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ment had never been proposed. But it appeared to him it would be an advantage in the event of the resumption of cash payments, as well to the public as the Bank, to guard against any thing like a run upon the latter immediately on its opening. Feeling this, he should certainly in any case have proposed that their notes should be received for a certain time after the resumption of cash payments. Such a measure he should have held to be necessary, to guard against any traffic on the part of the minor agents of the treasury (though perhaps this was little to be feared) being carried on of an improper nature, who, without such an enactment, might possibly have demanded payment in gold, for the purpose of making a profit, by turning it into paper whenever the exchanges might again become unfavourable. He did not know that any inconvenience would be likely to arise from receiving bank notes at the Exchequer, till the present charter of the Company should expire. If, however, it should be desirable that they should cease to enjoy that privilege, we could put an end to it at any time, by the repayment of the advance. He himself thought there could be no objection to its continuance for the remaining sixteen years of the charter; but if any should, contrary to his expectation, arise, the mode by repayment would, he believed, be found easy. If government, at some time, should deem it expedient no longer to assist the circulation of the bank paper, it would be equitable that the security should exist till the Bank was able to

bring itself back to its former situation by the recovery of their loan. To him then, the circumstances which he had stated fairly considered, the arrangement seemed to be as free from objection as any that could be submitted to parliament, or that could be devised by any minister of finance. It was to government an important consideration to obtain a loan of 3,000,0001., without resorting to the general money market at a time when it was most desirable to avoid all pressure upon it, and in the reduced rate of interest to be paid on the money so advanced, the public gained at least 60,000l. a year, exclusive of the still more important one of saving all addition to the capital of the debt beyond the money actually advanced. It offered to the Bank security, and sanctioned an honourable extension of their capital, and this was highly beneficial to the proprietors. He thought it might further be observed, that what it was now proposed to sanction, was no more than that which the Bank proprietors had a right to claim at some time or other: the only question therefore was as to the time, circumstances, and mode in which this should take place. On any of these grounds he did not think any fair objection could be urged to the arrangement, and the present seemed in fact as favourable a moment as could be chosen for granting that which at some future period they were entitled to claim.

He should now proceed to the more general statements of the supplies granted for the present

year,

year, and of those which would be still required. The first head was that of the army: 9,665,000l. was the amount for military service already sanctioned by the votes of parliament, from which was to be deducted 1,234,000l. for the troops in France, leaving 8,431,000l., including the expense for Ireland. The accounts of the extraordinary expenses of the army for the preceding year had been some time before the House, and a vote to provide for those of 1816 to the extent of about 1,500,000l. would be speedily proposed. The estimates of the commissariat, &c. were about 480,000l., from which 75,000l. for the army in France were to be deducted. Taking the charges of the barracks at 178,000l., and the storekeeper-general's department at 50,000l., the whole amount of extraordinary services would be 2,133,000l., and the total expense for the military service 10,564,000l. For the navy there had been voted altogether 10,114,0001., from which there was a deduction to be made of the proceeds from the sales of old stores, which amounted to 680,000l., leaving the charge at 9,434,000l. Deducting about 186,0001. for the ordnance service in France, the expense of the ordnance department would be, 1,696,1851. The total original vote was 1,882,0001.-The pressure of public business in the House during the course of the present session, had prevented him from producing an account of the miscellaneous services. He could not just then state their

amount precisely. He had on a former occasion supposed them at 2,000,0001. From what he had learned, he thought they would come to 2,500,000l. or near it. He should therefore assume it at two millions five hundred thousand pounds. To meet the India debt, and expenses incurred in India, a vote of 945,0001. would be proposed. This was necessary, as the East India Company had made pressing representations for repayment of the sums they had advanced. The advances in question had been made to forward those valuable services lately performed by our army in India in the conquest of the French and Dutch possessions. The total amount of the claim of the East India Company, including the estimate of the present year, had been 2,300,000l. Considerable payments had, however, been made by the government to the East India Company, which were to be set against the sum he had mentioned. This done, there appeared to remain due to the Company in January last, about a million and a half. A provision had been made for the sum of 500,000l. in the vote of credit for the last year, and this deducted from the debt due in January reduced the sum to be provided for in the present year to 945,0001., which it would be his duty on a future occasion, to bring more particularly under the consideration of the House. The general statement of the supply for the present year, compared with that for the preceding, was as follows:

SUPPLY.

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Having recapitulated the above items of supply, the right hon. gentleman next proceeded to state the separate charges of Great Britain. The first was for the payment of the part which had been demanded of the loyalty loan, which had been raised in 1797, amounting to 217,0001. A difference, he stated, might occur in these items, as well as in the miscellaneous services, between his present statement and the accounts previously laid before the House, owing to the same charges being placed under different heads, or to different dates being included in the papers. After the loyalty loan, and the debentures, and their interest,

945,491

£. 25,140,18G

amounting to 807,000l., which were the two first items in the separate charges, he came to one not immediately under the consideration of the House, respecting which notice had been given of a motion by his right hon. friend (Mr. Wellesley Pole). He meant the motion for the grant of a sum of money on account of the new silver coinage. He did not propose to anticipate the able illustrations which the right hon. gentleman would be prepared to furnish on this subject, in what he might offer on this occasion. It would easily be seen that there was no small difficulty in determining what sum it would be proper to grant

for

for this service. He (the Chancellor of the Exchequer) had for a time been very doubtful whether this was a charge which ought to be borne equally by England and Ireland, or whether it was one which ought to fall on Great Britain only. Ultimately he had, however, considered, that as the whole of the silver now in circulation had been issued long before the Union, the greater part of it indeed at least a century, it was just that it should fall on Great Britain, and on no other part of the empire. It was not easy to say how much would be sufficient to meet the charge for the new coinage; but he proposed to take the sum of 500,000l. which he apprehended would suffice for so much at least of the charge as was likely to be incurred within the present year. None of that silver which was at present in circulation was intended to be received in exchange for

that to be hereafter issued, which did not bear some appearance of having come from the mint; and this, as it would not include a very large proportion of the present currency, could not create a great expense, and at all events, a considerable time must elapse before the arrangements in contemplation could be carried into effect. The next charge was on account of a sum of 1,500,0001. in exchequer bills held by the Bank. These had been originally issued for an advance made by the Bank in 1800. The sum then advanced amounted to 3,000,0001. of which one half had been repaid during the peace of Amiens, and the remainder, amounting to a million and a half, which had ever since been annually renewed in exchequer bills, still remained to be made good. The separate charges were altogether as follows:

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To meet these charges, he should propose the following

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