The Statesman.
London, England, 1821-03-15 00:00:00

'MUSE OF COMNIONI4.

The House met at four, and was engar;ed a consi-
derable time upon Inisinrss relating to private Bills.

On the motion of Mr. WINNE, the House resolved
that, for the fissure, no More than twenty, orders should
be entered fur any one day, upoti matters connected
with public
Mr. JAMES said, ;bat he really knew not what ire-
titioes would be received by the House, but hr held
one in his hand from a large portion of the inhabitants
of Liverpool, complaining of the distress which per-
vaded the agricultural, mann factitri and et 1111 l nercial
districts; and he Wa% not aware that there n as any thing-
exceptionable in the hinge:ll4e of this uctition. It
stated the opinion of the petitioners that the cause of
the distress was to he traced to exees.ive taxation : anti
it suggested that 31i niste•-s had better enforce payment
of the sums slue to this country from foreigit cations,
especially the sum of twenty millions whica was due
frum the Ea.peror of .Austria. lie (Mr. Jatw.s) con-
curred in opinion with the petitioners, an(' trusted
that 3linisters would attend to the subject of the peti-
tion, and thus cheek a growing spirit which lea,l late-
ly appeared, of a desire to snake frequent attacks upon
independent nations.—(Hear, hear.)—lf this were not
done, he should consider Ministers at party to the I Icily
Alliance, and that they wished for the stilsjitgatitei of
Naples. Tile railing in the .tosstrian i o.tn %%mild be a
dreadful blow to the present views of that Eloqie!or.—
The lion. .ember then *ovel that tic- pe itiun be
brought up.
Mr. Witt/WESLEY said, lie rose t.o motile the
first sentence in the Hon. observations,'
and not at all to oppose the 'petition. The Mouse
was always ready to seceive the pe;itions of the
people ; and its_ door was never enure ores fur that
purpose titan at /hewn!. The opinion of the !lotion!,
able 31ensher probably anise front the circumstance
that the !loose had very I.rooperly rejected a petition
which had been presented the other day by the Hon.
Member.

I iener.Bl 11:1MCOVN •aid, that as the petition re-
lated to agoiefiltioral diqress, he should u►nrr that the
matter of it he referred to the Committer op stairs.
Mr. ItitIVEN, as a Member of that Committee,
begged to *wire the (lathint Genera) that they 111111
enough to du ye it hunt being railed upon to enfo.te pay-
meut of the Austrian 10,411.—(.1 lato;411.)

Dr. P1111.1.1!1101111 obtained leave to bring. in a Bill
for amending. the 31arriaar .111.

S:r T. LE Hit IIN; E. after Some peel; shins re ob-
servations, ))))) red for leave to hriut• its a Itili to faci-
litate the Execution of Trusts relating too the Abets
Houses and other Cloaritalole ronsulit.
the Trustees to e‘cleatoge the Ulearitv Land. fir wiles's
of equal value, and otherwise to perform the oNciet. of
their trust.

A .ll►attten trigre.test flint it teetotal's. proper to girt.
the Trusters a power its e. rtain CAM'S to ',di, AS MA as
to exchange land•.
Sir T. 1.P.1.11111111)IiE concurred i i opinion with
the Hon. Me ut►er. lie ha.l not inserted any alone to
the eilret imposed by the lion. 3leouber. because he
wished the Bill to be :iitrodoeril itato t:se noose fr.•e
front all objertinas ; but such a elanse might be intro.
&teed at a to:nre stage of the Bill.—Leat•e was tilea
given to heal; in the Bill.
VAIIR kNry.

Mr. CIIETWVND %aid, that the snhiret respretiirr
which lie lied given notice was of the sititu
portaner in every point of view. That the (*mime
Rates fowl iii..reaseil to an alarming extent WWI Mitts-
rions, and that they pre-se:l upon the Agricnltnrist
was equally it itorimi.:. In rom.eqiienee of deriNion.
founts of iaw, it appeared that neither money lent
upon mortgage, nor ev in the Faulk. was lialde
to contrihnte to the Comity Rate., ; and as a roost.-
'pence, hey, as lie 'lb-erred before, In I I:tinily:illy
upon the Ar• dealt uriios. It t. as reneriliv k I.
that the r line of vagrancy Lately here:is...l alums;
bz•yond measure. 'I he late Dr. ho
Waiver's:4li; admitted to he well-informed rlr.o thi-
.nliject, estimated the charge of i wa ;Mei jac
beggars at 15,1100/. a-year; aml hy the lie,t a conic,
it mild at present lie taken at 50,fictii. a-year. rx.
'elusive of the support of those who %very elm:hied in
•gaols and !louses of Correetion. Altogel her the
charge voidsl nut be fairly taken at Iris !hail I i);!,(619q.
This might, he admitted, lie atiribute.l •tleerre
to the peculiarity of the times. The pri!teiple torn
which our Poor Laos wa, fuotuled haul become altered;
fur that principle assumed, that every Mall ahle ;soil
willing to wori; cood.l islitaiu emi.loyment. ertio:
vartuns causes, it now was not the ea-e; and while
many of the pourer class had strong claims upon our
commiseration, there were othe:s, whole cougrezt-
lions of beggars, whose sole tobjraq IrJS plunder. Such
persons, when thriy.-to to extremity, gi•neraliy row
witted a theft far which they antlered iaiiiiis.oloseot.
-it the expiration ut that imprisonment they were
terswal loose; and they oftra.sworr to different glares
of calms:rt. so that the expense of their retuoyal was
very grant. He hail known cases of suck persons Leiiig
passed 1$ or 241 lists- s. Ile hail conversed opon Able
.nli•rct aids *Only of the alboq graders, whit
'

assortorldm that more than half their prisoners bad
been bettors or poachers. With a view to the ulti-
mate useasnre he had in contemplation, it was neces-
sary for bins to establish three propositions—the
abuse, the remedy, and a necessity for the appointment
'of a Committee of Inaleiry, in order distinctly to point,
out that remedy. With respect to the present Law
upon this subject, he should state that he had found
no less than 44 Statutes relating to vagrancy. The
*at, it point of date, was the sth of Eduard the
Third. The next was the 19th of Henry tire Seventh.
This was somewhat material, as it related to the
punishment of vagrants. The next was the 22nd Sta-
tute of Henry the Eighth, which directed the punish-
meat of whipping for vagrancy ; and ne next was the
27th of the same King, which imposed a severer
punishosetet upon sturdy vagabonds; and declared a
third trace punishable with death. Other Statutes
were prated in the reigns of Elizabeth, James the
Vital, Charles the Second, and Queen Anne ; hut these
Were matters of curious research rather than of im-
portance in considering the present subject. The
principal St toms now to be considered has been
passed about 70 years. It was the 17th Beorge the
Second, charter 5. This Act gave rewards fur the
apprehension of vagraset•, and gave directions respect-
ing the passing of them truism parish to parish, and for
the hearing of appeals against those passes. Upon
this Statute rowing under the consideration
of the late Lord Kenyon and Mr. Justice Asleurst,
they oh:served the Statute was very inaeuratrly
drawn, that if was very difficult to understand
it. Now, it those Learned Persons found a
difficulty in understanding the statute, it was not mat-
ter of surprise that it could nut be understood by
lientlemen who w: re Justices of the Peace. With re-
'vet to the rewards provided for by this Statute, he
could not d' !Liter than refer to the Police Rersert
prepared ley an lion. 31enelecr it then it, his plan
(Mr. r. hose I iLunre oil this subject lICIllalle11•11
the thanks of every friend to the country. The Re-
port, spealsinr of those rewards, .tats-r 1 a practice
meson:: the Polite officers of giving. money to poser
people, anti tin a taking them up as beggars, its order
to obtain the reward. This practice was stated to be
very general; and he (Mr. ('.)haprred to 'mow that it
was not confined to London; the constables in the'
country had practised this fraud to a very considerable
extent, sod lie was sorry to Bey that the Magistrates
11311 not disconntenanced it as they ought to have 'lone.
It might probably he thought bitter to abolish the
•reward altogether; but at all events it would be de-1
airable to modify it so as to prevent this islosse as much
as isOssiblis ; fur as the vagrant and the constahle oftost
conspired together, it was absolutely neces.sary to put
an end t.s this infamous jobbing. Another abuse arose
out of tYe.fastt that vagrants were often passed, in a
staft wit gore f • t bottom. • starcompanied hy any offirtorf
and as the parish allowed a suet Urtni the supposition
thatevery vagrant was passistl i!e tile rare of an officer,
this was a frau.' upon the Ts:a i A.—There nos a late
ease within his own kno•vbet'...:e. uleicle occur' ea about
two miles from Birmingham. he officer paid tn. to
the wagoner for the carriage of each vagrant, and
elearged 39.. fur each to the parish; and this occurred
a •veral hundred times in the rourse of the year. Then
with rev:feet to the power of appeal. Ihe appeal was
to the tietteral Quarter s.t.sions; Litt this appeal was
only allowed in eases where a pass was actually issued.
1-poll t!:is part of the subject, be understood many
inconveniences had arisen, and especially to the parish
of Stepney, ta which tor.lllV persons hal been sent under
the vulgar es rror, that all persons burn at sea, belong
to the parish of Steptery.—(A laugh.) Bating, as he
trusted, establ;slsed his first proposition, he believed
the !woad and thirst %loaf necessarily follow. The
Bun. Member concluded by moving. "Fur a select
I 'ommiree, to erupt:re into, and report the practice of
the taws rclatisig to Vagrants, and to consider the es-
pediem-v amending the same,"

11.111110111/ seronded the mot:en at some
hot in a tone of voice almost inaudible in the
lianas.. The Hone:tr.:hie 31eather spoke of the So-
ciety for the Seppressioa of llestslicity, as having done
much good, and as tending to promote habits of in-
(lnsley antoinz the poorer classes. He stated, that St.
11u:urges's 1 ari.L, Ilanorer-suinare, hail Is officers, and
Coe Society only siv, coil that while the parish lacers
had in one yrar appreluended only 23 vagrants, the
officers of the Sitrie:y haul is the same tilllP. appre-
heeded, in tint parish, a tot:usher caccedirg that
tweet!: hree by upwa ds of 2119.—(1!,:tr lie ir !)—The
rase of Fuuteign rs also he thought, de-Irving of con-
sideration. 31atty Fore4-ners who had 111.1 n irti and
settled in this country were ItsittCed in their obi age :
and applled to the Society for relief, as they were en-
titled to parochial assistance. The. Society re7erred
them to the Consols of th;:ir several countries. The
l'onsu:s sAid these people were not entitled to relief
from them, as they haul heroine slasatieiliated here anti
tins these persons were left n idlest eauistanee. An-
other case for consideration 11%4 that of orphans and
chihtrets deserted by their parents. Itentertiag
doubts and iliffienities had often arisen relies-Cog the
trireer settlu went. The next subject which he thou:lst
ilkosenslPd t enti on was the ease of anistiited prisoners.
Thcse were too often discharged without a 611:1111g
111 their po, kets ; without character stale
0.T5..‘1..1 toeVcry lel:Iptall.111. i:t Ode Cinal6lll. tointra
It v al! the e irruption of a prison. it was to be expected
w•tuld rein it to their iii.l companions. This
pert of tlir subject he thouzlet well deserving the at-
tenti.in of the Committee.

.tlr. N. t'A tam% T, Mr. CA NTWRININT, and INPI4IIII other
Member* spoke shortly in guppetrt nf the motion, and in
warm nitpathation ortito don. Member who L.onest it
forwent. -

motion seas then agreed to, anJ a Committee ap-
pointed.
!Cr it. WILRON sai.l, dist as he had a Motion !o
twin( foraird of cow! !prat& importance (respecting
Naples we 6411Pre), he triune,' his Hon. Friend, floe
Sieniber fee Aberdeen, gravid ptrosit it t take prefer-
ence of another nuke-which was to be brought before
the Homo Mr his Hon. Vriend.
lie. licsta'a Was pos.torted.
The CHANCE:U.OR of the EXCHEQUER referr,ti

to a mousenanicatise which had passed on a forisereven.
ie., between himself and a Ballast General (5k R. Wil-
son), respecting certain prosectstions for 'Whoa a pow-
der in imitation of coffee. We could not distinctly hear
the Right Hoe. Gentleman, hat we understood him. to
tia;s, that soy case laid before Uovernnsent would meet
with every consideration.
Sir It. WILSON begged to thank the Right Host.
IGentletnan sot only fur the present conitnaMmthse, bur
for the nianner in which he had attended to tbearigina_
representatiou of the circumstance. it was mieb
tifieil the universal opinion of the conduct of that Right
Hon. Gentleman in private life.
Mr. IWME gave notice of a motion for tmmorres,
for the produclion of certain papers explanatory of the
.Irmy
Lord A. HAMILTON moved for en Account of the
Hereditary Revenues of Scotland for the years 181$.
IN% anti lo 211; and au Account of all. Payments
issued from the Exchequer of Scotland in those yeses.—
Ordered.
Cglenel DAVIE.S moved for a Return (as we under.
stood) of all 0111cieni on lialtpay.—Ordered.
A Message front the Lords announced their LonI•
ships' assent to several Hills.