o remove the detestation of the
king's service, it is not necessary to raise the wages of the seamen; it
is necessary only to secure them; it is necessary to destroy those
hateful insects that fatten in idleness and debauchery upon the gains of
the industrious and honest.

When a sailor, sir, after the fatigues and hazards of a long voyage,
brings his ticket to the pay-office, and demands his wages, the
despicable wretch to whom he is obliged to apply, looks upon his ticket
with an air of importance, acknowledges his right, and demands a reward
for present payment; with this demand, however exorbitant, the
necessities of his family oblige him to comply.

In this manner, sir, are the wives of the sailors also treated when they
come to receive the pay of their husbands; women, distressed,
friendless, and unsupported; they are obliged to endure every insult,
and to yield to every oppression. And to such a height do these
merciless exacters raise their extortions, that sometimes a third part
of the wages is deducted.

Thus, sir, do the vilest, the meanest of mankind, plunder those who have
the highest claim to the esteem, the gratitude, and the protection of
their country. This is the hardship which withholds the sailors from our
navies, and forces them to seek for kinder treatment in other countries.
This hardship, sir, both justice and prudence call upon us to remedy;
and while we neglect it, all our deliberations will be ineffectual.

Mr. SOUTHWELL then spoke to this effect:--Sir, of the hardships
mentioned by the honourable gentleman who spoke last, I have myself
known an instance too remarkable not to be mentioned. A sailor in
Ireland, after his voyage, met with so much difficulty in obtaining his
wages, that he was at length reduced to the necessity of submitting to
the reduction of near a sixth part. Such are the grievances with which
those are oppressed, upon whom the power, security, and happiness of the
nation are acknowledged to depend.

Sir Robert WALPOLE, the prime minister, then rose, and spoke as
follows:--Sir, it is not without surprise that I hear the disgust of the
sailors ascribed to any irregularity in the payment of their wages,
which were never, in any former reign, so punctually discharged. They
receive, at present, twelve months' pay in eighteen months, without
deduction; so that there are never more than six months for which any
demand remains unsatisfied.

But, sir, the punctuality of the pa