ments and distresses at present experienced, are of an extensive nature; and though they are most severely felt amongst the manufacturers and merchants in those trades which have been more particularly specified, yet that they are also felt in a considerable degree in some other branches of trade; but they have the satisfaction of stating, that from the evidence of a very extensive and experienced merchant, it does not appear that they are felt in the woollen trade to such an extent as would at all justify a call upon parliament for any extraordinary relief.

That your Committee are warranted in stating, that there appeared a general concurrence of opinion amongst those of the witnesses who were examined, as to the expediency of affording parliamentary relief in the manner in which it was afforded by the issue of Exchequer bills in the year 1793, although there was some difference as to the extent of benefit which might be expected to be derived from such relief. And your Committee state it to be their decided opinion, that although there are many circumstances at the present time affecting the state of trade and commercial credit, which make a great difference between the present period and that of the year 1793, yet the distress is of such a nature and extent, as to make such parliamentary relief highly expedient and necessary; and that it promises to be productive of extensive and important benefit, that although in many cases such aid may not be capable of effectually relieving the persons to whom it may be applied, from great losses arising from the state VOL. LIII.

of circumstances, yet by affording them time gradually to contract their operations, to call in their means, to withhold from imme diate sale articles which at present can fetch only most ruinous prices, and to keep up the employment of their machinery and their workmen, though upon a very reduced and limited scale; it will divide and spread the pressure of this distress over a larger space of time, and enable them to meet it with consequences less ruinous to themselves, and less destructive to the interests of the community.

That your Committee referred to the manner in which relief was afforded in the year 1793, and have found that the provisions of that measure, which, as appears by the report of the commissioners appointed on that occasion, was attended with the happiest effects, and the most complete success, are embodied in the act 33 Geo. 3, cap. 29; and the Committee are of opinion, that similar provisions should be adopted with regard to the relief at present proposed; that the amount of exchequer bills to be issued should not be less, nor would the Committee recommend that it should be more, than six millions; and that, considering the probable date of the returns of trade from South America, a greater interval should be given for repayment than was allowed in 1793, the Committee being of opinion, that the time for payment of the first quarter's instalments should not be earlier than the middle of January next, and that the remainder of the sum advanced should be required to be repaid by three equal payments, from three U

months to three months, so that the whole should be discharged in nine months from the payment of such first instalment.

7th March, 1811.

APPENDIX.

London, 12th February, 1811. At a meeting of merchants and others, convened for the purpose of taking into consideration the difficulties and distress, to which the mercantile and manufacturing bodies of this country are exposed, and the best remedy that, under the circumstances, can be applied; present, Sir J. Shaw, bart. James Maryat, John Tunno, Jer. Har man, Thomson Bonar, J. J. Angerstein, J. Staniforth, J. Inglis, Thomas Reid, and Wm. Porter, esqrs. and the Deputies from Glasgow, and Paisley :

Resolved, That this meeting is strongly impressed with a sense of the very great difficulties and distress to which the mercantile and manufacturing bodies of every part of this kingdom are subjected, and which threaten the most destructive consequences to the merchant, and to every class of manufacturers and others dependent on them.

That this distress, which in the origin was considered to be attributable to the imprudently extensive speculations of some individuals, to those new markets in South America, which had recently been opened, has, in the opinion of this meeting, been in a certain degree occasioned by circumstances of a different nature, and far more extensive influence; and such as, this meeting trust,

will, upon inquiry, be found to justify an expectation of relief from the assistance of parliament, under the sanction of the lords commissioners of his majesty's treasury.

That the system of warehousing goods for re-exportation (without payment of duty) having been brought into complete operation by the construction of the WestIndia and London Dock warehouses, and of similar receptacles for merchandize in the principal out-ports, the events which have occurred during the last two years have tended to make Great Britain the emporium of the trade, not only of the peninsula, but also of the Brazils, of the Spanish settlements in South America, St. Domingo, the conquered colonies of Guadaloupe, Martinique, &c. but even of countries under the direct influence of the enemy, whose traders have been anxious to avail themselves of the protection of British laws and of the honour of British merchants. And thus it has, from these simultaneous and co-operating causes, happened, that in a short space of time, goods have been brought to this country, in amount beyond all precedent, and all calculation. That the power, wealth, and high character of the nation, have in fact contributed to produce a most alarming evil. And the measures of the enemy having been especially directed to the preventing the exportation of the immense quantities of merchandize of all descriptions thus accumulated, the consequences are, that the goods are become a burthen, and the advances to the owners on account, and the payment of

freight and insurance, have become grievous, in such a degree, as to threaten the most solid and respectable houses with all the evils of insolvency.

That it has been the effect of this combination of circumstances, to produce a general distrust and want of confidence, whereby the evil has been incalculably aggravated and is daily extending: so that, unless some immediate and effectual remedy be provided, the consequences will, in the opinion of this meeting, certainly prove of a fatal description to the trade and manufactures of this city, and the kingdom at large, and every interest dependant upon them.

That this meeting therefore consider it as incumbent on them to submit these deeply interesting matters to the consideration of the lords commissioners of his Majesty's treasury; humbly solicit ing, that relief may be afforded by a loan of exchequer bills, as was done in a similar case of commercial difficulty (but of a much less alarming extent) in the year 1793, for such a period, and with such regulations, as under all the circumstances herein set forth, shall appear to be just and expedient.

That Messrs. Tho. Reid, J. J. Angerstein, John Tunno, John Inglis, and the deputies from Glasgow, and Paisley be requested to wait on the Chancellor of the Exchequer with a copy of these resolutions.

Report on Petition of several Weavers, &c. The Committee to whom the Petition of several thousand manufacturers and artizans in the

town of Manchester and neighbourhood; and also the Petition of several weavers and spinners of cotton, handicrafts, artists, and labourers, resident in the town of Bolton, in the county of Lancaster, or its vicinity, were referred, to examine the matter thereof, and report the same, with their observations thereupon, to the House; and to whom the Petitions of persons residing in the town of Paisley, and suburbs, thereof; and of heritors, manufacturers, merchants, mechanics, and labourers of all denominations, residing in Lancaster, Ayr, and Renfrew shires, and the manufacturing places adjacent ;—were referred;

Have carefully and maturely examined the various suggestions submitted to their consideration; all of which appear to your Committee, to be exposed to insuperable objections; some as being of a nature too important and too extensive to fall within the limits of inquiry, which the Committee thought it their duty to prescribe to themselves; others as calculated either to restrict the number of hands when manufactures are flourishing; to confine workmen to a trade, in which, by a change of circumstances, they may be no longer able to find employ; to arrest the progress of improvement, and of facilities for abridging labour, on grounds which, at former periods, must have been equally strong against the introduction of the loom itself; and to infringe on personal liberty in that most essential point, the free exercise of industry, of skill, and of talent and have especially con sidered the expedient suggested

to them, of administering pecuniary aid out of the public revenue, "While your Committee fully acknowledge, and most deeply lament the great distress of numbers of persons engaged in the cotton manufacture, in various trades connected with it, arising from circumstances which have caused the sale of cotton goods to decline, and consequently the demand for labour in these trades, and in that manufacture, to be reduced; they are of opinion, that no interference of the legislature with the freedom of trade, or with the perfect liberty of every individual to dispose of his time and of his labour, in the way and on the terms which he may judge most conducive to his own interest, can take place, without violating general principles of the first importance to the prosperity and happiness of the community; without establishing the most pernicious precedent, or even with out aggravating, after a very short time, the pressure of the general distress, and imposing obstacles against that distress being ever removed: or, if the interference were extended to all trades and occupations, as it manifestly must be, when the system has been acted on in any, without producing great public mischief and being destructive of the happiness and comfort of individuals.

not fail of exciting expectations unbounded in extent, incapable of being realized, and most likely to destroy the equilibrium of labour, and of employment, in the various branches of manufacture, of commerce, and of agriculture."

Report of Committee relative to the State of Appeals in the House of Lords.

The Earl of Lauderdale, after observing that the information before the Committee on this subject only extended to the comparative increase of business in the Court of Chancery between the periods of ten years up to 1755, and ten years from 1800, moved for an account of the business before that court from 1755 to 1800, and the number of Decrees from 1755 to 1810.

The Earl of Liverpool had no objection to the motion, but could not consent to delay, till the information was produced, the measure in contemplation for the more speedy hearing of appeals in that House, which he thought it was of great importance should be passed before the session closed, in order that they might begin in the next session on the new arrangement.-The motion was agreed to. The order of the day was read for taking into consideration the Report of the Committee relative to the state of the Appeals in the House of Lords. The Report was read by the clerk at the table as follows:-" Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that it is indispensably pecessary, and that it so appears to be from the great number of Appeals and Writs of Error now de pending in the House, amounting

together to 338, of which 296 are Appeals, and 42 Writs of Error, that a greater proportion of the time of the House of Lords should be employed in hearing Appeals, than has been hitherto allotted to this part of the business of the House; and that it will be expedient, therefore, that the House should determine to sit for this purpose at least three days in every week during the session, meeting at ten o'clock, at latest, on each day till the present arrear of causes shall have been considerably reduced, and subsequently two days in the week at least, meeting at the same hour. That as the above regulation will unavoidably take up a large portion of the time of the Lord Chancellor, which would have been employed in other judicial duties, as appears from the statement contained in the Appendix, of the periods during which the Lord Chancellor usually sits in the Court of Chancery, it is absolutely necessary that some relief should be afforded to him in the discharge of such other judicial duties.

"Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, not only that the judicial business of the House of Lords hath so increased as to require, and to be likely to continue to require, a greater portion of the Lord Chancellor's time than was heretofore necessary for the execution thereof, and therefore to disable him from giving "sufficient attendance in the Court of Chancery, but that it also appears from the statements in the Appendixes of the comparative quantity of business in the Court at different periods, its judicial establishments having continued the

same, that there is a considerable increase thereof, taking together the whole of the different kinds of business transacted in the Court; and that it is therefore expedient, in order to secure at the same time a sufficient attendance upon the House of Lords by the Lord Chancellor, and sufficient means for carrying on the business in the Court of Chancery, that an additional Judge in the Court of Chancery should be appointed.

"Resolved, That it appears to this Committee to be expedient that such Judge should hold his office during good behaviour, and that he should be of a rank correspondent with that of the Master of the Rolls.

"Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that it is expedient to revive the practice which formerly prevailed in the House of Lords of limiting the period in each session, after which Appeals shall not be received in that session.

"Resolved, That it is the opinion of this Committee, that it is expedient to order all the parties in the Appeals and Writs of Error, which may be depending at the close of the present session in the House of Lords, to lay the prints of their cases upon the table of the House, before the end of the first week in the next session of parliament, in order that the House may be enabled to form some judgment of the nature of the cases which have been brought before them; and that it should be an order of the House that the prints in all cases of Appeals and Writs of Error should be here after laid upon the table of the House, within a time to be limited