vice-consul, who farmed his place, and did all the duty of the consulgeneral, took whatever fees he thought proper to demand. Other evils and abuses, too, arose out of the proceedings of the vice-consul The duty payable by English merchants to the Portuguese government was an ad valorem duty; and it appeared, that the vice-consul instead of interfering to prevent excessive rates, he actually went hand in hand with the foreign authorities, because he received a fee proportionable to the sum which they levied. In other parts of the world the system of our consulates was alike faulty in principle, though not to so great an extent as in the Brazils. A vessel of 150 tons paid in consul's fees, for the exhibition of her papers, at Hamburgh, 17. 17s. 6d. At Rotterdam, she would have to pay the same; but let her go to Rochelle, and she would have to pay 5l. 16s. 8d.; at Bordeaux, 81. 2s. 6d. ; at Naples, 4l. 3s. 10d.; at Leghorn, 31. 8s. 9d.; at Genoa, 31. 15s., and so on, the charge varying almost in every port, but exorbitantly high in all. A small vessel taking in a cargo of fruit at St. Michael's, would have to pay three guineas. Besides those sums taken from the pockets of individuals, the country was burthened with a large charge for the salaries of many of those consuls. The sum paid under this head in 1792 was 10,000l. In the present year it was 30,000l. We paid 1,000l. a year to a consul at Venice, where not five British ships entered in the year. Mr. Hume's plan for the remedy of the evil, was to have regular tables of moderate fees for each consul, from which no variation should be permitted. As often as the subject was discussed, lord Londonderry and Mr. Robinson admitted the existence of the mischief, and expressed their desire of removing it. It was a matter, they said, which had occupied the attention of the government; and the board of Trade were preparing a bill to regulate it. CHAP. VII. Finance-Reauction of the Navy 5 per Cents-Mr. Vansittart's plan for that purpose-Objections to it-Scheme for the payment of the Naval and Military pensions, and Half-pay and Civil Superannuations-True nature of the Scheme-Delusion of Mr. Vansittart with respect to it-Debates on it-Mr. Hume's Amendment rejected-The Scheme is approved by Parliament-Fails for want of Contractors-It is re-modelled by Ministers and carried into effect Scheme for the Reduction of Salaries, and the Creation of a Superannuation Fund-Repeal of the Annual Malt Duty-Mr. Calcraft's Motion for the repeal of the Salt-tax lost by a Majority of FourThe Two junior Lords of the Admiralty reduced by a Majority of Fifty-four-Two motions for the Reduction of One of the Two Postmasters General-The Second Motion carried by a Majority of Fifteen-Mr. Creevey's Motion on the Board of Control is rejected -Two Motions on our Diplomatic Expenditure are rejected—Further Reduction of Taxes The Salt Tax - Leather Tax- Tonnage Duty-Irish Window and Hearth Tax-Estimates-Budget of the Year Mr. Hume's Resolutions relative to our Financial SystemVote for the Printing of our Ancient Historians. TWO great financial operations were this year undertaken by ministers; the one, calculated to diminish permanently the charge of the public debt; the other, to diminish the immediate pressure of part of our annual expenses. The first was the reduction of the interest on the Navy 5 per cents to 4 per cent. For this purpose, the chancellor of the exchequer, on the 22nd of February submitted his plan to the proprietors of that stock. It was to the following effect: A new stock was to be created, bearing interest at the rate of four per cent per annum, payable on the fifth of January, and the fifth of July in each year; and not to be paid off until the fifth of January, 1829. All holders of five per cents, who should not signify their dissent, were to have, for every 100%. five per cent annuities, 1051. in the new four per cent stock, on which the first dividend was to be payable on the fifth of January, 1823. Books were to be opened at the Bank, from Monday, the fourth of March, to Saturday, the sixteenth of March, 1822, both days inclusive, for receiving signatures of persons dissenting. Persons not signifying their dissent within this period, were to be deemed to have assented, unless they were out of the United Kingdom for the whole of such period; in which case, they were to be permitted to express such dissent at any time before the first day of June, 1822; and any persons who might be in any other part of the world, except Europe, were to be permitted to express their dissent at any time before the first day of March, 1823. Persons dissenting were to be paid off in the numerical order in which their names should be subscribed. Such payment was to commence on the fifth of July, 1822, and to be continued at such periods, and in such manner, as parliament should direct. All holders of five per cent stock were to receive the dividends due on the fifth of July, 1822. Trustees were to be indemnified by act of parliament. The advantage of this operation was, that an annual saving of 1,140,000l. would be effected; besides a farther saving of upwards of 90,000l. of annual charge, which would be gained by a similar reduction of the Irish 5 per cents. On the 25th of February Mr. Vansittart proposed his plan in parliament. Two objections were made to the principle of the measure. In the acts creating the 5 per cent stock, there was a clause which declared, that "the said annuities, after the rate of five pounds per centum per annum, shall be charged and chargeable upon, and payable out of, the monies which shall from time to time arise and be in the receipt of the Exchequer, of the fund to be established in this session of parliament, and for which the fund, commonly called the Sinking Fund, shall be a collateral security; and that the said annuities shall be irredeemable, until twenty-five millions of the public debt, bearing interest after the rate of either three pounds per centum per annum, or four pounds per centum per annum, shall have been redeemed and paid off." The 5 per cent stock, therefore, was irredeemable, till 25 millions of the 3 per cents or the 4 per cents had been paid off: no such diminution, it was said, of the latter species of debt had yet taken place; and therefore the faith of parliament would be violated by the proposed plan. To add weight to this objection, it was further insisted, that by the 25th of Geo. II, no part of the 3 per cents could be redeemed, till after twelve months notice of the intention to pay them off; and that no notice of any intention to pay off any part of the 3 per cents, had at any time been given. The reply of the ministers was, that both by the purchases made by the commissioners for the reduction of the national debt, and by the amount of the land-tax redeemed, debt had been paid off much more than sufficient to render the holders of the 5 per cents liable to reduction. On the third reading of the bill for carrying the measure into effect, Mr. Tierney insisted with much earnestness on this objection, and urged it on the attention of the law officer of the crown. The Solicitor General then stated, that it was perfectly obvious, that the clause in the 25th George II, by which it was enacted, that the holders of the three per cents should have twelvemonths notice, had been virtually annulled by the voluntary sale or redemption of a much larger amount than 25,000,000l. of that stock. When the holders of three per cents had voluntarily consented to that paying off, the holders of five per cents were necessarily rendered liable to be paid off in consequence. If it were said, that the holders of three per cents had an advantage which they ought not to have relinquished, the answer was, that they had waved that advantage. The holders of five per cents, therefore, could by no means say, that the act of parliament, which required a twelve months notice to the holders of three per cents before they were paid off, secured them from reduction; since the holders of the three per cents had declared themselves satisfied with being repaid without any such notice. That expression of satisfaction, and the re-payment consequent upon it, were quite sufficient to justify the present mea sure. Mr. Tierney was by no means satisfied with the explanation of the learned gentleman. The holders of five per cents had been expressly secured by act of parliament from being paid off, until 25,000,000l. of the three per cents had been redeemed on a notice of twelve months. That notice had not been given; and on that ground the holders of five per cents stood. Mr. Huskisson, although he admitted that, by the 16th clause of the 37th of Geo. III, the holders of five per cents were entitled not to be paid off until a twelvemonths' notice had been given to the holders of three per cents of the intention to pay off 25 millions of that stock; contended, that the much larger reduction that had taken place in the three per cents by the spontaneous consent of the holders of that stock rendered any such notice, before the re-payment of the five per cents unnecessary. He did not deny, that the reference in the 37th of Geo. III, was to the VOL. LXIV. provision in the 25th of Geo. II, that the holders of the three per cents should not be paid off without 12 months notice; but his argument was, that their having consented to be paid off, beyond the amount specified in the 37th Geo. III, was equivalent to the condition c notice; and therefore that the holders of five per cents, in the present case, were virtually placed in the condition which the 37th of Geo. III contemplated. The Lord Chancellor, when the bill was in the upper House, declared a clear opinion, that there was no weight in this objection. The second objection to the principle of the measure was, that it added seven millions to the capital of the debt of the country. This was admitted to be an inconvenience; it was, however, merely the price paid for an annual saving of much more than a million; so that a great and immediate benefit was procured at a very low price, which was not to be paid till a very distant time. There were also two objections to the form of the measure. The first was, that it required the dissent and not the assent of the parties interested; whereas, their express assent ought to have been required, and the want of assent should have been taken to be dissent: the second, that sufficient time for consideration was not given to the holders of stock: to the latter, it was answered, that, the government being bound by the terms which were offered, the stockholder ought not to have a long interval during which he might speculate on the probable rise or fall of the stocks, and retain the power of assenting, if they rose, and of dissenting if they fell. The former objection, it was stated, [K] the Irish five per cents was executed with equal facility. 16th 2,790,000 tractors a fixed annuity for 45 The second great financial scheme of the year was one of much more doubtful character and tendency. The amount of military and naval pensions and civil superannuations was about five millions annually. This charge, it is evident, would every year become less, being in the nature of a multitude of annuities, depending on the lives of numerous parties of various ages. At present the burthen was enormous; as the annuitants died, it would diminish; at the end of forty or fifty years it would amount probably to a mere trifle. The chancellor of the exchequer now proposed to provide for this branch of the public expenditure in the following manner: Parliament was to grant to certain con years; and the contractors, on their part, were to pay into the Treasury such a sum in each of the next 45 years, as should, upon calculation, according to the usual rate of mortality, be sufficient to pay the pensions that should then be in existence. The sums to be 45th The fixed annuity for 45 years, 300,000 |