Star.
London, England, 1828-02-26 00:00:00

inced that he }tai been tight in doing as he had
done, and would maint 4in, that' ii he scale of expendi.
tote which Lord Castlereagh had cleaned to bestith-
dent in 1818 had been adhered to, whicb it ()tight to
have been, the country could have been saved no less
a sum than 65,000,000/. The syst m was quite a rui,lous
one. They borrowed at COI. or 701. per cent. and paid
at 801. or 901. He hoped the House would agre4 to no
Tote until the accounts were-revised. He was deter.

mined to embrace every opportunity of impressing upon
the House the necessity of reduction in the public ex-
penditure.
Sir CHRISTOPHER COLE said, he should trouble
the House with a few observations, as he looked upon
the subject to be one of great importance. A return
of the expenditure of 1792 had been moved for and
laid upon the table—he supposed for the purpose of
patting it in competition with the expenditure of
1828. Considering the very different circumstances
in which the country stood at both periods, he did
not think the comparison a fair one. In 1792 he
was in the service, and then on the East India station.
The force there at that time was the same as now, but
the service to be performed was much less important
and less extensive than at present.
.They had then to
watch only to two sides cf the Peninsula of India, the
other two being in the possession of other European
Powers: Now they were under ti e necessity of having
part of their squadron in the Straits of M d :cca, and of
having a force in the Persian.G till to keep down piracy.
They had also the Alauritius arid the Cape of Good
Hope to attend to. This was enough to spew that no
comparison could be ins,ituted between the two pe-
riods, The service of South America also required
a much larger. force; nn; must they put out of con-
sideration the increasing naval- strength of North
America. It was true that in Europe the former naval
power of Spain bad been destroyed, but then another
naval Power, that of Russia, had grown up, and was
much greater than had been ever possessed by Spain.
The return for 1792 had been moved for by the Hon.
Geatleman opposite (\lr. Hume), and he understood
the Hon. Gentleman expected to produce a great effect
by it. He was seldom in the habit cf addressing the
House, and he trusted he should be pardoned for thus
trespassing on their ettention—(Hear, hear). His only
motive for rising was, that he thought it important to
point out same of those circumstances, which at the
present period rendered a larger naval force than they
had in 1792 necessary.
Mr. Secretary PEEL said he wished to say a few
words with respect to the constitution of the Finance
Committee, in reference to what had fallen from' his
Gallant Friend (Sir J. Yorke.) He could assure his
Gallant Friend that in appointing that Committee and
constituting it as it was, not the slightest reflection was
meant either upon the Navy or any other branch of the
public service. The Committee were disposed. to enquire
diligently into every branch of the pub Tic expenditure;
and that enquiry would not, he trusted, be the less
effectual, because there were no members of the Com-
mittee immediately connected with the Navy. They had,
since their appointment, examined two gallant friends
of his, who, no doubt, were able to giv e full and import-
ant information relating to that branch of the service.
The House must see that, in a Committee, consisting r f
no more than 21 persons, the choice was necessarily
very limited. It was de..itable that ther••should be
placed on it individuals' connected with Ireland and
Scotland, and such Members as bad devoted their at-
eention•more particularly to objects c.f Finance. It was
difSculf, -the number being 44).- limited, to gratify all
parties. The -opportunity which would be afforded;
and no doubt embraced, of examining every person cone
aeeted either -with the. Navy, the Army, or any other
branch of-the-public service, he thought, would be .uf:
dent' for obtaining all the, ,information desired. He
could assure the Hon. Alderman that he quite misun-
derstood what had fallen.from him on a previous night.
He never meant,to:tueationhit right of entering, in a
Committee of Supply, into general observations. What
he stated was, that it *Mild be -difficult to ground any
practicalmerion,on the speech of the Hon. Alderman,
as hedidnotlceinfo details, or pointxvut any particular
iteist in wilich- a reduction could be effected.
Sir G. COCK-BURN said he could assure his Gallar t
Friend behind him (Sir C. Cole) that the various joints
to which he alluded ks to the necessities of the service
now and in. 1792, had not escaped the attention of the
Committee: There could be no difficulty in shewing
why 30,000 seamen-were required now, though 19,000
might have been sufficient in 1817. He could satisfy
the House on all those points, but, having gone into
them before the Finance Committee, he could see. no
use in repeating What he stated in his examination.
Mr. IVARBURTON said he hoped no alteration
would be made in the constitution of the Committee, as
:the formation of it 'had' given very general satisfaction.
The Resolutioretvat thtlir agreed to, and the report
ordered to be'received to-morrow.
A Rail' RSTIMATIS.

The Report of• &via,/ on the Atmy and Ordnance Estimates
was brought up. °tithe questioU that the Report be read, .
Sir JOHN BRYDGES condemned the late Adrr.i•
nistration for reduCing the yeomanry forces •of the
country. He did not much envy, he said, the condition
of the_ late 111:nistry. It was defunct, however, and
peace to its m it;e,. He uould content himself at pre-
sent with applying to it the epitaph upon Sir _John
Vanbrugh—

" I le heavy on him Earth, far he
" Laid many a heavy load on thee."

The Hon. Baronet concluded by repeating his disap-
pro' ation of the conduct• of the late Administlation, for
n t having made any acknewledgment of its services to
a body of men who had been tbe patriotic protectors
of their altars and their homes.

Mr. S. RICE said, he begged to state, on the part of
the Noble Lord (Latisdown), with whorn,he had, the
honour of•acting in th.!llite Administration, that nothing
was further from his mind, in reducing the Yeomanry,
than to cast the least reflection on the former services of
these corps. But the fact was, that at present the extent
of their services was as nothing compared with the ex-
pew. Though effe:tive in some districts, yet when the
service could be only pal tial, and the expense must be
general, would it under existing circumstances be right
to keep up such a. force? In the Circular which his
Noble Friend (the Marquis of Linsdown) addressed
to the Commanders of these 'corps, it was distinctly
stated, that this reduction arose floras a determina-
tion of the Government to act on a •principle of
economy. How then could it be supposed that any
reflection was meant upon the yeomanry ? Devon.
shirealone the charge on the public, during ten years,
for the yeomanry corps of that county was 14.0001.
a year, though during the whole of that timethey*ere
never required to render any service. The late Gi-
vernment, in proposing this measure, acted upon two
principles.-the firsts plinciple of economy,, arid the
:secend a wish not to appiat to consider force as neces-
'sary to their support. The fact was, that•with the ex-
.ception of a few districts, the yeomanry had• become
'utterly useless, and were kept up merely inconsequence
-of the pleasures which some Gentlemen took in soldier-