Sitting of 29 November 1803

MINUTES.—
Mr. Hurstbrought up the report of the Committee on the expiring
46
laws. It was ordered to lie on the table, and to be printed.—Sir Robert Buxton moved that, there be laid before the house an account of the quantity of strong beer, table beer, and small bee, brewed in this country and liable to duty, from the 5th Jan. 1802, to the 5th Jan 1803.—Mr. Vansittart suggested the propriety of wording the motion in such a way as to enable the officers to whom the order was to be directed, to comply with the desire of the house, and with the wishes of the hon. baronet, which it would be impossible for them to do if the motion remained as it at present stood, as they could have cognizance of such beer only as actually paid the duty.—The motion, amended according to this suggestion, was put and agreed to.—The bill for preventing the desertion of petty officers and seamen was read a second time, and ordered to a committee oft he whole houle on Thursday next—Mr. Steele appeared at the bar, and informed the house that his Majesty had been waited upon with the address voted yesterday, for the production of certain estimates to the house, and that his Majesty had been graciously pleased to order the same.—Mr. Tierney presented a petition from the debtors confined in the county gaol of Surrey.—It was ordered to lie on the table.—Mr. Adams brought up the account of the estimates of the ordinary and extraordinary expenses of the navy for year 1804. Ordered that these estimates be taken into consideration on Friday next.—The Chancellor of the Exchequer gave notice, that he would to-morrow move for leave to bring in a bill to continue further the restriction of specie from the Bank.—Mr. Corry gave notice of a similar motion with respect to the Bank of Ireland.

PRIVATE PETITIONS.—
The Chancellor of the Exchequersaid, he thought it necessary to fix upon some specific day, beyond winch private petitious would not be received by the house, in order to prevent the inconvenience which frequently took place in consequence of the too long extension of the lime generally allowed for that purpose. He wished, however, to put off such limitation to such a day as should leave no room for complaints or excuse to any person desiring to petition, and he at the same time was anxious that it should be generally understood that no further time would be allowed. This arrangement he was urged to propose from a recollection of the trouble too often occasioned by the great overflow of private business at that period of the sessions, when a quantity of important public affairs was to be at-

47
tended to. The right hon. gent. concluded with moving, that the 24th of February next should be the last day fixed upon for the acceptance of private petitions. This motion was agreed to.

WATERFORD ELECTION COMMITTEE.—
Mr. Deverell,a member of the Waterford Election Committee, rose to move that James Pedley, Esq. one of the members of the said committee, be excused his attendance on that committee, as his presence was necessary elsewhere, on accout of the death of a near relation, and private business of a very urgent nature.
The Speakerinformed the hon. member that the usual mode of proceeding on such occasions, was, that the member who moved the leave of absence should come forward to the table, and state in writing the grounds upon which he rested his motion. That he should verify these grounds upon oath, and that then the house would decide on the propriety of acceding to the motion.—The hon. member having accordingly approached the table, and deposed upon oath the grounds of his motion,
The Speakeracquainted the house, that the grounds of the motion were, that James Pedley, Fsq. was called to Jamaica by very urgent private affairs. That he had taken his passage on board a vessel that was to sail from Portsmouth for that island, and that he had received a letter intimating to him that the ship was ready to sail without delay.
Mr. Deverell,after stating these grounds, moved, that James Pedley, Esq. have leave of absence from further attendance on the Waterford Committee.—On the question being put.
The Attorney Generalrose, and observed how painful a task it must be to any man to oppose a motion supported on such grounds as those upon which the present motion was rested. But the house must feel how essential it was to pause before a precedent of such importance should be established. He certainly could not now pretend to make up his mind upon the question, and should feel it his duty to take advice upon the point, before he gave it his assent. The learnedgent. then proceeded to observe that the Waterford Committee was already reduced to twelve—that should the leave of absence now solicited, be granted, the number would be eleven, within two of the number absolutely necessary for prosecuting the business before the committee. Thus might a complete suspension of the most essential business of the House of Commons be brought entirely at a stand; be-
48
sides sickness, and other equally embarrassing difficulties, might preclude the attendance of the remaining members, which might induce a total suspension of the most important and essential proceedings. Under that impression, he felt it his duty to move that the debate on the motion be adjourned till to-morrow.—The question was put on this amendment and agreed to.

BARRACKS.—
Admiral Berkeley,seeing the Secretary at War in his place, rose to ask a question respecting the mode in which the house were to be informed of the expense of the barrack department. When he had inquired into this matter yesterday, an hon. gent. [Mr. Vansittart] had not been able to give him an answer which he could consider satisfactory. What he desired to be informed of was, whether the expense of the barrack establishment was mentioned in the general estimates to be laid before the house. The contracts for the building of barracks were enormous, particularly in the part of the country (Sussex) where he had lately resided. At a time when the general expenses of the country were so great, it was of importance to have the expense of contracts fully considered. With the view of bringing the matter under consideration, it was, however, previously necessary that the point to which he had referred should be explained.
The Secretary at War[Mr. Bragge] could not at present give a decided opinion in what manner the estimates for the barrack department would be brought forward. He could mention, however, generally, that it was not intended to include them in the estimates for the expense of the army. As to the amount of the contracts, he should only observe that they were formed on principles of as strict economy as government could obtain. It was not to be supposed that, in the present circumstances of the country such works could be executed at as cheap a rate as in other periods. Labour had necessarily increased in price, and the difficulty of procuring workmen to complete the works with sufficient celerity naturally enhanced the demands of those who contracted with government.