Mr. Alexanderbrought up the report of the committee of supply,,and moved a resolution, that a supply be granted to his majesty for the service of the ensuing year;" which was agreed to. Mr. Huskisson then moved, "that the house should, on Monday, resolve itself into a committee, to consider further of the supply to be granted to his majesty."
§ Mr. Greysaid, he should leave it to the consideration of the hon. gent. whether it would be right to proceed so immediately to vote the supplies, under the present circumstances of affairs. At the same time that he threw out this suggestion, it was his wish, that the public business should be forwarded with all the expedition that was possible, and he should be sorry to cause any unnecessary delay, at a time when decision and promptitude were so necessary. He thought, however, that it. would not be proper that the house should go into a committee for raising the supplies of the year, at least, until it was known who were to have the management of the supplies when granted, and who were to be responsible for the direction and application of them.
Lord Castlereaghsaid, that whatever reasons might at present appear to the mind of the hon. gent. to be of sufficient weight, as to induce him to oppose the progress of the raising of the supplies, yet he trusted, that when Monday should arrive, the hon. gent. would not then object to the house resolving itself into a committee of supply, as it was probable that, before that day, such arrangements would be made as would remove the, difficulties under which he now laboured, and the objections he had stated. It was a matter for the discretion of the house to consider, whether they could properly grant the supplies in the absence of the chancellor of the exchequer. His majesty had determined to vest that office, for the present (agreeably to former precedents), in the hands of the lord chief justice of the king's bench, whose appointment would be immediately made out. At the same time, his majesty was taking steps for forming a new administration. Under these circumstances, if the house were informed that the lord chief justice was chancellor of the exchequer, in the interim, and until a new administration was formed, they would see that it was not possible to have his attendance in that house. He, therefore, hoped the house would consider themselves war- 33 ranted, under these circumstances, in proceeding to the question of the supplies in the absence of the chancellor of the exchequer. It would be a material injury to the public service to delay the supplies in the preliminary stages; but if in the subsequent stages, gentlemen should then consider it their duty to oppose the grants, they would have abundant opportunities of expressing their opinions when the matter should come more regularly for their discussion: he hoped, therefore, that gentlemen would not oppose the supplies in the early stages, but reserve any objections that they might have to offer, until they should have made such progress, as to have arrived to that stage which was the most usual and proper time to choose for the discussion.
§ Mr. Foxsaid, the objection made by his hon. friend had not at all been answered by what fell from the noble lord. What the noble lord had said, about the competency of the house to proceed to the vote of supplies, in the absence of the chancellor of the exchequer, was not at all applicable to the objection which had been made. His hon. friend had not objected, on account of the absence of a chancellor of the exchequer; because such absence might proceed from a variety of causes to which no objection could be made. The present objection was not to granting the supplies in the absence of a chancellor of the exchequer from that house, but it was to the granting the supplies when there was no chancellor of the exchequer, or no first lord Of the treasury. Under such circumstances, the house was called upon to vote supplies, while they were in the most complete ignorance who were to have the management of those supplies, or who were to be responsible for the manner in which they were to be applied. He therefore now wished, that it should be understood, that his objection to the vote, would not be on account of the absence of the chancellor of the exchequer from that house, nor that the office vested for a time in the hands of the lord chief justice, but his objection was, that he thought before supplies were granted, there should be some person appointed, who should be subject to all the responsibility of the management of them, and who should be liable to be called to that account for their application, which the house had a constitutional right to expect and demand.