Star.
London, England, 1819-01-27 00:00:00

GAME, LAWS.

Mr. BRAND moved that tl►ere be laid before the
.llouse an accemr. of the persons under confinement
in England and Wales, for offences against the Game
distingoishing the persons committed under
the 57th Geo. HI. and specifying the sentences to
which each pet•son had been condemned.
Mr. BECKET I thonght that sour: time would
be requisite, as the returns could noi immediately
be prepared.
Mr. BRAND 'esplained.• He wished thst the names
of the persons should be laid before the House, th•tt
the effacts of the laws might be seem—Agreed to.

VIOICE OF CORY.

• Mr. CALLAGHAN, in allusion to the state ofthe
Corn Trade, anti the operation of the Corn Laws,
which he deecrilted as attended with the best conse-
quences, :ultras affording great encouragement and
protection to the agricultural interests, said, that not-
withstanding those laws various irregularities and
differences existed in the returns of the quantity of
grain imported into various ports, and
_he should
therefore mt.ve for an accoont of ;he .rmount of wheat,
barley, and Hour, imported into England and Ire•
land for the year ending sth January, 1819 ; and also
for an account of the quantity imported into the ma-
ritime counties in England and Wales for the same
period.
Mr. RODINSON should not attempt to follow the
Honourable Member through the estimates and cal-
culations, in which he had endeavoured to prove that
in many cases of the periodical returns, frequent re-
currence of errors had taken place. The best possi-
ble mode of taking averages of the markets had been
duly considered and cautiously adopted and intro-
duc.td into the Corn Bill, previous to its enactment ;
and he.belicred the present system would be found far
less objectionable than any other, unless something
materially better should be submitted by the Hon.
1S: ember or some other person, the present system
must continue to be acted upon. The only case of
error in a return with which he had become ac-
quainted, occurred in a return of average of oats
from Glamorgan ; by accident the Inspector had, in
that instance, although a person of twenty years ex-
perience in that line, neglected to reduce the custo-
mary measure of that part of the country to Win-
chester measure—{hour.) The effect, however, was
not to be regretted, as it perhaps prevented the clo-
sing of our ports against oats. The consequences,
however, were unavoidable, but it had been since
then an object of still greater attention to prevent a
recurrence of such a mistake, and the heads of this
department had introduced a still more improved
mode of taking these averages. In point of fact, he
admitted there was, and perhaps ever would be, a
vary considerable difference in the prices of oats in'
different counties, and in Suffolk and Lincolnshire
more especially, as compared with 'other counties,
the price of oats was much lower than elsewhere.—
He should not object to the Honourable Member's
motion on this subject, and was gratified to find that
it was not his intention to follow it hastily up by any
further steps for the present.
The returns were then ordered to be furnished for
the use of the Horne also. A return of the average
prices of wheat, barley, and beans, in the maritime
districts, for a similar period ; also a return of the er-
rors in averages which had taken place during the same

period, and what would have been the actual dif-
ference between such returns, audthe amount of ave-
rages, had they been fairly taken and corrected.
'SUPPLY.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER moved
that the Order of the Day for the House going into a
Committee of Supply should be theft read.
Sir ROBERT WILSON rose and stated, that in
this his first attempt to address a House replete with
talent of every description, he felt it particularly ne-
cessary to call on the Horsy for that indulgence they
had so liberally and frequently bestowed on others
in his situation—(Hear' hear, hear.)—On the sub-
ject of the finances of the country, he should not
pledge himself to treat it as an arithmetical question
He confessed he was not a vet y great adept in poli-
tical economy; the elements he had endeavoured to
attain ; but it was a study replete with intricacy. It
however required little penetration or sagacity to dis-
cover that we could not go on for any length of
time according to the present system of management,
or, as he should rather term it, mismanagement of
our finance. It was impossible to expect die people
of this country could pay the yearly and unavoidable
taxes of the year, as well as provide for the interest
accruing yearly on an aggregate of debt amounting
to 800 millions, a sum which had been aptly said to
express a property which we once had, but which
was ours no longer. To shew how this debt would
operate upon the present and rising generation. I,c
stated, be had estinlated that in the next thirty years
there should necessarily be provided to meet our en-
gagements, and keep up the national faith, no less a
'tuna than 1300 millions ! and that out of this enor-
mous sum not one shilling could be spared towards the
reduction of that debt. The Revenue, it was also to he
observed, ail this time would b? pa suing through tlig
sorbing strainers of the Goverament, and consequently
would he so much diminishe J. Prom what was known
of the history of France and other continental countries
in the present day, the result of any relief from taxation
had been a proportinrate increase in the comforts.—
The state of the body politic in this country, instead
of being aptly proportioned, vigorous, and capable
of energetic exertion, resembled that of a human
frame internally disordered, exhibiting, by its exces-
sive languor, swollen appearance, and heavy over-
grown limbs, the never-failing symptoms of the rapid
approach of its dissolution. A crisis was near at
hand which must involve both rich and poor in one
common chaos of distress and ruin. Adam Smith
had laid it down as a maxim, that no State could bt
considered in .a prosperous situation in which the
poorer classes could not procure the necessaries o(.
life ; and he was satisfied, no man in his senses could.
avoid coming to this painful conclusion, that in this
country it was not possible for these classes to obtain
the necessaries. Something had at times been said
of the too great increase of population ; then again
it had been argued, that by reclaiming lands hitherto
waste, and the improvement of agriculture, the fruits
of the earth had increased in a more than adequate
proportion ; but he could tell those Right Hon. Gen-
tlemen who were accustomed on these and other oc-
casion.: to look at any favourite object through a
financial telescope, tihich approximated to the Minis
terial eye these desirable objects an resalts, that our
distresses did not arise from, nor were they to be
warded off by any such subordinate and compara-
tively indifferent circuinstances. HOw long had the
country been deluded 'by the hope of returning to,
cash payments? He certainly thought cash payments
could never be resumed without a great sacrifice of
property. But Goo forbid that he should take out
of the hands of the Ministry, whose measures had in-'
volved so dePply that property, the opportunity to
redeem it! Nor should he voluntarily interfere to re-
lease them from their rash engagements with the pub-
lic, any more than he would volunteer to pay the debts
mitt-acted by the speculations of a professed gambler.
Were the Ministers to be indulged in this manner,
there would be no end to their espeditions and their
extravagance. There would be expeditions to South
America to reinstate the bigotted Ferdinand, in de-
spite of his ill-treated subjects. Another to India,
not certainly with any 'view to our aggrandizement,
but me,ely to take possession of every thing or place
between the Indian Islands and the Caspian Sea. No
doubt an army of instruction to the French Ministers
and M. De Cazes—(a laugh)—would be equipped to
teach them that they hail no business to awake the
French people from their lethargic dream of despo-
tism to a more rational system of Government. Ap-
prehending such consequences, he was not disposed
to allow such Ministers an opportunity to remort-
gage the resources of the country. It had been by
some imagined, that the military glory we had ac-
auired was an ample remuneration to the country
for the profuse and lavish expenditure of so many
millions. He considered military glory as a poor
substitute for a flourishing state of finance and abun-
dant pecuniary resources. What nation had there
yet existed, ever so barbarous, antecedently or subse-
quently, that could not boast at some period of its
military glory ? The public mind and the public
credit were veered when the people recollected upon
what slight grounds their liberty had been lately in-
vaded by the Suspension of the Habeas Corpus Act ;
when the people reflected on the present disgraceful
state of our criminal code of laws. If the Admiralstration of the country were ever to be effectually
curtailed of the power of doing mischief, it would bt
by the Delegates of the People. insisting upon a He-
' form in the State, upon the principles of that reform
effected in 1688; it would be by extending the Elec-
tive Franchise, so as to produce' a salutary restraint
on the too frequent nomination of Members to seats
in that House by individuals. Such a Parliament, so
constituted, might be denominated a full, fair, and
ample Representation of the People ; and such a
House of Commons, he had no doubt, would act
upon a system of efficient economy and retrenchment.
In this view of the subject he could not help congra-
tulating the country upon the probability of an early
discussion of this important subject, when the motion
of an Honourable Friend of his should come before
the House. He should not vote against the Sapply
proposed to be granted to his Majesty's Government,
as he was not disposed to embarrass his Majesty's
Government—(a laugh)—but should content him-
self with making these observations generally, on the
state of the finances of the country.
Lord GLERAWLEY reminded the Honourable
Member, that he, in his review of the Financial state
of the ctuntry, kad not taken into the credit side of
the account the sums redeemed, or ta be hereafter

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