The following table, extracted from the " Companion to | 27. Northumberland, the Almanac for 1833," shows the number of bills, and the classes to which they belong, which have been passed during the last eight years :— county R. W. Brandling, R. P. Philip (Southern division)...... Comparative Classification of Private Bills for Eight Years. 31. Portarlington, borough 32. Ripon, borough..... ... 16 34. Southampton, town......... Towns 73 47 39 39 42 39 27 34 36. Stirling, burghs 64 Internal Communication Navigation Private Regulation 11 5 C 51 42 45 33 45 48 40 35 Total. . 286 206 185 182 207 208 194 185 One of the most important private bills introduced in the present session is that for constructing a rail-road from London to Birmingham. It is intended that it shall commence on the north bank of the Regent's Canal, on the west side of the Hampstead-Road, and proceeding by or near to Kensall Green, Harrow, Pinner, Bushey, Watford, King'sLangley, Hemel Hempstead, Berkhampstead, Long-Marston, Tring, Ivinghoe, Fenny-Stratford, Shenley, Potterspury, Darlescote, Weedon, Rugby, Willenhall, Coventry, Coleshill, Little-Bromwich, and Deritend, terminate at a place called Nova Scotia Gardens at Birmingham. The estimated expense of this work, is 2,500,000l., to be raised in 1007. shares, nearly the whole of which is already subscribed. In addition to the magnitude of the work, opening a means of communication so rapid as to enable the heaviest loads to e transmitted in seven or eight hours between two such marts of commerce and manufactures as London and Birmingham, the circumstances of its being the first rail road out of London, and the precursor without doubt of many others, give it an additional interest. The measure was first introduced into Parliament during the session of 1832, and passed through the House of Commons, but, after considerable discussion, was rejected by the Lords. In the present session the petition was presented on the 12th of February, and the first reading took place on the 15th. A petition was also presented on February 19th for leave to bring in a bill respecting the Thames tunnel. 37. Tiverton, borough 38. Warwick, borough 39. Weymouth and Melcombe 40. Windsor, borough son, Esqs., and others. James Johnstone, Esq. G. C. Welsford, and others. SOUTH CAROLINA AND THE AMERICAN TARIFF. THE news from the United States has of late been of unusual interest, by reason of the discontent which has prevailed in the Southern and Western States at the tariff imposing duties on foreign goods imported; and so great has been this discontent in the state of South Carolina, that the people of that state have openly declared their resistance to the tariff. The legislature of South Carolina published an ordinance, declaring the laws passed in 1828 and 1832 for the imposing of duties on the importation of foreign commodities to be unauthorized by the constitution of the United States, and therefore null and void; and that a protecting tariff should no longer be enforced within the limits of South Carolina. It was added, that if the general government should attempt to coerce them by military power, they would firmly resist, and supplies were voted for that purpose. Upon this the president of the United States issued a proclamation, stating it to be the intention of the general government to maintain the integrity of the Union by force; but the South Carolinians appeared disposed to persist in their resistance, although unsupported by Georgia and other states to whose interests the tariff was also believed to be hostile; and the president more recently issued another proclamation, removing the custom-houses, and making other regulations for thwarting the opposition. The president's conduct has been sanctioned by several of the Northern States, especially that of New York, the annual value of whose manufactures is upwards of twenty-five million dollars. Whether these disputes will be amicably arranged, or will terminate in a dissolution of the North American republic as at present constituted, it is not easy yet to foresee; but it may be useful, in the mean time, to give some account, firstly, of the American Constitution as applied to the question at issue, and secondly, of the Tariff which has been the cause of the irritation. The American Union is composed (exclusively of certain Territories sending delegates) of twenty-four States, each of which has its separate legislature, invested with the entire regulation of its local concerns. These States, independent in other respects, are united by a federal compact, which is the eonstitution of the United States, and according to this the president, and the congress, consisting of the senate and the house of representatives, are elected. By the constitution, the congress has power to levy and collect taxes, duties, imposts, and excises; to pay the debt, and provide for the common defence and general welfare of the United States, and to regulate commerce with foreign nations, and among the several states. The powers not delegated to the United States by the constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people. Such being almost verbally the language of the constitution, the question is, whether or not congress has power to impose a general tariff which is binding upon each individual State. Now if the power of congress extends to all taxes, whether for the purpose of revenue or of protection, it is plain that the objection of the South Carolinians-that the tariff Visc. Forbes, A. Lefroy, Esq. president observes, “such an objection may be made with operates unequally, is scarcely tenable, because, as the J. Disney, Esq., and others. Henry Rich, Esq. A. A. Watt, and others. and others. Wm. Murphy, and others. truth to every law that has been or can be passed. The wisdom of man never yet contrived a system of taxation that would operate with perfect equality." Much less does South John Harper and C. S. Gil- Carolina appear to be warranted in throwing off her allegi Edw. Jones and Thos. Owen. man, Esqs. ance to suit her own interest, because she is bound by the compact under which she became a member of the Union, and has enjoyed hitherto all the benefits resulting from it. It would appear, therefore, that the president has with him the strict constitutional law, though it may be questionable how far he could enforce it without arraying one portion of the population against the other; for the regular troops at the president's disposal amount only to about 7000 men, and the militia of the Union, amounting to 1,308,000, could hardly be considered as effective in a case where the population would be divided against itselt But, secondly, if we concede to congress that it has not exceeded its constitutional powers, (which very many, including Mr. Jefferson, were of opinion that it had exceeded,) it is impossible to stigmatize the tariff too strongly, as being not only unwise, but also unjust. The restrictions upon industry and the freedom of commerce, existing in European countries, had their origin in less enlightened ages than the present; and when an erroneous system has become interwoven with the national institutions and the various interests of society, it is always extremely difficult to change it for a better. But when the Americans achieved their independence, they were embarrassed by no difficulties of such a nature. Their industry was free and unfettered, and they were in the very state best calculated to forward a nation in the career of improvement. They should have abstained from the restrictive system, not only because reason and experience had proved it to be inimical to the advancement of mankind in opulence and population, but because they were not previously entangled in the web of existing prohibitions. They should have respected the principle of the division of labour; and, possessed of an almost unlimited extent of fertile land, they should have looked to the obvious advantages of their agricultural industry, and considered that the growth of raw produce must, for a long series of years, be the most profitable kind of employment in which American citizens could engage. They should have reflected that they were encroaching upon that equality of protection to which all interests in the Union, as in every free state, are entitled; and that they were forcibly withdrawing capital from the land, and turning it to manufactures, without making the smallest addition to the capital and industry of the republic, but, on the contrary, to the diminution and injury of both. In the face, however, of tne principles of public economy, and the lessons of experience, the American legislature set itself steadily to work to protect its home manufactures, especially its woollens, cottons, and hardware. Vainly aiming at making the United States independent of foreign nations, but attaching as absurd a meaning to the word independence, as if a country gentleman who had his coat and shoes made on his own estate thought himself more independent than his neighbour squire who bought them, congress proceeded to impose heavy import duties on articles of foreign manufacture. With the view of promoting the woollen manufacture, a duty was laid on woollen cloths imported, which from being 5 per cent. ad valorem in 1790, was gradually raised to 33 per cent.; and by the tariff of 1828, it was enacted that all goods which had cost 50 cents (2s. 1 d.) a yard, or under, should be deemed to have cost 50 cents, and should be charged with a duty of 45 per cent. ad valorem; and further, that all goods which had cost above 50 cents the yard and not more than 100 cents, should be considered as costing 100 cents, (or 4s. 3d.) and should pay a duty of 46 per cent. on that sum-so that every yard of cloth, costing 51 cents, would be valued at 100, and would consequently pay a duty of nearly 90 per cent. By the tariff of 1832, which comes into operation the 3rd of March, 1833, a duty of 5 per cent. is imposed on plain kerseys; of 10 per cent. on worsted stuffs and shawls; of 20 per cent. on worsted yarn; on blankets, hosiery and carpets, 25 per cent.; and on woollen manufactures in general, 50 per cent.; modifications which cannot be considered as great improvements upon the last tariff. Again, on cotton fabrics imported, the tariff of 1828 charged a duty of from 30 to 100 per cent., although there was abundance of evidence that the high duties of former tariffs had rendered the cotton-mills anything rather than thriving. The tariff of 1832 charges 25 per cent. upon cotton manufactures, and provides, that cottons not dyed, not exceeding in value 30 cents a square yard, shall be valued at 30 cents; and if dyed, and not exceedir g in value 35 cents a square yard, shall be valued at 35 cents. Cotton yarn, unbleached, to be taken at 60 cents the pound, and bleached at 75 cents the pound. So also, | iron-bolts and bar-iron were charged under the tariff of 1828 with a duty of 77. 178. per ton. By the tariff of 1832 they are rated at not much less, namely at 30 dollars a ton, and various other duties on iron manufactures are imposed, those on iror not otherwise rated being 25 per cent. These instances will suffice as examples. So far as these duties were aimed against Great Britain, it should here be observed, that we deal with the Americans on far more liberal terins than they deal with us; for, upon the majority of American articles which we import, the duties do not, on an average, exceed 8 per cent. ad valorem. The result has been that the tariff has been injurious to every interest, and to every section of the country; and whoever will take the trouble to read the Report of the committee on the commerce and navigation of the United States, drawn up by Mr. Cambreleng, and submitted to congress the 8th of February, 1830, will be satisfied of it beyond the possibility of doubt. The commerce, navigation and capital of the New England States (Connecticut, Rhode Island, Massachusets, Vermont, New Hampshire, and Maine) have been sacrificed in order to bring forward new competitors in manufacturing to embarrass old and skilful artisans; and as their wealth and industry have declined, so has the ratio of the increase of the population diminished. The navigation of the United States has retrograded since the peace; ship-building has begun to decline; the manufacture of cordage has been driven to Great Britain and Russia; and by the high duties upon coarse woollens, salt, brown sugar, molasses, tea, and coffee, burdens have been heaped on articles essential to the comforts of the poor throughout the Union. The tide of emigration to the Western States has been excessively accelerated, although full employment for population might have been found in the older states. But, above all other evils, has been the depression of agriculture, by the prevention of the sale of agricultural produce to foreign nations whose manufactures have been shut out of the American markets. Taking a view of the whole Union, the Americans are at this day as much an agricultural and as little a manufacturing people, as they were at the time of the adoption of the constitution. There are many thousand millions of acres yet unoccupied ; eleven agricultural States have been added to the Union; and the Territories are very far more extensive than at the period mentioned. Of the 12,856,171 persons who, according to the census of 1830, composed the population of the United States, more than four-fifths are employed in agriculture-and thus the interests of the mass of the inhabitants have been sacrificed in the vain hope of fostering a few miserable manufactures, which must ever be sickly whilst surrounded by an artificial atmosphere, instead of being exposed to the natural and wholesome breezes of competition. The staple products of the Middle and Southern States, and of the Western States along the Ohio, are cotton, tobacco, rice, wheat, and sugar. The exports of cotton for the year 1831, were of the value of 25,289,492 dollars, being nearly half of the 61,277,057 dollars, which were the amount of the exports of American produce and manufactures for that year. The next greatest export is that of wheat-flour and biscuit, which amounted to 9,938,458 dollars; and of tobacco, the export amounted to 4,892,388 dollars. So that the value of these three articles thus constituted two-thirds of the value of the entire export; and nothing can be more natural than that the agricultural state of South Carolina, where the objects of culture are cotton, rice, wheat, and tobacco, should consider the suspension of the market for those articles a very serious grievance. It has indeed been proposed that the states of North and South Carolina, Virginia, Alabama, Tennessee, and Mississippi, should join in a convention for the protection of their common interests, and the resistance of the tariff. At present only one state appears to have openly resisted; but that the tariff can long continue to oppress the other agricultural states, unopposed, is what we cannot believe. Of the Western States, the agricultural and mineral wealth has been obliged to be left to perish in the interior, or to be wasted as worthless productions. Under a system of restriction, these productions must remain, without value, beyond the Western mountains, and the treasures of the mines can be but slowly realized. But an active foreign commerce would give an impulse to the internal trade, and put in circulation the vast agricultural and mineral resources of the Western States. If the trade now restricted were once made free, there can be little doubt that the enlarged intercourse would not less effectually COMPANION THE TO THE NEWSPAPER. TO BE CONTINUED MONTHLY. No. 1. MARCH 1, 1833. PAGE 8 9 CONTENTS. TAGE 12 PROSPECTUS. 11 12 14 In the United Kingdom there are now published 369 Newspapers, viz., 248 in England, 46 in Scotland, and 75 in Ireland. The total number of stamps annually issued for these Papers is about thirty millions. Should any material reduction of the Stamp Duty take place, there can be no doubt that the whole number of Newspapers circulated would be very largely increased. Price 2d. uses. There are a number of scattered materials necessary for the proper understanding of any political question, which are apt to be overlooked in the unavoidable hurry of newspaper controversy; and many details of the highest 10 importance to Commercial Interests, are in the same way neglected. These materials are to be chiefly found in Parliamentary Reports, and in Foreign Journals; and it will be the duty of this publication to collect and simplify them, so that they may be easily referred to. The course of Legislation, too, upon matters which affect the daily actions of large bodies of persons, ought to be pointed out in a clear and untechnical manner, so that those who are called upon to obey any new law may know of its existence, before they incur its penalties or neglect its protection. This object will be here systematically attempted. Again, the great measures of national improvement, which are going forward in the shape of Private Bills, are very imperfectly borne in mind, except by the few who are directly interested in their success or failure; and it is of the highest importance that the mass of the people should understand the real nature of such measures, which, more than any other, indicate the advance of the country in civilization. This information will be found in the proposed work. Lastly-it has been shown, in several recent publications, that the science of Political Economy may be rendered intelligible and interesting to all persons, by pointing out its bearings upon the circumstances of individual life, and by selecting illustrations within the reach of every-day experience. To diffuse the knowledge of those principles of the science which are most capable of practical application, may do something for the correction of popular error and the advance of general happiness. The principal object which the conductors of Newspapers have in view is to excite and gratify curiosity upon the most recent topics. The subjects which they discuss are of the highest importance to every individual of the community; but it is rarely that the Newspaper can, consistently with its temporary nature, furnish the reader with the materials for a complete and impartial judgment. Detached portions only of great political questions can be considered, in the snatches of argument which are employed in stirring men's minds to adopt the opinions of the writer; and, too often, invective takes the place of reasoning, where the end is the triumph of party and not the upholding of truth. It would be difficult, certainly, to bring a calm judgment to the examination of passing events, while the necessity for presenting them in their freshest gloss is unavoidable. From this imperfect outline it will be seen that the CoмPANION TO THE NEWSPAPER, treating of matters of univerThe law demands a stamp upon periodical publications of sal and lasting interest, aspires to become an assistant to a certain bulk, which discuss " any matter in Church and every newspaper reader, whatever may be his individual State," but exempts those which are published at intervals opinions as to particular measures of Government. It proof twenty-eight days. It has therefore been thought that a poses carefully to examine those materials which the writer MONTHLY COMPANION TO THE NEWSPAPER, published at of the day has not always leisure to consult; and to bear in that very cheap rate which can only be obtained by a large mind those comprehensive principles of political philosophy, circulation, might be an important instrument in the diffusion by which every passing question must eventually be tried. of sound Political Knowledge. Politics, in the highest sense In general, the work will contain a number of short articles of the word, constitute a science which it is of great moment on subjects to which the public mind is directed; but, should be well understood by the people; for in this, as in occasionally, some matter involving a great many facts must all other matters, the uninformed will ever be the dupes of be treated at length. To accomplish this, a SUPPLEMENT the designing and mischievous. The extremes of indiffer-will appear, either quarterly or every second Month, also at ence and of violence with regard to public affairs are equally pied by some complete question of Political Inquiry. At the the price of Twopence, which will, in most cases, be occuend of the year, one of these Supplements will be devoted to a Retrospective Chronicle of Events, so that the entire Volume, which will not exceed the price of Three Shillings, sewed, may serve the purposes of an Annual Register. the result of want of knowledge. The commencement of an undertaking like the present may be properly dated from the first Session of a Reformed Parliament; because the deliberations and acts of a representative body, fairly chosen by the people, must naturally call upon the public to examine all legislative proceedings with a diligent scrutiny, and to seek every assistance in forming a correct judgment upon matters which come home to each man's business and understanding. Passing occurrences are known, indeed, daily to many, and weekly to most persons. But as the readers of newspapers are much more numerous than the purchasers, there are thousands in the kingdom who, after having satisfied their curiosity as to the course of events, would be glad to possess a cheap Manual to turn to, which should, from time to time, present the principles and facts of most important public topics, in a clear and dispassionate point of view. The confidence of this large body of readers may, we think, be secured, by addressing them without regard to party, but with a desire to advance every measure of social improvement. Endeavouring to furnish the materials for thinking, rather than urging a one-sided direction of the course of thought, the COMPANION TO THE NEWSPAPER will, in great part, be a storehouse of FACTS applied to practical VOL. I. CONSTITUTION AND USAGES OF PAR LIAMENT. THE meeting of the present Parliament, the first which has been called together since the passing of the Reform Bill, took place on the 29th of January, exactly at the commencement of the period over which the review of public affairs attempted in this publication is to be considered as extending. We mean, therefore, to embrace the opportunity which the occasion seems to present, of laying before our readers such a brief notice of the leading particulars regarding the constitution of the two houses of the legislature, and their manner of conducting their proceedings, as may probably be found to convey, to many of them, some new and useful information on a subject of great interest. The limits to which we are confined must compel us, of course, to omit many things which might be properly included in a longer and more complete statement; but we shall at least be able to go over most of those points which a person reading the B reports of the debates, as given in the newspapers, ought to be acquainted with. Our paper may, therefore, be considered as an introduction to the debates. The Parliament, in the language of the law, consists of the King, the House of Lords, and the House of Commons. The consent of each of these three bodies is necessary to the making of every act of Parliament. In ordinary speech, however, the Parliament means only the Houses of Lords and Commons. The House of Lords, in its original constitution, is not a representative body; but since the union with Scotland, in 1707, the representative principle has been partially introduced into its composition. It now consists, in addition to the peers of Great Britain and the prelates of England, of sixteen peers of Scotland, elected by the whole body of the nobility of that country, and of twenty-eight Irish peers elected by the nobility of Ireland. The remaining Scottish and Irish peers, as such, have no seats in the House of Lords; but many of them have been made British peers, and sit in that capacity. An Irish peer, also, being regarded as a commoner in Great Britain, may be elected a member of the House of Commons on renouncing his right of voting for the Irish representative peers; but a peer of Scotland cannot. The Scottish representative peers are elected only for one Parliament; those of Ireland for life. A vacancy in the number of the former, therefore, may be occasioned either by the death of an individual, or by his elevation to a British peerage; in that of the latter, a vacancy can be occasioned only by death. The Irish bishops are also represented by four of their number, who serve only for a single session, and sit by rotation. At present the House of Lords consists of Princes of the Blood Royal, (all Dukes) Marquesses Earls Viscounts Barons Peers of Scotland Peers of Ireland English Bishops Irish Bishops Making in all 4 21 The power of calling together, or summoning the Parliament, is lodged in the king; and the form is by a writ, or letter, issued out of Chancery, addressed to each peer individually, and to the sheriffs of counties for the election of the members of the House of Commons. We may here notice, that, at the same time with the new Parliament, the Houses of Convocation of the clergy still continue to be called together, and to go through the form of commencing their sittings; but since the year 1717, they have been uniformly prorogued before they could proceed to business. It is part of the royal prerogative to prorogue Parliament, that is, to put an end to its sittings, and also to dissolve it, at pleasure, as well as to convene it. But no Parliament can be continued longer than seven years; and few last nearly so long. If, however, the death of the king should take place between the dissolution of one Parliament and the election of its successor, the old Parliament again meets immediately, and may remain in being for another half-year. The two Houses must be both prorogued and dissolved, as well as convened, at the same time. When the day appointed for their meeting arrives, the king either proceeds person to the House of Lords, or empowers certain peers, as his commissioners, to open the parliament. This cere mony is gone through in the presence of both Houses, the Commons appearing at the bar, whither they have been summoned by the Usher of the Black Rod. They then return to their own House to elect their Speaker, while the Lords proceed one by one to take the oaths at the table. The Lord Chancellor is usually appointed by the Crown as the Speaker of the House of Lords, in which quality he takes his place on a seat immediately below the throne, commonly called the woolsack. His duties, however, differ considerably from those of the Speaker of the House of Commons. He is not in particular invested with authority to preserve order in the House, and he is accustomed to take a part in the debate, which the Speaker in the House of Commons does not. Formerly it was the custom for the person chosen to fill the high office of Speaker of the House of Commons, to manifest the greatest apparent reluctance to take the chair, and not to suffer himself to be conducted to it without the exertion of considerable force. A passage from the self-disparaging speech pronounced by Sir Christopher Yelverton, on his being elected Speaker in the year 1597, may amuse the reader:-"Your Speaker," said he, "ought to be a man big and comely, stately and well-spoken; his voice great, his carriage majestical, his nature haughty, and his purse plentiful and heavy. But, contrarily, the nature of my body is small, myself not so well-spoken, my voice low, my carriage lawyer-like, and of the common fashion; my nature soft and bashful; my purse thin, light, and never yet plentiful." Of late, however, this affectation has been quite discontinued; and although in case of two individuals being proposed for the office, each usually votes against himself, the one who obtains the majority of suffrages no longer either professes any reluctance to assume the chair, nor, after he has been seated, goes to anything like the old excess in underrating his own qualifications. After being chosen, he must have the approval of his Majesty; for which purpose the House is again summoned to the Bar of the House of Lords, where the requisite form (for it is nothing more) is gone through, and the new Speaker, on behalf of himself and his fellow-members, lays claim, by humble petition, to the free exercise of all their ancient and undoubted rights and privileges, more especially, freedom of debate, freedom of arrest for themselves and their servants, and free access to his Ma jesty whenever occasion may require. The Commons then chair, and the members take the oaths of allegiance and return to their own House, when the Speaker assumes the supremacy in successive groups at the table. This must be done between the hours of nine in the morning and four in the afternoon; and during that period of the day, whatever other business the House may be engaged with, must be suspended when any member presents himself to take the oaths. No member can vote on any question, except the election of the Speaker, before going through this ceremony, under severe penalties; and there have been even recent instances in which, members having done so by mistake, it has been found necessary to pass a special Act of Parliament to relieve them from the pains and disabilities they had incurred. In all other respects, however, except as to the privilege of sitting in the House and voting, a person returned to Parliament is a member from the moment in which his return is signed by the proper offiHe is no longer, for instance, liable to arrest, and (provided his election has taken place within forty days from the day appointed for the return of the writ) he may frank letters before he leaves the hustings. There is no introduction of members to the House at the beginning of a new parliament; the clerk merely, after each has taken the oaths, introduces him to the Speaker, who shakes him by the hand; but when a member is returned at any other time than at a general election, he must be led up from the bar to the Speaker by two other members, and must make three obeisances or bows on the way, that he may be the better known to all present. cer. After the swearing in of the members in both Houses has been completed, or nearly so, which generally takes several days, it is customary for his Majesty either to come down to the House of Peers in person, and, the Commons having been summoned to the bar as before, to deliver a speech from the throne to the assembled legislature, or to depute certain lords, as his commissioners, to read such a speech in his name. A royal speech is likewise delivered at the opening of every succeeding session. It is usual for both Houses to take this speech into consideration the same evening, with |