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 THE UNIVERSITY 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 LIBRARY 

 
 b 
 
 A LETTER G 
 
 y 
 
 TO THE 
 
 MARQUIS OF LONDONDERRY, 
 
 IT IS DEMONSTRATED BEYOND THE POSSIBILITY 
 OF REFUTATION, 
 
 TWO HUNDRED MILLIONS 
 
 OF 
 
 THE NATIONAL DEBT, 
 
 AND ONE-FOCUTH OF 
 
 MIGHT BE INSTANTLY ANNIHILATED, 
 
 TO THE GREAT ADVANTAGE OF ALL THE PARTIES CONCERNED. 
 
 BY RICHARD PEW, M.D. 
 
 LONDON: 
 WILLIAM STOCKDALE, 
 
 N° 179, Piccadilly. 
 
 MDCCCXXII.
 
 Printed hn J. Brettell, 
 Rupert Street, Ilaymarket, London,
 
 a aetm% «rc» 
 
 Gloucester Coffee House, Piccadilly, 
 30th April, 1822. 
 
 My Lord Marquis, 
 
 In March 1817, (now more than five 
 years ago,) I took the liberty of sending to your 
 Lordship, in common with some other Members 
 of either House of Parliament, a printed paper, 
 of which the following is a copy. 
 
 In a time of peculiar difficulty, and extreme 
 pecuniary distress, like that which prevails at 
 the present moment, the adoption of any regu- 
 lation calculated to relieve that distress, and 
 which would operate upon every individual in 
 exact proportion to his means, could not be justly 
 stigmatized as a breach of faith with the public. 
 
 B
 
 6 
 
 Such a regulation is, I trust, that which I am 
 about to suggest, for I do not presume to dictate. 
 It seems to be universally admitted, that 
 from the immense amount of our public debt, the 
 taxes for paying the interest of that debt, and 
 for the necessary expenses of the government, are 
 so great, that it costs the British farmer thirty 
 per cent. (Mr. EUman, junior, says one hundred 
 per cent.) more to raise the various articles of 
 subsistence than it costs the farmers of many 
 other countries, and hence they can, and do, un- 
 dersell the British farmer in the British market. 
 And for this reason the land-holders and land- 
 occupiers, in some counties, are about to petition 
 Parliament to lay a protecting duty of thirty 
 per cent, upon the importation of any article of 
 farm produce ; for it is but reasonable, that in 
 supplying the British empire with food, the Bri- 
 tish farmer should have a decided preference. 
 The British manufacturers^ on the other hand, 
 contend, and seemingly with much reason, that 
 if they are to pay thirty per cent, more for their 
 provisions and labour than the manufacturers in
 
 foreign countries, it will be impossible for them 
 to compete successfully with these manufacturers 
 in foreign markets, — and they are as importu- 
 nate therefore with the Government to keep 
 down the price of provisions, as the agricul- 
 turists are to raise it. It is impossible for the 
 administration to comply with the wishes of 
 one of these parties, without injuring or dis- 
 pleasing the other ; and therefore it would be 
 extremely desu^able to find out, if possible, some 
 fair and equitable plan, which might lessen the 
 amount of taxes, and, as a consequence, the 
 prices of provisions and labour, to a level, or 
 nearly to a level, with the prices of provisions' 
 and labour in the countries above alluded to. 
 And now that we are at peace with all the 
 world, and in no danger of inten-uption from 
 foreign powers, it seems to be a proper and safe 
 opportunity, by some bold and decisively effi- 
 cient measure, to place our financial and com- 
 mercial security at once, and for ever, upon a 
 stable and immoveable foundation, — for pigmy 
 remedies will not answer against gigantic dis*
 
 eases. To this end I assume as a fact, which, 
 I believe, will not be disputed by any one, that 
 from the cessation of the war expenditure, and, 
 perhaps, some other causes, money, or the circu- 
 lating medium, is become so scarce, and so much 
 increased in value, that seventy-five pounds are 
 now as available for the purchase of a given 
 quantity of almost any commodity, as one hun- 
 dred pounds were three or four years ago ; and 
 that consequently fifteen shillings are at present 
 equal to what twenty shillings were at the time 
 mentioned. The simple regulation I would 
 therefore suggest is, to legalize, ratify, and con- 
 firm this change, which the times have pro- 
 duced; and to make a law, that up to, and 
 upon a day to be fixed by the Legislature, 
 the then existing transactions between man and 
 man, and between all bodies of men, whether 
 of a public or a private nature, a balance should 
 be struck ; and that no creditor should have the 
 power to demand, nor any debtor be obliged to 
 pay, more than fifteen shillings in the pound 
 upon that balance, instead of twenty shillings ;
 
 which fifteen shillings, as will soon I trust be 
 made clearly appear, would thenceforward 
 purchase as much land, and as much of all the 
 necessaries and conveniencies of life, as the 
 twenty shillings have lately done ; for this simple 
 measure would instantaneously cut off one-fourth, 
 or twenty-five per cent, of the national debt, — 
 one-fourth of all the taxes, — one-fourth of all 
 the rents, — one-fourth, or perhaps, considerably 
 more (since the amount of capital, and the ex- 
 pense of culture, would be greatly diminished), 
 of the price of provisions, — one-fourth of the 
 poor-rates, — one-fourth of the tithes, — and one- 
 fourth of the wages of labour (under which last 
 head I mean to include salaries and emoluments 
 of every kind, whether of a public or private 
 nature) ; and thus instantaneously, and as it 
 were by magic, bring us down to a level, or 
 nearly to a level, in respect to the prices of pro- 
 visions and labour, with the cheapest foreign 
 countries; and we should thus, of course, be 
 able to meet them, with our manufactures, upon 
 equal terms, in all countries.
 
 10 
 
 There are thousands upon thousands of shop- 
 keepers and others, as well as farmers, who are 
 upon the brink of ruin, from the faU which has 
 taken place in the value of their stock on hand. 
 To all such persons this regulation would afford 
 most essential relief without expense ; and thus 
 rescue numbers from that bankruptcy which 
 otherwise nmst inevitably take place, tmd which 
 usually swallows up, in law expenses, from one- 
 half to three-fourths of the remaining property. 
 From whence it is probable, that creditors !h 
 general would receive more, upon the whole, of 
 their credits from such a regulation, than they 
 possibly could do should no such regulation be 
 made. This regulation, though operating so 
 universally, so equally, and so powerfully, would, 
 in itself, have no immediate effect whatever, as 
 to gain or loss, upon the effective income, or ex- 
 penditure of any individual within the empire, 
 for the seventy-five pounds would purchase him 
 exactly the same comforts, conveniencies and 
 luxuries, as the hundred pounds used to do, but 
 not more. I have left this as the thought first
 
 11 
 
 occurred to me ; but I believe it will hereafter 
 be demonstrated, that there would be a posi- 
 tive and immediate gain by every contributor. 
 
 The debts and credits of a very large portion 
 of the community (a much larger portion, I sus- 
 pect, than is commonly imagined) would be very 
 nicely balanced. And in such cases even the 
 nominal gain or loss would be next to nothing ; 
 whilst those who would have more to receive 
 than they had to pay, ought to be thankful 
 to that Providence which had put it in their 
 power to relieve the distresses of their country, 
 without any real loss to themselves. I say 
 without any real loss, because they would 
 receive a double compensation for what they 
 gave up, by the reduction of one-fourth of their 
 taxes and one-fourth of the price of provisions, 
 making together nearly one-half of their expen- 
 diture. At first view, it would seem as if the 
 land-owner would be benefited at the expense 
 of the stock-holder, or monied man, who would 
 lose one-fourth of his nominal capital; but this, 
 as it appears to me, would be only a seeming
 
 12 
 
 advantage, since every thing would still conti- 
 nue relative. The real value of land is only so 
 many years purchase of the net rent ; and there- 
 fore if the rent be permanently diminished one- 
 fourth, as it is intended it should be (the num- 
 ber of years purchase remaining the same), the 
 saleable value of the estate, which is the capital 
 of the owner, would be diminished exactly one- 
 fourth also. For example : an estate now let 
 for one hundred pounds per annum is, at twenty- 
 eight years purchase, worth two thousand eight 
 hundred pounds ; but let the rent be reduced to 
 seventy-five pounds, the saleable value at twenty- 
 eight years purchase, would be only two thou- 
 sand one hundred pounds ; the remaining fourth 
 or seven hundred pounds would be given to the 
 public in the price of provisions. It is not of 
 material importance to the community whether 
 this diminution of rent has taken place, which is 
 the fact, or is to take place ; the grand object is, 
 by a reduction of the protecting duty in the same 
 proportion, namely, one-fourth, to prevent the 
 price of provisions, upon an average of seven
 
 13 
 
 years, and so on from seven years, to seven years, 
 from rising above the average prices of the 
 cheapest countries in Europe, and by bringing all 
 our commodities down to the same level, (which 
 would naturally take place,) to enable the land- 
 owners to live as well as their ancestors, or pre- 
 decessors, did upon the same breadths of land. 
 Should such a measure be adopted, the prices 
 of provisions, and of course all other articles 
 which depend upon the prices of provisions 
 might, in a little time, be permitted to find 
 their own level. 
 
 Mr. Calvert, as the newspapers inform us, at a 
 late meeting in Southwark (some time in October 
 1815, 1 believe), stated the interest of the National 
 Debt to be thirty-six millions. This, at five per 
 cent, corresponds, with a capital of seven hun- 
 dred and twenty millions. One-fourth part of 
 this, or one hundred and eighty millions, would 
 be cut off (great exactness is by no means neces- 
 sary to the principle of the regulation I propose), 
 leaving a capital of five hundred and forty mil- 
 lions, and an interest of twenty-seven millions,
 
 14 
 
 for the further reduction of which, as far as ptn- 
 dence might dictate, a very moderate prqportson 
 of the Sinking Fund would be found sufficient. 
 I say as far as prudence might dictate, because a 
 public debt, the interest of which can be paid 
 without oppressive or vexatious taxes, would, 
 from it^ transferable nature, by operating as a 
 real capital, be (as a moderate debt has hereto- 
 fore been) a great advantage to the community. 
 That part of the Sinking Fund which was not 
 wanted for the further reduction of the debt, and 
 for the payment of the interest of any loans, which 
 the threatening, or the actual existence, of war 
 might hereafter render necessary, might be di- 
 rected to the annihilation of taxes, or to the em- 
 ployment of the people on works of public utility. 
 If then the Sinking Fund amounts, aS is ge- 
 nerally supposed, to fourteen millions, and the 
 interest of the debt be reduced, by the regu- 
 lation here proposed to twenty-seven millions, 
 then twelve millions taken from the Sinking 
 Fund would reduce the interest of the debt to 
 fifteen millions, and taxes to the amount of
 
 15 
 
 twelve millions pet annum might be immediately 
 taken off; while the remaining two millions 
 would, I should imagine, be amply sufficient to 
 keep the remaining debt within due bounds for 
 ever. I cannot conceive that a measure of this 
 kind could be really injurious to any individual. 
 It touches every species of property exactly in 
 the same proportion, and that without the pos- 
 sibility of evasion ; it makes a double compen- 
 sation, in the reduction of taxes and the price 
 of provisions, for all that it seems to take away ; 
 and it performs its functions in so private and 
 gentle a manner, that the person who receives 
 the wound, should it be considered in the light 
 of a wound, does not see, or feel the hand 
 which inflicts it. Its opei'ation would be too 
 general, and too universally diffused, to give 
 any material shock to ]>ublic credit ; and if it 
 did give any shock, the alarm would ]ie speedily 
 dissipated by that real and permanent financial 
 stability and seciu-ity which the measure itself 
 could not fail to produce. Nay, it is clearly 
 presented to my mind, that there would be less
 
 16 
 
 agitation produced in the money-market, and, 
 of course, less disturbance to the finances, by a 
 measure of this kind, than by the sudden buying 
 up, or the sudden discharge, by paying off a 
 large quantity of stock by means of the Sinking 
 Fund. There the operation would be only on 
 one species of property, the proceeds of which 
 the proprietors would be at a loss how to dispose 
 of. Here the operation is exerted on every 
 species of property, and on all in the same 
 degree ; so that nothing would be deranged, no- 
 thing un equalized ; but all would contract as it 
 were alike, and all would receive ample compen- 
 sation for the quantum of contradiction. If 
 the whole globe which we inhabit was, by an 
 Almighty Fiat, instantaneously reduced to the 
 size of a turnip, and all the objects in it were 
 diminished in exact proportion, no individual 
 would be sensible of the change. In Uke man- 
 ner, if every person's income and expenditure 
 were diminished exactly in the same proportion, 
 no one would be injuriously, or inconveniently, 
 sensible of that change. And even if it should
 
 17 
 
 be deemed expedient to reduce every man's in- 
 come and expenditure one-half, instead of one- 
 fourth, no individual could be possibly injured ; 
 while the gain to the state would be financial 
 security for ever. That I might leave no objec- 
 tion unanswered that could be possibly antici- 
 pated, I submitted the perusal of my manu- 
 script to a friend, of considerable landed and 
 monied property, in whose judgment I had 
 great confidence, desiring him to point out every 
 objection he could possibly figure to himself. He 
 returned it to me, with the following observa- 
 tions : — 
 
 " Your plan appears to me to be simple, in- 
 telligible, and the most likely of any thing I 
 have yet seen, to relieve speedily and effectually 
 the severe distresses of the country ; but I must 
 confess to you, it does not strike me as perfectly 
 equitable. For instance, A. B. has one thou- 
 sand pounds, out-standing debts, due to him, 
 and he owes five hundred pounds ; he would 
 give up one-fourth of the balance, and thus lose 
 one hundred and twenty -five pounds. C. D. has 
 five hundred pounds, out-standing debts, and he
 
 18 
 
 owes one thousand pounds. His condiliori 
 would be benefited one hundred and twenty- 
 five pounds. It is, therefi)re, a sort of levelling 
 plan ; and such, perhaps, you intend it" To 
 this accusation I must, in some degree, plead 
 guilty. My motto is, 
 
 Parcere subjectis, non debellare superbos. 
 
 It is my wish to raise and disburthen the de- 
 jected and depressed, not to abase the affluent : 
 for he, as I have repeatedly said, would be 
 amply compensated for his apparent loss, in the 
 reduction of taxes, and the price of provisions. 
 
 But supposing, for the sake of argument, 
 that there should be some fallacy in this reason- 
 ing, and that the rich man should, absolutely, 
 sink for ever one-fourth of his balance. The 
 burthen, after all, faUs upon the person who is 
 best able to afford it ; for those who owed the 
 least, and were owed the most, would still con- 
 tinue the most fortunate members of society. 
 But I maintain, that even his condition would 
 be positively benefited immediately, though not
 
 19 
 
 in so great a degi'ee as the person who had a bar 
 lance against liim. By those land-holders whose 
 estates were clear, no real loss could possibly be 
 sustained, because they would be able to live 
 better than they did before, upon the three-r 
 fourths of the rent which would remain to them. 
 Those whose estates were encumbered could 
 not possibly be injured, because one-fourth of 
 their debt would be immediately cut off. Nor 
 could the mortgagee, or the money-lender, be 
 injured, because they would be able to live one- 
 fourth or one-half, cheaper than they could be- 
 fore ; whilst the seventy-five pounds remaining 
 would bear exactly the same relation to the 
 value of the estate that the hundred pounds did 
 before,— it would purchase as much land, and 
 of every other kind of commodity. The same 
 may be said of the stock-holder. He gives up 
 one-fourth of his nominal property, both princi- 
 pal and interest ; but the interest which remains 
 would purchase twice as much of all the 
 necessaries, comforts, and luxuries of life, as the 
 whole did before; whilst, from the undoubted
 
 20 
 
 security of the remaining capital, stocks would 
 most probably get up much beyond the pro- 
 portion of their present value. 
 
 Should it be observed that the money-lender 
 (as now and then happens,) did not spend one- 
 fourth of his income, and that he would there- 
 fore not be benefited in the proportion here 
 described; the reply is obvious, — he would be 
 the better able to afford the abstraction. But 
 besides this, his beloved savings would, after the 
 regulation, be relatively double what they could 
 be before. Farther, money is the representa- 
 tive of labour ; and so long as it is employed 
 in payment for labour, it is beneficial to the 
 community, — when hoarded, it is so much ab- 
 stracted from the labour of the community. 
 
 And therefore every man who lays by fifty-two 
 pounds per annum, shuts up the labour of two 
 men at ten shillings per week ; he who lays by 
 fifty-two hundreds, shuts up the labour of two 
 hundred men, at ten shillings ; which two hun- 
 dred men he would, directly or indirectly, have 
 employed if he had spent his income : it fol-
 
 21 
 
 lows, therefore, that he is a very proper object 
 of taxation. In fact, it seems to me that, look 
 which way we will upon the regulation here 
 suggested, the more we contemplate it, on every 
 side, the more it must strike every individual, 
 that of powerful measures (and a very powerful 
 measure it is intended to be), it would be the 
 most equitable and mild that can, perhaps, be 
 possibly devised ; it would be, if I may so speak, 
 
 Damnum absque injuria! 
 
 a game at which all who played must be win- 
 ners. Would any man of sound understanding, 
 and in the habit of reflection, object to such a 
 regulation ? Would not three quarters of a 
 loaf (supposing there to be no compensation) be 
 better than no bread ? Would not two loaves, 
 which I am persuaded the compensation would 
 certainly give, be better than one ? Is not a 
 very large proportion of the agricultural, manu- 
 facturing, and trading individuals of this coun- 
 try, in great danger of speedily becoming bank- 
 
 G
 
 22 
 
 rupts ? and would not the regulation here pro- 
 posed afford great relief to them all ? 
 
 I am well aware, or rather, I am firmly per- 
 suaded, that if we could have ten years of peace, 
 the Sinking Fund would remove all the financial 
 difficulties of the country. But the musty pro- 
 verb says, " While the grass grows the horse 
 starves." The existing taxes cannot, I fear, 
 continue to be paid. Or if by possibility they 
 could be extracted, it would be with such grind- 
 ing pressure and vexation upon all classes of 
 the community, that to live under them would 
 be rather a curse than a blessing*. The coun- 
 
 * At the very time I was writing this I was obliged to go 
 ten miles to appear against an unfounded surcharge of more 
 than ten pounds per annum : the surcharge was immediately 
 set aside by the commissioners, but I had no sort of recom- 
 pense or redress for my trouble, vexation, loss of time, or ex- 
 penses ; nor had I any remedy against the extortionate In- 
 spector, who Bimply told me, that he had acted from misin- 
 formation. To my surprise I met, at the same place and on 
 the same errand, above a hundred and thirty more ap- 
 pellants, some of whom had come from much greater dis- 
 tances, all out of temper — all thinking themselves ill-treated 
 and oppressed, and of course, though naturally loyal, some- 
 what displeased at, and discontented with, the government
 
 23 
 
 try wants great and important relief, and that 
 instantaneously : 
 
 " For who can hold fire in his hand 
 By thinking on the frosty Caucasus ? 
 Or cloy the edge of hungry appetite 
 By bare imagination of a feast ? 
 Or wallow naked in December snow^ 
 By thinking on fantastic summer's heat ?" 
 
 To conclude, if such a measure should be 
 deemed necessary, safe, and practicable (and I 
 cannot help thinking that it is so in all respects), 
 more would be done for the relief of the coun- 
 try in the course of one day, namely, the day on 
 which the Act for its adoption should pass, than 
 could probably be done by any other measure in 
 the course of a century ; as by it the burthen- 
 some effects of those two most expensive wars, 
 the American war and the French war, would 
 be extinguished instantaneously, and for ever. 
 From the day on which the balance was struck, 
 
 itself. It is true that three-fourths of the surcharges were 
 deemed frivolous and unjust; but what recompense vvas 
 that, for so much unnecessary trouble and expense ?
 
 24 
 
 and the protecting duty on importation reduced 
 one-fourth, every thing would of course revert 
 to its accustomed channels, and be conducted, 
 as usual, according to the skill and judgment of 
 the respective individuals; — trade, commerce, 
 agriculture, and manufactures, would, there is 
 reason to believe, speedily revive, and the indus- 
 try and happiness of the empire be re-established 
 for ever. 
 
 The supposed Effect of this Regulation simply- 
 stated. 
 
 PER CENT. 
 
 The price of provisions permanently ") 
 diminished one-fourth, or - - j 
 Taxes lessened one-fourth - - - - 25 
 House-rent one-fourth ----- 25 
 
 75 
 And this independent of the twelve millions pro- 
 posed to be taken from the Sinking Fund. Ex- 
 penses of living lessened how much ? The idea 
 of a double compensation, or two-penny worth 
 for a penny, seems, at first view, to be com-
 
 25 
 
 pletely paradoxical : — it is nevertheless strictly 
 true. The contribution, if it can be so called, 
 is general, viz. in land and in money : the land- 
 owner derives an advantage of one-fourth from 
 the taxes purchased, as it may be called, by the 
 fund-holder ; whilst the fund-holder derives the 
 advantage of one-fourth in price of provisions, 
 from the rent given up by the land-owner. To 
 be sure, those who are so unfortunate as to pos- 
 sess both much land and much money, would 
 not be relieved in so gi-eat a degree ; they would 
 not obtain more than a penny worth, or three 
 half-penny worths, for their penny. Should 
 they not, however, be content with this, there 
 are many, who possess neither land nor money, 
 who would be very happy to exchange situa- 
 tions with them. The proposal of the plan 
 would, no doubt, occasion some noise at the 
 moment — ^but it would be what is called a nine 
 days' wonder : the hubbub would presently 
 cease ; and the unspeakable advantages of it 
 would speedily be felt, acknowledged, and ap- 
 proved. Before I conclude, it seems necessary
 
 2« 
 
 for me to say a few words more on the subject 
 of preserving good faith with the public. And 
 here I must repeat my decided opinion, that 
 whatever is abstracted from the more wealthy 
 part of the community for the benefit of the 
 whole — whether the abstraction be of capital or 
 income, provided that abstraction be equal, and 
 in exact proportion, to the means of every indi- 
 vidual capable of contributing, cannot, with 
 justice, be considered as a breach of public faith. 
 Where all axe assessed equally, no one has a 
 right to complain. And here it should be ob- 
 served, that the equality of assessment is pre- 
 served down even to the meanest labour. I am 
 led to make this observation, from having read 
 in the Star paper, of February the 8th, the fol- 
 lowing extract from Lord Castlereagh's admi- 
 rable speech on the finances the preceding even- 
 ing: — "But, above all, we ought to see that 
 the faith of Parliament be inviolably preserved. 
 And at such a time it should be proudly made 
 known, that this hallowed and happy country, 
 England (for great and happy she unquestion-
 
 27 
 
 ably was, notwithstanding her present tempo- 
 rary difficulties), disdained to purchase a moment 
 of ease and strength, by failing in the good faith 
 to which she stood honourably and conscien- 
 tiously pledged." Nothing can possibly be more 
 honoui'able than these sentiments of his Lord- 
 ship ; and I am happy to be able to express my 
 opinion, that in spirit they are perfectly com- 
 patible with the suggestion above delineated: 
 for by its operation, in every instance, the debtor 
 would be relieved — in every instance the cre- 
 ditor would be benefited. The same Star paper, 
 said, in another place, " The expenses for this 
 year exceed eighteen millions : and, lamentable 
 to tell, the country cannot count on one-half 
 that sum, after paying the interest of our debt. 
 The fact is," continues the editor, " the whole 
 country, except the money-holders, is in such a 
 state of poverty, that the people cannot pur- 
 chase as they would in other circumstances, 
 (and as they used to do), the articles which 
 pay duties. Hence a deficiency of revenue. Nor 
 will new taxes supply the want ; for the peo-
 
 28 
 
 pie cannot spend more than their whole in- 
 come." 
 
 If these statements be correct, and I fear they 
 are but too well founded, and even in a greater 
 degree than is here expressed (for I firmly be- 
 lieve, as mentioned before, that even the exist- 
 ing taxes cannot continue to be paid) ; I say, 
 if these circumstances be true, can any ordinary 
 means afford the country that immediate and 
 extensive relief which it absolutely requires. I 
 believe nine-tenths of my countrymen will agree 
 with me, that the regulation I have ventured to 
 suggest, is calculated to exonerate the empire at 
 once from all its existing financial embarrass- 
 ments, and to prevent all its impending financial 
 calamities, and that without injury or oppression 
 to any one. I am also inclined to hope, that it 
 would tend speedily to tranquillize the existing 
 political disquietudes, and to avert those convul- 
 sions which seem to be portended by the " signs 
 of the times." At all events it must be conti- 
 nually borne in mind, that the country is over- 
 whelmed by a choice of the most perplexing
 
 29 
 
 difficulties ; and the question seems to be, whe- 
 ther, by adopting the measure I have proposed, 
 it would not choose the least. May God, of his 
 infinite goodness, direct the councils of our rulers 
 to those means, which may best secure the per- 
 manent happiness, welfare, and tranquillity of 
 the united empire ! 
 
 Postscript —August 23, 1819. 
 
 Those calamities, the approach of which was 
 by the " signs of the times," foreseen dimly, as 
 through a mist, in 1816, and which, by the 
 above plan, could it have been ventured on at 
 the time, would most probably have been averted, 
 have broken out with a degree of violence, and 
 to an extent, much greater than our most gloomy 
 anticipations had predicted ; and have, it is to 
 be feared, placed the country in much gi'eater 
 jeopardy than it was during any period of the 
 late war, not excepting the time when we had 
 to contend against the world in arms. For our 
 master manufactui'ers, speaking generally, are
 
 on the verge of bankruptcy ; and our artisans in 
 a state of starvation and discontent, bordering 
 on rebellion : this arises chiefly from excessive 
 taxation, producing such an advance in the price 
 of provisions over the price of provisions in other 
 countries, as shuts our manufacturers out of 
 many markets. Reduce the taxes, then, by 
 some fair, equable, but resolutely effectual mea- 
 sure, to the proportion of taxation in other coun- 
 tries, and you will go a great way towards 
 restoring the prosperity of the empire : the su- 
 periority of our machinery, and the superior skill 
 and industry of our artisans (when properly sup- 
 ported) will do the rest if aught should remain 
 to be done. It has been said to me by a gen- 
 tleman, who, from his situation in the Secretary 
 of State's office, ought to have known better, 
 that the plan I have proposed would be an act 
 of national bankruptcy ; to this opinion I cannot 
 assent, until it shall be proved, that it is the 
 custom of bankrupts, to grant and to secure, to 
 their creditors, an annuity of fifty per cent, for 
 such part of their debts as they are unable to
 
 SI 
 
 discharge. I have been asked, also, by what 
 authority such a composition could be carried 
 into effect : to this I reply that the same omni- 
 potent authority of King, Lords, and Commons, 
 in Parhament assembled, which could inflict the 
 unequal, unjust, vexatious, and inquisitorial In- 
 come-tax, for which no compensation could be 
 made, could enforce the purchase (by every man) 
 of an annuity (more valuable than he could pos- 
 sibly purchase in any other manner) for what- 
 ever sum it might be his lot to give up. Salus 
 popuU suprema lex esset. 
 
 n.V.,M.D, 
 
 Sherborne, Dorset, August 33, 1819. 
 
 So many things of a political and financial 
 nature must be daily sent to your Lordship, that 
 I should not be surprised if the above paper had 
 never undergone your Lordship's perusal ; and if 
 it did, it appears from the following Speech 
 which you are represented to have made in the
 
 House of Commons, on the 4th of this month 
 (April 1822,) that it did not meet your Lord- 
 ship's approbation, and which I had the honour 
 to hear you repeat last evening (29th April). The 
 following is a copy of the Speech I allude to, as 
 it appeared in the Star Paper of April the 5th. 
 Your Lordship, after making a few observa- 
 tions on what had fallen from some preceding 
 Speakers, directed your arguments against the 
 Speech of Mr. Grey Bennet, Member for Shrews- 
 bury, who had said, "It was quite a joke to hope 
 for relief from any other source than a great 
 reduction of taxes ; and that he could not find 
 words to express his contempt for the opinions 
 of those who differed from him on this point, and 
 who believed that there was any way of saving 
 the property which remained in the country, but 
 by keeping the hands of the tax-gatherers out 
 of the pockets of the people. When this had 
 been done as far as it could be done ; when they 
 had reached the lowest point, by doing away that 
 juggle, the Sinking Fund ; when taxes had been 
 repealed to that amount ; if that would not do.
 
 S3 
 
 tlieti he \^ould say that the first creditor in ther 
 country must compound ; and he would not see 
 the gentlemen of the country robbed of their 
 estates, and havoc made of the farmer's pro- 
 perty, without calling for such a compositioH. 
 
 " Though the assertion was a bold one, yet he 
 had no doubt but he shoidd live to see the day 
 when this would be proposed, and when the 
 noble Lord (Londonderry), and the Chancellor 
 of the Exchequer, on some plea of expediency ^ 
 would stand up in that House as the advocates 
 of such a measure. This he wished to be borne 
 in mind was, that which he would not recommend 
 hut in the last extremity." 
 
 Your Lordship then said " that you could now 
 understand the course pursued by the Honourable 
 Member for Shrewsbury; and you must enter 
 your most solemn protest against the purpose 
 which he had in view. For if you understood 
 him rightly, he wished to sound the public mind 
 through the channel of the distresses of the 
 Agricultural Classes, in order to ascertain if they 
 were disposed to favour that most flagrant de-
 
 viation from sound ^o]icy as well as from common 
 honesty, — a breach of faith towards the public 
 creditor. 
 
 " Could a British House of Commons sanction 
 such a measure, it would relieve no class of the 
 community, but it would overwhelm all classes 
 with ruin. Were it possible for them to be 
 dishonest, and base enough to listen to a project 
 of national bankruptcy, the result must be most 
 calamitous. If they could adopt the idea of 
 abandoning the Sinking Fund to repeal taxes to 
 that amount (five millions), it would prove as 
 injurious as unjust, and the faith of the nation 
 would be violated, without relieving the existing 
 distress. To ascertain that it was not necessary 
 to wait for the consequences of such an experi- 
 ment, every man at all acquainted with the sub- 
 ject, knew that were this done, it could afford no 
 essential relief. It would be but as a drop of 
 water in the ocean." (Your Lordship, I pre- 
 sume, means here only five millions; I mean 
 two hundred millions). " Nay, you would go 
 farther and say, that if the whole weight of
 
 35 
 
 our taxation could by possibility be removed, as 
 well those which are necessary to support our 
 establishments, as those which are demanded to 
 enable the country to fulfil its engagements : — ^if 
 all the taxes could at once be swept away ; that 
 degree of relief would not be afforded which 
 would leave no distress to be felt. You must 
 take this opportunity of stating, what you knew 
 the feelings of the country to be on this subject. 
 You would never believe, and you thought you 
 knew its temper well, that the country, under any 
 degree of suffering, would be disposed to break 
 faith with the public creditor. The distress was 
 caused by the effect of seasons, and the fulness 
 of the markets, and therefore it was obvious could 
 not becuredby the remission of taxes even though 
 that should be pushed the lengihoinationalhank- 
 rwptcij. On this point there could be no doubt ; 
 for if a ParUament could be found so degenerate, 
 and a people so destitute of honour and common 
 honesty, as not to start at the idea of such an 
 abandonment of principle ; the most sordid cal- 
 culation would forbid the adoption of such a
 
 ^6 
 
 measure as the want oi protection for all the gresct 
 interests of the nation, which must be felt in that 
 case, would make it worse than useless ; and in- 
 stead of removing the evil, must have the effect 
 of largely aggravating that distress, which it was 
 vainly proposed by such means to remedy." Your 
 Lordship then mentioned that " the country was 
 in a state oi general prosperity , — that it was 
 agriculture alone, which was in a state of depres- 
 sion, and that was occasioned solely by production 
 over-proportioned to the demand ; and as the 
 same superabundance, and the same kind of dis- 
 tress prevailed not only over the whole of Europe, 
 but even in America, where over-taxation could 
 not possibly be the cause. So in this country 
 the diminution of taxation could not remove the 
 distress which prevailed here." 
 
 Now, my Lord, although it is obvious that the 
 remission of taxation cannot remove the morbid 
 redundancy which at present prevails throughout 
 the world; yet I am inclined to think that 
 in Great Britain that redundancy has been over- 
 rated, and that a diminution of taxation would
 
 37 
 
 not only relieve the distresses of the agriculturists, 
 but also diminish the general discontent of the 
 country. And the principal question with me, 
 is not the difficulty of diminishing the debt with 
 justice and honour, but whether the great exten- 
 sion of territory which Britain has acquired by 
 the war, can absorb, advantageously employ, and 
 does actually require, so great an amount of arti- 
 ficial capital as eight hundred millions, in which 
 case the debt must be considered as a national 
 blessing ; or whether it is not to be considered as 
 a national evil which ought, if possible, to be 
 removed? But as your Lordship is a stre- 
 nuous advocate for a Sinking Fund, we must 
 necessarily conclude that in your Lordship's 
 opinion the debt has gone beyond the sulidai-y 
 standard ; and in that opinion I believe nineteen- 
 twentieths of the population of the country will 
 join ; and tlien the only question which will re- 
 main will be, how the Sifperabunda7it amount of 
 the debt can be most speedily, and with the least 
 possible inconvenience or injustice to the parlies 
 conceiT.cd, be diminished or removed ; and ii" it 
 
 D
 
 38 
 
 can be demonstrated, as I think it has been in the 
 Cui Injurio, that this can be effected, not only 
 without detriment to these very creditors, but 
 with unspeakable advantage to each of themt as 
 well as to every other individual of the country, 
 however high or low his station ; I do not hesitate 
 to express my decided opinion that the plan 
 ought to be carried into immediate execution. 
 Your Lordship seems to be of opinion that what- 
 ever diminution is effected in the public debt 
 should be effected by a Sinking Fund ; but what 
 is a Sinking Fund, and of what ingredients is it 
 compounded ? It is evidently compounded of 
 taxes paid by the people. It would be borrowed 
 perhaps at five per cent, besides the expense of 
 collecting the taxes, and what is it to do ? — it is 
 to buy up portions of what are called the public 
 funds, and chiefly the three per cents, which are 
 now about 68, the price at which I understand 
 the commissioners have of late been generally 
 served ; now five per cent, the interest at which 
 we have assumed the money is to be borrowed, is, 
 after the rate of three per cents at 60, so that the
 
 30 
 
 public would lose or overpay upon every hundred 
 pounds laid out in three per cents, eighteen pounds 
 more than their value at five per cent, at least I 
 cannot tell liow to reckon it in any other manner ; 
 and this loss would be increased as fast as the 
 three per cents advanced in price ; so that if the 
 Sinking Fund proceeded as &i first proposed, at 
 simple interest, the fund itself would soon be 
 exhausted and swallowed up in the operation ; 
 and if it proceeded at compound interest, and the 
 interest of the sums bought up be paid to the 
 commissioners for the augmentation of this Sink- 
 ing Fund, it would continually operate as the 
 fund increased, as a double, treble, and quadruple 
 tax upon the public, as long as the fund continued 
 in action, just as Mr. Pitt's Sinking Fund did 
 during the greatest part of the late war, until it 
 arrived, in doubled and redoubled taxation, to the 
 enormous amount of seventeen millions of taxes 
 raised from the people per annum. Thus, if Mr. 
 Pitt's Sinking Fund was the first year £'1,000,000, 
 the taxes nere increased year by year imtil they 
 amounted to seventeen miUions, orseventeen times
 
 40 
 
 the amount of the first year. Since then, my 
 Lord, whatever funds are bought up with a snail- 
 creeping pace, and under every disadvantage, by 
 a Sinking Fund, which must be paid by the people, 
 why not permit all those who understand their 
 own interest, to make prompt payment, and take 
 the discount of fifty per cent immediately,namely, 
 one-fourth, or twenty-five per cent in the aboli- 
 tion of taxes, and twenty-five per cent in the 
 permanent diminution in the price of provisions, 
 and of all other commodities which together 
 make up the sum of almost the whole of our ex- 
 penses and expenditure ? and why not compel all 
 those short-sighted persons, who do not under- 
 stand their own interests, to act as if they did 
 understand them, and make the same prompt 
 payment ? This is not, my Lord, like the Income 
 Tax, the Property Tax, and all other taxes, an 
 outgoings without any compensation, and too 
 often called for where they were not to be had ; 
 it is merely an abatement of property which has 
 an actual existence, and for that abatement a 
 double and more than a double compensation is
 
 41 
 
 in every case made. Is this, my Lord, to jje 
 stigmatized as a breach of public faith ? does this, 
 my Lord, deserve the base and degradi7ig epithet 
 of a national bankruptcy ? A bankruptcy, my 
 Lord, properly so called, is that case where a 
 person is compelled to stop payment because he 
 cannot pay twenty shillings in the pound, and 
 because he has nothing to give up in commuta- 
 tion or compensation for the deficiency, whether 
 that deficiency be five, ten, fifteen, or more shil- 
 lings in the pound, as frequently happens ;but here 
 not only is a full compensation, but, as I said 
 before, a double compensation or commutation is 
 made. I do not know, my Lord, but I am in my 
 right mind and in my sober senses, and if I am, 
 such are the effects which I am certain the mea- 
 sure would produce, and which I wished your 
 Lordship and your coadjutoi's, to have produced 
 five years ago. If I am not in my right mind, if 
 I am a little destrait, a little beside myself, I 
 have the consolation to know that here in England 
 there are many persons quite as mad as I am, 
 many persons of large property both in land and
 
 in money, have expressed their approbation of the 
 plan I propose, and their willingness to see it 
 carried into effect ; amongst the rest, Lord Lau- 
 derdale, whose opinions on such subjects are 
 entitled to great consideration, expressed his un- 
 qualified approbation of it by writing me that it 
 was the identical plan which hehadpublished two 
 years before in the second part of his Essays on 
 the Currency. 
 
 Pleased and flattered by so remarkable a co- 
 incidence of opinio'n between two persons, who 
 had not had the least communication with each 
 other, I was anxious to see his Lordship's pub- 
 lication, and desired my bookseller to procure 
 me a copy ; but, after all the inquiries he could 
 make, he could not succeed — it was out of print, 
 and not a copy to be obtained. I then applied 
 to several friends, who, from their public situ- 
 ations, seemed to be likely to possess it ; but no 
 — not one of them had seen it ; nor could I find, 
 in any of the reviews of his Lordship's work, the 
 slightest hint of so remarkable a plan. At 
 length, I wrote to his Lordship himself, under
 
 43 
 
 the liope that he might be able to give or lend 
 me a copy ; but here, too, I was unfortunate : 
 his Lordship informed me, by a letter from Lord 
 Maitland, that he had only one copy, and that 
 was interleaved, and so filled with notes which 
 he had occasion to consult almost every day, 
 that he could not spare it. As I have, however, 
 still a great curiosity to see the Plan, if any 
 gentleman or bookseller, who may happen to 
 read this Letter, should possess a copy, and 
 would send it to my bookseller, Mr. Stockdale, 
 Piccadilly, they would do me a singular favour ; 
 and Mr. Stockdale would pay for it, if to be 
 sold, or engage for its safe and speedy return, if 
 lent. In the mean time, as a proof that I did 
 not borrow any ideas from his Lordship, I shall 
 by and by insert some Hints for raising the sup- 
 plies upon the same principles, which I sent to 
 various Members of Parliament, in 1803 ; for so 
 long ago, were the financial difficulties which 
 now oppress the country, clearly foreseen from 
 the principles of Finance then in action ; 
 though they were not perceived to tlic twentieth
 
 44 
 
 part of tlie extent of evil which has actually 
 taken place ; the persons then in power might be 
 said to have strained at gnats, and swallowed 
 camels. Mr. George Rose squeamishly and 
 tauntingly boasted, that our taxes " touched no 
 man's capital:'' but what an insulting mockery 
 is it to take eighteen-twentieths of a man's in- 
 come (which some have calculated is now done), 
 and then tell him he has no right to complain, 
 since his capital remains untouched ? If that 
 plan could have been ventured upon at the 
 time (and I see no reason why it should not), it 
 would have prevented the greatest part of that 
 mischief which I am now so anxious to remove. 
 
 The assertion may appear strange, my Lord, 
 but it is not more strange than true, that, 
 although there w^as nothing dishonest or disho- 
 nourable in the transaction ; yet more discomfort, 
 more inconvenience, and more privation, has 
 been occasioned by that grand Financial measure, 
 as your Lordship was pleased to call it, of re- 
 ducing the five per cents to foins, than would 
 be produced by the annihilation of two hundred
 
 45 
 
 millions of capital on the plan I propose ; 
 because the contribution or abatement on the 
 five per cents, was made by only two or three 
 thousand persons, whilst the relief from taxa- 
 tion, trifling as it must be, was diffused amongst 
 fourteen millions of persons, and therefore the 
 relief to the contributors sunk, comparatively, 
 into nothing ; it was, as it were, " a drop in the 
 ocean :" whereas, on my plan, contribution or 
 abatement, and double compensation, are uni- 
 versal, simultaneous, and inseparable. No sooner 
 is the abatement made, than the compensation 
 in all cases begins ; and the arrangement might 
 be so ordered as to take place just before the 
 taxes are usually collected, and every individual 
 be authorised to keep back one-fourth of the 
 taxes he had been accustomed to pay ; by which 
 means, the nature of the plan would be practi' 
 cally understood, and its beneficial effects im- 
 mediately be experienced.
 
 46 
 
 I hope I shall not be suspected of vanity or 
 ostentation, when I add, that I do not prescribe 
 Physic to others, which, under the same circum- 
 stances, I am not willing to take myself. I have a 
 stake, jointly and separately, in almost every 
 public stock in the country, vix. — New Four per 
 Cent. Reduced ; Old Four per Cents. ; Three per 
 Cent. Consols., Bank Stock, India Bonds, and 
 Exchequer Bills ; I am also a proprietor of one of 
 the oldest country banks in the kingdom — the 
 Sherborne and Dorsetshire Bank, established in 
 1750. I state this, merely to shew my firm con- 
 viction that the plan is not only a very beneficial 
 one, but that it could not be any way injurious 
 either to public or to private credit. If, however, 
 your Lordship should consider it as a measure of 
 too grand and extensive a nature to be immedi- 
 ately ventured upon (even supposing that your 
 Lordship should be convinced of its utility), what 
 harm could there be in propounding it for the 
 consideration of* Members, at the close of the
 
 47 
 
 present session of Parliament, with a view to 
 its being taken into consideration early in the 
 next? With every sentiment of respect and 
 admiration, 
 
 I have the honour to remain. 
 
 Your Lordship's most obedient servant, 
 
 RICHARD PEW. 
 
 Gloucester Coffee House, Piccadilly, 
 13M May, 1822.
 
 HINTS, 
 
 For Raising the Supplies with the most equable 
 pressure, and icith the least possible augmentation of the 
 Public Debt.— 1803. 
 
 First, let all the Funds be reduced in theory to five per 
 cents, and let a contribution be exacted from every stock- 
 holder, annually, in a ratio decreasing as the ability may 
 be supposed to decrease, and of which the following 
 Schedule may serve as an example. 
 
 Amount of Stock 
 
 Proportion of 
 
 Aoniuial 
 
 Capital 
 
 Diminution of 
 
 at 5 per Cent. 
 
 Contribution. 
 
 Anniliilated. 
 
 Income. 
 
 £. 
 
 
 £. 
 
 a. d. 
 
 £. 
 
 s. d. 
 
 100,000 & above 
 
 one 40th. 
 
 2,500 
 
 
 
 125 
 
 
 
 90,000 
 
 45 
 
 2,000 
 
 
 
 100 
 
 
 
 80,000 
 
 50 
 
 1,600 
 
 
 
 80 
 
 
 
 70,000 
 
 55 
 
 1,272 
 
 
 
 63 
 
 
 
 60,000 
 
 60 
 
 1,000 
 
 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 50,000 
 
 65 
 
 769 
 
 
 
 38 
 
 
 
 40,000 
 
 70 
 
 571 
 
 
 
 28 
 
 
 
 30,000 
 
 75 
 
 400 
 
 
 
 20 
 
 
 
 20,000 
 
 80 
 
 250 
 
 
 
 12 
 
 10 
 
 15,000 
 
 85 
 
 176 
 
 
 
 8 
 
 16 
 
 10,000 
 
 90 
 
 111 
 
 
 
 5 
 
 11 
 
 5,000 
 
 100 
 
 50 
 
 
 
 2 
 
 10 
 
 4,000 
 
 105 
 
 38 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 18 
 
 3.000 
 
 110 
 
 27 
 
 
 
 1 
 
 7 
 
 2,000 
 
 120 
 
 16 
 
 13 
 
 
 
 16 6 
 
 1,000 
 
 130 
 
 7 
 
 15 
 
 
 
 7 9 
 
 500 and all 
 below 
 
 150 
 
 3 
 
 6 
 
 
 
 3 6 
 
 fcrri>rs « 
 
 ict inert. 

 
 49 
 
 I have not attended to fractions until very low in 
 the scale, my object being chiefly to exhibit an outline, 
 to illustrate the principle, with the design of shewing 
 how very small the real contribution would be when 
 compared \vith the ability of the contributor, and the 
 proportion which he would have paid to the Income 
 Tax which is as under : 
 
 THE POSSESSOR OF 
 
 £. £.. *. d. 
 
 100,000 on the principle of the Income Tax 500 
 
 on the principle here proposed - - - l^S 
 
 Proportion of Income saved ^£".375 
 
 50,000 Income Tax 250 
 
 Present plan 38 
 
 Proportion of Income saved - - - £:2VZ 
 
 5,000 Income Tax 25 
 
 Present plan 2 10 
 
 Income saved - ^.22 10 
 
 And two-thirds of this small sacrifice would probably 
 be compensated by the decrease or prevention of taxes, 
 as will be shewn hereafter. 
 
 I make use of the term nominal capital contri- 
 buted, because the diminution is not equal to the depres- 
 sion occasioned by the mere rumour of a war; (a 
 remarkable instance of which we liave at the present 
 moment, March 1803, when his Majesty ''s message has 
 reduced the 5 per cents more than 10 per cent, and the 
 other Funds in proportion;) whilst from the increased 
 security of tlie remainder, the capital itself would pro-
 
 50 
 
 bably be prevented from depreciation in a much greater 
 ratio than the sum contributed ; and thus the contributor 
 instead of being injured would most Ukely be immediately 
 benefited by what might be called the negative rise 
 of the Funds, occasioned by the contribution itself; 
 whilst the advantage to the revenue and to the country, 
 would be as so much real capital; and supposing that 
 a war should unfortunately take place and continue for a 
 great length of time, ten years would elapse before the 
 highest of the contributors would have given up one- 
 fourth of his nominal capital ; yet who, having a vessel 
 in danger of sinking would hesitate a moment to throw 
 overboard one-fourth of the cargo, or to pay ow the instant 
 25 per cent for the salvage. 
 
 Indeed I cannot help thinking, considering the situa- 
 tion of Europe and the world, considering the new 
 situation of this country, and considering the tremendous " 
 amount of the Public Debt, that even if war can for the 
 present be averted, and peace could be ensured for ten 
 years certain, it would be for the interest of the whole 
 community, no^ excepting the stockholder himself, to wind 
 off, or annihilate, in this gradual manner, a certain pro- 
 portion of the capital, year by year for a determinate 
 number of years, and to abolish the most oppressing- cr 
 vexatious taxes to the amount of tlie interest ; which co- 
 operating with the fund set apart for the liquidation of 
 the national debt, would in that time reduce the whcle 
 so far, that the redemption of the remainder, together 
 with the extinguishingmieresX. of whatever sums can be 
 supposed to be wanted, might from that period safely 
 be left to the operation of that fund alone, and tlie neccs-
 
 51 
 
 sity of farther taxation be removed from this country Jbr 
 ever. 
 
 Secondly, let a Stamp duty decreasing in a ratio pro- 
 portionate to the above, from one shilling and eight-penoe 
 down to six-pence in the pound, be laid on the interest 
 of all bonds, mortgages, notes of hand and other securi- 
 ties, bearing interest, to be renewed annually and the 
 produce secured, by the amount of such securities being 
 rendered irrecoverable in any court of law or equity, 
 unless such stamp had year by year been impressed on, 
 or superadded to every such instrument, for which pur- 
 pose, stamps should be issued on the day of 
 in every year, and not be procurable after the day 
 of in the same year ; for as the law now stands, a 
 bond which remains in force only for a single montli, 
 pays as heavy a duty as a bond which remains in force 
 twenty years ! 
 
 Thirdly, let the onus of providing the receipt 
 stamp, which now falls on the person who pays, be 
 transferred to the person who receives the money, by 
 w hich means a stamped receipt would seldom fail to be 
 demanded, and I would carry the duty ad valorem to 
 a much higher ratio than it reaches at present ; for the 
 person who receives 10,000/. can (I believe) as the law 
 now stands, give a release by a receipt in full of all 
 demands, for the same duty with him who receives 
 only 100/. ; yet the person who receives 10,000/. may be 
 supposed better able to pay six-pence in the pound for 
 the whole amount, than he who receives only 100/. may 
 be supposed able to pay two-pence. 
 
 The receipt tax is certainly not a bail one, but it i»
 
 52 
 
 from the cause above mentioned very much evaded ; 
 which also operates as a snare for the incurring penal- 
 ties, of which the majority of the people do not seem 
 to be sufficiently aware ; for which reason, if the alter- 
 ation here proposed should take place, it would be 
 proper to insert a clause indemnifying persons from all 
 penalties previously incurred by the evasion of this 
 duty. 
 
 But when these apparent sacrifices are expected from 
 the monied interest, it would not be fair that the landed 
 interest should go free; I propose therefore, 
 
 ]^ouETHLY, that a tax of 2*. 6d. in the pound ad 
 valorem be laid upon land, which may be done with- 
 out the smallest injury to the land-owner : for, though 
 it must be advanced by the occupier, and recoverable 
 by distress, yet it would be ultimately repaid by the 
 consumer, and that as it ought to be by each individual 
 (the land-owner amongst the rest) in exact proportion 
 to his consumption ; and although I think there is every 
 reason to believe that this tax, from the great augmenta- 
 tion of rents, would not fall short of 5,000,000?., yet 
 would its pressure be so very widely diffused as hardly 
 to be felt in times of tolerable plenty (like the present) 
 by any individual, and in times of scarcity this tax 
 might, if deemed prudent, be intermitted ; but as in 
 seasons of scarcity, the immoderate price does not 
 depend so much on the actual quavitity of produce 
 compared with the ordinary produce^ as on the want of 
 competition in the market, and a demand tdtra propor- 
 tionate to the supply ; the farmer is seldom better able 
 to pay a tax than in times of scarcity and dearthy and 
 
 3
 
 5S 
 
 indeed it may be a»ked what would be the amount of 
 this tax taken at the highest ? if we take the average 
 produce of wheat at twenty-four bushels per acre, 
 which is Mr. Young's estimate, and the average price 
 of land at one pound per acre (which is eight shillings 
 per acre more than the usual estimate). The tax amounts 
 (as the farmer incurs no additional expense) to no more 
 than Jive Jarthings per bushel, and if we take the price 
 of land at the usual estimate 12*. per acre, to no more 
 than three Jhrthings per bushel ; or at 6*. per bushel 
 only one ninety-sixth part, and so in proportion for all 
 other conunodities. 
 
 As the clergy are materially interested in obtaining 
 a knowledge of the real value of the land in their 
 respective parishes, a tolerably accurate knowledge 
 of the value of all the lands in the kingdom might 
 probably be obtained, by questions similar to the fol- 
 lowing, from the bishops to the clergy in their respective 
 dioceses : — 
 
 How many acres of land does 
 
 your Parish contain ? 
 How many are Pasture ? 
 How many Arable ? 
 What is your composition of 
 
 Tilhes for Pasture ? 
 What for Arable per acre ? 
 What in your opinion is the 
 present average Reht per 
 acre ? 
 What to the best of your 
 knowledge or information 
 is the real value of Rent ? 
 
 No. 
 Acres 
 
 Tithes Rent
 
 54 
 
 By tli« above regulations a very large sum would be 
 raised annually with oertainty, with perfect equahilityy 
 And I sincerely beheve without any very sevei-e pressure 
 on any individual or class of individuals, and which 
 perhaps would not be overrated in the following state- 
 ment. 
 
 £ 
 By nominal Capital of Funds - - 6,000,000 
 Bonds, Notes, &c. - - - - 1,000,000 
 
 Receipts and Stamps ... - 200,000 
 
 Land Tax 5,000,000 
 
 Total of. 12,300,000 
 
 It is not very material whether this statement be 
 correct or not ; if the amount should exceed the estimate 
 so much the better, but if it should fall short of it, 
 and yet the principle be admitted as one the least op- 
 pressive and least vexatious to the individual, at the 
 same time that it is most beneficial to the state (which I 
 conceive it to be), it may be augmented without any 
 very severe pressure, until the necessary sum, however 
 great it may be, is obtained ; and when oiir insidious 
 foe shall be convinced that our greatest security consists 
 in what upon any other principle of taxation he as well 
 as every body else must consider as constituting our 
 most alarming weakness, (the tremendous amount of 
 our public debt,) — I say when he perceives this, he will 
 probably be induced to concede that security which is 
 the only object of this country to obtain. 
 
 As for myself, that I am disinterested and impartial
 
 55 
 
 will plainly appear when I declare, that three-fourth: 
 of what little permanent property I have an interest in, 
 is vested in the funds, the remainder in the soil of 
 Great Britain. 
 
 And thus far (though somewhat different in point of 
 expression) I communicated to a gentleman high in 
 office so long ago as May the 5th, 1800, as a substitute 
 for and a motive to the repeal of that most inquisitorial 
 and now universally dreaded and abhorred impost, the 
 income tax ; but whether my letter was received I am 
 at a loss to conjecture. — I have omitted to mention the 
 holders of Bank, India, and other Stocks, but I see 
 no reason why a corresponding proportion of these 
 should not in times like the present be transferred to 
 the use of the state. 
 
 In addition to the above, I would hint the propriety 
 of selling*, at a convenient season, the window tax, 
 
 * In a great and powerful empire, like that of Britain, 
 destined, as we hope, under Divine Providence, to be the 
 Saviour and Protectress of the world ; every thing should 
 be arranged on a scale of grand and majestic simplicity — ■ 
 no little, petty, pimping, vexatious, taxes, striking at the 
 comtort of particular classes of society, should find a place; 
 on the contrary, it seems desirable that the earliest oppor- 
 tunity should be taken, either by sale or otherwise, to get 
 rid of all those taxes which, annually or biennially, remind 
 the individual that he is taxed ; every visitation of the tax- 
 gatherer is felt as a grievance : if, therefore, all the taxes, 
 except those which tend to restrain the number of useless 
 consumers of the necessaries of Ufe (such as horses, dogs.
 
 56 
 
 and all taxes which, like it, can neither be rendered 
 equal or equitable, and the inequity and inequality of 
 Avhich increases with every augmentation. To instance 
 in the window tax, an old house, not worth twenty 
 pounds a year, in very many instances, pays more to 
 the window tax, than a new house worth fifty pounds 
 a year ; that is three-fifths more than its due propor- 
 tion. 
 
 This unfair inequality would not be persisted in wit- 
 tingly and willingly by any minister, and much less 
 by our present upright and patriotic Minister, whose 
 dignified conciliation and energetic vigilance, have com- 
 manded the confidence, engaged the affection, and se- 
 cured the esteem, of every disinterested and unpreju- 
 diced person in the empire : and never, perhaps, was 
 there a period in the history of this or any other coun- 
 try, in which there prevailed so much good sense — so 
 much rational patriotism— so much well-considered and 
 unaffected loyalty, and so much determined spirit and 
 resolution — to resist every aggression, and to repel every 
 insult, as at the present moment pervade all ranks of 
 
 and men servants, beyond, perhaps, one of each), were 
 paid (as I think they might be) through the medium of the 
 Merchant, the Farmer, the Maltster, the Distiller, the 
 Chandler, and the Stamp Office; the public would hardly 
 be sensible of the burthen of taxation : all the complaint 
 would be, how dear Malt, Spirits, Candles, &c. are ! and 
 the popular resentment, if any, would fall upon the Farmer, 
 the Maltster, &c. instead of falling, as it now frequently 
 does, upon the Administration.
 
 57 
 
 people in the British empire : this unanimity we owe to 
 the peace, and for the peace, however short it may 
 prove, made in the true spirit of peace, the pubhc give 
 all the credit to Mr. Addington. 
 
 But to return to the window tax, it is not only in- 
 capable of being rendered eqiuil or equitable, but it de- 
 stroys the symmetry, the comfort, the convenience, and 
 even the healthfulness of most of our houses ; and not 
 only so, but greatly diminishes the tax upon glass, 
 which is a very fair tax, because it is in a great degree 
 an optional one. 
 
 This tax I would offer for sale so low as ten years 
 purchase, and take any of the funds at 5 per cent, in 
 payment, not only because that would secure the sale 
 of the whole immediately, but because it would remove 
 one half of the fee of the unjust ineqaality immediately ; a 
 considerable portion of the public debt would be imme- 
 diately expunged, and the interest set at liberty, being 
 transferred to the sinking fund, would discharge an 
 equal portion of capital in much less time than it would 
 otherwise have required to accomplish. 
 
 Thus would the individual make a purchase which, 
 negatively, would immediately pay him ten per cent. 
 for his money, and at the same time enable Government 
 to exonerate the pubhc from a similar burthen in a short 
 space of time. It may be objected, perhaps, with re- 
 spect to the funds, that, although British representa- 
 tives may have a right to vote away their own property, 
 and the property of their constituents, they have no 
 right to vote away the property of foreigners "who are
 
 not represented ; but although I conceive this argument 
 to be fallacious (money being vested in the funds of all 
 countries, with all the contingencies annexed to them), 
 yet it seems to me that foreigners have no right to com- 
 plain, provided their property be taken as much care of 
 as the property of British subjects; and the small con- 
 tribution here exacted, ought to be considered, not as a 
 ' burthen, but as a trifling- premium for the security 
 and improvement of the remainder ; but if after all, this 
 objection should be deemed insurmountable, the pro- 
 perty proved honajide to belong to foreigners might be 
 exempted from its operation. 
 
 If an exception should be taken to this mode of 
 breaking in upon capital, on the principle that it would 
 discourage the subscription to future loans, I think it 
 may be obviated by making these new loans, upon 
 whatever principles formed, a separate and distinct 
 stock, sacredly guarded by the declaration of Parlia- 
 ment, that its capital should never be touched, until the 
 whole of the existing debt shall have been completely 
 liquidated. 
 
 It may, perhaps, also be objected, that upon the plan 
 here proposed, incomes from trades and professions 
 remain untouched ; but with respect to the mone}-^ em- 
 ployed in trade, it pays in transitu (independent of its 
 share of the land tax), by Customs, Excise, Stamps, 
 &c. &c. a much larger annual contribution than is here 
 required from actual indolent property ; and as to pro- 
 fessional men, it is well known that, taken as a body, 
 (from the extra proportion which the increased expenses
 
 59 
 
 of living, bears to the increase of emolument), tliey do 
 not maintain their households mthout the aid of private 
 fortune : and those few, who by lucky accidents are 
 enabled to save money, vest it in estates, in funds, on 
 bonds, &c. ; when it becomes tangible^ like the money 
 of other people. But besides, to place the hard-earned 
 pittance of active industry dependent on a single life, 
 of wJiatever age, perhaps ^\ith a family to provide for, 
 and probably with an income diminished one half by 
 the general pressure of taxes — I say, to place such an 
 income upon the same footing of taxation with per- 
 mcment indolent property, as was done by that fruitful 
 source of discord, perjury, and ruin, the detestable 
 Income Tax\ is the height oi Jolly, absurdity, and 
 cruelty ; — it is worse than comparing a leasehold estate 
 upon a single life, in point of value, to a fee simple ; 
 because the one is, relatively, a certain income — the 
 other always contingent, and generally in time of war 
 very much deteriorated. 
 
 I have thus endeavoured to obviate every objection, 
 which occurs to me as likely to be made to the Plan of 
 Taxation here proposed, and which even, if continued 
 some years, would not, as I think, materially interfere 
 with the comforts of any individual or class of indivi- 
 duals. 
 
 Should peace be preserved, prudence dictates that a 
 large proportion of the existing debt should be annihi- 
 lated as speedily as possible, that the country may be 
 prepared for war without laying any suddenly increased 
 burthens on the people ; and should war unfortunately
 
 60 
 
 take place, necessity would require that large sums 
 should be raised without augmenting, if that be possible, 
 the already too extended capital of debt; and the 
 question is, whether any taxes can be thought 
 
 OF, WHICH IN KITHEE CASE WOULD BE AS EFFECTUAL, 
 AND BEAR MORE LIGHTLY ON ALL CLASSES OF THE 
 COMMUNITY. 
 
 PLUS ULTRA. 
 
 Printed by J. Biettell, 
 Kupert Strtet ,Hai/ma/ Uet, Lon4«?t.
 
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