Commons Sitting of 27 January 1819

PRIVILIGE OF PARLIAMENT—ROBERT CHRISTIE BURTON, ESQ.
The Speakerrose and said:—I have to acquaint the House, that on Saturday, the 16th instant, I received a letter from a gentleman of the name of Robert Christie Burton, describing himself to be member of parliament, for the borough of Beverley, which

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letter, with the permission of the House, I will now read:—"Ludgate Hill, No 39, January 14th 1819. Sir; I have the honour to inform you that, on the 17th day of June 1818, I was elected member of parliament to represent the borough of Beverly, in the east riding of the county of York; but, being in the custody of the warden of his majesty's prison of the court of Common pleas, at the suit of creditors for civil debts, the deputy warden, Mr. Nixon, informs me, that he cannot consent to release me until he shall be authorized to that effect by a warrant from the right hon. the Speaker of the House of Commons; I am therefore to request that you will be pleased to inform me what are the requisite steps to be adopted upon the occasion. I have the honour to be, &c. Robert Christie Burton, M. P." I wrote to Mr. Christie, in answer, that I would take the first opportunity of laying his letter before the House. I afterwards received a second letter as follows:—"Ludgate Hill, No. 39, Jan. 20th 1819. Sir, I am to request that you will be pleased not to consider my letter of the 14th instant as an official communication, or in a parliamentary point of view, as circumstances will occur enabling me to take my seat in the House on Monday next. I have the honour, &c. Robert Christie Burton, M. P." In consequence of this request, I did not lay the preceding letter before the House. Late last night I received a third letter, as follows:—"Ludgate Hill, No. 39, Jan. 26th, 1819. Sir; Having perused the various acts of parliament, and consulted the best authorities, relative to my situation as a member of the House of Commons, I beg leave to refer you to my letter of the 14th instant upon the subject, and to request that you will be pleased to take the earliest opportunity of submitting my case to the House, in order that I may be enabled to avail myself of those privileges to which I am entitled as a representative in parliament. I have the honour to be, &c. Robert Christie Burton, M. P." The House will perhaps pardon me for calling their attention to a similar occurrence which took place in 1807, when an hon. member stated that he was detained in similar confinement. An order was then made to refer the complaint to the committee of privileges, which sat next day, and whose only object was, to establish
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the identity of the individual. That having been proved, the committee made their report, and he was ordered to be discharged out of custody. Some hon. member will perhaps move a similar proceeding in the present instance.
Mr. Bathurstaccordingly moved, "That it be referred to the committee of privileges to examine the subject matter of the said letters, and report the same, with their opinion thereupon, to the House." The motion was agreed to, and the committee was instructed to sit tomorrow.

WESTMINSTER HUSTINGS BILL.
Mr. Bennet Mr. Bennet moved, that leave be given to bring in a bill for reviving and further continuing for a limited time, an act made in the 51st of his majesty, intituled, "An Act to explain and amend the Laws touching the election of the knights of the shire to serve in Parliament for England, respecting the expenses of hustings and poll clerks, so far as regards the city of Westminster." Leave was given, and the bill was brought in, and read a first time.

SILVER CURRENCY.
Mr. Grenfellrose to put a question to the chancellor of the exchequer, upon a point of the utmost importance to the public. He had received information that day, of the correctness of which he had no Reason to doubt, that the price of standard silver had advanced to 5s. 7½d. per ounce, or three halfpence above the price fixed by the Mint regulations. In the year before last, when those hew regulations were made, that price was four or five per cent above the price of the general market. His reason, therefore, for now putting a question to the right hon. gentleman was because, whenever the price of silver should be such as to afford a profit upon either melting or exporting the coin, it would begin to disappear. Should the price therefore remain at its present amount, the disappearance of the new silver currency might be calculated on, as the new gold coin had already disappeared; unless government were prepared with some means of counteracting that effect. What he wished now to know was, whether any measure was under consideration for the purpose of checking the evil already begun.
The Chancellor of the Exchequerthought it must be evident to the House that to a question so important as that of

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the hon. gentleman it was impossible to return an answer without some time for consideration. He had heard of the rise in the price of silver mentioned by the hon. gentleman, although he had no knowledge of the fact; but he certainly had reason to believe that the present high price was not likely to continue.

BANK RESTRICTION.
Mr. Protheroe, seeing an honourable Bank director in his place, wished to learn from him, whether it was the desire of the Bank, that the committee about to be appointed to inspect their affairs, should be a secret committee? He asked this question, because he felt that that committee, in order to be useful, ought to carry with it the confidence of the country; and he had great doubts whether that confidence would be given to a committee whose investigations were secret, unless it could be shown, at the same time, that disclosure would be attended with public danger.
Mr. Manningsaid, that he had not the honour of a seat there as a Bank director, but as a duly elected member of parliament. He therefore called for the protection of the House against such sudden interrogatories. He would, while he sat there, discharge, to the best of his ability, his duty as a member; but although, from courtesy, he might answer a question, he hoped it would not be forgotten, that he appeared there as a member of parliament, and did not take his seat as a director.
The Chancellor of the Exchequerobserved, that if the hon. member for Bristol would refer to the report of the secret committee which sat in 1797, to inquire into the affairs of the Bank, he would perceive that there was nothing in such a proceeding to preclude the House from a general consideration of the subject. He wished to take that opportunity of stating his intention to move, on Tuesday next, for a committee of secrecy, to inquire into the state of the Bank, with reference to the expediency of the resumption of cash payments at the time fixed by act of parliament, and into such other matters as might be connected therewith. It was pot usual to move in the first place that the committee should be one of secrecy, but he thought it due in candour to intimate, that he intended to propose that this should be its character.
Mr. Tierneydeclared, that his difficulty in understanding what course the right hon. gentleman really had it in contemp-
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lation to pursue, was only increased by this statement of his intentions. The words in which he had just expressed the motion which he was to submit to the House, might mean the same thing in substance as those of his own, or they might mean something very different. His own motion might include the right hon. gentleman's question, and the right hon. gentleman might only think that the former was exceptionable as being too comprehensive. If he were desirous merely that some part of his (Mr. T.'s) proposition should be excluded, he begged that he would extend his candour so far as to say so, and it might happen that the same motion might embrace the objects of both, and the right hon. gentleman's be the better of the two. He wished likewise to know whether, if a committee of secrecy were assented to, it was to be chosen by ballot.
The Chancellor of the Exchequerreplied, that upon the best information which he had, as to the rules and practice of the House, committees of secrecy were always elected by ballot. With regard to the terms of his motion, the right hon. gentleman must recollect, that the one of which he had himself at first given notice was so vague in its expression, that he had found it necessary, subsequently, to correct it. If the right hon. gentleman meant nothing more than was included in the inquiry to which his (the chancellor of the exchequer's) motion would naturally lead, he could not perceive what objection he could have to adopt it.
Mr. Tierneyobserved, that in his construction of the right hon. gentleman's notice, he had learned nothing distinctly, except that the committee was to be secret, and to be chosen by ballot. Of this there was no doubt, and this was the limit of the information he had acquired of the nature of that inquiry which was to be proposed. The object of his own motion was to inquire openly, and generally, into the state of our currency, of the foreign exchanges, and the degree to which they were affected by the restriction of cash payments at the Bank. This inquiry he thought important, in order that the country should know what the system was upon which they were embarking, and proceed with its eyes open. If the right hon. gentleman thought him wrong in the manner of framing his motion, be wished him to say so; for he had

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no desire to squabble about words, or trouble the House unnecessarily with a long debate. But it certainly appeared to him at present that the right hon. gentleman differed from him merely from the love of opposition, and a persuasion, he supposed, that nothing could be right which proceeded from that side of the House. Let the right hon. gentleman, therefore, state explicitly whether his inquiry embraced the same object which fee (Mr. Tierney) had now explained to be what he had in view, and if it were so, he would cheerfully withdraw his notice, leaving the right hon. gentleman the glory of carrying his point, and resting quite satisfied with the secret gratification of having obtained what he wanted.
The Chancellor of the Exchequersaid, the collateral matters referred to by the terms of his motion would certainly include the state of the currency, and other questions; but the first point of inquiry would be, the state of the affairs of the Bank, a topic not even mentioned in the words of the right hon. gentleman's notice.
Mr. Tierneywished to know whether the right hon. gentleman would be satisfied with a secret committee to inquire into the state of the Bank simply. For his own part, he had no doubt of its solvency; but he hoped that a secret committee was not deemed necessary for investigating the general policy or necessity of continuing the restriction.
The Chancellor of the Exchequerwas of opinion, that it would be more expedient that the whole inquiry should be submitted to one committee similar in its formation to that which gave general satisfaction to the country in the year 1797.
Mr. Tierneyreplied, that he should think he deserted his duty to the country, if after the right hon. gentleman's declaration, he did not take the sense of the Mouse on the question of referring this most important inquiry to a committee chosen by ballot, and whose report every man well knew would be nothing more than an echo of the right hon. gentleman's own opinion.