THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 332 
 B875 
 
 itmmm
 
 ^n ^00fiu 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NATIONAL DEBT AND FINANCE 
 
 OF 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN; 
 
 WHEREIN IS SHEWN 
 
 THE RUINOUS TENDENCY OF THE PUBLIC DEBT 
 
 AND THE 
 SERIOUS E.VIL OF CONNECTING THE REVENUE 
 
 WITH TRADE AND COMMERCE; 
 
 THE PRACTICABILITY OF LIQUIDATING 
 
 THE NATIONAL DEBT; 
 
 AND 
 THE NECESSITY OF ADOPTING 
 
 A MORE SIMPLE SYSTEM OF FINANCE. 
 
 LONDON : 
 EFFINGHAM WILSON, ROYAL EXCHANGE. 
 
 MDCCCXXXIII,
 
 
 TO THE 
 
 RIGHT HON. EARL GREY, 
 
 WHOSE POLITICAL CONSISTENCY 
 
 AND STEADY PATRIOTISM 
 
 DURING A LONG PUBLIC LIFE, 
 
 JUSTLY ENTITLE HIM TO THE CONFIDENCE AND ESTEEM 
 
 OF EVERY TRUE LOVER OF HIS COUNTRY; 
 
 IS INSCRIBED, 
 
 IN TOKEN OF SINCERE ADMIRATION, 
 
 BY HIS LORDSHIP'S 
 
 OBEDIENT SERVANT, 
 
 THE AUTHOR. 
 
 i 
 
 359363
 
 icJflH
 
 AN ESSAY 
 
 ON THE 
 
 NATIONAL DEBT AND FINANCE 
 
 OF 
 
 GREAT BRITAIN. 
 
 It will appear evident to any one accustomed 
 to regard the passing occurrences of time, that a 
 new era is opening upon the world, wherein the 
 rights of mankind will be more correctly known, 
 and more universally respected, than hitherto they 
 have been in the previous history of man. Ever 
 since the first formation of civil society, the 
 *' rigM^ has generally yielded to " miglity^ and the 
 privileged ^^ few" availing themselves of the igno- 
 rance and prejudice of their fellows, have succeed- 
 ed in oppressing the '■^many." But the time seems 
 fast approaching when this state of things will be 
 reversed ; when society at large, understanding 
 their true interests, shall place might on the side 
 of right — when the caprice of the few will not 
 militate against the welfare of the many, and when, 
 in fact, the frame-work of society will be held to- 
 gether by the mutual interest and happiness of all 
 its component parts. 
 
 No circumstance could display, in a more strik- 
 ing manner, the spirit that is abroad among men, 
 than that wonder of the age, the '* Reform Bill."
 
 2 
 
 Had any one prophesied its accomplishment a few 
 years before it passed, he would have exposed him- 
 self to the utmost derision as a wild and enthusi- 
 astic visionary. Such long-fostered prejudice — 
 such deep-rooted habit — such weightiness of influ- 
 ence, and such overwhelming masses of self-inte- 
 rest stood opposed to its progi'ess as to make it an 
 apparent impossibility : and yet, notwithstanding 
 this opposition, it took place ; not as great changes 
 had heretofore occurred, with violence and blood, 
 with confusion and dismay, but orderly and in 
 peace, presenting the great and sublime spectacle 
 of a nation majestically arising in its strength to 
 proclaim its will ; and in the exercise of a mighty 
 moral power exclusively, regenerating itself from 
 the accumulated evils of previous centuries ; thus 
 throwing up a stage-work of observation, whereon 
 are to be transacted those doings so influential on 
 the coming destinies of England, and from which 
 so much of social improvement and social happi- 
 ness may reasonably be expected. 
 
 It is very interesting now to read over the vari- 
 ous speeches delivered during its progress by those 
 who were set in hostility towards it, and to mark 
 their prophetic fears, lest it should not prove an 
 ultimatum : that it should be a means and not an 
 end^ and be only the forerunner of still more dread- 
 ed changes. If those fears were not well-gi'ounded, 
 the nation would have but little cause to rejoice : 
 a reformed parliament was only desirable as it 
 became efficient to meet the growing intelligence
 
 of the times, aiitl to act as the effective organ hy 
 which the nation might cany on the improvements 
 necessary for perfecting the social system. It 
 should therefore more properly be regarded as a 
 foundation for a useful and splendid superstruc- 
 ture ; or as a germ that will gradually unfold its 
 principles as it obtains room for their adoption, 
 until its salutary influence shall renovate and fer- 
 tilize the total condition of all to whom it extends. 
 Among the many advantages likely to be derived 
 from its operation — the power it will confer of con- 
 trolling the expenditure of the public money — will 
 not be the least beneficial. The principle on which 
 this power will rest arises from the fact, that Go- 
 vernments are instituted for the advantage of the 
 community at large. It has been but too much 
 the custom of past times to regard the honour and 
 the interest of kings as the sole end of the forma- 
 tion of governments ; whereas the only reason that 
 can be given for their adoption is, that the great 
 body of the people might be benefitted thereby : 
 kings, in fact, being made for the benefit of the 
 people, not the people for the benefit of kings. 
 Governments, of whatever kind, are instituted 
 solely for the good of the people, and not the peo- 
 ple, in any measure, designed for the good of those 
 that govern. The word govern conveys a wrong 
 idea ; it would be far more descriptive of the real 
 design of their office was it written serve^ and they 
 who carried on the public affairs regarded as the 
 officers employed to minister in the necessary
 
 transactions of the state. This view being admit- 
 ted, it follows that they whose concerns are thus 
 managed, should exercise a controlling power over 
 those who are employed to manage them, and the 
 more directly this controlling power is in opera- 
 tion, the more probable it is that the affairs will be 
 conducted properly — that those measures will be 
 avoided likely to prove injurious, and those pur- 
 sued exclusively which promise beneficial results. 
 It may be taken for granted, that one of the 
 most deeply rooted feelings in human nature, is 
 self-interest ; with some variations in its modes 
 of acting, it is, in general, the main spring of 
 human conduct, men always feel the most rea- 
 dily, and the most acutely those affairs, wherein 
 their own interests are immediately involved, and 
 it may, therefore, be expected, that the great 
 body of the people, upon whom the public burden 
 chiefly rests, will not be long, before their atten- 
 tion is drawn to those transactions in which they 
 are so especially interested. Feeling they possess 
 the right of doing so, they will, ere long, exert 
 the power they now possess, and all those mat- 
 ters, which operate, either directly or indirectly 
 against their prosperity, will become objects of 
 the most vivid attention ; neither respect to old 
 usages, nor the mandates of assumed authority, 
 will long continue to operate as charms, against 
 the stronger and more influential workings of in- 
 terest ; the old practice of playing, one part of 
 the community against another, will cease to be
 
 successful — and men, knowing that there is an 
 identity of interests amongst all classes of society, 
 will not be deluded by any specious appearance of 
 particular advantage to themselves, derived from 
 injury to others, but will combine to destroy what- 
 ever stands opposed to their general welfare. 
 
 It needs but little proof, to convince any one of 
 the fact, that the public burden rests almost ex- 
 clusively, upon those classes of society, which are 
 called the middling, and the lower ; those, who 
 are employed either in agriculture, in commerce, 
 or in trade, and these, taken together, form, per- 
 haps, nineteen twentieths of the whole commu- 
 nity. It is probable, that, if a comparison were 
 made, of the respective pressure upon these classes, 
 it would be found, that the agricultural feel less 
 of it, than those engaged in trade and commerce, 
 inasmuch, as the price of landed produce is gene- 
 rally proportioned to the current expenditure, 
 and the nature of their transactions is easily ad- 
 justed by the pressure of circumstances. It is not 
 thus with persons engaged in trade, for their de- 
 pendance is upon circumstances more remote ; 
 and, a combination of adventitious matters is re- 
 quisite to ensm'e success. Without, however, in- 
 sisting on which has the heaviest end of the bur- 
 den, it may be admitted, it is borne between them^ 
 and it, therefore, becomes a matter of mutual 
 consideration, to make the pressure as light as 
 possible. It is not, perhaps, owing to the clever- 
 ness, or the fault of the privileged classes, that
 
 they are exempted from bearing any portion of 
 the public bm-den ; but, it may be viewed, as 
 arising from the system of social compact, hitherto 
 prevailing ; a system, by which they have derived 
 the double advantage of securing all the honour 
 and all the profit to themselves, of the combined 
 operation of every other class. It will not be con- 
 tended that this is right, no man has a claim to 
 the benefits resulting from social combination, 
 unless he furnishes his quota to the general good ; 
 if he take out of the joint-stock purse without put- 
 ting in, or, if he take more than he is of right 
 entitled to, he commits an outrage on society — 
 and sooner or later, that outrage must be re- 
 venged. Mankind are becoming too wise, to suf- 
 fer such anomalies to exist. England is attaining 
 a position, by which she can compel justice to be 
 done impartially ; and her reform bill may be re- 
 garded as the fulcrum of that potential lever, by 
 which she will overturn oppression, and topple to 
 destruction long sanctioned violence and abuse. 
 The many who pay, have attained a power to 
 controul the payments ; and a severe retribution 
 may await the spoliators, who have so long fat- 
 tened on her misery, and made merchandize of 
 her wrongs. 
 
 If the true principles of social fellowship were 
 rightly understood, there would not exist any of 
 that short sighted selfishness, which prompts one 
 set of individuals to sacrifice the welfare of others 
 at the shrine of personal aggrandizement. The
 
 veiy parties who arc supposed to profit hy exclu- 
 sive ))rivileges, derive less advantage from their 
 monopoly, than they would obtain hy a fair and 
 equitable diffusion of equal rights ; whilst, to 
 gratify an ambition, as foolish, as it is inordinate, 
 an entire eonnnunity is to submit to the infliction 
 and perpetuation of almost indescribable evils. 
 The gradation of ranks in human society, is a 
 natural, a fair, and a useful distinction ; calcula- 
 ted to increase the comfort, and give stability to 
 the body at large : but then, those various orders 
 should be founded on general utility, and estab- 
 lished in righteousness, harmonizing in one com- 
 bined operation of mutual and universal happi- 
 ness, and all equally contributing their respective 
 portions to the common stock ; each feeling it to 
 be his interest^ as it is his duty^ to do all he can 
 for the promotion of his country's welfare. 
 
 The prosperity of any country depends upon 
 the exertions of its people, profitably directed : 
 that country will, therefore, be the most wealthy, 
 whose inhabitants are most generally employed : 
 human labour is productive, and its produce is 
 wealth : the more extensive that productive labour, 
 the more extensive that wealth, which it necessa- 
 rily causes. To illustrate this proposition, we 
 may observe, that the most fertile soil, the most 
 valuable minerals, the most useful rivers, are 
 apparently of no value, until operated upon by 
 human industry ; but, so soon as that is the case, 
 the elementary principles of wealth assume a tan-
 
 gible form, and we behold an effect, delightful to 
 contemplate. By the transforming power of well- 
 applied labom*, all becomes changed, all becomes 
 productive — there is the rich harvest, indicating 
 plenty ; the busy workshop, producing comfort ; 
 the swelling sails, transporting happiness to every 
 individual ; and a wide, continuous scene, of 
 beauty, and of joy. All that is delightful in our 
 recollections of past time, all that is truly gi-eat 
 in the pages of history, arises from its connexion 
 with human effort, and human industry. Nations 
 have risen to opulence by these causes, and have 
 fallen to decay from neglecting them ; and Eng- 
 land owes her present elevated position to the 
 general habits of industry so widely diffused 
 amongst the great body of her people. If this po- 
 sition be true, it follows that it is the duty of all 
 parties, to facilitate the opportunity of universal 
 employment^ to make that employment as profitable 
 as may be, and to remove from the community 
 those things, which are likely either to impede 
 labour, or to make it less productive than it might 
 be. 
 
 With regard to employment, and the profit re- 
 sulting from it, both these objects will be most 
 effectually attained by the removal of those evils, 
 which operate against the prosperity of trade : 
 for commerce and labour need no extraneous in- 
 ducements to promote their growth ; they are suf- 
 ficiently vigorous to ensure their own success, if 
 left free and unshackled, to work out their native
 
 9 
 
 tendency. The gi'eatest benefit that any govern- 
 ment could confer on a country, is to leave it un- 
 fettered by legislative enactments, with regard to 
 its trading and commercial operations. No inter- 
 ference of government ever yet proved beneficial 
 to trade ; but, in almost every instance, where 
 such interference has taken place, injurious effects 
 have been the result. 
 
 The evils, under which trade and commerce 
 labour, in this country, may be comprized under 
 two general divisions : the one, including those 
 numberless obstacles, and perpetual obstructions, 
 arising from the connexion of the revenue with 
 commercial operatiwis ; and the other, resulting 
 from that overwhelming incubus, the '* National 
 Debt." The latter, apparently, gives occasion to 
 much of the former ; but, both conjoined, they 
 weigh so heavily, that, it is next to miraculous, 
 how the country can sustain the accumulated and 
 vexatious pressure. A convincing argument, how- 
 ever, may be derived from this reflection, to prove 
 the native buoyancy of trade, and the advantages 
 of industry ; for if, with this extreme encum- 
 brance, our commerce can still survive and flou- 
 rish, what might it not attain to, if at perfect 
 liberty ? We can scarcely limit the extent of pros- 
 perity, or conceive a boundary, that could confine 
 our enterprize, less than the round world we in- 
 habit. 
 
 The great and overwhelming evil, imder which 
 England suff'ers, is the "National Debt." All
 
 10 
 
 other political evils grow out of this ; and what- 
 ever is irksome in taxation, or foolish in policy, 
 may be traced to this prolific som-ce. The term 
 by which this obligation is described, might lead 
 to an inquiry, whether the debt be properly 
 national^ or not. Considering the wickedness of 
 the object, for which the money was raised, and 
 the foolishness with which it was disbursed, some 
 question might be made as to the propriety of 
 calling it by a term, which implies an obligation 
 upon the people. A slight process of reflection 
 will, however, dissipate these doubts ; for there 
 can be no question, that the money has been bor- 
 rowed, and is now owing ; it has been done by 
 the constituted authorities for the time being, and 
 the fact that interest has been paid, may be re- 
 garded as a full acknowledgment of the existence 
 of the debt. The parties who have engaged in 
 these transactions, may have been mistaken in 
 their proceedings ; but the money has been raised, 
 and expended for the general policy of Great Bri- 
 tain, and may, therefore, be properly designated 
 THE National Debt. 
 
 Regarding the magnitude of the obligation, we 
 may well call it national ; for, most assuredly, it 
 requires a nation^ s responsibility to make the debt 
 a good one : and the nation must be vast and migh- 
 ty in its resources that can stand up in the face of 
 this immense demand. Perhaps no nation upon 
 earth could continue its political movements under 
 so weighty aburden ; and itmay fairly be questioned
 
 11 
 
 whether all Europe would be capal)le of sustaining 
 that debt which now lies against England alone. 
 It is true, we have hitherto been able to bear the 
 mighty burden, but it should not be asked hoiv we 
 have done so ? because the answer would exhibit 
 such wrong and outrage : such a tempest of sighs 
 from broken hearts, and such showers of tears 
 and blood from bereaved millions as to make the 
 soul stand aghast with horror, and fi'eeze the 
 warm blood in our veins. We may, indeed, lose 
 much of our natural repugnance to the evil which 
 this debt gives rise to, because of its repetition and 
 continuance ; but the evil is there notwithstanding ^ 
 and all persons whose eyes can penetrate beyond 
 outward appearances, are fully aware that the 
 gangi-ene is eating still deeper into the vitals of 
 the countiy. 
 
 In reviewing the evils introduced, and fostered, 
 and kept alive by the national debt, we may first 
 regard its operation on the poorer portion of 
 the community. It will not be denied that these 
 are as much an integi'al part of the community 
 as even the richest ; they are consequently enti- 
 tled to every benefit common to that society in 
 which they are placed by Providence. By the 
 " lower class," we mean those whose daily labour 
 is required to procure them daily bread, and who 
 always form the greatest number in eveiy country. 
 Now if, by any improper management of the social 
 system, they should feel themselves oppressed more 
 than of right they ought tobe,the whole community
 
 will be necessarily and continually subject to dis- 
 sension and violence. It would not be fair to 
 say, that by the operation of this debt, they are the 
 only sufferers ; but, unfortunately for them, they 
 are the least able to bear its pressure. While it lies 
 heavily upon all classes comparatively, it falls with 
 accumulated energy upon them : they are at the 
 bottom of the hill, and have to bear not only its 
 downward sweep in common with others, but, 
 from their position, must be crushed by the con- 
 tact. While it deprives others of a portion only, 
 it tears away from them the whole of what they 
 possess : upon the wealthy it is comparatively light, 
 in as much as what it takes merely abridges their 
 superfluities : upon the middling classes its pres- 
 sure is still comparatively light, taking away from 
 them a portion of their comforts only ; but upon the 
 poor its pressure is dreadful ; because it is not their 
 superfluities ^ their comforts merely that go, but ab- 
 solutely their very necessaries are abstracted from 
 them by it. 
 
 There is no over-colouring in this picture. The 
 dark reality is well and widely known ; and while 
 on the one hand this debt lessens the demand for 
 labour^ on the other it enhances the price of those 
 articles essentially necessary for the existence of 
 the labourer. It sliears him right and left ; re- 
 quiring additional power on his part to bear the 
 load, and at the same time lessening the power 
 which he has. Many a gaunt and famished 
 cheek ; many a sunken, half-glazed eye ; many
 
 an emaciated, withered limb may be viewed, 
 as touching witnesses of this sad truth. Often, 
 indeed, do we hear the distresses of the poor des- 
 cribed, and these distresses attributed first to one 
 fancied cause, and then to another ; while, in fact, 
 it is this national debt that lies at the root of all 
 commercial depression, and all the accumulated 
 privations of the poor. 
 
 Some idea may be gathered of these privations 
 from the swelled, and still swelling, amount of the 
 poor rates, which now amount, in England only, 
 io eight millions annually : a sum that is more than 
 half the state expenditure, and which would well 
 maintain, as paupers are maintained, at least a mil- 
 lion of people: that is, a thirteenth part of the whole 
 population : making every thirteenth individual 
 dependent for subsistence on the other twelve. But 
 that idea, melancholy as it is, would fall far short 
 of the actual reality : many an independent heart, 
 struggling to earn a scanty subsistence, would soon- 
 er die for want of bread, than be reduced to paro- 
 chial relief ; and it may fearlessly be asserted, that 
 five-sixths of the labouring classes are suffering 
 privations which they will not disclose, and which 
 are entirely owing to the operation of this most 
 accursed debt. 
 
 It is not the poor alone which suffer. If we as- 
 cend higher in the scale of society, although it does 
 not actually deprive them of the mere necessaries 
 of life, it deprives them of many of those comforts 
 they are entitled to expect ; and even the highest
 
 14 
 
 and most wealthy classes are deprived of many of 
 those elegancies and superfluities, which, from their 
 habits and manner of life, have become almost es- 
 sential to their comfort. And thus, as all classes 
 of the community are suffering more or less by the 
 existence of this debt, it becomes a matter of 
 universal interest to co-operate in its extinction. 
 
 If we turn to see its operation upon the 
 ministers who, for the time being, are called on 
 to conduct the affairs of state, we shall find that 
 it throws so many difficulties and impediments in 
 their way as to render it any thing but desirable to 
 sustain the toils of office. If we look at the additi- 
 onal labour it calls for — the extra care and anxiety 
 it demands — the perpetual disappointments to 
 which they are subjected in consequence — the 
 selfish and degraded class of persons with whom it 
 brings them into contact — the insecurity of their 
 hopes, the reproaches, retorts, rebuffs, and all other 
 kinds of disagreeables to which they are exposed, 
 we may be well assured that great fortitude is re- 
 quired to bear up against the many disquietudes 
 and cares, to which ministers are liable by the 
 existence of this debt. It is very true that, were 
 the debt not in existence, they must have cares and 
 difficulties to contend with : it is a necessary con- 
 sequence of their position ; but all their proper 
 cares are heightened a thousand fold by this, and, 
 in addition, it creates a million anxieties essenti- 
 ally interwoven with it, and from which they cannot 
 possibly escape.
 
 15 
 
 The ccrnfusion and perplexity of public transac- 
 tions is another of the evils introduced by this 
 prolific cause. Affairs of state are not in them- 
 selves of so perplexing a character as to require 
 the profoundest intellect to comprehend them. 
 Were matters properly adjusted, the state machine 
 would be so simple in its construction, and so 
 straightforward in its movements, that common 
 sense and common integrity would be well able to 
 work it. All parties are fully agreed on the neces- 
 sity of government and laws : these are universally 
 admitted to be necessary. Upon all the essentials 
 of political economy, there is but little disagree- 
 ment ; no more, in fact, than is absolutely needful 
 to elicit truths which might otherwise lie dormant : 
 but upon matters extraneous and factitious — on 
 such subjects as debts and revenues, not in them- 
 selves properly belonging to matters of government, 
 there is perpetual discord: there is no union. None, 
 in fact, understand the matters, and it is very ques- 
 tionable whether even the parties who actually 
 manage these affairs are able to comprehend them ; 
 at all events, we see the time of members frittered 
 away, not in discussing tangible questions of 
 legislation, but concerning things with which 
 they ought to have nothing to do, and which they 
 cannot understand from the partial information 
 that is given. Thus, one session of parliament is 
 employed more than half its time in repairing the 
 errors of a past session ; and eveiy succeeding year 
 developes new blunders and irregularities, to be
 
 16 
 
 replaced by others of a similar character in the 
 years that follow. Penelope's work was infinitely 
 more successful than this intricate web of state- 
 finance ; and the more labour there is bestowed 
 upon it, the worse it becomes. And why is this 
 the case ? Is it not because the house is constantly 
 occupied by matters growing out of, and connected 
 with, this debt. Instead of continued attention 
 being given to plans of national improvement — to 
 rectifying the abuses of time — to meet the growing 
 spirit of the age — to perfect, and strengthen, and 
 adorn the social system, the whole time of the 
 house is occupied with finance and taxation, and 
 in witnessing various pieces of jugglery yearly ex- 
 hibited before them by the successive actors in this 
 tragi-comic farce. Were the national debt paid off, 
 which it can be, and were the system of finance 
 simplified as it should be, there could be none of 
 the confusion and perplexity, the distress, hesita- 
 tion, and doubtfulness, that at present disfigure 
 and disarrange the whole of our public and poli- 
 tical existence. 
 
 The evil position we are placed in, with regard 
 to our foreign political relations, is difficult to 
 be conceived and almost impossible to be des- 
 cribed. When we are in a state of peace, we 
 experience this by the successful competition of 
 other powers against us in our agricultural trading 
 and commercial pursuits. Other countries, not 
 near so favourably circumstanced, can offer arti- 
 cles at a less price than we can do ; and, although
 
 ourininerals are productive beyond calculation, our 
 machinery unequalled in the world, and our skill 
 and industry far superior to all others^ yet, with 
 these advantages in our favour, we are still under- 
 sold, and why ? Is it not because the superincum- 
 bent pressure of this enormous debt forces every 
 thing out of its natural position and just proportion, 
 and compels us to see the very means of sustaining 
 the evils it inflicts wrested from our grasp by its 
 destructive power. But if, in peace, its existence 
 be regarded as an evil, what must it be in time 
 of war ? Perhaps it may, in this respect, be some 
 mitigation of its obnoxious character, that it 
 tends to prevent our going to war by the feeling 
 of inability : but this is altogether fallacious ; for 
 while it must be admitted that war is an evil of 
 such a monstrous character as to be shunned, if 
 possible, yet our incapacity for war makes us more 
 liable to it, as it lowers the character of the nation, 
 and exposes us to insults from those who know 
 our weakness. It is hardly to be expected, what- 
 ever our state or disposition may be, that we can 
 at all times avoid hostilities. Suppose a war, just 
 and necessary, to arise, which required to be car- 
 ried on with vigour, and called for most extensive 
 operations. WTiat would be our position, saddled 
 as we are with the national debt ? Could the coun- 
 try endure a heavier burden than it now sustains ? 
 Could new loans be procured ? And supposing 
 these questions to be answered in the aflfirmative, 
 would it not have the tendency of still further
 
 18 
 
 deepening our wretchedness ; of removing us far- 
 ther from hope ; and of eifectually preparing the 
 way for violent convulsions, wherein we must either 
 fall a prey to some superior power, or, by a volcanic 
 outburst in society, seek to overcome the evils 
 under which we groan. 
 
 Viewed as a national question, it may be re- 
 marked, that this debt confers no advantage on 
 the country in any shape. Some short-sighted 
 people imagine that it is advantageous to the 
 nation, because of the number of persons em- 
 ployed in its management ; but this very circum- 
 stance proves exactly the contrary ; and the great 
 demand it creates for labour, in its ramified and 
 extended bearings, demonstrates its injurious effect 
 upon the country. If we regard all the persons 
 who are employed in collecting the interest, 
 all engaged in its management, and all who are 
 idle, being maintained out of its abuses, we shall 
 discover a vast number who are now occupied 
 solely by this circumstance. Keeping in mind 
 that all these parties ought to be employed in some 
 useful and productive occupation, and seeing them 
 now otherwise engaged, we come to the conclusion 
 that the country is unjustly deprived of what it 
 ought to possess, to the extent of that time and 
 labour now bestowed upon the public debt : so that 
 the fact is, instead of its being useful by the em- 
 ployment it creates, that very circumstance shews 
 it to be an exhauster of national wealth. 
 
 Another serious national evil inflicted by this
 
 19 
 
 debt, is the tendency it has to cause absentee- 
 ism. There can be no question, that any gentle- 
 man possessing means enabling him to view 
 foreign countries, has an undoubted right to 
 do so. It would be hard, indeed, to confine any 
 one who possessed wealth, to a locality not agree- 
 able. Very decided advantages are to be obtained, 
 as well to nations as to individuals, from an inspec- 
 tion of distant climes ; and no one possessed of 
 common sense could say a word against the prac- 
 tice of going abroad. Granting the most ample 
 freedom in this respect, the evil of which we com- 
 plain is, that the present position of Great Britain, 
 labouring under this public debt, is calculated to 
 promote, not an occasional visit, but a constant 
 residence, of her subjects in foreign lands. By 
 reference to the facts of the case, we discover that 
 in various parts of the Continent of Europe are 
 at least one million of British subjects residing 
 constantly. In Paris alone, there are upwards of 
 twenty thousand families regularly domesticated. 
 Could a calculation be made of the sums of Eng- 
 lish money thus expended in foreign countries, it 
 would be found to be a most enormous sum ; pro- 
 bably not less than fifty millions per annum ; 
 and it should be noticed carefully, that the whole 
 of this money is drawn from British resources, 
 honajide, extracted from this country. 
 
 By its withdrawal the country is injured in 
 three several ways. 
 
 1. \n her manufactures. This number ofindi-
 
 viduals are all clothed and adorned with manufac- 
 ture of foreign produce ; were the sum expended 
 in articles of English make, what a vast number of 
 persons would be constantly occupied in minister- 
 ing to their comfort or conveniency ; — these are 
 now not employed, because the persons who should 
 employ them expend their money in distant lands. 
 
 2. In her taxation. Were the number of British 
 subjects, who constantly reside abroad, within 
 reach of our tax-gatherers, they would, by their 
 proportion duly paid with the rest, considerably 
 reduce the sum called for from those who stay 
 at home. If the number be taken at one million, 
 that would be in proportion to the whole as one to 
 twenty-four, and, by their absence, that which they 
 ought to pay is levied upon the others, and conse- 
 quently we have to pay five per cent, more than 
 we should have were the absentees to reside at 
 home. 
 
 3. The encouragement it gives to the foreign 
 maker of goods is in exact proportion to the dis- 
 couragement of the native manufacturer. The 
 sums expended there should be expended here ; 
 they are unnaturally taken from us, and given to 
 them ; and, while we are made poorer for want of 
 the labour, they are made richer by what is ab- 
 stracted from us — taking into consideration the 
 fact, that the money is all taken from England, 
 and remembering that it ought to be spent at home, 
 we perceive the country is thus robbed of exactly 
 double the apparent amount, and likewise deprived
 
 21 
 
 for ever of that proportion of advantages which 
 would be flowing constantly from her industry. It 
 is not merely the amount actually taken away that 
 is to be complained of, but the gi-eater evil result- 
 ing from its withdrawal, that so many thereby are 
 left unoccupied for want of the means to employ 
 them. 
 
 The reasons assigned, generally, for a foreign 
 residence in preference to one at home, are not the 
 true ones. It is not the superior beauty of other 
 countries, the healthfulness of climate, or the ele- 
 gance of society, that tempt so many to fix their 
 residence abroad ; the real cause lies deeper, and 
 is more permanently influential ; it is Interest — 
 Interest alone ; and, although persons may afl'ect 
 to assign other causes, the gieat and universal 
 cause is, because it is cheaper to reside there than 
 in England. A sum of money, that in England 
 would barely procure the comforts of life, in France 
 or Italy will give its possessor every luxury desi- 
 rable. 
 
 The national debt is peculiarly calculated to 
 encourage this evil : it does so in two ways. 
 
 1. The rental of land in England is proportion- 
 ed to the prices of the various commodities of 
 traffic, and the productions of trade : these aiti- 
 cles are all much higher in price than they would 
 be, were the debt not in existence, and conse- 
 quently the rent of land is considerably raised 
 beyond its former standard to meet the advanced 
 prices of other things.
 
 22 
 
 2. By spending this income abroad, where no 
 such debt exists, and where articles are censequent- 
 ly so much lower, it becomes of treble value ; one 
 thousand pounds abroad going as far as three thou- 
 sand would in England. It is no wonder that there 
 should be so many absentees, — seeing that their 
 income is trebled in the first instance by the pres- 
 sure of the debt at home raising the rental of land, 
 and then, by its withdrawal to a foreign country, 
 they are able to expend that increased income so 
 much to their own personal advantage. 
 
 An evil of a more serious character is attendant 
 upon a residence in foreign countries, resulting 
 from the deterioration of morals and principle. 
 In imbibing French infidelity, or falling into Italian 
 immorality, there is greater evil than the mere 
 withdrawal of capital from their native country — 
 the one is bad, but it is not altogether without re- 
 medy ; the other is radically evil, and admits of no 
 palliation. It might seem invidious and improper 
 to insist upon this, but no one, whose mind is alive 
 to the great importance of national truth and vir- 
 tue, will consider it to be trifling or impertinent ; 
 and the more especially, when we reflect that a 
 nation's ivelfare is closely and inseparably identi- 
 fied with its uprightness. 
 
 Another matter, which strikingly demonstrates 
 the evil workings of this pestiferous encumbrance, 
 is exhibited in the emigrations to America. By 
 the burdensome operation of our National Debt, 
 and the obstructions growing out of it, many of 
 our most useful countrymen are forced out of the
 
 us 
 
 kingdom, and induced to seek a residence, where 
 they will not be subject to these annoyances. — 
 Skilful, industrious, and possessed of some pro- 
 perty, they wish to make better of their means, 
 than they can do at home. America offers pecu- 
 liar temptations to persons thus circumstanced, 
 and hence, the perpetual influx into that country. 
 Not less than fifty thousand persons, annually, 
 transporting themselves across the Atlantic ocean. 
 All these, of course, take some property along 
 with them, which leaves this country poorer, in 
 proportion to the amount withdrawn ; and makes 
 America so much more wealthy. 
 
 We are informed, that the National Debt of 
 America is now paid off, or nearly so ; and one 
 gi-eat means, that has been employed in effecting 
 this beneficial object, was the sale of land to per- 
 sons emigi*ating from this country. And thus it 
 appears, that our own Debt, by forcing men and 
 money from England, has actually contributed to 
 liquidate, to a very considerable extent, the nati- 
 onal debt of America. We have by this means 
 very generously impoverished ourselves to enrich 
 our most formidable rival. 
 
 There can be but little doubt, that the present 
 form of government in Great Britain, is one of 
 the best, if not the ver?/ besty that has ever been 
 adopted in any country ; and yet, excellent as it 
 is, and confessedly calculated to answer the pur- 
 poses, for which governments are called into ex- 
 istence ; it stands on but a precarious foundation.
 
 while the National Debt continues. Some per- 
 sons, indeed, conceive, that the existence of the 
 debt gives stability to the government ; arguing, 
 that from the numerous parties who are interested 
 in the funds, the government is always sure of a 
 large proportion of the community being wishful 
 for their continuance ; as identifying their own 
 security^ with the existence of the government. — 
 This, however, is not a correct mode of arguing, 
 and, although it might prevail in some narrow 
 and interested minds, it will not bear the test of 
 inquiry or experience. 
 
 The fallacy of this argument, if argument it 
 can be called, is two-fold ; for, it first supposes, 
 that the debt is due by the government, and that 
 the public creditors have no other chance of pay- 
 ment, than from those that govern. The fact is 
 otherwise : for the debt is not owing by the go- 
 vernment, but by the nation — it is not the govern- 
 ment debt, but the national debt : and the nation is 
 not yet so destitute of honour, as to wish to avoid 
 paying it ; nor so poor, as to be unable to meet the 
 demand. It is quite possible, that the government 
 of this country may be laid aside, and a new form 
 of government substituted : and, notwithstanding 
 this change, every shilling of the national debt be 
 paid. The second error in this argument is, that 
 it bases the existence of government on a wrong 
 foundation, making it a matter of necessity, and 
 not of choice ; that we have it, because we can- 
 not do without it, of force, therefore, and not of
 
 our opinion of its excellency ; of deceit, and not 
 of utility ; of only partial, and not of universal 
 advantage. It is highly probable, that, in the 
 lapse of some years, if the debt remains, and the 
 evil be perpetuated, the country may seek to 
 change that form of government, under vrhich, 
 these intolerable evils have been created. Look- 
 ing round, in this age of observation, and finding 
 other forms of government quite as effective, and 
 infinitely less costly, the country may be disposed 
 to make the experiment with a cheaper one, and 
 apply the surplus saving towards liquidating its 
 debt. 
 
 Who is there, that has upgi-own to manhood, 
 under tht? goodly shadow of our constitution, but 
 must venerate the all-hallowed name. Who is 
 there, that having experienced a Briton's pride, 
 but must weep tears of blood, to contemplate the 
 ghastly picture of a prostrate throne. But, who 
 is there, that has one grain of foresight, would 
 ensure us against such change and prostration, if 
 the present evil be allowed to continue. 
 
 It is not likely, that a throne so long established, 
 a form of government so ancient, should be over- 
 turned, without violent disorder and strife : it 
 would follow, indeed, as a matter of course. Sup- 
 posing the mass of the people became imbued 
 with democratic feelings, which the present evils 
 are directly calculated to foster ; and goaded to 
 madness, by the evils, whose ap})arent authors, are 
 those that govern them ; they should break out into
 
 .26 
 
 open rebellion, against the established order of 
 things. This would be met by an opposition from 
 all parties, whose affections, or interests, or ha- 
 bits, had bound them to the government ; and the 
 whole of the body politic would be thrown into 
 the utmost turbulence and disorder, wherein none 
 would be neutral, none could remain unmoved ; 
 but mixing, with headlong fury, in the desperate 
 conflict, reduce our beautiful, and beloved country, 
 to a most desolate wilderness. Let no one ima- 
 gine this to be unlikely, or impossible. Nothing 
 more possible ; nothing more likely : and the very 
 natural course of events is shaping itself into this 
 channel. Every day, there is growing up a deeper 
 dislike to oppression. Every day, the evil pres- 
 sure of the debt is becoming more intolerable, and 
 a man need not to be a prophet, to foresee a most 
 afflictive contest growing up out of the existence 
 of the debt. Happy, indeed, will it be for this 
 country, if the parties in power will be wise be- 
 times, and availing themselves of the opportunity, 
 before the storm arises in its ungovernable fury, 
 guide us into a more secure and quiet resting place. 
 This they may do, if they do it in time ; but the 
 time is now at hand, if it be delayed much longer, 
 the evil becomes incurable, and a black and dreary 
 prospect lies before us. 
 
 If matters, however, should be left to work on 
 in their present destructive course, and the evil 
 day be allowed to visit us ; when law shall be dis- 
 regarded, and order overthrown ; when strife, and
 
 2? 
 
 tumult, and bloodshed, and violence, and wrong, 
 shall be prevalent ; who, in the midst of that con- 
 fusion, will be able to prevent the extinction of 
 our national power and existence ? As a matter 
 of course, each foreign possession would be wrested 
 from our feeble hold, in that day of strife : our 
 ships unpaid, would become useless, or piratical ; 
 our armies, after the example of other falling 
 States, prove the most destructive foes ; and 
 some foreign power, who had long been watch- 
 ing for our moment of weakness, would rush 
 in, and overwhelm us with a foreign tyranny. 
 Mighty nations have fallen in other times, by 
 causes similar ; and no self-love, or national pride, 
 should close our eyes against a danger so appa- 
 rent. WTiile the debt continues, all is unnatural, 
 and out of joint ; sooner or later, the evil must 
 crush us ; and it is morally impossible, that Eng- 
 land can continue to exist as a free, and indepen- 
 dent nation, for another century, unless steps be 
 taken to lessen, and to discharge, the debt. 
 
 Leave the debt as it is, and her doom is sealed ; 
 but remove the mill-stone from her neck, and she 
 is sprightly, and buoyant, and vigorous, and takes 
 her stand amongst the nations, for another ten 
 centuries to come. 
 
 While our minds are full of the melancholy 
 ideas, suggested by a prospect of the continuance 
 of this evil, we cannot but turn instinctively to 
 view that bright, and glowing prospect, afforded 
 by a hope of its removal. Could that be effected,
 
 what successive scenes of comfort and prosperity, 
 would brighten up before our vision ; wherein all 
 orders and degrees of men would joyfully parti- 
 cipate. A paternal government ; a duteous, and 
 loyal people ; trade, calling her busy children to 
 their labour ; and commerce, supplicating every 
 wind of heaven, to carry off her superabundant 
 stores. England would then be a blessing to the 
 earth, and a glory to her children. 
 
 The removal of the debt would be immediately 
 productive of the extinction of all those evils, it 
 has naturally engendered ; and would superadd 
 advantages, of which, at present, we can have 
 but little conception. 
 
 Were the debt removed, its most immediate 
 effect would be, to give a new impulse to trade. 
 This, it would do, by not only removing those re- 
 strictions and disabilities, which, at present, cramp 
 and confine it ; but also supplying a capital, that 
 is now locked up in the funds ; and, for want of 
 which, trade and commerce languish. Of course, 
 the money which now lies vested in public secu- 
 rities, would, if they were discharged, find its 
 way into the hands of those persons, engaged 
 in the pursuits of industry. Improvement af- 
 ter improvement, would then take place ; our 
 manufactures would flourish and encrease ; our 
 agriculture become more productive ; and our 
 commerce be extended to every portion of the 
 globe. No possible calculation could be made, 
 of the immense advantage to be derived to
 
 29 
 
 trade, by this circumstance. The benefit may, 
 in some degree, be estimated, by comparing the 
 nation with an individual, who is engaged in any 
 productive trade, and, as he is enabled to do 
 every thing to the best advantage, being possessed 
 of a sufficient capital, by which his profits are 
 often doubled ; and thus, his wealth begets ivealth : 
 so, the nation being a productive nation^ if pos- 
 sessed of this wealth, would be able to do every 
 thing on the most advantageous terms ; and, con- 
 sequently, our national profits be proportionably 
 increased, by the use of this capital, naturally 
 belonging to the country, and now withheld from 
 it, by this all-absorbing debt. 
 
 The commanding position we might occupy as a 
 nation, were we free from the debt, should furnish 
 another motive to endeavour its removal. In case 
 of a just war, the wealth of Great Britain would be 
 at once available for all the purposes of defence. 
 But a greater benefit than this would be, that by 
 this exemption from debt, it would diminish the 
 likelihood of war. Few countries would have 
 the temerity to engage in hostilities against us were 
 not our hands thus fettered. Thus our very wealth 
 would stay the effusion of blood, and consequently 
 leave us at leisure to pursue the more productive 
 and delightful habits of industry and peace. Wealth 
 would thus again beget wealth, and multiply itself 
 beyond measure. We should not then be under 
 the desperate and revolting and suicidal necessity 
 of expatriating one portion of our fellow-country-
 
 30 
 
 men, to leave room for those that stay. Our pro- 
 ductive population might go on to increase without 
 fear of there being too many inhabitants for the 
 land, seeing that the greater our number became, 
 each being productive^ the greater would our wealth 
 become in consequence. 
 
 Never was there a more mistaken idea fostered 
 in the human mind than that abominable and dis- 
 gusting plan of encouraging emigration. A dread- 
 ful lesson has been taught us of its evil concomitant 
 with taxation in the history of America, which was 
 first torn from us by this species of oppression, and 
 has since been filled with England's best children ; 
 who are now uniting their energies to serve their 
 adopted country, and will continue to do so until 
 she becomes the most fatal rival of our glory and 
 our wealth. 
 
 It is a most fatal error to suppose, that there is 
 an evil in a numerous population : far from this, 
 it is a nation's glory and her strength : there can- 
 not be an over-population, for it is capable of proof 
 that were the inhabitants of these countries ten 
 times their present number, there would be no dan- 
 ger of their becoming too numerous. It is not in 
 the number of the inhabitants that the danger or 
 the evil lies, but in the present unnatural state of 
 society, which deprives them of the opportunity of 
 making themselves useful. Let the debt be re- 
 moved, with the evils that exist in its train, and we 
 shall soon find that there is a constant and abun- 
 dant demand for all our unemployed artizans, our
 
 31 
 
 idle and starving peasantry, and the whole of that 
 portion of society which now hangs like a dead 
 weight upon the rest, or who are driven into vice 
 for want of something profitable to do. This would 
 still further increase our national respectability ; 
 making us more to be admired in peace, and more 
 to be dreaded in war. 
 
 Were the debt discharged, our whole system 
 would become more healthy and desirable. While 
 that continues, it is in the body politic what a 
 large collection of blood is in any part of the human 
 frame, not only injurious to the other parts thus 
 deprived by that unnatural absorption, but actu- 
 ally fraught with danger to the life : so, this aggre- 
 gation of the life-blood of society, in these heavy 
 and corrupting masses, makes the whole body 
 plethoric, unhealthful, and unsound; and likely 
 to be destroyed by some violence growing out of 
 this disease. Let the debt be removed, and 
 wealth would then flow onwards with activity 
 through every part : making every part useful and 
 conducive to the welfare of the whole. Money 
 would then take its proper weight and influence in 
 society, be settled on a just value, and accomplish 
 the grand object for which alone it is desirable — 
 the general welfare of the community at large. In 
 whatever point of view we contemplate this sub- 
 ject, we perceive nothing but ruin if it be allowed 
 to remain, and every prospect of prosperity by its 
 removal ; from the highest to the lowest, all are 
 interested ; the security of the throne — the stabi-
 
 lity of government — the well-being of society — the 
 relief of the poor — the welfare and existence of the 
 nation at large, — all demand its extinction without 
 delay. 
 
 But, the disadvantages under which the coun- 
 try is labouring by its existence, and the advan- 
 tages to be derived from the removal of this debt, 
 may be taken as matters of truth : there cannot 
 be much difference of opinion on those subjects, 
 since it strikes plainly on the most obtuse sense, 
 that, to be out of debt, is far better than to be in 
 debt ; to be free from an incumbrance, is plea- 
 santer, than to be labouring under it. 
 
 The grand difficulty is, can the debt be removed? 
 and, in what way is it to be done ? In reply to 
 this inquiry, two erroneous answers are gene- 
 rally given. The one, regarding the magnitude 
 of the debt, sink into hopelessness, and never 
 expect to see its liquidation. The other, made 
 desperate by their erroneous views, are for sweep- 
 ing it away, by the rude hand of violence and 
 wrong. It is not, however, by sinking into de- 
 spair, that the matter is to be accomplished ; no 
 great enterprize is ever engaged in, under de- 
 sponding feelings : the invigorating influence of 
 hope is needful, to stimulate to actions of great 
 pith and moment. Nor, is it by a reckless defi- 
 ance of prudence, that the debt is to be removed : 
 faith must be kept with the public creditor. It is 
 then time to compound for part, when we are in- 
 capacitated from paying the whole, and in common
 
 33 
 
 honesty we cannot expect to be freed from our 
 obligations, without their being discharged, when 
 we are able to pay them in full. Many persons 
 think, that the nation would be justified in the 
 non-pa}Tnent of the debt, considering the unjust 
 and tjTannical method in which it was contracted. 
 But this no honest man can maintain, as it is a 
 most unquestionable fact, that the debt has been 
 contracted^ and is now oicing : the original trans- 
 actors of these affairs have passed away, and the 
 present o^vners of this property, have acquired 
 it under the sanction of law, and are, if there 
 be truth or justice in the world, fully and un- 
 deniably entitled to payment. England could 
 not exist as a nation, were she once to recognise 
 the principle of this fallacy, and resolve upon its 
 non-pa)Tiient. So soon as she forgets herself 
 in this respect, she deserves to be blotted out 
 from amongst the nations of the world, covered 
 with infamy, and handed down to the scorn of 
 posterity. Fortunately, this opinion is not held by 
 the majority : by far the gi-eater number seem to 
 be of the former class, and to regard the debt as a 
 hopeless and incurable gi'ief, to be inherited by our 
 children, to all generations. 
 
 A more reasonable, and more correct answer, 
 to the question, would be, that the nation is well 
 able to pay off the debt, and that the obligation, 
 however ponderous, presents no insuperable diffi- 
 culties, in the way of its discharge. With the 
 utmost confidence, derived from actual calcula-
 
 34 
 
 tion, it may be said that we can pay tfie debt ififuU^ 
 without one farthing of abatement in the whole 
 demand. 
 
 To shew the perfect practicability of this all- 
 important procedure, let us observe that there are 
 three methods of accomplishing this object : 
 
 1. By what has been denominated a sinking 
 fund, wherein a small sum annually applied to the 
 liquidation of the debt, by a process of compound 
 interest, would work out our deliverance from this 
 incumbrance in a specified time. This plan has three 
 circumstances to recommend its adoption : — 1. It 
 is so gentle in its operation, that it could scarcely 
 be felt. 2. It lays no additional burden upon the 
 country ; and — 3. It would infallibly produce the 
 
 effect The plan here alluded to will require no 
 
 additional taxes — no fresh imposts — no increase of 
 duties : nothing, in short, that could in any mea- 
 sure contribute to irritate the mind, or lessen the 
 comfort, of a single subject in the realm ; — but 
 rather operate, by a gradual process, to ease his 
 burdens, and, year by year, make taxation lighter, 
 until, in less than40years, the debt would be altoge- 
 ther paid. But, in order to accomplish this, it is 
 necessary that a certain sum should be annually 
 appropriated to this specific object ; and, under no 
 pretence whatever, be diverted into any other 
 channel. There has been a great error commit- 
 ted in remitting taxation when any little saving in 
 the expenditure has enabled the ministers to do 
 60. By this means, the debt, with all its benumb- 
 
 I
 
 35 
 
 ing influence, has continued to the fullest extent ; 
 paralysing the hand of industry, and destroying 
 the wealth of England. Whereas, if these savings 
 had been appropriated to the payment of the debt, 
 this circumstance would have accelerated and 
 doubled the apparent relief derived from lessening 
 the taxation. 
 
 Suppose there had been effected, either by the 
 reduction of sinecures, greater economy, or other 
 causes, a fund of only two millions of money per 
 annum, and these two millions had been thus ap- 
 plied to the payment of the debt, so far as it went, 
 it would, by the saving of the double-interest, have 
 more effectually benefitted the nation, than by tak- 
 ing off a few paltry taxes for a short-lived popula- 
 rity, and still leaving the country to writhe under 
 the enormous burden. 
 
 If we wish to see ourselves rescued from this 
 deadly evil, and the perilous condition in which it 
 places us, let us not be misled by any specious pre- 
 tensions of would-be patriots to cry out for reduc- 
 tion in the taxes while the debt remains in exist- 
 ence : if we reduce the debt, the taxes will be sure 
 to follow ; but, if we allow the debt to remain, all 
 that can be effected in pinching salaries, discharg- 
 ing clerks, cramping public affairs, &c. will be as 
 nothing ; it will not be felt, it can give us no actual 
 relief ; but, in lowering the debt, we lay the axe 
 to the root of the tree — we begin at the right end 
 of the work, and every pound thus discharged 
 returns with a two-fold benefit upon us.
 
 36 
 
 In order to shew clearly the nature of this plan, 
 let us suppose that the revenue stands as it does 
 at present, and the same amount of money conti- 
 nues to be raised. That out of this money the 
 sum of eight millions is annually applied to the 
 reduction of the debt, and the interest upon that 
 eight millions thereby saved : this would, in 37 
 years, accomplish the full discharge of the entire 
 debt of Great Britain. This is no fallacy ; and in 
 order to make the matter apparent to demonstra- 
 tion, we refer to the following table, wherein the 
 exact ratio of its progi'essive discharge is fully de- 
 veloped, and reduced to an arithmetical truism, by 
 which any one who knows that 2 and 2 make 4, will 
 be able to see the certainty of its extinction in the 
 above-mentioned time, were the plan adopted and 
 steadily carried into execution. The sum that 
 would be necessary to accomplish this object is 
 only one per cent, upon the national debt of 800 
 millions, which would yield an annual fund of eight 
 millions of pounds sterling. 
 
 EXPLANATION OF THE TABLE. 
 
 1. It is supposed in this calculation that one per 
 cent= is paid less for interest on the debt than what 
 has been hitherto paid : this, upon 800 millions, 
 amounts to eight millions per annum. 
 
 2. That these eight millions are to be appropriated 
 to pay off the public debt to that amount annually. 
 
 3. Consequently the interest would be saved 
 upon the eight millions thus paid off year by year.
 
 37 
 
 4. Every year would therefore give an increase 
 in the amount of interest thus saved, accelerating 
 the payment of the debt after the rate of compound 
 interest added to the eight millions annually paid. 
 
 5. In this table is shewn, by an ascending scale, 
 the rate of compound interest upon a fund of eight 
 millions, paid annually, for 37 years ; by which it 
 proves that eight hundred millions would be accu- 
 mulated in that period. 
 
 6. If the calculation be reversed, and brought 
 by a descending scale, the combination of numbers 
 produces the same result in the given time ; or, in 
 other words, that an annual payment of eight mil- 
 lions, with the saving of interest now paid upon 
 that sum, would liquidate the national debt in 37 
 years. 
 
 7. If we associate with this the lessening of ex- 
 pense, year by year, as the debt decreases, it proves 
 to a demonstration the perfect ease with which it 
 can be paid, if the work were once seriously taken 
 in hand and honestly pursued. 
 
 In order to raise this sum, the rate of interest 
 now paid should be reduced one per cent, per an- 
 num : this could not be considered unjust, because 
 the fundholder would derive a compensation for 
 his apparent loss by the indirect benefit conferred 
 upon him in the gradual reduction of taxation, and 
 the general prosperity of the country. Besides, 
 the interest would then be as great as can be ob-
 
 88 
 
 tained on land or other securities, and if they found 
 better oj^portunity of investing their money, there 
 could be no difficulty in transferring their property 
 at any time they felt inclined to do so. To help 
 this fund, a considerable sum might be raised by 
 adopting a different and less expensive method of 
 raising the revenue, to which we shall shortly 
 advert. 
 
 As it is a matter of absolute importance that the 
 sum should be applied regularly^ care should be 
 taken to fix it in so certain a manner, that no cir- 
 cumstance could possibly arise to prevent its pro- 
 per application. No man, or set of men, having it 
 in their power to divert for any foolish expedient 
 this consecrated sum from being applied to its 
 appointed purpose. The sum we need to work 
 this deliverance for us is only six shillings and 
 eight-pence a-head per annum, or three half-pence 
 per week upon every individual in the kingdom ; 
 and with this small sum, faithfully applied, the 
 mighty work would most assuredly be accomplish- 
 ed in the time. 
 
 Were we to impose a direct obligation on the 
 whole country for this specific object, there is not 
 a man, woman, or child, but would cheerfully add 
 that to their other contributions to effect an object 
 so transcendently beneficial. 
 
 Regarding the matter in this point of light, we 
 notice the exorbitant sum that is now paid, com- 
 pared with what might be, were this plan adopted. 
 By the present mode of allowing the debt to remain
 
 stationary, we pay, as direct interest thereupon, 
 about thirty millions per annum — exclusively of 
 the heavy sums paid indirectly for collecting, 
 guarding, and managing the revenue necessary to 
 meet the demand for interest. Taking these thirty 
 millions as a stationary sum, to be paid annually 
 for the next 37 years, and multiplying it after a 
 rate of compound interest (the view in which all 
 standing debts should be regarded on which inte- 
 rest is regularly paid), what a vast and enormous 
 treasure is wasted to the country by the present 
 procedure. These thirty millions per annum, at 
 compound interest, amounting to 3,053 millions 
 in the time above specified, and still leaving the 
 debt unpaid. 
 
 By the present mode, and supposing it to be 
 continued for the time mentioned, we pay as direct 
 interest^ fi-om each individual of the S4 millions one 
 pound six shillings per annum, amounting in 37 years 
 to £47. 2s. ; and after the payment of this sum, at 
 the expiration of that period we are still SOOmillions 
 in debt : whereas, by adopting the plan suggested, 
 of taking a small portion yearly for the liquidation 
 of the debt in the same space of time, the entire 
 obligation would be discharged. 
 
 Can it be possible, we inquire with astonish- 
 ment, that a sum so trivial as three half-pence, paid 
 weekly, or six shillings and eight-pence yearly, for 
 a period so short as 37 years, could free us from 
 this tremendous evil? The calculation demon- 
 strates this interesting fact : so that it appears,
 
 40 
 
 were this small sum of six shillings and eight-pence 
 per annum, amounting in 37 years, to twelve 
 pounds six shillings and eight-pence only, proper- 
 ly applied, an honest minister might pay off in 
 full, the eight hundred millions of pounds sterling 
 now owing. 
 
 This idea of a sinking fund is not new. Many 
 years ago it was adopted and partially tried, but, 
 unfortunately for the country, either the expences 
 incurred by wars, the dreadfully lavish expenditure 
 of public money, or the dishonesty of those in of- 
 fice, has always prevented the benefit of its conti- 
 nued operation. This evil, we would hope, is in 
 future likely to be avoided by the adoption of the 
 principles embodied in the Reform Bill, which 
 will have a direct tendency to prevent the abuse of 
 trust, so common in most that have held office in 
 former days. 
 
 It is a happy omen for the country that the men 
 now in office have come forward so nobly to pro- 
 pose plans of reform ; and, although by reason of 
 long-fostered abuse, it will require time ere we can 
 reap the full benefit of its adoption, we need not 
 despair. The husbandman, when he has sown the 
 seed, awaits patiently the evolutions of the seasons 
 that will, in their appointed time, recompense his 
 pains. The good seed of better principles is sown, 
 and although we do not at present see the full 
 effect, yet the germ is expanding, its fibres are 
 striking deeper and drawing in nourishment for its 
 strength, and, ere long, the rich harvest of national
 
 41 
 
 prosperity will appear in all its fulness of glory, 
 and happiness and peace. 
 
 II. Jf the circumstance above alluded to, in refer- 
 ence to ministerial mismanagement in former times, 
 whereby the plan of liquidating the debt by a sink- 
 ing fund has been frustrated, should excite a fear, 
 lest similar evils be again produced from similar 
 causes ; it may be remarked, that a preventative 
 could be found in the instantaneous payment of 
 the debt ; which would, of course, prevent the 
 dreadful evil of its continuance, resulting either 
 from imbecility or fraud. 
 
 This conception of " immediate payment" is 
 not so very romantic as it may appear to be to 
 those who are unacquainted with the wealth of 
 England : and, however startling the proposition 
 may seem to be at first, it vi^ill be found, on exami- 
 nation, that the difficulty is not insurmount- 
 able. In order to see this matter in a proper light, 
 it is necessary to form some idea of the amount of 
 property possessed by the parties thus in debt, and 
 its relative proportion to the obligation under 
 which they lie. 
 
 There is aconsiderable difficulty lying in the way 
 of estimating correctly the wealth of Great Britain, 
 andthemore especially, when we reflect thata grea4; 
 portion of its property is so subject to variation, 
 and, from its complicated character, likely to elude 
 our notice in any general estimate made on which 
 to base our reasoning : great allowance should be
 
 4^ 
 
 made, and, of course, we must not confine our- 
 selves too closely to any given sum, but endeavour 
 to fix it as near as we can within certain probable 
 limitations. ^ 
 
 To aid our calculations on this matter, let us 
 observe, that the wealth of Great Britain may be 
 divided into four different portions : — 1. Land. 
 2. Buildings. 3. Commercial. 4. Funded. 
 
 We take these up in the order here enumerated, 
 and observe that, according to the last calcula- 
 tions, there are in England, Ireland, and Scotland, 
 upwards of eighty millions of acres. 
 
 It is not easy to form an average estimate of 
 what the fee simple of this land is worth. For, on 
 the one hand, there are many deductions to be 
 made from a general standard, owing to a variety 
 of circumstances : sometimes, the nature of the 
 soil itself, and sometimes the localities of its situ- 
 ation, render it almost useless, and of compara- 
 tively little value. On the other hand, there are 
 many additions to be made to a general standard, 
 owing to circumstances which give an extraordi- 
 nary value to property of this kind. Taking into 
 our calculations, therefore, these various circum 
 stances, we shall not be above the mark if we say 
 that the land in the three kingdoms is worth, in 
 fee, fifty pounds per acre on an average. This 
 might, perhaps, be considered high when we take 
 the quantity of waste lands into our consideration ; 
 and yet, on the other hand, if we look at the im 
 mense value of land in the large towns and cities
 
 43 
 
 and their neighbourhoods, and the great addition 
 to its worth in those districts where it is interlined 
 with minerals, we shall find that the fair average 
 would be sooner above than below the standard 
 we have fixed. If we then admit the general cor- 
 rectness of this valuation, we proceed to calculate 
 the amount it produces ; and taking the quantity 
 of acres, for the sake of round numbers, to be 80 
 millions, at £.50 sterling per acre, we have the sum 
 of four thousand millions of pounds as the estima- 
 ted value of the landed proj^erty of Great Britain 
 and Ireland. 
 
 2. There is a still greater difficulty standing in 
 the way of our calculations with regard to the build- 
 ing erections, and, of course, they can only be 
 considered as giving a general idea of the relative 
 bearing of these questions. But suppose we take 
 the population at 24 millions, and allow 12 indivi- 
 duals to each house ; this would give two millions 
 of houses. Of course, there are many houses 
 where a considerably greater number of inhabi- 
 tants might be found ; but as a draw-back against 
 that, we have many houses where there are but 
 three or four individuals in their occupancy. In 
 large cities, where rents are high, and houses let 
 to different families of lodgers, of course there are 
 more inhabitants to each house than the number 
 we have fixed as an average : but in smaller towns, 
 and in the country parts, this practice seldom pre- 
 vails, and, generally speaking, there is but one 
 family in the occupation of each house. Presuming
 
 44 
 
 that this average is tolerably correct, we have two 
 millions of houses for the residences of the 24 mil- 
 lions of inhabitants. Now, to average the value of 
 these houses, if they are taken at £100. each — 
 which, taking in the large and small houses in 
 town and country, and adding the various facto- 
 ries, work-shops, stores, and ware-houses, not 
 used as dwelling-houses, and which may be thrown 
 into our calculations — they cannot be considered 
 too high in that estimate : this would give a total 
 of 200 millions of pounds as the fee simple value 
 of the dwelling-houses and other erections of Great 
 Britain. 
 
 3. The fluctuating and volatile property of a 
 mercantile and moveable character, becomes still 
 more difficult to grasp with certainty ; but we 
 may, perhaps, form some general idea, by refe- 
 rence to the number of the inhabitants, and by 
 supposing some fixed sum as the amount of each 
 man's possession. If we take in, all manufac- 
 tured and unmanufactured goods ; all home pro- 
 duce, and all foreign merchandize ; all the chat- 
 tels, of whatever kind, from the costly furniture 
 of the rich man's palace, to the homely utensils of 
 the poor man's cabin ; the vessels which plough 
 the sea, and all things that remain at home : we 
 may, without fear of overrating the amount, con- 
 clude, that there are ten pounds, at least, on an 
 average, belonging to every individual in the king- 
 dom ; thus, then, if we multiply the twenty-four 
 millions of inhabitants by the number of pounds.
 
 45 
 
 allotted to each individual, we shall have the gi'oss 
 product of 240 millions of pounds. This calcula- 
 tion is designed to embrace all the moveable pro- 
 perty of the kingdom, inclusive of every thing not 
 belonging to the landed, the building, or the funded 
 estimate. 
 
 4. We observe another large division of the 
 property of the kingdom, in the public funds, to 
 the amount of 800 millions of pounds. Much 
 hesitation has been always evinced, to make this 
 property subject to any burden ; and, perhaps, as 
 it regards direct taxation, that feeling may have 
 been right ; inasmuch, as the persons, whose in- 
 come is derived from their interest in the funds, 
 contribute towards the taxation, by the outlay of 
 that income, in various exciseable commodities, 
 and in payment of assessed taxes ; and therefore, 
 to subject their property to another impost, would 
 be unfair. Indeed, were this to be done, it is 
 evident, few persons would desire to leave their 
 property in the funds ; and, with a view to pre- 
 vent such serious loss and embarrassment, as 
 must necessarily take place, were this principle 
 adopted, it has always been most carefully avoided. 
 But the same objection does not lie against in- 
 cluding it in a general estimate of the wealth of 
 Great Britain, inasmuch as it stands on the same 
 ground, as property with every other kind of pos- 
 session. £1000. in the funds, is as much £1000. 
 as the best merchandize in any warehouse in the 
 kingdom. It is as effectually properti/, as the
 
 46 
 
 best landed estate in the kingdom ; and therefore, 
 in any general plan, that could be adopted for the 
 payment of the debt — although it is owing to 
 themselves, they ought to contribute in the same 
 proportion as every other class of possessors. 
 
 This view of the case will appear to be more 
 correct, if we call to mind, the fact, that the 
 fundholder will be benefitted by the removal of 
 the debt, as much, or more than, any other de- 
 scription of persons. Any general improvement, 
 that takes place, will unquestionably benefit Mm ; 
 and, although there might be a small diminution 
 of his capital, yet the residue would become of 
 greater value, than the whole as it now stands. 
 His loss would be ideal only, for if, under a new 
 system, eighty-five pounds would purchase as 
 many commodities, as one hundred pounds will 
 now — it is evident, that it could not be an actual 
 loss to him. We may, therefore, add to the other 
 property, already enumerated, 800 millions of 
 funded property. 
 
 In this calculation, no distinct mention is made 
 of what is called church property, it being in- 
 cluded, in those already mentioned, as the free- 
 hold property of the country ; the whole of church 
 property being either land, or houses, and conse- 
 quently, requiring no separate mention, as it is 
 included in the bulk, and becomes, of course, 
 subject to any general regulation, that may be 
 deemed necessary for the public good. 
 
 To recapitulate this enumeration, and present.
 
 47 
 
 as a whole, these various parts condensed into 
 one view, we draw it up thus — 
 
 Eighty millions of acres, valued, on an average, 
 throughout the three kingdoms, at £50. per 
 acre, makes 4,000 Millions. 
 
 Twenty-four millions of people, allowing twelve 
 persons to a house, yields two millions of 
 houses, these inclusive of warehouses, fac- 
 tories and stores, valued in fee at £100. each 
 house, makes 200 Millions. 
 
 The chattel and moveable property of Great 
 Britain, allowing £10. only to each individual, 
 would be, from twenty-four millions of 
 people 240 Millions. 
 
 The funded property (say, for the sake of round 
 
 numbers,) is 800 Millions. 
 
 Total, 5,240 Millions. 
 
 Five thousand two hundred and forty Millions of pounds. 
 
 If we now suppose this sum to be any thing 
 near the actual value of the property above de- 
 scribed, we may next proceed to compare it with 
 the encumbrance that lies upon it ; for, it is upon 
 the property of the country that the debt is owing ; 
 not upon the labour, and toil, and sweat of the 
 people, but, upon the property itself. 
 
 The property, therefore, should be liable for its 
 discharge, and more decidedly so, because that 
 property is deteriorated in value by the existence 
 of the debt, now lying against it : not merely to 
 the actual amount of its fair proportion, but be- 
 cause of the various evils and expenses growing 
 out of this debt, the property is lessened twice
 
 48 
 
 the apparent amount of that sum. Suppose, then, 
 we view the property as subject to the debt, it will 
 appear, from a comparison, that the latter is to 
 the former, about £15. per Cent. That is to say, 
 were there a sum of £15. per Cent, levied upon 
 all the property of the kingdom, it would liquidate 
 at one stroke, the National Debt, for ever. A 
 man, possessed of any kind of property, to the 
 amount of £100, by the payment of £15, would at 
 once and for ever secure himself from this incum- 
 brance ; or, in other words, by the payment of the 
 interest of his actual property for three years in 
 advance, would make that property free for ever 
 from those demands that are now against it. There 
 needs not be much doubt of the advantages of this, 
 because it is not merely the amount of interest 
 which he pays, but, taking in the expense of ma- 
 nagement and other matters connected with it, he 
 certainly pays at least ten per cent, or more upon 
 the amount that he would have to pay towards its 
 instantaneous liquidation. Thus, by a mere direct 
 advantage resulting from this saving of interest, 
 every man would get back his own again in less 
 than twelve years. By being disencumbered of 
 this heavy burden, we should be able to prosecute 
 our trade and commerce to so much greater advan- 
 tage, as to facilitate our repayment in an incon- 
 ceivably rapid manner. Whatever sum we were 
 called on to contribute, towards the payment of 
 the debt, would be only as a loan for a short period 
 of time, and which would infallibly be repaid to us 
 again.
 
 49 
 
 Although a matter of this kind, is possessed of 
 so many advantages, it is to be feared, that the 
 selfish and short-sighted might stand opposed to 
 its adoption. Yet, when we come to canvass the 
 matter thoroughly, we discover, that no party can 
 have any reasonable ground of objection. 
 
 If we regard the land oivner^ why, we inquire, 
 should he object? Was it not to protect his pos- 
 sessions from a foreign foe, that the debt was con- 
 tracted ? Is he not more interested, than any 
 other, in the continued tranquillity and safety of 
 the country ? Others, possessed of moveable 
 property, may shift themselves, and their goods 
 along with them, on the first appearance of dan- 
 ger ; not so, the man, whose possessions are of 
 a fixed and permanent kind ; he must stand or 
 fall with the country ; and, should internal vio- 
 lence arise, or a foreign foe descend, he is the 
 first, who is likely to suffer, from those convul- 
 sions. But, viewed as a point of interest, he 
 should not object ; because, the sum he is called 
 upon to furnish, affords an advantageous oppor- 
 tunity to him, of investing capital. Why do men 
 of landed property, redeem the land tax, or tithes, 
 by a composition in advance, but with a view to 
 make money by that outlay ? And so, likewise, 
 would this turn out to their advantage, were they 
 to pay their quota, to obtain a total and final ex- 
 oneration, from the many evils occasioned by the 
 National Debt. 
 
 The merchant, the trader, and all those pos-
 
 50 
 
 sessed of moveable property, could have no solid 
 ground of objection ; because, whatever sum 
 they were called upon to contribute, would 
 speedily be made up to them, by the saving of an 
 exorbitant interest. Besides, to the trader^ it 
 presents many advantages. He would thereby 
 rid himself of interference and delay. He could 
 have fi'ee scope for the exercise of his industry 
 and enterprize, and feel himself, at once, put on 
 a fair ground of competition with others. He 
 would then feel a double motive to exertion, partly 
 the hope of gi'eater gain, and partly the consci- 
 ousness, that, if he did not succeed, it must, un- 
 der these circumstances, be exclusively his own 
 fault. The enlargement to his exertions, would 
 be so soon attended with such beneficial returns, 
 as most amply to recompense Am, for the outlay 
 he would be called upon to make, in furnishing 
 his complement to the annihilation of the National 
 Debt. Whether we regard the greater comfort 
 he would have, in his commercial undertakings, 
 or the greater profit he would be likely to derive, 
 on every hand, inducements press upon him^ to 
 come forward in its removal. 
 
 Nor, could the fund-holder find any solid cause, 
 to object to a plan of this kind — because, by this 
 means, he would at once secure 85/. per cent, 
 upon the capital invested : a thing, that cannot, 
 by any means, be considered certain, if the debt 
 be allowed to remain. The 85/. which, on this 
 plan, he received in actual possession — would. 
 
 I
 
 under a new system, become more productive, 
 than his full 100/. is at present. This is proved, 
 if we look at the facts of the case : for, suppos- 
 ing him to have 1000/. in stock, and to receive 
 but four per cent, interest upon it, making 40/. 
 per annum ; in the outlay of that 40/. for the ne- 
 cessaries of life, he actually pays 10/. or more, in 
 the shape of taxes and assessments, to help to 
 raise the interest and the extra expenditure, which 
 the existence of that debt occasions. Were the 
 debt discharged, and he received four per cent, on 
 any other security, he would thereby save 10/. per 
 annum, which he now pays as taxation, in order 
 to keep up the system that yields his present in- 
 terest. Thus, supposing his 1000/. to be reduced 
 by this levy, to 850/. as he would directly save 
 10/. per annum, by being free from taxation, in 
 about twelve years, at compound interest, he 
 would receive back the amount contributed. And, 
 besides this, he would be benefitted in another 
 way, by the greater cheapness of all manufactured 
 goods, which are now enhanced exceedingly by 
 the pressure of taxation. 
 
 By this supposition, we presume all parties to 
 be equally oppressed by the existence of the debt, 
 and therefore, as all parties are equally injured by 
 it, of course all parties are equally interested in its 
 removal. If any are not oppressed by it, that fur- 
 nishes a stronger argument in favour of its liqui- 
 dation — for, why should there be any parties in a 
 state deriving exclusive or peculiar advantages ?
 
 52 
 
 there cannot continue to be any privileged classes, 
 who, without merit, claim an exemption from the 
 common burdens of their countrymen. 
 
 Notwithstanding the many decided and imme- 
 diate advantages, to be derived from the adoption 
 of a plan like this, many persons would conceive 
 from the greatness of the sum to be raised, that 
 it could not be accomplished. This is a mistaken 
 idea : there could be no difficulty in effecting this 
 object ; for, as it is a National Debt, it is a nation 
 that we are speaking of, as the paymaster. Were 
 it an individual case, how easy would it be done 
 in parallel circumstances ; and how truly ridicu- 
 lous would it appear, in any person, who, bona 
 fide, possessed 100/. and all he owed, being 15/. 
 yet, refused to pay that trivial sum, from some 
 imbecile, foolish, madman-like idea, that he was 
 not able to do so. 
 
 View the debt as subdivided by the number of 
 inhabitants, and it gives but SSI. 6*. %d. to each 
 individual ; while the property of the nation, sub- 
 divided in like manner, gives the possession of 
 218/. 6<s. ^d. to every individual in Great Britain. 
 
 It is true, the debt is large — but, it is England 
 that has to pay it. It is an achievement, worthy 
 her exalted name ; and, by one simultaneous 
 movement, throughout all portions of the commu- 
 nity, this ponderous and oppressive burden might 
 be uplifted, and for ever removed, from the galled 
 shoulders of Britain. 
 
 I
 
 53 
 
 111. But, suppose we meet this fancied objec- 
 tion by another plan, and, instead of doing the 
 whole at once, let it be done in three successive 
 efforts ; and, taking the proportion of the debt to 
 be 15/. per cent, upon the property of the king- 
 dom, it might be subdivided into three instal- 
 ments, of five pounds, with an interval of five 
 years between each of the payments. By a plan 
 like this, the magnitude of the undertaking would 
 be lessened, and men might be induced to make 
 the effort, from the consciousness of the ease 
 with which the effect could be accomplished. 
 
 And, yet, there are some objections against this 
 protracted method, arising from the obstructions 
 it would create, in the way of its final liquida- 
 tion, sufficient, perhaps, to induce a preference, 
 for the more prompt and expeditious removal of 
 the obligation. One chief impediment in the way 
 of a plan, like that now proposed, would arise 
 from the mutations to which property is subject ; 
 for, although we might, by a survey and inspec- 
 tion, ascertain the precise amount of the property 
 now in the country, no expectation could subsist 
 of its continuing in the same state for the next 
 five, or ten years. Besides, the commercial pro- 
 perty must, necessarily, have so completely altered 
 its form, in the course of five years, as to leave 
 no trace of its former existence — and, on this ac- 
 count, the former method of an immediate and 
 full discharge at once, would be less liable to ob- 
 jection. In addition to this, to shew the prefe-
 
 54 
 
 rence of an immediate discharge, we may notice, 
 that, for the last two payments, there would have 
 to be the same system of taxation, and double per 
 centage, in operation, as there is now ; and, if it 
 be regarded as an economical project, it is cer- 
 tainly, far better, to discharge the debt at once, 
 and thus, free ourselves from the evils it entails. 
 Another argument in favour of an immediate pay- 
 ment, is — the fear, that, by some strange turn in 
 public affairs, we might have men in office, and 
 power, who would divert the plan, and render it 
 inoperative ; or, it is possible, regarding the as- 
 pect of foreign affairs, we might, perhaps, be 
 called into a war, and be thus prevented from 
 working out our relief; and still compelled to go on, 
 deepening and increasing the evil, under which 
 we groan. Every varied reason, pleads in favour 
 of an immediate discharge ; our interest, our 
 safety, our capability of accomplishing the object, 
 all urge to adopt immediate plans. It is true, if 
 we cannot effect it at once, it is better to do it 
 the other way, than to leave it undone ; though, 
 to do a ffood thing ^ in a good season^ makes it 
 doubly beneficial. 
 
 Closely associated with this view of the payment 
 of the debt, the present method of raising the reve- 
 nue would naturally fall under our observation. 
 Of all the methods that could have been devised 
 for levying the necessary amount of taxation, that 
 seems to have been preferred which is of the most 
 obnoxious character. To raise money upon arti-
 
 55 
 
 cles of trade and commerce was the most unwise, 
 the most injurious method possible. The great 
 exertions necessary to be made by England, from 
 the peculiar combination of European affairs, made 
 it right, perhaps, to adopt this practice ; when the 
 hurry and confusion attending an extensive war- 
 fare, by distracting and absorbing the whole atten- 
 tion of ministers, furnished an excuse for many 
 serious errors in the administration : but now that 
 peace has shed her hallowed influence over the 
 land, and public attention is awake to plans of 
 political improvement, there can be no reason why 
 a better system of financial management should 
 not be adopted. 
 
 It is true, that while the debt remains in its pre- 
 sent state, there might be considerable difficulty in 
 effecting an alteration, however desirable ; yet it is 
 but right that any other plan, likely to lessen the 
 burdens of the country, should be noticed. 
 
 In general, it may be remarked, that the revenue 
 of a country must be derived either from a tax upon 
 articles of trade or commerce, or from a tax on 
 land. The latter is the most eligible, from its 
 simplicity, its equality, its permanency, and its 
 economy ; the former is not eligible at all, from 
 the fact of its radical tendency to injure the coun- 
 try in which it is adopted. Unfortunately for the 
 British people, this is the plan that has been insti- 
 tuted amongst them, and to it, conjointly with the 
 national debt, much of the depression felt in all 
 departments of traffic is owing.
 
 56 
 
 It seems, indeed, to have become a settled opi- 
 nion, or, at least, a settled practice, that the pub- 
 lic revenue should, in a great measure, be derived 
 from articles of commerce, and the operations of 
 trade. The practice is decidedly wrong j and, 
 like most other projects of mere selfishness, de- 
 feats its own design ; for, the parties who have 
 had the formation of the laws relative to taxation, 
 in order to remove the burden as far from them- 
 selves as possible, have endeavoured to rest it upon 
 foundations not naturally formed to bear it : they 
 have thus disorganised the symmetry of society, 
 and have accumulated upon themselves, indirect- 
 ly, it is true, but not the less effectively, a greater 
 burden than if a more liberal — a more natural 
 course of conduct had been pursued. While they 
 have not answered the object in view with regard 
 to themselves, they have most grievously oppressed 
 those upon whom the taxation more directly falls : 
 thus paralysing the very thing that gave value and 
 stability to their own possessions, and actually more 
 than emptying one pocket, vainly endeavouring to 
 fill the other. 
 
 It would not be easy to describe all the various 
 evils experienced by the community, flowing from 
 this unnatural and unwise connexion of the reve- 
 nue with the trade and commerce of the country. 
 It may be right, however, to point out a few, as 
 specimens, to awaken our attention to this momen- 
 tous subject. 
 
 If we regard the delay occasioned by the inter-
 
 ^7 
 
 ference of the parties appointed to inspect its ope- 
 ration, we shall discover an evil both irksome and 
 injurious. It should be kept in mind that every 
 obstacle thrown in the way of business, as it con- 
 sumes time, necessarily enhances the value of our 
 production : and as the additional price thus put 
 upon the article, does not contribute to its improve- 
 ment, or add to its essential value, it may fairly be 
 regarded as robbing the country of that quantum 
 of productive labour and time thus wasted by this 
 ill-judged interference and delay ; and consequent- 
 ly depriving the nation of the wealth produceable 
 by that mis-spent time and labour. If we add what 
 is thus lost to the amount actually levied, we shall 
 find that the duty paid is only a part, and often 
 the smallest part, of what is really contributed. 
 
 A second evil arising from the same source is 
 the continual temptation to evade the payments 
 specified by the law. If men see a probability of 
 deriving some considerable gain by eluding the 
 observation of the officers of excise, it is hardly to 
 be expected that they should refrain to avail them- 
 selves of it : the hope of gain perverts the judg- 
 ment : men cease to regard smuggling as an evil, 
 and thus the great moral principle of obedience to 
 laiv is weakened and destroyed by the very opera- 
 tion of that law itself No evil can be greater in 
 any social community than weakening the influ- 
 ence of law ; and that influence is most eff"ectually 
 weakened when the operations of law are found to 
 be so decidedly injurious to any portion of the
 
 53 
 
 community. The principal of all law is the advan- 
 tage of society subjected to it. If law therefore 
 ceases to be beneficial, and becomes an irksome and 
 unbearable evil, it does not answer the object of 
 its enactment ; and, instead of respect and obedi- 
 ence, it meets with contempt and evasion. 
 
 Were the evil confined to the mere object of the 
 law in question, it would not prove so injurious ; 
 but that which makes it infinitely worse is, that the 
 evil extends itself to all law. The transition is 
 very easy from disliking one portion to dislike 
 every portion, and thus it not unfrequently hap- 
 pens with persons, who began by evading obnoxi- 
 ous enactments, that they have terminated their 
 course with the most violent outrages upon those 
 laws universally respected by all conditions of men. 
 These observations more particularly apply to those 
 heavy duties upon certain articles of commerce 
 which make it so profitable a traffic to evade the 
 demands of the law ; but they also refer to every 
 description of taxation upon trade or commerce, 
 where, from the facility afforded for concealment, 
 the temptation is increased to secure a private 
 advantage by the evasion of a foolish, unjust, and 
 injurious enactment. 
 
 A wise law-maker, knowing the immense advan- 
 tages of good laws, duly obeyed^ would have special 
 care so to frame his statutes, that every individual 
 called upon to yield to their authority, should feel 
 that, by so doing, he was effectually promoting his 
 own welfare ; and also to excite, through the com-
 
 59 
 
 munity at large, so gi*eat a respect for law that each 
 individual would become its guardian, and wish to 
 enforce universal obedience. Were the laws relat- 
 ing to commerce as just as those which relate to 
 robbery or murder ; the detestation felt would be 
 as great for the violation of the one as of the other : 
 but we see a striking proof of their impropriety in 
 the indifference with which these evasions are re- 
 garded, and where, in fact, it often happens that 
 the man who successfully defeats the law, obtains 
 applause for his conduct. 
 
 A third evil proceeding from the same cause is 
 the great expense attending the collection of the 
 revenue from this injudicious source. It is exceed- 
 ingly difficult to form an accurate estimate of what 
 the present system costs the country, arising from 
 the complicated and remote effects produced by it. 
 Were we, in estimating this matter, to regard the 
 simple fact of its actual collection alone, we should 
 form a most erroneous idea on the subject ; that 
 probably is the least portion of the expense ; and, 
 although it is put ostensibly forward as the whole 
 of what it costs, yet it, in reality, forms only a 
 small item of the actual expenditure. Could we 
 see the entire workings of the system, and take in 
 the whole of its extended ramifications, we should 
 behold a scene of the most revolting character ; 
 and find, probably, that for every pound sterling 
 levied professedly upon the community, there is 
 twice that sum, bona fide, extracted from them. 
 What, with excisemen, supervisors, accountants,
 
 boards of excise, guards, soldiers, spies, officers, 
 houses, stores, keepers, and all the innumerable 
 and indescribable train called into existence by this 
 prolific and deceitful system of revenue, it is sin- 
 gular how any portion can find its way into the 
 public treasury at all. Every one, through whose 
 hands it distils, taking care to mulct it in its pro- 
 gress, until the broad and ample current is refined 
 into an imperceptible thread as it drops at last into 
 the appointed place. It seems as if the greatest 
 ingenuity had been displayed in this particular re- 
 spect, not only to make the amount to be collected 
 enormously large, but to make it still more galling 
 and oppressive by the mode of its collection, every 
 possible way being adopted of making the evil still 
 more essentially so. Many other ways might 
 certainly have been adopted, but one so utterly in- 
 effective, so monstrously destructive to the true 
 interests of the country, could not have been dis- 
 covered. Most creditors are satisfied with obtain- 
 ing twenty shillings in the pound, but the treasury 
 of Great Britain is not satisfied without taking 
 double what it actually demands j receiving forty 
 shillings from us, and mocking us with saying that 
 twenty is all it has occasion for. Many an idle tale 
 is yearly told in the House of Commons respecting 
 reductions, and what adds greatly to the ludicrous 
 on these occasions, is the solemn gravity with which 
 these tales are reiterated and believed. All is 
 specious and deceitful while the present system 
 continues. It is not the saving, rwrninally, of a

 
 £vA\\«K> S.i>».(W» SsWCOW, S.OOO.OO1V S,0O0.00O, S.rtl , 
 
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 9,724,050 9,:24.0»0 
 
 ]0,3lO,SaS 
 
 8,000,0( 
 8.400.000] 
 8,620.0 
 9.261,0 
 9,724.050 
 10,210.252 
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 8,820,( 
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 6.067| 76,392,870 
 
 l,ei9,64S 
 2,410,625 
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 11256 8 3 
 
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 2,4 
 S 031 15C 
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 17 462 996 
 
 18 336 146 
 
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 408.507.6 14 437,352,994 467,220,643 49S.39 1,675 53 1,510,758 
 
 34,575,537 34,575,.>
 
 51 
 
 few thousands, or even millions, that can benefit 
 the country while the festering evil that is inhe- 
 rent in the system continues to destroy the health 
 of the community, and to poison the fountain head 
 of England's commercial prosperity. 
 
 Another evil arising from this is the patronage it 
 gives birth to. No honest, conscientious man would 
 covet this ; for it would be morally impossible for 
 him to retain his honesty under the influence of 
 this extended power. The very selfishness of those 
 who supplicated his favour would exert a baneful 
 influence over him, and he must be armed with 
 more than mortal uprightness to stand against the 
 poisonous efl'ect of such a situation. Let a man 
 enter upon this gi'ound with the purest of motives, 
 he could not long resist the natural tendency of 
 his nature, to be inflated with praise, and to be- 
 come corrupt with the possession of power. But, 
 if this eff'ect would be produced on an upright man, 
 what might we not expect of evil from one of a 
 corrupt and ambitious character ? If rapacious or 
 tyrannical, how would it multiply his means to 
 extort wealth, or to destroy liberty ? The history 
 of all periods illustrates this : and when we find 
 that the greater proportion of men in places of trust 
 and power are not endowed with an over portion of 
 purity and honesty, it should be the object of so- 
 ciety to remove, as far as it can be done with safe- 
 ty, those sources of temptation and evil from the 
 persons entrusted with the management of public 
 affairs. A wise man would surely avoid tempta-
 
 62 
 
 tion, for few are able at all times to withstand it 
 successfully. 
 
 In a country like Great Britain, which depends 
 so much upon its trade, the greatest care should be 
 taken to avoid depressing it. Unfortunately for 
 her, the direct tendency of the present mode of 
 obtaining the revenue is to cramp and depress her 
 trade. Partly by the impediments that are thrown 
 in its way, and partly by the obnoxious imposts 
 which are laid upon our commerce, it becomes 
 fettered and contracted. Men soon grow dispirit- 
 ed in pursuing that which is thus burdened till it 
 ceases to be profitable ; and if they continue to 
 pursue it at all, it is as a matter of sheer necessity, 
 and not because it is either productive or pleasant. 
 When trade is thus fettered and obstructed, it soon 
 loses that vigour with which it was first animated, 
 men forsake it so soon as they can remove them- 
 selves from it, and thus that which would give 
 employment to thousands is rendered totally use- 
 less and extinct by the unholy obtrusion of this 
 pestiferous and destructive system. Numberless 
 instances could be quoted of trades depressed more 
 than one-half by the weight of taxation, and of 
 others totally destroyed by the same cause. 
 
 It follows from this depression of trade, as a mat- 
 ter of course, that the agriculturalist must suffer 
 also ; and the evil extends itself immeasurably over 
 society. As the waves caused by the fall of a stone 
 into the water, go spreading and spreading until 
 they spend themselves on the shore ; so in like
 
 68 
 
 manner, the shock is felt through all the various 
 bodies in the community. The waves we have 
 alluded to die away when they have reached the 
 borders of the lake, and are seen no more : but this 
 evil has a rebound, and comes back again with 
 fatal and benumbing power upon trade itself. Thus 
 if the tradesman is unemployed, the farmer cannot 
 sell his produce, the landlord cannot obtain his 
 rent, and, for want of that rent, the tradesmen he 
 would have employed are left without orders, and 
 so all ranks of society are injured by that system 
 of finance which tends so continually and so uni- 
 versally to depress and destroy our trade. 
 
 But, the effect of this upon our connnerce, 
 viewed in reference to other countries, is fearful 
 in the extreme. No nation, in the world, is pos- 
 sessed of so many natural advantages for these 
 pursuits, as Great Britain. As an island, it pos- 
 sesses innumerable facilities, on all sides, for the 
 outlets of commerce ; and our commodious har- 
 bours, the best, perhaps, that can be found in any 
 part, afford secure anchorage to the wanderers 
 of the deep. But, in the single fact of our rich 
 mineral productions, we have so great a superio- 
 rity over every other country, that, were all other 
 circumstances equal, would give us such a com- 
 manding position, as must, for ever, place us 
 immeasurably above all chance of competition. 
 It will be observed, by every one who has his 
 eyes open, that the great manufacturing impor- 
 tance of England arises almost exclusively from
 
 64 
 
 her mineral riches. If it be viewed at large, in 
 comparison with other states, England is more 
 of a manufacturing country, than any other ; 
 because she has the elements within herself, from 
 which all manufactures are produced. If we 
 narrow our observations, and view one part of 
 England in comparison with another part, we 
 find the same truth apparent ; as all the great 
 towns, celebrated for their manufactures, are 
 seated on beds of minerals, and from that circum- 
 stance, above all others, their superiority has been 
 derived. 
 
 If it then can be regarded as correct, that Eng- 
 land has these natural facilities for great commer- 
 cial undertakings ; is it not a pity, and a shame, 
 that any narrow and selfish policy should deprive 
 her of those advantages she naturally possesses ? 
 Yet, this is done in the most effective manner, by 
 the present unnatural connexion between the re- 
 venue and commerce. 
 
 First. By the high price to which our articles 
 are thereby raised, and which prevents a fair com- 
 petition with other countries, not so favourably 
 circumstanced by nature, as we are ; giving them 
 an advantage over us, which neither their skill nor 
 industry would entitle them to expect. 
 
 Secondly. By the great obstructions which are 
 thrown in the way, creating frivolous and vexa- 
 tious delays, by which time is sacrificed, and labour 
 multiplied : all waste of time, and all increase of 
 labour, being, in fact, but means of adding a
 
 65 
 
 higher rate to the cost of each article. Now, no- 
 thing can be more unwise, than the present sys- 
 tem, in these respects, as it most effectually les- 
 sens our commerce, to a most inconceivable de- 
 gree, and makes that which we do carry on, far 
 less productive than it would be. 
 
 Another evil that presses upon the country, 
 from the same cause, is the uncertainty of the 
 results, as to the expected income, and the vari- 
 ous evils, to which that uncertainty gives rise. 
 When a minister brings in his budget to the house, 
 he offers a set of calculations to the view of mem- 
 bers, which, however specious at their first ap- 
 pearance, in nineteen cases out of twenty, prove 
 to be erroneous. Hence, in every succeeding 
 session, there comes the repeated tale, that such 
 a thing was deficient, and such other thing was 
 not so productive as it was expected to be. And, 
 then, there are the expedients, and contrivances, 
 and set offs, to which he is forced to resort : all 
 affording opportunities for deception and embez- 
 zlement ; being expressly calculated to bewilder 
 the minds of the people, and affording too great 
 a temptation for the practice of fraud. 
 
 It is really high time, so ridiculous, so iniqui- 
 tous a method, was laid aside, and one substi- 
 tuted in its place, that would effectually answer 
 the object in view. It must be highly distressing 
 to an upright minister, to be placed in a situation 
 so very doubtful and suspicious ; and must ever 
 be highly distasteful to the people, to feel them-
 
 66 
 
 selves annoyed, and deceived, and oppressed^ by 
 a system so foolish and inefficient as that which 
 is now in use. 
 
 These observations will not be considered im- 
 proper, by any person who has the good of his 
 country at heart, and whose eyes are opened to 
 view her true interest and glory. Although the 
 system we here condemn has been sanctioned by 
 long practice, and gilded by splendid names, yet 
 its antiquity affords no excuse for the evil that is 
 in it, and those honoured men who have pursued 
 it might have known no better. But where is the 
 advantage of experience, if we are not to adopt 
 improvements? All arts and all sciences have 
 adopted new rules, as new light has been shed 
 upon them; and shall political science alone stand 
 still, when all other things are in motion around 
 her ? It cannot be : we must onward, and the 
 time to march has come. 
 
 It might, perhaps, be allowed in the infancy of 
 society, when all things were new and strange, 
 and men were unacquainted with the operations 
 of political life, that a cumbrous, intricate, decep- 
 tive and fluctuating system of revenue and go- 
 vernment should be in existence ; but there can 
 be no reason assigned for its continuance now. 
 The time is at hand when all such preposterous 
 pi^ctices must be abandoned. The course of 
 events is shaping out a new channel, where it 
 may glide onwards more smoothly, and men in 
 power must either guide the current quietly into
 
 67 
 
 its appointed place, or by an opposition unwise 
 and ill-timed, stir up its waves into fretfulness 
 and fury, a fury that may overwhelm themselves, 
 and desolate the peace of society. 
 
 It is a fact that should be always borne in mind, 
 that no one portion of a community can suffer 
 alone ; any evil that presses on one class, must 
 necessarily be felt by all classes, and therefore 
 care should be taken not to suffer foolish and 
 shortsighted men to oppress society at large, and 
 themselves amongst the number, by their selfish 
 attempts to shift the burden to a distance, and to 
 place it on other shoulders, with a view to their 
 own escape. It is not in the nature of things that 
 they should succeed in their interested and unna- 
 tural purposes : but thereby defeating their own 
 intentions, and literally increasing their o^vn bur- 
 dens, by the unwise project of placing it upon 
 others, having to sustain, by the present unwise 
 practice, a greater evil than they would do by a 
 more natural, a more equitable mode of procedure. 
 
 This is a species of deception that ought not to 
 be suffered, because the evil does not confine it- 
 self to its originators, (if it did they might be al- 
 lowed to bear it, until their minds became en- 
 lightened by what they endured :) but extending 
 with fatal rapidity to all classes of the commu- 
 nity, encreasing as it proceeds, vexing and dis- 
 turbing the good order of society, and perpetually 
 perverting the most perfect plans of political eco- 
 nomy.
 
 68 
 
 Had a country no other money to raise, than 
 that which is essentially necessary for the pur- 
 poses oi good government y unquestionably the best 
 and most eligible mode of procuring that money, 
 would be by a tax levied on the land, and on the 
 houses, and other erections of the country. 
 
 The superiority of this method, when contrasted 
 with that now in operation, may be observed — 
 
 I. In its simplicity. — This is seen in the fact of 
 its being a plain and straight forward process of 
 calculation. If once the data be correctly ascer- 
 tained, there can be no further difficulty in the 
 way ; for it is so perfectly easy to discover to the 
 minutest fraction, the precise and definite amount 
 that will be produced, by a given rate, that if a finan- 
 cier should be disposed to employ a subordinate 
 in his calculations, he need not to incur the ex- 
 pense of a living servant to do it for him, as an 
 automaton, with a slight piece of machinery, could 
 as effectually produce the required solution, as 
 the most expert arithmetician. By way of illus- 
 trating the proposition : suppose we take the data 
 according to the calculation already offered, of 
 80 millions of acres of land, valued at 50/. each, 
 as the average worth of the whole per acre. And 
 two millions of houses, valued at 100/. per house, 
 as the estimated average. Upon these, suppose 
 a sum of 14 millions has to be raised annually ; a 
 sum exceeding the necessary expenditure of the 
 state more than one-third. For the sake of sim-
 
 69 
 
 plifying the calculation — suppose the two millions 
 of houses (which, at 100/. each, are equal to four 
 millions of acres at 50/. each), be set down as 
 four millions of acres, and thus make 84 millions 
 of acres, on which the tax is to be levied. If 14 
 millions of pounds be the sum required, the slight- 
 est involution of the proper figures will furnish the 
 required answer, and shew that a sum of 3s. 4<d. 
 per acre, would produce 14 millions of pounds. 
 
 If it were an uneven sum that was required, 
 how easily would the exact ratio of taxation, per 
 acre, be discovered, by a table composed after the 
 following manner : — 
 
 84,000,000 acres at^d. per £ 87,500 
 
 h 173,000 
 
 I 262,500 
 
 1 350,000 
 
 2 700,000 
 
 3 1,050,000 
 
 4 1.400,000 
 
 5 1,750,000 
 
 6 2,100,000 
 
 84,000,000 acres, at lOd. per £3,500,000 
 
 11 3,850,000 
 
 Is 4,200,000 
 
 2 8,400,000 
 
 3 12,000,000 
 
 4 16,800,000 
 
 r. 5 21,000,000 
 
 6 25,200,000 
 
 7 29,400,000 
 
 7 2,450,000; 8 33,600,000 
 
 8 2,800,000 9 37,800,000 
 
 9 3,150,000 10 42,000,000 
 
 Were a plan like this adopted, there could be 
 none of that confusion, or uncertainty, in any of 
 the financial notifications to Parliament, that is 
 so excessively disgusting in the present system, 
 and by which so much of evil is annually inflicted 
 upon the country. By this method, when once 
 the amount of the national outlay had been deter- 
 mined by a vote in Parliament, the easiest calcu- 
 lation would shew the precise ratio to be levied. 
 
 An apparent objection to these views would 
 arise, fi'om the very gi'eat inequality in the value of
 
 70 
 
 the different lands and houses, subjected hereby to 
 taxation. This, however, is a mere misconcep- 
 tion, and when examined will not be found to 
 militate against the general statement respecting 
 its simplicity. It is true, that in the detail of 
 operation in a plan like this, there would neces- 
 sarily be great nicety of calculation, yet this nicety 
 would neither affect the minister who managed, 
 nor the Parliament, who voted the money. For 
 it should be remarked, that whatever variation 
 there might be in the value of the property to be 
 taxed, in order to fix the rate of taxation, that 
 property must be averaged before the vote could 
 be fixed : thus, although there might be twenty dif- 
 ferent valuations of land, they must all be thrown 
 into one average value, to fix a proportionate taxa- 
 tion upon them. After these lands and houses 
 were once valued and classified, it would not lie 
 either with the minister or Parliament to interfere 
 with any thing but the general bearings of the 
 question. Whatever niceties therefore would be 
 connected with this method, they do not interfere 
 with its simplicity ; but being adjusted by an equi- 
 table scale, the parties who superintended its ope- 
 ration, would be able to proceed with the greatest 
 regularity and despatch. The only difficulty ari- 
 sing from this variation in the value of the pro- 
 perty would be in its first valuation, but this being 
 overcome, there could not exist any thing to im- 
 pede the correct and simple movements of a sys- 
 tem, naturally adapted to the purpose of taxation.
 
 71 
 
 In further proof of the correctness of this posi- 
 tion, let us suppose the plan adopted and in ope- 
 ration. The Treasury being the reservoir from 
 whence all payments are to proceed, must be sup- 
 plied fi'om the various counties of the kingdom. 
 Each county in proportion to its number of acres 
 and houses, and their respective value, to furnish 
 the appointed portion. As the minister, from the 
 official return, would be in possession of the esti- 
 mate of each county, all he would have to do 
 would be, to notify to the proper officer for each 
 county the sum to be levied ; whose more minute 
 information, would enable him to make the neces- 
 sary subdivisions in the collection. Thus, sup- 
 pose, a minister is authorised by Parliament to 
 raise a sum of twenty-one millions ; this would 
 be an average taxation of 5s. per acre upon the 
 whole : upon reference to his statistical returns, 
 he finds different counties have greater numbers 
 of acres than others, and also that there is a dif- 
 ference in their average value. By a very simple 
 process of calculation, he finds the respective 
 sums that each county should furnish, based upon 
 the number of acres and their comparative worth, 
 and he issues accordingly the needful authority 
 for their collection. 
 
 It is very evident, notwithstanding the great 
 difference there would necessarily be in the sums 
 to be collected from each county, that no difficulty 
 could arise from it. Every one will admit the 
 propriety of such counties as Surrey or Middlesex
 
 72 
 
 being fixed at a higher valuation, and consequently 
 more highly taxed than such counties as Donegall 
 or Kerry, but when once their respective value 
 was ascertained, it would resolve itself into a sim- 
 ple combination of figures, to fix upon their re- 
 spective quota to the general fund. 
 
 Were the average sum required, 5s. per acre, 
 and this sum had to be levied fi-om two counties, 
 alike in estimated value but varying in quantity, 
 then the variation in quantity would shew the dif- 
 ference in the sum required : if one county con- 
 tain 600,000 acres and another 800,000 acres, 
 each being alike in value, then the sum from the 
 former would, of course, be one-fourth less than 
 that required from the latter : 800,000 acres, at 
 5s, per acre, producing 200,000/., and 600,000 
 acres, at the same rate, yielding 150,000/. 
 
 If the above sum of 5s. per acre, has to be levied 
 on two counties, the same in the number of acres 
 but different in estimated value, then, of course, 
 the sum to be raised would vary in proportion to 
 that difference in valuation : if each county have 
 600,000 acres, and the one is valued at 60/. per 
 acre, and the other valued at 40/. per acre, then 
 the amount required would be one-third less from 
 the one than from the other, or 600,000 acres va- 
 lued at 40/. per acre, should pay 4^. per acre, 
 amounting to 120,000/., while 600,000 acres, at 60/. 
 per acre, should pay 6s, per acre, amounting to 
 180,000/. 
 
 If the same train of reasoning be applied to ex-
 
 73 
 
 plain its more detailed operation, in actual collec- 
 tion confined to a single county, it will still fur- 
 ther shew the simplicity of the plan proposed. 
 
 Suppose, for instance, that we take a county of 
 500,000 acres, and 240,000 inhabitants, and allow- 
 ing, as we formerly supposed, twelve individuals 
 to each house, we have 20,000 houses in addition to 
 the 500,000 acres of land ; the land and houses are 
 both at the average value of 50/. per acre the for- 
 mer, and 100/. per house the latter : this will give, 
 at 5s, per acre, a sum of 125,000/. from the land, 
 and 10,000/. fi-om the houses, as the total amount 
 required from the county. But in levying this 
 sum it is found, that there are great variations in 
 the respective value of the property ; these varia- 
 tions then, being all previously ascertained and 
 classified, will determine the various rates to be 
 levied. 
 
 If 125,000/. has to be raised upon 500,000 acres, 
 after an average rate of 5s. per acre, and there is 
 great inequality in the value of the land, then the 
 variation of the tax is to be determined by the va- 
 riation in the value of the land ; thus, suppose 
 there are 50,000 acres, worth only 10/. per acre, 
 and 150,000 acres worth 30/. per acre, and 100,000 
 acres worth 50/. per acre ; another 150,000 acres 
 may be worth 70/. per acre, and 50,000 acres 
 worth 90/. per acre, then, in order to raise the 
 required sum, having reference to the supposed 
 difference in value, it would be as follows : —
 
 50,000 acres, valued at 10/. per acre, to pay 1*. per 
 
 acre £2,500 
 
 150,000 acres, valued at 30/. per acre, to pay 2s. per 
 
 acre, as its pi'oper proportion, would yield...... 22,500 
 
 100,000 acres, valued at 50/. per acre, being the 
 
 standard value, to pay 5*. per acre 25,000 
 
 150,000 acres, valued at 70/. per acre, after the same 
 
 proportion, would be, at 7s. per acre 52,500 
 
 50,000 acres, valued at 90/. per acre, would be 9^. 
 
 per acre 22,500 
 
 Thus giving, upon the 500,000 acres of land, the) £ ,05 qqq 
 required sum of j * 
 
 By the same supposition, upon the houses would 
 be required the sum of 10,000/., and in looking 
 over their value it is found, that as great a varia- 
 tion exists here, or greater, than in the value of 
 land ; but by applying the same principle to the 
 one as to the other, a similar result would be 
 produced ; and thus, whether we regard this sub- 
 ject as a whole, or in part, in its general bearing, 
 or in its minutest ramifications, the same cha- 
 racter of simplicity is predominant in every view. 
 Contrasted with the present ambigious and per- 
 plexed method, how strikingly is its superiority 
 displayed ; and we hesitate not to affirm, that 
 where truth is preferred to falsehood — honesty to 
 fraud — good sense to bad, that the simplicity of 
 the plan proposed, would recommend its adoption 
 without delay. 
 
 II. The Jixedness and permanency of this method 
 is deserving of observation. It needs not a mul- 
 tiplicity of extended arguments to enforce the
 
 75 
 
 truth of this position, since a simple reference 
 to the nature of that which is to be its foundation, 
 at once establishes its fixed and permanent qua- 
 lity. It will be observed, that the land is, of all 
 other things, the most fixed and unchangeable ; 
 with little variation it continues the same from 
 one century to another ; and this is the case, not 
 only with regard to the nature of the «oil and its 
 immoveable localities, but likewise, in a great 
 measure, as it respects the value of its produc- 
 tions. It is very true, that three or four hundred 
 years ago, the nominal value of landed produce 
 was very different to what it is at the present 
 time, as a sheep could then be purchased for \5d. 
 which would now be sold for 30s. , and a quarter 
 of wheat which now sells for QOs. would then pro- 
 duce but Ss. Yet this difference is apparent 
 and not real, for if we regard the price of labour 
 in those times, compared with the present, it will 
 bring matters to the same level — thus a labourer's 
 wages was then but one penny per day, whereas 
 it is now two shillings, by which we perceive that 
 the small sum that was then received for labour, 
 would purchase as many of the necessaries of life, 
 as the larger sum that is obtained at the present 
 time. This apparent difference does not argue 
 any variation in the actual value of landed pro- 
 ductions, but simply arose from the greater scar- 
 city of money, by which its relative value was es- 
 timated ; and on supposition of the plan proposed, 
 although it might vary in the nominal amount to
 
 76. 
 
 be levied, yet, in point of actual utility and effect, 
 the sum collected must be the same. Suppose 
 this had been the practice at the time we have 
 alluded to, it would not have made the difference 
 at first supposed, as the tax of 2d. per acre levied 
 then, would be, in effect, the same as 4s. per 
 acre, levied now. 
 
 Whatever, therefore, might be the price of 
 landed produce, as the value of labour always 
 runs in parallel line, it could make no real diffe- 
 rence, whatever might be the nominal amount. 
 
 This fixed and permanent quality of the land, 
 points it out, as most peculiarly fitted to bear the 
 weight of necessary taxation ; as it saves time, 
 prevents disappointment, and gives a character of 
 solidity to the Revenue, which it never can pos- 
 sess under the present system. 
 
 Next to the land, houses assume a character of 
 permanency, more than any other description of 
 property, and for that reason, become legitimate 
 objects of taxation. When once erected, and 
 regularly registered, they remain from year to 
 year, almost as fixed and durable as the land ; or 
 at least, sufficiently so for all the purposes of our 
 present inquiry. 
 
 It must be highly desirable for any one, placed 
 in an official situation, to be able to execute ef- 
 ficiently his appointed duties ; and, we could 
 scarcely conceive a more disagreeable situation, 
 than when a minister cannot discharge the public 
 obligations, for want of the necessary means. On
 
 77 
 
 the present insecure, and unstable plan, this must 
 frequently be the case ; but, on the system now 
 proposed, there could be no recurrence of such 
 unpleasant deficiency : the Revenue would then 
 be as fixed as the foundations of our island ; and, 
 until Britain became engulphed in the seas which 
 surround her, there could be no likelihood of her 
 resources being shaken. 
 
 If this system were adopted, it would prevent 
 that eternal disagreement witnessed in the House 
 of Commons, on the " ways and means" of rais- 
 ing the Revenue ; the only thing to be done, in 
 reference to this matter, would be to agree upon 
 the sum to be raised ; not one word need to be 
 said, respecting Iww it was to be done j this would 
 follow as a matter of course ; and, all that a 
 minister would have to do, would be to carry into 
 effect the vote of Parliament. There would not 
 be a repetition of such disgraceful scenes, as were 
 lately exhibited in the House of Commons, where 
 certain payments were first voted, and then the 
 means of making those payments were withheld, 
 and afterwards by another vote on the same ques- 
 tion, reversing their decision. How is it possible 
 to respect a system that thus converts the ** col- 
 lective wisdom" of Great Britain, into an assem- 
 blage of consummate folly, makes the same mouth 
 blow hot and cold, and holds up to infinite scorn 
 and contumely, that which should claim our un- 
 qualified respect and approval.
 
 III. A still stronger claim may be made out for 
 the goodness of this method, by observing the 
 equality of its pressure. It has been often re- 
 marked, that the tendency of the present system, 
 is, to fix the greater proportion of taxation upon 
 those classes of society, which are least able to 
 bear it. By this means, society has been in a 
 great measure disorganized, and the heavy end of 
 taxation being precipitated to that spot, least cal- 
 culated to sustain it, has created innumerable 
 evils, and brought us to a perilous state of vexa- 
 tion. The plan we propose, of removing all other 
 taxes, and of fixing taxation exclusively upon the 
 land and houses, would have the effect of repair- 
 ing the mischief, and of fixing the public burden 
 in exact proportion to the ability of bearing it : 
 the man being taxed heavier, whose means being 
 ample, enable him to sustain a heavier burden ; 
 and the man, whose confined means disqualified 
 him from bearing much, being burdened only in 
 proportion to his ability. By the present method, 
 it would be found on examination, that a man, 
 whose income is only £60. per year, and that de- 
 rived from labour useful to the country, pays £15. 
 out of that sum, or 25 per cent, in taxation upon 
 the various articles he consumes ; while the man 
 whose income is £60,000. per year, derived from 
 land, for which, he gave no value, does not pay 
 5 per cent, upon his annual revenue. It cannot 
 be said, that this is proper ; it is not natural, nor 
 can it stand. It would not be right, perhaps, to
 
 79 
 
 say, that their respective positions should be re- 
 versed, and vi^hile the man of £60. per year, paid 
 only 5 per cent. — that the man of £60,000. should 
 pay 25 per cent. — but, no one would deny the 
 propriety of an equalization of the burden, and 
 make each to bear, in proportion to his capa- 
 bility. /I'M 
 
 In fixing this impost on the permanent property 
 of the country, it should not be levied on the occu- 
 pant of either house or land, but upon the owner ; 
 and thus make the real property of the country 
 available for its revenue, giving a solid foundation 
 for the superstructure and making it bona fide, a 
 tax upon that country, for whose service it is 
 raised. 
 
 This, at first sight, would seem to destroy the 
 truth of our position, and make the pressure une- 
 qual — so far, however, from that being the case, 
 it would be the only means of equalizing the bur- 
 den ; this will be apparent from the following con- 
 siderations. 
 
 First, the rental of land must always be in pro- 
 portion to the amount of its produce. No tenant 
 can continue to occupy land at a rental of three 
 pounds per acre, when the only return he can 
 procure, besides the expense attendant upon its 
 cultivation, amounts to two pounds : it is evident 
 that he must either seek a reduction of the rent, 
 or abandon the undertaking. On the other hand, 
 was land let at £2. per acre, when the tenant 
 could well afford to pay £3. the competition for
 
 80 
 
 his land would enable the owner to procure a 
 proper rent. In the case of long leases, there 
 might be a slight difference, but not sufficient to 
 alter this general principle. Suppose, under a 
 lease that the land be let too high, the owner must 
 either reduce the rent, or break his tenant, or if 
 it be let too low, the extra care that can then be 
 expended on its cultivation will encrease its value, 
 and enable him on the renewal of the lease, to 
 obtain a fair remuneration for the temporary loss 
 sustained ; and thus, in either case, although it 
 be a little protracted in its operation, yet the result 
 is infallibly the same. 
 
 If the price of landed produce be admitted as 
 that which regulates the rental of land, it follows 
 that a good market for that produce materially 
 assists in helping the rental ; but the market is at 
 present injured by reason of the great sums of 
 money the manufacturing classes have to pay for 
 exciseable articles, and other evils connected there- 
 with ; and consequently, were all these exciseable 
 articles reduced to a proper commercial value, by 
 the tax being levied on the land, the consumers 
 would have those sums, thus saved from the excise, 
 to expend in the productions of the land, and 
 thereby enable the farmer to pay a higher relative 
 rent than he does at present. So far from the 
 landowner being injured by the tax being laid upon 
 him, it would be found that the evil was only ima- 
 ginary, and, when properly understood, would be 
 hailed as a real good, instead of a curse.
 
 81 
 
 2. Were we to make an estimate of what is at 
 present paid by the occupier of the land for excise 
 and assessed taxes, it would be found that the sum 
 is perhaps as great, or nearly so, as would have to 
 be paid by a tax upon the land in lieu of all others. 
 Add to this the amount that the landowner pays 
 for exciseable commodities and direct taxes, and 
 these two sums will far exceed the amount to be 
 contributed under the system we have proposed. 
 It should be noticed likewise, that although a part 
 of this amount is nominally paid by the occupier^ 
 yet in reality, as it cripples his means and deteri- 
 orates the possession, it falls actually upon the 
 owner of the land. By fixing taxation upon trade 
 and commerce, they are thereby contracted and 
 injured ; through them, agi'iculture is depressed, 
 and because of this depression the landlord does 
 not obtain so much as he might, by the more sim- 
 ple, natural, and efficient plan of a tax upon the 
 land. 
 
 S. The great necessaries of life are all produced 
 from the land — the vegetables, the meat, the beer, 
 and the wool. The prices obtained for these arti- 
 cles are always proportioned to the outlay in pro- 
 ducing them. Each person in the state, in pro- 
 portion to his means, consumes a greater or lesser 
 quantity of them ; and, of course, the price being 
 regulated by the cost of producing, each person 
 would pay according to his consumption, or, in 
 other words, would contribute to the revenue ex- 
 actly in proportion to his ability. The landown- 
 
 G
 
 8@ 
 
 ers, after paying the demands of the revenue, 
 would obtain their proper return from the occu- 
 piers ; the occupiers, valuing their articles accord- 
 ing to the outlay in producing them, obtain their 
 remuneration from the consumers, and the con- 
 sumers being in fact the whole nation, feel that the 
 burden is light and insignificant, because by this 
 means it is equallised in its pressure : no one part 
 being crushed to ease another, until he that at first 
 escaped the burden by resting his share upon ano- 
 ther is doubly oppressed by the giving way, and 
 destruction of that part so unwisely, so unnatu- 
 rally overburdened, as in the present system is the 
 case with the great body of the poor. There could 
 be no difficulty in the payment of a just taxation, 
 were the taxation so contrived, as to fall with even 
 weight in proportion to the ability to bear it. The 
 nation could move with ease and vigour, was the 
 burden properly adjusted ; but when the hands 
 and legs are fettered, and the weight bound where 
 nature never designed it, and which no long habit 
 can ever render natural, it is not to be wondered 
 at that the parts most oppressed should become 
 irritated and inflamed, and the whole body become 
 paralysed with this unnatural and ponderous inflic- 
 tion. 
 
 4. If we recall to our recollections the propor- 
 tionate value of the property invested in trade, 
 compared with the value of these stable possessions, 
 we shall see still further the justness of these 
 remarks. 
 
 According to a former calculation, it appears that
 
 tlie freehold property may be viewed as amounting 
 to 4/200 millions of pounds, while the personalty 
 altogether is but '240 millions ; out of this 240 
 millions we must take a part for the value of fur- 
 niture, say 40 millions, and leave 200 millions as 
 the sum now engaged in trading and commercial 
 speculations. Upon this 200 millions nearly the 
 whole of the taxes are laid, while the 4,200 milli- 
 ons are comparatively untouched. This is basing 
 a j)yramid on its point ; and surely the contrivers 
 of such a preposterous scheme were fitter for bed- 
 lam than for conducting the affairs of a mighty 
 people. 
 
 If the amount of taxation be taken at 42 millions 
 per annum, this is only one per cent, upon the 
 actual value of the land and houses, amounting to 
 4,200 millions, while 42 millions per annum levied 
 upon the sums in trade and commerce (200 milli- 
 ons) amounts to the Israelitish sum of 21 percent. 
 It is no wonder such sums should be expended 
 yearly in working this complicated machinery by 
 which the whole trading capital of Britain passes 
 every four or five years through the treasury. It is 
 no wonder that trade and commerce should lan- 
 guish, while they are thus compelled to pursue 
 their course with a burden, to which a mill-stone 
 round the neck of an individual would be a trifle. 
 
 5, Closely associated with this reflection is the 
 fact, that the great bulk of the people are engaged 
 in that which is thus so ponderously overloaded. 
 We may suppose the proportion to be for the sake of 
 illustrating the argument as one is to twenty — one
 
 84 
 
 landowner for twenty tradesmen and merchants. 
 The latter may be regarded in the light of custo- 
 mers to the former, since it is by their consump- 
 tion of the produce of the land that those posses- 
 sions are made valuable. By the present method, 
 these twenty of comparatively limited means are 
 made to bear the burden exclusively, and, in con- 
 sequence, their value as customers to the landowner 
 is lessened in exact proportion to the amount of evil 
 inflicted on them. It is therefore^ very easy to 
 see, that so far from gaining by this pestiferous and 
 selfish plan, he will actually lose more than he can 
 gain, while the twenty are all defrauded of what 
 is their due, to please the caprice of an individual, 
 who is, of the entire community, the most useless 
 of them all. 
 
 By levying the taxes for state expenditure on 
 land, would, in a certain sense, be recurring to the 
 original investiture of freehold possessions. All 
 the land in the kingdom, no matter what may be 
 the present title — whether by purchase, gift, or 
 inheritance — was originally held subject to state 
 expenditure. If we refer to the time of the con- 
 quest, when it was parcelled out in lots by the 
 caprice of the bastard William, it will be evident 
 that its possessors had it not for themselves ; it was 
 necessarily subjected to two natural incumbrances, 
 growing out of the position in which they were 
 placed. The first was that of their followers by 
 whose assistance they had won their land, and who 
 therefore were properly entitled to share in the 
 advantages of possession, and the second was that
 
 86 
 
 of the monarch under whose conduct their enter- 
 prize had been successful. By virtue of this compact, 
 they were only entitled to the land on condition of 
 maintaining a sufficient force to protect it, and of 
 furnishing supplies to the monarch who governed 
 it. The whole, or nearly so, of the entire land was 
 thus divided, and whatever may have been its sub- 
 sequent changes, that was the original title by 
 which it was held. 
 
 There seems to be a good deal of natural justice 
 in this disposal of land, if we reflect — first, that no 
 one man has any original right to the possession 
 of land more than any other man ; second, that the 
 land must be held in possession by some ; third, 
 that those who do not hold the land are still as 
 much entitled to support from it as those who do ; 
 fourth, and consequently that those who hold pos- 
 session, do so for the common benefit of them- 
 selves and others. If this conclusion be correct, 
 it appears that the feudal institution, however 
 foolish and faulty in many other respects, was in 
 this instance founded on justice and propriety. 
 
 Say what we will, or disguise the matter as we 
 may, the feudal title is the only original one that 
 exists, either for the crown or the soil of Great 
 Britain. All others, if traced, would be found to 
 merge in this ; and however diversified the stream 
 may be at present, they all emanate from this sin- 
 gle source. 
 
 It would not be unjust, even if it were attended 
 with actual loss to the landowner, to return to the 
 original compact by which these possessions were 
 held ; but when it is demonstrable, that so far
 
 86 
 
 from its being a loss, it is an actual gain to him, 
 there can surely be no reason assigned for refusing 
 to adopt a system so simple, so certain, and so 
 equally just, as that of fixing a tax upon the land 
 for raising the revenue of Great Britain. 
 
 IV. But a still stronger reason will be seen for 
 the adoption of this plan, in the economy of its 
 movements, when contrasted with the present 
 expensive system. 
 
 After an accurate survey had been taken, and 
 all the various properties were registered, in due 
 and proper order, it is likely, that one general 
 treasurer for each county, would be found suffi- 
 cient. Of course, it would be needful that proper 
 security should be given by him to government, 
 for the amount likely to be in his hands ; which, 
 for the sake of lessening his responsibility, and 
 making the payments easier to the parties finding 
 the money, might be in quarterly instalments. 
 Under him, there might be four, eight or twelve, 
 according to the size of the county, who would 
 act as subordinate receivers, giving security to the 
 county treasurer ; and under these again, the 
 actual receivers of the money from its appointed 
 payers ; these again giving security to their re- 
 spective superiors, and having authority to enforce 
 summary payments, so that all parts being pro- 
 perly protected, no difficulty could arise through 
 mismanagement or defalcation, in any of the par- 
 ties concerned in its payment or transmission. 
 
 The numbers being determined, it would be 
 easy to fix on a sum that should remunerate the
 
 87 
 
 various parties for the trouble and responsibility 
 incurred. Considering the fewness of tlie num- 
 ber, and the easiness of their business, it would 
 not require a large sum to pay them handsomely, 
 for the amount of service rendered, and taking in 
 every possible consideration, it is probable that 
 24 per cent, upon the amount levied, would fully 
 compensate the parties employed. It would not 
 be necessary to travel from house to house, and 
 from field to field, to collect the money, but 
 receiving times and places being appointed, it 
 should be imperative on all parties, to attend and 
 discharge the demands against them, under the 
 penalty of an immediate seizure and sale of the 
 property in question. 
 
 Let us notice also, that the expense of collec- 
 tion would not only be thus small and insignifi- 
 cant, but that it would be the whole of what it 
 cost. The present system is so deceptive, that it 
 costs as much in matters not directly apparent, as 
 in actual collection ; the one proposed is exactly 
 the reverse, for its apparent amount will be the 
 entire of what it costs. As there would be no 
 variation in quantity, it could require no excise- 
 man's rod to giiage it ; as it could not be made 
 smaller, there would require no coast-guard to 
 protect it ; as it could not be encreased, no ves- 
 sels need be employed to prevent illicit importa- 
 tion ; as it could not be concealed, there would 
 be no need of spies ; as it could not be removed, 
 protecting police would be unnecessary ; and as
 
 88 
 
 it is not perishable, no stores need be provided 
 to keep it in safety. All the various tribes, at 
 present employed, would cease to be burdensome 
 to the country ; the expense of their maintenance 
 would be done away with for ever ; and their time, 
 which is now wasted, and lost to the country, 
 might be expended profitably, in the exercise of 
 productive industry. 
 
 The few persons that would be necessary under 
 the new system, would require so little in compa- 
 rison with the numbers employed at present, that 
 in all likelihood, the double advantage derived 
 from the exchange, would amount to one half the 
 national expenditure. Millions, per annum, being 
 thus saved, by this economical, certain, and sim- 
 ple plan, of raising the Revenue ; which would 
 not only make taxation lighter, to an inconceiv- 
 able degree, but would cause it to fall in that 
 milder "orm, with equal weight upon all classes 
 of society. Removing the causes of perpetual 
 discord and distress, and facilitating, to the utmost 
 extent, the national prosperity : putting every 
 individual into a place of usefulness, bringing 
 forth every latent source of wealth, and elevating 
 Great Britain to that lofty position^ of being not 
 mily the wonder, hut the mistress of the world. 
 
 THE END. 
 
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