Police office, the most horrible to be con- the petitioner begs to say, that his received, till about eight in the evening, maining property is in the East India when he was taken out and handcuffed to Company's Funds at Madras, which is a a person of supposed despicable character, circumstance that subjects him to great and in that state was conveyed to Clerk- inconvenience in being so long detained enwell Prison; and that, upon the 25th, in this country, and praying, that the the petitioner was brought down hand- House will take his case into their immecuffed, and underwent a similar exami-diate consideration, and afford him such nation as on the preceding day before relief as they may judge proper." Mr. Herriot, and remanded back to jail, Ordered to lie upon the table. handcuffed in the same manner as he was brought up, to remain till the 31st; and that the petitioner begs to state, that, during the time of his confinement in Clerkenwell Prison, he was locked up with every description of people, and obliged to submit to the indignity of taking half a bed with a man in irons, much injurious to his health, and most repugnant to his feelings; and that the petitioner was again ordered down on the 31st of the same month, before Mr. Herriot, when, upon examination of the surgeon of the receiving ship, he was admitted to bail, in consequence of the man belonging to the press-galley, who had been wounded in the scuffle, being considered out of danger, and for which the petitioner had been committed to Clerkenwell Prison; and that the petitioner, anxious to be brought to trial at the then impending assizes for the county of Kent, desired his attorney, Mr. Armam, to remonstrate against any delay in his trial, as the assizes were so near at hand, and the consequences of delay so ruinous to the petitioner; and that the solicitor for the Admiralty, Mr. Bicknell, would not acquiesce to his wishes, although the petitioner was willing to have remained in prison in order to expedite his trial; and that the petitioner begs leave to call the attention of the House to his extreme hard case, in being denied taking his trial at a time when he could have received the benefit of his witnesses, who are now absent from this country on their voyage to New South Wales, and who would have given every satisfactory evidence on his behalf, if his trial had been permitted to have come on at the last assizes; and that the petitioner humbly represents, that he has been subject to a very heavy expence in furnishing himself with the necessary articles for the intended service, and which, with incidental charges, amounts to upwards of 1,100l. added to which, he has a wife and two children, one of whom is completely dumb, and for whose education he is at a great expence; and that PETITION OF THE RELATIVES OF PERSONS CONFINED IN ILCHESTER GAOL FOR RIOTS AT BATH] Sir F. Burdett rose to present a Petition from the friends and relatives of certain persons now confined in Ilchester gaol. The parties were resident at Bath, and the individuals in confinement had been committed in consequence of assembling riotously before the town hall, during the last election in that city, and demanding in a tumultuous manner that the doors of the hall should be opened. This was refused, and some windows were broken. The next day these persons were seized, and had been treated with a severity which nothing could justify. The particulars of that severity were set forth in the Petition which he held in his hand. The offence was certainly bailable, and bail to any amount had been offered, but was refused. They were then sent to Ilchester gaol, and being all of them people who maintained their families by their own labour, the greatest distress had ensued to them. One was a journeyman printer, another a journeyman carpenter, and another was a poor woman who earned her subsistence by carrying goods home from the markets. They were, of course, unable to obtain justice by any legal process. cess. The petitioners set forth that they were confined in solitary cells and heavily ironed. All access to them by their friends or relations who might be disposed to alleviate the hardships of their lot, was denied. During this severe weather they had nothing to sleep on but a little straw in a stone dungeon, and covered with a scanty rug; and though some humane persons in the town had provided them with great coats, yet they were stripped of these every night before they were locked up in their cells. The ordinary hour of locking them up was about four o'clock. Their food was nothing but bread and water; and to convince the House that he was not dwelling upon feigned or imaginary distresses, he would shew them one of the loaves which had been sent up to him from Ilchester, and | which was the whole allowance for one man for a day. [Here the hon. baronet drew forth a little loaf from his pocket, and after holding it up for the inspection of the House, he dashed it indignantly on the floor, and it rolled towards the Treasury benches, where it was picked up by one of the members.] Mr. Burke, continued the hon. baronet, had once thrown down a dagger on the floor of that House, to produce effect, but he had produced something that was real, and not from the mere impulse of momentary feeling. He would ask, whether such a pittance was enough to sustain life? Before he concluded, also, he wished to advert to the present state of the gaols throughout England. He feared there was a degree of oppression exercised in them by the infe rior officers of what was called justice, countenanced in some instances by the magistrates themselves (though he was far from intending to cast any imputation upon that body in general,) which were shocking in a civilized country. With regard to the Petition he held in his hand, he knew not exactly what mode of redress to suggest to the House, but he thought some relief ought surely to be afforded. The petitioners were too poor to remove their complaints to either of the courts at Westminster by writs of Habeas Corpus. He concluded by moving, That the Petition do lie on the table. Mr. Harvey thought it would be a dangerous precedent to grant the prayer of the Petition, which went either to liberation from prison, or to being admitted to bail. The prisoners had been committed for felony, the Riot Act having been duly read, and they had continued their tumultuous conduct notwithstanding. It was the province of a jury, therefore, to decide upon their guilt or innocence; and they would take their trial at the next assizes. He considered the allegations in the Petition as false. Lord Palmerston suggested whether it would not be better to present the Petition when there was a fuller attendance of members. Sir F. Burdett said, he had waited till the House was nearly upon the point of adjourning, in hopes that more members would be present. The Petition was then read. It purported to be the Petition of several friends and relatives of John Hipwood, William Erry, William Taylor, Charles Pitt, Philip Millikin, and Elizabeth Lovett, now under confinement in the gaol of Ilchester, upon a charge of a riot committed at the late election for Bath; and set forth, "6 That, on the 2nd day of the late election for the said city, held by virtue of the proclamation thereupon issued by Joseph Phillott esq. the returning officer thereof, a great number of the freemen and other inhabitants of Bath were peaceably assembled in the market place in front of the town hall of the said city, in order to continue the business of such election, in exercise of their lawful rights and privileges; and that the doors of such hall were then closed against the citizens, and guarded by an extraordinary number of constables, who prevented all access thereto, in despite of the repeated remonstrances made by John Allen, esq. one of the candidates, who insisted on the right of public admission thereto for the purpose of continuing the said election; and, in consequence of their persevering in such refusal, the suffrages of the freemen then present were about to be taken in the open street at a temporary hustings, when an immediate stop was put thereto (notwithstanding there was not the least appearance of riot or tumult) by three of the corporation of the said city, who violently rushed out of the said hall, attended by a number of constables, and not only seized the person of the said John Allen, esq. dragging him from the place on which he was then standing (and in the very act of exhorting the people to keep the peace) preventing thereby the unpoiled freemen from tendering their votes, and also with their staves and bludgeons striking and compelling the people to disperse ; that, in consequence of such violent procedures on the part of the corporation and their officers, many of the persons so struck, and others who felt indignant thereat, attacked the officers in their turn by throwing at them dirt, oyster shells, &c. by which several windows of the town hall were demolished, but no personal damage whatever was sustained by the constables, although by their promiscuously striking at the people with their long staves more than 100 persons were severely wounded and bruised by them; and that, on pretext of such riot, the several persons above named (together with others who have since been admitted to bail) were seized by the officers, and dragged to the Bridewell of the said city, where they were kept for four days in woman, who obtains her livelihood by carrying baskets from the market; and the petitioners have not only been informed, but some of them have actually seen, that, independent of the scantiness of their gaol allowance, the bodily sufferings of the prisoners above named are very considerable, inasmuch as they are fettered like felons of the worst description, precluded the sight and conversation of their friends, except at three stated times of the day, one hour only at each time, and then through two iron gratings, at the distance of six feet from each other; and, notwithstanding they have been supplied by the humanity of several gentlemen with a great coat each, to defend them against the inclemency of the season, their clothes, which might add to their warmth in the nights of this severe winter, are constantly taken from them on their retiring to their straw bed (about four of the clock in the afternoon) where they have nothing but a rug allowed them for a covering; and that the petitioners have been informed that all ends of public justice would have been answered, and the duration of the confinement of the said prisoners shortened at least one half, if the magistrates had chosen to commit them to the next quarter sessions of the peace, instead of the assizes, for the county, and to draw down a heavier judgment (if possible) upon the unfortunate relatives of the petitioners, the said corporation have already monopolized all the leading counsel on that circuit; and that the poverty of the prisoners has prevented their applying to any of his Majesty's courts of Westminster for writs of Habeas Corpus for the purpose of being admitted by a judge to bail, and by whom they would most probably have been relieved; and that, although they, as well as the petitioners, have been advised, that they will ultimately have legal redress by actions at law against the persons by whom they have been under these circumstances imprisoned, yet in the mean time, in consideration of the personal sufferings of the said prisoners, and of the great affliction of mind felt by the petitioners as their relatives and friends, and also in consequence of the severe privations and hardships sustained by their respective families by reason of their confinement; the petitioners pray, that under the whole of these circumstances, the House will, in its humanity and justice, be pleased to interpose herein for the relief of the above named prisoners, in 1 cells heavily ironed, and on the allowance of a twopenny loaf and water each per day, until they were fully committed on a charge of having unlawfully and riotously assembled in the market place of the said city, and having there feloniously remained with such persons so assembled one hour after proclamation had been made (as it is said) by one of the magistrates for their dispersion, pursuant to the act of the 1st of George 1, although the riot and tumult was notoriously begun by the said three members of the corporation and the constables in manner above stated; and, although bail for the appearance of the said prisoners was tendered to the said Joseph Phillott by their friends, and also. by vice admiral Graves and the said John Allen, esq. to the extent of 5,000l. yet the said Joseph Phillott, in the most harsh and peremptory manner, refused to accept of any bail whatever, and committed the said prisoners to the county gaol of Ilchester, where they now remain, and must continue confined upon the same miserable allowance of bread and water as in the Bath prison (which is totally inadequate to the sustenance of human existence) until the next assizes (being six months from the time of their commitment) unless the House shall be pleased to interfere on their behalf, by ordering them to be released or admitted to bail; and that, in consequence of the imprisonment of the said John Hipwood, the business of his father as a boat builder, and of which he had the sole management, is at a stand, and his parents have sustained most serious pecuniary injury, as well as much mental affliction, thereby; and that the said W. Erry is by profession a journeyman printer, and by his labour supported his aged mother and infant brother and sister, who, in consequence of his confinement, are thrown on the parish for relief; and that the said W. Taylor, another of the said prisoners, is by trade a carpenter, who by his industry has materially contributed to the support of his mother and an infant sister; and that the said Charles Pitt is by business a shoe-maker, and by his labour as a journeyman maintains himself and his mother, who is a widow; and that the said Philip Millikin is by rade a journeyman printer, and has ever borne an irreproachable character for industry and integrity; and that the said Elizabeth Lovett the other of the said prisoners (who was apprehended in her bed on the night after the above tumult) is merely a poor industrious now such mode as to them shall seem meet." | sion to lord Barham, he trusted the hon. Ordered to lie upon the table. baronet did not mean by that allusion to insinuate any charge against that noble lord, who had, in the transaction referred to, merely followed the established official practice, and who was incapable of any dishonourable action. ARMY ESTIMATES.] The following is an Abstract of the sums voted for the Army Services for the year 1813. ABSTRACT of the ESTIMATES of ARMY Sir F. Burdett said, that he had it once SERVICES, for the year 1813: pre- in contemplation to bring forward a charge sented to the House of Commons on the 11th and 21st December 1812. against lord Barham, and he still thought that no practice could justify the sale of these offices-but still less was he justifi771,012 able, after such sale, meanly to curtail the emolument of the purchasers. Ireland.. Numbers. Land Forces (including various Contingencies).........227,442 Regiments in the East Indies......... 28,009 Troops and Companies for recruiting ditto... 533 Embodied Militia........ 93,210 Staff and Garrisons.... Full Pay to Supernumerary Officers...... Public Departments............... Kilmainham Hospitals....... Out-Pensioners of Do....................... Widows Pensions .... Voluntee Corps....... Foreign Corps... 32,163 Allowances to Retired Chaplains, &C....... Medicines and Hospital Expences........ Compassionate List..... Barrack Department (Ireland) Commissariat Department (Ireland) Superannuated Allowances, &c. Total... 381,357 Deduct the Regiments in the East Indies... 28,009 Remains to be pro vided for 1813 253,318 Great Britain. £. s. d. 7,196,188 17 10 876,649 15 0 30,236 10 10 1,983,961 8 0 513,792 13 3 32,088 8 8 308,201 9 5 206,250 - 39,264 2 1 432,695 99 50,011 16 6 209,277 636,623-1,174,019 4 4 38,97 10 1 27,096 11 11 19,394 1 6 105,000 1,099,529 13 5 LOCAL TOKENS.] Mr. Hudson Gurney 940 19 8 asked, whether it was the intention of mi11,9607nisters to press the provisions of the Local 25,443 4 2 Token Act, and thereby to inconvenience the country in the present scarcity of silver, and the comparatively limited distribution of Bank Tokens? 30,055 9 10 18,332 11 1 91,239 6 266,1231 31,623 13 8,103 2 3 The Chancellor of the Exchequer repeated the statement which he said he had submitted to the House in the course of the discussions upon the Gold Coin Bill, namely, that although he fully approved of the principle of the Local Token Act, 13,921,494 7 9 3,217,067 11 it was intended to postpone the operation of that principle for some months, he thought until about Midsummer, in order 13,044,844 12 9 3,217,067 11 6 that measures might be taken in the interim to ensure a more liberal supply of Bank Tokens. 11,670 18 9 876,649 15 0 Adjourned to the 2d of February, 1813. 1,923 13 11 22,081 11 3 460,587 6 4 295,605 5 4 4,334 18 5 HOUSE OF COMMONS. NAVY OFFICE CLERKS.] Sir F. Burdett put a question to the noble lord opposite, whether the clerks in the Navy Office (who, although they had purchased their situations from lord Barham, had had their emoluments most unduly curtailed) and to whose case he took occasion last session to call the attention of the House, had yet received any relief, or whether it was intended to afford the redress required? He understood that a representation upon this subject had been made from the Navy Office to the Board of Admiralty, and he wished to know what was meant to be done in consequence of that representation? Lord Castlereagh expressed his regret that he had it not in his power to answer the hon. baronet's question, of which had he been aware, he would have inquired after the information desired. He had, however, no doubt that complete justice would be done by the Admiralty. With respect to the hon, baronet's allu HOUSE OF COMMONS. -――― PETITIONS RESPECTING THE EAST INDIA COMPANY'S CHARTER FROM THE PROVOST &c. OF EDINBURGH THE ROYAL BOROUGHS of SCOTLAND THE HAMMERMEN OF EDINBURGH AND THE MAYOR, &c. OF BRISTOL.] A Petition of the lord provost, magistrates, and council, of the city of Edinburgh, was presented and read; setting forth, 66 That, looking forward to the period at which the charter of the company of merchants trading to the East Indies and to China is to terminate, the petitioners beg leave most respectfully to lay before the House their sentiments on the continuance of this monopoly, fully satisfied that the subject will meet with that attention from the enlightened senate of the British empire which its importance requires; and that the petitioners deem it superfluous to argue upon the general in that the wisdom of this House will at at length admit to the merchants of this kingdom an unrestricted and unlimited intercourse with the countries to the eastward of the Cape of Good Hope; and praying the House to refuse their assent to any further extension of the present exclusive privileges of the East India Comin-pany, and to restore to the subjects of this realm their legitimate right to trade directly from any port within the United Kingdom, free and uncontrouled, with the British possessions in Asia, and with the other countries situated to the east of the Cape of Good Hope, particularly with the empire of China.' expediency of commercial monopolies, or to state to the House their tendency to cripple the exertions and fetter the enterprize of individuals; and that, whatever reasons may have originally induced the legislature to grant exclusive privileges to a joint stock company engaged in trading to the East Indies, it is obvious that, by the intelligence, enterprise and capital of dividual British merchants, the commerce of the country has been extended to every quarter of the globe not comprehended within the limits of this monopoly; apprehending, therefore, that those reasons do not now exist, and that a sufficient degree of enterprise and capital is to be found throughout the empire for carrying on a free and unfettered trade to the East Indies, and to China, the petitioners humbly hope that the House will not consent to the renewal of a charter, which, by conferring on the subjects of neutral states privileges not enjoyed by British subjects, appears to the petitioners to be contrary to sound policy, and equally injurious to the mercantile interest as inimical to the free spirit of our happy constitution; and praying the House not to continue the exclusive privileges heretofore enjoyed by the East India Company, but to render it lawful for any of his Majesty's subjects, after the 1st of March 1814, to carry on, from any of the ports of the United King dom, a free trade with the whole countries situate to the East of the Cape of Good Hope." A Petition of the royal boroughs of Scotland, assembled at their annual convention, was also presented and read; setting forth, "That the said convention, representing by delegation under existing statutes, the whole trading interest of Scotland, hold it as their incumbent duty at the present critical juncture, to approach the House at a period when the charter of the East India Company has nearly expired, and when interested and powerful individuals have combined to maintain a mono. poly so truly inconsistent with commercial liberty; and that as no statè necessity appears to exist for the continuance of these exclusive rights so justly complained of, as assertion without argument bas alone been adduced in its defence, and as our national policy must be at all times favourable to a free and unfettered trade through the whole empire and its dependencies, the petitioners rely, with humble confidence, A Petition of the deacon, treasurer, and remanent members of the incorporation of Hammermen of the city of Edinburgh, was also presented; setting forth, 66 That as the charter of the East India Company will expire on the 1st of March 1814, the petitioners beg leave most respectfully to solicit, that no renewal of the exclusive privileges at present enjoyed by that company be granted to them, and that all monopolies appear to the petitioners to be inexpedient; and in a mercantile country, where the spirit and enterprise of individuals has carried their commercial transactions to every quarter of the globe to which the law permits them to trade, there appears a hardship in denying to the subjects of these kingdoms the free exercise of trade to the countries situate to the East of the Cape of Good Hope, more particularly when the subjects of foreign states, in amity with his Majesty, are allowed this privilege; and that at a time when so many petitions have been presented to the House, and when the almost unanimous voice of the country seems directed to the same object, the petitioners deem it superfluous to occupy the time of the House by entering into any detail, or to add more than their earnest prayer, that no renewal of this charter may be granted to the East India Company, but that from and after the 1st of March 1814, it may be declared lawful tc all the subjects of his Majesty, to exercise a free trade from any of the ports in the United Kingdom to the whole countries situate to the East of the Cape of Good Hope, or if in the wisdom of the House it shall be deemed expedient to throw open this trade to a limited number of ports only, that Leith, the port of Edinburgh, may be one of that number.", |
0 Anmeldelser Anmeldelsene blir ikke bekreftet, men Google ser etter falskt innhold og fjerner slikt innhold som avdekkes Skriv anmeldelse |