Feb. 25, 1830.

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Establishments necessary to maintain the National Honour.

It is perfectly true, that this island is but a small portion of the globe, yet its interests are extended over all the world, and must be maintained, though at a great expense.  Now the expense necessary for the maintenance of the honour and interests of this country (and over that alone have we any control), is at present only 12,000,000 l. of money; for there has been a decrease, in the present and last sessions of Parliament of not less than 2,000,000 l. on this part of the expenditure; and your Lordships must know that there are other portions of the national expenditure, which cannot be touched at all.  With respect to that part which cannot be touched, his Majesty’s Government have effected all that they possibly could.  Having said this, I must claim for myself and my colleagues in office, credit for an anxious desire to do everything in our power to diminish the expenditure.  With respect to the amount of expenses incurred on account of our Colonies, I believe that the number of troops in the old colonies and places occupied by a military force previously to 1792, is now reduced lower than it was in that year.  This country, however, in the course of the last war, made very considerable conquests; those conquests require for their maintenance large bodies of men, and, consequently, create a great additional expense.  They require for their protection very nearly as many troops as the old colonies.  Before the war we were not masters of the Cape of Good Hope, of the Mauritius, or of Ceylon.  In the Mediterranean, we had no station, unless Gibraltar can be deemed one, which is not the case now.  My Lords, it is obvious, that all the new stations which we have acquired, demand a larger force for their protection.  These things considered, it appears to me, that the military establishment has been reduced as far as it can be reduced, a proper regard being had to the interests of the empire.

March 4, 1830.

Difficulty of Legislating on the Poor Laws.

It should be recollected that some of the greatest men that ever lived in England—­including Mr. Pitt and Mr. Whitbread—­attempted to deal with the difficult subject of the poor laws, and failed.  It is a subject equally important, difficult, and complicated.  The system, as far as local practice and arrangements go, varies in almost every parish of England more or less; and, I repeat, it is almost impossible to deal with it successfully.  We ought not to enter into the subject of the poor laws hastily, or at an inopportune period like the present.  It will be better to wait till the country is restored to a state of complete prosperity, and then investigate the subject with a proper degree of attention.

March 18, 1830.

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