Star.
London, England, 1820-02-25 00:00:00

PRICE S.Ey/OF-PENCE.

PdIitLIAMENTARY PROCEEDINGS.

HOUSE OF LORDS, FEBRUARY 24.
The it Gan Csroncutoa being detained on important bud.
ne,s at the Council, did not come down to the House till nearly
five o'clock.

Mr. Bosnter, (rem the Mint Circe, presented a variety of
Aocounts rolehing the Coinage, prices of-Bullion, &c. pursuant
to former Orders of the Nouse, which, on the motion of the
Earl of I.sumatinstr, were ordered to be printed.
The Annual Indemnity Dill was, on tip:Motion of the Earl of
Lfvor.vom., read a second time; 29 WZS, on the motion of the
Eati of Domovozmoar,, the Irish Election Regulating Bill.
The Expising Laws, the Local Jurildiction and the hhitiny
Bills, severally passed through Committees of ;.he whole House,
and were reported.

QUESTION OF PRIVILEGE. •
The Earl of LAUDERDALE rose to move the
Order of the Day, for taking into consideration the
subject he had on the preceding day adverted to,
with regard to the Resolutions of Supply, passed by
the House of Commons. It was not his intention,
he said, to cccupy their Lordships' time at any
length in the observations he had to submit, as,the
matter to which they referred was confined within a
very narrow compass. Upon re-considering the
question before their Lor&iiips, be found it to be
much more plain and simple than lie had at first
strpposed, and he should, therefore, have little diffiy
tulty in shewing that the case itself was entirely un-
precedented, and threatened the very worst conse-
quences to those rights which had so kapg been sanc-
tioned by the Legislature. He should 'now, perhaps,
be indtilged, if he stated briefly what had invariably
been the practice of Parliament with regard to this
subject. Ministers, when sums had been voted by a
Committee of Supply for the Army, the Navy, or
any other public service, were accustomed to apply
certain portions of the money to some specific pur-
pose, and such a proceeding became legalized by an
Act of Parliament. This mode had been recognized
by the Constitution : but it was not competent to the
House of Commons to resort to any other, fbr if they
did so by way of Resolutions, they acted illegally, .
and the instrument was no better than waste paper.
The next Parliament might apply the sums granted
in the preceding one to quite different purposes to
those for which they were originally intended. He
could prove from authority which was not likely to
be questioned, that the course of proceeding which
had been adopted was contrary to Parliamentary or-
der. (Here the Noble Earl read a passage from Hat-
sel, to prove that money could not be voted for the
use of the Army, the Navy, or any other public ser-
vice, without the sanction of an Act of Parliament).
ije then proceeded to urge, that payments, which, .
according to the Constitution must cease on the de.
mise of the Crov.-n, could not be continued by the
House of Commons. In reference to this point, he
adverted to the annuities which had been settled on
the Prince and Princess of Wales, contending that .
they could not be continued, from the change that
had taken place io the circumstances which gave
rise to them. Yet he did not, as he-had already said,
wish to embarrass the Government:nor require the •
production of any accounts—all he objected to was
the mode in which the arrangements for the public
service were made.* Had he no other objection than
this to urge, it would have been strong enough, yet
there were many others which he was unwilling to
go into, in detail. In 1784, it war Solemnly decided
by the other House, that it was a high crime and.
misdemeanour for any person employed. in the Ex-
chequer, the Bank, or any other public office, to pay'
any. money for the public service, after the Parlia-
ment whith had voted it had been dissolved, unless
by a special Act of Appropriation.. But what was
it that was now done?-.-Why, it was assured that
Parliament was about to be dissolved, and this
House had been called upon to echo the Message of
the Crown, even to the disregard of its own privi-
leges. The Noble Earl in the next place referred to
the course pursued in 1807, and commented on the
argunients urged, on the day before, by the Earl of
Liverpool. in conclusion, he moved three Resolu-
tions, the purport of which was, that the House of
Commons had passed certainitesolutions of Supply,
that such a course of proceeding was contrary to the
established forms of Parliament, and most unconsti-
tutional ; that, however, under present circumstances,
their Lordships forbore to oppose any measures which
the public service might demand, though they de-
precated; as a precedent, the mode which had been
adopted. After his Lordship had finished reading
the Resolutions, he said, th..4t the tlousc.would psr-
ceive, from the manner in which they had been
dqtwn up, that it was not his intention so throtv any
impediment in the way of his Majesty's Government
at the present juncture.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL was ready to admit
that thallesOlutions moved by the Noble Earl were
consistent with the description*he had given of thorn
in'the conclusion of his speech. Theylivere Well dratin
up, as to his view of offering no obstruction to the
progress of public business; but, at the
.same time,
they contained wcensure on the other House cf Par-
liament, which, before their Lordships could adujit,
would induce them to pause and consider whether
anything had been done by that House which w,as
not fully warranted by precedent and practice.—
Unless there was something special in the present
case, there could-be no ground for noticing it in the .
way the Noble Earl proposed. Now he was pre-
pared to contend, that nothing either contrary to the
practice cf theother 'House or to the Constitution had
occurred. There was an important distinction be-
tween granting money, and appropriating it when
raised ; but into this distinction the Noble Earl had
not entered.. it was clear that no money could be
used, except what was raised by the authority of an
Act of farlidnaent. •Thie principle applied even to.
loans ;for though contracted for by the first Loodraf
the Treasury, and though the first last:deism iiesce
someiimes paid on the' day on which: the' contract
teas made, the money could -not be applied unta
medium received .the sanction of Parliament: The
instalments were paid-over to the Burk, and held by