§ General Tarletonalso presented a Petition from the Trustees of the Liverpool Docks, setting forth,
"That the port of Liverpool has, in the course of little more than a century, from its peculiar local advantages, and by the enterprising spirit of its inhabitants, raised itself from the situation of a humble fishing town, to the distinguished rank and importance of the second port in the kingdom; and that the Petitioners, whose province it is to provide and maintain the requisite accommodation for the shipping resorting to that port, have at various times, under the authority of the legislature, and as the increase of the trade demanded, erected extensive docks, and other conveniencies for the shipping interests of the town; and that, urged by the merchants at large, two years ago, when their trade was in great prosperity, the Petitioners sought for and obtained, during the last session of parliament, powers for the further improvement of the port; and that, in consideration not only of the existing want of accommodation in the docks for general purposes, but anticipating also the period when the rights of the merchants and traders of Liverpool, in common with all others his Majestys subjects, to a free trade with the East Indies, would be recognized, the Petitioners hare commenced various works, upon an extensive scale, calculated to meet the vast accession of trade which, as they humbly conceive, would be the result of such a system; and the Petitioners, therefore, anxious for the prosperity of the important trusts committed to them, and confiding in the justice of the House, most humbly in treat that they will adopt such measures as to their wisdom shall seem meet, for obtaining to the port of Liverpool, as well as the rest of the united kingdom, a participation of the trade with our Eastern possessions, hitherto solely enjoyed by the East India Company."
§ Ordered to lie upon the table.