Star.
London, England, 1817-05-23 00:00:00

EDUCATION Or TUt POOL

Mr. BROUGHAM rose to move the revival of
the Committee which sat last Session to inquire into
the state or Education among the poorer Classes in
this Metropolis. He wished also very shortly to state
the object of the motion, as its publicity would the
better enable him to attain.that object. A great deal
of evidence was taken before the former Committee,
and i great deal of that evidence was neces►arily ex
park. It appeared to him that a considerable por-
tioo of it, therefore, was susceptibleot correction and
revision, and it was in order to afford as opportunity
for obtaining that correction, on the part of the wit-
nesses, by another inves►igation, that he now moved
the revival of the Committee. The better to do so,
he was desirous of having it understood that the
Committee would not begin to sit till after the expi-
ration of about ten days.
Tail Motion was then agreed to.
wuroow AND CARRIAGX TAX IN IRELAND.

Mr. SHAW, of Dahlia, rose, pursuant to notice,
to firing under the consideration of the House the
extreme hardship width was felt in many parts of
Ireland, from the. oppreuive duty upon Windows
and Carriages. The Honourable Member went into
a variety of statement* to prove the severity_orthose
Taxes, especially that upon Windows, and mentioned
one case, where a person paying only aft a year fee
rent, paid £24 to the Window and Hearth Tae..u.
The duty on Windows was originally imposed' as a
War Tax, and the war having ceased, he thought it
was but common justice to relieve the people of that
country from the further continuance of the tax.' At
least, if it could not be wholly repealed,, be- *pre-
heuded it would be very practicable to mitigate its
operation ; and he should therefore move that.a Com-
mittee be appointed to take into consideration the
Petition presented from the City of Dublin end other
parts of Ireland against the Window Tax and Car-
riage 'rat,.
Mr. GRATTAN expressed his entire concurrence
in the motion of his Honourable Friend, and his con-
viction of the necessity that some consideration should
be bestowed upon the subject. The persons who
had petitioned against the Tax, especially from Dub-
lin, were all of them respectable householders, and
a most rational, intelligent, and modest set of men.
'His idea was, that some regulation might be adop-
ted, which would relieve the subject, without dimi.
nishing the resources of the country. In any opi-
nion he entertained, or might `are expressed, upon
the subject of those taxes, he did not mean to nit
the slightest imputation upon the motives or the in-'
tegrity of the Right Honourable Gentleman (Mr.
Vesey Fitzgerald) at whose recommendation they
were imposed. He had proved himself an honest
servant of the Crown, mediating between it and the
people, and doing justice to the one, without irgits-1
ting or oppressing the other. It was impossible, how.
ever, in so large a system of taxation, that some
parts of it should not need correction, and any person
might manifest a wish to obtain that correction with. ;
out throwing a blemish upon the individual by whom
the system WAS proposed.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
said, that though lie differed in some 'respects from
the views entertained by the Honourable Member
who brought forward the present question, yet he 11
was most r.:ady to do justice to the candid
in which he had argued it. While, however, that
House would feel disposed to attend to any particu-
lar inconvenience felt from the operation of a Tax.
they were equally bound to attend to the general
burden which must be borne by the whole Empire.
He thought the object of the Honourable Member'
would be best attained by referring the petitioners to
.the Committee of Finance, rather than to any sepa-
rate Committee. The whole taxation of the country
must come tinder the consideration of that Commit.
tee ; and he would therefore move as an arnendmenr,
that the said Petition be referred to the Committee
on Finance.

Sir JOHN NEWPORT said, if the Home wish td
to have a WE eartatiaatioa of the 11113Pery they wood

'not consent to send the Petitions to the Finance
Committee. One reason why. he should object to
doing •SO, was because there was not, at most, mdre
than one or two Is ish Members in it; and though he
had no doubt the Members of that Committee would
do their duty, in what related to Ireland as well as
to England, yet, in a question affecting It eland alone,
he could not help thinking that Irishmen were most
likely to be influenced by the necessary zeal and
anxiety. There was another consideration. Tne
business already before the Committee was quite
enough to occupy all its attention. With :expect to
the taxes complained of, in condemning th:•ir opera-
tion, he disclaimed any intention of reproaching the
Right Honourable Gentleman who proposed them.
He was called upon, by his situation, to make great
'exertions during the war ; he did so, and Ireland cor-
responded to them, by drawing upon her capital to
1 meet his demands. But the war being over, she had
a right to expect from the justice of LnglAnd a re-
mission of those claims.

Mr. VESEY FITZGERALD, in explaining the
views which induced him to lay those Taxes upon
Ireland, admitted, that he believed there was uo b
of men more entitled to relief than the Petitioners, it
that relief were consistent with the welfare of the
Empire at large ;_ and he hoped the reference of the
Petitions to the Finance Committee would not ope-
rate in the way wh:ch the Right HJO. Baronet ap-
prehended.
Mr. PLUNKETT said, he thought it would be
much better to understand at once whether it was
likely any relict would be granted, rather than send
the Petitions to a Committee, merely as a way of
getting rid of them. No new light could be thrown
upon the subject of them by any investigation before
the Finance Committee. With respect to the Win-
dow Tax, it was certainly a War Tax originally
but he did not therefore mean to say it should be
struck off, though it ctrtainly constituted some
ground for complaint, and some claim for a mitiga-
tion of its assessments on the part of the Petitioners.
It was felt most severely in Dublin, where hundreds
of personi were compelled to stop up their lights,
thus excluding the fresh air, and causing the most
deplorable consequences from contagious disorders.
If no relief could be granted, in GoD's name let it
be so declared, and they must submit to it, which
would be infinitely better than deluding them with
hopes that were never meant to be realized.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
reminded the House that the Assessed Taxes of Ire.
land stood pledged for the payment of the interest
upon its permanent debt. They had to consider,
therefore, whether she could stipply the means of
defraying that charge, by the op ration of a reason-
able system of taxation ? He was as desirous as any
one to afford relief, if it could be done without dimi-
nishing the income of the country. The mode of
effecting that would demand some inquiry, and he
much doubted whether any inquiry could be made
that would enable them to' legislate upon the subject
this Session. That was the reason why he proposed
to refer the Peuti .ns to the Finance Committee.

Mr. MAURICE FITZGERALD said, that he
understood the Right Hon. the Chancellor of the
Exchequer to state that this tax stood pledged as a
part of the permanent revenue .of Ireland. That was
impossible, as the Act of rarliament gave it an ex-
press duration for three years, or during the war.—
zogland, on the arrival of peace, had received as a
boon a diminution et 17 millions of taxes, while to
Ireland,' whose means of meeting taxation were so re-
duced by the abruptness of that measure, nothing
WAS granted brit about £90,000 in the repeal of cer-
tain duties. He would vote for a Special Committee,
anyother inference was but to smother disapprobation.
Sirs N. COLTHIJ RST and H. PA RNEL L pres-
sed the Chancellor of the Exchequer to weigh the
pressure on Ireland, and send the subject to the eta-
amination bf a Special Committee.
Mr. BROUGHAM contended it 'was the only
practicable course, as by sending it to the Finance
Committee either its other comparatively more im-
portant duties must be suspended, or no regard would
, be paid to the present subject.
Mr. VESEY FITZGERALD to gratify all par.
ties would press on his Right Hon. Friend, the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, to accede to the motion.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
observed, that he was not so wedded to his own opi-
nion as to the manner of disposing of the present sub-
ject, as to decline taking the course must likely to
Iratify those Gentlemen so intimately connected with
reland. But he wished to say, that a plan had lately
been before him for re-modelling the whole system
rof the collection of the Assessed Taxes in Ireland,
on which he had suspended his decision until he should
avail himself of a local investigation on the spot.
Sir JOHN NEWPORT suggested the propriety
in consequence of the information the House had jua
received, of withdrawing the motion. The presence
of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, lie sincerely
trusted, would hare the beneficial effect of establish-
ing that long wanted desideratum in Ireland, an ef-
ficient check on the Collectors of the public money
(War, bar,)—as there WJS scarcely a year but there
were detalcations to a considerable Aanouut ; iu some
instances as much as /120,000.

Mr. SHAW, under the hope that he adopted the
course most beneficial to his constituents, consented
to withdraw his motion.