the university of Illinois" LIBRARY 33Z B875 V.5 f£fimttitt 1 ROPOSALS FOR PAYING OFF THE WHOLE OF THE PRESENT Rational &>et>t, AND FOR REDUCING TAXES IMMEDIATELY. By HENRY MERTTINS BIRD, Eso^ Non defperandum de Republka. Etfi Ceecus iter monftrare 2 37 ■■ *3 : "t 9 per Cent. Confolidated-Annuitiefl eftimated .it the price of ------ 55 P er cent - - s per Cent. Reduced Annuities ;it 55 - - - - 4 per Cent. Confolidated Annuities, 67 - - - - 5 per Cent. Navy-Annuities - - S3 - - - - 5 per Cent. Annuities, 1797 - - 83 - - - - a per Cent. Annuities, 1726 - - 55 - - - - Long-Annuities to ex- J at 15! years pur- 7 pire Jan. 5, 1860 ( chafe on amount j Short-Annuities to ex- ( at 6| years pur-/ pire Jan. 5, 1808 1 chaii on amount \ South-Sea Stock - - - - 55 per cent. - Ditto old 3 per Cent. Annuities - 55 - - - •• Ditto new 3 per Cent. Annukies - 55 - - - - Ditto 3 per Cent Annuities, 1751, 55- - - - Imperial Stock, tor which this country js fecurity to the fubferibers. Imperial 3 per Cent. Annuities, p. 53 per cent. - I Annuities to f at 1 1 years purchafe 1 expire May 1, 1 S 1 9 t. on amount I Capita] of the National Funded Debt, exclufive of the Long, Short, and Imperial Expirable An- nuities. Capital of thefe Annuities taken at their eftimated value, as ..' Capital of the National Funded Debt, including the Long, Short, and Imperial Expirable An- nuities. To be added for the Loan of December, 1 798 Intereft on the Loan, eftimated at £ 5 : 9 : 6 per cent. ------------- Total amount of the National Funded Debt. Total value at o i| per pound, o j| o 6 to o 8 Butter 03 ditto ... o 7 to Sd. 1 o to 1 3 Straw . . 90 per load . ? 1 o 30 o Hay .......210 per ton . . 45 o 60 o Port Wine, in 1 754, £24 per pipe, £50 .... £70 Raw Sugar ............ 5^. to 6d. per lb. yd. to u. Nearly the fame proportions will be found in the prices of every other article of confumption, and the increafe of taxes is the principal caufe of this enormous advance. Part of it might be fuppofed to be owing to a diminution in the value of the precious metalsj and particularly of filver, which fome imagine to be gradually going on fmce the great diminution of their value in the fixteenth century, on the difcovery of the mines in America. But I have the authority of Dr. Adam Smith for believing it probable, that the general advancement cf the world in population and improvement, and in the ufe and confumption of the precious metals, nearly keeps pace with the fupply of them from the mines j and that therefore little or no part of the nominal increafe in the prices of the neceflaries of life, and other articles of confumption, has, within the laft fixty years, been occafioned by an excefs of the fupply of the metals. The ce- lebrated [ 9 1 kbrated and laborious author of the ff Inquiry * into the Nature and Caufes of the Wealth oi' ** Natiofis" is even difpofed to believe, that, owing to the increasing demand of all thriving countries, the value of thele metals has begun to rife fome- what in the market of Europe. As this rife ihould have produced a nominal decreafe in the prices of articles of confumption, if fuch decreafe have not taken place, but, on the contrary, an increafe, it can only be accounted for by fome counteracting caufe. A fmall part of this increafe may have arifen, as the fame able writer has {hewn, not from any degradation in the value of filver, but from a rife in the real value of the different forts of produce, in confequence of the advancement of fociety in wealth and improvement. The effects of fuch a caufe muft, however, be very flow and gradual -, and the advance, in fo fhort a time, of the prices of produce to three or four times as much as they were frxty-flx years ago, muft be owing to the more powerful caufe of the increafe of tixes, and their fimple and complex operation. The increafed expenfe to the confumer of taxed articles greatly exceeds what goes into the Treafury j a duty or cuftom of £ 20 per cent, on the mate- rials of any manufacture, yielding to government no more than £15; tne expenfe of collecting the cuftoms, and of keeping cutters to prevent fmug- gling, being eftimated to abibrb the remaining £5: [ io ] £ 5 \ whilft this duty raifes the price of the article to the confumer £ 28 : 2 per cent, or nearly double what government receives from it. This will appear by the following calculation : Untaxed. Taxed. Prime-coft to the merchant, ^xoo o o £ 100 o o Tax, 20 o o who charges 1 2 per cent, to the manufa&urer for his pro- fit and charges 1200 14 80 £112 o o £134 8 o who charges 12 per cent, to the retailer 13 8 g~ 16 2 6% £125 8 9 § £150 io 6$ who charges 1 2 per cent, to the confumer 15 1 of 18 1 3 i 1 ■ Deduft the untaxed coft to the confumer, 140 910 £2% 1 n| This is taking the feweft pofiible number of hands, through which any imported raw material can pafs before it reaches the confumer. One more hand might fairly have been calculated be- tween the importer and the manufacturer, who feldom buys of the original importer, but gene- rally of a fpeculator or dealer in the article im- ported. Between the manufacturer and the re- tailer alfo one more hand, the warehoufeman or wholefale dealer, almoft invariably intervenes. But, to [ " ] to be clearly within compafs, I will confine the calculation to the above three hands ; by which it will be feen, that, of £28 : 2, raifed on the fubject by a tax of £io, government receives only £15. Or, of £ 1,873,333 : 6 : 8, raifed on the fubject, government receives only £ 1,000,000; and that the enormous fum of ^ 9,366,666 : 13 : 4 only brings £ 5,000,000 into the Treafury. This is the firnple operation of the tax of cuitoms only. When we confider the complex operation of taxes through all the various chan- nels by which they reach the confumer, our minds are bewildered in the investigation, which exceeds the power of calculation. It may receive fome ifluflration by confidering the complex operation of taxes with Sir Matthew Decker, who took the fhoemaker for his inftance. He tells you, that the (hoe maker not only lays the tax on lea- ther on the fhoes he makes, but intereit for the money he advances on account cf the tax. He is obliged likewife to add as much more money to the price of fhoes, as every trader he deals with for the necefiaries of life had laid on their goods on account of the taxes ; and Sir Matthew Decker enumerates twelve different taxes, which the fhoemaker muft lay on, only that he may fub- fift. This lift or amount of taxes may probably be doubled fince Sir Matthew's time ; and hence It comes, that farmers and labourers, as I am in- formed, I 13 ] formed, now pay ys. and ys. 6d. for fuch fhoes as they bought a few years ago for 3 s. or 3 s. 6d. Mr. Soame Jenyns's apologue of the fand-man, who raifed the price of his fand though he dug it on the common and kept his afs there, farther il- Juftrates this fubjec"r.. " Why do you raife the tf price of fand," faid his neighbours, " when it " cofts you nothing ?" — " It is true," anfwered he, " but you charge me more for lodging, for " my victuals, for clothes, and for my beer, than " you did formerly, and I have no other way of " railing- the money." Thus taxes accumulate on taxes till the burthen is become intolerable. If the fimple operation of taxes, which produce only j£ 5,000,000 to the Exchequer, occafions an increafe in the price of the articles it is laid on of £93366)666 • 13 1 4 to the public, what muft be their complex operation, when every man lays the increafe, that all other people with whom he deals put on their goods, on account of the taxes, as well as his own, on the articles he fells ? I fcru- ple not to fay, that, for £ 5,000,00© paid into the Exchequer, £ 15,000,000 are raifed on the fub- jecl. Nay, fhould it be afferted that taxes raife four times as much on the fubject as they produce to the Exchequer, I think I fhould not be de- ceived. If we may judge of caufes from effects, if we may juftly reafon from confequences to ante- cedents, [ 13 ] cedents, the probability of the laft aiTertion will be cftablifhed. Fifty years ago, the writers on political economy and finances reckoned that there were feven mil- lions of people in England and Wales, and that the annual expenditure of thefe, one with another, male and female, old and young, rich and poor, was £4. : 10 for each perfon, or ^31,500,000 for the whole. Subfequent eftimates have increafed the expenfe of each individual to £7 : 10, and later calculations have fuppofed it to amount to £ 9, which, with the recent advance in the prices of the neceflfaries of life, is probably not beyond the truth. Without taking into account the increafe of po- pulation, which is now eftimated in England and Wales at eight millions, the expenditure of icvtn millions, at £9 for each individual, amounts to £63,000,000, being double what it was fifty years ago. Whence can this enormous increafe of £31,500,000 on our expenditure have arifen, but from the accumulation of taxes, and from the com- plex operation of them before-defcribedr* Before * Some old writers have made the expenfe of each individual amount to more formerly than it is here taken at. Yet, when it is confidered that the families of the poor make the bulk of the nation, that each of them confiits of five or fix perfons, that the wages of labourers, except in the neighbourhood of the metropolis, did not, fifty years ago, amount to more than from [ 14 3 Before I enter on the remedy for thefe increa- fmg evils, I muft call on my readers to give their moft ferious attention to other confequences to be apprehended from the intolerable burden of our taxes. One of thefe is the lofs of a great part of our foreign or export trade, and of all our fo- reign carrying- trade. The expenfe of (hip-build- ing is fo much increafed, and the wages of our from nine-pence to ten-pence a day, exclufive of Sundays, which reduced working-days to three hundred and thirteen, and that no labourer, and fcarce any manufacturer, has em- ployment for every working-day in the year, I am inclined to believe that thofe writers, who fuppofed each individual fpent but £\ : 10 a year formerly, were near the truth. As the prodigious advance of the neceffaries of life is a felf-evident truth, whatever the former individual expenfe might be, my argument is not affected by it. In fixty-fix years the price of meat is nearly quadrupled, and moft other articles are equally dear. Malt liquor, that comfortable beverage of the poor, one great fupport of the courage of the foldier and failor, and of the ftrength of the labourer, is greatly advanced. If, however, I be deceived, and, as it is mentioned in the Spectator, every perfon fpent £2 a year in 171 1, when thofe papers were written, this, I conceive, will abundantly ftrength- en my argument ; for, mould it be proved that the national expenditure is increafed £1 1,500,000 in fifty years, on a fup- pofition that the maintenance of every inhabitant was £4. : 10 a year, more than fifty years ago, it will follow of courfe, that, if it actually coft each perfon £8 a year then, and the neceffa- ries of life are more than twice as dear at prefent, the grofs fam which the nation fpends is proportionably increafed. feamen [ IJ ] feamen are (6 much advanced, in confequence of the operation of taxes, that, on the return of peace, other maritime nations, who navigate cheaper, will be able to deprive us of all our foreign carrying- trade. The prices alfo of our manufactures are fo enhanced by the taxes, and by the confequent ad- vance in the wages of our manufacturers, that we are in danger of lofmg a great part of our export- trade, the dearnefs of our manufactures being like- ly to operate as a bounty for the encouragement of the manufacturers of other countries lefs burdened with taxes. This is notoriously likely to be the cafe with the United States of America ; who being a nation of agriculturers, their market for manufactures muft long be an object of the firft importance to what- ever manufacturing nation may have a permanent preference in it. If we do not take every mea- lure in our power to fecure fuch a valuable cuftomer as America, we are rifking the commercial bene- fits arifing from the demands of a nation, that, in buying annually about £ 6,000,000 of us, is, next to our home-market, the belt we have in the world. To look forward a few years, lhe may afford a ftill better than even our home-market, which, from our advanced ftate of population, can increafe but flowly ; whilft the five millions of Americans, by doubling every twenty or twenty-five years, as they are computed to do, may, in the courfe of events, [ 16 ] •events, produce in a century a nation of fifty mit* lions of cuftomers, leaving ample allowance on the ^ computation for accidental deductions ; though, from the increafing fpirit of emigration to Ame- rica from all parts of Europe, and the fertility of" the frefh lands they are occupying, there is little reafon to fuppofe that the ratio of her population will decreafe for a long time to come. The dan- gers, to which this valuable branch of our trade is expofed by the increafe of our taxes, are either that the Americans will get their fupplies from other nations, who will be able to furnilh them cheaper than we mail; or elfe that they will eftablim ma- nufactures themfelves, and be able to fupply their wants cheaper than by importing. The eitablifh- ment of manufactories in the United States of A- merica is a favourite object of many of their ableft politicians, and has engaged much of their atten- tion ; and although, except in fome of the coarfer manufactures requiring but little fkill or capital, their attempts have hitherto pretty generally failed, owing to our being able to fupply their market cheaper, the prodigious advance in the prices of all our manufactures during the prefent war will give the Americans more encouragement and chance of fuccefs in their future endeavours. Another of the evil confequences likely to arife from the weight of our taxes, and from the lofs of the exportation of our manufactures, is the emi- gration [ 17 ] gration of our manufacturers and artifans to other countries where they can live cheaper. If fome plan be not adopted to reduce the taxes and the dearnefs of living in this country, it is much to be feared, that, when a peace with France fhall take place, multitudes of thefe will emigrate to that country where the neceflaries of life are fo much cheaper than in this. Many, alfo, will be difpofed to emigrate to the United States of America, where they will meet with every encouragement. To which-ever of thefe countries they may go, the confequences to this country will be equally fatal by the eftablifhment of rival manufactures which will fupplant ours. This will be followed by the ruin of our remaining manufacturers and ar- tifans, the ftarving of the poor, and the reduction of the rents of our lands and houfes j which will lpeedily produce, if it is not immediately accom- panied by, a fall of many years purchafe in the felling price of land. Let the landed intereft, and particularly thofe great proprietors of land and houfes who form fo weighty a body in both houfes of parliament, con- fider what their poiTelTions will be worth, if the poor are driven to the neceffity of emigrating, becaufe taxes have made the necelTaries of life fo dear, that they cannot purchafe them, and btcaule there is no employment for them in this country; or, which amounts to the fame thing, becaufe there is C better [ i« ] better employment and cheaper living courting them to go to other countries ? Sir Jofiah Child, whofe judgement in affairs of trade cannot be con- troverted, has told you, " That it cannot be ill * f with trade but land mull fall, nor ill with land " but trade muft fed it." He has long ago pre - di&ed I3>539>* 6 °' 1796, 11,030,110. 25th February, 1797, 8,640,250. mattery [ n ] rmfters have left any property, has a fubftantial foundation in fpite of the warnings of this renegado apoftate, who will find it difficult to perfuade them that they can employ their property any where more fecurely than to place it " at flake upon the event" q{ the credit of this country. Let us then keep this credit inviolate as the fure bafis of our future profperity, and let us look for relief to the natural refource of the internal riches of this nation, which are immenfe. Mr. Hooke, whom I mentioned before, computed the whole value of the real and perfonal property of this kingdom, above fifty years ago, at two thoufand one hundred millions fterling. Sir William Pulteney, who has written accurately and thought deeply on the fubject, has valued the landed property at one thoufand millions, and the perfonal at as much, a- bove twenty years ago. If Mr. Hooke was near the truth, and he valued landed property at one thoufand millions likewife, it muft be prodigioufly increafed now by the general advance of rents fince his time, and by the great improvements that have been made by inclofures in the laft fifty years, as well as by the great increafe in the num- ber and value of the buildings, particularly in and near the metropolis, which make a very large ad- dition to the value of landed property. I there- fore think I fhall not exceed the value of landed property in eftimating it at one thoufand two hundred C 4 and [ 9* ] and fifty millions, being only an increaf? of one-* fourth in fifty years, though I believe that I fpeak much within bounds when I fay that rents have rifen at leaft one -third in that time. I imagine Mr. Pitt's calculation of the value of landed pro- perty does not fall fhort of this ; for, if I recollect right, he dated the rental of England to the Houfe of Commons laft year at thirty millions. If we add the rental of Scotland and the value of tithes, the whole will produce an income that will bring the grofs value nearly to my eft i mate of one thoujand two hundred and fifty millions. The perfonal property of this kingdom was efti- mated by Mr. Hooke at one thoujand one hundred mil- lions ; but, when we confider the immenfe and pros- perous trade that this country has fince carried on, when we reflect on the various ways in which that trade has conduced to the increafe of our perfonal property, when we farther calculate the great influx of wealth from the Eaft Indies fince the eftablifhment of our empire there by Lord Clive, and when, finally, we take into the account the vaft increafe of our National Debt itfelf, which, though a burden on the public, is part of the perfonal property of indi- viduals, I do not apprehend that I fhall exaggerate the perfonal property of the nation by adding one- third to what Mr. Hooke eftimated it at a- bove fifty years ago j this will bring it now to one thoujand four hundred andfixty-fix millions. Ta- king [ 2J ] king it only at one thoujand four hundred and fifty millions^ and adding one thoujand two hundred and fifty millions for the value of the landed property, we (hall find the amount of both forts of property to be two thoujand Jeven hundred millions. This is the real fund for the payment of the National Debt, this is the folid fecurity on which the public creditor refts his confidence. It has already been fhewn, that the National Debt, funded to the prefent time, amounts to £450,843,237 : 13 : 1 1, worth^277, 526,159 : 6 : o flerling. This will probably be increafed by the addition that will be made to our funded debt, during at leaft two years more war; and, with the noble author of " Thoughts on Finance," I will eftimate the necefiary expenfe attendant on winding up the war at half-a-year's war-expen- diture. Giving Mr. Pitt credit for being able to raife as much of the fupplies without funding, for thefe two years and an half, as he has done in the laft year, I will take them at the a- mount of debt funded in this laft year, which was fifteen millions, exclufive of two millions for Ire- land; making, for two years and an half, thirty- ieven millions and an half, in addition to the value of the prefent funded debt. But, on the principle that the plan propofed ihall be carried into immediate execution, I fhall take the value of the debt as it now ftands, at £277,526,159 : 6 : o, [ 26 ] £i77>5' 1 6> 1 59 : 6 : °> including only the addirion-of three millions, already raifed by loan in the prefent ieflion of parliament. From this it might be fuppofed, that there ought to be deducted £ 66,000,000 of 3 per Cent. Confolidated and Reduced Annuities, worth, at $$ per cent. £36,300,000 fterling; which it is eftimated will be taken off by the fale of the land-tax. The iffue of this meafure is not yet known, and I have heard the fuccefs of it doubted by many country- gentlemen, feveral of them commifiioners under the a£t, for want of their properly appreciating the undoubted benefits of it to land-proprietors. Others fuppofe it will fail from the fcarcity of money among the land owners, and the little chance that, in cafe of their not purchasing their land-tax, moneyed men would be tempted to lay out their money in it, in preference to the various other more advantageous ways of employing it offered by the prefent fituation of the money- market ; fuch as in loans, continuations, and other ipeculations in the funds. I will, however, con- sider the meafure as completely fuccefsful j be- caufe, the adoption of the plan now propofed would occafion a great circulation and increafe of money in private hands, and would leave them no way of employing it more advantageoufly than by buying the land-tax, or lending it to the land-own- ers, to enable them to make the purchafe, Sti}l I [ V I I (hall not deduct this amount from the whole debt, becaufe I fhall hereafter fhew, that this ope- ration is included in my plan -, and that I propofe to allow the amount redeemed to each land -pro- prietor againfl the fhare I (hall require of his property. There is, however, one capital deduction to be made for the value of the different defcrip- tions of flock, purchafed by the commiflioners for the reduction of the National Debt, with the mo- ney arifing out of the finking fund, which may be eftimated as follows : £3S>*$ 1 >93° s? s ° SO cj — 8 4 1 3 On « cr tT Oh d .£) 03 1 £.S £> «. © CV *~ r- CLi p o o_> *— »~d , •s* ° ^ « >2 «s ro 1 2 ^ - u c a o I t: ^ 3 „ ° E^c « <£ rt « « p u .S ^3 « -=! '„ -c rs -c ** r »« ] M Cj oj a, c T3 _ P cr « ON J3 q\ fa o *N? Oh < O J3 I i- s 1) -~, • W to o u d # u J- CU-^ ° s (U U 4) In O- I M «§ s .5 m uO «tttg 01 HH 5 ^ >> 2 ^ u J J a, -o c S bo s « rt o *i CIS 53 On E t~» o u * »- » c o-« c 1) t-l-4 3 O C pi T3 ■> •S a) X 4-. U3 « O 5^? 0) ^ I I I 13 "3 I 1 f Z ° 3 3 u > .2 4* 3 "-' -a =j OJ .i-l oj c H o vq On S2 OS Having, [ 29 ] Having, according to the beft eftimate in my power, and which I hope will be fufficiently accurate, calculated the value of our national property, and of our National Funded Debt, which may be confidered as a mortgage on it, I fhall now venture to propofe a Jcheme for ■paying off the whole of this incumbrance. Many will be difpofed, without farther examina- tion, to exclaim againft a plan for paying eff the whole of the National Funded Debt of this country ; and, at once condemning it as vifionary and impracticable, will deem the propofer of it out of his fenfes : I anfwer, " Strike, but hear !" And, although the magnitude of the fcheme fills me with apprehenfions that the weaknefs of my pen may difable me from carrying into the minds of others that conviction of its practicability, which long reflection has impreffed on my own, I am encouraged to come forward for the chance of benefit to the public, in the adoption of a mea- fure, which I entreat may be carefully weighed and examined before it be rejected. It was eftimated in 1780, that, of £180,000,000 of debt, foreigners* then held about £ 40,000,000. In * The amount held by foreigners is likely to be fully in as -large a proportion now as at any former period, owing to [ 3o ] In the fame proportion, they probably hold about £57,000,000 of the value of the prefent funded debt: leaving about £199,000,000 in value held among ourfelves. One (hilling and eight penee in the pocnd, or a twelfth part only of our real and perjonal property, amounts to two hundred and twenty- five millions j which will pay off all that part of the public debt owing among ourfelves, and leave a furplus towards the future charges of the war, and the floating or unfunded debt. This alone will be no relief, unlefs an aft of parliament be parTed to take off at the fame time about ten millions of taxes. This adminiftration is experienced in taxation. They know which taxes moll increafe the prices of the raw materials of our manufactures ; which are mod expenfive in the collection, which prefs moft feverely on the lower and poorer claffes of the people. By a due attention to thefe, they will be able to point out thofe taxes which muft be taken off, to give the moft effectual relief to the fubject and to reduce the prices of our manufactures -, that, after the war is over, they may continue to find their way to foreign markets. to the immenfe fums of money fent by foreigners into this country, as the fafeft place of depofit, out of the reach of French contributions and plunder. It [ 3i ] It has been explained, that every man probably pays at leaft 16 s. 6d. upon every pound of his income to the fupport of government and to the intereft of the National Debt. It has been fhewn, that the manufactures of this country will be Co much enhanced in value by taxes, and the advance of workmen's wages, that there is great realbn to fear that they will no longer be ialeable in fo- reign countries, when the war is over. It has been farther Ihewn, that the dearnefs of living, occafioned by the taxes, is likely to caufe a great emigration of our manufacturers, artifans, and other labouring poor, as foon as the war is over. The removal of this opprefiive load of taxes is, then, the only way by which you can reduce the prime - coll: of your manufactures, give a comfortable fubfiftence and employment to your poor, and difburden the incomes of individuals. But the taxes are engaged to pay the intereft of the Na- tional Debt, and cannot be taken off. The only method of relief, therefore, is to pay off the debt to enable parliament to take off the taxes. If I can demonftrate, that it is the intereft of every man to part with a twelfth fart of his prin- cipal for this purpofe, the bufinefs will be greatly advanced. Surely the owner of every kind of pro- perty muft be fenfible, that, if he parts with fo f mall a proportion of his property, as his contribution, to get [ 3* ] get rid of the incumbrance of the National Debt, and government fhall co-operate by a propor- tionable reduction of taxes, thofe he will after- wards have to pay, inftead of confuming 16 s. 6d. in the pound of his income, will not confume more than Ss. or 9J. ; and the real net fum he will have to fpend will be twice or three times as much as before; or elfe, what is the fame thing, perhaps he may buy twice or three times as much with the fame money. The poor will be relieved by this fcheme, becaufe they will not fall into the calamities which now await them on the return of peace ; the rich, who cannot pay taxes much longer on the prefent fyftem, will be enabled to go on cheerfully, if fo much larger a proportion of their incomes is left at their own difpofal by the diminution of taxes ; and the power and profperity of the nation will be eftablifhed for ages. - WE [ 33 ] E now come to the mode of carrying this great fcheme of paying off the National Debt into execution, which I will divide into two parts ; one relating to that part of the debt held by Britilh fubjects, and the other to that part held by foreigners. I will begin with the plan for paying off or liquidating that part of the debt held by Britifh fubjects, which I propofe fhould be effected by an exchange of property among ourfelves, in fuch a manner, that the whole national property, real and perfonal, of two thoufand feven hundred millions now chargeable with an incumbrance of one hundred and ninety-nine millions of debt> due among our- felves, (hall be reduced to the net amount of two thoufand five hundred and one millions dear of that debt, which mall be liquidated and difcharged by every proprietor of landed or perfonal property giving up a twelfth part thereof to the ftock-holder, who fhall make an equal facrifice of a twelfth part of his flock. It will require much confideration, and a far deeper knowledge of finance than I am poffefTed D of, [ 34 ] of, to contrive the detail of this plan; but the following imperfect fketch of an act of parliament for this purpofe may ferve as an outline. ift. — Let his Majefty be empowered to ap- point commiflioners to be felected from the com- miflioners of the land-tax, and other perfons of equal degree, of the beft characters in every county of the kingdom, to be denominated the commiiTioners for afcertaining property ; great care being taken that they are men of experience and ability : and let a fufficient number of them be appointed to have a full quorum in every hundred or other divifion of the counties, and in every large town or city, which muft be fubdivided into convenient diftricts. adly. — Let thefe commiflioners, of whom three mail be a quorum, be empowered to examine upon oath all proprietors of real and perfonal pro- perty as to the value thereof, and to take fuch meafures as may be deemed beft calculated to afcer- tain the real bond fide value of perfonal and real eftates, in the feveral divifions where they act. Let the powers of the commiflioners be fuch as to enforce a true difclofure of each perfon's property ; and let the penalties of wilful and corrupt perjury be extended to thofe who fhall fwear to their property being UJs than it really is. Let them alfo be fubject to be furcharged a double afleflment, in cafe fuch perjury can be proved. But let care be [ 35 J be taken, that the oath to be adminiftered to each perfon mall not be calculated to prevent any, whom private considerations of perfonal credit may influence, from ftating their property to be more than it really is. 3dly. — Let the commiftioners, either by them- felves or by competent afleffors to be appointed by them, agree with the proprietors of landed eftates, whether freehold, copyhold, or leafehold, for a requifite portion thereof, being contiguous, and fuch as can be fpared with the lead injury to the remainder of the eftate. Let this portion be afiigned to and vefted in a board of com- miflioners, to be appointed for the redemption of the National Debt, who fhall aflign the fame, in the manner hereafter explained, at the value of thirty years' purchafe,* or otherwife, according to the prefent circumftances in refpecl: to tithes, * I had eftimated the value of land at twenty-feven years' purchafe, which it is worth on the prefent rents fubjedt to tithe ; but, as it is propofed, that the land affigned under the aft fhall be tithe-free, fuch part of it as was not fo before will be fully worth thirty years' purchafe on the prefent rents. A diftinftion will however be neceflary between lands fubject to the full operation of tithes, either by annual compontion or collection in kind, and lands under an eafy modus. Lands, alfo, which are now tithe-free and rack-rented accordingly, will not be worth more than twenty-feven years' purchafe. All thefe diuindlions can be fettled in the acT:. D 2 on [ 36 ] on the net rents, tithe-free, to the (lock-holder, againfl the credit given to him on the books of the commiflioners for the value of ftock transferred into their name, as herein-after mentioned, at $$ per cent, for 3 per Cents, and at the propor- tionable market-price for the other funds, already laid down, to be fixed and determined by the act to be pafled for this purpofe. When the eftate fhall confift: only of a fmall quantity of land, which cannot conveniendy be divided, let the proprietor be at liberty to pay for the part he fhould have afligned, at the number of years' purchafe, to be fettled in the act, by giving his notes to the commiflioners for the reduction of the debt; which notes fhall be deemed a mortgage, with right of priority on the whole eftate ; and fhall be entered in a regifter, to be kept in each county, to remain as a known incumbrance on the eftate till the difcharge of them is recorded in the regifter. When the real eftate fhall confift of houfes, the part, vefted in the faid commiflioners, fhall be afligned to the ftock-holder, or fhall be redeema- ble by the notes of the original proprietor, at the value of as many years' purchafe as fhall be fixed on them by competent furveyors and af- feflbrs, according to the value and condition thereof. Ever/ [ 37 ] Every perfon, who fhall be a proprietor of both landed .property and (lock, fhall be at liberty to redeem the part of land he mould have af« flgned with an adequate amount of his own flock i and, if he mall not be pofTeiTed of fufficient flock for the redemption of the whole afhgnable part of his land, he may redeem it as far as his flock will go, and affign only the remainder. But, if the proprietor of land fhall prefer to redeem the whole, or fuch part as he may chooie, of the afllgnable part of his land, inftead of af- figning it to the commiflioners for the reduction of the debt, he fhall give his notes to the faid commiflloners for fuch an amount of the value of the land as he (hall not have been able or fhall not choofe to redeem with flock ; which notes fhall be payable in the fame manner as the notes hereafcer- mentioned to be given by the proprietors of perfonal property j and fhall, till paid, be confidered as a mortgage on the whole eftate, with right of priority; and be re- giftered like the notes given where the quantity of land cannot be divided. The portion of land, &c. for which fuch notes fhall be given, fhall be valued and fet apart as more particularly aniwera- ble for the payment of the notes. The future proprietors of the afllgnable part of land or houfes, whether they fhall be the ori- ginal proprietors, or fhall have received the pro- D- 3 perty [ 3$ ] perty in exchange for ftock, fhall hold the land in fee-fimple or fee-tail, as the nature of the cafe may require ; but as freehold eftate, with all the privileges of fuch property, particularly the right of voting at elections. Thefe advantages will make the plan palatable to the ftock-holders; and the public at large will have the farther advantage of interefting fo many more perfons in the foil, and making them zealous fupporters of the government under which their titles will be fecured. As the ftock-holder, or future proprietor of this land, is to give thirty years' purchafe for it, and hold it in future in fee, and tithe-free, the proprietor of tithes fhall be confidered as having given up the due proportion of his tithes, and lhall in future only, receive them, or the modus or other compofition for them, from the remainder of the land heretofore fubject to fuch tithes. The future proprietor of the land, having paid a confideration for its being tithe-free, ihall be entitled to receive the tithe or the compofition or modus for it, from the tenants of fuch lands as are now under leafe, and fubject to the payment of fuch tithe by the tenants, till the expiration of the leafes enables the proprietor to increafe the rent. The proprietors of land, who fhall have re- deemed or contracted to redeem their land-tax, lhall [ 39 I {hall be entitled to fet off the amount of Hock they have engaged to transfer, or the equivalent they have engaged for in money, againft their proportion of the general contribution -, and, if this amount of flock or money (hould exceed their fhare of the contribution, they ihall be entitled to a reimburfement of fuch excefs -, it not being equitable, that the partial fcheme of the redemp- tion of the land-tax mould operate to the prejudice of the land-holders, when it fhall be fuperceded and abforbed in the more extenfive fcheme of paying off the whole debt. Where any doubt fhall arife, whether the true value or quantity of land has been delivered in, die aflefTors, if competent, or other furveyors of land, to be appointed by the commifiioners for afcertaining property, fhall meafure and value fuch lands. Let every perfon, whofe eftate fhall be encum- bered either with mortgage, quit-rent, rent- charge, annuity, or other fimilar out-going, and who fhall have afligned the requifite portion of his eftate, be confidered as owing lefs to the in- cumbrancer in the fame proportion ; the incum- brancer being in his turn entitled to charge fuch deduction againft the portion of his perfonal eftate that he is to affign or pay over. Where an eftate is held under a beneficial leafe of twenty-one years, renewable by fine every D 4 {even [ 40 ] feven years or for any other term, or on lives, with right of renewal on a death, let the perfon, holding fuch beneficial leafe, on having affigned the requifite proportion of the eftate, be entitled to a proportionable reduction of the referved rent, and to a reimburfement from the leflbrs of a part of the fine laft paid, in proportion to the term unexpired, if the leafe fhall be for years ; but, if for lives, in proportion to the chance of the lives, to be determined in the act, according to the tables made by Mr. Morgan for the Equita- ble Infurance- Office for Lives. Let the future fine for renewal be limited, to be reduced in propor- tion to the reduction of the quantity of land. The leflbrs, whether colleges, bifhops, chapters, pub- lic fchools, or others, fhall not be obliged to include fuch lands in their eftimate or report of their ^property, otherwife than as being liable to the above reductions for its proportion of the general contribution. Where an eftate is litigated in Chancery, and the value of each litigant's claim is uncertain, let the requifite proportion of the eftate be afiigned, and every claim be confidered as diminifhed in pro- portion j and let the court be obliged to confider it as fo, without fending the orator away to amend his petition. Let all fettlements, fecured on land, be confi- dered as reduced in the fame proportion as the land. 4thly. [ 41 ] 4thly. — Let the proprietor of perfonal eflates, of which a fufEcient part (hall confift of flock, tm :sfer a requifite portion thereof into the names of the commiffioners for the redemption of the debt, in exoneration of his mare of the general contribution; but, if the (lock he holds mail not be equal to fuch portion, or if none of his property mail confift of flock, then let him difcharge his proportion by pay- ments in cafn to the faid commiffioners, within the period of four years, by four inftalments in every year, as in the Land-Tax Redemption Act, with due encouragement for making the payments earlier. For thefe payments let him give his notes to the faid commiffioners, with any fecurity that can be devifed for die due payment thereof with intereft j and, as. this delay of payment does not accord with the general view of a fpeedy redemption of the National Debt, to attain this -object, let the Bank of England be authorized and required to advance money to the faid commiffioners on thefe notes, as well as on thofe taken from the proprietors of landed eflates, on the fecurity of government, in adcition to that given by the obligee of the notes, to ena- ble the faid commiffioners to redeem the faid Hock from the proprietors of (lock. No mifchief need be apprehended from the in- creaied amount of bank-notes, which, by thefe means, would be thrown into circulation, becaufe they would be abforbed in the courfe of the four years [ 42 J years that it would take to pay off the notes on which they would be advanced. It would, however, be advifable that the fpecie-payments of the Bank fhould continue to be fufpended till the expiration of thefe four years, even ihould the war be terminated within the time. 5thly. — Let every perfon, whofe property mail confift of flock, refident in Great Britain or being a Britifh fubject, transfer a twelfth fart thereof into the names of the faid commhTioners towards his pro- portion of the general contribution. Let the remain- der of each proprietors flock be alfo transferred fe- parately into the names of the faid commiffioners, who fhall open books, in which each proprietor fhali be credited for the value of fuch remainder at the price of 55 per cent, for 3 per Cent, flock, and at the proportionate market-price at which the other funds have been eflimated. As the fund for the redemption of the credit for this remainder will confift of land or money, or fecurities for money, let widows, minors, by their guardians and truf- tees, and all perfons pofTefTed of fmall incomes un- der ^250 a year, who would be diftrefTed by any reduction of their means, and public or private charities, have a priority to be paid in money, out of what fhall have been paid or fhall have been advanced by the Bank j or to take the fecuri- ties for money lodged in the hands of the faid com- miffioners, to be iffued by them, with the fecurity of t 43 3 of government, payable with intereft at the times of the inftalments due from the proprietors of per- fonal property. Let all other proprietors of flock be paid in portions of landed eftates veiled in the faid commiffioners by the proprietors of landed eftates ; fuch portions to be taken, tithe-free, at the price for lands and at the price for houfes at which they fhall have been affigned to the com- miffioners, giving a priority in the choice of lands or houfes to contiguity of refidence, fuch as, in the firft inftance, to thofc refiding, or having landed property, in the fame parifh - t then to thofe in the fame hundred and county j confulting, as much as poffible, the convenience of the parties, and af- terwards difpofing of fuch lands and houfes, as may remain, by lot. This part of the bufinefs mould be managed by the commiffioners for afcertaining property. -- 6thly. — Wherever there is a fettlement in the flocks by will, deed, marriage- fettlement, &c. or wherever there is money in the funds in truft for any hofpital, or public or parochial charity, or for the ufe of any fchool, or any other public body, the truftees fhall be obliged, like other proprietors of flock, to convey a twelfth fart to the faid com- miffioners for the proportion of the general con- tribution; and fhall transfer the remainder to the faid commiffioners, and fhall receive and hold the compenfation for fuch remainder, whether in mo- ney [ 44 ] ney or fecurities for money or land, for the fame purpofes and ufes, and to be divided in the fame proportions, as the original amount, with the re- duction of a twelfth fart on each fhare or portion. And, as the Bank and India Stock will not be fufficient for the inveftiture of all the truft-property to be paid off in money, the truftees fhall be au- thorized to lend the fame to the proprietors of landed eftates, on the fecurity of the notes to be iflued by them ; which notes, having been given to the commiffioners, may be taken up from them on payment of the amounts, and fhall continue as the firft incumbrance on the whole eftate, and be regif- tered, as mentioned in article the third. If the intereft on thefe notes fhall not be regu- larly paid, it fhall be at the option of the holder of them to take the redeemable portion of the eftate fet apart, for which they were given in payment, in fatisfaction of the notes, or to foreclofe the mort- gage, and be paid the principal and intereft of the notes in cam, by the file of as much of the whole eftate as fhall be requifite for this purpofe. Or, if the holders of the notes prefer it, they may, on failure of the regular payment of the intereft, call on the commifiioners for re-payment of the a- mounts, and the commifiioners muft then proceed againft the proprietors of the eftates. To [ 45 1 To fill np the imperfect outline which I have drawn of the mode of carrying this part of the plan into effect, and to clear the different parts from contradictory or clafhing claufes, will require the full exertion of the uncommon abilities and flcill in finance of the Chancellor of the Exche- quer, aflifted by the united wifdom of the Great Council of the nation. My feeble powers fink under the Herculean tafk, and I fhall purfue it no farther -, contenting myfelf with the honour of having attempted to lay the corner-ftone, on which, I flatter myfelf, that more able architects may build up a column, capable of fupporting the over-burdened fabric of the Britifh empire, and of refloring it to a (lability, which may defy the impotent attempts of its enemies to deftroy it. The second part of this fcheme relates to that part of the National Debt held by foreigners, which I have eflimated to amount to the value of fifty-feven millions. The circumftances, under which this part of the debt is held, require to be fully confidered to juftify the meafure which J fhall propofe. Thefe circumftances are, that, if no plan fimilar to mine be adopted, but the prefent fyftem of raifing money by loans, to be funded, and to depend on the efficiency .of in- crrafed taxation for the intereft, be continued, this t 46 I this as well as the other part of the debt will be daily depreciating in value with the increafe of the debt, and with the daily increafing inability of the country to go on with this ruinous fyftem. If, by an extraordinary effort among ourfelves, we prevent this depreciation, and give a liability and value to our funds, which they would not otherwife have, and which the foreign holder never calculated on, and has no right to expect, will it not be a fufficient benefit to him if we infure to him the prefent price of the flocks, with a fmall bonus, without allowing him to reap the extra- neous and enormous benefit of the advance which would otherwife take place on this part of the National Debt if not paid off? As this benefit formed no part of the original contract, either cxpreffed or implied, between him and this coun- try j but, on the contrary, it was expreflly under- llood that the country was at liberty to go with, a fyftem of funding as long as it could raife money, and was only confidered as bound for a certain intereft on the money lent to it ; the public cre- ditor can have no right to complain if the country lhall determine to pay him off at the prefent rate of the flocks. I therefore propofe, that, at the time of car- rying into execution the firfl part of the plan, government mall open a loan to raife a fufficient fum of money to pay off all the foreign holders of the [ 47 ] the National Debt at the rate of 55 per cent, for 3 per Cent, ftock, and proportionably for all the other flocks, according to the fcale already laid down j giving them, befides, a bonus of 1 per cent, on the fterling amount paid off. As all the old National Debt would thus be paid off, and this loan, with the floating debt and the future expenfes of the war, would form the whole amount of the new National Debt, there can be no doubt that it would be raifed at a very different rate from the prefent prices of flocks; and I think I muft be much within compafs when I fuppofe it would be at 75 per cent, for 3 per Cents. I think I have proved, that the foreign flock- holder will be benefited without any injury to his rights, or even equitable pretenfions, by being paid off at the prefent rate of the value of flocks, ta- ken at a full market-price, with a bonus of 1 per cent, under the propofed fcheme ; inflead of being fubject, by the rejection of it, to the continual depreciation of his capital, and the rifk eventually of a lofs of the interefl, by a continuation of the old fyflem of funding; and that he has no right to the benefit of the advance, in confequence of the debt being to be paid off. In refpect to that part of this plan which re- lates to the domeflic flock -holder, this objection may be raifed : that the public faith is pledged to [ 4» ] to the flock-holders to pay them in full, at leaft to the amount of the prefent market-price of the funds; and that taxing them a part, to pay off the remainder, would be a violation of that faith. Confidered abftractedly, I muft admit that there is fome weight in this objection ; but, when the whole cafe is confidered together, it will be found not to be valid. The object of the whole plan is for the benefit and fecurity of the flock-holders quite as much as it is for the benefit of the public at large. Bendes, they are not to be confidered only in the light of public creditors, but alfo of public debtors, bound to their proportion of the public debt, and now actually paying their pro- portion of the taxes to defray its interefl. They will, therefore, not only enjoy their portion of the general benefit with the reft of the public, by being relieved from the burthen of the debt, but they will have the farther advantage with the fo- reign flock-holder of being paid that debt, which, without this or fome fimilar plan of redemption, would be daily diminifhing in value. The fubjed will be illuftrated by viewing it in the light of a general average on a fhip at fea and in danger. A part muft be facrificed for the pre-, fervation of the reft. Shall the owner of the ihip refufe to have the mails cut away becaufe they are his property, when, without this being done, fhip and cargo will all be loft ? Shall a proprietor of the [ 49 ] the twelfth part of the cargo, which the general fafety requires fhould be thrown over-board, ex- claim againfl the violation of his rights, and infift on its being carried fafe to port? Would he not be confidered as a fool and a madman ? and would not his objection be incontrovertibly anfwered by telling him, that, although the prefervation of the remainder required the facrifice of a part, and that part his property, the other parts mould contribute to repair his lofs by a general average or tax on the whole, his proportion of which would be all that he would pay; that he would thus fecure eleven-twelfths of his property by the facrifice of one-twelfth, without which, the whole of his own property, and that of every other perfon, em- barked on-board the fame fhip, would be in danger of being loll ? On this kind of reafoning, parliament muft be defended, in having already taxed funded property by the increafed afTeffed taxes and the general tax on income, although it fhould arife from money in the funds. This fpecies of property is more particularly fubject to this tax than any other property, becaufe it is more vifible and definable ; and, if the defence be good in one cafe, it muft in the other, as it equally applies to the tax I propofe as to the tax on income, though arifing fiom the funds. Befides, the flock-holder, by this plan, will enjoy the benefit of relief, not only E from [ 5° ] from the fimple, but alfo the compound operation of the taxes -, and will have his remaining income relieved from a burden, which will make it go twice or three times as far, in procuring the objects of expenditure, as the whole now does. Shall he make no facrifice for fuch advantages ? or rather, will he refufe to procure them at fo eafy a rate ? More ferious objections to this plan, on the ground of its novelty, and the difficulty, if not impracticability, of carrying it into execution, did exift, and have prevented its being brought forward as foon as it otherwife would have been. But thefe objections have happily been done away by Mr. Pitt's fchemes of the increafed affefTed taxes and the fale of the land-tax. As thefe have been the fore-runners of his prefent plan of a direct tax on income, I confider them all as experiments, preparatory to the greater fcheme of paying off the whole debt, and as the prologue to the im- portant drama now brought before the public. The new fcheme of a tax on income is more efpecially calculated to pave the way for this plan, by eftablifhing the principle, and devifing the means of afcertaining the real and full amount of every one's principal or capital yielding income. When this grand point is accomplifhed, the greateft dif- ficulty in the way of paying off the debt by a general tax on capital will be furmounted, and the [ ] the ground-work of the whole will be laid. There was, however, one part of Mr. Pitt's former fcheme of a tax on income, in which I have always been of opinion, with many others, that he went on a wrong principle \ which was, the including in the income of a merchant, or any other perfon in trade, the profits of the current year as part of that income. The profits of a perfon in a public office, or in any other fituation where he is paid a fixed and certain falary, may be afcertained j but how can. you afcertain the profits of a merchant, who has dealings and gives extenfive credits all over the world ? He may eftimate what he expects them to bej but who can tell when he will have his returns, and what bad debts he may make before he gets them ? The only fair criterion, therefore, for the income of a perfon in trade is the intereft of his capital, beyond which, if he makes any profits which can be depended on, they go to the increafe of his capital the next years and this capital, with the intereft of it, is the fair object of taxation. Any other fyftem of taxation is partial and unjuft, being a tax and check on the exertions of the induflrious man, who is adding by his labours to a fmall capital, whilft it does not affect the pro- prietor of a larger capital, which he fuffers to lie idle, without any exertions to increafe his talent. It operates the very reverfe of the parable, and E 2 fays, t ti ] fays, " Well done, thou good and faithful holder " of five talents, which thou haft prudently bu- " ried to keep them in fafety: thou fhalt be " rewarded, and fhalt efcape the taxation which " will fall on thy neighbours." To the active employer of one talent it fays, " Thou wicked " and reftlefs fervant, thou haft put thy money * f to the exchangers ; and, having received thine " own with ufury, haft made two talents of it. " Thy talent, therefore, fhall be taken from thee, " and given to the tax-gatherers j whilft thy pru* " dent neighbour, who hath hid his talents in " the earth, fhall efcape." — The edimate I have made of the perfonal property of the nation is not intended to include any part of thefe profits, except what may be laid by, and actually realized and added to the capital. It is material that individual expenfe mould be avoided as much as poffible in the execution of the various parts of this great national object. It is therefore propofed, that no fort of defcription of fees fhall be paid. But let the commiffioners for afcertaining property, the commiflioners for the redemption of the National Debt, the affef- fors, furveyors, and all others, employed under the act, be paid by the public at a rate propor- tioned to their fervices, to be fixed in the act. This will avoid the repetition of a loud complaint, too juftly made againft the Land-Tax Redemption- Act i. I 53 ] Act ; one defcription of commiffioners under which, namely the old commiffioners of land-tax, have a great deal of trouble in fettling the fche- dules of land, and making out the certificates of the amount of land- tax thereon, without being paid for it j whilft the commiffioners for the fale of the land-tax have little elfe to do but to fign their names, for which they are paid a regular falary. The falaries to be given under this act mould be fufficient to induce the commiffioners and others to devote their whole time to this important object. No writing, deed, note, receipt, or alignment, under the act, fhould be liable to any ftamp-duty. A board of council fhould be appointed to give their opinion an all points referred to them by the commiffioners, or by any of the parties fubject to the operations of the act. If the council mall agree in opinion with the commiffioners on any difference with the parties in their divifion, their decifion mall be final j but, if otherwife, the dif- ference (hall be decided by a court of appeal, to be appointed for this purpofe, and to confift of eminent characters in the law, whole decifion mall be final ; and the members of this court fhould be paid by the public, as well as the board of council. E 3 HAVING [ 54 3 JtlLAVING explained, as well as I am able, the plan for paying oft" the whole of the prefent Na- tional Debt, it remains to be confidered what is to be done with the enormous fum now raifed by taxes to pay the intereft of this debt j the greater part of which will no longer be wanted, when the debt fhall be difcharged. The 3 s? -3 I £ o [ Si ] 00 On « q« N to a) •> *■> <*H .•> U be a c 9 O B .* I T3 tU ivernmen couife o f the war fund, th Y? ' to pofal of gc tal, in the afecution o: he finking CO C > 3^ C o 3 .. ti : left at the dif rging the capi •red for the pri ial million of t C "— T3 fcO .S ■" c « co O c O l- .-i CD P=j Oh 0) o c to > 2 aj c a y u 5 > -c £ -5 >* 2 o ^ x o c ^ a E < E io" .sals S ■=> O ^ = "^ cL^ § « S CJ ^ .2 a « ,o -r; c! u o H -i= .,-£> « " I. o T3 -Q c*. o " ,. « ° fe §^§ 3« "O 3 E Si >,*£ S> E ^ v — -S S !fl P O To [ 56 ] To the above allowance towards liquidating the future expenfes of the war, there may be added great favings and retrenchments that may be made in all our other expenfes and eftablifhments, to correfpond with the great alteration that will take place in the relative value of money. Eftimating thefe retrenchments at only a twelfth, or the por- tion propofed to be taken from every one's capital, (though they might fairly be eftimated at the rate of the difpofable amount of each perfon's income, that would be liberated from the complex as well as fimple operation of the taxes to be taken off,) they will, with the above, form an ample fund, that will enable the minifter in future to avoid the rifk of the accumulation of a funded debt, by paying off the amount of any loan made during a war before the probable return of ano- ther war, and fo on for any length of time. This fyftem will fuperfede the neceffity of a recourfe to the burdenfome meafure of raifmg the whole or a large proportion of the fupplies within the year, and will partake of the nature of that mea- fure fufficiently to have all the benefits without any of the oppreffive inconveniences of it. The amount of taxes, therefore, which will not be wanted, and may be immediately taken off, is ten millions. The benefits that will arife from this reduction of taxes form the greats counter- poife to the nominal, but not real, facrifke re- quired [ 57 ] quired of a proportion of each perfon's property j and, if the reduction of taxes be made with that judgement and difcrimination that the public have reafon to expeft from the abilities and experience of the prefent administration, every one's real difpofable means of expenditure, and of acqui- ring the necefTarics, the comforts, and the luxu- ries of life, will be more than doubled -, v/hich will have the fame effect as mere than doubling their incomes. The nation at large will at the fame time be relieved from a load of debt that was become intolerable, and would inevitably in the end have proved the ruin of our commerce, our property, our constitution, and of every thing valuable to us as men and as Britons. The incalculable advantages to be gained by thus paying off the National Debt and reducing the taxes are beyond the powers of my pen to defcribe, beyond the powers of my mind to efti- mate. The nation will in future, as has been already fhewn, be rich enough to carry on war by a permanent fund, which will raife the fup- plies, if not within the year, at lead in fo fhort a time as will prevent the rifk of a permanent funded debt; and, without any additional burden, we fhall be able to pay off the expenfes of one war before the probable return of another. This will give us the ability of keeping up the glorious fuperiority of our navy, the expenfe of which would [ 58 ] would otherwife in time ruin us. For, it has been afierted, that no nation ever kept the command of the ocean above one hundred years, becaufe they were ruined by the expenfe of their navy. Hiftory will mew that this affertion is true with refpect to the naval fuperiority of the Tyrians, the Athenians, and the Carthagenians. The Ve- netians and the Portuguefe in the Eafl Indies were much fooner exhaufted. The fuperiority of the naval forces of this nation, was never clearly efta- blifhed till the battle of La Hogue, in 1692 j and, although the fplendid victories of the prefent glorious naval war, and " the bleffing of Almighty " God" on the gallant exertions of our feamen, under an Howe, a St. -Vincent, a Duncan, and, above all, a Nelfon, at the mention of whom every Briton " Will fland a tip-toe when their day is nam'd," have carried us, in the midfl of triumphs almoft unexampled even in our own brilliant naval hiftory, into the fecond century of the command of the ocean, the enormous expenfe by which it mult be fupported mull fhortly difable us from keeping up this fuperiority, unlefs the ability of the nation to maintain it be renewed by the meafure now propofed. This country is in poflefifion of many advan- tages, which have given us the fuperiority over the [ 59 ] the whole world in trade ; and, if we were not oppreffed and overloaded by the intereft of our National Debt, would continue to us this fuperio- rity. We have among our ftaple commodities the materials of mod of our important manufac- tures ; we have experienced mafters and fkilful workmen; we have an immenfe capital to carry on our trade j and we have a body of excellent laws for the regulation of trade, fuch as could be devifed only, where the liberty of the country admitted opulent traders of all denominations into her councils. Under thefe encouragements and with thefe advantages, the balance of trade has brought, it is believed, not lefs than between a million and an half and two millions fterling an- nually into this country for the laft hundred years; and this balance in our favour has of late years much increafed. If you would not lofe this influx of wea,th, you mull remove the burdens and ob- ftructions, which will otherwife divert it into other channels. Our immenfe capital yields a larger income than any other European nation does, or probably ever did, poffefs j but it is fwallowed up by the intereft of the National Debt and by the complex operation of taxes. The eflate of each individual is now charged with a perpetual annuity, which abforbs and annihilates above four- fifths of his income. Would any man of com- mon fenfe refufe to buy off fuch an incumbrance by [ 6o ] by parting with only a twelfth part of his princi- pal ? Would not he be reckoned a madman if he neglected an opportunity of relieving himielf from fuch a burden ? It may be fuppofed, that the trader will defeat the benefit to be derived to the public from the reduction of taxes, by not fufficiently reducing the prices of the articles he deals in, and by taking to himfelf that profit which the public ought to enjoy. I conceive this will not be in his power; for, there is fuch a rivalfhip in the minds of all traders, that every one endeavours to increafe his own bufmefs, by felling as cheap as he can afford to do; and traders feldom agree in a price, till they have reduced the prices of the articles they deal in to a living profit only. It may be afked, how can fo great an underta- king be accomplished now we are at war ? The anfwer is, that this appears to me to be the beft, the only opportunity. What I propofe, being to be done chiefly by an exchange of property, there will be fo much money to be paid to thofe who will have no prefent means of employing it, that they will readily lend it to others, who might other- wife be diftrefTed to make their payments. But the grand, the glorious motive for carrying this meafure'into execution immediately is, that it will blaft all the expectations of our enemies, confound their politics, and fill their hearts with difmay. It will t 61 ] will enable us to carry on the war with increafed vigour. It will fix the wavering refolutions of the other powers in Europe, now proftrate and trembling before the gigantic, but felf-exhaufting, exertions of France; and, by teaching them, that the only fafety from her plundering rapacity is in manly refiftance, will unite them with us in a grand confederacy, to follow up the vigorous blows with which we have already ftaggered, and fhall, with the bleffing of God, foon pull down, the overgrown power of this common enemy to the peace and happinefs of mankind. Shall I be too bold if I defcribe the fad reverfe, if this meafure be not adopted ? The probable amount of our peace -eftablifliment, after the con- clufion of the prefent war, has been varioufly eftimated. The ordinary revenue for 1797, from the cuftoms, excife including malt, ftamps, land," affefled taxes, and fait, was — — £24,862,344 i6 of (Of this fum, the taxes laid this war raifed £4,697,402 13 2.) This is exclufive of the poft-office-re- venue, and a number of fmall funds, yielding together — — 1,390,642 9 4^ If we fuppofe the war to lad to the end of the year 1800, and allow half- a-y ear more for winding up Carried over, £26,252,987 5 5 the \ [ 6* 1 Brought over, £26,252,987 5 5 the war-expenditure, and calculate that expenditure to add £1,500,000 annually to the taxes, this will re- quire an increafe of the revenue of 5,250,000 o o £31,502,987 5 5 Taking our peace-eftablifhment, then, at thii\y- one millions and an half, on a fuppofition, that the fyftem of funding and taxing is perfifted . in or cannot be avoided, will any man venture to afiert that we can poffibly go on under fuch an enormous burden ? Will any man deny that it mull inevita- bly produce all the evil confequences I have pre- dicted ? Thefe are, that our commerce, which is the parent of revenue and of the navy, will decline j our foreign trade will be loft -, our navy muft almoft immediately decay for want of money j and, without the protection of our navy, our colonies cannot be retained. Our people will emi- grate for want of employment, and to avoid the taxes. Our riches will be carried away by the emigrants -, when they are gone, our lands will not pay their rents; our revenue will fink under the pre fibre of over-ft rained taxation ; we mail not be able to pay the principal or intereft of our National Debt, and our commerce and ccnjlitution will ferijh together in the gulph of national bank- ruptcy. Difcontent firft, and then feduion, may , enter" t 63 ] enter our hearts, and this once-happy land may become the bloody field of revolutionary hor- rors. Will it not be better to confider how we can pay off the National Debt now, before it is too late, and whilft it is {till in our power, than for govern- ment, as was the cafe in France with Calonne and Necker, to puzzle themfelves and irritate the na- tion fome years hence in vain attempts to pay the accumulated interefl, when it is grown too unwieldy for our diminifhed means ? Invention has been racked for the laft five years to find out taxes ; and, though they have been, as much as poffible, laid on the opulent, the magni- tude of the fums wanted has occafioned the necef- fity of extending them to the middling clafTes of the community -, and I am perfuaded, that, by the indirect and complex operation of the taxes, the weight of them will finally fall on the poor of every denomination. Let me earneftly recommend thefe alarming dan- gers, which now hang over the induftrious poor, to the ferious confideration of all defcriptions of per- lbns pofiefTed of any property, but particularly to the opulent and to the Lords and Commons of this kingdom. The poor labour for you as much as for themfelves, and are your nerves and ftrength j they are the cuftomers for the produce of your lands ; their labour fupports you in all your enjoy- ments [ 64 ] ments in peace ; and their courage protects you in the quiet poffefiion of your property in war. If you were entreated to fubfcribe a twelfth part of your fortune for the relief of fuch friends, would it be too much ? But I only invite you to relieve yourlelves and increafe your own incomes, and to let the in- duflrious poor fhare with you in the benefit. In this view, I call not on patriotifm, I call only on felf-intereft to adopt this meafure. Let me entreat every candid reader to confider that I afk much lefs of him than he would recom- mend to his friend in circumftances fimilar to thofe of this nation. If your friend owed £1500 on mortgage, at an enormous intereft, upon an eftate of £ 500 a year, you would advife him to fell £ 50 a year to pay off the incumbrance. How- much ftronger then is the cafe with refpect to each individual in this nation. A truftee might as well claim the property of the minor's eftate with which he is entrufled, as any of you can now pretend to be the real owners of more than one-fifth of your incomes ; the remainder is fwallowed up by the. taxes, from the revenues of our gracious Sovereign on the throne to the wages of the labourer in the field, and the refources that might be expected from any future exportation of our manufactures, and extenfion of our foreign trade, will be cut off by the increafe of the intereft of the National Debt and the ruinous preffure of the taxes. It [ 6J ] It may be thought, that, though all men will be pleafed to fee the burden taken off, every one will not be honeft enough to pay his proportion; but I cannot believe that an oath, that awful appeal to the Almighty, in which a man calls down the curfe of God on all his endeavours and upon all his fortunes, if he does not fpeak the truth and the whole truth, will be violated by many people. I is true that the evafions under the increafed AfieiTed- Tax Act have been very great j but the variety, un- certainty, and complicated nature of the allowances and reductions, and the uncertain nature of many incomes, gave an opening for them without the di- rect violation of an oath. In this plan there will be no room for fuch evafions ; as all property, a- bove a very moderate amount, in confide ration of the benefits to arife, is to pay its proportion with- out any allowances j and for fuch perfons, as would be difpofed deliberately to perjure themfelves by a falfe oath, adequate means of detection may be enacted to reftrain or punilh them. There are many men who carry on an extenfive trade with little or no capital, and molt of thefe will think it necefTary to the iupport of their credit to give in a fortune. The great number of thefe will make amends for the few who will conceal part of their fortune by perjury. The cafe of thefe per- fons feems hard ; but the hardlhip is voluntary, an<4 it is recommended to them to confider that the F plenty [ 66 ] plenty of money, which will immediately follow the completion of this fcheme, will increafe that credit by which their exiftence as traders is fup- ported j and the reduction of intereft that may be expected will reimburfe them in a fhort time. There is one objection that may be made which has not yet been noticed. This is, that paying off the National Debt will deftroy that bond of union which attaches fo many people to the government, under which their property in the funds is fecured. Will not the government find an equal number of friends, by the great increafe of proprietors of land, whofe fupport will be more to be depended on, as their property will be lefs moveable than money in the funds ? The immobility of property in land muft more ftrongly attach the proprietors of it to government, fince the ftriking contrail the French revolution has exhibited between one and the other, by (hewing how eafily the proprietors may be moved, though the land cannot, and how natural a confequence of revolution their being fo is. The national profperity, as well as population, will, be- fides, be much increaied by the divifion of land among a number of fmall proprietors, which will greatly correct the fo- much-complained of evil of a monopoly of farms, and will have a tendency to accelerate the change that muft take place, under the new order of things, in the prices of the pro- duce of land when the taxes are taken off. There [ 67 ] There is only one defcription of perlbns who will fuffer any injury by the old National Debt being paid off. Thefe are of a great variety of defcrip- tions, who now earn a livelihood by means of the flocks and in the collection of the taxes. Their means will certainly be very much reduced; but they will have no better ground for juft complaint than the foldier, failor, or contractor, .would have, that the nation was relieved from a war, by the continuance of which they expected to be enriched. They will have no better ground of complaint than the phyfician and apothecary would have, that, by the abatement of a general diforder which affected the whole community, they loft their fees. In de- nying their right to complain, I am ftill fenfible of the inconvenience they will fuffer, and am happy to be able to give them the confolation, that the in- creafed profperity of the nation, when relieved from the debt and taxes, will offer them various ways of fupporting themfelves. I had gone thus far in my plan, and have made no alteration in it, except fome general allufions to Mr. Pitt's new fcheme of a tax on income of e- very defcription, before he, on the 4th of laft month, laid this grand fcheme of finance before parliament. I was prefent at the general dif- F 2 play [ 63 ] play of patriotic zeal exhibited at the meeting at the Manfion-Houfe, where I faw almoft all the firft and moft refpectable commercial characters of this great city aifembled for the exprefs purpofe of declaring " their confidence in the refources of thefe " kingdoms, and their readinefs cordially to pro- u mote fuch an application of thefe refources as " may, by the legiflature, be deemed more equal " and effectual than any hitherto adopted." I the more readily concurred in that declaration, be- caufe I faw, that, in fupporting Mr. Pitt's plan, which requires that the real income of every indi- vidual mould be afccrtained, it would pave the way for the practicability of the more enlarged fcheme, founded on the fame principles, which I have pro- pofed. This pledge, given by the leading com- mercial and moneyed body of the kingdom to fupport Mr. Pitt's plan, and the general approba- tion of the principle of it exprefied by all defcrip- tions of perfons, emboldens me to anticipate a fa- vourable reception of my plan, and to hope, that, if the Minifter mould deem it worthy of being brought forward by him, it will meet with as ge- neral fupport and approbation. It is a great fatisfaction to me to find, that, with very inadequate means of calculation, if I have not exactly agreed with Mr. Pitt in his eftimates of the national property, and have not been able to go into the mafterly details which he has, the ge- neral [ «9 1 neral rcfult of my grofler eflimates nearly coincides with his, and, at all events, does not exceed them. In the value of the land, more particularly, I agree with him, as nearly as it is poflible to do on a fub- ject where the molt accurate computation mud ftilj be liable to confiderable uncertainty. His eftimate is, that there are forty millions of acres of land un- der cultivation in England : F 3 Th« s? o o o 8 o o o si bJO a o c .1-1 a> o 1 M I o o ,s a* Vh J O C «* .5 <*• ** o I bJQ ^3 1 «.S I •a <* ,« 5 18 I C ©is §4 rt o c S > c g u Jill I rC _ o O v ° B-S^ , S 2 « -« -2 i ° ^3|^ w S «> o o •9 to -a o o o o o o o o q q, 6 o" o o 1 1 iry Q O O o o o o o o o o o •» " -? o w-i O u-i N O N i- o 00 N O M l/-\