Star.
London, England, 1817-05-10 00:00:00

IVATVitDAY, MAY 10, 1817.

P-11cL I a MEN, .tP4. riOcssultros.

HOUSE OF 'ARDS; MAY-.".
lu the(2l.lel-. hairy Appeal CaaArts. the Lem) CIIANCILLOX
porponed his judament until Monday
Counsel were finally hiard on chi Scots Cause, Black v. Camp-
bell.—Judgmellt rcutpenell.
1.1 tbe'eami (A.ToWard v. Sellars, Counsel were partly beard.-..-
proteed nails ou Monday.
Owen's avnretillill was real a th;rd tine and passed.
Ballees*Dieoree I3lu was read the second time, and commit.
ted fereTbursd.y.

EITRNTS lif MD.
Is- l'uk •.; PEAUFOItT presented a Petit:on
frr m certain Merchants, Traders and others, inhabi-

tints of the City of:Bristol, setting forth the injurious
trl deney and operation of the presedt practise undrr
the issue of Extents in Aid, more especiallf in many
eases of Banieruptcy, and the miter& of Cowry'
&rakers, of .which some instances were detailed, and

concluding with praying relief ham the pressure of;

the grievance. .-.
The Petition, nhich was of c, it Metairie length,
being P•ad,loisiiitUred to lie on she table.
The Lail UDE it DALE bac testimony to
a great deal of whitc.,-was- saikka to by the Peti•
tioners, as to the great inconveniencea and inforioui
consequences recuititqt from the practice of Extents
in Aid—to obviate which would be rendering a great
service to the public. lie also deprecated the prac-
tice of suffering Country Bankers to be in the least
concerned in the collection of the public revenue.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL concurred in the
timents of the Noble Lord. He had, as far as his

appointments went, made it a distinct rule not to
employ any one in the situation of a Collector of the
Revenue, without an understanding at the time, that
...

the party had not, nor ever wouldi.ve, any connec-
tion with a Country Bank; but regulations of that
kind would be more effectually made through the
medium of an Act of Parliament—.( Wear, beet?).
The Earl of ROSSLYN strongly felt the senti-
ments entertained by t!3e two preceding speakers, and
thought unfavourably in general of the practice of
rendering private Banks depositaries of public money;
not to.employ Bankers in the collections, he therefore
thought, did not go Lit enough. He also deprecated
the practice under these processes which went to the
prejudice of all other creditors except the Crown ;
and it appeared to him to be a question how far an
_individual may not cover his own debts under cover
of debts to the Crown. Such a declaration as that
made by the Noble Lord, as Isom one high in office,
was highly laudable ; but it would be much better to
decide such points hy.distinct legislative regulation.

room LAWS.,

The Earl of LIVERPOOL rose to bring &rward
his promised motion o.s this subject. The reason of
his not coming forward at an earlier period of the Ses-
sion was, as their Lordships would see from the votes
of the other House of Parliament. that the.subject
was elsewhere in a train of investigation, and it Might
have-been.delitable for their Lordships to have tie
malt of theise inquiries. It w*s at the-same time
considered, that some inconvenience might be found
to arise from inquiries going on in both Houses. and
it might be desirable to see what course would be
adopted. He believed it might not be regular to
make any observations upon proceedings that took
place in the other House at Parliament, yet he would
express his belief, that the Members of that Commit-
tee were most anxious in directing their attention to
the subject committed to them, and he doubted not
but a great mass of. valuable iofigenatipp wocld. be
diawi from 01110-ther:cOeifdetgtion
howeier, and from the opinionsA persons quite con-
versant in such topics than hiimetf, that considerable
'advantage would result from.an investigation'made
directly on the part of their Ltirdahips House, in
which opinion •he Was induced •to coincide i • he
was about to conclude the few. Observations he hm] to
make on this stage of the subject, by moving forthe
appointment .or x Cominittee for the,Purpuse. He
thought this to be the most eligible and convenient
mode of proceeding.. A subjeet of so extensive and
complicated a nature could be much better discussed
in a Committee than publicly in the House. As to
the suf-ject itself, whatever opinions may be enter-
tained as to the degree and extent of the inconve-
niences which prevailed under the existing system of
the Poor Laws, time was, he believed, a greater
difference of opinion as to the remedies to be applied.
It was in these the great difficulty was found to lie.
In viewing the subject generally, it should be Consi-
dered that die system had existed for more than two
centuries. Many memoirs of relief, therefore, which
timuld, in the earlier stages of its continuance be.
lotted easy of adoption, would be found now almost
entirely impracticable; and of this he thought theit
Lordships, in the coarse of the investigatioo, wooldo
be fully sensible. Under such circumstances he thought
the procedure he was about to recommend would be
found highly advantageous. He felt that was an
extreme anxiety on the part of many Noble Lords to
give their earnest attention to the subject. He was
equally sure they all had but one object in view;
and that whatever difference of sentiment might
prevail as to the nature and extent of the remedies
that may be applied, there would be none whatever
as to the object to be attained—the amelioration of
the state of those who were most interested in the re-
sult of their inquiries. The Noble Earl then moved
for the appointment of a Committee to consider of.
And to report upon the present state of the laws;
which being agreed to, it was proposed that the
Committee should consist of all the Lords present
this Sessions and that the-Committee should have
power to appoint their own Chairman.
Lord ST. JOHN expressed his acquiescence in a
great deal of what had fallen from the Noble Zan. I
In the consideration of the subjeet he trusted would
be included what alteration would be made in those
laws, so as to afford some effectual relief to the un.
fortunate objects who are so oppressed by them. The
principle upon which those laws proceeded should. he
thought, be made a part of the consideration, aid
still ninth what alterations may be made as to those

. •

ochre which art thodatt to be the caves which add
so much to the burdens of the poor: occurred to
Many thtt much of tht actust digress of the poor
arise from the nattwe of the burdens titat now exist
in the count! y. These coOsikleratictos, whia: went to
affect the state of trade and "commerce. should also,
to among the subjects of d;scuss;on, with a stew to
see what relief cotod %afforded that War. He
jdid
not entirely agree that the subject could be better
discussed in private in*public ybut as the Ncrble
Earl preferred the former course, he would lay on
More on that point, but sbnold fordially agree to the
motion.

Lord HOLLAND was ready to ackn'owledge that`
no person could be less conversant than himself nn
the subject of the Poor Laws; but he-was sufficiently
aware of the tendency, and still • more al. Vle effect of
these laws. not to know that the motion, if properlY
followed up by Parliament, would be• tit, greatest
booa that the Noble Lord could confer on the ((rat-
try.. There was no steNject whatever, if Parliament
mild devise a remedy, •that a remedy could be ap-
plied to with greater advantage to the cotint4r;' "e
hie no Jiesisation in stating that sw-tatarttitl. Inas:
harder, thoughoriginating in the purest motives, than
the present amens of the Peor Latta did on the poor
of this country. Their effects upon its population
were dreadful, and were ton -often converted into en-
Igifts of oppresstbn. against the lower orders. Such
a motion, therefore, had his complete and cordi.il^
concurrence. The Noble Lord had justly said that
the injurious consequences of the system were soon
perceived, but that the difficulty lay in pointing out
the remedy. The extent and cause of those evils
could best be discussed in the Committee, and he had
strong hopes that a gradual remedy may be sug-
gested. He perfectly agreed with what the late
Reverend Mr. Joseph Townsend had said upon the
subject, in a work published by that Gentleinan,
1786. And, though the business was fraught with
many difficulties, yet, he thought, the principle of kis
(Mr. Townsend's) remedies may be adopted. extend-
log its duration from ten to a longer number of years.
He had no doubt of its having the effect of doing
away many of the evils of the Poor Laws. But these
would be matter for the consideration of the Com-
mittee. He would therefore give his vote fir the
mt4ton, of the Nr)ble Earl, in the strong hope, that
even before the end of this Scsiion of Parliament,
ionic advantageous result would be produced.
The question was thetl put, and the motion unani-
mously concurred in by their Lordships.