national debt. Out of that, the interest on the loan was to be provided for, amounting to 1,000,000. which still left 2,500,000l. of a surplus revenue. The noble lord now touched upon those points on which ministers had the satisfaction of feeling that subsequent reductions might be effected in the present condition of the country. In his details on this subject, he chiefly dwelt on the reductions to be expected in the army, hich alone parliament would be called upon to vote, connected with the topic of military reduction. He concluded with admitting, that if this were a deduction of prosperity merely drawn from the alleviation of the burthens of the nation, the prospect would not be by any means so enlivening; but it was peculiarly satisfactory to trace the growing resources of the country to the industry and every thing that constituted the real and solid wealth of a people.

He concluded by moving, "That a Select Committee be appointed to inquire into and state the Income and Expenditure of the United Kingdom, for the year ended the 5th of January 1819; and also to consider and state the probable Income and Expenditure for the year ending the 5th of January 1820, and to report the same, together with their observations thereupon, to the House'; and also, to consider what further measures may be adopted for the relief of the country from any part of the said expenditure, without detriment to the public interests."

Mr. Tierney began his speech with several remarks upon the ex

pected Finance Committee, from which he was prepared to regard them in the same light with their predecessors. He then came to the substantial part of the noble lord's speech, the improvement in the revenue. He said, that what he wished to see, was the exact sum which would be available for the present year. The noble lord had affirmed, that the income and expenditure would meet, and there would remain a surplus. But in building up this argument, and drawing so happy a conclusion from it, he had thrown out of his view altogether the sinking fund. This, he conceived, was a delusion on the part of the noble lord.

.

He would explain the matter. There was an old debt upon that fund of 8,300,000l.: then he should say, that before one farthing of the surplus of that fund could be made available to the expenses of the current year, the whole of the old debt upon it must be wiped off. If then, this sum or surplus were added to the debt of last year, there would be an improvement in this year of two millions; and on the 5th of January 1820, all the advance which, the country could make would be to get clear of the old debt. There were, indeed, various taxes, the whole of which exceeded more than seven millions; but this was the outside of the amount towards covering the expenses of the army, the navy, the ordnance, and the miscellaneous services. A million, indeed, was due from France, which the country were led to expect, would be paid upon the evacuation of the French territory; but the chancellor of the exchequer seems to show that [D 2]

the

the sum cannot be calculated upon. Mr. Tierney proceeded It was the recent, strong, and general expression of public opinion, the unanimous calls for economy from one end of the kingdom to the other, which had made an impression on the noble lord and his colleagues, and to which was due any forced effort of theirs to economise. How could any man in his senses say, that with an income of only seven millions, and an expenditure of twenty millions, both ends would be made to meet, and a surplus left. Arguments founded upon the sinking fund, as applicable to the public service, would be a gross delusion; yet it was a delusion which had long been practised, and would still be supported by the finance committee. It was absolute mockery to talk of the advantages of a sinking fund, whilst the government was obliged to borrow a sum of 13,000,000l. a year to support it. Then, what was to be done? He would not say that faith should be broken with the public creditor; but he did say, that the system which had been and was still pursued by ministers, would lead to that or to some other measure equally dangerous. How, under such circumstances, could the Bank be expected to pay, while government were confessedly unable to make good their engagements to them? And yet, in this very state of things, the Chancellor of the Exchequer was about to call upon them that night to vote 24 millions of exchequer bills in one line, without coming to the point that would relieve the country from its difficulties. Would the

noble lord say, with these facts staring him in the face, that the country was in a most prosperous state, that we were going on flourishingly, and were the astonishment of the world? He conceived that, instead of being in a prosperous, we were absolutely in a frightful, situation; and if the world looked upon us with astonishment, he should only say, well they might, for he believed that never at any period did we present such a melancholy picture of financial derangement.

Mr. Tierney spoke some time further, particularly commenting upon the noble lord, and the chancellor of the exchequer; and he concluded by saying, that the system on which ministers were proceeding, was one against which he must protest, inasmuch as artful men were making large sums by it, whilst the bulk of the people were consigned by it to ruin.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer commenced by defending the Finance Committee from the attacks of the last right hon. gentleman, assuring the House that the country had been much indebted to its labours, and that many sinecures had been abolished, and much reduction had taken place in the military and naval establishments, in conse quence of their recommendations. Among other objects, for example, the committee had anticipated that the revenue of the year ending 5th of January last, would exceed the expenditure by two millions and a half. In fact, it did exceed it by four millions; but the right hon. gentleman, finding that that statement exhi

bited too flourishing a view of our condition, had brought into his view certain particulars which could not enter into a fair comparison. He had taken the whole charge of the consolidated fund and the sinking fund, and had then shown that our expenditure had considerably exceeded our receipts. It was impossible that this should not be the case, as so considerable a part of the war taxes had been abolished. Parliament had thought fit to relieve the country from fifteen millions of taxes, and thus they necessarily and unavoidably prevented the effect which would have been produced in the redemption of the debt by these fifteen millions annually. With respect to his plan of operations for the present

year, he could only answer the right hon. gentleman, as he had answered an hon. member some nights ago-he would not prematurely tie up his own hands, but would reserve to himself the power of adopting those measures which the situation of public affairs rendered most expedient.

Several other gentlemen spoke on this subject, some of whom appeared by no means inclined to adopt all the flattering predictions contained in the ministerial speeches. The motion was at length agreed to; and the same committee was re-appointed, with the exception of two, who were no longer in parliament, and whose names were supplied by two other members. The whole number amounted to 21.

CHAPTER

N March 8, the House of Commons having resolved itself into a committee on the Exchequer Consolidation Acts, the Chancellor of the Exchequer said, that he did not anticipate any objections to the arrange ment he was about to propose. By the practice of the exchequer, the revenue received for the purposes of the consolidated fund accumulated till the end of the quarter, and those sums had not been made applicable to the public service, but the Bank had had the advantage of the interest on them. The accumulations of the sums thus received for the consolidated fund, which were not applicable at present, unless to the payment of the interest of the public debt, the sinking fund, and the civil list, he proposed to apply to the public service, till required for their original purpose. The simple proposal, therefore, which he had to submit to the House was, that the public should have the benefit, instead of the Bank, of those accumulations. The sum to be thus applied, however, he should propose to be limited to a definite amount,

namely, six millions, which was nearly as large a sum as was usually accumulated from one quarter's end to the other. He should further propose, that at the time these sums were taken from the exchequer, exchequer bills should be replaced as a security, which bills should be realised at the close of the quarter. It would be recollected by the committee, that a negotiation between the Bank and Mr. Perceval took place in 1808, at which time that minister entertained a similar idea. But this plan was subsequently given up, and Mr. Perceval thought that the more convenient mode would be, to accept from the Bank the sum of three millions without interest, in lieu of the advantages the public would have otherwise derived from the appropriation of these sums to the public service. At the time when Mr. Perceval made his arrangement, the balances in the hands of the Bank were far more considerable than at present. Since that time the amount had greatly decreased in consequence of the peace; and a very large sum had been taken from

these

these balances by the new arrangement with regard to the payment of the sinking fund under the consolidation acts, The remaining balances had been reduced as low as could be allowed with safety; and from the accounts upon the table, it would be seen that there were seldom in the hands of the Bank, balances for more than ten days of what the public service required. He had now the satisfaction of stating to the committee, that the Bank had expressed its willingness to assist in carrying this plan into execution. In the measure he should propose, he should also introduce a clause limiting, for a certain time, the application of the sum of six millions, so taken out of the exchequer, to the public service, and applying it to the liquidation of debts due to the Bank from government. It would be recollected, that there was an arrear of the consolidated fund amounting to upwards of three millions outstanding from last January 5th, to the liquidation of which debt a portion of the sum of 6,000,000l. would be applied. With a view of satisfying all parties, he should introduce a clause for limiting the continuance of the measure to the 5th of July, 1820. He concluded with moving, "That it is the opinion of this Committee, that it is expedient the growing produce of the Consolidated Fund in Great Britain be made applicable in each quarter, to an amount not exceeding six millions on the whole at any time, for such services as shall be voted by parliament, until the same be

required for the services for which it is appropriated."

After several members had spoken on each side, the resolution was agreed to.

On March 18th, the Chancellor of the Exchequer moved the order of the day, for the House to resolve itself into a committee on the consolidated fund produce bill. On the motion, "That Mr. Speaker do now leave the chair,"

Mr. Grenfell said, that the proposed measure was by no means what the House had a right to expect from the repeated statements and declarations of the chancellor of the exchequer, since the commencement of the session, and particularly those of February 1st. He would venture to appeal to every member in the House, whether what had fallen from the right hon. gentleman did not amount to this-that as public money had accumulated in the hands of the Bank of England to the amount of seven millions, he had a measure in contemplation which would have the effect of abstracting six millions, and rendering it available to the public service. Something had fallen from him leading to a supposition that he meant to limit his bill to the exchequer balances, which had immediately induced him (Mr. Grenfell) to state that there were other balances, amounting upon an average to three millions, and that he should not be satisfied unless they were also appropriated to the service of the nation. Did not the right hon. gentleman then assert unequivocally, that his plan would not be

confined