The Statesman.
London, England, 1823-02-22 00:00:00

or three objects t one was the paying off the debt due to this
public, and so tar there should be rso other purpose; the
other was for going on with the war, by an accumulation at
momponnd interest. whenever the enemy pleased to attack
us. Bat he would call upon Ministers to state what the real
object of the Sinking Fund was? Was it to be applied by
...emptied interest to the reduction of the debt, or was it for
t►e purposes of war? I the of the objects should be distinctly
explyined, and Ministers ought to make an honest avowal.
—lf I. were necessary to repeal aggression it was more
coefoitctlnnal that Ministers should come down to that House
and call for a war expenditure to be regularly voted, than
to apply a fond appropriated to the paying off a public d. bt
to repecling a foreign enemy. He had felt it his duty to
make these few observations in support of the prierlp!es
which he had Althea,' advocated, and explanatory of that
. .

tile of conduct which It was his determinitton to itteport.
Mr. A: BARING said he had felt considerable plea-
Yore at hearing the able and eloquent statement of the
Kiehl Hu gaurahle the Chancellor of the Exchequer.—
Nit dug could he more explicit or clear, and as far as he
understood that Right lion. Gen:leman, lie felt con-
vinced that nothing could be more sound oe satisfactory
to the country. He did, howese-, conceive with the
Homalsonher fir Porta•lingt n (atr.Ricearda,) that the
SinkingFun4.aa it now stilud,wnst he rated at 3,000,0001.
lost ad of 5 000,9001. but he was pleased to find, that we
had a permanent Sinkime Fend of even 3,ooo,eiHtl. by
which there might he produ,•ed a remiss on of taxes to'
the amount of 2,2110.11f0i. In viewing the situ itioe of •
the country, he could not suet) use, that even a Sinkiog
Fund (which was a term in great disrepute) could go ota
without a surplus Revenue, so as to support the public
credit of the nation, or its independrnee in the world:—et .
But the Hon. Member was for sweeping it away altoge-
ther, on account of the expences necessary to maiettin it.
He did not know any ground for exceeding to that tyro.
sition beyond the advice of the Right Bon. Member
himself. He would now ray a word about that out awe
calumniated principle the Old Sinking Fund if air:
ts i eg tended to our repreaeh in that principle, it ea.,
that we li id allowed it to obtain a bad name. Howeve!,
in the commencement no Statesman could have foreseen
the protracted war in which this country wassuhseqmmen.-
ly plunged. Previously to the French revolution these
was no war in which the English were engaged, of more
than five or six years duration ; and generally, before
that period. the distress of our fiaances put a termination
to hostilities. The country, by the establishment
of
the Sinking Fund, alas enable I to go en vetch longer,
and to maintain the system of extr4ordinary wartare
with unparalleled ener;:y and success. It was not time
Sinking Fund to which the country could rationally ob-
ject, hut to a system of mismanagement totally distinct
Ifrom the principle of its original institution (hear hear
a sys•em which, while it created a nominal Sinking
Fund of 16,Mt0,0001. or 11,0011,0001., left no stuff:
cleat capital to liquidate the public debt in the man-
ner originally proposed. The Ilosoureble Mem-
b-r fur Aberdeen (Alr. Hume) had attemot-
ed to sheer, in the Resolutions which he had formerly sub-
mitted to the house, the absurdity of time Sinking Fond ;
hut which objection applied to the Sinking Fund when
fallacious, and not real. He (Mr. Baring) wou'd • alio
see the country in pYssessiun of a Sinking Fund ot esee
4,1100,00111.. or 3,1100,010 b, or 2,500,0001. if applied by
compound intriest to the reduction of the debt, Bete
without any such fund. The opposition to the Sinking
Fond, he was convinced, arose from mistake, as if tt:e
system of mimeo timil interest had never been contemplated
in its original 'fortnetion. Bat that system of compolett •
interest Wit't 100014 for time purpose of nut disturbieg
the taxes every year. The Hunourahle Member ha I
stated. th mt one o ,sand p tunds annually applied womull
only have the Caine effect as 1,0001. at compound interest
in discharge of the debt. But it was clear that-,11 tt mem-
mnlating ieterest preelnded the necessity of a 'limiter stun
moving in the shape of taxation. He was not fora eine of
200,000/. or:m00,900f. being thrown upon the Table to Le
scratuned for every yeir by every interns: that cunceiven
it had a right to divide the spoil. What he wished t
see established was a real and efficieut Sinking Fu•
to the amount of 5,900.1100 f. in its original and legs -
mate operation, Many Goalie:eel might ask *hat us.;
the c'e tit continuing a Sinking Fund of 4 000.1100!.
5.1100,01101. or %vie:• effectual relief could be afforded frost
it, nook the country laboered under r debt of upwar:.te
of 800,000,09111. ? •lo ties he would answer, that a stee.ey
and permanent Sinliirg Fund to the amount of
5,000,0110/. would give a stability to public credit, and at
the same time enable Ministers to obtain a supply fur
any defend which, under peculiar circumstances, they
might fie' it necessary to make upon the country (lea-,
hear!). By the oeeration of an efficient Sinking Fent:,
Government would hr enabled to reduce the 4 per cerit!..
to 3 per cents.; it would in short citable them to estalmi
such a system as would give them the power of ineeline•
all the demands wleeti the 'mink services might require. It
had been urged, and strongly urged, that the agricultural
interests were surely distressed; true they were severity
distressed ; hut those who proposed. the abolition of time
Sinking Fund as a means of relieving them, were mistaken.
Any relief which the abolition of the Sinking Fund, sup-
posing it to be applied to the agricultural distresses, would
be poor and paltry ; whir, on time other hand, it would have
the effect of directing the thating capital of the country into
over and perhaps immure eistailt channels. Should this be
the case, no persons wonld suffer more severely than those
agriculturists, roe whose benefit the measure was proposed.
—(Rear, hear.) Having said so much, he now felt it neces-
sary to ask the Right lion. the Chancellor of the Exchequer
in what shape it was intended to continue the operations of
the Sinking Fund?
The CII e X cur.ort of the EXCHEQUER sad he bad
forgutteim to mention met it was his intention to propose a
measure which would have the effect or simplifying the ope-
rations of the Sinking Fund.—(Bear, hear.)
Mr. RORER TeON made sums observations which
were not perfectly audible in the Gallery ; we tinderstoed
the Honooreble Member to contend in favour of the II!'-
cessity of supporting the Landed Interest—al I ritere:t
upon which, alter all, the Govern:molt must rely for its re-
euarces.—(Hear, hear )
dlr. HIJAIE. commenced by observing that lie never
Lenard a statement from Alimmisters with more pleasure
than he had heard that of the Right lion. Gent. opposite
(near, hear.) IM could not, however, help expressing
something like re. ret, at hearing it stee I, that the Sink-
ing Fund yin, as i• was now constituted, calculated of
support public credit. Ile contended that the present
Sinking Fund placed in time pourer of Mitmis'ers a !Mid Ile
moues which it was not likely, if not cer:ain, they would
apply to any thing but its pro?er us- (hear, hear )
arid contended that the hen st p would be to give the
country relief from Taxation to the amount of the 111114
now protemseui to be kept as a Sinking Fula Let this lie
done, aid Alittisters milt with every confidence rely
upon the exertions of the country, should circoom-
stances arise to coil Ahem forth (hear, hear trout
the Opposition :) Ile joined With the Chancellor of
the Excheyeer in the %%jab to mei 'mean the public credit.
In every situation faith ought to t e kept, and he trusted
that the Landed Interest would not seek relief by any
act that iv oolil he irjeriuus to rite other interests of the
country, hut-Gm:it they would minim their efforts in forcing
upon the. Alinismc a redaction ot taxes.
The other Sp'eakers in the Co onmittee wtre IlMr. T.
Wi:son, Sir Henry Parnell, Lard lifulkestone, M r.G. Bea-
net, Lord Alilton, S.r lt,liert Wilson, Mr. Wodehottse,
au lal r..lteunett. 'rite Charlie lor el tee Exchequer r.-
plied to some "hi ovaions et Air. tlimmmtlimouse on the Malt
d airs, when the Resolatlo us were agreed to, and the
House resettled:
On the niotien of 11r. LUSH I NfiTON, it was ordered
that the Howe should resolve its, It into a Committee on
the Assessed Toes oe Moemlav, when the measures al-
;need to in the.eretemeet "of the Client ellor of the &eche-
qeer would he broneet Mew urml iu; detail.
Ti e other Orders of time Day were milspoted vf, and the
Howse adj murned at lielf-2ast Tea.