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Article HOUSE OF COMMONS. ← Page 4 of 5 →
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House Of Commons.
on the war ? Did it require mora gunpowder to kill an atheist than a devout believer ? As to the Chancellor of the Exchequer , Ins arguments were most extraordinary indeed : he had said , that paying the dividends in notes was no grievance , as it had been done before . But would any gentleman say that notes werJTnow what they were before , when exchangeable at will into specie ; or that the case was noiv the same as when the public creditor had his option of paper or gold ? An Honourable Member , continued Mr . Sheridan , proposes to cut ejFall superfluous expences . But if , upon enquiry , the authors of the present calamity be found
guilty , he ( Mr . S . ) would not then say tebat ought la be cut of j . Though not of a sanguinary disposition , he thought in such a case an example ought to be made . As he therefore deemed it necessary that an enquiry should be set on foot , he should move an amendment to be added to the Motion to the following effect : f That it be ari instruction to the said Committee to enquire into the causes which had produced the Order of Council on the 27 th instant , andgive their opinion on the same ; and consider also of the necessity of enquiring into the measures that ht to be taken inconsequence of the said Order . '
oug After some further debate of little importance , in which Messrs . Thornton , Dundas , Pitt , Grey , and several other Members took a part , the House divided on Mr . Sheridan ' s amendment : Noes 224—Ayes 88—Majority 156 . Wednesday , March 1 . Mr . W . Bird stated the great inconvenience that arose to manufaGturers not having the means of paying their workman on a Saturday , iu consequence of the scarcity of specie . He therefore moved , that notes of a small value be allowed to be given in payment by manufacturers aud merchants
, throughout the kingdom . Mr . Sheridan said , if apoor man earned 14 s . per week , where , heasked , could he procure change to give his employer out of a guinea note ? Mr . Pitt moved the order of the day for the second reading of the Bill to remove the restrictions which prevented the Bank of England from issuing notes under five pounds , and to establish the validity of those notes issued under that sum , subject to no penalty .
Mr . Grey observed that these notes , he understood , would be made payable to bearer ; he conceived that the Bill and the note were therefore at variance . The Bill prohibited the Bank from issuing specie , while its notes were made payable to bearer . Mr . Pitt said , that the smaller notes were expressed in the same terms as tbe others , and the suspension of payment attached to them in the same manner as to all others issued by the Bank . Mr . Fox remarked , that , in addition to the first breach of faith , there were
added every other circumstance that could weaken the credit of the country . The Order of the Council required that the Bank should issue no money ; while , in the interim , Parliament was about to give authority to the Bank to issue notes of a particulardescription , payable to bearer on demand . The House then went into a Committee on the Bill , and the blanks being filled up , the report was immediately brought up , read , agreed to , and engrossed . Mr . Fox , in conformity to notice , rose to make a Motion , for a Committee to inquire into the causes which produced the Order of Councildated the 26 th of
, February last , prohibiting the issue of specie in payment at the Bank . After a deal of preliminary matter , he adverted to the Committee , which had just been balloted for , in pursuance of the Resolution of the House yesterday . He was sorry to find that the object of the Committee was directed more to provide a remedy for the existing evil , than to the causes which produced that evil . The measures which were likely to engage the public attention for three weeks to come , would probably decide the fate of the British Empire . Gentlemen ought , thereforeto lose no time in adopting the most speedy and effectual means of
, ameliorating the Finances , and restoring Public Credit . He then moved to the effect mentioned at the commencement of his speech . General Walpole seconded the Motion , and animadverted with much severity on the conduct of a description of Gentlemen whom he styled Alarmists ! Mr . Pitt vindicated the conduct of the description of persons alluded to , and f-epresented them as the most vigilant and loyal of his Majesty ' s subjects . He Strenuously opposed the appointment of a Committee by nomination , and justified
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
House Of Commons.
on the war ? Did it require mora gunpowder to kill an atheist than a devout believer ? As to the Chancellor of the Exchequer , Ins arguments were most extraordinary indeed : he had said , that paying the dividends in notes was no grievance , as it had been done before . But would any gentleman say that notes werJTnow what they were before , when exchangeable at will into specie ; or that the case was noiv the same as when the public creditor had his option of paper or gold ? An Honourable Member , continued Mr . Sheridan , proposes to cut ejFall superfluous expences . But if , upon enquiry , the authors of the present calamity be found
guilty , he ( Mr . S . ) would not then say tebat ought la be cut of j . Though not of a sanguinary disposition , he thought in such a case an example ought to be made . As he therefore deemed it necessary that an enquiry should be set on foot , he should move an amendment to be added to the Motion to the following effect : f That it be ari instruction to the said Committee to enquire into the causes which had produced the Order of Council on the 27 th instant , andgive their opinion on the same ; and consider also of the necessity of enquiring into the measures that ht to be taken inconsequence of the said Order . '
oug After some further debate of little importance , in which Messrs . Thornton , Dundas , Pitt , Grey , and several other Members took a part , the House divided on Mr . Sheridan ' s amendment : Noes 224—Ayes 88—Majority 156 . Wednesday , March 1 . Mr . W . Bird stated the great inconvenience that arose to manufaGturers not having the means of paying their workman on a Saturday , iu consequence of the scarcity of specie . He therefore moved , that notes of a small value be allowed to be given in payment by manufacturers aud merchants
, throughout the kingdom . Mr . Sheridan said , if apoor man earned 14 s . per week , where , heasked , could he procure change to give his employer out of a guinea note ? Mr . Pitt moved the order of the day for the second reading of the Bill to remove the restrictions which prevented the Bank of England from issuing notes under five pounds , and to establish the validity of those notes issued under that sum , subject to no penalty .
Mr . Grey observed that these notes , he understood , would be made payable to bearer ; he conceived that the Bill and the note were therefore at variance . The Bill prohibited the Bank from issuing specie , while its notes were made payable to bearer . Mr . Pitt said , that the smaller notes were expressed in the same terms as tbe others , and the suspension of payment attached to them in the same manner as to all others issued by the Bank . Mr . Fox remarked , that , in addition to the first breach of faith , there were
added every other circumstance that could weaken the credit of the country . The Order of the Council required that the Bank should issue no money ; while , in the interim , Parliament was about to give authority to the Bank to issue notes of a particulardescription , payable to bearer on demand . The House then went into a Committee on the Bill , and the blanks being filled up , the report was immediately brought up , read , agreed to , and engrossed . Mr . Fox , in conformity to notice , rose to make a Motion , for a Committee to inquire into the causes which produced the Order of Councildated the 26 th of
, February last , prohibiting the issue of specie in payment at the Bank . After a deal of preliminary matter , he adverted to the Committee , which had just been balloted for , in pursuance of the Resolution of the House yesterday . He was sorry to find that the object of the Committee was directed more to provide a remedy for the existing evil , than to the causes which produced that evil . The measures which were likely to engage the public attention for three weeks to come , would probably decide the fate of the British Empire . Gentlemen ought , thereforeto lose no time in adopting the most speedy and effectual means of
, ameliorating the Finances , and restoring Public Credit . He then moved to the effect mentioned at the commencement of his speech . General Walpole seconded the Motion , and animadverted with much severity on the conduct of a description of Gentlemen whom he styled Alarmists ! Mr . Pitt vindicated the conduct of the description of persons alluded to , and f-epresented them as the most vigilant and loyal of his Majesty ' s subjects . He Strenuously opposed the appointment of a Committee by nomination , and justified