Sitting of 31 January 1806

MINUTES.
Mr. W. Polepresented an account of the expenditure of the ordnance, which had not been provided for by parliament, and an estimate of the probable events of that department for a certain period. The hon. member observed, that his motive in bringing forward this account was, in order that the department to which it referred should experience no obstruction, but that the treasury should be enabled to issue the sums necessary for its supply, until the new administration should be arranged, and prepared to bring forward the ordnance estimates for the year. The account, &c. was ordered to lie on the table, and the hon. gent. gave notice, that he would on Monday next, in the committee of supply, move the grants required.—Mr. Alexander brought up the report of the committee of ways and means; the resolutions of which were read and agreed to, and bills ordered to be brought in accordingly.—Lord Stopford appeared at the bar, and stated that his majesty had been waited upon with the addresses of the house, relative to the erection of a monument to lord Nelson, at St. Pauls; to the erection of monuments to captains Duff and Cooke; the interment of the remains of Mr. Pitt, &c. and that his majesty was graciously pleased to express his readiness to comply with the wishes of the house.—Mr. Huskisson presented, a List of Accountants in respect of whom the execution of any process hath been controlled, suspended, or prevented, by authority of his majesty, within the year preceding the commencement of the present session of parliament.—Mr. Keene moved for copies or extracts of the proceedings of the

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chief governor and council of India, respecting the several claims of individuals upon the late and present nabob of Oude, together with a report of the proceedings of the court of directors upon the same subject." Ordered. Mr. S. Bourne rose to move the reading of the order for a ballot upon the subject of the petition which related to the last Middlesex election; with a view, he said, to follow it up by a motion, that that order should be discharged, and the ballot postponed to another day. The hon. member stated, that as it did not appear probable that the number required for a ballot, would in the present circumstances attend on Friday next; and, as in case of their non-attendance, adjournment would of course take place, which would produce a delay attended with much inconvenience to the public business; it was therefore his wish to fix the ballot for Friday, when the attendance of a Sufficient number of members was more likely. The hon. member thought it unnecessary to give any previous notice of this motion, as neither of the parties immediately interested had any objection to the proposed postponement. The Speaker apprehended that previous notice of such a motion Ought to be given, even though both the parties concerned were disposed to consent to the motion itself. For the Principal object of such notices was, that the house should not be taken by surprise. Agreeably to this suggestion, Mr. S. Bourne gave notice of his motion for Monday next.

IRISH POPULATION BILL.
Mr. James Fitzgeraldrose, pursuant to notice, to move for leave to bring in a bill for the purpose of ascertaining the population of Ireland. The right hon. gent. expressed his wish to assimilate the laws and regulation of Ireland to those of this country, as far as it was just and expedient. To the speaker he observed that this part of the united kingdom was, among other advantages, indebted for a measure of a similar nature; and he was happy to know that the proposition he was about to submit to the house, met the approbation of that justly respected personage. It must indeed be obvious to every man conversant with the subject, that to, ascertain the population of a country, was a grand desideratum in political economy, whether considered with regard to its physical force, its agricultural produce, or its financial capacities. In Ireland, the right hon. gent. observed, there were not the same facilities for enu-
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merating the population that were to be found in this country. For, in that part of the united kingdom, there was no regular registry of births or deaths. Besides, there were no poor-laws; through the overseers and others employed in the execution of which, in England, means were easily had to discover the number of the population. Therefore, to remedy this inconvenience with regard to Ireland, the right hon. gent. proposed to introduce a clause into the bill, authorising the magistrates of the county of the city of Dublin, with the advice of their, recorder, and the magistrates of the other Irish counties, aided by the advice of the assistant barrister, at a general quarter sessions, to appoint one or more householder, according to necessity, for each barony, parish, or such other district as might be deemed expedient, for the purpose of collecting a list of the inhabitants of such districts, the expence arising from such appointments, &c. to be defrayed by the assessment of the grand juries of the several counties, in the same manner as presentments for roads, &c. are now provided for. The right hon. gent. stated his intention to move that the bill should, as soon as it was brought in, be read a first time and printed. He would then let it stand over for some time, in order that all persons concerned should have a full opportunity of examining it, and from that consideration, he should not move the second reading until after the Easter recess.—The motion was agreed to, and the right hon. mover was appointed, with Mr. Grattan and others, to prepare and bring in the bill.

ARMY ESTIMATES
The Secretary at Warin moving that the house should resolve itself into a committee of supply, for the purpose of taking the army estimates into consideration, took occasion to observe, that he hoped there would be no objection to the proposed mode of proceeding, although it was a departure from the general custom with regard to army, estimates. These estimates were, usually, at least a week on the table, before any proposition was made to vote them in the committee; and such time for previous consideration was no doubt proper and necessary, upon a vote of such magnitude. But yet in this case, although the estimates were but two days on the table, he trusted that the peculiar circumstances of the country would reconcile the house to the course he meant to pursue. When the

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new administration was arranged, an adjournment for a fortnight was likely to take place, and if the estimates he had the honour to present, were not voted previous to such adjournment, considerable embarrassment would arise in the military department. This circumstance would, he had no doubt, prevent any objection to the motions he proposed to submit; such objection there would be the less inclination to press, when it was understood that the estimates on the table reached only to the 24th of March next, and were formed on the same scale as those of the last year; thus it was left open for those who were to succeed to the administration to make up the military arrangements for the remainder of the year. Upon these grounds he trusted, that in bringing forward the supplies in the way he had described, he should stand acquitted in the judgment of the house of any wish to intrude himself, or any unnecessary plan, upon their consideration. If any precedent were wanted to justify the conduct he adopted, he could refer to the act of one of his predecessors in office (Mr. Windham), to whose very superior abilities he was ready to pay the utmost deference. That right hon. gent. he remembered, in the year 1799, laid the army estimates on the 1st Oct. and they were voted on the 3d. They were on his proposition adopted. But, independently of precedent, he was persuaded that the urgency of the present circumstances would induce the house to accede to his motion.—The army estimates were then referred to a committee of supply, into which the house resolved.
The Secretary at Warbefore. he made any motion ,observed, that on recollection he had forgot to state to the committee that there was some addition to the scale upon which the estimates for last year were granted, and this addition was occasioned by the augmentation of the regular army; particularly owing to the transfer of men from the militia, in consequence of the act of last sessions. To this addition he did not apprehend that any gent. would be disposed to object. It would be recollected, that if any part of the estimates should appear to be over-rated; a proportionate deduction might be made in the estimates to be brought for ward in March. The right hon. gent. concluded with submitting the following resolutions; which were acceded to. 1st 134,473 effective men, including com-
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missioned and non-commissioned officers for the service of the united kingdom, and on the continent, for three months, from the 25th of Dec. to the 24th of March, both inclusive. 2d, 1,193,105 l. for the subsistence of this force. 3d, 505,037 l. for the use of our troops, &c. in the plantations, including Gibraltar, the Mediterranean, Ceylon, and New South Wales. 4th, 647,584 l. for the subsistence, &c. of the militia of the united kingdom and of the corps of miners in Devon and Cornwall.
Sir John Wrottesleyasked whether the allowance to the volunteers was included in these estimates; and also whether any provision was made for the clothing of any of that body?
The Secretary at Waranswered in the negative. The estimate respecting the volunteers was brought forward separately last year, and the same course would be pursued in the present. The provision for that description of force, was not so urgent in point of time, as any of those to which the votes of the committee related. No doubt, provision would be made for the volunteer force in the course of the session, and that the necessary allowance for clothing would be included in the provision.—The house resumed, and the report was ordered to be brought up on Monday.

CONTINENTAL WAR.
Lord Mulgraveobserved, that in reference to what he had stated on a former evening, he should have, by command of his majesty, to lay before the house, on Monday next, some additional papers and documents, relative to the treaties, copies of which he laid on the table last Tuesday. Of these, the prints were ready for delivery. When the additional documents should be before the house, he should have to trouble their lordships with some observations respecting the nature and effect of those treaties, and the reasons for the farther communication of papers to the extent to which they should be laid before the house, and why a farther selection of papers was deemed unnecessary. He hoped what he then said would be sufficient to induce a
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full attendance of their lordships, for the consideration of what he should submit.—After some routine business was transacted, the noble lord again rose, and stated, that on further consideration, he thought it would be proper, in order to insure a full attendance for the discussion of a subject of such public magnitude and importance, to have their lordships summoned; and, as Tuesday next would most probably be the day on which he should have to submit the considerations to which he alluded, he should move, that the lords be summoned for Tuesday next: this, on the question being put, was ordered accordingly.