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fure would prove highly beneficial and efficacious, and that as fuch he fhould give it his moft hearty fupport.

1

Mr. Ellifon faid, the prefent was a period which called for the ftrongest exertions from all claffes of people. It made no difference whether a man's property lay in land or not, it was both his duty and his intereft to give that property to fupport the public caufe. If they did not, they would probably foon have neither life nor property to give. In the part of the country in which he lived, the people were unanimous in their determina. tion to fupport the common caufe. His property in general lay in land, but that did not make any difference to him, because, had his property been of a different fort, ftill he fhould have fupported this meafure. He could not conceive that, as a landholder, he would be in a worse fituation after this Bill paffed than he was at prefent; on the contrary, he thought this measure held out confiderable benefits to him in that character. With refpect to the obfervation, that this plan, if carried into execu tion, would afford greater facility to the impofition of a new land tax, he could not fee the leaft foundation for it, becaufe it was always in the power of Parliament to augment the land tax if occafion required it; and this meafure, if agreed to, could neither add to nor take from that power. He agreed with an Honourable Member who spoke before him, in a wish that a tax could be laid upon all property equally. Before he fat down he wished to make one obfervation, if it was not irregular, which was, that in all the places where he had acted as a Comm fioner to receive appeals upon the affeffed taxes, the only com plaint he ever heard against them was, that they did not attach equally.

The Houfe then divided upon the queftion for the Speaker's leaving the Chair.

Aves

Noes

124

27

Majority,

97

The Houfe then refolved itfelf into a Committee, Mr. Douglas in the Chair.

all

Mr. Huffey expreffed, in the strongest manner, his wifh that the Minifter would adopt a plan for laying an equal tax upon property. With refpect to the prefent measure, one ftrongeft objections to it was, that the Land Tax, as at prefent exifting, was unequal, coniequently, that inequality would be perpetuated, without the hope of relief. In the various Land Tax Acts, the tax was apportioned out to the counties; but the Acts did not declare in what manner the repartition was to be made in the counties, confequently, it was fometimes levied in

an

an unequal manner; but no provifion was made in this Bill to rectify these errors; on the contrary, they were to exift for

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The Chancellor of the Exchequer expreffed his readiness to ac quiefce in any propofition which fhould have for its object the impofition of a general and equal tax upon all landed property; but he conceived it would neither be wife nor prudent for the Houfe to neglect the opportunity of adopting a practical advantage, for the fake of one which the fpeculations of no theorist had at any period pointed out the means of obtaining. With the principle on which the Honourable Gentleman founded his obfervations he perfectly concurred. He was not merely ready to go along with, but even to run before him in the justice and propriety of that principle; and if any Gentleman in the Houfe could fuggeft any practicable means by which it could be carried into effect, he fhould think it the most important discovery on the fubject of finance that had ever been made, and more particularly fo at a period like the prefent. But was fo precarious an advantage as that which the Honourable Gentleman had recommended, to hinder the House from making exertions in a less perfect, but more practicable way? The Honourable Gentleman feemed to with that the tax fhould be made general previous to its being made perpetual. Now, however defirous he was that any additional tax fhould be as general as poffible, yet nothing could be more unjust than to equalize the prefent tax before it was perpetuated. Conveyances, and fettlements of eftates had, during a confiderable number of years, been made unler the pledge of Parliament, that fo long as the tax did not exceed four fhillings in the pound, the prefent fyftem would be the only criterion for collecting it. If, however, the time fhould arrive when the exifting Land-Tax fhould be brought up, and it fhould be neceflary to impofe an additional one, certainly then the object would be to make it extend to all in an equal degree; but at prefent it was indifperfibly requifite that the tax fhould be made perpetual, before any perfon fhould be allowed to redeem. With respect to what the Honourable Gentleman had faid about the repartition of the Tax in Counties, he believed he was not quite correct in his statement, becaufe there were clauses to that effect in various Acts of Parliament. The feveral Claufes and Provifions of the Bill together with variety of Amendments, were, in the courfe of a long and defultory converfation, in which the Solicitor General, Lord Sheffield, Mefirs. Jolliffe, Vanfittart, Burdon, Sir M. W. Ridley, Mr. Wood, and the Chancellor of the Exchequer, bore the principal parts, agreed to by the Committee.

In the courfe of the foregoing difcuffions, the probable contingency of the adoption of a New Land-Tax, and the reci procal effect which fuch a meafure, and that under confideration, must have, being referred to by one or two Gentlemen,

The Chancellor of the Exchequer faid, he conceived it neceffary to fay a very few words upon that point. It was certain, he obferved, that the neceffities of the Sate might be such as to render the adoption of the measure alluded to expedient, at a future period; but in fuch a cafe, it was his opinion, that the tax fhould be made as correctly equal as the nature of it would admit---that such impofition fhould take place on the nett income of eftates, after paying the old Land-Tax, and not on a calculation of the grofs amount of eftates, including that incumberance. The adoption of this rule, as a general principle, he conceived to be the leaft uncertain guide to the arriving at a correct equality in the diftribution of the tax.

In a fubfequent part of the difcuffion, he had occafion to remark upon what was a very important confideration, but at the fame time, a queftionable expedient in the line of policy, namely, whether there thould be certain periods for the revifion of a future Land Tax. Such a proceeding would be defirable, but then it was alfo attended with its difadvantages. Were fuch revifions too frequent, they would obviously operate as a check upon agriculture and landed improvements; were the tax to be rendered perpetual, and without revital, it certainly muft relapse into that inequality fo much complained of in the old Land-Tax.

After the claufes in the Bill were difpofed of, feveral others were propofed by the Solicitor General, fome as additional provifions and others as fubftitutes for claufes which were to be expunged. These new clauses, and the latter proceeding, were adopted by the Committee.

In reply to a fuggeftion from the other fide of the Houfe, of recommiting the Bill,

The Chancellor of the Exchequer deemed it incumbent on him to oppofe fuch a proceeding, on the ground of unneceffary delay, and tending to produce confufion; the objections of Gentlemen could be as fully and more regularly difcuffed on the report of the Bill. What he would propofe in the prefent inftance was, that the Report be immediately received on the refuming of the Houfe, that the Bill with the amendments might forthwith be printed, and to appoint an early day in the enfuing week for their confideration.

The Houfe then refumed.

The Speaker having taken the Chair, the Report was immediately received, the Bill, with the feveral Amendments,

ordered

ordered to be printed, and to be taken into further confideration. on Tuesday the 15th inftant.

Adjourned.

HOUSE OF LORDS.
Thursday, May 10.

The Royal Affent was given by Commiffion to the additional Salt Duty, the Tea Excife, the Houfe and Window Duty, the Male Servant and Carriage Duty, the Swifs Property, and the Scots Militia Bills, and allo to three Private Bills. The Lords Commiffioners on this occafion were, his Royal Highness the Duke of Clarence, the Lord Chancellor, and the Earl of Chefterfield.--Adjourned.

HOUSE OF COMMONS.
Thursday, May 10.

The Houfe being fummoned to the Houfe of Lords to hear the Royal Affent given by Commiffion, and the Speaker having returned, informed the Houle that he had been in the Houle of Lords, where the Royal Affent was notified to the Bill for granting to his Majefty an additional Duty on Salt, to the Bill for additional Duty of Excife on Tea, and to the additional affeffinent on Houfes, &c. in lieu of the Clock and Watch Duty.

Mr. Boddington's Divorce Bill was read a third time, and paffed.

The Bill for regulating the depafture of fheep on commons. and uninclosed land, was read a third time, and paffed.

BILLETING THE CAVALRY.

Mr. Secretary Dundas faid, he was now about to bring forward a fubject which he had poftponed from day to day on account of the difference of opinion which he understood to exift upon it; but he apprehended that, from the manner in which he fhould now bring it forward, there would be no difference of opinion upon it. Many Gentlemen belonging to the Yeomanry Cavalry had expreffed a wifh that they might affemble together in larger bodies than they now had an opportunity of doing, to learn their exercife; this they could not do without authority. In many places they had the opportunity; in Kent, for inftance, and in Hampshire, they could meet near their own houfes in large bodies, there being places fitted up for their reception; and therefore there was no neceffity for any provifion. with regard to them, In other counties the inconvenience was very great, on account of the troops being fcattered at a great diftance from each other; they were defirous that his Majefty might be empowered to billet them at fome fpot, near to which a large body of them in each county might exercife for three or

four

four, or any other number of the 21 days; and that his Majelly might make for them the neceflary allowance for expences of quarters, &c. that was the whole of the object he had in view; and therefore he moved that leave be given to bring in a Bill for authorizing the billeting fuch parts of the troops of the Yeomanry Cavalry, as may be defirous of affembling for the purpose of being trained.---Granted.

IMPORT OF CORN.

Mr. Alderman Lufhington moved, that the Houfe do refolve itself into a Committee of the whole Houfe, to confider of the lofs fuftained by the British Importers of Corn, from the first of November 1795, to the 30th of April 1795.

The Speaker afked if this motion was made with a view of moving in the Committee for remuneration to be made out of the public money?

Mr. Alderman Lushington faid, it was not with that view in the firft inftance; but for the purpose of making an enquiry which might ultimately lead to that.

The Chancellor of the Exchequer thought that the Houfe ought not to go into a Committee for fuch a purpose, unles fome statement was made to fhew its propriety.

Mr. Alderman Lushington said, that having been called upon to ftate his reasons, he fhould trefpafs upon the Houfe for a few minutes. If the Houfe had concurred in his motion in the first inftance, he meant to have propofed to refer to their confideration the Report made by the Committee to whom this fubject was referred last year,

The Speaker faid, it would be proper to read the Report, which being done,

The Alderman obferved, that it was a circumftance perfectly well known, that there exifted, fome time ago, a very con fiderable fcarcity of corn, which had excited great unealinels in the public mind, and had induced Government to depart from their ufual mode of proceeding. The alarm which this fcarcity had generally excited, led the Government of France to fend their agents into various parts, for the purposes of purchafing corn, and thefe agents having the public purfe at their command, were able to outbid private individuals who were endeavouring to purchase corn to import it into England. It therefore became neceflary for the Btitish Government to interfere, and to take fuch steps as feemed the best calculated to re medy the evil as much as poffible. The confequence was, that a Committee was appointed to confider and report upon fudject. But notwithstanding every exertion on the part of Government, the fcarcity ftill continued, and the Committee having reported that there was no profpect of an immediate

the

fupply

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