§ On the Chancellor of the Exchequer moving that the House resolve itself tomorrow into a Committee of Supply,
Mr. Humerose, he said, for the purpose of impressing on Ministers the necessity —the important necessity—of their communicating, previous to their going into a Committee of Supply, the line of conduct, that is, of general policy, which they meant to pursue. Their not having done so was the cause of great public alarm, and by that means of great loss of property to individuals. It was feared, from the tone of the King's Speech with respect to Belgium, and of the explanation which Ministers had offered of that Speech, that they meant to plunge this country into a war, the consequence of which must be most ruinous. He was satisfied that they had no such intention; but still he felt, in common with many intelligent persons in that House and elsewhere, that it was impossible for any man to say where our "conference, for the tranquillity of Belgium," would end. Indeed, so great was the alarm consequent upon our intended negotiations, that he understood the funds had that day fallen from two to three per cent lower than they had been since the first announcement of the late French Revolution. It was, therefore, highly incumbent on Ministers to satisfy the public mind as to their intentions.
§ Motion agreed to.