presented a Petition from the cotton spinners and manufacturers of cotton piece goods of the West Riding of York, setting forth,

"That the petitioners have been long engaged in the spinning of cotton wool, and the manufacture of cotton piece goods, which trades have been, for several years back, in a very depressed state for want of a demand for their goods, which were formerly articles of extensive exportation to different parts of the continent of Europe, but from various causes, that outlet has been greatly curtailed from the operation of what has been called the Continental System, and also from the establishment of spinning mills and manufactories on an extensive scale in different parts of the continent, which are likely to be materially increased in number if the measures proposed with respect to American cotton wool be carried into effect; and that the British manufacturers have many disadvantages to contend with, the high price of every species of labour, the existing duty on cotton wool, which toge- ther amount to an enormous bounty to the foreign spinners and manufacturers, who will obtain cotton wool from America at greatly reduced prices either at a peace, the abandonment of the blockade, or from some port not blockaded; and that the petitioners have endured the greatest distress for the last three or four years, so much so, that a great many mills that were formerly appropriated to cotton spinning in the said riding are now converted to other purposes, in consequence of the decay of the cotton trade; nor is the situation of the petitioners materially ameliorated notwithstanding the favourable change of politics in Europe; and that they have learned, that Petitions have been presented to the House in favour of a prohibition and other regulations on the importation of cotton wool, the growth of the United States of America, which measures, if adopted, will prove, in the opinion of the petitioners, the entire ruin of their trade; and praying, that the House will not adopt any measures which can assist the efforts of foreign nations to supplant the cotton manufacture of this country."

Ordered to lie on the table.

Chancellor of the Exchequer for Ireland, said, the duty devolved upon him to state to the committee the terms on which the loan of two million for Ireland had recently been contracted for in that country; and, after he had executed that task, he should submit certain resolutions relative to the new taxes which he meant to propose. On the latter subject, he should not that evening go into detail. This, he thought, it would be more proper to do, when he laid before parliament a complete statement of the financial affairs of Ireland. With respect to the loan, he had to congratulate the House on the favourable terms on which it had been obtained. For every 100l. subscribed, the contractor would receive 100l. 3 per cents. 20l. 5 per cents. debentures, and 11l. 15s. Treasury bills. The interest to the contractor, on the sum so taken, would be 5l. 1s. 9d. making, with the charge of 1l. 4s. sinking fund, a total expense to the public of 6l. 5s. 9d. for every 100l. so subscribed—the amount of stock created exclusive of Treasury bills, being 120l. At the same time, it was but fair to say, that the terms of the present loan were not altogether so favourable as those obtained by his right hon. friend (Mr. Wellesley Pole) in the year preceding. It was, however, to be taken into consideration, that that loan was only for 1,500,000l, the other half million having been supplied by a loan in Treasury bills; and, by a comparison with the rate at which money was obtained in Ireland, and with the loan of last year, he did not conceive any dissatisfaction would be felt at the terms on which the present was made. The expence incurred by the public, on the loan of last year, was 6l. 4s. per cent., on the present it was 6l. 5s. 9d.; making a difference of no more than 1s. 9d. per cent. It was important that the loan for Ireland should be raised in that country; and it was no light proof of the prosperity of her pecuniary affairs, to find that the loan was negociated at 6l. 5s. 9d. per cent. when the legal interest of money in Ireland was 6 per cent.

The right hon. gentleman observed, that in submitting certain Resolutions, for an increase of duties, to the committee, he thought it would be more convenient not to debate them now, but to act upon the understanding of a former evening, when he expressed his regret, that, from the peculiar circumstances in which the public creditor was placed, he could not postpone proposing those resolutions to the committee, although he was aware a most important subject was to be discussed that night. As he had no wish to put off that discussion, it would probably be considered more proper by those gentlemen who might desire to oppose any of his resolutions, to defer their objections till the Report was brought up. He proposed, in the measures which he had in view, to assimilate, in some degree, the revenues of both countries. Under all the circumstances, he did not think there was any man who did not conceive it to be desirable that such an assimilation should, as far as possible, be carried into effect. Every person must look forward to that period, when Ireland would, of necessity, be obliged to bear a greater burden than she did at present—and when the first financial object of the country must be, to assimilate the duties, on various articles, as nearly as circumstances would permit. If this plan were not pursued, some other expedient must of necessity be devised. His right hon. friend, the Chancellor of the Exchequer for England, had, on a re- cent occasion, adduced reasons, which convinced the House of the propriety of adding 25 per cent. to the custom duties. The arguments which he had made use of, applied, in a great degree, to Ireland, and therefore, he (Mr. Fitzgerald) proposed to place an additional tax of 25 per cent. on all goods, wares, and merchandise, imported into Ireland; with the exception of coffee, raw silk, salt, sugar, tea, tobacco, wines, and cotton wool. Several of these articles, which he should presently state, though excluded from the addition of 25 per cent. to the general custom duties, he intended to tax separately. Coffee, he proposed to raise to nearly the same standard as it was fixed at in Great Britain, by a duty of 1d. per lb. On tea, an additional duty of 3 per cent. The duty on tea, in Great Britain, was 96 per cent.; in Ireland, 93 per cent. The difference of duty, was allowed, he supposed, for the purpose of covering freight, insurance, and the expences of trans-shipment. Still, however, he proposed to equalize the duties, because the same expences were incurred in every port of England, to which teas were shipped, except that of London, without any such allowance being made, and consequently the increase of price fell upon the consumer. The same observation also applied to Scotland. On tobacco it was intended to lay an additional duty of 1½d. per lb. customs, and 4d. per lb. excise. The next article was foreign wines. The last addition to this article was made in 1810, when 18l. 18s. was imposed on French, and 12l. 12s. on Portugal wines. He was aware it might be urged, that a considerable diminution in the consumption was immediately consequent on this rise; and that, therefore, the increased duty having, in this instance, defeated its object, it would be useless to burden the article with a fresh impost. In his opinion, however, the former tax had only driven from the consumption of wines, persons of moderate circumstances; while those who had adhered to it, were individuals in a state of affluence, who would not be deterred from the enjoyment of this luxury. It was therefore proposed to add one third of the difference between the present existing duty on wines in Great Britain and Ireland, which would raise the duty to about 8l. 10s. on a hogshead of claret. This, he conceived, would be found by no means oppressive on the consumers, who no longer consisted of that class of persons who were formerly in the custom of drinking French wine—a luxury which was now entirely confined to persons of rank and fortune.—This was all he had to offer with respect to custom duties.

His next task would be, to propose certain resolutions for raising the rate of the excise duties. In the first place he intended to propose an additional duty of 5s. per bushel on malt. He knew it would be objected to this, that it would indirectly affect the Irish breweries. But he did not conceive this objection to be wellfounded. The rise on a barrel of beer, in consequence of this addition, would be 11s. 6d.; on the gallon 4¼d; and less than 1d. on the quart. By such a rise he did not think the Irish brewery was at all likely to suffer. His next resolution would be for the purpose of regulating the rate of postage in Ireland. He found that the defalcation in that source of revenue, after the addition made to the rate of postage, by the then Chancellor of the Exchequer, arose almost entirely from the opportunity, which persons residing in the metropolis possessed, of sending letters to the towns more immediately in their vicinity, by various conveyances, which were constantly passing. He should, therefore, propose to reduce the rates of postage to all towns near the capital. To those within 10 miles, the postage should be 2d.; and, to the distance of 50 miles, the postage to be lowered in the same proportion; but, beyond 50 miles, it was intended to propose a progressive increase.

The last point was an alteration of the Assessed Taxes, namely, an increased rate of duty on windows, male servants, horses, and carriages. In this country the rate of taxation commenced with a house having six windows; it was not intended, however, to adopt that principle, which might bear upon the lower orders of society; and, therefore, the scale would be allowed to begin, as it at present did, with houses containing seven windows. A house of that description at present paid 15s. 9d. which he proposed to raise to 17s. 6d. the rate in this country being 1l. The right hon. gentleman here entered into a statement of the difference between the present tax and the intended rise, on houses of different sizes, up to those containing 14 windows. The tax, he observed, became operative on the proprietor of a house of this description, who must be supposed capable of paying the tax with- out any difficulty. On fourteen windows, the tax was at present, 3l. 8s. 2d,; it was proposed to raise it to 4l. 4s.; in this country it was 6l. 16s. 6d. The average increase would be about 25 per cent. on the whole tax, but not falling on the houses of the lower orders, or bearing upon the poor. The calculation was favorable to those occupying houses containing from 7 to 14 windows; above that number the ratio was encreased.—Next was an alteration in the tax on male servants. In Ireland, the tax on a single servant, was 1l. 1s. in this country it was 2l. 0s. 8d.; a disparity for which he could see no good reason. In England, if a gentleman kept two servants, the tax was 3l. 2s. for each of them, while in Ireland it was 1l. 11s. 6d.; and this inequality was still more striking, when applied to three, four, or five servants. He should, therefore, propose to encrease the tax for one servant to 1l. 10s. and so on in a similar gradation, till the scale came to eleven servants, as was particularly stated in the resolution. He next came to the horse-tax:—In Ireland, the tax for a single horse was 15s.; here it was 2l. 17s. 6d. Those who kept two in Ireland, only paid 17s. 6d. for each, while in England there was a tax of 4l. 14s. 6d. on each. He proposed to raise the tax for one horse to 1l. 10s.; for two, 2l.; and so on in the same proportion.—The right hon. gentleman then adverted to the carriage tax; at present a single carriage was liable to a tax of 8l. 10s. which he proposed to raise to 10l. 10s. He could not account for the absurdity which pervaded the present mode of taxation on carriages, by which, the greater the number of carriages, kept by an individual, the lighter the tax became. Or, in other words, the more capable an individual was of keeping a number of carriages, the less he was asked to pay. Thus, if a gentleman kept but one carriage, he paid 8l. 10s.; but, if he was able to set up four, he was only charged 4l. 4s. for each. Such was the general import of what he had to propose; he should abstain from any detailed observations, which, with many other remarks, would come with more propriety, when he should have the honour of laying before the House a general financial plan with respect to Ireland. The right hon. gentleman concluded by moving the first resolution, relative to the Irish Loan.

rose and said, that in the objections he had to make, he did not mean to state them as applicable to the objects of the right hon. gentleman, considered as objects of taxation, but because he thought they would not answer his expectations at all. He was far from wishing captiously to thwart the endeavours of the right hon. gentleman; for he was sensible he must find great difficulties in raising the supplies necessary for the service of Ireland. He congratulated the House upon the terms upon which he had concluded the loan. The additional custom duties he should advert to when they entered into the details upon a future occasion. The proposed increase of duty upon tobacco, he doubted would not prove permanently productive. The additional duty upon wine he thought a most incorrigible error: every additional duty since 1804, had only produced the effect of diminishing the consumption; and now an encreased duty would only occasion an additional burden upon the consumer, without benefiting the revenue. The additional duty upon malt he thought still worse. It would produce a moral evil upon the country, by substituting the drinking of spirits for that of beer and ale. That part of the right hon. gentleman's plan he would candidly tell him he meant to oppose, and in every stage to take the sense of the House upon it. He objected also to the proposed alteration in the rates of postage, which, by being lowered to all places near the capital, and encreased to all at a distance from it, would only have the effect of burthening every commercial town, the correspondence of which was vital to the interests of the empire, and relieving other towns where the correspondence could only arise from caprice, pleasure, or friendship. He thought the measure contrary to every principle of sound policy. The right hon. baronet concluded with some remarks upon the proposed encrease of the Assessed Taxes, which he apprehended would only operate as a bounty upon persons to evade them with more ingenuity and success.

shortly defended the propriety of the taxes, on nearly the same grounds which he had laid down in his introductory speech.

said, that the protection last year given to the breweries, would be destroyed by the measure proposed by the right hon. gentleman. The brewery was a new trade, and this was not a time to oppress it, when the American market was closed against the beer of Ireland. The right hon. gentleman thought it would be no great harm, if the gentlemen of Ireland drank less wine. It certainly would not; but it would be a great evil if the revenues of that country were materially diminished. He had previously believed, that the Chancellor of the Irish Exchequer did not come into the House to protect the health and the morals of Ireland, but its revenues; the contrary, however, appeared to be the fact.

explained. He confessed that he had no medical duties to perform, and neither in nor out of the House was he the conservator of the public health.

The House then resumed—and the Report was ordered to be brought up on Monday.

The Report of the Committee on Sugar, the produce of the conquered islands, was brought up.

said, that as the extra duty of 12s. 6d. per cent. on clayed sugar was thought too high, he would therefore alter it to 10s. The Resolutions, as amended, were then agreed to, and a Bill was ordered to be brought in accordingly.

said, that it was his intention only to pass the Bill through the Committee pro forma, and then to postpone the further consideration of it till Monday. The Bill was accordingly committed, the Chairman reported progress, and asked leave to sit again on Monday.