Star.
London, England, 1820-05-09 00:00:00

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Several new Members took the oaths and their seats.

Colonel BAGW ELL presented a Petition from certain as-
Witt's and Brewers of Cash.•l, praying to be relieved from the
sum now paid for Licenses.—Liid on the table.
Lord CLIVE laid on the table Papers relating to the Pets-
Wished Church in Ireland.—Ordered to be printed.
The Accounts laid on the table the td of May, relative to the
Unclz.ialed Prize-Money were ordered to be printcd.
TAX ON WOOL.

Mr. STUART WORTLEY pm-limited a Petition Mein the
Merchants, blarufacturers, Ilec.bi the reightunsehussl pf Hod.
derdeld, fora Repeal of the Tax on Wnol. The effect Odle
they btated, was to drive capital out of the country. He
understood that a Noble Friend of his was to propose the Re-
p.:al of this Duty, and therefore be would not trouble the House
ztly ft th,:r.

Lord MILTON asked the Secretary of the Board of Trade
if it was the intention of Ministers to propose the Repeal of the
'Lis. on Wool immediately. If It was, he should be happy to
leave the measure in their hands; if not, he should give no.ice
of a motion to that effect?

Mr. ROBINSON answered that he was rot aware that it
was the intention of Ministers to propose any measure of
this nature.
Lord MILTON then gave notice that he would, to-morrow
(this day) se'unight' move fur leave to bring in a Bill to Repeal
the Duty on Woollately imposed by that House.
• ELECTION PETITIONS.

Two Petitions w.re received by the SrEAKKIL from the Crows
Office in Ireland the one complaining of an undue Return fee
the Town of Galway, which was ordered to be taken into con-
sid;:ration on the 30th of May—and the other against the Re-
turn for the Town of Drogheda.--Ordered to be taken into con-
sidcration on the 6:11 of June. "

A Petition was presented against the Return for Borough-
bridge,w•hich was ordered to be considered on the Ist of June.
Another was presented against the Return for lladdington,
which was order.Al to be considered on the Bth of June.
Tilt MERCHANTS, PETITION.

Mr. ALEXANDER BARING rose, pursuant to
notice, to present a Petition—(for tchich see our
Paper of the 251/i ultimo)—which, he said, was
signed by a most respectable body of men—the Mer-
chants of the City of London, arid whether he con-
sidered the weight of the individuals from whom it
emanated, or the state of the country when it was
presented, he should regard it as one of the most im-
portant subjects that ever came under the considera-
tion of the House. The general interest which was
manifested on the subject of this Petition, justified
him in presuming that the country regarded it with
the utmost uneasiness. It now became imperative
on Parliament to determine what remedies ought to
be applied to the existing evils, or to determine whe
they or not the evils were capable of any remedy at
all. For his part, he apprehended that the case was
of a mixed description. He admitted, that much of
the distress of the country arose out of circumstances
wholly out of the reach of a remedy ; but yet, on the
other hand, much good was to be effected by the in-
terposition of Parliament, and their attention to the
subject. The persons who signed the Petition had
not is view the protection of any particular class, for
they were all too experienced and well informed to
suppose that Commerce could flourish in a country
where the Manufacturing and Agricnltural branches
were depressed—( Hear, itcar).—When the distresses
of the country were urged upon the consideration of
the House, it was a common answer to hear, that
these distresses arose from the transition from war to
peace. But in the fifth year of peace, to which we had
now arrived, the country so tar from being relieved
from the effects of that transition, experienced an
aggravation of its distresses. It was singular enough,
that while eves y country in Europe recovered from
the consequences of the late struggle, this country
should be the only one that was lingering in embar-
rassment, and that this unhappy condition should
continue so long as to give rise to the impression
that she was a declining country. For the last two
years, be believed, Commerce produced very little,
if anything at all, and he feared that the Farmers
and the Manufacturers were nearly in the same situa-
tion as the Mercantile classes. He wished it was in
his power to procure a remedy for this state of things.
He looked upon the country to be in a state of lan-
guor, after her extraordinary efforts. She expe-
rienced unexampled success in every department of
industry, and never were such strides made in im-
provement in every branch as were made by Eng-
land during the last fifty years. The monopoly of,
the commerce of the world was in her possession, and
every effort to disturb only served still more to secure
it. Exhausted as she was after those efforts, it was
incumbent on Parliament to seek to alleviate the
effects of a return to a more natural course of things;
and if her Commerce was not watched and fostered

by the Parliament, it must not only be retarded in
its growth, but ultimately perish altogether—(Hear,
hear).—The trade, which was lost to England, dis-
persed itself over the countries of the world, and in
proportien to the extent of competition which we had
to encounter, the state of our trade ou?ht to be
watched with care and circumspection. The great
pciiit then, which the Petitioners wished to urge, was
a recurrence to the old principles, in s..lnch the corn-
nitrcial strength'of this country was first founded
and afterwards reared, and to this part of the Peti-
tion he besought the earnest consideration .of the
House. There were some reflections connected with
the subject, to which he begged the attention of the
House. While we were deprived of a great propor-
tion of our commerce, we were loaded %%ith a great
debt, the injurious effect of which was aggravated
by the unfortunate departure from our currency. It
was painful to him to be obliged to recur to this sub-
ject ; but he was bourd to :tale, that he regarded
with great despondency the late rnea4ures which