The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1833-03-12 00:00:00

VACCINE BOARD.

Mr. WARBURTON moved for a select committee to inquire
into the expediency of continuing the Vaccine Board.
Mr. llw►,Foan objected to abruptly breaking up the present
board.

The motion was agreed to, and the committee appointed.

DISTRIBUTION OF THE FORCES.

Mr. HumE rose to ask the house to order some information of con-
siderable importance. Our army estimates were for 90,000 troops.
Now he wished to know in what manner they were distributed,
in order to judge of the practicability of reducing them. hey
were scattered over our possessions, and he did not see why a
detailed account should not be laid before the house. The hon.
member then moved for returns of the Ilistribution of the regu-
lar military ftirce in 1833, in England, Scotland, Ireland, and
the Colonies. distinguishing the old from the new Colonies.
Lord ALTHORP hoped the house would do him the justice to
give him credit for a readiness to give information whenever it
could be done with security to the public service. With regard
to the motion of the hon. gentleman, it had been made in iBl9
and acceded to, and likewise last year. In the interval, how-
ever, such information had never been laid before the house,
nor, he believed, prior to 1819. Although, therefore, there were
precedents for the motion of the honourable member, it had not
been the ordinary custom; and it might be, on some occasions,
very undesirable to give public notice of the distribution of our
force. It would be extremely inconvenient if it were the habit
and Practice of the house to call for this information ; for if that
were the case, it might be very difficult for the government to
resist giving it when it might be dangerous to do so. For this
reason, it might be objectionable to accede to the motion in the
present session (though this, he admitted, was a trifling objec-
tion;) but in addition to the objection of making it the perma-
nent practice of the house, he stated on his responsibility as a
minister, that there were circumstances which rendered it in-
convenient to the public service to state the direct distribution
of our force, and therefore he was bound to object to the motion
of the hon. member. (Hear.)
Colonel DAVIES Observed, that when he saw the motion on
the paper, he never supposed there could possibly be an objec-
tion to it: We were in profound peace, there was no danger of
any of our foreign possessions being attacked, (hear,) and if
there was, that was a poor excuse to the House of Commons.
If foreign powers wished to know the force of any of our garri-
sons, they could ascertain it in spite of all our precautions. He
wished to know why the information could not be given.
Sir J. lionnousx said, there was sufficient information before the
house already for all purposes of argument on the estimates. The
house would never require an account of the distribution of the army
abroad, which should be left to the discretion of Government. (Hear.)
With colonies spread all over the globe, in the East Indies, and in the
West Indies, and in all parts of the world, would it not be the grossest
imprudence to call upon the Government to tell what number of regi-
ments were placed in the different parts ? It would be doing what the
House of Commons ought not, could not do,—exposing this informa-
tion to the eyes of those whose interest it might he to take advantage
of the information. Let it be remembered it was not to the hon. mem-
ber, nor to the• Parliament only, for he should be ready to communi-
cate it to the house, but it would be told to all the world in what part
of the globe our force was distributed. (Hear.)
After some observations from Mr. O'Connell, Mr. Wynn, Mr. Bol-
ling, Mr. Shia, Colonel Torrens, and Captain Hondas ;
Mr. Hume was heard in reply ; when the committee divided, the
numbers were :

•
For the motion
Against it

201

Majority

178

TAXATION.
On the question that the report of the committee of ways and
means he brought up.
Mr. Co nutty!. said that he had intended to submit to the house the
resolutions which he before proposed relative to the stamp duties,
which resolutions proved that the landholders, nobility, and clergy,
had imposed taxes to the amount of £8,000,000 upon the poor, from
which they themselves escaped almost entirely ; but it had occurred
to him, and he had mentioned the matter to the noble lord, that he
had better postpone the subject until the great question with respect
to Ireland should he finally settled. He took the opportunity of
stating this lest it might be supposed that he had abandoned the idea
of bringing it forward.
Mr. S. Rica next addressed the house, apparently in a somewhat
excited state, and said that the hon. member had postponed his
motion in a manner which would give rise to an argument, and sugge t
an inference. (A laugh.) Ile denied the inference and disputed the
argument, and he would tell the hon. member that all he desired was
a clear stage and no favour to dispute every point which the hon.
member had advanced. (Hear.) Ile denied that there had been on
the part of the Parliament a disposition to oppress the poor and farm:4'
the rich, though it might answer the hon. member's object to say so.
(Hear, hear.) He would meet the hon. member,—he would cope
with him,—he would stand foot to foot, and his motto_should be " God
protect the right." (Great laughter.) There was no position in the
book of fallacies which the hon. member had availed-himself of his
privilege of parliament to print at the public expense, in order to