Several petitions relative to corn, grain, and malt, were referred to the Committee on the corn laws.

On the motion of Mr. Elliot it was ordered, that the proper officer fhould lay before the Houfe an account of the particular fums charged under the heads of penfions, allowances, gratifications, and incidents, on the different departments of the revenue, barrack board, and board of works, in Ireland, in the different years, from 1ft January 1801, to ft January 1804, fpecifying each year.

ARMY OF RESERVE SUSPENSION BILL.

Mr. Secretary Yorke moved the order of the day for the fecond reading of the bill for fufpending the army of reserve act.

Mr. Long rofe merely to state, that a right hon. Friend of his (Mr. Pitt), who had given notice of his intention to enter into the difcuffion of this bill in its prefent ftage, was prevented by a flight indifpofition from coming down to the House that day. He could affure the House, that his right hon. Friend was extremely anxious to deliver his fentiments at large upon the fubject. The Houfe would recollect, that his right hon. Friend had given a notice on this fubject before the recess, and that he had only put it off at the defire of his Majesty's Minifters, and to wait to fee whether this measure would anfwer the object he had in view. He had authority to state on the prefent occafion, that in the next ftage of this bill his right hon. Friend would attend to offer his fentiments at large, and to take the fenfe of the House upon the measure. It would be convenient to gentlemen, if the right hon. Secretary of State would mention the day on which it was intended that the bill should be further proceeded upon. It would not be convenient, he believed, that it fhould be proceeded upon the next day, as for the day after (Friday) an hon. Gentleman (Mr. Fox) whom he did not then fee in his place, had given notice of a motion which was likely to produce much difcuffion; but he understood that hon. Gentleman had no objection to accommodate the House by deferring his motion for a few days, if it should be the with of the House and his Majefty's Minifters to proceed with the prefent bill on Friday. He wished fome of the hon. Gentleman's friends who were prefent, to ftate what they understood as to his concurrence.

Mr. Secretary Yorke was forry for the cause of the right hon. Gentleman's (Mr. Pitt's) abfence on the prefent occa

fien.

fion. He wifhed the difcuffion to take place on as early a day as poffible. The next day the bill could not be proceeded upon, because the claufes which it was intended to propofe in the Committee were not yet framed. He had no objection to the arrangement for Friday, if the hon. Gentleman who had given notice of a motion for that day (Mr. Fox) concurred in it. But he conceived it to be moft material, that the confideration of the fubject to which that hon. Gentleman's notice referred thould not be put off to any dif tant day.

Mr. Adair flated Mr. Fox's confent to defer his intended motion from Friday till Monday.

The Secretary at War expreffed a difpofition to favour the arrangement, by putting off his intended motion on the army eftimates from Monday till Wednesday.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer found it neceffary to put off from Wednesday next, the confideration of the ways and means of the year. Information was expected from Dublin, as to the part of the loan contracted for in Ireland; and it was neceffary that what had been done there should be known, before any thing could be done here as to the fum remaining to be contracted for. This information was expected the rext day; and if it arrived, he fhould be ready on Wednesday to fee the Gentlemen who were difpofed to contract for the fum that would be wanted here. Three or four days would then be neceffary for confideration and arrangement. He would therefore defer his notice from Wednesday till Monday fennight. His right hon. Friend (the Secretary at War) had already fignified his willingness to accommodate the arrangement of the difcuffions which it was wifhed to go into, by putting off his motion on the army eftimates till Wednesday. On that day it was meant to move the army extraordinaries. Alfo, he thought it neceffary to state at the same time, that it was defirable that the motion of which notice had been given for Friday (Mr. Fox's), fhould be brought forward as early as poffible.

Sir Robert Buxton rofe, not to go into any argument on the merits of the bill then, though he declared himself decidedly an enemy to it; but he wished to ask a question with regard to one of its principles, namely, the mode by which the money was to be affeffed, for defraying the quotas claimable under the bill.. If the affeffinents were to be on counties at large, he had no objection to that part of the principle, bat if on parifhes merely, he had ftrong objections.

Mr. Secretary Yorke faid, if the hon. Baronet had looked into t bill, he would have found the affeffiment was intended on pahe es, in the nature of poor's rates.

The bill was read a fecond time, and committed for Friday. EXCHEQUER BILLS.

The House refolved itself into a Committee of Ways and Means, Mr. Alexander in the chair.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer stated that, on a former day, he had apprized the Houfe of his intention to move, in the Committee of Ways and Means this day, a vote for eleven millions, to be raifed by Exchequer bills, to difcharge the outstanding Exchequer bills not provided for, and to replace thofe that would by fuch means be withdrawn from the market. Since that notice, a conference had been held with perfons on the part of the Bank; it was propofed by the Bank to defer the payment of a million and a half till next year,' towards the renewal of the Bank charter, which had been agreed to, fo that it would be neceffary only to raise nine millions and a half. This he would propofe to do by two bills: the one for railing eight millions, and the other for a million. and a half. He felt it neceffary, at the fame time, to ftate, that there was no intention of funding any part of the outstanding Exchequer bills, and to fay alfo, that there were no Exchequer bills now outstanding of an older date than of the 5th of April 1802. He concluded by moving two refolutions, agreeably to his statement.

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Mr. Johnstone thought the fum propofed was much greater than was neceffary; as it appeared from the papers on the table, that of the eighteen millions of Exchequer bills that had been iffued, only 1,400,000l. had been paid, which left a balance ftill extant of 16,600,000l. which, with fome other fums he stated, made up the fum 24,600,000l. raised last year. Of the extant fum it was proposed to pay off eleven millions; and now it was propofed to iffue eight millions more, and leave a million and a half in the Bank. There were feven millions befides, he would admit, in the Bank, under different acts, that would not come into the market; but ftill, he contended, there would be fixteen millions afloat, which he confidered a great deal too much. Befides, it was much too early in the feffion to refort to this mode of raising money, and contrary to the precedent of last year, when the right hon. Gentleman did not propofe his Exchequer-bill loan. till the 13th of July, at which time it was only propofed to iffue five millions. It was neceffary for the Houfe to be acquainted, in the first instance, with the budget for the year, in order to judge VOL. II. 1803-4. 3 U whether

whether the ways and means were likely to bear out the propriety of the prefent measure. By voting fo large an iffue fo early in the feffion, the public would lofe a great share of the advantages which would otherwife arife upon the negociation of the loan, which he thought fhould be much larger in proportion than the Exchequer bills, which ought to be narrowed in their iffue. He owned he had not had time to look accurately into the papers upon the table, but those were the obfervations which-ftruck his mind at the moment. The Chancellor of the Exchequer replied, that the hon. Gentleman not having accurately examined the papers accounted for the error into which he had fallen; for if he had accurately examined them, he would have found, that out of the whole outstanding fum, 10,663,600l. was provided for upon the malt tax of 1802, 1803, and 1804; the property and perfonal tax of 1803 and 1804; and the wartaxes of the latter year, leaving fourteen millions to account for, of which three millions were Jocked up in the Bank, provided for upon the taxes of 1806, and thus leaving a refidue extant of only eleven millions, of which one million and a half was to be held back by the Bank, as already ftated; and confequently the fum to be raised was only nine millions and a half, for that amount of Exchequer bills actually afloat. He must entirely differ from the hon. Gentleman's argument, that the loan fhould be great, and the iffue of Exchequer bills fmall; for the latter was a very important refource to Government, and fo popular at market as never to have been at a discount. The true proportion must depend entirely upon the quantity at market, and the preference the public gave. This he conceived an answer to the hon. Member; and with refpect to the period of the year at which it was propofed to make the iffue, he conceived the hon. Member equally in error, when he afferted that it dif fered totally from the precedents of former years, as on the 5th of April 1801, there were two millions of Exchequer bills more afloat than at the prefent moment. This very day too the Bank had issued 700,000!. for the purpose of difcharging outstanding Exchequer bills of 1803; and it was therefore neceffary to keep up the fupply at market upon a branch of the public fecurities fo much in the public prefe

rence.

A converfation arofe between Mr. Rofe and Mr. Vanuittart, in which the former wished for an account of the various iffues of Exchequer bills fince 1801, with the aids on credit on which they were voted; and Mr. Vanfittart stated thofe iffues with the aids.

The

The refolutions for granting 8,000,000l. and 1,500,000l. to be raised by loan on Exchequer bills were then agreed to.

On the motion of the Chancellor of the Exchequer, it was agreed, that the charges of the pay and clothing of the militia of Great Britain for one year ending the 5th of March 1805, he defrayed out of the monies arifing from the confolidated fund. Alfo, the allowances to adjutants and ferjeant majors of the militia of Great Britain, and the allowances to fubaltern officers of the faid militia, for the fame period. Similar refolutions were agreed to relative to the pay and clothing and allowances to the officers of the Irish militia. The report was ordered to be received the next day.

Mr. Vanfittart prefented an account of all the additional charges on the national debt, loans, and annuities; and alfo an account of the estimated produce of the duties for defraying the charges of the fame for the year ending the 5th of Jan. 1804. He stated, that the difficulties created by the confolidation of the duties had impeded the making up of this account, which was ftill imperfect, as the account from Scotland had not been received, but every exertion would be used to complete it. Ordered to lie on the table,

Mr. Rofe obferved, that from the accounts before the Houfe, it was impoffible to form an opinion of the exact state of the revenue, particularly with refpect to the produce of the taxes poftponed in 1803, and paid in 1804. The right hon. Gentleman had adverted to this point in the early part of the evening, and not being fatisfied with the explanations then given, now made a motion for additional accounts to elucidate this point; but being affured by Mr. Vanfittart that every account that was usual, and fome that were not prefented in any former year, were now either before the House, or in preparation, and to be laid on the table probably the next day, he withdrew his motion.

Mr. Rofe then inoved, that there be laid before the Houfe, an account of all Exchequer bills, iffued from 5th April 1798, up to the prefent time, thewing the amount in each year, and diftinguithing each iffue, and the funds on which it was charged. Ordered.

Mr. Dampier was heard as counfel on the fecond reading of the Aylesbury election bill. The bill was read a fecond time, and committed for Friday fe'nnight.

The Marquis of Titchfield, by affenting to the commitment of the bill, withed to be understood not to preclude himfelf from oppofing it in a future ftage.

It was ordered on the motion of Sir George Cornewall, that

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