
6,570 030
Sinking Fund Loan, viz.
12,000,000 Great Britain Britain. 12,500,000 / 13,000,00.
500,000
of Ireland, Increase of Capi.

tai - - 500,000 Tilsit
Currency being in Uritisb Currency
,0005 ,000 Loan
12,000,000 17,000,000 Fooling Exchequer Ws

461,53

3°,1381" UNFUNDED DEBt—tsso. 2°,144569
Exchequer Bills, 1 Geo. IV. - - 19,000,600
Irish Treasury Bilk, 1 Geo. IV. - - 1,500,000
&chequer ails, for Public Works, isc. - 106,400

16/FUNDED DEBT.-11121.
Exchequer Fslls - - -
irieb Treasury Bina - -

30,708,400
29,000.000
1,000,000

By reduction of Unbuidnd Drbt

30,000,000
706,400

30,706,400
The total amount for the year in expenses would be
19 millions. The House had already granted the
annual taxes, and a credit had been taken on them
for four millions, being nearly a million more than
last year. This was done on the temporary Excise
Duties. Upon the Lottery he took only £200,000 ;
and on Old Stores he took only £163,400. The
amount of the French Debt was nearly 1,045,000
livres. Part of this was taken to pay the troops in
France ; the rest would be appropnated to the service
of the present year, to the amount of £.500,000, and
perhaps some small sum would be applicable to the
service of next year. The next thing was the re-
payment of Exchequer Bills, and what had been ad-
vanced for the erection of important works. The
total of the ready money- produce of the present
year was £6,500,000. In order to meet the exigen-
cies of the State, they had been obliged to take 12
millions and a half for England, and £500,000 for
Ireland, from the Sinking Fund. He intended to
give a facility for the transfer of stock between
England and Ireland. The whole amounted to
L 20,031,000, giving an excess of about L 12,000
over the expenses as estimated for the year. He did
not think himself justified in holding out any pro-
spect of farther reduction, but in the next year Go-
vernment intended to bring the subject before the
House. The claims of the East India Company re-
quired investigation r and so did those of the out-
pensioners of Greenwich Hospital ; and it might be
necessary to apply for a grant for them, but not in
the present year, because re considered them pro-
vided for by the Ways and Means. .In answer to al
question from Mr. Tierney, he said, the claims of
the East India Company amounted to two millions;,
but that was subject to a revision of accounts.
Although the amount of the Sinking Fund Loan was
larger this year than last, yet the amount of money ap.
plicable to the redemption of Debt would be £60,000
larger-than last year In the year 1820, the Reve-
nue received in Great Britain and Ireland was above
£.54,640,688. The Expenditure was A 32497,376, ex-
clusive of the Supply for the year, which made 71
millions in all, being an exceeding of 16 millions;
but the Sinking Fund being taken, gays a surplus o
L 900,000. A very large arrear of outstanding Exche-
quer Bills were paid off to the amount of L 1,800,000.
lie assumed that the Revenue would produce the same
sum as last year, and. with the Lottery, the French.
Debt, and Old Stores, would be 55 millions, and the
ExpeiNitare 48 millions. To the Bank of England
there was to be paid a sum in arrears, which would
al.Oce it, with other ism, £68,221,000. The deli-

ciency would be paid out of the Sinking Fund, which
was this year 16 millions. They had every reason
to believe, that in the excess of Revenue they would
get so near as to a-proportion of four to five. In the
five months already elapsed, the Revenue of this I
year had exceeded that of last year by €240,000.
Unless 'some unforeseen circumstance should arise,
he thought they were not overstating the fact when_
they expected as full a return of Revenue as last year.
Now were all these advantages within our grasp;
the Bank was paying in cash, the burdens of the war
were becoming every day more light, and there was
every prospect, if we were not assailed by some un-
foreseen misfortune, that a e should go on well—
(Hear, hear).—ln 1817, the rise in the Funds was
most rapid; the Three per:Cents. rose to 74; but be-
fore Christmas they were as high as 80. What was
the consequence? The greatest change ever known
took place in the trade,
,and the greatest effect was
produced upon the resources cf the country. The lat-
ter end of 1818 had been always looked up to as a
year of plenty. He therefore congratulated the coun-
try on the encouraging prospects before us. With
regard to the difficulties which we had suffered
under, by restricting the Bank, there was not a na-
tion in Europe, which had not experienced the same
thing at one time or other ; but there was no state on
the Continent which, like us, owed less than we did
at the end of the war. He also contended, that the
large sums invested in the Savings Banks were aq
evidence of the growing wealth of the country. Up
to the sth of April last, there was paid no less than
£20,000 weekly from he Savings Banks into the
Bank of England. He asserted, then, that there
never was a period when the country had greater reit;
son to rely upon its own resources than at present.—
He would not say that we should not meet with move
difficulties, but he thought the manner in which we
had got through those that we had passed, was a
guarantee for one firmness in future—(Harr, hear).
The Right Hon. Gentleman concluded by moving,
" That a sum not exceeding £13,000,000 be raised
by Annuities, for the service of the year 1821, of
which £12,500,000 would be for Great Britain, and
£500,000 for Ireland."
Mr. MABERLEY asked, to , what account the
£Bl,OOO, the excess of last year, had been carried?
He wished also to know why the Miscellaneous Esti-
mates, which, at the beginning of the year, were
made out at £2,100,000, or thereabouts, should have
since swelled to £2,444,000?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
with regard to the first question, that the excess had
been carried partly to the Annual Taxes, and partly
to the Consolidated Fund. As to the latter, the
Estimate had been increased in consequence of an ex-
pense which 4rew up connected with the Militia.
Mr. MABERLEY then said, that he had no objec-
tions whatever to take to the Right Hon. Gentleman's
Ways and Means, but he protested against his touch-
ing the Sinking Fund, which was the Fundholdees
security. He deprecated any idea of imposing a
Tax on Funded Property, in order to relieve the
wants of the State. The Report of the Committee
stated the sums to be—
In 1317 . - A 1,700450
111111 . . • $42,000
1319 . . 1,127,000
1320 . - 1,963,000
And now in 1821 . . . 671,000
after all our savings. After the passing of those se-
vere laws which _followed the disturbances in the
country, there ought not to be imposed upon the
People additional hardship by taxation. was
certain the Army might safely be reduced one mil-
lion. He had not taken an active part in the oppo-
sition given to the Estimates by the Hon. Member
for Aberdeen, and which reflected so much credit
upon that Hon. Gentleman for his perseverance and
industry; but altimegb that opposition had not effected
immediate reduction in any one of the Estimates, he
had no doubt that the stand made against them would
be productive of much benefit to the country. Al-
though the Right Hon. Gentleman did not give hopes
of reduction, he (Mr. Maberley) expected that 10,000
men from the Army, and 4000 from the Navy,
would be reduced, and he contended that they ought.
With respect to the collection of the Revenue, he
would remind the House, that when a motion was
made, within a few years, recommending an inquiry
into the mode of collecting the Revenue, it was op-
posed by the Right Hon. Gentleman opposite, who
moved and carried the previous question; and yet
he now came down with a Bill to effect that same
object. Notwithstanding the recommendation of a
Committee (which the Hon. Gentleman read), there
had been £1,900,000 more voted for the Estimates
than that Committee had declared ought to be
granted. The Right Hon. Gentleman had adverted
to the Sinking Fund ; and gone into a detail upon
the state of the Funds for 1821. He would not fol-
low the Right Honourable Gentleman through all the
mazes of that detail, which was partly fallacious,
and partly true; but would content himself with al-
luding to some of the items—the Consolidated Fund,
the supposed Vote, and the Annual Duties. The
House would recollect that when the new Taxes were
about to be imposed, it was stated by the Right Hon.
Gentleman that the excess beyond three millions
should pass to the credit of the Consolidated Fund.
The next was two millions and a half for Excise Du-
ties, and he knew of nothing more than the Lottery
and the sale of Old Stores; when these were com-
pared with the expenses, it would give the balance.
the Sinking Fund of last year was £2,200,000.
The Right Hon. Gentleman had stated that of this
year. It appeared now that there was zmuch larger
sum due upon Exchequer Bills than the House had
ever heard of, namely, £400,000 ; but he (Mr. Ma-
berley) intended moving for such documents as would
remove all uncertainty on the subject. Rumours
were-also afloat, that there was a very large sum
due by Government to the Bank of England. Had
that economy been practised which had been so often
and so strongly recommended, all the present finan-
cial difficulties of the country would have been
avoided, and some part of the burdens of the People
might have been removed. In 1792, Mr. Pitt esta-
lhashed the Sinking Fund, by allotting one per
esp. stpon'all future Loans to the extinction of the
Debt. He went farther—he intended it should con-
calve the People by setting aside a part to relieve
:amnion. He believed if one half of the produce
leant to reduce the Taxes, and one half to the Sink-
ing Fund, it would do much towards conciliating
the People, and render even a Standing Army less
obnoxious. He was sure the People were satisfied,

t Taxation.

with the Constitution, and that the only dissatisfac-
tion they felt was with the Executive—(Hear, hear);
and that nothing could he conceive so likely to quiet
their minds, as the adoption of an honest system of
economy. He was vets, far from taking a gloomy
view of public affairs, for he recollected that the
country produced annually sixty-two millions of
Revenue, and that there had been an increase of the
capital of the country within the last twenty-six years
of 600 millions—besides the immense expenditure
upon roads and canals. That towns, nay cities had
been built—that Scotland had become a new king-
doM, and that Ireland had improved. He believed
in his heart that the country only wanted a Ministry
in whom confidence could be placed, and strict mea-
sures of economy, to tender it perfectly content and
happy. He trusted there would be no attempt made
to impose a Duty upon one species of property more
than another, for that would not be a fair or justi-
fiable mode of escaping froth present difficulties;
and he believed that tenants could be relieved only
by the reduction of rent and taxes.
Mr. ASTELL said, that from the statement of the
Right Hon. Gentleman it might appear that the sum
was small that was/ from Government to the East
India Company. The Company had lent the Island
of St. Helena to the Government ; and the custody
of Bonaparte cost the country from £200,000 to
£500,000. A payment of a million had been pro-
mised to the Company in April, and another sum in
July; and now he heard with astonishment the Right
Hon. Gentleman state, that it was doubtful if any-
payment would be made.
Mr. CALCRAFT could not participate in the sa-
tisfaction that had been -expressed at the statement of
the Right Hon. Gentleman. What would be thought'
of an individual who, with an income of £60,000
year, could only spare £6OOO for the expenses of his
family ? That was precisely the state in which the
country was at present. The fact was; that the People
were crushed by excessive burdens, and the only solid
relief was the diminution of taxation. The Sinking
' Fund was now less than it had been when the new
taxes had been imposed. He thought that the .re-
sources of the country had been exaggerated, as the
600 millions added to the Debt was a mortgage on
the land of the country.
Sir J. NEWPORT stated, that the effect of the
Taxes in Ireland had been to lessen the Revenue con-
siderably ; and the Revenue of that country was now
less by £700,000, than when the new Taxes had been
imposed. The Right Hon. Baronet then went on to
spew that the increase of the Duties on the different
articles had invariably produced a diminution of the
Revenue. When the duty on Port wine had been
£lO a tun, the amount had been £240,000 ; when
the duty had been doubled, the amount had dimi-
nished to £99,000. The case had been the same in
the article of French wines, and in those of brandy
and rum. He had expected to have heard some of,
the great Agricultural Proprietors deliver their senti-
ments as to the state of their respective counties.
Mr. RIC A R DO said, that provision had been made
for the interest on Exchequer Bills in a former Budget.
The real Sinking Fund for the year had been only
£950,000. The deficiency on the Consolidated Fund
had this year been £517,000, and that, added to the
deficiency of former years, made the whole amount
to upwards of eight millions. Loans had been con-
tracted to the amount of £24,292,542. The differ-
ence of debt on the Ist of January, 1820, and the
Ist of January, 1821, was only /X 59,000. The pay-
ment of half a million from France was confined to
the present year, though the Right Hon. Gentleman
had argued as if it had been permanent. He was a
warm advocate for a Sinking Fund, if applied to the
extinction of the National Debt. But he must be a
sanguine man, indeed, who could believe it would
ever be so applied. What had become of all the
fences thrown by Mr. Pitt around the Sinking Fund?
The Right Hon. Gentleman had taken seven millions
from the Sinking Fund, and then told the Stock-
holder that he had conferred on him a mighty boon.
The Right Hon. Gentleman seemed to be afraid that
the country would grow too rich. He would say,
let the Sinking Fund be in the pockets of the people;
and when Ministers wanted money, let them apply
to Parliament. The Hon. Gentleman here read a
speech of Mr. Pitt, on the power of accumulation of
the Sinking Fund, and the mode proposed by him to
prevent alienation, by the payment of £250,000
quarterly into the hands of Commissioners ; by which
means it could not be taken by stealth, and nn Mi-
nister could have the boldness to propose te Parlia-
ment that it should be diverted to any other purpose
—(Hear, hear). He thought the People of England
were now much more in debt than if no Sinking
Fund had been created. He much approved of the
system of Savings Banks ; but a plan of raising an
annuity on the Savings Banks, by sinking a sum of
money at the birth of a child, lately proposed by a
Mr. Woodriff, was highly worthy of attention. If
the Bank had made no purchases of gold, the result
would have been the same to the country, and the
amount °false metallic would have been equal to the
amount of the paper circulation.
Mr. LOCKHART had no wish to tax the Fund-
holder. If such a measure became necessary, the
necessity would speak for itself. The Right lion.
Gentleman had spoken of the magnanimity of the
country ; but where was the magnanimity of the
Fundholder? Other classes of the community had
submitted to great privations, but the Fundholder
alone had gained. The country piid now more than
in the heaviest years of war.
Sir H. PARNELL did not think the statements of
the Chancellor of the Exchequer borne out by facts.
In 1819, it had been stated by the Right lion. Gen-
tleman, that there would be a Sinking Fund of five
millions, by raising three millions of new Taxes; but
the amount of the Taxes bad only been £700,000.
That tact proved that the power of taxation was ex-
hausted ; and to attempt to increase the Revet.ue
in-
that way would be vain.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER had
not meant to give any opinion as to the validity of
the debt claimed by the East India Company. The
Hon. Gentlemen who had commented on his state-
ment, had, for the most part, answered each other.
As to the suggestion of annuities on the Saving Banks,
any plan of that kind must be locked up for a great
number of years. At the best, it should be auxiliary
to the system of Saving Banks. The sum of £167,000
bad been collected in Ireland for Saving Banks.
Mr. HUME stated, that the Committee of 1817
had recommended that the public expenditure should ,

be £17,553,000. But in the subsequent years rile
expenditure had greatly increased, and in the p
year the Government had not returned to the tapes,.
diture of 1817. At present, from the alined suneer
the currency, eighteen millions were equal to is
four millions a few years ago. In Scotland the el„
pense of collecting the revenue had been doubled,
five years two millions had been expended For thedlo
tention of Bonaparte. The Right Honourable
tleman had admitted what he had formerly team,
dicted, that the sum of a million was due for die is„
terest of Exchequer Bills. He was certain that eat
year the Sinking Fund would not amount to 2,003,000.
Mr. ELLICE could not conceive why the unmet
debt redeemed should not be cancelled, nos
the present confused plan should not be aban
The Government had no inclination to reduce three.
penditure if it had not been forced upon than, la
he was happy to find that a riving to the amoamaf
a million and a half had been accompliked. He
could not conceive the object of borrowing half e
million from the Bank of Ireland, though he thou*
the liberty of purchasing Stock in either country oat
advantageous to the Public.

The different Resolutions w•eee then put, and, is
answer to a question from Mr. HUME,
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER saij,
that the Ordnance Stores would be accounted funk
the Estimates of the next year.