60] ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



■whole House, on the seventh ar- 

 ticle of the Act of Union, and 

 that the accounts which had been 

 presented rehuive to the revenues 

 of Ireland, together with the ic- 

 port of the conniiittee of finance, 

 should be referred to it, entered 

 into an explanation of the matter 

 in question. 



Hesaid, that whenthecontribu- 

 tion of Great Britain and Ireland 

 towards the expenditure of the 

 United Kingdom, was fixed in 

 the proportion of fifteen parts for 

 the former, and two for the latter, 

 the arrangement was maile foi' 

 twenty years from the time of 

 the union, at the end of which, 

 the joint charges were to be de- 

 frayed in sucli H j)roportion as 

 the united pailianient should deem 

 reasonable, upon a con^.pari-on of 

 the average value of the exports 

 and imports of the respective 

 countries, or of the principal ar- 

 ticles of consum))tion in both. 

 Another scale of estimate was 

 contemplated in the act, namely 

 a general tax, if such should 

 have been imposed, on the same 

 descriptions of income in both 

 countries. At the end of such 

 period, and proceeding on these 

 data, parliament was empo;vered 

 to revise tlie scale of contribu- 

 tion, unless it should in tlie 

 intermediate time have declar- 

 ed, what under certain con- 

 tingencies only it could declare, 

 that, with certain cxemjjtions, 

 the expenditure of the empire 

 should be defrayed indiscriminate- 

 ly by equal taxe:, imposed on the 

 like articles in both jjarts of the 

 united kingdom. Whether that 

 contingency has arisen, and whe- 

 ther the necessity for exercising 

 the power conferred has arisen 

 also, be was now to show. 



The right hon. gentleman then 

 began a luminous detail of parti- 

 culars relative to the revenues of 

 Ireland, and its comparison of 

 those of Great Britain, which 

 cannot be abridged ; and he con- 

 cluded, amidst those cheers from 

 both sides of the House, which 

 he had on other occasions expe- 

 rienced, with moving the three 

 following resolutions : 



"1. That it is the opinion of 

 this committee, that the values 

 of the resjjective debts of Great 

 Britain and Ireland, estimated ac- 

 cording to the provisions of the 

 acts of union, have been, at a 

 period subsequent to those acts, 

 in the same proportion to each 

 other (within one- hundredth part 

 of the said value) with tlie respec- 

 tive contributions of each country 

 respectively, towards the annual 

 e.xpendituie of the united king- 

 dom } and that the respective cir- 

 cumstances of the two countries 

 will henceforth admit of their 

 contiibuting indiscriminately, by 

 equal taxes imposed upon the 

 sami- articles upon each, to the 

 future expenditure of the united 

 kingdom ; subject only to such 

 particular exemptions or abate- 

 ments in Ireland and in Scotland, 

 as circumstances may appear from 

 time to time to demand ; and that 

 it was no lunge i necessary to re- 

 gulate the contribution of the two 

 countries, according to any spe- 

 cific proportion, or according to 

 the rules j)rescribed by the acts 

 of union, with respect to such 

 proportions. 



" y. Thatitis theopinion of this 

 committee, that it is expedient, 

 tluit all expenses henceforth to be 

 incuired, together with the in- 

 terest and charges of all debts 

 hitherto contracted, shall be so 



defrayed, 



