Lords Sitting of 15 March 1830

MINUTES.
Petitions praying that the Trade with India might be opened were presented—by Lord KINNOUL, from the Corporation of Perth:—By the Earl of ROSSLYN, from the Chamber of Commerce of Kirkaldy, and from the Town and Council of Kirkaldy:—By Earl STANHOPE, from the Trinity-House of Kingston-upon-Hull:—By the Marquis of BUTE, from the Corporation of Greenock:—By the Marquis of LANSDOWN, from the Chamber of Commerce of Bristol:—And by the Earl of DUDLEY, from certain persons in Staffordshire and Worcestershire. Complaining of the Distress of the Country, and praying for Reduction of Taxation, were presented—by the Earl of HARDWICKE, from the occupiers and owners of land in the county of Cambridge, and from the hundred of Ely:—By Lord KINO, from a parish in Gloucestershire:—By Earl STANHOPE, from the Clergymen, Freeholders, and Inhabitants of Kingston-upon-Hull:—By Earl BEAUCHAMP, from the Grand Jury of Worcester:—And by the Marquis of LANSDOWN, from the Inhabitants of the county of Ross. Against the Payment of wages in Goods were presented—by the Duke of WELLINGTON, from a place in Gloucestershire:—And by the Earl of DUDLEY, from Wolverhampton, from Dudley, and from the neighbourhood of the same place:—Against the Punishment of Death in certain cases, by Lord DE DUNSTANVILLE, from a place in Cornwall:—By the Duke of WELLINGTON, from the town and neighbourhood of Southampton:—And by the Marquis of LANSDOWN from the Quakers of Ireland. Praying for an alteration of the Corn Laws:-By Lord-KING, from the inhabitants of Uley:—Against the Truck System by the Duke of WELLINGTON, from the inhabitants of Stroud. Praying for the removal of the Duty on Coals, by the Marquis of CLANRICARDE, from Galway:—And praying or the repeal of the Subletting Act, by the Marquis of LONDONDERRY, from the inhabitants of Belfast.
The Transferor Aids Bill, the Exchequer-Bills (12,000,000 l.) Bill, and the Jersey and Guernsey Poor Bill, went through Committees, and were Reported.

COAL TRADE.
The Marquis of Lon- donderry, in presenting a Petition from the Coal-whippers of London, praying their Lordships to remedy certain abuses in the Coal-trade, observed, that the Committee sitting up-stairs was likely to throw much light on the monstrous frauds committed in the port of London with respect to the article of Coals. He was happy also to say, that he believed the Corporation of the City of London would come forward and remedy these evils. He had observed, indeed, that a measure was in progress in another place, to substitute the practice of selling coals by weight, for selling them by measure, which would tend greatly to remove the abuses.

SHIPPING INTEREST.
Earl Stanhope, in presenting a Petition from the Shipowners of Kingston-upon-Hull, praying that a reduction of the expenses in every department of the Government might be effected, and that means might be taken to produce a more equal distribution of the burthens of the people, observed, that it was no answer to the complaints of the Ship-owners, to show that a large amount of tonnage was employed, for he could prove, that in that respect, the greatest possible fallacies existed; for though the amount of tonnage was considerable, the freights were very low. He wished to ask the noble Duke at the head of the Government, whether he had any objection to the appointment of a Select Committee to consider the state of the Shipping Interest?
The Duke of Wellingtonreplied, that he did not understand the noble Earl to have shewn any ground for appointing such a Committee. If the noble Earl made a motion upon the subject, he should be better able to give it a direct answer.
Earl Stanhopesaid, he was quite ready to make such a motion; but he begged to remind the noble Duke, that this was by no means the first petition which had been presented on the subject, so that it could hardly be new to the Government. The noble Duke called himself (as no doubt he was) a friend to the Shipping Interests; but he declined to take any means for in-creasing the freights of the Ship-owners. He would give notice of his motion on a future day.
The Duke of Wellingtonsaid, he had not declined to do any thing that would assist the Shipping Interest. All he had said was, that he could not adopt means to benefit them, by raising their freights,
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without making some other class suffer from the advantage conferred on them.

SPEAKERS OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS.
The Lord Chancellor, in giving notice, that he would, on Friday next, move the second reading of two Bills, one relating to the Property of Lunatics, and the other to Contempt of the Court of Chancery, informed their Lordships, that his Majesty had been graciously pleased to issue two commissions; one authorising Lord Tenterden to act as Speaker to their Lordships' House in the absence of the Lord Chancellor; and the other authorising Lord Wynford to act as Speaker in the absence of Lord Tenterden and the Lord Chancellor. The two Commissions were, on the Motion of the Lord Chancellor, read by the clerk.