notice of his motion for fome day next week, as there was already important business before the Houfe... Earl Suffolk replied, that his reafon for preffing on his motion was a neceffary call on him to go to the country on Saturday, and his being unable to determine on what day it might be in his power to return. He thould, however, yield to the request of the noble Secretary of State, with this declaration, that when he returned from the country, he should view himself entitled to proceed in his motion without refpect to the confideration whether Minifters had or had not received any official documents on the fubject from India. The House then refolved into a Committee on the vo lunteer bill. i On claufe 51ft, which requires Lords Lieutenants to r port the day on which particular corps are to attend at exercife to the Secretary at War or his deputy, who shall thereupon iffue the pay, Earl Spencer moved, that the words, "Secretary at War or his deputy," be omitted; and the words, "Infpector General," be fubftituted in their place, by which confiderable time would be faved, and many advantages fecured. On this the Houfe divided, for the amendment, Majority in favour of the original claufe 9. On feveral other claufes difcuffions took place, but no material amendments were made. The different claufes were gone through, and the report was ordered to be received the next day. The Infpector General of the imports and exports brought in an account of the produce of the permanent taxes; an estimate of the cuftoms; of malt exported from Great Britain to Ireland; of wheat, flour, barley, &c. exported from and imported into Great Britain from Ireland, for the different periods therein specified, and various other, accounts, lately ordered to be laid before the Houfe, on the motion of Mr. Fofter. Laid on the table, and ordered to be printed. A meffage from the Lords informed the Houfe, that their Lord hips Lordships had agreed to the bankers' indemnity bill, the Irish militia families provifion bill, the bank of Scotland's capital increase bill, without any amendment, and to several private bills. Mr. Vanfittart moved, that there be laid before the Houfe an account of the grants of Parliament to the Veterinary College, and of the receipts, expenditure, and debts of that inftitution, for the years 1802 and 1803. An account of the expenditure of the grants of Parliament to the Board of Agriculture for the fame time.— Ordered. COTTON TRADE. Mr. H. Addington moved the order of the day for taking into confideration the report of the Committee on the peti tion of the cotton manufacturers. The order being read, Mr. H. Addington proceeded to obferve, that before he moved that the refolutions of the Committee be read a fecond time, it was proper he fhould open the nature of the fubject now before the Houfe; but he was glad that in doing fo, it was not neceffary for him to enter much into detail. He should call the attention of the Houfe to the circumstances upon which the matter now flood, and then in a few words ftate for what reafons the Committee paffed thefe refolutions, and why he thought it his duty to ask the House to agree to them. Gentlemen would recollect, that about four years ago, for it was early in the year 1800, a very confiderable and a very unpleafant difagreement took place between the mafters and workmen engaged in the cotton manufactory, in confequence of which petitions were prefented to the Houfe by a very large body, praying for legislative interference to redrefs their grievances. That was a period of great difficulty in the country, especially in the manufacturing part of it, arifing from the ftagnation of trade by the arduous conteft in which we were then engaged, and alfo from the scarcity and high price of provifions, which to a great extent affected all claffes of his Majefty's fubjects, and more particularly the working part of them. He did think it extremely poffible, perhaps proba ble, that if it had not been for the irritation arifing from dif trefs, thus produced from a combination of caufes, thefe petitions would never have been prefented. They were, however, prefented, and the fubject matter of them bad been referred to a Committee, which (pafling over one of its Members, of whom it did not become him to fay any thing) confifted of very intelligent and enlightened Mem bers bers of that Houfe, who confidered the fubject, reported upon it, and an act of Parliament paffed to alter the law as it then ftood, with refpect to the mode of appealing to magiftrates, and to appoint referees to decide on matters in dif pute between mafters and workmen in the cotton trade. Whether that was a proper measure or not, would be improper in him to doubt; he deferred to the fen e of the perfectly refpectable Members of that Committee, and imperious and weighty reafons preffed upon their minds at the time, which induced them to make their report, and to form an opinion which was peculiar to the circumftances under which they made it. He then proceeded to give an hiftory of the proceedings of thofe concerned in the weavers trade in the cotton bufinefs, of their petitions, and alfo of the proceedings of Parliament upon that fubject, obferving, that the Committee to whom it was referred, met great difficulties in the cafe, in which they found it impoffible to fatisfy both parties. The Committee had endeavoured on the one hand to form an impartial tribunal to decide on matters of difpute, to afford fpeedy redrefs to thofe who had juft grounds of complaint, at as limited an expence as poffible; and on the other, they had endeavoured to avoid any reitriction or regulation which might be confidered by the manufacturers as fettering the trade, in the profperity of which, the interefts of all the workmen, as well as the mafters. were materially involved. In giving the petitioners all they asked, the Legiflature might give them that which afterwards they might repent of afking. The Committeė could have no poffible object, but to do juftice to both parties, and they were, perhaps, better judges of the intereft of the petitioners, than the petitioners themfelves. His motion thould be, that the House do agree to the refolutions of this Committee; and if it fhould be the pleasure of the Houfe to do fo. then he fhould move for an act of Parliament to carry these refolutions into effect; after which. he hoped the cotton weavers themselves would, upon reflection, be fatisfied and convinced they had all which could with propriety be granted, and that the manufacturers alfo would, in their turn, be fatisfied that care had been taken that no injury was done to them; fo that neither the ong nor the other fhould hereafter think it neceffary to apply to Parlia ment. He then moved that the refolutions be now lead a fecond time. Admiral Berkeley wifhed to know, whether this measure 3 M was brought on by Government, or originated with the manufacturers themfelves. He thought that a measure milar to this ought to be adopted, with reference to the woollen trade. He wished to know, whether any steps were likely to be taken, in confequence of a memorial which had been presented on the fubject of the woollen trade. Mr. H. Addington faid, that bufinefs had been already partly brought forward by a right hon. Relation of his (the Chancellor of the Exchequer). Admiral Berkeley-Then I am to understand it as a public measure. Mr. Francis faid, that he understood that the manufacturers were at liberty to apply to be heard by counfel against any bill that might be brought in pursuant to these refolutions, if they thought fit. The refolutions were then read and agreed to. Mr. H. Addington moved, that a bill be brought in purfuant to the three laft refolutions. Sir R. Buxton faid, he was not going to oppofe the bringing in the bill now moved for, but he wifhed it to be underftood as his opinion, that the greatest difficulties which bad been felt on this fubject, had arifen chiefly from our departing from the conftitutional mode of adjufting differences between mafter and fervant; he meant that of an appeal to the magiftrate. The queftion was then put, and leave was given to bring in the bill. VOLUNTEERS. Mr. Calcraft, adverting to the notice which he had given before the recefs, to move in the Committee of Supply for an additional allowance of pay and cloathing to the vo lunteer corps, faid he now rofe to fix on the 23d of May for bringing forward the propofition. IRISH COIN. Mr. Corry stated that he felt himself under the neceffity of ftill farther postponing his motion refpecting the circulating coin in Ireland, of which he had given notice for that day. It being the with of his Majesty's Government that this fubject should be fully investigated, and the most ample information obtained, difpatches were, hourly looked for from Ireland, which were deemed neceffary upon this point, and until they should arrive, he would decline to bring forward his promised motion. If the intelligence thould be received by by the next day, he would take occafion to fubmit the bufinefs to the confideration of the Houfe; but if not, he hoped he should stand excused for postponing it to another day. Mr. John Latouche expreffed his regret that, under the fevere preffure of the evil, which now bore on the people of Ireland, and particularly on the inhabitants of the metropolis, the right honourable Gentleman fhould think it proper to put off for a moment the propofition of fome remedy. The honourable Member was proceeding, w hen The Speaker called to order, as there was no question before the House. PAYMENT OF IRISH OFFICERS AT PAR. 1 Lord Archibald Hamilton called the attention of the Houfe to the fubject of the payment of the falaries of the Ministers of Ireland, who occafionally refided in this country, at par. When this circumftance was first mentioned to the House, which it was by him, it appeared to every body who heard it, to be an extraordinary fact, when it was admitted to be a fact, and he must be allowed to remind the right hon. Gentleman (Mr. Corry) who admitted it, with what reluctance he brought the matter forward; however, he was impelled to it by a fenfe of public duty, and for the fame reafon he was bound to purfue it; and here he must preinife what he had to fay with obferving, that there was no part of the duty of that House more imperative than that of watching over every part of the expenditure of the public money. There generally did exift, and always ought to exist in that House, a jealoufy concerning all money transactions, and it ought to be exercised with vigilance on the prefent occafion; and he was glad to fay, that the question which he fhould lay before the Houfe for its confideration, would lie within a narrow compals, for the chief part of it was to be confidered as the meaning of the plain letter of an act of Parliament. The amount of the fum out of which this arofe was indeed fmall, but it was the principle which constituted the importance of the fubject. Here he proceeded to read the act of Parlia ment of the 30th of the King, for regulating the payment of the falaries of all the fervants of the Crown in the civil departments of the ftate; and then contended, that the Commiffioners of the Treasury in Ireland had no right to interfere with the payment of the falaries of the officers of Govern3 M 2 ment, |