CENTRAL CIRCULATION AND BOOKSTACKS The person borrowing this material is responsible for its renewal or return before the Latest Date stamped below. You may be charged a minimum fee of $75.00 for each non-returned or lost item. Theft, mutilation, or defacement of library materials can be causes for student disciplinary action. All materials owned by the University of Illinois Library are the property of the State of Illinois and ore protected by Article 1 6B of Illinois Criminal Law and Procedure. TO RENEW, CALL (217) 333-8400. University of Illinois Library at Urbana-Champaign ''m When renewing by phone, write new due date below previous due date. LI 62 THE STATE OF THE NATIONAL DEBT, THE NATIONAL INCOME, AND THE NATIONAL EXPENDITURE. WITH Some fhort Inferences and Refle£lions applicable to the prefent dangerous Crifis. By JOHN EARL of STAIR. O Navis ! referent in Mare te no including as above, was, -^ — 124,299,375 The Unfunded Debt, Exche- quer Bills i,coo,ooo, ditto knt to the EaJ} India Com- pany 1,400,000, Navy Debt 1,849,371, fuppofed Debt of ihe Civil Lift 800,000, in all 5^049,371 Debt [ 7 ] Debt at the Conclufion of the War was — 146,402,601 Debt ditCbnftmas 17731 '^^^ ^39934^^974^ Paid oiF therefore was 7>053j855 To the Difcharge of which have been apph'ed the following extraneous and adventitious Sums, which as they arofe moft- ly out of the War, ought to have been in a great Part de- ducted from the Debt incurred by the War. Produce oi French Prizes — 815,500 Army Savings 9^4>755 Balance of Earl ♦ Chatham and John Calcraft*s Accounts, and Army Savings 216,222 Compofition. for French Prifoners, 670,000 Sale of Ceded If- lands — 70,000 2,736,477 From [ 8 ] Brought over, 2,736,477 From the Eafi India Company, af- ter deduding the 1,400,000 lent them on the Contracfl for territorial Indemnifi- cation — 800,000 To gained by the Public, which the Company loft by the Indemnity of One Shilling ^^r Pound on Tea 700,00a From the Bank for the Renewal of their Charter — 110,000 . 4.346,477 ToDifcount at 10 per Cent, on the 1,500,000 paid in the Year 1772 150,000 4)496.477 Th« [ 9 ] The Debt therefore paid by the permanent Excefs of the Incomes of the State beyond the current Expences thereof during Eleven Years of pro- found Peace, and unequalled Profperity of Trade, with the Land Tax at 41. during Five Years of the Period, and du- ring the reft of it at 35. with Lotteries every Year but two, the Profits of which, though no certain or folid, far lefs an ehgible Refource, amounting to 1,200,000 and upwards includ- — — » — ed, amounts to no more than 2,557,378 Annuity or Inte- reft payable at the Conclufion of the War on Debt funded and unfunded, about 4,900,000 Ditto payable at Chrijlmas 1773, a- bouc ' — - 4,^00,000 Charge of Intereft leffened ' 300,000 ' B No [ ^o ] No State is made for the Years 1774 and 1775 ; but as the Debt pretended to be paid during thofe Years (it is apprehended) will be more than balanced by the new Debts contradted and contracting, for which no Provifion has been made, it is thought the National Debt will not differ greatly from the Sum it is ftated at in Pages fix and feven ; and confequently the Debt difcharged will not exceed, even during the Thirteen Years that the Peace has lafted, the Sum it is flated at in thofe Pages. The Equivalent to Scot- land amounting to 248,550 is not included, nor any Value put upon the 2,000 paid year- ly toward the Improvement ot the Scofch Fifheries and Manufaftures, nor on what may remain of the Life Annuities granted in 1745 and 1746, nor on the 50,000 and up- wards paid yearly for the Management of the National Debt ; but thefe will in Part be balanced by the Falling in of the Life An- nuities 1757, and the Decreafe of the Value of the Long Annuities, by the Time that has intervened fince they were granted. lam II I am well aware, that the National Debt at the Conclufion of the War is ftated higher by about 2,000,000 than I ftate it, in a very capital Performance, inti'led, The Con- fiderationsy &c. (for the Memory, and for the good Intentions towards his Country, of the reputed Author of which no Man has a greater Refpedt than myfelf); but furely the Years 1764 and 1765, when he prefided over the Adminiftrationof the Finances with great Integrity and Ability, cannot be ex- empted from the Charge of Extraordinaries for Sea and Land ; according to the Average Demands on thefe Accounts in the fucceeding Years of the Peace ; nor can the Deficiency of Grants and the Deficiency of Funds in thefe Years ever make any Part of the Debt of the War, being conftant Charges in eve- ry Peace Eftablifhment, and vary according to the Nature of the Services and the Sagaci- ty of the Apportionment, thefe amounting to 1,976,003, make the Difference betwixt us. B 2 It 12 It has been objedled, that the 700,000 gained by the Public on the Tea Indemnity is a fair Excefs of the Permanent Incomes of the State, the Company having paid no more than the Average Income of the Duties for Five Years preceding the Contradt ; and this Reafoning is conclufive, provided the Lofs was not (as it is generally believed it was) occaiioned by the Duties laid on Tea con- fumed in Americdy but by the miftaken No- tions of the Company as to the Pradicability of extending their Tea Trade. The Par- ties are at Hand to fet this Matter in its true Light. . The particular Produces of the Duties on Tea not being to be met-with in any Place where I can have Accefs, I can do no more -than flate the ObjecSlion and the Anfwer. li faaslikewife been objefted, that three of the Lotteries were attended with- Annuities j but either in Money, in Allevia-- tion of Intereft, or one Way or other, they certainly were beneficial to Government in the Difcharge of the public Debt to the Extent ftated and more. December 5, 1775. Th« [ 13 J The Debt pretended to be paid in 1774 and 1775 does not exceed the Debt contraded in thefe Years, for which no Provifion was made. P R O O F. The Debt paid off in 1774 and in 1775 was 1,000,000 3 i)er Cents, in each Year, at ?,% per Cent^ in both Years 2,000,000 at 88 per Cent, make — '£, a ^'j 60,000 Debt contraBei in 1774 and .1775', for which no Provifion ^ was made, JMev^ Exchequer Bills -— 250,000 Ordnance Extraordinaries be- yond what were granted in 1774 190,423 As far as can be conjeftured from the Scrap of Paper on the Table of the Houfe of Commons, the whole Year 1775 is not near compre- hended. \ ■ ■'■ :.;i)^,r, i;. jiw:-, . 440,423 Army [14] Brought over, ' ■ ^^■■■'" 440,4^^3 Army Extraordinaries beyond what were granted in 1774 582,628 Intereft of Unfunded Debt and Lottery Expcnces for two Years, at leaft 200,000 Navy Debt encreafed, exclu- five of the 200,000 granted to- wards paying it in 1774 -^^ 849,208 Total new Debt contraded ii4 ^3 1774 and 1775 2,072,259^ Debt paid off in 1774 and ^775 "^ ""^ 1,760,000 V. Debt contradled exceeds Debt paid off • ~i-'23;^psib::3i^^2lj9 Which is more than what wafS^Yind^rtak'ett': to be proved. N. B. This is exclufive of $54^735 taken towards the Supplies 1775, by Anticipation cut of the laft Chriftmai Qu^^ter of the Sinking Fund, but not chargeable particu- larly on 1774 and 1775) as the Abufe began foen after the Peace. ^.o^.ii Notwithftanding [ 15 ] Notwithftanding thefe Additions to the Public Debt, yet the Ea/i- India Company (little ufed to projfit by her Servants Crimes) having, as I am told, I believe with Truth, been very unexpededly enabled from the Rapine, not the Trade of the Eaft, to dlf- charge all, or at leafl: a great Part of tlie Loan of 1,400,000 made to the Company by the Public, the National Debt at Chrift.. mas 1775 was probably fomething within the Limits of One Hundred and Forty Millions. But that aufpicious Epoch is now fled to return no more ; each frantic Hour teems with precious ImpofTibilities, expenfive Chy. meras, bafelefs Incoherencies, phyfical Nc. ceffity ; the avowed Barrier of our Supre- macy is ftormed on every Side, and we are compelled to affert and believe, that Armies, fo flendeily equipt that they fcarce could march in a Body One Hundred Miles through the Country of a Friend, are in one Campaign to make the Conqueft of a great and warlike Empire, where they can* not even arrive much before Augufl. Let our Miferies at leaft teach us Humility, let human Pride fallen proftrate lick the Dufl : What i. i6 J What is Man ? how little, how abjed muft he be in the Eye of Providence I when the Fate of Nations hangs on the Decifion of Counfels fo wilful and fo weak. — O! Guar- dian Angel of the Land, avert thy People's Fate ! to thee I lift a Hand guiltlefs of the Wrongs, and unftained with the Plunder of my Country ! March 20, 1776, Sums [ ^7 ] Sums levied on the Bruijh Subject in the Year 1774. To the Creditors of the Pub- lic and Charges — £. 45445^556 To Charges on the old Long and Life Annuities not ftateii in jjie Exchequer Paper, ejiima^ ted * ' • 8,000 4>453>856 * Where the Word eftimated is added, the Sums flated are from the heft (but not abfo- lutely decifive) Authority I can find^ or fro??i the moji probable Conjectures I can make. As "Truth is my Objeii^ I jhall be very happy to he Jet right in thefe^ or wherever 1 am wrong, I hope I am not (the vafl Extent of the SubjeLl conftdered) very materially fo \ at leafi I dare pre fume with Confidence 7iot fo materially as to affeSf the Conclufions that are drawn^ and which every Man of Common Senfe mu/i draw C from [ i8 ] Brought over, ■ To the Civil Lift — To the Duchy of Cornwall Sind Lanca/fer Fines, Principality of JValeSy Scotch Crown Revenues, &c. &c. ejlimated — To Profits on the Lottery, To Produce of the Sinking Fund ■ To Coinage Duties — Intereft and Management on the Equivalent to Scotland To Improvement of Scotch Fifheries and Manufadtures 4453.856 800,000 200,000 150,000 2,976,382 15,000 10,600 2,000 8,607,838 Brought from the Premifes. Ahfolute I'rijies I have nit regarded ; nor in Matters of this Kind /ire they worth the Trouble that they coji. [ 19 ] Brought over • 8,607,83^ To Expences of Management and Coliedion on 8,607,838/. eftimated, one with the other, at 10 per Cent, of the neat Pro- duce ■ 860,800 To Fees and Perquifites of Office of every Kind, ejiimated 500,000 To Bounties on Importation and Exportation, Whale and White Herring Fiflieries, eftima- ted ' 200,000 ■ft. 10,168,638 To Land and Malr, Land at 3^. — 2,250,000 Total levied on the Subjed within the Year 1774 • 12,418,638 C 2 Enormous [ 20 ] Enormous as the Sum on the other Side may leem, and far beyond the National Fa- culties, equal perhaps to almoft all our cir- culating Specie, yet of this whole Sum there is only unappropriated the Land and Malt; which, even with the Land at 45. Militia Loan, Deficiency, and Expence of colled- ing dedufted, will fcarce produce neat 2,250,000; and the Sinking Fund, at a fair Average of Years cannot be eftimated at much more than 2,500,000, notwithftand- ing the cafual Produce in 1774 of near 3,000,000, the unappropriated National Re- venue will therefore amount to no more than 4,7 50,000 ; the avowed, nay neceffary Peace Eftablilhment, Navy Extraordinaries, called Navy Debt, at a fair Average included, and a very fniall Allowance being made for un- forefeen Contingencies, will amount at leaft to 4 200,000/. The Balance therefore of the National Income will only be 550,000/. of which, could 200,000/. be allotted to aug- ment the Civil Lift, there will only remain a Balance of 350,000/. which, even with the precarious Profits of a Lottery thrown in, will [ 21 ] will fcarce be a fufficient Security to borrow Ten Millions on j a Sum which the enfuing Campaign may poffibly require, if Prepara- tions adequate to the Occafion are or can be made, and Provifions are voted adequate to thefe Preparations; without amufing the Public with fallacious and defedive Efti- mates ; with no Eflimates of, nor any Pro- vifion for certain and capital Expences ; with Funds taken at the capricious or artful Pro- duce of ftiort Periods, not at the fair Ave- rage of Years ; with Debts at Three per Cent, paid off with one Hand, and contraded at Four with the other ; and all the reft of the Charlatanneries of the Annual Budget. December 5, 1775 The [ 22 ] The National unappropriated Income does not exceed 4,750,000/. Land Tax being at 4i. PROOF. A4.S. Land Tax, at an Average produces grols — £, 1,980,888 DEDUCTIONS • Expence of the Militia — 179. ,766 Intereft on the Loan — » 75' ,000 Expence of colledling, &c. paid at the Auditor's Office, 8 d, in the Pound to a Trifle; it is 71^. certain, befides fome cafual De- ductions » ■ 66,666 Dedudlions — — 321,432 Land [ ^3 ] Land Tax grofs Produce — 1,980,888 Deduaions — 321,432^ Land Tax neat ► i>6 59,456 Malt Tax, Dedu6lions, at a fair Average amounting to 202,228/. yearly, taken out, produces neat 547,772 Total Land and Malt neat — 2,207,228 The Sinking Fund for Eight Years, from the 5th of April inG"] to the c^xhoi April 1775, has pro- duced (deducing an Average of 45,000/. yearly, carried from the Supplies to make good the Defi- ciency of the Funds for 1758) neat 20,05 1 J 340/. which is to a Trifle 2,506,400/. yearly 2,506,400 National unappropriated In- come, Land at 4;. is only ^. 4,713,628 Which is v^hat was to be proved. Peace t 24 j Peace Eftablifliment will amount at leafi: to 4,200>000 /. PROOF. The Year 1774 is taken as a fair equal Year : If taken for Three Years preceding jyjc^ when the American Troubks began, the Average Expence will be greater ; if ta- ken for Seven Years, it will be confiderably greater: Confequently 1774 is a fair if not a favourable Year. Navy in 1774 amounted to £. 1,904,917 Navy Extraordinaries, called Navy Debt, at a low Average 300,000 ■■■ ■■ ■ > 2,204,917 Brought [ 25 ] Brought over 2,204,917 Ordnance, ordinary and extra- ordinary — — 271,174 Army — — — 1,549,720 Mifcellaneous — — 60,252 Unforefeen Contingencies that Year on account of the new Coin- age amounted to 250,000/. but fay the yearly Average is — 100,000 Expences of the Lottery and Intereft of Unfunded Debt, about 85,000 Peace Eftablifhment is — 4,271,063 Which is what was to be proved. ♦ If to this is added the Addi- tion we are told, but in this State of Things it is fcarce poffible to fuppofe, is to be made to the Ci- vil Lift of — — 200,000 The Peace Eftablifhment will then be — . , — 4,471,063 D Unappropriated [ 26 ] Unappropriated National Eftatc, as in Page 23 — 4,713,628 Peace Eftablifliment — 4,471^063 Balance of unappropriated Ef- tatc — — — ^. 242>565 Certainly, even with the precarious Pro- fits of a Lottery thrown in, no fufficient Se- curity to borrow Ten Millions on, which is what was to be proved. March 20, 1776. Something [ 27 ] Something may perhaps be neceffary to reconcile to myfelf and to the Public, my fetting my Name to thefe Papers, Vain Glory cannot be my Objeft. Inveftigations of this Kind are Works of Induftry,^ Works of Apph'cation, not of Fame. Ambition,, daring and headlong as (he is, muft (hrink back from a State of Things like this; and on fuch Wretchednefs, Avarice furely can build no Hope. To Faftion I never was a Friend. What therefore is meant, is to authenticate, to give Weight (fo far as my poor Opinion can give Weight) to Calcula- tions, of which the material Part is founded in Truth ; and which are of the greateft and of the very firft Importance to be thoroughly underflood by every Man of Property in th^fe Kingdoms. It is likewife meant, to awaken the Public from the fatal Lethargy, and fa- tal Luxury, that an unreal Mockery of Pa- per Wealth has plunged them into; whilft Diftrefs and Public Bankruptcy dogg them at the Heels. It is moreover hoped, that this State of the National Situation may tend to open the Nation's Eyes, to the indifpenfible D 2 Neceffity [ 28 ] Neceflity of putting an End to the unnatu- ral Civil War with America ; a War of an enormous and unknown Expence, and of a Difficulty, not to fay Impradlicability in itfelf, little underftood by the {hallow Advifers and Condudors of it; without mentioning the armed State, the fure, and decifive Interference, at a proper Time, of Rival foreign Nations ; a War of which the Juftice (if even no more was meant than meets the EarJ is very doubtful, the Succefs unavailing, and next to defperate, and for the Expediency of which, without begging the Qiieftion, there is not, cannot be, one Argument, or Advocate. Far, very far from my Thoughts, is any Thing perfonal againfl: the noble Lord who is at the Head of the Finance Department ; he has done what many, I might almoft fay all his Predeceffors have done before him ; for each, alas ! in his Tide of Power, has too often been the licenfed Plunderer, too feldom the careful Father of the State ; but perhaps r 29 ] perhaps the Circumftances, or at leafl: the Corruptions of the Times, do not admit of a better Regimen. Juftice moreover requires the Avowal from me, that in the Debt difcharged in 1772, and in the Icfs than Nothings of 1774 2nd 1775, great Frugality and a rigorous Attention to the Public Intereft have been (hewn ; and indeed through the Whole of the noble Lord's Condudt, a faint, a feeble, and a doubtful Ray of Feeling for the prcfcnt, Apprehen- fion for the Future, (liines ; making at leafl the Darknefs of his Colleagues more viiible. Something like wife of Rnglifld- Candour, EnghJIj Humour, EnglifJd Good Nature (whilft England was gooJ-natured) barren indeed of Good Works, breaks for(h every now and then ; and (hould the dealing Hand of Time mature thefe happy Seeds into fair Virtue, into noble Decifion, either with foft Compaffion, equal Juflicc, attempered with fweet Humanity, to wipe away the bloody Tear from the Cheek of much-mifreprefented /Imerica^ or with generous Difdain, without carting [ 30 ] cafting one lingering longing Look behind, to renounce Emoluments, which Honour forbids to tafte, my poor honeft Praife, ftern though I am, and relentlefs in the Public Cauie, (hall freely flow, and applauding in- dulgent Britain (hall in the Future perhaps forget the Paft. FINIS.