King, for redeeming every part of the national debt within the period of 45 years from the time of its creation, it is also expedient, that in future, whenever the amount of the sum to be raised by loan, or by any other addition to the public funded debt, shall, in any year, exceed the sum estimated to be applicable, in the same year, to the reduction of the public debt, an annual sum, equal to one half of the interest of the excess of the said loan, or other addition beyond the sum so estimated to be applicable, shall be set apart out of the monies composing the consolidated fund of Great Britain, and shall be issued at the receipt of the Exchequer to the governor and company of the bank of England, to be by them placed to the account of the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, and upon the remainder of such loan, or other addition, the annual sum of one per cent. on the capital of all perpetual redeemable annuities created in respect thereof, according to the provisions of the said act of the 321 year of his present Majesty.

7. "That, in order to prevent the increase of the public debt, by means of exchequer bills annually renewed, or other unfunded go vernment securities, bearing inte rest, it is expedient that, on the 5th day of January in every year, an account be taken of all such exchequer bills, and other government securities, outstanding and charged upon funds not deemed capable of making good the same, within one year from such 5th day of January, and that a sum equal Jo, one per cert, thereupon be anted out of the supplies of such

year to the said commissioners for the reduction of the national debt.

S. "That, for the purpose of giving effect to the above resolutions, it is expedient that the said act, passed in the 42 year of his present Majesty, be amended,

9. "That it is expedient to make provision, that an annual · sum of 807,9637. being equal to one per cent, on the capital stock created in respect of several loans raised by virtue of divers acts passed in the 38th, 39th, and 40th and 42d years of his present Majesty, and for the interest and charges of which provision was made in the said 42d year of his Majesty, shall be set apart out of the monies composing the consoli dated fund of Great Britain, and shall be issued at the receipt of the exchequer to the governor and company of the bank of England. to be by them issued to the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt.

10. That it is expedient to make further provision for the more effectual and speedy redemption of the land tax,”

On April 2d, Mr. Tierney introduced a motion respecting the sinking fund, the object of which, he said, was to call the attention of the House to the foundation on which the plan of the Chancellor of the Exchequer was erected→ whether his measure was a true and equitable construction of the acts of the 26th, the 32d, and the 421 of the King; and whether, without a breach of faith with the public creditor, he had the means of carrying into effect all the details of the bill before the House. The hon. member then gave au account of the nature and purpose

of

of the several acts above specified, and endeavoured to show that the plan proposed was entirely inconsistent with the spirit of that of 1802. He concluded by moving, "That a select committee be appointed to take into consideration the acts passed for the more effectual reduction of the national debt, in the 26th, 32d, and 42d years of his Majesty's reign, and to report to the House whether due regard being had to the just claims of the holders of shares in the several public funded securities, purchased subject to the operations of the said acts, any and what part of the monies placed to the account of the commissioners for reducing the national debt, can now be placed at the disposal of parliament."

The Chancellor of the Exchequer contended, that on no former occasion of a similar kind had a committee been previously appointed to investigate the details of the subject. He made various remarks to show that his plan involved no breach of the public faith, and said that he should dissent from the motion.

After some observations on each side from different members, the Attorney General rose to give a legal opinion as to the effect of the proposed measure on the three acts of parliament referred to, and held that there was not the smallest violation of good faith, or infraction of the law, in its operation.

The House at length divided; for the motion, 59; against it, 152. Majority 93.

The third reading of the bill, the title of which was, "To alter and amend several acts passed in his present Majesty's reign, relating

to the redemption of the national debt; and for making further provision in respect thereof," was moved on April 7th.. The debate on this occasion presented nothing new in argument, and the bill passed the House.

The second reading of this bill in the House of Lords was moved by the Earl of Liverpool on April 12th, in a speech which recapitulated the substance of that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The Marquis of Lansdowne advanced some objections, chiefly founded on the injury to the security of the public creditor, which would result from this measure. He did not mean, however, to give it a pertinacious opposition.

The Earl of Lauderdale spoke in depreciation of the sinking fund altogether, and declared himself to be one of those who held all plans of finance very cheap, in comp rison with an effectual plan of public economy.

No other proceedings are recorded concerning it in the House of Lords, and it soon after passed into a law.

In connection with financial matters, it may be proper to notice the renewal of an attempt to bring in a bill respecting sinecure offices upon the same principles with that which had been rejected in the last session of parliament. It was moved in the House of Commons on Feb. 12. by Mr. Bankes, who introduced it with some general observations on the nature of the intended measure, for the information of the new members. Its essence was the gradual abolition of sinecure offices as they should fall vacant, with the provision of a permanent fund for the adequate

reward

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MONG the more interesting of the parliamentary proceedings of this year, were those respecting the election of representatives for the united boroughs of Weymouth and Melcombe Regis, together returning four members. A select committee of the House of Commons having been appointed to try the merits of a petition complaining of an undue election for these boroughs, Mr. Alderman Atkins, on Feb. 26, informed the House, that only one of the candidates was duly elected, and that the committee had passed the following resolution: That the right of voting in the said town and borough appears to be, among others, in persons seised of freeholds in the said borough; that gross abuses have of late been practised within the said borough by persons claiming and exercising a right to vote upon nominal reserved rents, arising out of freeholds split and divided into the most minute fractional parts, under wills either real or fictitious; and that it further appears to the committee, that such evils can only be effectually remedied by the interposition of the legislature." He then moved, that the whole of the minutes of the evidence be laid before the House.

The Speaker suggested, that for the sake of dispatch, only so much of the minutes of the evidence as referred to the above resolution should be laid before the House; and the motion was modified accordingly.

A conversation ensued, in which some members considered it as a suspicious circumstance that much anxiety was manifested to keep back a part of the evidence; and strongly objected to leaving the minutes of evidence to be selected and garbled by a clerk; and it was binted, that the cause was, that very improper interference has been exercised by an illustrious persouage. After a long discussion on the subject, the Speaker observed, that there were two ways of meeting the apparent wishes of the House: either to get the entire of the minutes and deliver them immediately to the committee, to enable them to amend their report; or to refer the report back to the committee, which should be constituted a committee for that purpose, with power of sending for persons, papers, &c. The latter mode, on a division, was adopted.

On March 30th, Mr. Alderman Atkins having moved the second reading of a bill for regulating the

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Weymouth elections, Mr. Wynn made some objections to it; on which Mr. Bathurst observed, that the thing complained of was a novel practice of splitting votes by will. There was an act in existence against the splitting of votes, bat it did not anticipate the possibility of doing it by will; according, however, to the spirit of that act, all devices for that purpose ought to be null and void, in the same manner as conveyances were rendere l.

Sir John Newport said, he held in his hand a petition from the inhabitants of Weymouth, praying that the House would not interfere with the independence of the borough. He was advised that the real operation of the bill would be to lodge the power of returning four members in 30 or 40 persons. He was extremely anxious that the House should do nothing which might produce an impression on the public, that such was the antipathy of parliament to every principle of reform in the representation, that although they had uniformly resisted every extension of the elective franchise, they had no objaction to employ every plea of convenience for narrowing it.

Mr. Alderman Atkins said that it had appeared to the committee, that the only remedy in this case, without disfranchising the inhabitants, was to designate the value of the rents which in future should be deemed a sufficient qualifica tion. There were now no votes acquired by devise which were of a higher value than five shillings annually, some of sixpence, and one witness had been called who enjoyed eight votes, altogether of the value of two-pence VOL. LV.

rent. It was not designed that the bill should deprive those of their franchise who had previously exercised it without dispute, but should provide against the abuse in fature. The bill was then read a second time.

On April 1, Lord A. Hamilton rose in pursuance of notice, to move that the remainder of the evidence taken before the Weymouth committee be laid before the House. Much of this evidence applied to a point not hitherto openly noticed, the improper and illegal interference of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cumberland. If the House wished to preserve its own purity, or to maintain the respect in which it was held by the people, it behoved it very seriously to consider the present case. Before he proceeded further, he should desire the clerk to read the part of the petition of the burgesses of Weymouth complaining of the interference of peers of parliament, and likewise the two resolutions entered into by the House at the commencement of each session relative to the illegality of such interference. This being done, the noble lord said he should call upon the House to give him documents to bring home the fact to the persons charged with the offence. If their resolutions against the interference of peers in elections were never to be acted upon, he could only say that they were calculated to form a snare to himself and others bringing forward similar measures, and to be a subject of derision to the country. He then read from a newspaper a letter from his Royal Highness to J. F. A Stewart, and a part of the evidence, in which [E]

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