cessors in office. It was triumphantlyem of duty is established, I know not. I asked, whether our allies and the people have never heard that it was a public crime would not look for the same degree of to retire from office without explaining vigour and ability from the new adminis- the reason. I therefore am not aware tration, standing on the same ground and how it can be a public crime in me to fighting the same battle? He must cer- relinquish, without assigning the cause, a tainly reply in the negative. When the station which it would be the ambition of two right hon. gentlemen (Messrs. Pitt and my life, and the passion of my heart, to Dundas), and a noble earl (Spencer) continue to fill, if I could do so with adshould be removed, there would certainly vantage to the country, and consistently be a great defalcation from the vigour with what I conceive to be my duty. As and abilities of the cabinet. The reason- to the merits of the question which led to ing on this occasion was of a singular de- my resignation, though I do not feel myscription. When the crew of a vessel was self bound, I am willing, to submit them' preparing for action, it was usual to clear to the House. I should rather leave the decks, by throwing overboard the it to posterity to judge of my conductlumber; but he never heard of such still I have no objection to state the fact. a manœuvre as that of throwing their With respect to the resignation of myself great guns overboard. When an election and of some of my friends, I have no wish committee was formed, the watchword to disguise from the House, that we did was, to shorten the business by knocking feel it an incumbent duty upon us to pro out the brains of the committee. This pose a measure on the part of govern was done by striking from the list the ment, which, under the circumstances of names of the lawyers and other gentle- the union, so happily effected between men who might happen to know a little the two countries, we thought of great too much of the subject. In this sense, public importance, and necessary to comthe right hon. gentleman had literally plete the benefits likely to result from knocked out the brains of the administra- that measure: we felt this opinion so tion; and then clapping a mask on the strongly, that when we met with circum skeleton, cried, "Here is as fine vigour stances which rendered it impossible for and talent for you as any body may wish us to propose it as a measure of governto see." This empty skull, this skeleton ment, we equally felt it inconsistent with administration, was the phantom that was our duty and our honour, any longer to to overawe our enemies, and to command remain a part of that government. What the confidence of the House and the peo- may be the opinion of others I know not, ple. If it was promised, that the new but I beg to have it understood to be a administration was to adopt the very re- measure which, if I had remained in goverse of the measures of their prede- vernment, I must have proposed. What cessors; then, indeed, might they aspire my conduct will be in a different situation, to the unbounded confidence and esteem must be regulated by a mature and imof the nation. But while more than a partial review of all the circumstances doubt was entertained of their principles of the case. I shall be governed (as it and opinions, where was the inconveni- has always been the wish of my life to ence of withholding the supplies for a few be) only by such considerations as I days? think best tend to insure the tranquillity, the strength, and the happiness of the empire. The motion for going into a committee, was then put and agreed to. Mr. Addington thanked.] Feb. 17. The right hon. Henry Addington being come to the House, Mr. Speaker addressed him as follows: Mr. Pitt said:-I have been accused of having refused to give the House any explanation upon the subject of my resignation. Sir, I did not decline giving the House an explanation upon that subject; but I must be permitted to observe, that it appears to me to be a new and not a very constitutional doctrine, that a man must not follow his sense of duty-that a man must not, in compliance with the dictates "Mr. Addington;-The House have of his conscience, retire from office, with unanimously resolved, That the thanks aut being bound to give to this House of this House be expressed in the strongand to the public, an account of all the est terms to you, Sir, for the exemplary circumstances that weigh in his mind and and distinguished manner in which you influence his conduct. Where this sys-discharged the duties of Speaker during - Means, the whole of the period in which you filled | itself into a Committee of Ways and the Chair of the House of Commons: that you be assured that the proofs which you Mr. Pitt spoke nearly as follows:-Sir, have uniformly given of attachment to the in submitting to the committee the esti constitution, the steadiness with which you mates of the provisions which will be nehave maintained the dignity and privileges cessary for the services of the present of this House, the ability, integrity, and year, it will be my duty to call their unremitting attention to parliamentary attention, first, to those parts of them business, which have marked the whole of which, under the arrangements which your conduct, justly entitle you to their were made at the time when the Union approbation, respect, and gratitude; and between the two countries was happily it is my duty to convey to you the thanks effected, are to be jointly defrayed by the of the House, according to this resolu- two countries. I shall, therefore, in the tion. In discharge of this duty, if I were first place, state the charges for which it to indulge my private feelings, I should is necessary to provide, and then the maneasily find topics on which to expatiate. ner in which I propose they should be deBut I am to thank you for your conduct in frayed. Under the head of supply the this Chair, and on that subject the resolu- first thing to be noticed are, the sums tion itself amply conveys the opinion of which have been granted to the service of the House. If I were to endeavour to give the navy. There has already been voted their sentiments in other words, I should for that service, 15,800,000l., which exprobably only weaken the force of the ceeds by 2,200,000l. the sum which was expressions which they have used; and I last year voted for that service. The reawill not therefore attempt to convey to sons for this increase I alluded to on a you their thanks in any language but former occasion. In the first place, the their own." number of seamen has been considerably Upon which Mr. Addington said; augmented, it having been judged neces"Mr. Speaker, It is with sensations of the most respectful and heartfelt gratitude, that I receive the testimony of approbation which you have communicated to me, in obedience to the commands of the House. To enjoy their good opinion was my pride and comfort during my continuance in their service; to experience such a proof of it as has been afford ed me upon the present occasion, is indeed the highest honour, and the most gratifying reward. Being only conscious of having discharged my duty with zeal and fidelity, I feel a satisfaction, which I am unable to express, in being allowed to indulge the hope, that the Chair, in which you preside, has not lost, by my conduct, any portion of that dignity and authority which are so essential to the well regulated freedom of debate, as well as to the rights and privileges of the representatives of the people, and which you, Sir, I am sure, will ever be disposed to maintain. My best acknowledgments, Sir, are due to you, for the manner in which you have been pleased to execute the orders of the House: to the House itself I owe every obligation which can bind the duty, veneration, and attachment of an individual to the first public body in the world." Debate in the Commons on the Budget.] Feb. 18. The House having resolved sary to carry this part of the force of the country to the greatest extent. For the army, the sum already voted is 9,617,000/. for Great Britain, the sum voted last year for this service was 8,500,000l. This increase arises from an augmentation, which it was judged necessary to make. There was also a sum voted last year, beforehand, of 2,500,000l. for the extra. ordinaries, and the same sum had been estimated as necessary for the present year. This will make the sum necessary to be provided for the army, on the part of Great Britain, 12,117,000. The sum necessary for the same service for Ireland, will be 3,785,000l. making the whole sum to be defrayed on the united kingdom, for the army, 15,902,000l. For the ordnance the charge for Great Britain is 1,639,000l. and for Ireland, 299,000l. making together 1,938,000l. The next head is that which is called miscellaneous services. The sum necessary for Great Britain, will be 550,000l. and for Ireland, 207,000l. making together 757,000. It has been usual to grant a vote of credit for extraordinary emergencies that may occur, and which cannot be foreseen when the estimates are forming. The sum which I shall propose to vote for this purpose, is 800,000l. I do not think there will be any occasion for subsidies in the present situation of Europe. These, Sir, with the exception of one article, are all that are to be jointly defrayed by the two countries. The article I alluded to is, the Irish permanent grants, which amount to 390,4621.; the whole, therefore, of the sum which is to be defrayed by Great Britain and Ireland for the service of this year, will be 35,587,4621. Of this sum the part to be borne by Great Britain will be 15-17ths or 31,400,702. and by Ireland, 2-17ths, or 4,186,760. There is one part of a charge which will fall partly upon Ireland, not enumerated, and that is, the share which Ireland must take in our peace establishment. The permanent charge in this country for the civil list, and other charges on the consolidated fund, not relating to the public debt, must be allotted in its due proportion. This sum amounts to 1,170,000l., of course the sum which will fall upon Ireland will be 137,000l. This will make the whole burthen falling upon Ireland amount to 4,324,000. Whatever else remains, with the exception of the national debt of Ireland, is to be provided for by Great Britain. I shall now proceed to state those charges which fall separately upon her; and these are such as arise from causes before the 1st of January, 1801, the day on which the Union took place. It is, Sir, with very great concern I state, that these charges are from causes which are unfortunately too notoriously, extremely heavy. I mean, the effects which have been produced by the unfavourable seasons that we have experienced. The defalcation in the revenue arising from these causes, Ido not think it right, under a fair and liberal construction of the articles of union, to call upon Ireland to bear any share in; because it appears to me, that if any scparate charges are brought forward, which originated in causes existing before the union took place, they ought to be borne by that part of the united kingdom in which that separate charge arose. Of these defalcations, the first which I have to state to the committee is, the deficiency of the income tax, which I last year stated as being likely to produce 7,000,000l. and accordingly took credit for that sum. Though, when I made that estimate, I conceived I had good grounds for the calculation which I made, yet I do not think I should now be justified in taking its produce at more than 6,000,000l. The next sum to be made good is the discount allowed upon the loan and the lottery, which amounts to 200,000l. The deficiency of the malt duties for 1799, up to the 5th of April 1800, amounts to 400,000l. There were exchequer bills issued upon the credit of the additional assessed taxes of 1798, of the duties on exports and imports in 1799, and of the income duties of 1799. A considerable part of these duties having not yet been paid in, it is impossible to judge how much of them may be ultimately satisfied: therefore, I think the best way will be to compare the assess ment, deducting the charges of management, with the sums which had been satisfied, and to provide for the deficiency; and for this purpose I shall propose to vote a sum of 1,350,000l. The next deficiency for which we have to provide is in the consolidated fund. I know, Sir, that, under the present circumstances, it is a discouraging thing to state a deficiency in the growing produce of the consolidated fund; but that impression will cease when I state, that the deficiency arises merely from temporary causes, which must be obvious to the committee, and which have occasioned the defalcation of the duties upon malt and beer; and that, by an act of the legislature, made with a view to alleviate the public pressure, the revenues had been diminished by a considerable deduction from the duties on British spirits. These causes have not only decreased the public revenue in this direct manner that I have stated, but they must have had a considerable effect upon the other taxes. I shall, therefore, propose to make an effectual provision for it, by voting 3,000,000l. for the payment of these exchequer bills. It will also be necessary to provide a sum of 460,000l. for the interest of exchequer bills. The last sum which I have to notice, as part of the charge which is to fall separately upon England, is one which this House has continued to vote for many years, under all the pressure of this expensive war. I mean, the sum of 200,0007. to the sinking fund, for the reduction of the debt; a sum at which, I trust, it will always be continued. I have now, Sir, stated all the charges which belong exclusively to England, making together the sum of 6,610,000l. The whole charge of the two countries for the service of the year will then amount to 42,197,000l. which will be divided between the two countries thus: Great Britain, for its fifteen seventeenths of the joint-expense, and those charges which belong separately to her, will have to defray 37,870,000l., and the charge falling upon Ireland will be 4,324,000/. Mr. Pitt having stated all the sums requisite for the supplies of the year, and the proportions in which they were to be borne by the two countries, submitted to the committee the Ways and Means. These he showed would stand thus: Taxes on sugar, malt, and tobacco Lottery Income duty, deducting the To be provided by Ireland... hands, he also considered as a proper article of taxation. On all exports of every kind he proposed a tax of sixpence per pound, which, he calculated, would produce 104,000l.; and on all articles consumed at home a duty of threepence in the pound, which he estimated at 15,000l. This increase of the import or exports, and home consumption, might be expected to make up, together, the sum of 119,000l. An addition of twenty2,750,000 pence per cwt. on sugar, he expected to 300,000 produce 166,000/. A duty on raisins would produce 10,000/.; and a duty on lead 120,000.-The next tax Mr. Pitt 4,260,000 proposed was, an additional duty on horses of every description, not excepting 1,250,000 even those employed in agriculture: There remained then a sum of 25,500,000l. to be raised by way of loan. There was a rivalship between two great parties which should take the loan. They had taken it without premium or bonus, except the discount on prompt payment. The terms were 125 consols, valued at 70%. 15s.-50-15 reduced, value 291. 5s. for every 100%. though that on the latter would only be 3,300,000 to a small amount. On every horse em4,324,000 ployed in agriculture, he proposed an 500,000 additional duty of 4s. for each, which 60,000 would produce the sum of 136,000l. On pleasure-horses, where only one was kept, £16,744,000 an additional duty of 10s. for each, which would produce the sum of 170,000!; making the additional tax on horses, 306,000l.-An increase of one-half of the existing stamp duty on all bills and notes, he estimated at 112,000l. To double the present duty on all policies of insurance in shipping transactions, would produce 145,000l. On all deeds of conveyance of property, which bore, at present, a tax of 10s. per skin, he proposed to place an additional duty of 3s. per skin, which would produce 93,000l. Total amount of additional stamp duties, 350,000l. The next and the last subject of taxation to which Mr. Pitt called the attention of the House was one, he observed, in which the revenue was raised in a way the most satisfactory, and the most consistent with the interests of the people: for it was only a duty on that which individuals found more convenience in, than could be obtained by any other mode they could adopt; and for which they paid, in proportion to the expense of any other con venience, very little indeed. By paying to the public, in the article alluded to, individuals paid infinitely less than they would be obliged to pay, if they were to take the thing upon themselves. The duty he meant was that on the postage of letters. Various regulations respecting distances, cross road posts, packets to Ireland, foreign letters, and enclosures in foreign letters, it was estimated would produce a revenue of 80,000l.. With re The first tax proposed, for paying the interest of the loan, was an additional duty on tea above 2s. 6d. per pound, of 10 per cent, ad valorem, which he calculated would produce the sum of 30,000l. The next tax was on the article of paper, the present duty on which he proposed to double: providing an exception, however, in favour of paper-hangings, and glazed paper, used in particular manufactures, and allowing a discount, to the full amount of the duty, on all paper used in the publication of diurnal prints. The produce of this tax he estimated at 130,000l. He proposed that the drawback on the exportation of calicoes be taken off, and that the present duty of twopence-halfpenny per yard, be advanced to threepence-halfpenny, which would amount to 155,000l., making the total of the excise 586,000l. On the tax on timber, staves, and deals, he proposed an increase of one-third, which increase he estimated at 95,000. The export trade of pepper, the whole of which was, in fact, in our spect to the penny-post, Mr. Pitt proposed that the present rate should be doubled: that is, that, instead of a penny, every letter should, in future, be charged twopence. The produce of this additional penny was estimated at 17,000. The whole produce, to be drawn from the new post-office regulations, he estimated at 150,000/ Excise Customs RECAPITULATION. Horses ......... Post-office regulations war with that of a year of peace, by way of showing how productive some years of war had been; but now the climax was not that of going from a year of war to a year of peace, to show the flourishing state of our commerce and revenue: the course must be that of comparing one year with another; for the war had been attended with a constant increase of our commerce and revenue: so that we were distinguished by our prosperity, commerce, and naval superiority, above all 586,000 the other nations of the world. And it 402,000 was singular, but not more singular than 306,000 true, that very year, though we had suf350,000 fered so much, and that recently, from 150,000 unfavourable seasons, the present year, £. Total amount of new taxes... £1,794,000 And the sum to be provided as interest of the loan, 1,785,000%. or thereabouts. Mr. Pitt having described the flourishing state, and favourable prospect of the finances, asked what had been the permanent effect of our antecedent permanent revenue? and what even now, after much disadvantage, which was clearly to be attributed to the seasons, which they all knew to have been so unfavourable? The amount of our permanent taxes exceeded, on the 5th of January last, that of January, 1800. January, 1801, might be called the era of our prosperity as well as trial. At this period, our imports and exports were more than they were in the year 1791. If we looked at the state of the debt, we had abundant consolation: for, struggling, as we had been, with difficulties, and increasing a debt, which we could not have avoided, yet, by a rigid and scrupulous adherence to the system long since adopted for the discharge of that debt, according to the engagement we had entered into with ourselves, in the year 1786, we had paid off no less a sum than 52,000,000l. of the capital of our debt: a sum which, but for that engagement, and our scrupulous adherence to it, would have been now a burthen to the people of this country. The total amount of our sinking fund was 5,000,000l. annually. Of the burthens imposed on us by this unexampled war, more than one-half had been employed, not in supporting ourselves, under engagements entered into by ourselves, but to pay the debts contracted by our ancestors. In former times, the course was, to make comparisons of the revenue of a year of [VOL. XXXV.] 1800-1801, was the proudest that the country had ever known with respect to its commerce. It might well be matter of wonder to some, though it was not to others, that, in spite of all the alarms, lamentations, and momentary despondency, which had been so industriously pressed on the minds of the people, from circumstances too well calculated to have that effect, this country should be the only one in Europe, that had, in this great struggle, the memory of which would be dear to the world, preserved the full benefit of a constitution, which was adapted to support the public liberty and private happiness of a people, who had shown their affection for a sovereign, that had, at all times, shown for them the feelings of a father. A people which had shown a vigour and a firmness, worthy of being guided by the wisdom of such a parliament. The several Resolutions were then put and agreed to. Debate on Mr. Sturt's Motion respecting the Failure of the Expedition to Ferrol.] Feb. 19. Mr. Sturt rose, in pursuance of the notice he had given, for the purpose of submitting a motion to the House, which he trusted every member would feel it a duty incumbent upon him to support. He should say nothing which might wound the feelings of the hon. general who had conducted the expedition, or of the right hon. gentleman who was supposed to have planned it. What he should contend was, that when such a vast and expensive armament had brought nothing but disgrace upon the country, the country had a right to demand that an inquiry should be instituted into the causes of its failure. A right hon. gentleman had said that so far from disgrace, [SR] |