The Statesman.
London, England, 1810-06-01 00:00:00

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their 'termite taillspeeed with their int pond ito re.r—
Elm lititre,wfa Roy,* prospect of their Wiwi able
considerably to. redlice their military estahlish,
mens, •He further Mated that. the Goverment.
had called upon the Company to give licences. fur
indiriduabl trade to Africa, the Red Sea, alt 4 Sou-
thern Continenkcif America. The House, bow.
tier, would haveiluture opportunity of regain.
mg the India Trade in whatever manlier
,shoula
appear most proper. He concluded by moving, as
ab. ve, That one million and a half of Exchequer
Bills, &C.
Mr. CREEV EY stated, that he bad littlecoofi.
,dirseoin the security proffered for this sum. It
wit remarkable, that, as to'lndia, the lion. Gentle.
than had only been able to shew a decrease of de.
ficit —he had said nothing of surplus. He con..
tended, in oppomition to the last speaker, that in.
crease of investment,was not necessarily a source
of prufit. Where the trade was a losing one, it
was a means of loss ; and he referred to Lord
Minto's letter; to phew , bow the matter stood in
the veleta instance. The Company had com.
pletely failed in their engagements to the public ;
and instead of nine Anions, which they ought to
have paid by this time, they had only paid 500,0001.
~Mr. DUNDA,S observed, that the affairs of the
Company could not be considered es a mere mor.
cantiloconeeen, ' They were not to be considered
el . bankrupt,. beatific their commercial progit
here could net inswer.the India bills. It might as
well be said that this, country was bankrupt,
because it could nut at 'once discharge a debt of
Q*ooo,oool. .
A Member, whose some we could not learn,
stated, teat he had s letter from India, stating an
hairnets et .badfaillt In the Company, .in regard
to a loan contracted there. It was of the last ins.
portance to preserve tiSe confidence of the Natives ;
and he confessed thsil the letter in question bad al.
most destroyed the remains of confidende which be
had had in the Stability of the Company.
Mr. DUNDAS stated, that the transaction in
question was now under investigation. .
Mr. gEORG E JOHNSTONE supported the
motion, although he considered it perfectly deli,.
sive to argue that the affairs of the East India
Company were in a flourishing state. With re.
,spect to the slated reduction of the military force
in tad* it was impossible, inasmuch as it was now
scarcely sufficient for the protection of the territo.
ries subject to•ttie Company.
Mr. GRANT denied that the allegations rela.
live to the insolvency of the Company were in any
degree borne out by the texts, although it was
tuauifest that the genets.' circulation of such ru-
mours, both within and without those walls, was,
above all other circutftstences, calculated to pro.
duce much of the evil which it was only affected to
predict. It was noproof that because the coffers
wf the Conspauy at home, .in coneequerice of their
coupitercial end.political exertions in India, were
• net toll, tient therefore the application to the coun.
v.; for as advaece of a ccftaiu sum, was haul.
may. Had not, at various flutes, great char.
wee bodies made such application* to the House
of,Cummons ? Did net the Bank of England do
so, and would It be ,contended that such an. act
fully illistrateohu insolvency of that Corpora.
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acme further observations from Lord
Morpeth and Mr. Prendergast, the Committee di
videdi when.the numbers were-
-,For she Motive,
Against it - 10

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Mr. WHITBREAD laird, vbether it.aias the:
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intention of the Chancellor Of the Exchequer to
take up the Report lately proientt d. by the Com.
mittee appointed to inquire into the 'conduct of
certain officers conneeied with the Wit funding of
Exchequer Bills ? Ile wishodlo leave the sob, et
wholly with Ministers, but if the proper steps
were not taken, he wool() himielf submit a motion
upon the subject.
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER,,
although he admitted the improper condtiet of
some of the officers, stilt thought that is no public
grievance could follow, that time should be allow.
ed the Government to revisit the Ace iteelfo, and
to consult upon the course' proper tO •be laken
against the persons implicated. '
Mr. W HIT BREAD had no Objection. to allow
time fur the revision of the office, but be wis eau.
winced Out as very improper conduct was brought .
borne to some of the officer; the extutiple of theit
punishment ought to.be promptly' made.
The Assessed Taxes Bill went through a Com-
mittee. Report brought up, and further consi-
.deration fixed for Tuesday next.
Pligt.tC EiPENDITtIitE. '
Mr. bA VI ES GIDD rb rosigh t upillb Report
of the Couimittee appointed to inquire 'int° the
state of the Public Expenditure.
• Mr. BANK ES stated, that in rising to move en
amendment upon that Report, he was solely actu.
ated by a high sense of public duty—of duty so
imperative as to compel him, even under the pre-
sent pressure of public business, to bring the sub.
jest again under the discussion of the House. Im.,
portant as the subject was of itself, there were
party . Considerations connected with, it, which
considerably added to its urgency. Within a few 4
days that House was called- upon by a motion to
coftect and improve its own conftitution as repro.
Seating the people of this kingdom. TO this mo.
. tiou he felt it his duty to give a negative. This rea-
ion for•that vote wail .that he -knew it to be in
seisms with that honesfand respectable portion of
, Vie public, whose opinion ought to, have I very
rout influent/ upon the deliberations of that
ouse.. There was a time when he was no enemy
• itatiterations whiCh went to correct abuttekin the
tepresontation ; at that perk, he was sappoitod
by the acqniticence of that body' 0( Ali tophi to.
Which he alluded. Whenever ilitry-sistiat .titibkit
tight So resume etch a propositnif Idl/4:,tr,s,
Todd Bud a supporter,._ prat ly t.iiilaOreYe
.1i
Cdostitutioeof that- Hamill. 'aefictivibii *Nile),
sioald.be treated, certain joelietiAtii iiiiju were
oecessary, such as tbeprpyrloo. of totolOs ipill
the diainsatiWar of eipeaees a elect 001 ;, On.i
,abow• all, show boroigki alai. it niatt
~
s
~ ,corrupt_ ought to 'he elistranchlecid.' sit t . '
opt dm if the people to *whose decision he

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*veld ,bow, were not clamorous for what was
called reforin in the represdntition, they were most
solicitous for a 4boreugh and substantial refomn in
the expenditure of the public money. Whaethen
became the first duty of the House I It. was to
draw a line of separation between those ,e ho only
wish a reform of gross acid growing abuses, and
those who, under the pretext of reform, seek suli-
version.. At was its ditty to prevent these who
were the natural silica of that House, from being
.compelled by its obstinacy and perverseness from
connecting themselves with its natural enemies.
What other stied can the conduct of that
House • have on the latter description, when
they see he doors wholly closed to every pro.
position for redress I When they. see it. so wed.
ded to admitted abuse, as to .refese cerrection,
lest danger may follow from encouraging the'
slightest principle of reformand such a prac-
tice supported, at a moment when the. general feel.
king abroad was, that there* was much to redress,
end many grievances to be lightened. ...Po lion.
Gentleman disclaimed the wish of withdrawing
from the House, which ought to be' the fountain
of, honour, any of the means it possessed of re-
, werdipg thistle who deserved its favour.. He had
no. disposition to abridge the honours or ensigns of
royalty.; and he was also disinclined to overlook
the fair claims of individuals who might pier by
any new arrangement.- His object was to satisfy
the people, and to indemnify those whose just
claims might be affected brthat satisfaction. Si.
were' could not; he was persuaded, ever have
been originally intended. He could not suppose
that offices would have been created to which do
ditties attached, and which should serve as mere
camel to cover the grant of salaries. Conimon
sense revolted at the supposition, and justice calked
upon the House to repair that which was owing to
time.' These offices hid undergone a change since
their llrstestablishment, and it was due, in justice to
the people, to make an arrangement suitable to the
change. The opinion of the country evidently tie.
mended such a change; and be did nut see any good
reason on the part of the friends of the Crown for
resisting it. For the holders of these Sinecures did
not, in general, feel themselves bound ' in any de.
gree of gratitude to the Crown, because they in
general owed them to other quarters—to the fa.
your of the eaisting Minister. But in fact, the
feeling of the cduntey ' was so decided upon this
subject, that the :cessions being now drawing to a
,close, it behoved the House to acquiesce in this
measure, and thus endeavour to leave a favourable
impression upon the public mind ; to grant it as
an act of grace to the people, and by conceding to
the wish of the sober and sound part of the com-
munity, withdraw so much from the object of
Lithos •, who, under the name of Reform, sought
•onljt..revolution. The lion. Member concluded
With moving Ise Amendment to this effect,. "That it
' would be eapinlient to abolish all Sinecures, to re-
duce the Salaries u( all Offices to the amount fur
ilrivich the duty Nies actually performed, having
deeregard to the fair .claitns of those who at pre.
sent enjoy such iiffices.lo9 . .
Lord. MILTON was always willing, if he
could not get 'what he desired; to take what he
-tatild 'got, and therefore ho would support the
amendment, although he should-rather wish to
live the too questions separated as to the aboli.
tion of sinecures and the proposed indatotti'y.—
Ainecures he had loisgeonsidere9 as the disgrace of
Our system, and as materially injurious, not only
;to the interest of our anciput constitution, but
'peculiarly so to the char/Ater of that House. It
was absurd to • maintain, notwithstioding all that
.bad been written and said.with that view, that the
'lnfluence of the Crowe bad nut most materially
iiiereased of late years, and that this. influence,
which it was so desirable to reduce,- was augment.
ed by the existence of sinecures. After warmly
vindicating the conduct and . character of Mr.
Burke, the Noble Lord adverted to the alleged
economy of the proposed substitute for sinecures.
That, he observed, must depend upon the pro,
portion which the substitute bore to the present
amount of the sinecures. lie was,
.howevert
free to own, that he was not sanguine h expecting
much its point of economy ; but he was anxious,
upon other considerations 9 that sinecures should
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'be dune away, - •
Mr. BASTARD exSorted- the House to cond.
der the justiasend policy which ought -to prompt
cuncesition to . the wish of the people at a time
when their pecuniary contributions were so enor.
1 moos, and their cordial aid so essential to the de.
fence of the empire. If Parliament did not learn
the propriety of such a system of concession in
due time from the awful example of surrounding
nations, Parliacneut must be incapable of common
' docility.' . .
• Mr. BATHURST' conceived that Gent!emen
I
seemed anxious to get rid of Sinecures without 1
my object,of practical utility in view. From the 1
nature of the proposed substitute for those Sine.
'ires no saviog*was looked for, and when Gentle.
men talked of their eagerness to du away a mere
shine, because it might be somewhat obnoxious,
were they sure, or bad they any reason to calcu.
late that their favourite substitute would not very.
soon become equally unpopular ? It appeared to
him, indeed, that the substitute was likely to be..
Come more unpopular, because it held out to the
publiC the semblance of a desire to remove a bur.
thin, while it only got rid of a name; because, in
'tact, it involved an attempt at delusion. tic ler k
'Swaged the attention paid to subjects of this um.
ture, in which no foal or material reform Auld,
be atchieved, hecapse that iitteution served to
ithdraw that House aril the public from a consi..
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oration of ;the 4groat establishments. of the Milli
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L 7 its witys ;reform and yetrenclittient were co
tVily,a4treeep , and , practicable. ii• The Right
4913* tireaoeastep concluded with eatusesiug his in.
gen tion to aiPpesp ihe emendmettt. •I, .
Mr. B' TIJORNTQX, spoke in favour of the
imendinent.. He denietthiakthe passage cited from
Mr. Burke in favour of mow iisseci4ras, was an
Inthority. IP favour of adi sinecures. He cons-
• tented on the TOWN MINIS cogcurring ip prodac.
lag the jealousies of theireople. A netleu,of ma.
,giu factoten geoid emtettpOsponlmsteti as a nation
of .agricisituriiii; hesidu, there was so greet -
Infuse of popalatiaaa) and sash a course of

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