1821 a mounted to 1,401,585, and exceeded those of 1792, which were 444,8811., by 956,704/. Out of those estimates he showed that 216,6911. might have been saved. In the miscellaneous estimates, also, considerable reductions might be made. The office's of the Secretary of State and of the Treasury required revision. The expenses of the Treasury for salaries and incidents was in 1796, 40,7641. and it now was 68,8541. By the orders of council of 1795, the establishment of the office of the Home department was fixed at 15,4157.; it was this year 32,5187. The charge of the Foreign office, by the same order, was fixed at 15,1651. the expense, including messengers, was now 62,3561. The Colonial office was new since the last peace, and its expense amounted to 27,818. this year, viz 14,720l. for salaries, 10,5201. for contingencies, and 2,616/. for pensions. In the same manner the charges of all the public offices were nearly doubled since 1792. The charge of 40,0001. for the Board of Works required minute examination; because the manner in which business was performed by that department, he had reason to believe, was far from correct.

of 8,400. for the Insolvent Debtors Court, of which three judges received 5,000l. in salary, &c. appeared to him an outrage. at a time when the expense of all the courts ought rather to have been reduced.

The charges under the head of Civil Contingencies were, in many instances, equally improper. Although the allowance of 850,000l. might be deemed ample for the Civil list, various sums were charged in the Miscellaneous and Civil Contingencies, which properly belonged to the former; viz. 2,3851. for Messengers bills in the Lord Chamberlain's department of his majesty's household, pensions to Consuls, and 62,0741. for our Ambassadors at foreign courts, presents, &c. By the Civil-list 226,950l. was appro. priated to defray all the expenses of Ambassadors, Consuls, &c.; but, by the addition of such large sums as those, the charge to the public was increased to upwards of 300,000l. for those appointments, a sum which he considered by far too large, under any circumstances of the country, but particularly at the present time; and he must here observe, that the manner in which all these expenses were incurred, before receiving the sanction of the House, was very objectionable. From the whole of these Miscellaneous charges and Civil Contingencies in this year, parliament might have reduced upwards of 250,OCOL. without detriment to the public service.

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collection of it. Of those four millions upwards of 1,250,000l. might be saved. The receiversgeneral, under the present system, received 42,000l. from a poundage which they had upon the revenue collected. The interest upon the permanent balances left in their hands amounted, at 5 per cent. to 13,000l. Then the interest for 2 months upon the current balances amounted to 58,000l. a year; so that the grand total, which the receivers-general pocketed from their situations, was 117,900l. a year. Now, a committee of the House had come to the opinion, that 65 receivers, with salaries of 600l. a year each, could collect the revenue exactly as well as the present receivers with their overgrown emoluments. Calculating, then, the salaries of the receivers-general upon that scale for the future, the cost to the country would amount only to 39,000.; to which even if 3,2001. were added for incidental expenses, there would still be a saving of 75,650%. gained in that one department of the revenue alone. At present 88,000l. was received by the collectors of the revenue from a poundage upon stamps. In the course of the session he had shown, how 40,000l. or 50,000l. might be saved in that head. One and a half per cent would be quite sufficient, instead of 4 or 6 per cent. Let even two per cent be given, and there would be a saving of above 40,000l. in the expenditure for the distribution of stamps. The collection of the land and assessed taxes in Scotland and Ireland cost the country sums equally extravagant. Complaints had been made on the subject from Scotland, and he (Mr.

Hume) had moved for returns, which showed that these complaints were well founded. The charge, which in 1819 was 17,000., was this year 39,000l., on a collection of 509,000l. It had risen from 3 9-10ths per cent on the whole of the sums collected to 8 9-10ths per cent; and what, he asked, had the country gained in revenue to warrant this increase of expenditure? The same extravagance was observable in Ireland.

With regard to the salaries of all civil officers in Great Britain, he had to complain of similar waste, and could point out similar savings. There was an increase of 106,000l. in 1819; a decrease of 58,000l. had taken place in 1820, and of 64,000l. in 1821: and this was all the saving that had taken place over sixty seven public offices. The increase in one year had nearly equalled the decrease in two following years. From all that he had stated, he was convinced, that 2,000,0007. might be saved by a change in the collection and management of the revenue; 2,000,000l. more might be saved on our establishments for public defence, making a total of upwards of 4,000,000%. If such savings were effected, we could afford immediately to repeal some of those taxes which pressed most heavily on the labouring classes;-for instance, all the taxes on soap, candles, leather, tallow, and salt, which composed an of aggregate 3,300,000l.

Mr. Hume concluded by moving the following resolution :

"That an humble address be presented to his majesty, humbly to request that, with a view of affording relief to the country

Un visteity of

from a part of its burthens, he will be graciously pleased to direct, that a minute investigation be instituted into the mode and expense of the management and collection of the several branches of the revenue; that a careful revision be made of all salaries and allowances, especially of those which have been increased since 1797, in order that they may be adjusted to the increased value of the currency, and to the distressed circumstances of the country; that a vigilant superintendance be exercised over the expendi. ture of the country in all its departments, in order that every reduction may be made therein which can be effected without detriment to the public interest; and, in particular, in the number of the army and the expense of its establishments."

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Mr. Bankes moved, as amendment, "That an humble Address be presented to his majesty, to assure his majesty, that we have regarded with satisfaction the measures which have been taken by his majesty's commands for a general revision of the department of the Customs in Great Britain; and to intreat his majesty to give directions that a similar investigation may be extended to all the other branches of the revenue, in order to render its collection more economical, and its management more efficient; that, for the purpose of affording a further relief to the country, his majesty will be pleased to order a minute inquiry into the several departments of the civil government, as well with a view to reducing the number of persons employed in those departments, which, from the great increase of business, were aug

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mented during the late war, as with reference to the increased salaries granted to individuals since the year 1797, either in consideration of the additional labour thrown upon them during that period, or of the diminished value of money::-and farther, that his majesty will be graciously pleased to direct that every possible saving which can be made, without detriment to the public interest, shall be effected in those more extended establishments which the country is obliged to maintain for the safety and defence of the United Kingdom and its dependencies, and more especially in the military expenditure, by a reduction in the numbers of the army, and by a constant and vigilant superintendance that and all the other departments connected with the application of the ample supplies granted by this House."

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The House divided: Mr. Hume's motion was rejected by a majority of 174 to 94. Mr. Bankes's amendment was then agreed to without a division.

On the 2nd of July, lord Darnley followed the example which Mr. Hume had set. After taking a general view of our expenditure, he moved,

"That an humble Address be presented to his majesty, praying that his majesty will be graciously pleased to take into his immediate and most serious consideration the difficulties and distresses of his faithful subjects, and especially of that very important description of them, whose wealth and subsistence more immediately depend on agriculture; and that his majesty will be graciously pleased to give such directions as to his majesty's wisdom shall

seem most expedient, to diminish the public expenditure in all the great departments of the state, both civil and military, as the only effectual means of permanently relieving those difficulties and distresses which, if not principally occasioned, are, at least, materially aggravated, by the pressure of accumulated taxation."

Lord Liverpool maintained, that the distress was not so great as it was represented to be; that it was

not caused by taxation; and that the government had made and were making, every retrenchment consistent with the honour, the security, and the good faith of the country. He concluded by moving an amendment nearly the same with that, which had been proposed by Mr. Bankes, in the other House.

Lord Darnley did not press his motion to a division; and the amended address was agreed to.

THE HE situation and fate of Naples excited a very general interest in England, and was the subject of frequent and keen debate in parliament. The members at the beginning of the session had communicated to both Houses, a circular dispatch, dated the 19th of January, 1821, which had been sent to his majesty's ministers at foreign courts, disavowing, on the part of Great Britain, any participation in the plans of the allied sovereigns. This, however, did not satisfy the Opposition; and, on the 19th of February, earl Grey moved for the production of all communications between this government and that of Naples, with regard to the late occurrences in that kingdom. The noble earl, after noticing the conduct of the allied sovereigns in respect to the esta blishment of a free constitution in Naples, stated, that though the British government had disclaimed all participation in their proceedings, and had laid on the table a letter in confirmation of our neutrality; yet, that letter did not furnish a satisfactory proof of our non-interference. If changes

in governments took place, no matter with what unanimity on the part of the people, no matter how useful to the community which accomplished them, no matter how inoffensive to other powers, the holy alliance had, it seemed, an authority to resist improvements of every kind; to them devolved the right of sitting in judgment on every state, even of calling to their tribunal a brother monarch, to enforce retraction, or to coerce all resist ance by arms. The noble earl asserted, that when the conduct of the allies was known, ministers allied themselves closer with the conclave, and at the same time, suspended all amicable intercourse with Naples. An Austrian army was stationed on the frontier, while a British squadron was cruizing in the bay of Naples; and one of our vessels had been employed in executing the scandalous summons of the allics, by which the king was obliged to repair to Laybach. With respect to the circular, it amounted simply to a declaration, that it would be in direct repugnance to the fundamental principle of this