{GEORGE IV. 1825—1826.}
Meeting of Parliament..... Bill for the Suppression of
Unlawful Associations in Ireland..... Catholic Relief
Bill..... Committee of Inquiry into the State of
Ireland..... Mr. Hume’s Motion against the Irish Church
Establishment, &c. State of the Irish Charter
Schools..... Debates on Alleged Abuses in Chancery.....
Regulation of the Salaries of the Judges..... Rejection of
the Unitarian Marriage Act, &e...... Act against
Combinations among Workmen..... Free Trade
System..... Surrender of the Charter of the Levant
Company..... Report of Treaties..... Financial
Statements..... Proposals for the Abolition of certain
Taxes, &c. Prorogation of Parliament..... Great
Commercial Panic..... The Burmese War..... Review of
Foreign Relations.
MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.
Parliament was opened by commission on the 3rd of February. The speech
took a pleasing view of all our affairs, foreign and domestic, except
those of Ireland, where strife and animosity still prevailed. The usual
addresses were carried by large majorities.
BILL FOR THE SUPPRESSION OF UNLAWFUL ASSOCIATIONS IN IRELAND.
The proceedings of the Catholic Association in Ireland created alarm
in the minds of ministers. It was clear, however, to them that public
opinion would be against the enactment of a partial law against that
body, while the Orange societies, which were also mischievous in their
tendency, were tolerated. A bill, therefore, was introduced by Mr.
Goulburn “to amend the acts relating to unlawful associations in
Ireland.” This produced a warm discussion, which extended by adjournment
through four nights. In the course of this debate Mr. Canning vindicated
himself against the insinuations of those who considered him estranged
from the Catholic cause. He remarked:—“I have shown that, in 1812, I
refused office rather than enter an administration pledged against the
Catholic question. Nor is this the only sacrifice I have made to the
Catholic cause. From the earliest dawn of my life, ay! from the first
visions of my ambition, that ambition was directed to one object,
before which all others vanished comparatively into insignificance;
that object, far beyond all the blandishments of power, beyond all the
rewards and favours of the crown, was to represent in this house the
university at which I was educated. I had a fair chance of accomplishing
it, when the Catholic question crossed my path. I was warned, fairly and
kindly warned, that my adoption of that cause would blast my prospects;
I adhered to the Catholic cause, and forfeited all my long-cherished
hopes and expectations. Yet I am told that I have made no sacrifice;
that I have postponed the cause of the Catholic to views and interests
of my own.” Mr. Goulbum’s bill was carried by large majorities; but
though the Catholic Association yielded to legal authority and became
defunct, it was soon resuscitated under a different form. Ostensibly
regulating itself according to the late act, it disclaimed all religious
exclusions, oaths, powers of acting in redress of grievances, and
correspondence with depending societies; and, concealing its intentions
under the mask of charitable purposes, it pursued its original course
with impunity.
CATHOLIC RELIEF BILL.
After the above bill had passed, Sir Francis Burdett brought forward
a plan, in which the principal bill for the removal of Catholic civil
disabilities was accompanied by two others: one to enact a state
provision for the Roman Catholic clergy, and the other to raise the
Irish franchise from forty shillings to ten pounds. The principal of
these bills passed the commons with large majorities; but it was clearly
foreseen that it would not in the lords. In the interval of the second
and third readings the Duke of York, in presenting a petition to the
upper house from the Dean and Chapter of Windsor, declared that the
concession of Catholic claims was repugnant, not only to the king’s
coronation, but to the principles of the constitution. He added:—“I
will oppose them to the last moment of my life, whatever may be my
situation, so help me God!” This declaration was extolled by those who
opposed the claims, as the most manly, patriotic, and noble expression
of sentiment that could be uttered at a critical moment; and it was
printed in letters of gold, and became their watchword. On the
other hand it gave rise to bitterness of feeling among that class of
politicians who were in favour of the bill. Its effect on them was
strongly displayed by an intemperate sally into which, on the very next
night, Mr. Brougham broke out in the house of commons against the speech
of the royal duke, in which he was several times called to order. The
great bulk of the nation, however, concurred in the principles to which
his royal highness had declared his adherence, from an honest conviction
that such concessions to the Roman Catholics were inconsistent with the
coronation oath, and fraught with danger to the cause of Protestantism.
The bill was carried up to the lords, and read a first time on the 11th
of May; and on the 17th Lord Donoughmore moved the second reading.
He was supported by Lords Camden, Darnley, Lansdowne. Harrowby, and
Fitzwilliam, and the Bishop of Norwich; and opposed by Lords Colchester,
Longford, and Liverpool, and the Bishop of Chester, and the lord
chancellor. The debate presented little novelty; on the one side the
right of the Catholics to political equality was insisted upon, together
with the innoxiousness of their religious creed, &c.; while, on the
other hand, it was contended that, with respect both to the nature of
the religion in its political consequences, and to the inconsistency of
admitting Catholic elements of power into a Protestant constitution, the
reasons for excluding Catholics ought to be as operative now as at any
other period. The most remarkable circumstance in the debate, was the
vehemence with which Lord Liverpool opposed the measure. In allusion
to the grand argument in favour of the bill, that of conciliation, he
remarked:—“I cannot bring myself to view this measure as one of peace
and conciliation. Whatever it might do in this respect in the first
instance, its natural and final tendency will be to increase dissensions
and to create discord, even where discord did not previously exist. I
entreat your lordships to consider the aspect of the times. The people
are taught to consider Queen Mary as having been a wise and virtuous
queen, and that the world had gained nothing whatever by the
Reformation. Nay, more than this: it was now promulgated that James the
Second was a wise and virtuous prince, and that he fell in the glorious
cause of toleration. Could the house be aware of these facts, and not
see that a great and powerful engine was at work to effect the object of
re-establishing the Catholic religion throughout these kingdoms? And if
once established should we not revert to a state of ignorance, with all
its barbarous and direful consequences? Let the house consider what
had been the result of those laws, what had been the effects of that
fundamental principle of the British constitution which they were now
called upon to alter with such an unsparing hand. For the last hundred
and thirty years the country had enjoyed a state of religions peace,
a blessing that had arisen out of the wisdom of our laws. But what
had been the state of the country for the hundred and thirty years
immediately preceding that period? England had been the scene of the
most sanguinary religious contentions. The blessings of the latter
period were to be attributed solely to the nature of those laws which
granted toleration to all creeds, at the same time that they maintained
a just, a reasonable, and a moderate superiority in favour of the
established church. Their lordships were now called upon to put
Protestants and Catholics on the same footing; and if they consented
to do this, certain he was, that the consequence would be religious
dissension, and not religious peace.” Upon a division the bill was
thrown out by a majority of one hundred and seventy-eight against one
hundred and thirty. The two auxiliary bills, called, by way of derision,
“the wings,” after this failure were of course abandoned, although they
also would have passed the commons by large majorities.
COMMITTEE OF INQUIRY INTO THE STATE OF IRELAND.
In the last session a committee of the lords had been appointed to
inquire into the state of those districts in Ireland which were subject
to the operation of the insurrection act. Early in this session another
committee was appointed to inquire into the state of Ireland generally.
The result of the labours of the committee was a brief and vague report,
but accompanied by a mass of evidence, which threw great light upon the
condition of the general body of the Irish people. It showed that they
lived in the most degraded state; that they were without property; and
that their existence was sustained by an insufficient quantity of food
of the most unwholesome kind. This report, however, was presented at too
late a period of the session to be made the basis of any enactments; and
though various discussions took place during the session on particular
circumstances connected with the state of Ireland, none of them led to
any result affecting the condition of the people.
MR. HUME’S MOTION AGAINST THE IRISH CHURCH ESTABLISHMENT, ETC.
On the 14th of June Mr. Hume moved two resolutions relative to the
Protestant church of Ireland:—first, “That the property now in the
possession of the established church in Ireland is public property,
under the control of the legislature, and applicable to such purposes as
in its wisdom it may deem beneficial to the best interests of religion
and of the community at large, due regard being had to the rights of
every person in the actual enjoyment of any part of that property.” And
second, “That this house will, early in the next session of parliament,
appoint a select committee, for the purpose of considering the
present state of the Irish church, and the various charges to which
ecclesiastical property is liable.” The first of these resolutions was
negatived without a division, and the second was lost by a majority of
one hundred and twenty-six against thirty-seven.
STATE OF THE IRISH CHARTER SCHOOLS.
In consequence of the report of the commissioners on education, which
showed that great abuses existed in the chartered schools of Ireland,
Sir John Newport called the attention of the commons to that subject.
After detailing at considerable length the condition of the funds of
these schools, and the barbarous manner in which the pupils placed in
them were treated, he moved, “That an humble address be presented to his
majesty, expressing the marked sentiments of regret and indignation with
which the house of commons perused the details of unwarrantable cruelty
practised on the children in several of the charter schools of Ireland,
contained in the report presented to both houses of parliament by the
commissioners appointed by his majesty for examination into the state of
the schools of Ireland; and praying that his majesty may be pleased to
direct the law-officers of the crown in that part of the United Kingdom
to institute criminal prosecutions against the actors, aiders, and
abettors of these dreadful outrages, as far as they may be amenable to
law.” Mr. Peel admitted that the system of charter schools was one which
did not admit of correction, but ought to be extinguished altogether. He
stated that an order had been sent prohibiting the admission of any more
children upon those foundations. He thought, also, that if any of
the masters could be proved judicially to have been guilty of such
atrocities as were stated in the report, they ought not only to be
dismissed, but prosecuted. At the same time he hoped that Sir J. Newport
would so far alter the wording of the motion, as not to assume the
existence of the guilty practices which were to constitute the subject
of inquiry. In consequence of this suggestion the right honourable
baronet withdrew the original motion, and substituted the
following:—“That an humble address be presented to his majesty, that he
will be graciously pleased to give directions to the law-officers of the
crown in Ireland, to institute criminal proceedings against the persons
concerned in the cruelties detailed in the report of the commissioners,
so far as they may be amenable to law,” This motion was agreed to _nem.
con._
DEBATES ON ALLEGED ABUSES IN CHANCERY.
A commission of inquiry had been appointed last session to inquire into
the abuses which were said to exist in the court of chancery. The report
of this commission had not yet been made, but nevertheless the subject
was again mooted in the commons. Two discussions on it took place in
the present parliament. The first of these was introduced on the 31st
of May, by Mr. J. Williams, on the occasion of presenting some petitions
complaining of particular proceedings in chancery. The speech which Mr.
Williams made was an attack not merely upon the court of chancery, but
upon the whole law of England. He particularly animadverted upon the
law of real property, upon which, notwithstanding, he declared himself
ignorant; and the most important part of his speech went to prove, that
courts of common law should cease to be so, and that the equitable and
legal jurisdiction should be confounded. The subject was brought under
discussion again on the 7th of June, by Sir Francis Burdett, who moved
that the evidence taken by the commission instituted to investigate
the practice of the court of chancery be printed. Mr. Peel opposed this
motion, because to print such evidence, without any accompanying report,
was contrary to the practice of the house; and that if it were printed,
the session was too far advanced to take the subject into consideration.
These attacks were chiefly made against Lord Eldon; and in the course of
the discussion, Sir W. Ridley made a remark to which his own party, from
whom those attacks came, would have done well to attend. “He wished,” he
said, “as much as any man to see the system altered, but he must object
to the mode in which an individual was attacked night after night. He
was persuaded such attacks did no good; for Lord Eldon stood very high
in the estimation of the people of England.” Mr. Brougham, however, did
not profit by this advice; for he broke forth into an uncalled-for and
indelicate attack upon Lord Gifford, who had been distinguished by the
patronage of the chancellor, and was then deputy-speaker of the house
of lords. The motion was rejected by a majority of one hundred and
fifty-four against seventy-three. A remarkable circumstance in all the
debates which took place on the court of chancery was, that none of its
assailants ventured beyond general declaration. No part of the system in
which the alleged evil lay was specified, and no remedy was propounded.
All that these discussions could lead to, therefore, was to render the
court of chancery the subject of popular odium, and to lower the general
administration of justice in the public estimation.
REGULATION OF THE SALARIES OF THE JUDGES.
During this, session the chancellor of the exchequer brought forward a
measure for augmenting the salaries of the judges, and at the same time
for prohibiting the sale of those ministerial offices which the chiefs
of the respective courts had been allowed so to dispose of. It was
proposed at first to allow the puisne judges £6,000 a year; but
the scheme ultimately adopted was to give £10,000 a year to the
chief-justice of the king’s bench; £7,000 to the chief-baron of the
court of exchequer; £8,000 to the chief-justice of the court of common
pleas, and £5,500 to each of the puisne justices of the courts of
king’s bench, common pleas, and the exchequer. This arrangement met with
considerable opposition, some of the members as Messrs. Hume, Denman,
and Hobhouse, arguing that the dignity of a judge did not depend upon
money, and that the cheapest mode of doing the judicial business of
the country was the best. On the contrary, Mr. Scarlett argued that the
arrangement was improper because it diminished the emoluments of the
lord chief-justice of England; and he moved an amendment, which was
lost, that the sum of £12,000; should be given to him. Mr. Brougham, in
a different spirit, proposed that £500 a-year should be taken from the
salary of the puisne judges, but that alteration was also rejected.
REJECTION OF THE UNITARIAN MARRIAGE ACT, ETC.
The Unitarian marriage act was this year again rejected, although
supported in the lords by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Bishop of
Lichfield, and Lord Liverpool. The same fate was awarded Mr. Serjeant
Onslow’s bill for the repeal of the usury laws, though Mr. C. Wynne
stated that not only himself, but the chancellor of the exchequer,
and most of the cabinet ministers, were favourable to their abolition.
Ministers had left the house when the subject was discussed,
anticipating that the division on the bill would not take place till a
late hour, and that their presence was not necessary for its success.
While they were absent the bill was rejected by a majority of forty-five
against forty. This decision was owing partly to the arguments of the
solicitor-general against the measure. Borrowers, he said, might be
divided into three classes: mercantile borrowers, landed borrowers, and
persons who might be considered general borrowers; they not belonging
to either of the above classes. Mercantile borrowers, he continued,
generally obtained a loan to profit by it. They did not borrow from
necessity, but to trade; and if they could make ten or twelve per cent,
on the borrowed money, there was no reason why they should not pay the
lender seven or eight per cent. But was there, he asked, any landed
proprietor so ignorant, as not to see, that, if the monied man could
lend to the trade, at a higher rate than five per cent., he would not
lend to him at that sum. It was one advantage to the lender, that he
could recall his capital at pleasure, or get it back at a short notice.
Now when a man lent capital to a trader, he was generally enabled to
command the use of it when he pleased; but if he lent his money on land
he could not do this: there was all the trouble and inconvenience of a
mortgage; he could not recall it for two or three years; and therefore
in proportion as he could not command the use of his capital when
he lent it to the landowner, he would make him pay a higher rate of
interest for it than the trader. He believed he was not wrong when he
stated that eight out of every ten estates in the kingdom were loaded
with debt. Now under what circumstances did the country gentlemen borrow
money? Was it to employ it at some seasonable crisis, when by prudence
and dexterity he might obtain vast profit? No. The benefits which he
could receive as its produce were fixed: he never could obtain from a
borrowed sum beyond a determined amount. Could any one say, therefore,
that the repeal of the usury laws would be beneficial to the latter
class? But if the terms of borrowing were so unfavourable to the landed
class, what expectation could the general borrower entertain of being
able to obtain a loan under any other than oppressive terms? These
persons generally stood in need of only small sums; their necessities
were pressing, and therefore they were exposed to the most grinding
demands. They could have no choice but to submit to the terms imposed
upon them, be they never so oppressive.
ACT AGAINST COMBINATIONS AMONG WORKMEN.
In a former session, Mr. Hume had obtained the passing of an act
repealing both the statute and common law concerning combinations among
workmen. This act was attended with mischievous effects; and therefore,
during this session, Mr. Huskisson called the attention of the house to
the subject. In his speech he detailed some painful reports regarding
it which had been forwarded to the secretary of the home department:
reports which went to show that the most atrocious acts of outrage and
violence had been committed by workmen on their employers. Misconceiving
the real object of the legislature in the late act, they had, he
said, manifested a disposition against the masters, and a tendency to
proceedings destructive of the property and business of the latter. This
disposition, if it remained unchecked, he asserted, would produce
the greatest mischiefs in the country; and the evil was growing to so
alarming a pitch in some districts that if not speedily arrested, it
would soon become a subject for Mr. Peel to deal with in the exercise of
his official functions. As a general principle, he admitted that every
man had a right to carry his own labour to the best market, as labour
was the poor man’s capital. On the other hand, he contended for the
perfect freedom of those who gave employment to them; whose property,
machinery, and capital ought to be protected. Mr. Huskisson entered into
details to show the nature of the system which was acted upon in several
quarters. Associations were formed, he said, which, if persevered in and
prosecuted successfully, must terminate in the ruin of the very men
who were parties to them. The associations had their delegates, their
presidents, their committees of management, and every other sort of
functionary comprised in the plan of a government. By one article in
a set of regulations it was provided, he remarked, “that the delegates
from all the different works should assemble at one and the same place,”
on certain occasions; so that it was not the combination of all the
workmen of one employer against him, or even of one whole trade against
the masters, but systematic union of the workmen of many different
trades, and a delegation from each of them to one central meeting.
Thus there was established as against the employers a formal system of
delegation, a kind of federal republic, all the trades being represented
by delegates, who formed a sort of congress. Another regulation which
Mr. Huskisson noticed was to this effect:—“Each delegate shall be paid
out of his own work with, these exceptions only—the president, the
secretary, and the treasurer are to be paid out of the general funds.”
The delegates are elected for six months, and may be re-elected. Here
he remarked was a tax levied upon each workman for the maintenance of
general funds applicable to purposes of a most mischievous character.
Other articles declared that it was the duty of the delegates to point
out the masters disliked, and to warn such masters of the danger in
which they were placed in consequence of this combination. Here, Mr.
Huskisson rightly observed, was an acknowledgment of the dangerous
nature of these associations. But, he asked, what followed? Why another
duty of the delegates was to try everything which prudence might dictate
to put the disliked masters out of the trade: not everything which
fairness and justice might dictate to workmen who sought to to obtain a
redress of grievances, but everything which “prudence” might dictate. In
such a position, “prudence” must be understood as implying that degree
of precaution that might prevent the “Union” from being brought within
a breach of the law, such as the crime of murder. Was it, he asked,
fit, right, or reasonable that persons engaged in commercial or other
pursuits should, by combinations thus organized, be kept in constant
anxiety and terror about their interest and their property. After
noticing other regulations of this class of associations, Mr. Huskisson
went on to show that others were governed by regulations, if possible,
more extraordinary. One of these regulations was, that no man coming
into any given district or county within the control assumed by the
associating parties, should be allowed to work without previously paying
five pounds sterling, to be applied to the funds of the association.
In a similar spirit, another regulation set forth, that any child being
permitted to assist, should at ten years old be reckoned a quarter of a
man, and pay a proportionate sum accordingly. It was also provided that
any man being called in by any collier to his assistance should not be
at liberty to work, unless previously adopted, like the collier, by the
society, and unless, like him, he should previously pay his five pounds.
Mr. Huskisson rightly asked whether this amercement of five pounds,
and this subscription of one shilling a week to the funds of the
association, which every member was called upon to pay and contribute,
would not produce to each of the parties, if placed in a saving-bank,
far more beneficial and advantageous results? and whether there were
not, among these combinations, men anxious for the enjoyment of the
power and distinction which they considered the attainment of certain
posts would confer upon them? With reference to Mr. Hume’s act, he
declared that when he looked at the way in which it was worded, and the
artful misconstruction that might be put upon it by those who best
knew how to mislead and deceive the men who had engaged in these
combinations, he was not surprised that the associators should consider
themselves to be warranted in their proceedings under that act. It
repealed all former statutes, and then enacted that no proceedings at
common law should be had by reason of any combinations or conspiracies
of workmen formerly punishable under those repealed statutes. Without
imputing to the framers of the bill the slightest idea that any
misapprehensions could be entertained of its enactments, he did not
doubt that a great portion of the associated and combined workmen in the
country did actually believe, that so far from violating the law, its
second section proved that they were only pursuing a course strictly
conformable to the legislature. It declared that “journeymen, workmen,
and other persons who shall hereafter enter into any combination to
obtain higher rates of wages, &c., or to regulate the mode of carrying
on any manufacture, trade, or business, or the management thereof, shall
not be subject or liable to any indictment or prosecution for a criminal
conspiracy or combination, or to any other proceeding or punishment
whatever, or under the common statute law.” “Would not,” Mr. Huskisson
asked, “any person, on reading this sentence, suppose it was something
fit and commendable for workmen to conspire together to regulate and
control the management of any manufacture?” In conclusion, he said, that
under this act, the plotting together for the destruction of machinery,
and even threatening life or property were no longer any criminal
offence; and that he considered the existing law was not adequate to put
down an evil which was increasing to a formidable extent: not the evil
of committing the offences to which the act adverted, but the evil of
workmen being permitted to plot, and the bold, open avowal of carrying
such permission into effect. He moved for the appointment of a committee
to inquire into the effects of this act, and to report their opinion how
far it might be necessary to repeal or amend it. This motion was agreed
to, and the committee, after a laborious investigation, made a report,
in which they recommended the repeal of Mr. Hume’s bill; the effect
of which would be to restore the operation of those laws which were
suspended by the second and third clauses of that act. But while
recommending that the common law should be restored, the committee
expressed an opinion that an exception should be made to its operation
in favour of meetings and consultations amongst either masters or
workmen, the object of which was peaceably to consult upon the rate of
wages to be either given or, received, and to agree to co-operate with
each other in endeavouring to raise it or lower it, or to settle the
hours of labour; an exception which, while it gave to those in the
different classes of masters and workmen ample means of maintaining
their respective interests, would not afford any support to the
assumption of power or dictation in either party to the prejudice of the
other. But in recommending that liberty of associating and co-operating
together, so far as wages or labour were concerned, should be preserved
alike to masters and workmen, the committee deemed it requisite to
propose that the resolution of any such association should be allowed
to bind only parties actually present on personally consenting; all
combination beyond this should be at the risk of the parties, and
open to the animadversion of the common law, and should be dealt with
according to the circumstances of each case. The committee further
proposed that every precaution should be taken to ensure a safe and free
option to those who were not inclined to take part in such associations.
The language of the report on this subject is emphatic. “The most
effectual security,” it says, “should be taken that legislative
enactment can afford, that, in becoming parties to any association, or
subject to their authority, individuals should be left to act under the
impulse of their own free will alone; and that those who wish to abstain
from them, should be enabled to do so, and continue their service, or
engage their industry, on whatever terms, or with whatever master, they
may choose, in perfect security against molestation, insult, or personal
clanger of what kind soever.” The punishment of offences of the nature
alluded to recommended by the committee, was, in case of conviction,
six months’ imprisonment, with or without hard labour, according to the
circumstances of the case. A bill founded on this report was brought
into the commons, and after considerable discussion, was passed into
a law. In the committee several of its clauses were resisted, and
especially that which made it penal to induce any man to leave his work
by threat, or intimidation, or by molesting, or in any way obstructing
him. This was said by Mr. Hume to be too vague, as what one man might
consider an obstruction, another might not; and by Mr. Mansfield, as
being deprecated by the workmen. In reply, Mr. Huskisson said, that he
had no intention of acting harshly towards the operative mechanics: the
object of the bill was to protect the weak against the strong; to
afford to the man who chose to give his labour for a certain value that
protection against the combination of large bodies to which every man
was entitled. Upon a division the clause objected to was carried by a
large majority; the members rightly conceiving that man is free to act
upon his own responsibility, and that he should not suffer from the
control of others. If a man chooses to give his labour for a certain
rate of wages he should be at liberty to do so without intimidation or
molestation. And he is the more entitled to act thus independently of
his fellow-workmen’s interference, because no man will throw away his
labour. Self-interest is, in fact, the best protection from oppression.
A skilful mechanic with a good character can always obtain the true
value of his labour without the aid of his fellow-operatives. He can act
as a man; can ask, and obtain his just wages.
FREE-TRADE SYSTEM.
Many petitions had been presented in the course of this session for and
against the existing system of the corn-laws. On the 25th of April
Mr. Whitmore was induced to move for a committee of the whole house to
consider of these laws; but his motion was rejected. Previous to this,
however, Mr. Huskisson, in pursuance of the scheme of commercial policy
which he had adopted, brought forward three important subjects: first,
“The system of our commercial policy in respect to our colonies;”
secondly, “The expediency of revising many of the duties payable
upon the import of the raw materials used in our manufactures, and of
relaxing the prohibitory duties which, under the name of ‘protection,’
were enforced against the manufactured productions of other countries;”
and, thirdly, “The means of affording some further degree of relief
and assistance to the interests of our shipping and navigation.” The
alterations he proposed in our colonial system were explained by him on
the 23rd of March, when, by entering into historical details at
great length, he proved to demonstration that all those articles of
manufacture which had been most fostered had most languished; that
excessive duties made the smuggler’s fortune, while the manufacturer was
disappointed, and the exchequer defrauded; that the apprehension which
guarded our fabrics with high duties was unfounded; and that the true
policy of the state, as well as the advantage of individuals, would
be consulted by the reduction of duties sufficiently to countervail
whatever might be imposed upon the raw material used in the different
manufactures. Having shown the ungrateful return made by the United
States of America, which had been allowed to trade with our colonies,
he proposed to open their ports to all friendly powers on the same
principle, though with some modifications, as that on which they now
traded with Jersey or Ireland. With the further view of encouraging our
own trade and that of our colonies with the countries of South America,
he proposed to extend to certain ports in those colonies the benefits
and regulations of our warehousing system as it was established in this
country, by allowing goods from all parts of the world to be bonded
and deposited in warehouses without payment of duty till proper
opportunities of selling or exporting them should occur. Another boon
proposed by him to our colonies and trade was, the abolition of the
large fees which were levied for the benefit of public officers in
almost all our colonial ports. He further proposed two alterations of
a local and specific nature; the one relating to the Mauritius, and
the other to Canada. That relating to the Mauritius lowered the duty on
sugar to the same rate as that from the West Indies, and that relating
to Canada admitted the importation of corn from thence on a fixed and
permanent duty. The resolutions embodying Mr. Huskisson’s views were
adopted _nem. con._, and were afterwards, with one trifling exception,
carried into effect. That exception was, that the bill for establishing
the free intercourse in the article of corn, subject to the duty of five
shillings per quarter, between Canada and this country, should not be
permanent, but limited in its operation to a period of two years.
The other part of Mr. Huskisson’s scheme for promoting commerce was
brought forward on the 25th of March. These parts referred to protection
rather than revenue, and to the affording relief to the shipping and
navigation interests. He began by proposing a reduction of duties on
the cotton and woollen trade, as well as those on manufactured linen. In
some cases these rose as high as one hundred and eighty per cent.; and
Mr. Huskisson proposed to lower them to ten, fifteen, and twenty-five
per cent, respectively. He next adverted to foreign paper, books, and
glass, which were almost prohibited by excessive duties. He proposed a
duty upon all books, bound and unbound, imported into this country,
of sixpence per pound; on paper threepence per pound; and upon glass
bottles three shillings per dozen. He next proceeded to the duties
on metallic substances, as iron, copper, zinc, and lead. The duty on
foreign iron was to be reduced from £6. 10s. to £1. 10s. per ton; that
on copper from £54 to £27 a ton; that on zinc from £28 to £14 a ton;
and that on lead from £20 to £15 per cent. _ad valorem_. Upon tin he
proposed to reduce the duty from £5. 9s. 3d. to £2. 10s. the cwt. Mr.
Huskisson next proceeded to consider how far it was possible to reduce
certain imposts on raw materials which interfered with the success of
the capitalist, who was obliged to use them in his manufactures. He
instanced the cases of articles used in dyeing, as well as olive and
rape-oil. He wished to take off the duty from the latter altogether, and
thereby enable the manufacturer to supply the farmer with cake instead
of compelling him to procure it at a large cost in the foreign market.
He proposed also to reduce the duty on all foreign wool imported at a
lower price than one shilling the pound to one halfpenny. He concluded
with proposing measures to relieve the commerce and navigation of the
country. There was already a bill on the table to do away with the
quarantine duties, which the committee on foreign trade had proposed to
lay on the community at large. Mr. Huskisson thought this proposition
was equitable, as the amount of these duties was considerable; and they
were placed on the shipping interest for the protection of the country.
lie proposed further the abolition of all fees on commerce with our
colonies, and the removal of the duty payable on the transfer of any
share in a ship, or of a whole ship, from one person to another. There
was still another mode by which he proposed to relieve the shipping
interest. This consisted in a reduction of stamps for bonds, required
from exporters of certain goods to be delivered at certain places, from
forty shillings to four shillings. He also proposed to apply the same
principle to Custom-house debentures, or documents given by way of
security to those who were entitled to drawbacks. As conducive to
the same end, he further proposed an alteration in the system of our
consular establishments, granting instead of fees a regular salary to
the officers who superintended them, retaining only certain fees,
which were to be small, for acts which were extra consular. Though some
members of the house expressed an apprehension that these changes might
prove injurious, yet in general they were acceptable both to parliament
and the country. The resolutions in which they were embodied were
adopted unanimously; and they were afterwards carried into execution by
bills framed in conformity with them.
SURRENDER, OF THE CHARTER OF THE LEVANT COMPANY.
Connected with the above changes was the surrender of the charter of
the Levant Company. That company was established by royal charter in
the reign of James the First, when considerable privileges were bestowed
upon it. Thus they were allowed to appoint all the consuls in the
sea-ports in the Levant; to levy duties on all English ships for the
maintenance of their consuls; and to exercise a certain jurisdiction
within the territories of the Ottoman Porte. These powers and trusts had
been exercised by the servants of the company with general fidelity for
two centuries; but, considering the state of the countries in which
the company’s consuls resided, in apolitical point of view, it was now
deemed expedient that the public servants of this country in Turkey
should hold their appointments from the crown. A meeting of the company
was called in consequence of a communication from the ministers; and
Lord Grenville, the governor, having proposed the surrender of their
charter, the company acceded to it; and an act of parliament was
subsequently passed for carrying that surrender into effect.
REPORT OF TREATIES.
During the month of May the secretary for foreign affairs laid three
papers on the table of the house of commons, which were of considerable
importance. The first of these papers was a treaty of commerce with the
independent states of Rio de la Plata; the second, a treaty concluded
with Russia, settling the disputed claims which had existed between
the two countries with regard to territories on the north-west coast of
America, and to certain rights of trade and navigation in the Pacific
Ocean; and the third was a treaty between Great Britain and Sweden,
having for its object the abolition of the slave-trade, as carried on
under the flag of either nation. The effectual measure of visitation and
detention was, with a manly policy, adopted by both powers; so that the
cruisers of either under certain limitations, were permitted to stop,
and bring in for adjudication, slave-vessels trading under their
respective colours.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS.
On the 28th of February the chancellor of the exchequer gave an
exposition of the financial situation of the country, and of the
pecuniary arrangements for the year. From his statement it appeared
that, notwithstanding the reductions made in taxation during the last
session, the finances continued to improve. There was a surplus, he
said, of £1,437,774; and he proceeded to show that the receipts of the
customs, though about one million pounds sterling had been taken off
some of the articles it comprised, had been equal to those of former
years. He asked:—“What are the causes which have produced this result?
The proximate cause, doubtless, is the increased capacity of the people
of this country to consume the produce of other countries, aided and
invigorated by the reciprocal facility which our consumption of foreign
articles gives to other nations in the extended use of the products
of our own industry. That increase may arise in some degree from the
demonstrated tendency of population to increase; but, independently
of that cause, there is a principle in the constitution of social man,
which leads nations to open their arms to each other, and to establish
new and closer connexions by ministering to mutual convenience; a
principle which creates new wants, stimulates new desires, seeks for new
enjoyments, and, by the beneficence of Providence, contributes to the
general happiness of mankind.” The chancellor of the exchequer next
stated that the produce of the excise and of stamps had been greater
than had been anticipated by government; and then proceeded to make
his calculations for the present year. He calculated the produce
of everything at £56,445,370; and that the expenditure would be
£56,001,842, including £5,486,654 for the sinking-fund. This would leave
a clear surplus of £443,528. He argued from this, that a surplus of
£864,676 might be expected for 1826; and of £1,254,676 for 1827. This,
together with the surplus of 1824, namely £1,437,744, would make a total
of £4,000,624; and in applying this surplus to the diminution of the
public burden, the chancellor of the exchequer explained that he had
three objects in View: increased facility of consumption at home,
in conjunction with increased extension of foreign commerce; the
restriction of smuggling; and some alleviation of the pressure of direct
taxation. To accomplish these objects, he proposed to lower the taxes on
various articles to the amount of £1,526,000. This relief was in general
judiciously applied: the imposts reduced were on hemp, coffee, wines,
British spirits and rum, cider, and those articles in the assessed
taxes, as husbandry-horses let to hire, taxed carts, etc., which pressed
particularly on the lower classes of society. Of this it was calculated
that there would be lost during the present year about £600,000, so that
the total surplus of this and the two ensuing years, estimated at
more than £4,000,000, would be sufficient to meet the diminution. Some
parties were dissatisfied because there was not a greater diminution
of direct taxation; others, because greater relief was not given to the
West Indian interests; and others, because the duties on tobacco were
not lowered. On the whole, however, Mr. Robinson’s financial statements
were satisfactory to the public at large. The estimates for the year
were voted with little opposition.
PROPOSALS FOR THE ABOLITION OF CERTAIN TAXES, ETC.
During this session Mr. Maberly moved for the repeal of the assessed
taxes, which was lost by a great majority. On the 5th of May, also, a
resolution, proposed by the same member, respecting the duties on beer
was negatived. The same fate awaited a motion made by Mr. Hobhouse, for
the repeal of the window-tax; and likewise a motion for the repeal of the
duties on soap and candles. A more than ordinary share of the time
of the members was occupied this year in the consideration of private
bills. So great was the passion for joint-stock companies, and so
abundant the capital ready to seek employment in schemes of local
improvement, &c., that four hundred and thirty-eight petitions for
private bills were presented, and two hundred and eight-six private acts
were passed.
PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT.
Parliament was prorogued on the 6th of July by commission. The speech
announced that foreign powers were amicably disposed; regretted the
continuance of the war in the East Indies; and expressed satisfaction at
the measures adopted by parliament for the extension of commerce. “These
measures,” said the speech, “his majesty is persuaded, will evince to
his subjects in those distant possessions the solicitude with which
parliament watches over their welfare. They tend to cement and
consolidate the interests of the colonies with those of the mother
country; and his majesty confidently trusts that they will contribute to
promote that general and increasing prosperity on which his majesty
had the happiness of congratulating you on the opening of the present
session, and which, by the blessing of Providence, continues to pervade
every part of the kingdom.”
GREAT COMMERCIAL PANIC.
The golden prospects unfolded in the speech of the chancellor of the
exchequer when making his financial statements, and reiterated in that
of his majesty at the close of the session, soon vanished away. The
causes of this reverse were manifold. The abundance of capital, and the
consequent low rate of profit, during the last three years, had greatly
increased export manufactures. As the system of country banks continued
in operation, this apparent prosperity of manufactures attracted much
capital to them; and a system of credit was generated which caused a
still further extension. Speculation added its impulse to this system;
until, in the course of this year, paper money thrown into circulation,
increased the currency beyond what the causes determining the supply of
gold could sustain. The exchanges now turned against us; the currency
became depreciated; and gold, the sinews of a nation’s prosperity, began
to flow out of the country. The Bank of England finding that the demand
for gold diminished its stock of coin, contracted its issue of notes
and its discounts. In this way, if the state of trade had been good, the
currency might have been reduced so as to restore the exchanges to
par; but the reduction in quantity took place first among those who had
pushed their credit to the utmost; and these persons being unable to
meet their engagements became bankrupts. The distress soon reached
the bankers themselves. Some of the country banks stopped payment; and
apprehensions springing up from thence with respect to the stability of
the London banks, caused such a run upon them, that many failed. In the
month of December all the usual channels of credit were stopped, and the
circulation of the country completely deranged. In this state of
affairs several cabinet deliberations took place; and it was at length
determined that one and two pound bank notes should be issued for
country circulation. This measure was carried into effect on the 16th
of December; and an order was also issued to the officers of the Mint
to expedite an extraordinary coinage of sovereigns. For one week one
hundred and fifty thousand were coined daily. In the meantime meetings
were held in London and the great trading towns, in which resolutions
were adopted for the support of commercial credit and these had the
effect of restoring mutual confidence to a considerable extent. Such
was the contrast between the commencement and the close of the present
year: it began in visions of prosperity, it closed with a certainty of
adversity. The derangement of commercial affairs doubtless arose from
the dangerous mania of speculation, aided by a vicious system of
making paper money, which increased the currency, drove gold out of the
country, and then caused a demand for it in exchange for paper, which
it was impossible to meet. The natural consequence was an almost general
breaking up of those who depended on paper money, and an approach to its
utter annihilation.
THE BURMESE WAR.
{GEORGE IV. 1825—1826.}
During this year the hostilities against the Burmese were prosecuted
actively and successfully, but yet without producing any decisive
result. After the successes gained by Sir Archibald Campbell, towards
the end of the previous year, he remained unmolested at Rangoon; and the
only military operations in that quarter in the month of January were
some unimportant skirmishes. During that month it was discovered that
the Burmese generalissimo had stationed himself at Donoobew, about fifty
miles up the river, where, having drawn to his army all the resources of
the Pegu vice-royalty, he prepared himself to sustain an attack. It was
now determined by Sir Archibald Campbell, though his invading force was
small, and his Siamese allies reluctant to join him, to advance into the
interior of the empire. He joined the camp on the 13th of February
at Mienza, passing through forests lined with formidable stockades,
a deserted country, and destroyed villages. On the 26th he arrived
at Soomza, of which the governor of the place gave him possession by
retiring from his post. In the meantime, Donoobew had been attacked by
a division of the British force which had proceeded thither by water,
under Brigadier-general Cotton. The outworks of Donoobew were carried,
but the main-work was too strong to risk a further advance, and the
troops were withdrawn for a time. By the 18th of March General Campbell
crossed the Irrawaddy to the west bank in some of the country canoes,
and on the 25th reached Donoobew. He pitched his camp before the
extensive works of Maha Bandoola on the 2nd of April. During that
morning the enemy kept up a heavy fire on our ranks; but towards noon it
ceased. A calm succeeded; but it was the harbinger of a storm. About
ten o’clock, when the moon was fast verging towards the horizon, a sharp
sound of musketry mingled with war-cries roused the sleeping camp.
The soldiers seized their muskets and formed into a line; and this was
scarcely effected, when the opposing columns advanced with an intention
of turning our right, and at the same time keeping up a distant fire
against the left and centre. On their outflanking the right, our two
extreme regiments changed front, and by a constant discharge of musketry
checked every attempt, so that the assailants were compelled to retreat.
A series of various petty actions now took place by river as well as by
land; but in the meantime preparations were being made for the attack of
the enemy’s works. The mortar-batteries and rockets began their work of
destruction on the 1st of April, and on the following day the breaching
batteries opened, when two Lascars, who had been left prisoners in the
fort, came out to inform Sir Archibald Campbell that Bandoola had been
killed the day before by a rocket, and that the garrison, in spite of
the remonstrances of the other chiefs, had fled. This information was
quite correct; for the enemy had retired, leaving behind them all their
guns and a large depot of grain. In this service the British commander
was ably seconded by the navy under Captains Alexander and Chads, who
assisted in forcing the stockades, capturing the formidable war-boats,
and conveying our troops to the best places of attack. After the
dispersion of Bandoola’s army, Prome was considered the best place
to stop the invading troops, and the utmost energies of the local
authorities were employed in fortifying that place and organizing a
force for its defence. All the disposable force of the empire was, in
fact, concentrated at this spot: a spot memorable for the many battles
fought there with the people of Pegu. But all the Burmese preparations
were wholly disconcerted by the rapid movement of our army: Sir
Archibald Campbell entered Prome on the 25th of April without firing
a shot. Before they withdrew, the enemy had set fire to a part of the
town, and one quarter of it was reduced to ashes. In their flight,
also, the Burmese troops burned and laid waste all the villages in
their route, driving thousands of helpless people to the woods. This now
became their mode of warfare; and it has been said that Russia in her
memorable resistance to the French armies did not offer to the invading
hosts such a scene of desolation as did the Burmese empire to the
British troops. Neither man nor beast escaped the retiring columns; and
heaps of ashes, with groups of howling dogs, alone indicated the spots
where villages and towns had stood. While these movements occurred, a
series of actions had put the British in possession of the kingdom of
Arracan, and the Burmese were totally expelled from Cachar and Assam.
Thus terminated the second campaign of this desolating war. The British
army took up its winter-quarters at Prome, where cantonments were
provided for the troops, and preparations made for future operations.
Nor was the Burmese monarch idle; rejecting all overtures made by the
British general, troops were levied in every part of the kingdom, and
the tributary Shan tribes bordering on China were called on to furnish
their contingent force. Before the end of September a disposable force
of 70,000 men was ready to act against the British, who threatened to
advance on the capital. At the close of the year an armistice was agreed
upon, and negociations were entered into for a definitive treaty of
peace; but as there was no honesty on the side of the Burmese, and no
lack of penetration on that of the British, all proposals failed.
REVIEW OF FOREIGN RELATIONS.
Among the events of this year that which seemed pregnant with the most
important consequences to Europe, was the death of the Emperor Alexander
of Russia. This appeared capable of putting not only the tranquillity of
the empire in jeopardy, but of changing the whole course of its foreign
policy. This event however, was not felt beyond the limits of Russia;
the grand duke Nicolas succeeded to the throne, and professed a
determination to pursue that course of policy which had been adopted by
his predecessor. France was this year occupied in the coronation of its
monarch, whom the people was soon again to repudiate. Sweden, Denmark,
and Germany remained without much alteration of circumstances; but Spain
was not only in the possession of foreign troops, but was distracted
by the miseries of factions, revolts, and changes of administration. In
Portugal, the king was induced, chiefly through British influence, to
recognise the independence of Brazil, the sovereignty of which was ceded
to his eldest son, Don Pedro. The interior state of Brazil, however, was
much disturbed by the tyrannical, conduct of its new emperor, and war
was also commenced between Brazil and Buenos Ayres. In Italy and Austria
all were tranquil; but the relations between Turkey and Russia still
continued to be in a very critical state, though no hostilities were
commenced on either side. Greece was torn by internal dissensions,
and assailed by barbarian foes, who reduced Navarino, and invested
Missolonghi. In the United States, Mr. John Quincy Adams was chosen
president; and in South America the various republics were proceeding to
consolidate their power, though Chili was much disturbed, and Paraguay
had fallen under the tyranny of D Francia. The independence of the
united provinces of Rio de la Plata was formally recognised by Great
Britain, and a treaty of commerce and friendship was concluded between
the two powers. A treaty of amity and commerce was also concluded with
the congress of Columbia, and with the new sovereign of Brazil.