Bill by Lord Advocate Erskine.
The Loan from Government becomes doubtful.
The Hon. Henry Erskine, Lord Advocate of Scotland, took charge of the Bill in Parliament. But, notwithstanding his Lordship’s attention to the business, so much time was lost in furnishing various statements, relative to the probable amount of the new duties to be levied, and the security to be given for repayment of the loan, that little progress was made with the bill, till the middle of the month of June. By this time, the prospect of the loan became so doubtful, that it was thought advisable by some friends to the measure to take the bill without it. But the Commissioners, after considering the tendency of such a bill, in tying up their funds for an indefinite period for one object, and thus preventing the extension of the benefit of additional light-houses to other parts of the coast, were of opinion, that, unless the loan was granted, they must withdraw their petition for the bill, and allow the business to lie over till the duties were in such a condition as to enable the work to be undertaken. The author was therefore directed to consider himself as at liberty to leave London, if it should appear that the loan could not be obtained.
Board of Trade favourable to the Loan.
Lord Auckland, President of the Board of Trade, was favourable to the proposal of the loan; and Sir Joseph Banks, the Vice-President, having entered warmly into the measure, and at a meeting of the 7th June, urged its necessity so strongly, that the Board desired a Memorial to be presented on the following points:—Of the coast to be subjected to the Duty of the Northern Lights, by the erection of the Bell Rock light-house;—of the trade and mercantile interest to pay this additional duty;—of the security to be given to Government for the repayment of the loan of L. 25,000;—and of the assurance to be given, that this sum, together with the surplus funds in the possession of the Commissioners, would accomplish a building of so much hazard.
The following Memorial was accordingly presented.
“To the Right Hon. the Lords of the Committee of Council, relating to Trade,—The Humble Memorial of the Commissioners, for erecting Light-Houses on the Northern parts of Great Britain;
Sheweth,
Memorial to the Board of Trade.
“That the memorialists have taken the liberty of stating, in a former Memorial hereunto annexed, the reasons that have induced them to apply to the Lords Commissioners of his Majesty’s Treasury, for their support to an application to Parliament, for the loan of so much money as will enable them to build a light-house upon the Cape or Bell Rock,—an object of much consequence to the navigation of the North Sea, from the many fatal shipwrecks it has occasioned. The Memorialists have been much pressed and solicited by the commercial interest of the country, to get this accomplished; and by opening the Firth of Forth as a place of safety, by the erection of this light-house, the navigation of the northern coasts of the kingdom will be greatly facilitated.