Page images
PDF
EPUB

ing to act under the influence of christian cuse for such conduct, he might find it charity, to suspect lightly the motives of in what the world looked upon as a justiothers, even when there existed reason for fication; namely, a similar harshness of suspicion; but no man with the least pre-language in the opponents of the petitentions to candour or justice, could im- tioners. The clergymen of the establishpute bad motives to his neighbours where ment who conscientiously discharged their none existed, or ascribe designs to them duties were styled "hungry Protestant which they disavowed. But, it was said, parsons" in all the publications of the Cathe designs imputed to the Catholics in tholics. He could not sit silent while he the petition were avowed. If so, where? heard the conduct of the petitioners In every petition presented to the House arraigned, and motives imputed to them for Catholic emancipation, so far were which they would disclaim. designs against the establishment of the country from being avowed, that they were distinctly disclaimed.

[ocr errors]

He had always

The Earl of Carnarvon did not disapprove of churchmen petitioning on public measures; but he objected to their sepa. The Bishop of Chester [Dr. Blom- rating themselves from the great body of field] said, he was unwilling to hear any the people in their applications. If he imputations upon any portion of the cler- were a clergyman, he should feel a disgy, for a want of charity. As to the su- trust of his own impartiality in a matter premacy of the Pope, the Catholics were which had reference to the establishment; too wise to allude to it in any document and would not petition, lest he might be submitted to that House, because the actuated by prejudices which rendered maintenance of such a doctrine would be his opinion of no value. The petitioners unlawful. But he would inform their lord- had not shown this prudent distrust; but ships, that in a Catholic journal circulated had completely justified its necessity. throughout his own diocess by the Ca- They evinced the strongest bias, and were tholic priests, such doctrine was advanced. actuated by prejudices which led them to In December last, the editor of that jour-distort facts. The petition prayed that nal, who had been repeatedly thanked the House would protect the esta by the various branches of the Catholic blished religion, which was threatened body, in speaking of a late ordinance with spiritual tyranny and oppression. of the king of France, disapproving of the What man could look around him, and conduct of a cardinal for compromising say that the Protestant body were threat. the liberties of the Gallican church, said, ened with spiritual oppression and tyranny that he could not agree with the views of from the Catholics? the French government on that occasion, heard, that the tyranny and oppression because the king had no title to interfere was not only threatened, but inflicted, with the conduct of the church, to the from the other side. However this might injury of the indefeasible rights of his be, there certainly was spiritual coercion. holiness the Pope. The same doctrine He regretted that the petitioners should was asserted by the Roman Catholic have thrown such discredit on their order, priests of Lancashire. They made no by uncharitable allegations, and the falsescruple to say, that the churches of this hood of their assertions. They had justikingdom had been theirs once; and that fied lord Clarendon's character of churchthey expected they would be theirs again, men; who had said, that of all classes of The noble baron imputed a want of chari-men, the clergy were, on general subjects, ty to the petitioners for suspecting the designs of the Catholics, and had found fault with some allegations in the petition. Lord King expressed his belief, that He himself did not entirely approve of all such a petition could not have come from the expressions in the petition. There any other corporation, or place in the were some that he would have been glad to kingdom, than from the wise men of the see expunged; but it would be hard to diocess whence it issued. Such a mass refuse conscientious men the right of of bigotry and nonsense could no where making known their fears, and raising else have been concocted. The clergy in their voices in defence of our establish that town were entirely in the dark. They ments, though they might, in their sin-read, and knew nothing. They had not cerity and honest conviction, employ a greater severity of terms than the occasion warranted. If he wanted any further ex

the least informed, and took the most incorrect view of public affairs.

even perused the tolerant proclamation of the tolerant king of Hanover. He wished the right rev. prelate of the diocess would

take that proclamation and hang it upon
the door of every chapel. He would
probably be asked by the petitioners,
"What have we to do with Hanover ?"
as it had been asked, "Can any good
thing come out of Nazareth?" He would
say, much good might come out of Han-
over, if the rev. gentlemen would read
that liberal proclamation.
Ordered to lie on the table.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.

Monday, February 28.
JOINT-STOCK COMPANIES.] On the
motion, that the Welch Iron and Mining
Company Bill be read a second time,

Mr. Grenfell objected to the practice of granting to Joint-Stock Companies the privilege of suing and being sued by their secretaries. If, as it was alleged, many companies now in progress had no real foundation, and were only formed with a view of deluding the public, their power of deluding would be considerably increased, by their being enabled to hold out to the world that they possessed any thing like parliamentary sanction.

Mr. Huskisson admitted, that some of the new companies possessed the character which the hon. member said was ascribed to them. Parliament had very properly put an end to the system of gambling by lotteries; but many of these companies led to much more destructive consequences than even that. With reference to what the hon. gentleman had said, he must ask, how it was possible for the House to know whether certain companies were or were not formed on sound plans, and whether their capital was subscribed? He believed, indeed, that if it should appear that the capital of the companies had not been subscribed-that it was only a pretended capital-they would experience great difficulty in get ting their bills through all their stages in another place. There were, he understood, some standing orders in the other House, which rendered it necessary for companies wishing to obtain the sanction of parliament to prove that they possessed substantial means.

sent companies. There was one company in particular- he could not fairly be blamed for saying any thing to prejudice the shares of the company he was about to name, for when they chose to come to parliament to ask for a privilege, they must not complain of being animadverted on-the Pasco-Peruvian Mine company, which he pledged himself to prove had no foundation whatever, and no object in view, except to work mines on the Stock Exchange. If so, it was too much for them to come to parliament for its sanction to such a delusion.

Mr. Baring said, he would not venture, in the present stage, to pass an opinion whether the projects were or were not chimerical; but, with regard to the mining speculation to which his hon. friend had referred, it seemed to him to stand upon as good a foundation as the others. Whatever the comparative merits of different schemes might be, the House ought not to pass any bills of the kind' incautiously, because the probability was, that they would be rejected elsewhere. A good deal had been said on the subject of a general measure to restrain the spirit of speculation in mining and other shares, to be introduced in another place. Whether the intention had been abandoned, or was to be persevered in, he knew not; but, if he had not been led to expect that such a bill would be brought forward early, he should, ere now, have said something on the subject. He did not see that any great injury would be done by merely granting the power to companies to sue and be sued by their secretary. He cautioned the House against adopting such a tone upon this subject, as might obstruct a great deal of useful spirit of enterprise. He hoped that his right hon. friend (Mr. Huskisson) had made up his mind, as to the course which it would be advisable for him, in his official capacity, to pursue. It was, in his opinion, the duty of the House to adopt some general measure, applicable to all undertakings of the kind, without bestowing particular censure upon individual schemes, that might or might not be pub licly advantageous.

Mr. Hobhouse expressed his pleasure Mr. Huskisson wished, as he had been at the attention of the House having been addressed in his official capacity, to add a directed to the subject, which he consi- few words to what he had already said dered one of great importance. When upon this subject. It was difficult, if not the proper time came, he should be able impossible, for him to ascertain, and to prove that there was no pretence what- decide upon, the merits of any of the ever for some of the projects of the pre-plans at present afloat; and to all of them

he was as much a stranger as any hon. member who heard him. What he had said last session, he had no objection to repeat now; namely, that if any company came forward to solicit a bill to limit pecuniary liability, or to exempt them from pecuniary liability, he should have a decided objection to it; but, where they only sought for their own convenience, and for the convenience of the public, to be allowed to sue and to be sued by one of their officers, he did not see why such a request ought to be rejected. If it turned out that the company was a mere bubble, no harm, that he could discover, would be done by the facility thus afforded. It would surpass any powers which he possessed, or any leisure he could bestow upon it, to probe to the bottom the merits of the various speculations, and to be able to decide which was likely to be a beneficial undertaking, and which a bubble. It was, as it seemed to him, a question for the public to inquire and determine, before it engaged in any scheme of the kind; though his opinion certainly was, that the parties who speculated ought to be somewhat more cautious.❤

Mr. Hume contended against the position, that the House ought to lay down some general rule upon this subject. He, for one, should be sorry to see it meddle with any thing of the kind. When hon. members talked of delusions, he should be glad to know whether Waterloo Bridge was not as gross a delusion and as ruinous a delusion as had ever been practised upon the public? Yet that project was supported and countenanced, and had ended in the complete distress of a great many of the parties. These evils, as far as they were so, ought to cure themselves. It was not the duty of the House to throw impediments in the way of speculation, as long as it communicated no peculiar privileges. Individuals ought to be allowed to do as they pleased with their own property.

Mr. Brogden;-Although I cannot forbear to congratulate the House upon the auspicious circumstances under which we are called upon to review the state of our finances, I can truly say that I do not do so for the mere purpose of making a flourish, nor with any desire to induce the country to indulge in an unreasonable exultation as to the present, or an extravagant anticipation as to the future. But although I have no such object in view, and although there may be in this country, and unquestionably are in other countries, persons, who, either jealous of the eminence of our station, or ignorant of the causes which have placed us there, may represent our present prosperity as the forerunner of our ruin, and may wish to represent us as having merely hastened

-"numerosa parare

Excelsæ turris tabulata, unda altior esset Casus, et impulsæ præceps immane ruinæ," I nevertheless am of opinion, that if upon a fair review of our situation there shall appear to be nothing hollow in its foundation, artificial in its superstructure, or flimsy in its general result, we may safely venture to contemplate with instructive admiration the harmony of its proportions and the solidity of its basis. I say, Sir, with instructive admiration, because I am satisfied that no one can calmly and philosophically consider it, without seeing pourtrayed before him, in the most legible characters, the course of policy which it is our duty to pursue, if we wish to consolidate our own resources, and to promote the general happiness of mankind.

Under these impressions, then, and wishing gentlemen to keep these considerations in view in applying themselves to our present business, I shall proceed to the details of the question immediately before us. In doing this, I shall first wish to bring under the notice of the committee a comparison of the actual revenue of the year which is passed, with the estimate of it which I ventured to lay before the House at the commencement of the last session. I assumed at that time, that at the expiration of 1824 there would be a clear surplus of about 1,050,000l.; and upon that assumption, and carrying its The Chancellor of the Exchequer rose views forward to the end of the year 1827, to make his promised Exposition of the the House proceeded to make a reduction Financial Situation of the Country, and in our taxes to the amount of no less than addressed the Committee as follows: 1,260,000l., of which sum I calculated that

The bill was read a second time. FINANCIAL SITUATION OF THE COUNTRY.] The House having resolved itself into a committee of Ways and Means,

* From the original edition printed for J. Hatchard and Son.

the revenue would in that year lose about one half, or 630,000l.; so that if, at the end of the year, the surplus had been

420,000l.,my estimate would have been real-herent in the nature and connected with ized, and no expectation which I had in- the very essence of human society? The duced the House to entertain would have demonstrated tendency of population to been disappointed. It is, however, with increase would alone be sufficient, in a no ordinary satisfaction that I have to great measure, to account for it: but instate, that, notwithstanding the reduction dependent of that cause, there is a printhen made, and notwithstanding that a ciple in the constitution of social man more immediate effect was given to that re- which leads nations to open their arms to duction, and greater loss consequently each other, and to establish new and closer sustained than I had originally contem- connexions, by ministering to mutual conplated, the actual surplus of the year was venience; a principle which creates new 1,437,7441., greatly exceeding not only wants, stimulates new desires, seeks for what would have been sufficient to realize new enjoyments, and, by the beneficence my estimate, but exceeding even that of Providence, contributes to the general surplus which I had thought myself au- happiness of mankind. This principle thorized to expect, independent of any may, it is true, be impeded by war and its subsequent diminution of the taxes. calamities; it may be diverted by accident from its natural channel; it may be counteracted (as we well know in this country) by the improvidence of mistaken legislation; but it is always alive, always in motion, and has a perpetual tendency to go forward; and when we reflect upon the facility which is given to its operation by the recent discoveries of modern science, and by the magical energies of the steam-engine, who can doubt that its expansion is progressive, and its effect permanent? It appears to me, therefore, that I may safely assert, that the increase in this branch of the revenue is not the result of accident, or of a temporary combination of fortunate circumstances, and that I am not too sanguine in my views, when I take the produce of last year as the solid basis upon which I calculate the state of that branch of the revenue for years to come.

I will now, with the permission of the committee, advert to some details of this case, and make some observations upon the different branches of the revenue in which this increase has taken place. And first as to the Customs. The receipt under this head, I had estimated at 11,550,000l., and having afterwards repealed customs duties to the amount of at least 900,0007., of which I anticipated that 450,000l. would be lost to the revenue in 1824, it follows that my calculations would have been verified if the actual receipt had been 11,100,000l.: in addition, however, to the loss sustained by the immediate effect of reduced duty, the nett receipt of the customs was still further lowered by the payment of no less than 460,000l. upon the stock in hand of silk, in order to give more immediate efficacy to the change of duty and system in regard to that article and yet, in spite of these two circumstances, it appears that the nett produce of the customs for 1824 was no less than 11,327,000l. Now, Sir, to what is this increase to be ascribed? And what are the causes which have produced this important result? The proximate cause, doubtless, is the increased capacity of the people of this country to consume the produce of other countries, aided and invigorated by the reciprocal facility which our consumption of foreign articles gives to other nations in the extended use of the products of our own industry. But it may be said that this increase is accidental, that it has arisen out of some special circumstances applicable to the particular time, or from some peculiarity in our situation. Surely that is not the case. Is it not occasioned, on the contrary, by something the very reverse of what is ephemeral and peculiar, by something inVOL. XII.

The next item of revenue is the Excise, which is peculiarly important, both from its amount, and from its immediate connexion with the comforts of the people. In this branch, not only has the produce of last year surpassed that of the former (which itself exceeded the average of the three preceding years), but it has gone very far beyond what I ventured to anticipate. The produce which I anticipated was 25,625,000l.; the actual result was 26,768,000l., being an excess of 1,143,000l. This, it cannot be doubted, must be matter of sincere gratification to every one who feels an interest in the well-being of his fellow subjects; since I can state, that of almost every article contributing to the Excise, there has been such an increased consumption, as to indicate, in the most unequivocal manner, the increasing ease, comfort, and happiness of the people. This will be shewn by a reference to a

3 A

[blocks in formation]

paper which I hold in my hand, and which | exhibits the following satisfactory results.

An increase upon

...

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

15 per cent.

[blocks in formation]

9

per cent.

do.

(Wax)

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

8 per cent. 2 per cent. 6 per cent. 20 per cent. 20 per cent.

12 per cent.

10 per cent.
15 per cent.
7 per cent.
3 per cent.
12 per cent.

15 per cent.

10 per cent.

24 per cent.

20 per cent.

7 per cent.

12 per cent.
3 per cent.

66 per cent.

do.

[merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][ocr errors][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small][merged small]

25 per cent.

15 per cent.

45 per cent.

14 per cent.

.....

3 per cent.

An increase upon Wine

[blocks in formation]
[blocks in formation]

I now come to the Stamps. I estimated | ture to adopt the same principle in framing last year that it would produce 6,800,000l.; and I afterwards proposed a reduction of law stamps, which, at the rate of 200,000l., per annum, and commencing on the 10th Oct. 1824, would have brought the receipt down to 6,750,000l. one quarter only of the reduced duty being lost in that year. The real produce of the year has been 7,244,000l., so that we have the satisfaction of knowing that we have obtained the benefit of cheap justice without making the sacrifice which we were prepared

to encounter.

The Post-office I took at 1,460,000l.; it brought 1,520,000l., that increase being the natural consequence of increasing activity in the general business of the country. Upon the whole, I may say, that although there might have been some who feared at the time that I was risking too much, all must now admit that I kept within moderate bounds, and that I may safely ven

I have now to state to the committee, my calculations for the present year, and to explain the grounds upon which they are formed. I assume the produce of 1825, including every thing, at 56,445,370%. The expenditure will be 56,001,8427., including 5,486,6541., as sinking fund, which will give us a clear surplus of 443,5281. Let us now look a little into the details. The Customs for 1825, I take at 11,350,000%., and I will explain why I assume an excess above the actual nett produce of last year. I think I have said enough to satisfy the committee, that I may safely take the last year's receipt as the basis of the present: to this I add 50,000l., which will be saved by the progressive diminution of certain bounties upon fish and linen; I had also, 460,000l. being the amount of the repayment of the stock in hand of silk, which was merely a casual loss. These sums,

« PreviousContinue »