§ Lord Archibald Hamilton,pursuant to his notice on a former day, rose, for the purpose of submitting to the house certain motions on the subject of the financial situation of Ireland. As he understood from a communication with the right hon. gent, opposite (Mr. Foster), that no objection would be made to the production of the papers for which he proposed to move, it would not be necessary for him to trespass long on the attention of the house. He should, therefore, barely state to the house the nature of the motions which it was his intention to propose; first, with respect to the amount of all sums that had been drawn from this country, by way of loans, for the service of Ireland; and next for an account of all orders from the lords of the treasury in Ireland on that subject. But, as in all probability, he should feel himself hereafter bound to call the attention of the house to that subject, he trusted he should meet with their indulgence in stating briefly his own view of it. The house would recollect, that, in consideration of the extraordinary state of the exchange with Ireland, a committee had been appointed during last session, to inquire into and report upon the causes that had produced it. The committee had occupied much time in the consideration of the subject, and the only result that had followed was the measure of drawing on England for the amount of the sums borrowed here at par. This he was so far from considering as a step towards the improvement of the state of exchange, or a removal of the grievance complained of, that be considered it only 260 to operate as a bounty to the merchants in whose favour the bills were drawn. He should therefore feel it his duty on some future day, to call the attention of the house to the subject, at present confining himself to moving, 1st, "That there be laid before this house, an account of all sums borrowed in England for the service of Ireland, together with the interest thereon, and the charges of management, distinguishing the sums raised in each year; 2d, An account of the notes of the bank of Ireland in circulation in 1804, distinguishing those in each quarter, and the notes under the value of 5l.; 3d, An account how the loan raised in G. Brit, for Ireland has been transmitted since Aug. last, distinguishing the dates, the rates of exchange, &c. 4th, A statement of the prices, and fluctuation of the prices of stocks in Ireland, from the 1st of Jan. 1798, to the 1st of Jan. 1805, distinguishing also the dividends payable on the 1st of Jan. 1805." On the question being put on the first motion,
Mr. Fosterobserved, that the noble lord had done him the honour to communicate to him the substance of the motions which he had just read to the house, to which he could not have any possible objection. But as the noble lord, from the observations he had made, seemed to suppose the lords of the treasury of Ireland to have been actuated by far different motives from those which they felt, he hoped for the permission of the house, to state the motives upon which they had acted. A sum of twelve hundred thousand pounds, or of one million and a half, had remained in England for the service of Ireland, which it was necessary to have transmitted to Ireland. The lords of the treasury applied in the first instance to the bank of Ireland, for this purpose, considering them, as the most proper body to bring the money over. The bank however, refused to interfere, from an apprehension, that as many of the directors were engaged in the business of exchange, any act which would have the effect of constituting them arbitrators of exchange, might draw down upon their court of directors, odium and reprobation. Under such circumstances, the lords of the treasury found themselves under a necessity of resorting to the means of drawing the money, and they adopted the expedient of bringing it over in bank of England notes, or bank post bills. They fixed the amount of the money to be drawn for, and gave ten days or a fortnight's no- 261 tice of the time of drawing for it, in order that all the merchants who might have occasion for the accommodation, should have sufficient previous intimation of it. They fixed the rate of exchange also, in order that such as should be disposed to offer, might be made acquainted with the terms. The sum first required was 200,000l. and the exchange was 11½, the rate of the exchange at the moment; but only 170,000l. were bought. The lords of the treasury, therefore, concluded that they had fixed the exchange at too high a rate, and proposed the next sum, which was also 200,000l. at 10 per cent. exchange; but no more of this sum was taken than in the first instance, namely, 170,000l. They therefore, considered that to secure purchasers for the whole sums wanted, the exchange should be still further lowered, and in consequence they reduced it to par. Their motive in so doing, the house would observe, was not to give any bounty to any particular class of merchants, but to carry into effect the provisions of the legislature. Having said thus much in justification of the Irish treasury, he should add, that he had no sort of objection to any of the noble lord's motions.—The motions were then severally put and agreed to.