Star.
London, England, 1820-05-02 00:00:00

COLONIAL DLTTLES.

Mr.BROUGHAM• had now to move for a Piper,
neerisary for the discussion which was to have oc-
curred upon Thursday, but which it was now under-1
stood wcald be deferred till Friday. For the better
elucidation of the subject then to be considered, and
of which he had already submitted OW or two no-
tices, it would be proper that he should move for the
presentation of an humble Address to his Majesty,
praying him to direct the production of a document
which must in fact be considered as a private docu-
went, because there was no .Act of Parliament under
which he could be enabled to get at it. For the con-
venience .6r the Noble Lord not now in his place,.
and who, 6e believed, was indisposed, it had been
intimated that the discussion in question v.ould not
occi:i till Friday. lie should therefore previously
st.eve such Address, praying his Majesty to direct
that there may be laid before this House, the copy of
an Act passed by the Government of the Lland of
Barhadoes, iu the year 1663, laying a duty of 444
per cent. upon all produce exported. This Act, the
house would observe, applied to Barhadoes, Gre-
Dis I A, and the other Settlements, which ia, the

year 1663 were considered the a captured Islands ;'
and in the weljs-known case of Paul Campbell against'
the Crown, it as held that that Barbadoes Act did
riot apply to the Leeward Islands. Having no cer-
.tain dates upon which he could make a specific mo-
tion, he would, with the leave of the House, submit,
in addition, the general proposition of " all other
Acts authorizing the Crown to levy a duty of 414
percent. upon produce exported from the West In-
dian Islands."—Agreed to.

- - wEfull'ES AND MEASURES.
Mr. H. SUMNER said, the County of Surrey la-
boured under very great inconveniencies, owing to
the varying and uncertain state of weights and mea-
sures. The Honourable Gentleman stated, that
the City of London had formerly felt the great I
inconvenience and disadvantage of a similar state of
things, and conceived that, acting tinder their own
authority, they were capable of subdiving the stand-
ard measure in the Exchequer, and of making those
subdivisions the standards of weights and measures
their jurisdiction. Now the County of Scrrey
having no means of obtaining that standard Exche-
quer measure, took its own standard from that of
the City of London, and nothing could be executed
with more apparent accuracy than these weights and
measures of the County were. But the County was
immediately convicted for having so done, and now
laboured under the state of one using weights and
measures no longer established by law ; the conse-
quence was, that the Public were liable to be de-
frauded
to any excess, without any possibility of re-
ess. At the time when he first brought this sub-
ject under the notice of Parliament, he gave notice
'that he should move for leave to bring in a Bill in
order to remedy so great and manifest an inconveni-
ence ; but the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on that
occasion; seemed to wi,ll that he (Mr. Sumner)
should suspend such a measure, seeing that a Corn-
!
mittee had been already. appointed to inquire into
matters of this kind ; and to intimate, that in conse-
quence • some general Bill relative to weights and
measures would be introduced by his Majesty's Mi-
nisters. Thus the case had ctood two years; and
though he was perfectly aware that the labours of,
the Committee had been greatly retarded, in conse-
quence of investigating new specimens of Bank notes,
yet be thought it time that some definitive infortna-
firm on the subject should be afforded ; and his ob-
ject in now rising was to ask the Chancellor of the',
Exchequer whether the labours of that Committee
were concluded, or whether, in consequence of their
investigation, it was their intention to introduce any
general measure relative to establishing a standard of
weights and measures?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER
was not entirely prepared to answer the question of,
the Hon. Gentleman. The subject was one which
had lo:ig occupied the attention of his Majesty's Mi7l
rsters. He was quite aware of its importance, but,
he apprehended that no general measure could be'
brought in during the present Session: some preli-
minary steps, however, might be taken.