Forty or perhaps one hundred times the chaige. He illuftrated his affertion by reminding the committee that nothing could be more eafy than to affertain exactly what the fum of additional duty per hogfhead upon wine came to, and what would be the amount of that duty when divided into gallons, and from gallons into bottles. If then in a cafe fo caly, obvious and intelligible the retail dealer had bare-facedly charged the publick five times as much every bottle, as he paid to the Exchequer, what an advantage muft not be unavoidably made, where the diftribution of the tax was privately laid on a variety of fmall articles In fact the confumer, if he paid the Tax at all, must imperceptibly and infenfibly, even to the fhopkeeper, pay it over, and over, and over again, but he defired the Right Hon. Gentleman to prove that any fhopkeeper either had or could charge it to the confumer. Being, therefore, undoubtedly a perfonal tax, he fhould advife the Right Hon. Gentleman, in this inftance at leaft, to give way, and offer fome Tax lefs exceptionable in its ftead. He had himfelf, when the fubject was under difcuffion laft feffion, mentioned a tax which he had thought preferable, though he was ready to admit, that the Tax he alluded to, was extremely open to exception. He meant a new general House-Tax. That he thought, exceptionable as it was, was lefs exceptionable than the Shop-Tax. In point of exceptionablenefs it was chiefly fo, as it would bear harder on fhopkeepers than on any other perfons, as they paid higher rents than any other defcription of houfe-holders. After a great variety of argument, to prove the Tax fo radically bad, that no modification could cure its defect, Mr. Fox proceeded to take notice of the fpecies of modification mentioned by Mr. Pitt, and reminded the Houfe, that the Right Hon. Gentleman's argument had gone to prove that the Tax was not perfonal, and that it must find its level and fall on the confumer. If this were true, faid Mr. Fox, what is there to recommend his modifications? The Right Hon. Gentleman had ftated, that he would take off and modify the portion of the Tax to be paid by all fhopkeepers who lived in houfes at lefs rents than twenty and twenty five pounds, which would confiderably lighten the load, and exonerate the hopkeeper. Will it, faid Mr. Fox of what will it exonerate him? Of the money paid by the confumer! For if the confumer is to pay the whole of the Tax, the confumer would be exonerated by the modification that was propofed, and not the hopkeeper. He put this point clofely and forcibly, and made a great advantage of the palpable contradiction of Mr. Pitt's reafoning. In like madner, be faid, the generous and compaffionare bounty of the Right Hon. Gentleman amounted to nothing; becaufe, if the confumer really paid the Tax, the poor fhopkeeper, who was not to pay towards the Tax, if he was excufed the payment of parochial taxes, was excufed from paving that, which, according to the Right Hon. Gentleman's argument, was to come out of the pocket of another. He ridiculed that part of the Chancellor of the Exchequer's fpeech, in which he had faid, the Tax would no doubt find its level; but that the fhopkeeper, had not yet found out how to make its diftribution. This, he faid, was an extraordinary thing to fay of men, the daily butinefs of whofe lives was to lay out large fums to purchase articles in the grofs, and to draw back and collect the fums fo expended by a multitude of minute profits. He enlarged on the idea, and urged the idlenefs of imputing the fort of ignorance in queftion, to thofe men, who of all others were moft in the habits of making fuch a diftribution as that, which it had been faid they had not difcovered how to make. In fact, he declared the laying the tax on the confumer at all was impoffible. He inftanced his own receipt tax, which every body knew was to this day paid by the perfon who received the money, although he had a legal right to oblige the perfon paying it to pay for the receipt. After very threwdly and ably anfwering Mr. Pitt, Mr. Fox returned to what he had fet out with, declaring, that though he did not pretend to be above popularity, buy on the contrary fairly owned, that he was fhocked and affected when it fell to his lot to be unpopular, yet he would at all times in fpite of unpopularity, fiand up an advocate for a tax after it was once propofed, unlefs as in the prefent instance, he thought the tax radically bad, and unfit to remain unrepealed. The prefent tax was a perfonal tax, and at the fame time partook of the nature of a tax on the confumer in the worft manner, because it left the power of diftribution folely to the difcretion of the fhopkeeper, and what was more exceptionable, to be by him fecretly exercifed. He defined the requifite to make a perfonal tax palatable, and that was, he faid, to lay it fo that its operation fhould be general, if not univerfal. He men mentioned the fervants tax as an unexceptionable perfonal tax, but faid he feared it was ill-collected. He took notice alfo, in the course of his fpeech, of Mr. Hammet's argument, which he faid was right in regard to the principle of taxation, though it went a great way farther then he was ready to go upon the subject; but the Right Hon. Gentleman he thought went much farther himself, when he had afferted that nine tenths of the revenue depended upon taxes grounded upon the principle which the Hon. Alderman had reprobated, viz. the principle of impofing mere perfonal taxes, and thofe, fuch as did not affect themselves. In the courfe of his fpeech, Mr. Fox remarked, that whenever taxes were under confideration, one material defect in the construction of that Houfe manifefted itfelf, and that was, that the City of London, which paid in general fo large a fhare of all the taxes, had not a greater proportion of reprefentatives, to fecure it its due weight in determining of what taxes fhould confift. He concluded with giving his thanks to the Right Hon. Gentleman for fuch modifications, as he had faid he intended to make, be caufe difliking the whole bill, as he did, he must be glad that any part of it was re pealed, though he wished the bill repealed altogether. If that could be obtained, the shopkeepers of London and the fhop keepers of Westminster, who would per haps be ftill more oppreffed by the bill, would be refcued from a galling griev ance. In order that they might be fo refcued, he repeated his determination to give his vote for the motion, propofing a total repeal of the act of the laft fefLions. Sir Gregory Page Turner, and Alderman Watfon rofe together, but after a ftruggle, Sir Gregory obtained the firft hearing. He spoke in his ufual whimfical ftyle, declaring that he had last year voted for the tax confcientiously, but that he should now vote for its repeal, as the a&t was partial, in not including wholefale traders. He repeated his objection to the tax on this account many times, and expreffed the most enthusiastic esteem and the most ardent admiration of Mr. Pitt and his talents. Alderman Watfon faid, he rose not to call upon the compaffionate feelings of the Houfe, but upon its juftice, to which the fhopkeepers of London and Weftminster had fubmiflively appealed. He ftated the hardship of their cafe in pointed and feeling terms, and urged feveral arguments in addition to thofe of his brethren of the furred gown. The Alderman laid hold of that part of Sir Edward Astley's speech, in which Sir Edward had faid, he was against the tax being repealed, as the shopkeepers had entered into a combination to defeat the receip: tax. This Mr. Watfon faid he was glad to hear, because it put the matter on its true ground. It feemed then that the Houfe had voted the tax on a principle of vindictivenefs, and in order to punish the hopkeepers of Londou for having dared to difapprove of a former tax. Mr. Alderman Townsend called Mr. Alderman Watfon to order, afferting, that a declaration that the Houle over impofed taxes on a principle of punishment and vindictivenels, was a fort of language not to be endured whin thofe walls. Alderman Watjon in reply faid, if the worthy Alderman had heard the Hon. Baronet make ule of the expreflion, he would, he doubted not, have deemed what he had faid juftifiable. He was pro ceeding to talk in the like flrain of the vindictive principle on which the Houfe had agreed to the hop-tax, when he was again called to order by Mr. Alderman Townsend, who explained to Mr. Watfon, that no expreffion that had fallen in the courfe of debate from any individual could warrant the ufing fuch language, and applying it to the conduct of the Houfe. Mr. Mainwaring ftated, that he had fat by the Hon. Baronet in queftion when he spoke, and that he had rifen a fecond time, and fully explained what he had faid. Mr. Alderman Watfon then refumed his argument, and was on his legs about ten minutes, fpeak g ftrenuoufly in favour of the fhopkeepers of the city, a urging the number of bankruptcies in every Gazettee as a proof of the inability of many of the shopkeepers to bear additional bur dens. Mr. Alderman Le Mfurier followed him on behalf of the inhabitants of Souhwark. The Alderman made ufe of many arguments to prove that the tax ought to be repealed. Alderman Townfend next rofe, and confined his argument chiefly to the principle of the bill. He faid, the tax had from the first been called an unjuft and oppreffive tax; affertion was now evidence; the Right Hon. Gentleman had originally opened it as a tax of a perfonal nature; and had at the fame time talked of abolish3 B 2 ing ing hawkers and pedlars as a compenfation to the fhopkeepers; but it was clear, that the abolishing hawkers and pedlars would have been no compenfation to the fhopkeepers of London and Weftminster. The idea in that form was confequently unjust, because the tax operated oppreffively, chiefIv in the metropolis, and there no compenfation was made at all. The idea however was afterwards changed, and instead of hawkers and pedlars being abolished, the doctrine that the fhop tax would be paid by the confumer was taken up and maintained. The tax therefore he should contend had been introduced on a falfe and fallacious principle, and on that ground of objection, were there no other, it ought to be repealed. In order to prove how illfounded the doctrine was, that the fhoptax was a tax on confumption, the Alderman reminded the Houfe of the increase of the land tax, and asked if any gentleman could give an inftance that a load of hay, of corn, or of straw, had fetched more on account of the increafe of the land tax? In like manner, if a gentleman raifed the rent of his farm, and the farmer brought a load of the produce to market, would he not be laughed at, if he were to demand an inordinate price, and to alledge as a reafon for fo doing that he paid a high rent? Every body knew the farmer muft in that cafe be governed in his demand by the fair average and ordinary market price of the day. The Alderman put the cafe alfo in refpect to wool, and cloth, afking if a dealer in either would get more for his wool per tod, or his cloth per yard, on the plea of paying an increafed rent? He faid, he would give the Right Hon Gentleman warning in time of his danger-if the tax were not repealed he could have no conception of the extreme odium he would incur throughout the kingdom. Its partiality was intolerable. He afked what the petty cheefemonger in Bfhopfgate ftreet who lived next door to Mr. Long's, and could fcarcely afford to live on his own cheese parings, muft think when he daily faw Mr. Long drive out lolling in his coach at his cafe, and knew that he did not pay a penny towards the fhop tax, though he was forced to contribute to it himfelf? He added other arguments in favour of an unrefeived and complete repeal. Mr. Grigsby faid, that-old-fashioned as the custom was, he was determined to obey the inftructions of his conftituents; he rofe therefore to declare, that he had confulted them, and that upon meeting the fhopkeepers of the two largest towns n the county [Suffolk] he had the hoop our to reprefent, they were generally ta tisfied with the tax, and declared, that f it were extended to other defcriptions of traders, fuch as warehousemen and bankers they thould be more fatisfied. Ano ther matter that was foreign to the fub- ! ject under difcuffion Mr. Grig foy faid he wifhed to speak to. When the queftion of Reform had been in debate last selfion, he was out of the Houfe, and was abfent about twenty minutes. During his abfence, he understood a noble Lord not then in his place, had rifen, and noticed to the Houfe, that he had feen fome advertifements figned by a member of that Houle, inviting his conflituents to furnish him with inftructions on the question of reform, but as that member had not faid a word, nor was there any petition on the table from: Suffolk, he prefumed that county was content with the existing state of the reprefentation. The fact Mr. Grigfby faid was, that he had in confequence of his advertisements feen his conftituents at the time, that they had affigned their reafons for declining to convene a meeting of the county, and had left it to him to act as he thought proper. Mr. Alderman Newnham faid, it appeared to him to be a very extraordinary thing, for the freeholders of the county of Suffolk to have inftructed their reprefentatives to recommend it to the House inftead of repealing the fhop tax, to ex tend it to warehousemen and bankers. There was not he believed any warehoufemen in the county, and not above two bankers. It was an odd part for a county Member to act. Mr. Grigsby declared he had faid, the hopkeepers, not the freeholders of Suffolk, had told him they should be glad if the tax were extended to warehousemen and bankers. Sir Richard Hill faid he had presented a petition from the county of Salop, as he had come down determined to vote for the repeal; but the modifications the Right Hon. Gentleman bad propofed would he had no fort of doubt reconcile the fhopkeepers of Shrewsbury, and indeed of every town in the county to the tax.' He therefore should vote against the repeal. Mr. Macnamara faid, he had in like manner received inftructions from his conflituents to vote for the repeal, but he believed had his constituents been aware of the propofed modifications, they would than a total expulfion from that country, Mr. Haftings had done an act which challenged the thanks and gratitude of Great Britain. He knew that the production of the papers called for would be highly acceptable to the gentleman in queftion; but it was the bufinefs of the Houfe to confider, whether the nation would be more benefited or injured by the publication of papers that might tend to raise up new enemies in India, which might be the cafe, if thofe papers thould fhew that fome of the confederates had been detached from the great union against us, and, by the HOUSE OF COMMON S. abilities of Mr. Hattings, fet at variance Friday March 3d, 1786. Deferred Ways and Means, and the Supply to Monday. Received feveral Petitions for Road and Inclosure Bills. EAST INDIA PAPERS. Mr. Burke refumed this day the proceedings preparatory to an impeachment of Mr. Haftings: he had a great many motions to make for papers, which were feverally put, and upon each the Houfe debated in a very defultory manner. A detail of the debates could not be very agreeable to our readers, as they were not marked with any thing new or interefting; we fhall therefore barely ftate the fubftance of what paffed, that we may inform, without tiring the public. Mr. Burke faid, that the negociations of the peace with the Mahrattas had been attended with circumstances difgraceful to this country, as they fhewed that the ma nagers of our affairs in India had acted in defiance of the faith of treaties; and the confequence was, that a confederacy had been fince formed in India, the object of which was, to make war upon the Company. He concluded, by moving that co pies or duplicates of all the negociations, relative to the peace with the Mahrattas, be laid before the Houfe. Mr. Dundas opposed the motion: he faid that so far was there from being an appearance of war in India, that on the fixth of November, the date of the laft dispatches, all was profound peace in India. Whatever might have been the conduct of Mr. Hafting, whether cenfurable or otherwise, prior that peace, he was ready to declare, that in diffolving the moft formidable confederacy that ever was formed in India, and putting an end to a war that threatened us with nothing lefs with whom they had originally leagued for our deftruction. Mr. F. Montague faid, that if reafons of ftate were thus brought in bar of an impeachment, every culprit might be screened from juftice; and it would be impoffible to bring any man to trial, who might ftand well with government. The Right Hon. Gentleman, (Mr. Burke) he faw, had but little encouragement to go on with the profecution. Like the good Bishop of Chiapa, who had taken up the cause of the much injured Indians in South Ame rica, whom he endeavoured to protect against the rapacity and cruelty of the Spaniards, he might be cenfured and perfecuted by his cotemporaries; but, like that worthy prelate alfo, he would find that pofterity would do him that juftice, which his own age refufed him; and hold him up to an admiring world as a model of humanity and juftice. Mr. Burke maintained that all was not as quiet in India as the Right Hon. Gentleman would infinuate: the Rajah of Berar was actually at Poonah, where he had never been before, to endeavour to ftir up the Mahratta Chiefs to war upon the Englith. The caufe of his enmity, was, the fhameful manner in which the British government had facrificed him to his enemies, though bound to protect him. He concluded that Mr. Haftings had abandoned our allies, and betrayed them to their enemies; he instanced the case of the Rana of Gode, whofe dominions we had pledged ourselves to guaranty to him, and whom we had bound ourfelves to include in any treaty of peace with the Mahrattas. This Prince had, nevertheless, been fhamefully abandoned, contrary to the exprefs ftipu lations and faith of treaties; eleven other Princes, our allies, were nearly in the fame predicament, deferted by this country, and abandoned to their fate. It was not for diffolving the formidable confede racy, racy, which had been formed against us, that he condemned Mr. Haftings; it was because he had betrayed our allies, and cedad to the Malirattás teritories which they had never claimed; he ridiculed the idea of making a mystery of papers which were known to every court in India; every Prince who had been deferted, and betrayed by Mr. Haftings, krew it but two well, and vowed vengeance for it. It was laughable, he faid to hear gentlemen fay they were ready to lend their affiftance to bring a culprit to juftice, and yet to fee them withhold the means, under the pretence that the flate might be injured in the purfuit of justice; juft as a company of banditti fhould fay, you may have what evidence you please against an individual, provided you do not call for any thing that may endanger the gang. Mr. Fox obferved, that there was in the cafe of the Rana of Gode, prima facie, evidence, that an ally had been abandoned; and therefore he would not believe there was a ferious intention in the minifter to withhold papers, when there was, upon the very face of that proceeding, fuch a prefumption of guilt. The Chancellor of the Exchequer bore his teftimony to the tranfcendant merit of Mr. Haftings, in diffolving the confederacy of the four greateft powers in India, against the British intereft; and preferving our territories in that part of the world, by a peace with the Mahrattas, which he conceived to be a moft brilliant atchievment. It had been performed by the ex ertion of great abilities that marked the ftatefman, and not by perfidy to our allies; he had detached thefe powers from each other, by fowing jealoufies between them, and thus he became the faviour of India. But if the fteps he took to effect that great work were made public, if the most fecret negotiations were laid open, by which the infidelities of the different powers to each other would be difcovered, and placed in the face of day, we were not to expect that any power would ever treat with us again. He would therefore oppofe the motion as it then ftood; but as the cafe of the Rana-of Gode might ftand upon different grounds, he would not object to the production of fuch papers as might relate to him. It was clear, indeed, that we were bound to take care of his interefts in a treaty of peace, and it was as clear, that we had not done it; here of courfe there was prima facie evidence of a breach of agreement with him; but he believed that it was his own violation of the treaty, and not our want of faith that had been the caufe of it: for he believed it would be found, that he had endeavoured to conclude a feparate peace with Madajee Scindia, regardlefs of his engagements to treat only in concert with us: it was therefore the perfidy of the Rana of Gode, and not of Mr. Haftings, that had prevented our negociator from including that Prince in the treaty of peace with the Mahrattas, and guarantying to him his dominions. Major Scott confirmed this account of the Rana; and faid that he believed he might venture to affirm, that had he been. included to compromife the business of Mr. Haftings, during the late administra tion, that Gentleman might now reft fecure from any impeachment. Mr. Fex declared upon his honour as a gentleman, that while he was in office, he never once entertained an idea of compromifing the charge against Mr. Haftings; in private converfations with his friends it had been frequently fuggefted by them that Mr. Hattings being a very powerful man, it might make the India Bill go down the easier, if the idea of profecuting that gentleman was given up: but he had always refifted fuch an advice; and, indeed, fo determined was he, to have the Governor-General brought to trial, that in his opening fpeech on his India Bili, he had dwelt fo much upon the mal-adminiftration of Mr. Haftings, that many of the enemies to that Bill had objected to him, that there feemed to be ro other remedy neceflary for the evils in India, than the recall of Mr. Haftings. Major Scott faid that no offer had been made to him of a compromife by the Right Hon. Gentleman; but he thought he could collect fomething that looked very like a tendency to compromife from a converfation he had with an Hon. Friend of the Right Hon. Gentleman, whom he did not then fee in his place; but he would take an opportunity to mention particulars when that gentleman should be prefent. Mr. Windham fpoke in favour of the motion. Mr. Wilberforce faid, that Minifters ftood in a very delicate fituation, as middle men between the accufor and the accufed. He encouraged them to be firm in purfuing that line of conduct which their duty to their country would point out to them; nor fuffer themfelves on the one hand 1 |