Star.
London, England, 1819-06-12 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

ri
,'~~

A Court of Common Council was held yesterday.
Among other subjects which engaged their attention,
was the propriety of presenting a Petition against the
Taxes which have lately been proposed by the CHAN-
CELLOR Of the EXCHEQUER• _

. Mr. BUMSTEAD -said, that he was induced to call
upon the Court of Common Council to petition against
the Taxes which the Chancellor of the Exchequer had
lately proposed, by a recollection that no measure of
economy or retrenchment had ever met with the sup-
port of his Majesty's Ministers. The reduction of the
two Lay Lords of the Admiralty, who were of no
more use to the Country than the table at which they
stood (hear), had met with their most vigorous oppo-
sition; whilst the grant of £lO,OOO a year to the
Duke of York, which no man above the level of a
brute would have deigned to accept, for such services
as he was bound to render (loud and repeated cries of
Hear, hear!) had met with their most decided and
unqualified support. The reasons for opposing these
Taxes, under the existing circumstances of the Coun-
try, were so self-evident, that it was totally unneces-
sary for him to occupy the time of the Court in re-
peating them. He should therefore move the Court
to declare their opinion of the impolicy of the Taxes
noir Prop*sed, in the fourth year of peace; and to
pray the Honotirable the House of Commons to esta-
blish such retrenchments as would restore the Coun-
try to its ancient happiness and prosperity—(For the
Resolutions, see Advertisement.)
Mr. FAVELL seconded the Motion.—His Honour-
able Friend had said so much in a few words in de-
fence of the Resolution which he had proposed, that
it was totally unnecessary for him (Mr. Favell) to say
k word more upon it. The Representatives of the
People, before they had determined upop granting
new Taxes, ought to have satisfied the Country that
every retrenchment had been made which was con-
sistent with propriety. If the People had been so
satisfied, the Citizens of London would have been the
last persons in the Nation to have objected to addi-
tional Imposts. On a former occasion, when they
had called for economy, retrenchment, and reform,
they had been told, that if they did not like Old Eng-
land, they were at liberty to leave it—(Hear, hear!)
- This was an indirect imputation upon their loyalty,
which they did not merit: though they advocated
• - reform, they were quite as loyal as those who shewed
• themselves the friends of abuse, in order that they
• might prove themselves. in a certain quarter, to be
. the protectors of the Constitution. Though he sup-
ported the present Resolution, he was not one of those
men who wished the Country to despond: on the con-
trary, be thought that it possessed so high a moral
character at present, that it could not fail of effecting
some good, whenever it attempted to perform it, If
• those who directed its resources adhered closely to
the principles of the Constitution. The Honourable
Member then eulogized the conduct of the present
Members for the City ; and said, that all which he and
they were now inclined to demand, was, the institu-
tion of a bona,fide inquiry into the resources of the
Country. This was particularly requisite at the pre-
sent moment, because the People were now called
upon to pay new Taxes in a tune of peace. He would
not condemn the applicatioe of the Sinking Fund to
of the year ; but he would say of it,
or, any of his friends had prophesied
_.instance a few years alto, they would have
Lenounced...ixotnediat,cly .as inveterate Jacobins.
Id hear some very convincing argu-
out the opposite side of the Court, in,

defence of the new Taxes, be should feel himself
bound to vote for the Motion of his lion. Friend.
Mr. SAMUEL DIXON would be ashamed both of
himself and his friends, if they attempted to deny the
distress in which the Lower Orders were at present
involved. IJp thought, however, that when Honour-,
able Gentlefien spoke of those distresses, they ought
not to aggravate them by painting them in the most
glowing colours that language could afford, but that
they should endeavour to alleviate them, by holding
out to the Manufacturing Classes hopes of more
cheering prospects in future.. For his own part, he
attributed a great part of their distress to the in-
creased use of machinery, of which, on its first intro-
duction at Manchester by Sir Robert Arkwright, he
had prophesied, that it would ultimately be produc-
tive of great practical inconvenience to the commu•
nity. Ile could wish that the Gentlemen who cried
out so loudly for reform would please to commence
their system by reforming themselves—(Laughter,
and cries of Hear, hear, hear!) If nothing else about
them required reformation, their language certainly
stood in need of it. They told the same story a hun-
dred times over, exactly in the same phraseology as
they had used when it was first broached—(Hear.)
They never struck out any thing new—they never

Mr. FAVELL rose to order.— The Honourable Gen-
tleman was entering upon charges that were totally
irrelevant, and which were also totally false.
Mr. DIXON maintained, that what he said was nei-
ther irrelevant nor untrue, and appealed to the Peti-
tion of Wednesday, which, he asserted, was almost
word for word the same with the Petition which was
that day to be proposed to their notice.
The Minutes of the Resolutions were then read to
the Court, to decide the question which had risen up
between the two Gentlemen. After which

Mr. DIXON proceeded. The evils of war were not
to cease with the war itself: if the Property Tax had
been continued for two years longer, there would
have been no occasion for the Taxes now proposed ;
that source of revenue had, however, been wrested
from the hands of Ministers, and they had been
obliged to have recourse, in consequence, to another
source, which perhaps was not less objectionable.
The worthy Gentleman then contrasted the conduct
of Sir William Curtis, Sir James Shaw, and the
Lord Mayor, with that of the sitting Members for
the City—( Loud cries of Order ! )--and concluded
with a violent invective against the latter Gentlemen.
Some of them, he said, were desirous of enlighten-
ing the House by the coruscations of their genius
upon every occasion ; one of them, on the contrary,
was just possessed of sense enough to hold his tongue,
and was already christened with the name of Orator
Mum—( Laughter, and loud cries of Order ! )—it
would be better, perhaps, for the reputation of the
others, if they also would imitate his example.
Some tumult arose in consequence of these obser-
vations, in the midst of which Mr. Dixon sat down
Mr. JAMES had such confidence in the House of
Commons, as convinced him that they would not lay
fresh Taxes on the people without the existence of a
strong necessity for so doing. He therefore thought
that it was totally unnecessary to present any Peti-
tion against them.
Mr. OLDHAM observed, that though he would not
enter into any invidious comparison between the
merits of the late and the present Representatives of
the City of London, he could not help saying, that
the latter Gentlemen had no occasion to shrink from
it. They had gained the esteem and confidence of
their fellow-citizens, in the highest degree, even
though they had not gained the approbation of the
honourable Gentleman who had inveighed so strongly
against them. If they had not learned the wisdom
of holding their tongues as much as might he desired
(Hear, hear)—it was owing to the quantity of City
business which they had been obliged to lay before
the House---(Hear, hear).--The charge of too great
loquacity came with a very bad grace from a Gen-
tleman who was always using old jokes and villain-
ous puns in the place of argument—(Hear, hear).—
He would tell him to remember an old maxim, which
was pretty general when he was at school, and for a
few moments to endeavour to knot. himself!—(Hear,
Hear).—lf he would condescend to acquire that
knowledge, he would find that his own speeches
were the most complete olla podrida that were ever
delivered to any public assembly. As to placing
confidence in the House of Commons, he did not
think that their conduct was such as to warrant it :
there was a corrupt majority in that House, which
could pass the most extravagant measures ; aye, even
such a grant as that which had recently been made
to the Duke of York. Though he was averse to Pe-
titioning the House so often as the Court of Common
Connell were inclined to do, he still thought that
this was an occasion when they ought to make known
their sentiments to Parliament.

Alderman WArrusimi agreed to the Resolution,
and remarked, that the conduct of an Honourable
Gentleman (Mr. Dixon) was very extrardinary. He
had accused others of endeavouring to inflame the
passions of the lower orders, by exaggerated pictures
of their misery and distress, and had himself, by his
indiscriminate censure of the use of machinery, done
every thing within his power, to excite them to acts
of riot and destruction—(Hear).—The worthy Alder-
man concluded his speech by commenting upon ob-
scryations which had fallen from the Members who
had spoken before him.

The Resolutions were then put and carried, with
only seven dissentient voices ; after which a Petition,
conformable to them, was agreed to, and ordered to
be presented to the two Houses of Parliament.
The Court was crowded to excess ; a circumstance
which may be attributed, among other causes, to a
ballot for the office of Sword-bearer being fixed for
that day. Mr. Smith was appointed to the office by
a considerable majority.—After disposing of some
other business, the Court adjourned.

Thursday a Ballot was taken at the East /nail-
House, for the determination of the following 'ques-
tion, viz.
" That this Court concur in the recommendation of the Court i
of Directors, as contained in their Resolution of the 20th ult.
.and that the snm of L 60,000 be accordingly granted to be ap.
plied to- the benefit of the Marquis_ of Hastings, in the mode
pointed out M that Resolution, subject to the confirmation of
imoilser General Court."
&six o'cl4l(the glasses were flaally•closed; and
Ilyeredto the scrutineers, who reported, the rtiiinbers to
be—For the question, 414—Agiaittst it, lbl—Mairi-
rity for the question, 223.

COUNTRY MARIETS.

Ostrom), Atm 10.—The price of a Bushel of Wheat —.
The Half-peck Loaf, ougeold, s. 60.
H h I
_ .

BAXECRY, Joxit 10.—Wheat 7s. Od. to Bs, 6d.—Beans, 6s. to
Is 01—Vetches Os Od pet busheL—Barley, 34s to 401—Oats,
28s Od to 34s 041 per quarter—Bread, is 7d half peck—hour,
506 per sack.
lixsatocia, Juxa 10.—Wheat, per load, £l3 Os to £BO Os.
Barley, per quarter, 28. to 44s—Oats 28$ to 35s—Beans
50. to 58s—Peas, 00s to 004—Rye, 00s to 00a.

. • / • the expenditure
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such a circumsta
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