House Of Commons, Friday,...
The Times, 1824-02-14T00:00:00

ISir WM. LI-DlUN presenteO a petiton rrom rausrow, ue,cii- w against the coasting duty upon coal. Air. TREM1AYNE presented a similar petition from St. Austle, in Comrwall. ' 9 LordF(JLKESTONE presented apetition from the inlkeepers of i New Sarum, against the last licensing duties act. On the motion of Mr. I-b uarE, the names of Sir John Newport, Air. WVhiitmore. Captain illaberly, Air. Gladstone, Sir F. Baring, Sir G. Clerk, and Dlr.Lawlcy, were added to the artisans' committee. On the motion ofMIr. GoULnuatN, the Irish law courts bill was read a secend timne, and ordered to be committed on Mlonday next. M'AYS AND MEANS. On the miiotion of the CHANCELLOR of the ExCHEQuER 'the house resolved itself into a comnaittee of ways and means, and or. dered the accounts of the naval and military pensions, and the East In dia half-pay, to be referred to the said committee. The ( 13ANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER proposed in the committee, towards raising the supply, that the usual annual duties uponi tobacco and snuff, and upon pensions, be continued. On the resolution that the usual annual sugar duties be continued, Al r. HUMIE objectcd, and expressed a hope that, as in the salt- tax, a reductiou wvould take place in the sugar duties, w hich would inrcease the consumption, without seriously affecting t0e revcnue, w *hile it would undoubteedly afford great rclief to the West India in. terests. Hle thought that the duty ought to be fixed at l5s. the cvt., as before the war: indeed, the additional amount was strictly a war duty. The CHAN'CELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that he was not aware it was intended to takc any objection to the usual annual duties, and particularly to this branch of revenue, wvhich yielded an amountof3,500.000i. per annum. It was, he apprehended, quite irregular to take an objection of this nature in so summary a way. Mr. flUMNIE saw no irregularity in the course lie had pursued, and complained that the additional war duties imposed by three acts .of Parliament were now cor.tinued in tinme of peace. The CHANCELLOR ofthe EXCHEQtJER replied, that thcse were not additional rates, but the main amount under the consolida. tiot act of last session. Mlr. HU.ME was quite surprised that the West India interests were not alive to this subject for their own sakes as well as that of the publ:c. In 1792 the (luty was 13s. per cent.; it was then suc- cess:vely raised to s., iYs., 11. 4s., II. fis., and up to 11. 10s.. on the express understanding of being war duties. In point of honour, he Chancellor of the Exchequer was botnd to redeem hiis pledge. he was sure that in so doing he would not lose half a million of revenue, while he would, far beyond that amount, compensate the public in- terests. Ile was therefore disposed. uiiless the right lion. gentleman withdrew his resolution to move an amendment, thatthe duty be re. duced to 1Ss. per cent., the sum taken before the wvar. The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUEER said, that in pro- posing this resolution he was merely recommending the usual an- nual votes tv meet the supply: at thc same time, if the hon. geti- tleman was prepared to discuss the larger question of the duty itselt, he would for the present withdraw the resolution, from a sense of the inconvenienice of discussing such a topic at the present mnoment. The resolution was accordinglv witlidrawii. The right hon. gentleman ttlen proposed that an issue of 15 mil.. lions of Exchequer bills be granted towards the supply, and that two millions unappropriated in the Exchequer from the past year be ap- plied to the service of the present; that 4,800,0001. be paid for nava1l and military pensions; that 600,0001. be paid for East ]ndia half. ay; and that certain balances be paid for publc works, and to the Bank af England. upon specific accounts. Mlr. BRJ(;HT complained of the tax upon mm, now that a re- grilat.ion of the distillery law.s was p\,ending. The CHAN'CELLOR of the E~CHEQUER said, that the ge- neral question was by no means prejudged by the imposition of the present duity. Sir. BRIGHT did not wish to impede the supplies, but why not allow the duty upon rum to be dependent upon the general regula- tion whii-hi was kno-;n to be depending ? Air. HUMIE hoped that when the report of thecommittee vas brought up, the subject would be fully discussed. The house resunied, the report was received, and ordered to be taken into further consideration on Mlonday next. RECIPROCAL DUTIES. OR the motion of Mir. HlVsmcs9o0c, the house resolved into a committee toaniend the reciprocity of duties act of last session. (4 Geo. IV. c. 77.) Mlr. llUSKlS6ON, in the committee, explained that by the act of Lust year, it vas comnpetenit for the KCing in council to impose duties upon foreign shipping, or equal amount withl those iniposed by foreign Powers upon British shipping, and vitc v'crsa to fecipro. rate the conduct pursued by othier Powers where the duty was taken off British shippin~. Notwithstanding the amicable footing upon which the United States of America agreed to place British ship. ping in 1822, it appeared that they ihtiposed an additional duty upoi them, different from that whicfh affected the American shipping. This duty upon tle shipping from the West Indies to America was at the rate of 94 cents per toinage, and 66 cents on the value of the cargo. INow a doubt arose whether tle act of last session affected the cargo as well as the tonnage, and it was to explain that doubt that he meant to propose a resolution. on which tn found a bill. fic ktnev that there were many difficulties in rte way of a mutual ad- justnent upon the shipping question, hetween Great Britain ant America; timev were partly colonial, partly respecting the naviga. tion laws, and partly relating to their North American trade: the subject was still under discussion in an amicable way between the tiro Powers, and every thing was conducted with a becomiming spirit I of haemaony betweein them; nevertheles.s, lie thought it necessary that a resolution should be adopted to remeve all doubts respecting the neaning of the act of last session. He concluded by moving resonutions to clear up the doubt to whichi he adverted. Mr. ltoBERTSON expressed hirnself to be hostile to thie reso- lutions which the right bonourable gentleman had proposed, andI which lie confessed had excited in hlis mind no small astonishment. | He contended tbat our shipping interest was dailv declining, and that it stood in need of miiuclh greater protection than this bill was calcu- [ats-d to afford it. I After a few words from 'nr. HusKicsso., the resolutions were egreed to. The house then resunied, aned the report was ordered to be received on Monday. Lord A. HA MI ILTON rose to put a question to the right honour- | sble Secretary for the Horne Department. In the last session of Par- I liament an ast hbd teen passed, by which the inferior Commissar Courts of Scotland had ceased to exist on the 1st of last January, ana their bus-iness had been transferred to the- shieriffs of the several counties. Now he wished to know, whether certain arrangements, which were mentioned in the act, and which the noble lord detailed, but in so low a tone of voice as to be inaudible in the gallery, had been carried into effect or no. A court had been abolished in everv county in Scotland, and, as far as he could learn, not any had been substituted in its place. iMr. PEEL replied, that to the best of hisbelief, all the arrange. ments which the act required had been n!ade. He could not speak certainly op the point at present, but wvould make the requisite in- quiries in the office, and would give the noble lord a more detailed answer in the course of a day or two. Lord ALTHORP moved for leave to bhing in a bill to alter the act of the 56th of George Ill., cap. 88, in so far as it applied to the distr;ining on growing crops in Ireland. The proposition wvhich he wished the house to aedopt was, to exclude from the operation of that act all farms wvhich did not pay a rent of 10L a year, leaving the landlord at full liberty to distrain for his rent upon all cattle and other stork which might be upon the farm. Hie trusted that the alteration which he proposed would appear to the house to be necessary, as an act of humanity to the lower orders of the peasantry of Irelarid. One of thc principal evils by which that unhappy country was inflicted arose out of the freouenit subdivisions of farms; and he conceived this alteration w7ould have some tendency, though, perhaps, net a very great one, to diuni- nish. Hie therefore trusted that the house would not refuse to give hint leave to introduce a bill to effect the improvements which he contemplated. Sir JOHN NEWPORT seconded tie motion. Mlr. GOULBURN would not oppose the motion, becausehe con- sidered it celculatedto afford some relief to the people of Ireland. He desired, however, that it might be distinctly understood, that lie did not at present pledge himself either to support or to oppose'the bill in question. He would suggest to the noble lord, whether the benefit which he proposed to give to the people of Ireland miglit not be safely extended to the people of England also. MIr. GRATTAN understood the great object of the noble lord's bill to be this-to prevent a keeper from being sent upon the grow- ing crop, and so increasing the expenses which the tenant had ulti- mately ts pay.-l-eave was then granted tobringin the bilL ' - ENGLAND AND SOUTH AMERICA. Sir J. MIACINTOSH rose to give notice of a conditional motion of a very extensive and general nature. He aid not know when he should bring it forward, but he believed that it would be on an early day in March. It had reference to lie relations existing at present between this kingdom and those eountries in South America which had formerly belonged to the tbrone of Spain, and which had now, and indeed for some time past, become independent. He was un- able to s ecify'what the nature of his motion would be, or on what day hes ould bring it forward. He should therefore allow his Mlajesty's ministers further ftne to make their arrangements; and should be happy to be relieved from the necessity of- making his motion at all, by their taking some salutary measures on the subject in the interim. At the request of Mlr. GOLBVUBRK, Sir J. NEWPORT witbdrew his motion respecting thc po uJation returns of Irelaud. The house then adjourn at half past F,ve o'cloc. I TTHOTTSE OF COMMONS, FRIDAY, FEB. 13. COAL DUTIES.