The Statesman.
London, England, 1819-06-12 00:00:00

COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL.

A Crart ofiCommon Council was held yesterday.
.Among other %objects which engaged their attention,
war the propriety of presenting a Petition against the
fates which have lately bee• proposed by the Chan-
cellor of the Esehequer.
Mr. lIVNISTEA IS said, that he was induced to call
upon the Court of Common Council to petition against
the Tases which the Chancellor of the Eschegeer
lately proposed, by a recollection that no niessere of
economy or retrenchment had ever met wish the
of his Majesty's Ministers. The reduction of
the two lay Lords of the Admiralty, who were of ee
more use to the coesstry than the table at which they
alood—(Hcarl)—hed met with their most vigoroes
opposition ; whilst the grant of 10,0001. a year to
the Doke of York, which no man above the level of
• brat. would have deigned to accept for such ser-
vices as he was bonnd to render,—( Load dad repeat.
rd crks of hear, hear!)—had met with their most
decided and engeslified support. The reasons for
opposing these team, ender the 'semis( circerastances
of the coesstry, were so self-evident, that it was to-
tally misery for hi• to occupy the time of the
Court in repeating them. Ile should therefore move
the Court to declare their opinion of the impolicy of
Ilse tales new proposed in the fourth year of peace,
■nd to pray the noose rob], the Mateo( Commons to
establish such retrenchments as would restore the
cowry to its ancient happiness and prosperity.—
[ For the exact words of the Resolution see our Ai:-
vertisement.]

Mr. FATZLL seconded the motion. His lion.
Friend had said so much, In • feet words, in defence
of the Resolution which he bad proposed, that it
wee totally unnecessary for him (Mr. Farell) to say
• word more •pen it. The Representatives of the
People, before they had determined upon granting
new Mel, ought to have satisfied the country that
every retrenchment had been made which was con.
sistent wish propriety. If the People bad been so
satisfied, the citizens of London would hove been the
last persons in the nation to have objected to the pm,.
acne of additional imposts. On a former occasion
when they had rolled for Economy, Retrenchment,
end Reform, they bad been told that if they did not
bite old England, they were at liberty to leave it.-
-[ilear, hear!)—This was an indirect imputation
upon their loyalty, which they did not merit ; thoegh
they advocated Reform, they were quite as loyal as
those who showed Ostensives friends of obese, in
order that they might prove themselves in a certain
quarter to be the protectors of the Coostitution.—
Though he supported the present Resolution, he was
not one of those men who wished the country to de.
spend; on the contrary, he thought that it possessed
so high a moral character at present, that it could
sot fail of effecting some good whenever It attempted
to perform it, if those oho directed its resoerces ad-
hered closely to the principles of the Constitution.—
The Honourable Member then esteemd the conduct
of the present Members for the City, and said, that
ell which he and they were now inclined to demand
was, the institution of a bonafide enquiry into the
smarm of the country. This was particularly re.
quisite at the present morns*, because the People
were now called upon to pay new tales in • time of
peace. He would not condemn the application of
the Slaking Fond to the expenditure of the year;
bat he would say of it, that if either he or any of
his friends bad prophesied such • circumstance some,
few years ago, they would have been desionoced Ins. i
medistely as inveterate Jacobins. Unless be could
bear some very coavincing arguments indeed from
the opposite ►ide of the Court, in dormice of the new
lazes, he should feel himself based to vote for the
motion of his Honourable Friend.

Mr. 6. Dixou would be inhumed both of himself
and bit friaads, if they attempted to deny the dis-
tress in which the lower orders were at preerst in-
volved. He thought, however, that when Honour.
able Gentlemen spoke of those distresses, they ought
net to inmate them by painting them in the most
glowing colours that language could afford, but that
they should endeavour to alleviate them by holding
out to the manufacteriog classes hopes of mere cheer-
ing prospects In future. For bin own part he 'mi-
aowed a greet part of their distress to the increased
•te of machinery, of which, our its first introdection
at Manchester, by Sir Robert Arkwright, he had
prophesied, that it woeld ultimately be productive of
greet prectical Inconvenience to the community. lie
could wish that the Gestloosen who cried net sn
loudly for Reform, would please to commence their
system by reforming themselves. —(Laughter, and
cries of Bear !)-1f onthieg else shout them requir-
ed reformation—(/Irue !)—their &angrier certainly
steed in need of it ; they told the same story a bee.
dred times over, exactly in the same phraseology as
they had reed when it was first brosehed.—(/lea►,
hear !)—they never struck out any thing new, they
laser even--

Mr. FAVILL rose to order. The lion. Gent. was
entering epon charges that were totally irrelevant,
and which were also totally false.
Mt. Dixon maintained that what be said was nei-
ther irrelevant nor untrue, and appealed to the Peti.
lion of Wednesday, which be muted was almost
word for word the same with the Petition which was
that day to be proposed to their notice.
The Minutes of the Resolutions were then read
to the Court, to decide the question which bad risen
up between the two Gentlemen • after which,
Mr. Dtzon proceeded. Tie evils of war were
not to cease with the war itself; if the Property Tas
bad been continued for two years longer, there
limpid have been no occasion for the lases now pro-.
posed ; that source of revenue had, however, been
%rested from the bands of Ministers, and they had
been obliged to have recourse in consequence to an-
other source, which perhaps was not less objection-
able. The Worthy Gentleman then contrasted the
condect of Sir William Curtis, Sir James Shaw, sod
the Lord Mayor, with that of the sitting Members'
for the City—(Loud cries of Order!)—snd con-
eluded with a violent invective against the latter
Gentlemen. Some of them, he said, were rle.itoss
of enlightening the liven by the coreseationa of
their genius upon every occasion ; one of them, on
eh& contrary, was jest possessed of sense enough to
hold Lis fungus., said was already christened with
She lame of Orator Mern—( Laughter, end erica
bf Order!);—it weed be better, perhsr, fcr the

reputation of the etbers, if also would imitator
his etarnpl#:'
Some trends arose in c.nsequenee of these oh.
ions, in the midst of which Mr. Disco sat
e

Mr. C 111/71T11 end Mr. PArrts made some obser.
rations in defence of 16 itesolotiows.
Mr. Jars had loch coulidewee in the noose of
Commons, sscousiaced him Chet they would not tiby
fresh times on the. People without the existence of a
strong necessity for so doing lie, therefor., thought
161 it was totally unnecessary to present any Petition
agsinst times.

Mr. OLDHAM observed, that though he would not
enter into any ihvidious comparison twerps the
merits of the late and the present Representatives of
the City of London, he could not help saying, that
the letter Gentlemen had no occasion to shank frees
it. They bad gained the esteem end confi•lence of
their fellow-citisens, in the highest degree, even
though they had not gained the approbation of the
II hie Gentleman who bad inveighed so strongly
against them. If they had not learned the wisdom of
holding their tenses as mach as might be desited,—
[Bear, hear !]—it was owing to the quantity of city
business which they bad been obliged to lay before
the Mouse.—[llea!]—The charge of too great lo-
quacity came with a very bail grace from a Gentle-
man who was always using old jokes and 'rill
pens in the place of argument.— ( ilear!)-11, would
tell him to remember an old maim, which was pretty
general when he was et school, and for a fee mo-
ments to endeavoor to know himself hear,
hear!]-1f he would condescend to acquire that
knowledge, he would find that his own speeches were
the most complete olla podrida that were ever dell.
witted to any public assembly. As to placing confi-
dence in the House of Commons, he did not think
that their conduct was such as to warrant it; there
was a corrupt majority in that Howse, which could
pass the most extravagant measures ; aye, «wee tech
a grant as that whirls had recently bees made to the
Duke of York. Though be was averse to petitioning
the House so often as the Court of Common Council
were inclined to do, he still thought that this was an
occasion when they ought to make known their strati-
meets to Parliament.