agreed to and concluded at London, on the | tions. It was now but a few days more 29th of June, 1814, by the plenipoten- than three months since the separation of tiaries of his Majesty the Emperor of parliament, at which period no person Austria, the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia, by which the sovereigns respectively engage to maintain, on a war establishment, 75,000 men, namely, 60,000 foot and 15,000 horse, until the arrangements respecting the future state of the powers of Europe, which, according to the above-mentioned Treaty of Paris, were to be regulated at the Congress of Vienna, should be completed. "His Majesty reserves thereby to himself the power of furnishing his contingent, comformably to the 9th article of the Treaty of Chaumont. The High Contracting Parties engage to employ these armies only by common consent, and in the spirit and for the end of their above-mentioned alliance. "The acts of ratification of these conventions on the parts of the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia, have not yet been received in London." NAVY ESTIMATES-BILLS OF CREDIT EXCHEQUER BILLS.] The several accounts of Navy debt, Exchequer bills, and bills of credit, having been referred to the committee of supply, the House, on the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, resolved itself into the said commitee. could imagine they would be called together again so soon. What the causes were of their re-assembling, he confessed himself unable to explain. The Speech delivered from the throne had not assigned a single reason for this unexpected occurrence. For himself, he conjectured, and the votes now proposed confirmed him in that opinion, that the want of money was the cause which had induced his Majesty's ministers to advise the calling together of parliament at the present moment. If he was right in this supposition, there was strong ground for requiring that the financial minister of the country should enter into a general statement of our financial situation. He had read the Speech from the throne several times, in the hope to find in it some cause assigned for the meeting of parliament, but he had not been so ingenious as to discover any; and he was persuaded that the oldest member in that House could not recollect an instance of parliament having been called together-the supplies having been voted-three months after that period, without the statement of some reason for such a proceeding, either from the throne, or at least from the mouths of ministers. To deny the present vote would seem peculiarly hard, and, indeed, was impossible, Sir George Warrender observed, that under consistently with a due regard for the the existing circumstances of the war with public service; but he declared, that he the United States, the committee must be could not willingly vote any sum, until aware of the necessity of our retaining a some official explanation was given of the large naval force. A considerable portion nature of our situation. As connected with of our present establishment was, in fact, at this subject, he could not help commentpresent employed in operations on the ing on the unheard-of proceeding which, enemy's coast, and in the protection of if the public prints were to be believed, our own commerce in various parts of the had taken place between the right hon. world. It would therefore be unnecessary the Chancellor of the Exchequer and for him to do more than state the number of some of those who were called the monied seamen which it was proposed to vote; interest. A communication had been adding this remark, that the following made to these gentlemen, that government votes would relate not to the extraordinaries wanted no loan, with a view to dispel any of the navy, but merely to the fleet afloat. apprehension that the public securities He then moved, "That, 70,000 men be would be further depressed. Other meaemployed for the sea service, for the year sures had then been resorted to for the 1815; including 15,000 marines." This purpose of obtaining money. The counResolution being agreed to, sir George try had, however, seen a meeting of the next moved, "That for the wages of the most respectable merchants of London, said 70,000 men, the sum of 1,615,250l. having in the chair a gentleman, formerly be granted to his Majesty; being at the a representative of the city, and so exrate of 1. 15s. 6d. per man per month,tremely well-disposed towards his Majesfor thirteen months." ty's present government, as to have cha Mr. Ponsonby said, he could not allow racterized them as the best and wisest mithese votes to pass without a few observa-nisters that ever lived; and yet this very (VOL. XXIX.) (L) ESTIMATE of the DEBT of his Majesty's NAVY, on the 30th of September 1814. For Wages to the Officers, Workmen, and Labourers, employed at the Ports.......... For Short Allowance Money to the Companies of TRANSPORTS,-As by Account received from the For Bills payable at Ninety days date, for Freight for sick Seamen, and for Miscellaneous Services 1,135,653 18 9 For Freight of Transports, Prisoners, Medicines, Hospitals, &c. for Sick Seamen, for which Bills were not made out on the 30th September...... 2,957,211 12 11 -853,976 18 11 d. -4,092,865 11 8 DEDUCT the Balance remaining in the hands of the Treasurer 340,582 8 8,176,279 11 6 -983,202 4 10 Shows the DEBT of the NAVY, on the 30th September 1814, to be £.7,193,077 68 SUBSTANCE OF three Conventions, Sup. PLEMENTARY TO THE TREATIES OF CHAUMONT AND PARIS.] The Chancellor of the Exchequer, by order of the Prince Regent, presented the following Memorandum : Substance of three Conventions, Supple (Signed) WM. SHIELD. and Paris, concluded at London, the 29th of June, 1814, on the part of his Majesty, the Emperors of Austria and Russia, and the King of Prussia. Foreign Office, Nov. 10, 1814. "Three Conventions, supplementary to mentary to the Treaties of Chaumont the Treaties of Chaumont and Paris, were agreed to and concluded at London, on the 29th of June, 1814, by the plenipotentiaries of his Majesty the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia, by which the sovereigns respectively engage to maintain, on a war establishment, 75,000 men, namely, 60,000 foot and 15,000 horse, until the arrangements respecting the future state of the powers of Europe, which, according to the above-mentioned Treaty of Paris, were to be regulated at the Congress of Vienna, should be completed. "His Majesty reserves thereby to himself the power of furnishing his contingent, comformably to the 9th article of the Treaty of Chaumont. "The High Contracting Parties engage to employ these armies only by common consent, and in the spirit and for the end of their above-mentioned alliance. "The acts of ratification of these conventions on the parts of the Emperor of Austria, the Emperor of Russia, and the King of Prussia, have not yet been received in London." NAVY ESTIMATES-BILLS OF CREDIT EXCHEQUER BILLS.] The several accounts of Navy debt, Exchequer bills, and bills of credit, having been referred to the committee of supply, the House, on the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, resolved itself into the said commitee. tions. It was now but a few days more than three months since the separation of parliament, at which period no person could imagine they would be called together again so soon. What the causes were of their re-assembling, he confessed himself unable to explain. The Speech delivered from the throne had not assigned a single reason for this unexpected occurrence. For himself, he conjectured, and the votes now proposed confirmed him in that opinion, that the want of money was the cause which had induced his Majesty's ministers to advise the calling together of parliament at the present mo ment. If he was right in this supposition, there was strong ground for requiring that the financial minister of the country should enter into a general statement of our financial situation. He had read the Speech from the throne several times, in the hope to find in it some cause assigned for the meeting of parliament, but he had not been so ingenious as to discover any; and he was persuaded that the oldest member in that House could not recollect an instance of parliament having been called together-the supplies having been voted-three months after that period, without the statement of some reason for such a proceeding, either from the throne, or at least from the mouths of ministers. To deny the present vote would seem peculiarly hard, and, indeed, was impossible, consistently with a due regard for the public service; but he declared, that he could not willingly vote any sum, until some official explanation was given of the nature of our situation. As connected with this subject, he could not help commenting on the unheard-of proceeding which, if the public prints were to be believed, had taken place between the right hon. the Chancellor of the Exchequer and some of those who were called the monied interest. A communication had been made to these gentlemen, that government wanted no loan, with a view to dispel any apprehension that the public securities would be further depressed. Other measures had then been resorted to for the purpose of obtaining money. The country had, however, seen a meeting of the most respectable merchants of London, having in the chair a gentleman, formerly a representative of the city, and so extremely well-disposed towards his Majesty's present government, as to have chaMr. Ponsonby said, he could not allow racterized them as the best and wisest mithese votes to pass without a few observa-nisters that ever lived; and yet this very (VOL. XXIX. ) Sir George Warrender observed, that under the existing circumstances of the war with the United States, the committee must be aware of the necessity of our retaining a large naval force. A considerable portion of our present establishment was, in fact, at present employed in operations on the enemy's coast, and in the protection of our own commerce in various parts of the world. It would therefore be unnecessary for him to do more than state the number of seamen which it was proposed to vote; adding this remark, that the following votes would relate not to the extraordinaries of the navy, but merely to the fleet afloat. He then moved, That, 70,000 men be employed for the sea service, for the year 1815; including 15,000 marines." This Resolution being agreed to, sir George next moved, That for the wages of the said 70,000 men, the sum of 1,615,250l. be granted to his Majesty; being at the rate of 1. 15s. 6d. per man per month, for thirteen months. (L) individual had declared, that the measures proposed by the best and wisest ministers that ever lived', respecting the bonding system, were the most destructive to commerce that ever had been devised. All this was a strong indication of the great distress of the Treasury for money, and required explanation. He trusted the right hon. gentleman could satisfactorily account for them. But, at all events, he hoped that, before he called upon the House to vote further large sums of money, the right hon. gentleman would break through the silence which he had hitherto observed, and give the committee such an explanation of the real financial situation of the country, as would warrant him and every other gentleman in concurring in the votes proposed to them. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, in reply to the right hon. gentleman's assertion, that it was unusual to call parliament together at the close of a year during which they had already been sitting, observed, that he was sure the committee could not forget how frequently that had occurred. And with respect to the declaration of the causes which called for the meeting of parliament, in his opinion, there never had been one more complete than that comprehended in the Speech with which his royal highness the Prince Regent had opened the present session. The right hon. gentleman, although he had acknowledged that it would be inconsistent with a due regard to the public service to decline acceding to the vote proposed to the committee, had accompanied that acknowledgment with a desire that he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) would previously enter into a general statement of the finances of the country. If, by that expression, the right hon. gentleman meant that general winding up of the financial accounts which was familiarly termed the Budget, his answer was, that it was impossible to comply with the right hon. gentleman's wish at the present period of the year; because those accounts were necessarily in such a situation, that nothing of an accurate nature could be inferred from them. But if the right hon. gentle man was only anxious to know what were the intentions of the Treasury, as recently alluded to by himself, he should have no objection whatever, although he bad meant to bring the subject forward in a few days, to anticipate that period, and to make to the right hon. gentleman's inquiry as satisfactory an answer as was in his power. In doing this, he was convinced that he should shew the committee, that all the right hon. gentleman's surmises and suspicions were unfounded; and that there was nothing in the state of our finances extraordinary or alarming, or which should call upon them to treat ministers with any great degree of severity on the subject. The right hon. gentleman had condemned the communication which he (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had thought it his duty to make of the intention of his Majesty's ministers not to require another loan. The fact was, that a false alarm, grounded on vague and unfounded reports, had become so prevalent, that it became necessary to contradict it; and he had adopted the mode which appeared to him the best for that purpose. He repeated, that although in a few days he should have spontaneously explained the financial measures which he had in view, yet that he had no objection whatever to make the statement at the present moment. In the first place, then, it was not his intention to propose any loan, any funding of Exchequer bills, or any measure of a similar nature. All that he should move for would be the grants usual at the early part of the session-the ordinary votes the annual taxes-and a grant of Exchequer bills, to renew the Exchequer bills which it would be necessary to pay off. He should also propose, that of two sums of Exchequer bills, amounting together to fifteen millions and a half, which were annually renewed from year to year, twelve millions and a half should be provided for; thus considerably diminishing the unfunded debt. Lastly, he should propose the renewal of the vote of several years past, providing for outstanding Exchequer bills. The right hon. gentleman had adverted to another subject, which he (the Chaucellor of the Exchequer) was desirous to explain to the committee. The committee would well recollect, that in 1813 (after some temporary regulations with respect to the warehousing of goods imported into this country) a General Warehousing Act was passed, by which Act goods imported into this country, and subject to a high duty, were allowed to remain in the public warehouses for three months, if not previously taken out by the merchants, either for home consumption or for exportation. In 1809, when the continental system of hostility to our com merce was in full activity, and in consequence the goods in our warehouses could find no ready vent, it was thought adviseable by parliament to invest the lords of the Treasury with a discretionary power to extend the time to a twelvemonth. Subsequently to that period, and up to the end of last year, this indulgence was freely and liberally granted. After the glorious successes of the allies, however, had occasioned many of the continental ports to be opened, the lords of the Treasury considered it advisable to diminish the irregularities which this indulgence necessarily occasioned, and which threatened the revenue with considerable danger. They felt that the time was approaching when it would be expedient to recur to the ancient system. Under this impression, the lords of the Treasury, on the 25th of November last, issued an order, which he would read. [Here the right hon. gentleman read the order, which stated the reasons which induced the Treasury to fix the 1st of June, 1814, as the period beyond which the special indulgence which they had been accustomed to grant should not extend.] In the month of May, however, several representations were made by respectable merchants, that notwithstanding the success of the allies had opened many of the continental ports to British commerce, yet that the severity of the winter had prevented them from sending their goods out; and they prayed, therefore, for an extension of the time during which they were to be permitted to remain in the public warehouses. The severity of the winter being notorious, and forming one of those especial circumstances specified in the act of parliament, the lords of the Treasury were induced, on the 10th of May, to issue another order, extending the period of their former order from the 1st of June to the 30th of October, accompanying this indulgence with a distinct declaration and notice, that if the goods were not cleared out of the warehouses by that time, the provisions of the Warehousing Act would be strictly enforced. Nothing could be more positive and precise than the terms of this notice, which he would take the liberty of reading to the committee. "In granting this renewed indulgence, however, my lords desire it may be distinctly understood by the parties interested, that their opinion continues the same as to the expediency and propriety of resorting to the period originally limited by the Warehousing Act for goods to remain in bond; and they direct that notices be given to such parties, that unless all goods that have been in bond the time thereby limited, are taken out before the 30th of October next, they positively will be proceeded against agreeably to law; my lords being of opinion, that the indulgence has been already too far extended." Yet, to his great surprise, several persons not long ago represented to him that they had never heard of this order! Others, who allowed that they had heard of it, said, that they did not expect it would be insisted upon. The Treasury, however desirous to diminish the irregularity of the revenue accounts, was as desirous to do this with the least possible injury to individuals. The lords of the Treasury, therefore, and the earl of Liverpool in particular, had several interviews with the persons who conceived themselves to be aggrieved by the determination to enforce the order of the 10th of May; but the apprehended hardship appeared to them likely to affect only a particular description of goods. Among these, the principal was coffee; owing to the three or four years of exclusion from the continent, a great quantity had been necessarily accumulated. The Treasury consented to extend the period of indulgence with respect to coffee to twelve months. Bark, owing to the same circumstance, and to the act of parliament which had prohibited its exportation, had also considerably accumulated, as had likewise barilla. An extension of twelve months was therefore granted with respect to those two articles. The right hon. gentleman, taking his commercial and financial, as he did his political information, from the newspapers and magazines, had talked of the enforcing of this order as a resource to which the Treasury applied in the absence of other means of raising money. The committee would, however, be surprised to learn, that the whole amount of the duties due on the goods at present warehoused did not exceed 1,200,000l. To one half of these goods the extended indulgence had been granted. Of the remaining half, a half would be exported. So that all that the revenue would derive from this harsh and violent proceeding,' as it had been termed, would be the prodigious sum of 300,000l.! And, be it remembered, that even with respect to the payment of this sum, a special indulgence had been granted. It was to be paid in |