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

total
amount
quarter of the last
:vthe of the deficiency, as
4thcwn omo ofpma r June,
etda
th w
the corresponding
The Excise
year, was i.:107,000, or about two per cent. He
had fallen off by about 1:215,000 ; but it was not im-
probable that this deficiency would not continue any
longer. In the Customs, there had been an augmen-
tation of about £84,000; in the Post-office, an in-
crease of £45,000 ; in the Assessed Taxes, an increase
of £14,000; in the Stamps, a diminution of C 33,000.
Thus there was a total diminution of 12248,000 ; from
which was to be substracted, an increase upon other
branches, amounting to £141,000, leaving a diminu-
tion on the whole Revenue of 8107,000 in the quar-
ter ending 4th of June. He had no reason to think the
Finance Committee had taken too sanguine a view.
But at the same time he should not, under the pre-
sent Circumstances, think himself justified in specu-
lating upon any increase of the Revenue; although
he did think that those causes which produced that
stagnation which had 'lately affected the Revenue
must now have ceased to operate. The effect w hich
had been produced by the preparations for resuming
Cash-Payments, had certainly been considerable; but
a great part of the evil had been occasioned by the
alarm, and that had now subsided. It had been
found to be groundless, and when it ceased the Re-
venue might be expected to return to its regular
state. Navin? given these details which the occasion
seemed to cad for, he had only to say, that he would
be ready to enter into any cxrlaration which might
be wished to elucidate any part of what he hall sub-
mitted to the House. But he could not sit down;
without expressing how great a degree of responsi•
bility rested with his Majesty's Ministers, not only
lin proposing any new Taxes, but also in the ma-
nagement those which were already imposed. lie
Was ready, however, so far as it was possible, to add
to that obligation, to do so, by moving a further Re-
solution, calling upon the Executive Government
for the most economical management of the Public
Revenue—(.4 Laugh on the Opposition Benches, fol-
lowed by repeated cheers.)—lle hoped that the events
of this Session had already given a pledge of the
sincerity of their endeavours in this respect—(Hear,
hear.)—ln the great departments of the State,'
scarcely any vote had been proposed which had met
with opposition. One subject had been alluded to in
the course of the Session, which he felt to be one of
great misfiirtune—namely, the expenses attending
the collection of the Revenue. This was a subject
well worthy of great consideration, and its investi-
gation ought to be speedily undertaken. With this
view he would, after the other Resolutions, move one
which should set forth—" That with the view of ac-
celerating the period when the country might expect
relief front a part of its present burthens, the House
thought that a vigilant controul should be exercised,
and a minute investigation instituted as to the mode
of collecting and managing the Revenue, with the
view of making every possible diminution in the ex-
penditure of the country."—The House was aware
that an investigation of this kind had been instituted
in the Customs, and had been found productive of
many most advantageous arrangements. He hoped
soon to be able to lay before the House the account
of a similar investigation in the other branches of the
Public Revenue, which should shew how consider-
ab!e reductions might be made in the expenses of
collection and management, or the reason why it was
impossible that any such could be made—(Hear,
hear.)—The Right Honourable Gentleman concluded
by moving the first Resolution—" That since the
termination of the war in 1815, the Property Tax in
Great Britain, and other Taxes in Great Britain and
Ireland, which yielded a revenue of upwards of
£18,000,000 per annum, have expired, or been re-
pealed or reduced."
Mr. TIERNEY rose and said, as to the last Ileso-
lution introduced by the Right Honourable Gentle-
man, there could be no doubt but that when he pro-
posed it, he was conscious of practising a ruse de
gtterre upon his (Mr. Tierney's) side of the House ;
and if the Right Honourable Gentleman believed
that it was calculated to do any good, certainly he
could not have gone a more effectual way about
making it successful than by proposing it himself—
(A laugh, and hear, hear ).—Of all the strange
things he had witnessed in that House, the strangest
of all was that of calling on the House to pass a Re-
solution to do that which was an obvious duty-1
(Hear, hear).—The Right Honourable Gentleman
then wanted to make a rule, and promised he would
obey it. But his remaining Resolutions were not
promises but taxes—(A laugh).—He would not at-
tempt to follow the Right Honourable Gentleman—
he meant no imputation—but he must confess he did
not understand him. The two first Resolutions had
nothing to do with the subject of the proposition—
those about Ireland still less—they were merely de-
claratory of facts, which nobody disputed. For his
part, he had nothing to do with any of the Resolu-
tions but the last. He would not now speak of the
articles proposed to he taxed—he would merely dis-
pute the abstract point of an addition of taxes—
, ( Hear, hear).—Now he begged to be understood as
by no means saying that it would not be necessary,
at some time or another, to have recourse to taxation.
He begged carefully to guard against any such mis-
construction of his meaning. As soon as he shall be
satisfied that in any department of the State the Go-
vernment has straitened and bound up every avenue
of the expenditure ; and, as soon as he shall be satis-
fied that the public service cannot go forward after
these exertions, then would he consent to support ad-
ditional taxes, and bear his part of the unpopularity
of them—(//ear, hear).—But his' objection to the
taxes now was, as to the time and the manner of
raising them—(Hear, hear).—lle had to thank Mi-
nisters now for coming forward with a distinct state
of the country. They had now acknowledged that
they had reduced the Sinking Fund by various ope-'
rations, so that no more now remained of it but two
millions. The public must he astonished to hear
these confessions of our real situation from Ministers,
after the flourishing speeches which they had so often
put forth in that Ilouse. Mr. Pitt and his glorious
principles had been often referred to in the course of
their pompous declamations; and after all it appeared
that these principles must be abandoned in order to
save the Country. Every man who heard the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer must be galled to perceive
the inconsistent course which Ministers had been
avowedly pursuing so long. But in the midst of all
this, the public creditor had nothing to look to ; the
Right Honourable Gentleman said we had nothing