INVESTIGATION OF THE STATE OF THE NAVY.
Previous pages show that there had already been debates on the state of the navy. Now that a war with France was inevitable the subject was brought prominently forward; especially in the house of lords. On the 13th of March, Lord Howard of Effingham moved a series of resolutions explaining the condition of the navy during the last eight years; the number of ships broken up, built, or repaired; and the precise condition and expense of the ordnance. In moving these resolutions, Lord Howard spoke of the necessity of economy, and accused the first lord of the admiralty with gross mismanagement. Lord Sandwich, who had been assailed on previous occasions when the same subject was introduced, now made a long and able defence. The British naval force, he said, at that moment consisted of three hundred and seventy-three ships of all rates, which was a force double to that which England had in her possession half a century before. In drawing the comparison or the present state of the navy with its condition in 1727, he adduced arguments highly favourable to his own administration; but notwithstanding this, the opposition were very violent in their language towards him. He was even threatened with the vengeance of the people, who, it was said, would rise and tear him to pieces, as the Dutch had treated De Witt. The debate was tumultous, but the motions were all negatived.
MOTION FOR EXCLUDING CONTRACTORS FROM PARLIAMENT.
After various debates on the iniquities practised by contractors, and the badness of the provisions which they supplied, Sir Philip Jennings Clarke introduced a bill for excluding contractors from parliament, unless their contracts were publicly obtained by competition. In this debate ministers were coupled with the offenders, and Lord George Gordon, who afterwards rendered himself so notorious, declared that Lord North was the worst of all contractors—he was, he said, a contractor for men, a contractor for parliament, and a contractor for the representatives of the people! Lord George advised the minister to save his country and rescue his own life from popular vengeance by calling away his butchers from America, by retiring with all the rest of his majesty’s evil advisers, and by turning away from his own wickedness. The first and second reading of the bill was carried, but the motion for committing the bill was negatived on the 5th of May, by a majority of two, and it was consequently lost.
REVISION OF THE TRADE OF IRELAND.
During the month of April a committee of the house of commons was formed for the revision of the trade laws which affected Ireland. In consequence of the American war, a stop had been put to exportations of manufactures, and a large body of the people deprived of employment. Lord Nugent therefore proposed that Ireland should be permitted to export all articles of Irish manufacture—woollen cloths and wool excepted—on board British vessels to the coast of Africa and other foreign settlements, and to import from the same all goods, except indigo and tobacco. He also proposed that they should be allowed to export Irish sailcloth, cotton-yarn, and cordage to England, free of duty. Two bills founded upon these propositions were introduced, and both sides of the house admitting the justice of the measures seemed to agree in the propriety of adopting them. The great commercial body of England, however, took the alarm, and during the Easter recess, a formidable opposition was entered into by the merchants in all quarters. Petitions flowed into parliament from every part of the country, and the different members of parliament were instructed by their constituents to oppose the measures. Many who had previously been disposed to give them their support, in compliance with these instructions now opposed them; but Mr. Burke, who was member for the great trading city of Bristol, manfully refused, and continued to co-operate with Lord Nugent in his task. In presenting a petition from Bristol against the measures, he ably advocated them, and declared that if from his conduct he should forfeit the suffrages of his constituents at the next election, it should stand on record, as an example to future representatives of the commons of England, that one man at least had dared to resist the desires of his constituents when his judgment assured him that they were wrong. Notwithstanding the petitions and the altered opinion of many members, the second reading of the two bills was carried by a large majority. The petitioners, however, were resolute in their opposition to the measures. They prayed to be heard by counsel, and this being granted, such was the weight of the pleadings of the close-trade interest, that the supporters of the bills were compelled to effect a sort of compromise by which the amount of the benefit conferred on Ireland was greatly diminished.