Star.
London, England, 1816-05-28 00:00:00

botog idriwO hi **vie* tt, 41leettaid the feat state
of the finances of the country. A very fair, and-he
believed re very correct statement. had been given with
'aespect to Ireland; but why had not the-same been
done with respect to England ? Why did not the
Right. Honourable Gentleman face his difficulties
wailfully 1 But, not the.
m Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer said, only enable eto get over my present
embarrassments, and rely on me for the future...-.
The Right Honourable Gentleman had brought into
his account £5,063,765, as the surplus grants of last
year; but what had become of the residue?—(Hear,
)—He had given the Right Honourable Gentle-
man great ercdit for asking for the sum which Par.
Potent voted, but he did not give him equal credit
for getting rid of it. The war. had lasted only a
,oath, and though our troops had gained immortal
honour (for naval war there was ncne), that was no
layswer, when he asked what had become of the
looney ? 'They were merely told, however, that there
were live rnillioos and a half of surplus; and, in ad-
dition to that, the Bank of England advanced nine
millions. The Bank had now lent Government 12
millions, but he did not like that we should be in-
debted to this amount in the shape of loan. He
believed that all this was' for the sake of continuing
the Bank =Restriction ; and his firm conviction was,
that the restriction would go on beyond the two years.
As to returning to payments in specie, he had heard
nothing else for the last 1.5 years. The Bank had
always contrived to keep the Chancellor of the Ex-
chequer under their thumb ; and now they knew
that he could not repay them, they had secured
the renewal of .their Charter—(Near, hoar, hear).—
The Governors had certainly shewn very great dex-
terity in their arrangements with the Right Hon.,
Gentleman : neither Jonas, nor Breslaw, nor any of
these people, could have displayed more cunning.—
(A brash.) They made four distinct propositions :
:hey were to have interest and no interest ; they were
to receive a bonus and no bonus. (Laugh.) 'These
tricks had completely deceived the Right Honourable
Gentleman ; but what was the consequence ? If the
revenue did not increase, we should have to raise 12
maiions in some way or other ; or, in the course of
another year, we must have a loan of 21 millions.—
We vete thus loft to t:e mercy of the Bank, and we
knew how far tlie.r kindness extended': they were
merciful to the degree between three per cent. and
five per cent. and would lend us nothing without the
renewal of their Charter. From this view of our fi-
nancial situation, would any one say that the country
was in a flourishing state ? There was nothing that
could hold out any consolation whatever, unless Par.
liament would oblige Ministers to confine their expen-
diture within the revenue. He would not then
trouble them with auy farther observations ; but he

...

was quite sure that it would require a much greater
talent of public speaking than the Right Honourable
• Gentleman possessed) to convince the House that this
was not an alarming twee of the country.—(Hear.)
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
appealed to the House, v►hether he was disposed to
shrink from the diibcullies or the Country. With re.

' giant to the reduction of the National Debt, if this
year only three mi;lions had been redeemed, the
Right Fionourable G. ntle.ikan should remember,
that it the original plan of Ministers had not been de-
' hated, about 12 millions of debt would actually have
been paid off. The Right Honourable Gentleman
bad stated, that the apparent increase of the Revenue
was in tact a real diminution ; but he had forgotten
to deduct the amount of duties that expired in the
last year, which would make the real difference six
or seven hundred thousand pounds.
Sir HENRY PARNELL expressed his conviction
that the revenue of Ireland might, by proper manage-
ment, be considerabl increased. The charges of
collection were enormous, compared to what those
expenses were in England ; large sums were unne-
cessarily given in law expenses, and the defalcation
caused by 'flick distillation was not less than one mil-,
lion two bemired thousand pounds a.year. Besides,
if measures were taken for restoring Ireland to trap-,
• trinity, there would be no occasion to keep t' irty
thousani suldins there, and thus a great saving might
be made. Another great s tying, not less than
sel(10,000 a-year might be effected by abolishing the
office of Lord Licuretrat:t, %fix!) all the Odicess at-1
taehed to bins, and suffer Ireland to be goverued if.,
the same manner as Scinland was.
Sir J. NEWPORT had always been of opinion,
that the revenue *I Ireland would greatly increase, it
the control over the collectors wets divested of all po.
lineal considerations. The taxes of Ireland were not
trait( out of income but out of capital, a practice
which, if it went on, Would drain the resources of the'
country.
Mr. WILLIAM SMITH read a letter from Dub-
• fin, stating the enormous expenses attending Revenue
Crown Prosecutions ; there was a solicitor (Mr. Pen-
dergast) who received three thousand a• year, and did t
ss duty, for all was done by deputy; there were,
Insides, nine Ci unsel always employed, and on every
trwecution, each received three guineas. The Chief
fl's brother and cousin were among this number.
Healso knew that the expenses of the Crown prose-
cutions in this country were very great.
Mr. V. FITZGERALD complained that the Ho-4
tourable Gentleman should bring forward this sub-
ject io the manner be did on inch authority, and
without first instituting an inquiry. The prosecutions
he alluded to were not for offences against the re.,
venue, but against the peace of th• country. ' Re-
specting
the expenses of collecting the revenue jn
beiand, which the Htmourable Baronet alluded to,'
he•must tell him that the establisbnaente necessary for
lollection were nearly as great As they were in Eng-
land, where the net revenue was so much more even-,
sive. In answer to the Right Hon. Baronet, be would
assert that politics had no inflaence in revenue ip-
peintnarnts or revenue collection in Ireland. What he
at Present proposed was oidy to provide for the pre-
sent year, and to prevent an accumulation of debt.
Sir JOHN NIWPORT and Mr. V. FUZOER4LD mu-
4111y explained.
. • tdr. I'EELE considered that the Honourable
Baronet (Sir H. Parnell) had spoken in the absence
of all information: there was no instance in which
the representations of the Beards of Excise had beenl
tinettended to : no appointments were made but from i
!heir recommendation s and there were many eases'
it which all applications on the score of influence had
' rejected. The Honourable Baronet always
proceeded on avery large scale. and now be wished
Padua a saving by »duck* $OOOO out of $5,000