The Statesman.
London, England, 1819-04-06 00:00:00

l'ilE STATESMAN

say Committee, still iess in his Majesty's Ministers,
could index him to atm* to the proposition. Indeed
the confidence required was what no man could glee.
Was it 'resemble at this time to all upon their Lord-
ships to place confidence in the iseaseres of the Bank,
and the Ministers qbe bare skied, so grossly abused
the Public ? No reasonable man, who reflected on
the subject, mild some to the same conclusion as
that recommended in the Report, without further in.

formation. It was proposed to revoke that measure
to which the Bank bad resorted,. a gradual approzi.
motion to the system 9f cash payments, which, on
account of its long distrait, could net be hastily re-
sealed. Was it reasonable that their Lordships should
agree on the proposition of Ministers to stop the
amitiesi of this procautiowary proceeding ? flow
was It ',wilt's. to suppose it necessary to suspend this
measure of safety, with a view to attain the very eb-
ject its nperstinn was to accelerate? Ministers bed
boasted of the ability of the Bank and the prudence of
its evermore', bat they now came forward i• deny
Me one end condemn the other. They mast nut,
b•wever, continue to blow loot and cold with she
same breath. They could not boast of the prosperous
slate of the country„ red declare this inmate n errs.
eery. On the grosud of the total want of Informs.
'ion in support of Ai estraordinary proposition now
mode, he entered his Solemn protest against it ; and
most pin declare, that in hie opiteina it could only
be jestifirad by a moat swot necessity. But if the
object were a proper one, there was another mode
by which B could be altaised, nemelj, that adopted
In 1797. Ministers then, on their own responsi-
bility, suspended cash payments by the Bank. In
this way they *sight to have suspended, by an order
of the Privy Council, the payment of those notes for
which the Bank now gave gold. Bad euis coarse
beers followed, Parliament would have aftereards en.
spired into the causes of the necessity of such sus.
'session, with the view of censuring or approving tar
proceeding. Such were his views on what had heels
so otiespiscteally proposed to their Lordships. Minis•
tees bad, however, acted in a way which was directly
the reverse of that which he would have recommended.
They always appeared desirous of interposing a
Cote of Parliament het wren them and that conatito.
tionsi respeosibility whirls they owed to the country.
This was a practice which tended to introdeceaptin.
ciple into the Government, not ally entirely novel,
bat which might tend to consequesces of the most
serious nature.

'l'he FJ/Ii of lIARROWBY thought it ;tweediest
on hiss to apologise (or addressing their Lordships,
but whet hail fillies from the Noble Earl (Grey) in-
diced him to say a few words. Ile did get pretend
to know whether the proceedings of the Bask sad
Government had, as that Noble Earl thought, byes
founded in deceit sod fraud, bet he could assert that
Ministers bad utilising to do sith the bringing for-
ward of the semi* now recommended to the Uses,.
With respect to himself, he acted as the organ if the
Committee, and nothing more, in delivering, as he
had already done, their unanimous opiaio• on the
recommendation then before the House As to the
case of 1797, be meat observe it did not bear upon
the gelation at all; for Parliament was oat itliseg
then, as slow, which obliged the Government to in-
terfere; sad as to the combisiatiou whirls the NW.
Earl ((Jr)ey thought esisted with comma is the re-
striction of cash payments, he could only say, that
I by @Bonin the present s) stem to proceed, they were
mere likely to retard than accelerate the resumption
of cash payments. There was no idea of satin the
Beek from • rein which never had menaced it ; bet
the object was to s•rotil the Bank from that drainage
of specie which would retard ifs safe rebore to pay-
meats in molt.

The Earl of LAUDERDALE rose principally to
caution their Lordships on the statement of the Noble
Earl (Ilerrowby) that the Committee were unani-
mous ie. the Report. lie certainly did not concur
is it, end duet for reasons ulna, us upon a Secret
Committee, it was slot proper for him to state.
The Earl of lIARROWBY captained.
Lord HOLLAND t►ought the method of pro.
ceeding was completely irregular, as they were call.
jag on the House to suspend thee, Orders which had
be* devised by their ancestors as barriers to all ins-
propriety of proceeding. 'file No►le loud (Harrow-
by) was in reality bound, by the 104th article of
their Standing Order., to hare given due notice of
considering the dispenslog with the Standing Orders
first, before he awed them tribe dispensed with. Of
the measure as proposed in the Report, he could eel
bet little, as they were prevented from knowing the
grounds upon which it ass proposed. His Neese,
Friend (Leoderdale) ►ad told them, as one of the
Committee on the Bonk, that be could not disclose
facts. What was this except to call upon them to
believe without evidence It was saying on the
pert of Ministers nor more nor less, than that they
were swilling to incur the responsibility (bet be-
longed to them, of saving the soontry, and sere
calliope he their Leedships to sustain it. T. the
period of 1007 he nester could refer but with pees;.
bet the Order of Council, if he remembered right,
was Wooden a Saturday, though Parliament met on
the Timidity. And in whose hands, in God's name,
wen their Lordships new going to place the manage-
went of the Busk, as to the resumption of cub pay-
ments? Why, exactly in those eery hands who be-
gan to pay, which ho believed a wise act, of their
owe accord, end yet now objected to go es paying,
because they had sieve discovered that sees.payment
at the present time would facilitsee.peompt payment
ate/tether time. lie sever could concur in such a
proceeding, where even the title of the Report was
at variance with the recommendation embodied in it.
It proposed to regain as to t►e most practicable
means of resuming payments, sod concluded with
dissuading them against all payments io cash. Would
their Lordships go blindfolded to enact laws, for
►lindfolded they were, having no data, sad yet is-
pelted to vet' He had taken the earliest opportunity
of protesting against the proceeding, end basing done
his duty, he conjured their Lordships to do theirs.
The Earl of LIVERPOOL rose, not to discos,
the Report their Lordships had ►eard, but tether to
defied the messy,. it ►ad recommended. IVitli re-
spect to the proceeding itself, the Committee had, it
would be recollected by the House, bees sitting for
two months ; they sere not able to ley tae remit
now before the House, but they hoped to give it
shortly ; and in the interim they recommended a
precautionary smut to defeat the evil of pajnients